Page 49 - The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand Vol.XIII-2021

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XIII – 2021
Volume XII, 2020

• The paper should be submitted to the Editorial Board in three copies
scientific belief would argue instead that such a perception is not possible tout
court. and an electronic file as a text file (e.g. doc).

It is this direct, non-conceptual perception into the nature of things as
• Figures should be numbered and stored in separate files with legends
included in the main text file.
lacking any inherent “thingness” that is known as perception of the emptiness of
• Either English or American spelling can be used but should be
all things. For Buddhism the goal of such perception is to gain realization into the
consistent for the entire article.
nature of phenomena so that one eventually becomes released from the bonds of
suffering which bind one to the cycles of life, death and rebirth or samsāra.
Article Structure
Nonetheless, the direct perception of Emptiness, which traditionally is only
Each article should contain the following :
• Title
achieved through the practice of meditation, could open a new avenue for scientific
studies, one where there is more direct connection between spirituality and reality.
• Short title for page headings
In fact a new avenue has already been opened. For example, Richard Davidson and
• Authors and their affiliations
his team has conducted a number of neuroscientific studies on meditating Buddhist
• A concise abstract (not more than 300 words)
• Key words
monks and found that meditation can have concretely positive physiological effects
12
• Main text divided into sections e.g. Introduction, Materials and
on the body, especially on the functioning of the brain through neuroplasticity.
Methods, Results and Conclusion
This shows that ancient practices and phenomena can be fruitfully studied through
• References (of all articles cited in the text)
modern scientific methodology. Without the consciousness that meditation is a
• Table and Figure captions (numbered in sequence as they appear in
phenomenon that is worth studying scientifically, no scientist would have dared to
the text)
take up such a topic and presented their findings to the world scientific community.
It takes a lot of courage for a neuroscientist even to recognize that Buddhist monks
Abstract

do exist and that what they are doing is worthwhile. Here the methodology is
The abstract should be concise and informative, not more than 300 words.
strictly and rigorously scientific, the phenomenon studied is a group of monks
It should not only indicate the general scope of the article but also state the main
meditating, and Davidson would like to know whether the workings inside their
results and conclusions.
brains would remain the same during their meditation compared to their normal
Ethical Guidelines
states or not. No attempt is made to ascertain the philosophical content of the

Experimental investigation papers must state in the Materials and
Buddhist teaching here; that would be totally outside of the scope of the
Methods section that
methodology used by Davidson. For that we need philosophy, and I am contending
1) informed consent was obtained from all adult participants and from
here that the kind of philosophy that has been evoked to justify traditional scientific
parents or legal guardians of minors, including the name of the appropriate
practice should be changed. In the near future, when people realize that there is aneed
institutional review board having approved the project;
12 2) the maintenance and care of experimental animals comply with the
See, for example, Antoine Lutz, Heleen A. Slagter, John D. Dunne, and Richard J. Davidson, 2008. “Atten-
Thai National Institute of Health Guidelines for the humane use of laboratory
tion Regulation and Monitoring in Meditation,” In: Trends in Cognitive Science 12.4, 2008: 163 – 169;
animals or the equivalent country authority or agency;
Richard J. Davidson et al., 2003. “Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness
Meditation,” Psychosomatic Medicine 65.4: 564 – 570; Antoine Lutz, Lawrence L. Greischar, Nancy B. Raw-
3) approval is obtained from the relevant ethical committee.
lings, Matthieu Ricard, and Richard J. Davidson, 2004. “Long-term Meditators Self-Induce High-Amplitude
Gamma Synchrony during Mental Practice,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United
States of America 101.46: 16369 – 16373.

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