Steven Tainer
Encyclopedia
Steven A. Tainer is considered as one of the world-renowned scholars on contemplative traditions. He is a logician, philosopher, teacher and writer with extensive backgrounds in philosophy of science
, mathematical logic
and Asian contemplative traditions. One of his main interests is how different views of reality
can (and should) be integrated.
Steven Tainer has studied Tibetan Buddhism since 1970, training in the traditional way with many Tibetan masters, mostly from the Dzogchen
or “Great Perfection” school, including Tarthang Tulku
Rinpoche and Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Rinpoche. Upon the publication of Time, Space and Knowledge in 1978, which he wrote down as the visionary expression of his first instructor, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, he earned an advanced traditional degree. After a collaboration with Ming Liu (born Charles Belyea) in 1980's and eight years of training and retreat practice, Steven Tainer was declared a successor in a family lineage of yogic Taoism
.
Starting in the mid-80’s he also studied Confucian views of contemplation emphasizing “exemplary conduct” in ordinary life. He began teaching under the direction of his own masters in the early 1970s, and after a series of mountain retreats spanning most of 1989 and 1990, finally began teaching his own groups.
He teaches Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian fundamentals with specialties including Indian Buddhist philosophy, the "Unity of the Three Traditions" in Chinese thought, Taoist yogic practice, and Ch'an contemplation.
together with Rev. Heng Sure
and Dr. Martin Verhoeven.
Steven Tainer has led over two hundred weekend retreats in and about ninety live-in retreats (ranging from one week to one hundred days), making him one of the most active retreat instructors currently teaching. A new series of books on his own teaching are also in progress, some with an emphasis on applications of traditional teachings to modern daily life.
Steven Tainer also serves on the faculty of Kira Institute. Through collaboration between Kira colleagues, including Piet Hut
, he explores the interface between modern, scientifically-framed perspectives and matters involving human values. Between 1998 and 2002, Piet Hut and Steven Tainer organised a series of annual summer schools, bringing graduate students from various disciplines together in order to engage in an open Socratic dialog, centred around science and contemplation. Also a series of articles were published in 2006 on Ways of Knowing, drawing from intensive discussions between Hut and Tainer.
Steven Tainer and Eiko Ikegami are currently working on a research project, titled "Virtual Civility, Trust, and Avatars: Ethnology in Second Life". While aiming to contribute to the knowledge of how to make virtual worlds socially meaningful collaborative knowledge productions, the study will also consider if the new virtual social forms would become the new standard forms of trust and civility in human interactions generally in real life.
He also argues that this 'interconnectedness' is the basis of ethics
: when we see the inter-dependency of all relationships, it is possible to implement The Golden Rule. Steven Tainer describes his view on leadership, which is unique yet highly relevant:
Together with Piet Hut, Steven Tainer has explored two distinctive ways of knowing, science and contemplation and how they can be reconciled at the Princeton Program for Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute for Advanced Study
, Princeton, New Jersey
. Hut and Tainer argue that scientific progress depends on insights from contemplative thinking, understood as reflection, thinking, meditation. Such ideas are especially relevant to the movement in science and technology studies to bring greater reflexivity into scientific practice, making their goals to shift towards producing knowledge to serve public interest and social justice outcomes:
In his paper Studying "No Mind": The Future of Orthogonal Approaches, Steven Tainer explores how "science and spirituality" differs and how they may co-exist in the future. One of the interesting idea he presents is that the greatest achievement of science is science itself.Tainer, Studying "No Mind", p. 62 He also emphasises that science doesn't stand alone, calling for a holistic approach to studies of science.Tainer, Studying "No Mind", p. 9
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, mathematical logic
Mathematical logic
Mathematical logic is a subfield of mathematics with close connections to foundations of mathematics, theoretical computer science and philosophical logic. The field includes both the mathematical study of logic and the applications of formal logic to other areas of mathematics...
and Asian contemplative traditions. One of his main interests is how different views of reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
can (and should) be integrated.
Biography
Steven Tainer is one of the oldest Western investigators of Asian contemplative traditions. He has spent the past forty years studying Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian schools of contemplation with sixteen Tibetan, Chinese and Korean teachers and a number of senior monks and nuns.Steven Tainer has studied Tibetan Buddhism since 1970, training in the traditional way with many Tibetan masters, mostly from the Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
or “Great Perfection” school, including Tarthang Tulku
Tarthang Tulku
Tarthang Tulku is a Tibetan teacher in the Nyingma tradition who lives in America, where he works to preserve the art and culture of Tibet. He oversees various projects including Dharma Publishing, Yeshe-De, Tibetan Aid Project, and the construction of the Odiyan Copper Mountain Mandala...
Rinpoche and Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a Dzogchen teacher who was born in Derge, Kham district on 8 December 1938. When he was two years old, Namkhai Norbu was recognized as the 'mindstream emanation', a tulku, of the great Dzogchen teacher, Adzom Drugpa , at five he was also recognized as a mindstream...
