D Z:
Freud would consider meditative states to be a dysfunctional regression to an infantile state. But this analysis is problematic.
Thanks for all the links! I enjoyed the Sam Harris stuff, particularly.
Regarding Freud, I'm not convinced Freud would characterize meditation as regression to an infantile state. I am also not fundamentally of the belief that Buddhism and psychoanalysis are at odds with each other.
David Loy, for instance, has done some interesting work combining psychoanlysis and Buddhism, particularly in his book Lack and Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism, and Buddhism. He describes his basic thesis here, in which he builds on existential psychotherapy, which built on classical psychoanalysis http://www.holosforum.org/davidloy.html
There are also a few books available which explore the connections, such as Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: An Unfolding Dialogue by Jeremy D. Safran and Mixing Minds: The Power of Relationship in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism by Pilar Jennings.
Many years ago when I was studying French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan I immediately was reminded of Buddhism and thought there were interesting comparisons. For instance Lacan posits that "lack" is the cause of human desire, and lack is something which can never be filled or solved. We think, "this house" or "this marriage" or "this child" or "this Playstation" or "this hit of crack," etc., is what I need to be happy. And then we get it, and we still aren't happy. This concept is diagnostic, in that Lacan doesn't suggest a cure for lack, but perhaps Buddhism does provide the cure.
Also, it is interesting because Freud posited in Civilization and its Discontents that human societies are made possible by a fundamental sublimation of the psychosexual and death drives within us, which are redirected into creation, development, and other "ends." It is interesting to speculate what would become of human society if we no longer needed to sublimate the eros and thanatos drives, because people had been "cured" of them (via Buddhist awakening). Would civilization as we know it end (meaning, corporate capitalism, hierachy, patriarchy, etc)?