International Shamatha project
 
Intersubjectivity in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism
By: 
B. Alan Wallace
Date: 
Mon, 01/01/2001 - 08:00
This essay focuses on the theme of intersubjectivity, which is central to the entire Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It addresses the following five themes pertaining to Buddhist concepts of intersubjectivity: (1) the Buddhist practice of the cultivation of meditative quiescence challenges the hypothesis that individual human consciousness emerges solely from the dynamic interrelation of self and other; (2) the central Buddhist insight practice of the four applications of mindfulness is a means for gaining insight into the nature of oneself, others and the relation between oneself and the rest of the world, which provides a basis for cultivating a deep sense of empathy; (3) the Buddhist cultivation of the four immeasurables is expressly designed to arouse a rich sense of empathy with others; (4) the meditative practice of dream yoga, which illuminates the dream-like nature of waking reality is shown to have deep implications regarding the nature of intersubjectivity; (5) the theory and practice of Dzogchen, the ‘great perfection’ system of meditation, challenges the assertion of the existence of an inherently real, localized, ego-centred mind, as well as the dichotomy of objective space as opposed to perceptual space. Introduction

The theme of intersubjectivity lies at the very core of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist way of viewing the world and seeking spiritual awakening. According to this worldview, each person does exist as an individual, but the self, or personal identity, does not exist as an independent ego that is somehow in control of the body and mind. Rather, the individual is understood as a matrix of dependently related events, all of them in a state of flux. There are three aspects of this dependence. (1) The self arises in dependence upon prior contributing causes and conditions, such as one’s parents and all others who contribute to one’s survival, education and so on. In this way, our existence is invariably intersubjective, for we exist in a causal nexus in which we are constantly influenced by, and exert influence upon, the world around us, including other people. (2) The individual self does not exist independently of the body and mind, but rather exists in reliance upon a myriad of physical and mental processes that are constantly changing. (3) How does this self come into existence, if it is not inherently present either in any single psycho-physiological process or in all of them combined?

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