In 2003, I was lucky enough to join the Cognitive Neuroscience and Cerebral Imaging research team(LENA-CNRS, UPR 640, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris) of the late Francisco Varela , who left two years before my internship, but fortunately the team is still complete.
F. Varela was the scientific founder of the Mind & Life Institute, which nurtures the Buddhist-Scientific dialogue leading to today's tremendous boom in the Contemplative Sciences. It's a fine "synchronicity" or auspicious sign that F. Varela's Buddhist teacher was Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche, who was also the teacher of my teacher in Belgium, Orgyen Chokyi Dorje.
My stay in Paris enabled me to familiarize myself with the paradigm of neurophenomenology applied to the study of meditative consciousness, and to integrate the scope, and limits, of the various scientific analysis tools (see letter of recommendation from my training supervisor: J.-Ph. Lachaux).
Also in Belgium, at thePsychology of Religion Center of the Social and Organizational Psychology Unit, I co-directed with V. Saroglou (see his letter of recommendation), the first empirical study in the psychology of religion on Buddhism, or rather Buddhists.
The analysis of cognitive (need for closure) and personality (friendliness) traits, and values related to investment in Buddhism resulted in publication in a peer-reviewed international journal:
Saroglou, V. & Dupuis, J. (2006). Understanding buddhism in the west: Cognitive needs, prosocial character, and values. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 163-179.
These various research efforts enabled me to be selected to take part in the 1st summer school(Mind & Life Summer Research Institute 2004) and the 3rd(MLSRI 2006) of this nascent movement, enabling me to meet and exchange with the most prolific scientists in this new discipline (see letter of recommendation from A. Lutz).
Currently, as a clinical psychologist, I happily use, in symbiosis with a certain hypnosis, a form of pure meditation, i.e. without any particular religious connotation except in its universal affiliation, thereby enabling it to resonate with the patient's own values, whatever they may be (Muslim, Christian, Hindu, animist, scientific, agnostic, atheist, etc.). This enables sincere patients who are prepared to invest time and effort outside the consultation to achieve significant results, sometimes after just one consultation. I don't prescribe medication, but I do prescribe tasks!
For over a year now, I've been running a meditative relaxation workshop for primary school pupils (Institut Albert1er and l'école Saint Nicolas, Enghien) to develop inner "a-tension". A "transinogenic" meditation workshop (or "How letting go enables the spontaneous non-egotic expression of our Being") has also been set up with motivated adults in Enghien and Hoves, and soon in Brussels. If you're interested, please get in touch!