A philosopher and a cognitive neuroscientist conversed with Buddhist lama Tilmann Lhündrup Borghardt (TLB) about the unresolved phenomenological concerns and logical questions surrounding “pure” consciousness or minimal phenomenal experience (MPE), a quasi-contentless, non-dual state whose phenomenology of “emptiness” is often described in terms of the phenomenal quality of luminosity that experienced meditators have reported occurs in deep meditative states. Here, we present the excerpts of the conversation that relate to the question of how it is possible to first have and later retrieve such non-dual states of selflessness and timelessness that are unrelated to sensory input. According to TLB, a “pure” experience of consciousness contains the phenomenal quality of luminous clarity, which is experienced solely in the transitional phase from the non-dual state of absolute emptiness to the state of minimal emptiness, when the person gradually returns to duality. However, this quality of luminous clarity can also be experienced in non-minimal states as in the experiential mode of being awakened. TLB describes this transition as a kind of ephemeral afterglow in the form of a maximally abstract phenomenal quality, i.e., luminosity, which justifies the conclusion of having been in a state of “pure” consciousness.

中文翻译：

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一位经验丰富的藏传佛教噶玛噶举传承的禅修者所报告的“清净”意识现象学。不同禅定状态的访谈内容分析

一位哲学家和一位认知神经科学家与佛教喇嘛 Tilmann Lhündrup Borghardt (TLB) 就围绕“纯粹”意识或最小现象体验 (MPE) 的未解决的现象学问题和逻辑问题进行了交谈，这是一种准无内容、非二元状态“空性”通常被描述为有经验的禅修者报告的在深度禅修状态中出现的非凡的光明品质。在这里，我们展示了对话的摘录，这些对话与如何可能首先拥有并随后检索与感官输入无关的无私和永恒的非双重状态有关。根据TLB，意识的“纯粹”体验包含发光清晰度的非凡品质，这仅在从绝对空性的非二元状态到极空状态的过渡阶段中经历，当人逐渐返回二元性时。然而，这种明亮清晰的品质也可以在非最低限度的状态中体验到，如在被唤醒的体验模式中。TLB 将这种转变描述为一种以最大程度抽象的现象质量（即光度）形式出现的短暂余辉，这证明了处于“纯”意识状态的结论是正确的。