Can contemplative traditions inform the modelling of mind?
This essay outlines a conceptual and technical proposal: to develop AI systems that do not merely simulate intelligent behaviour, but reflect the underlying dynamics of consciousness.
Drawing on Buddhist psychology and contemplative science, it proposes a layered model of awareness, conditioning, mental formations, and speech. The goal is not to build sentient machines, but to deepen our modelling of mental flow, and to imagine AI systems capable of engaging with human experience more subtly and ethically.
It also opens space for rethinking alignment, ethics, and suffering in terms of propagation and constraints, rather than mere compliance.
For a deeper theoretical foundation, see Beyond Token Sequences: Contemplative Epistemology and Meaning Vector Space Operations in AI Systems.