9780262511094

Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness

James H. Austin

ISBN 10: 0262511096 / 0-262-51109-6
ISBN 13: 9780262511094
Publisher: Mit Pr
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Softcover
Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis:

The book uses Zen Buddhism as the opening wedge for an extraordinarily wide-ranging exploration of consciousness. In order to understand the brain mechanisms that produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain. Austin, a neuroscientist and Zen practitioner, interweaves his teachings of the brain with his teachings/personal narrative of Zen. The science, which contains the latest relevant developments in brain research, is both inclusive and rigorous; the Zen sections are clear and evocative. Along the way, Austin covers such topics as similar states in other disciplines and religions, sleep and dreams, madness, consciousness-altering drugs, and the social consequences of advanced stages of enlightenment.


Review:

"This singular book, clearly a work of love undertaken over many years, may well become something of a landmark in both behavioral neurology and consciousness studies. For one thing, it is a compendium of almost all the available scientific literature on meditation. For another, it is a first-rate in-depth introduction to functional neuroanatomy, provided in an imaginative and readable way. It is also a personal narrative of a Zen training It is a long, dense book, a full 697 pages, with a 112 page bibliography, but it seems to stand off to the side from all the clamoring about the Hard Problem and the explanatory gap. It offers many testable ideas about the nature of spiritual experience as a brain state, and it offers a clear theory of how some altered states of consciousness come into being."

George Adelman

 

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Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness (ISBN: 0262511096 / 0-262-51109-6)
Austin, James H.
ISBN 10: 0262511096
ISBN 13: 9780262511094
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Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness (ISBN: 0262511096 / 0-262-51109-6)
Austin, James H.
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Austin, James H.
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Austin, James H.
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Zen and the Brain (ISBN: 9780262511094)
Austin, James H.
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Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness (Paperback) (ISBN: 9780262511094)
Austin, James H.
ISBN 10: 0262511096
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Book Description: MIT Press Ltd, United States, 1999. Paperback. Book Condition: New. New edition. 254 x 178 mm. Brand New Book with Free Worldwide Delivery. Winner of the Scientific and Medical Network Book Prize for 1998 Aldous Huxley called humankind's basic trend toward spiritual growth the "perennial philosophy." In the view of James Austin, the trend implies a "perennial psychophysiology"--because awakening, or enlightenment, occurs only when the human brain undergoes substantial changes. What are the peak experiences of enlightenment? How could these states profoundly enhance, and yet simplify, the workings of the brain? Zen and the Brain presents the latest evidence.In this book Zen Buddhism becomes the opening wedge for an extraordinarily wide-ranging exploration of consciousness. In order to understand which brain mechanisms produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain. Austin, both a neurologist and a Zen practitioner, interweaves the most recent brain research with the personal narrative of his Zen experiences. The science is both inclusive and rigorous; the Zen sections are clear and evocative.Along the way, Austin examines such topics as similar states in other disciplines and religions, sleep and dreams, mental illness, consciousness-altering drugs, and the social consequences of the advanced stage of ongoing enlightenment. Bookseller Inventory # AAS9780262511094

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Austin, James H.
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Austin, James H.
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