Description
Renowned Buddhist philosopher B. Alan Wallace reasserts the power of shamatha and vipashyana, traditional Buddhist meditations, to clarify the mind’s role in the natural world. Wallace challenges the claim that consciousness is nothing more than an emergent property of the brain with little relation to universal events. Rather, he maintains that the observer is essential to measuring quantum systems and that mental phenomena (however conceived) influence brain function and behavior.Wallace embarks on a two-part mission: to restore human nature, and then to transcend it. He begins by illustrating the value of skepticism in Buddhism and science and the difficulty of merging their experiential methods of inquiry. Yet Wallace also proves that Buddhist views on human nature and the possibility of free can liberate us from the metaphysical constraints of scientific materialism. He also explores the radical empiricism inspired by William James, applying it to Indian Buddhist philosophy’s four schools and the Great Perfection school of Tibetan Buddhism. He concludes with an explanation of shamatha and vipashyana and their capacity? for realizing the full nature, origins, and potential of consciousness. Prologue: Skepticism in Buddhism and Science Part I: Restoring Our Human Nature 1. Toward a Revolution in the Mind Sciences 2. Buddhism and Science: Confrontation and Collaboration 3. Buddhism and the Mind Sciences 4. A Three-Dimensional Science of Mind 5. Restoring Meaning to the Universe 6. What Makes Us Human? Scientific and Buddhist Views 7. Achieving Free Will Part II: Transcending Our Human Nature 8. Buddhist Radical Empiricism 9. From Agnosticism to Gnosticism 10. A Buddhist Model of Optimal Mental Health 11. Mindfulness in the Mind Sciences and in Buddhism 12. Shamatha and Vipashyana in the Indian Buddhist Tradition 13. Shamatha and Vipashyana in the Dzogchen Tradition Epilogue: The Many Worlds of Buddhism and Science Notes Selected Bibliography Index