Rinpoche. Upon the publication of Time, Space and Knowledge in 1978, which he wrote down as the visionary expression of his first instructor, Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, he earned an advanced traditional degree. After a collaboration with Ming Liu (born Charles Belyea) in 1980's and eight years of training and retreat practice, Steven Tainer was declared a successor in a family lineage of yogic Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
.
Starting in the mid-80’s he also studied Confucian views of contemplation emphasizing “exemplary conduct” in ordinary life. He began teaching under the direction of his own masters in the early 1970s, and after a series of mountain retreats spanning most of 1989 and 1990, finally began teaching his own groups.
He teaches Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian fundamentals with specialties including Indian Buddhist philosophy, the "Unity of the Three Traditions" in Chinese thought, Taoist yogic practice, and Ch'an contemplation.
Present
Since 1995, Steven Tainer has been a faculty member of the Institute for World Religions and the Berkeley Monastery. He has been involved in various “inter-faith” councils and conferences. At a Monastic Interreligious Dialogue conference in 2001, Steven Tainer represented the Chinese Mahayana lineage of Master Hsuan HuaHsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....
together with Rev. Heng Sure
Heng Sure
Heng Sure is an American Buddhist monk, born and ordained in the United States. He is a senior disciple of the late Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, and is currently the director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, a branch monastery of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association...
and Dr. Martin Verhoeven.
Steven Tainer has led over two hundred weekend retreats in and about ninety live-in retreats (ranging from one week to one hundred days), making him one of the most active retreat instructors currently teaching. A new series of books on his own teaching are also in progress, some with an emphasis on applications of traditional teachings to modern daily life.
Steven Tainer also serves on the faculty of Kira Institute. Through collaboration between Kira colleagues, including Piet Hut
Piet Hut
Piet Hut is a Dutch astrophysicist who has made his career in the United States. Hut is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He was born in Utrecht in The Netherlands....
, he explores the interface between modern, scientifically-framed perspectives and matters involving human values. Between 1998 and 2002, Piet Hut and Steven Tainer organised a series of annual summer schools, bringing graduate students from various disciplines together in order to engage in an open Socratic dialog, centred around science and contemplation. Also a series of articles were published in 2006 on Ways of Knowing, drawing from intensive discussions between Hut and Tainer.
Steven Tainer and Eiko Ikegami are currently working on a research project, titled "Virtual Civility, Trust, and Avatars: Ethnology in Second Life". While aiming to contribute to the knowledge of how to make virtual worlds socially meaningful collaborative knowledge productions, the study will also consider if the new virtual social forms would become the new standard forms of trust and civility in human interactions generally in real life.
Ideas
Steven Tainer has long attempted to make the essence of Eastern philosophy and practice accessible and applicable to Westerners who lead extremely busy lives. He points out a particular issue with modern people starting with an isolated self:He also argues that this 'interconnectedness' is the basis of ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
: when we see the inter-dependency of all relationships, it is possible to implement The Golden Rule. Steven Tainer describes his view on leadership, which is unique yet highly relevant:
Together with Piet Hut, Steven Tainer has explored two distinctive ways of knowing, science and contemplation and how they can be reconciled at the Princeton Program for Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
, Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
. Hut and Tainer argue that scientific progress depends on insights from contemplative thinking, understood as reflection, thinking, meditation. Such ideas are especially relevant to the movement in science and technology studies to bring greater reflexivity into scientific practice, making their goals to shift towards producing knowledge to serve public interest and social justice outcomes:
In his paper Studying "No Mind": The Future of Orthogonal Approaches, Steven Tainer explores how "science and spirituality" differs and how they may co-exist in the future. One of the interesting idea he presents is that the greatest achievement of science is science itself.Tainer, Studying "No Mind", p. 62 He also emphasises that science doesn't stand alone, calling for a holistic approach to studies of science.Tainer, Studying "No Mind", p. 9
See also
- Absolute (philosophy)Absolute (philosophy)The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God" or "the Divine", especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to...
- Cognitive psychologyCognitive psychologyCognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
- ConfucianismConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
- ContemplationContemplationThe word contemplation comes from the Latin word contemplatio. Its root is also that of the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship, derived either from Proto-Indo-European base *tem- "to cut", and so a "place reserved or cut out" or...
- Ecological psychologyEcological psychologyEcological psychology is a term claimed by a number of schools of psychology. However, the two main ones are one on the writings of James J. Gibson, and another on the work of Roger G. Barker, Herb Wright and associates at the University of Kansas in Lawrence...
- EthicsEthicsEthics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
- Philosophy of sciencePhilosophy of scienceThe philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
- Reality in BuddhismReality in BuddhismBuddhism evolved a variety of doctrinal/philosophical traditions, each with its distinct ideas of reality. The following are still regularly studied in some branches of the Buddhist tradition: Theravada, Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Jojitsu, Madhyamika, Yogacara, tiantai, Huayan...
- TaoismTaoismTaoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
- Tibetan BuddhismTibetan BuddhismTibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
- ZenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...