B. Alan Wallace, Brian Hodel - 2008 - Embracing Mind - The Common Ground of Science and Spirituality.epub

B. Alan Wallace - 2008 - Embracing Mind - The Common Ground of Science and Spirituality.epub

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Shambhala; First Edition edition (December 23, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159030683X
ISBN-13: 978-1590306833

“This book shows clearly and compellingly how Buddhism and other spiritual traditions may help enrich our understanding of the mind and its role in nature, without reducing it merely to a material function or property of the brain.”—H. H. the Dalai Lama

“Any scientist serious about his or her avocation will find this book a thought-provoking and rewarding read. Wallace and Hodel make a very reasonable point: since the mind is a primary instrument that allows scientific theory and understanding to occur, should not a thorough and rigorous study of all aspects of that instrument itself be undertaken in order to better assess scientific theory and understanding? This provocative and beautifully written book is absorbing and well worth reading for anyone interested in delving into the nature of things.”—Elizabeth Blackburn, Recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Medical Research

“In these few pages Wallace and Hodel cover the whole spectrum of Buddhism and science—from the moving narrative of Alan's life through the fallacies of scientific materialism, and on to the heart of the ancient Buddhist science of consciousness and how it speaks to the modern sciences of the mind. An invaluable introduction to the story of science and Buddhist contemplative inquiry.”—Philip Clayton, Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology, and co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science “A tour de force.”—Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, Professor of Medicine emeritus, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and author of Coming to Our Senses

About the author:
B. Alan Wallace began his studies of Tibetan Buddhism, language, and culture in 1970 (at the age of 20) at the University of Göttingen and then continued his studies over the next fourteen years in India, Switzerland, and the United States. After graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he studied physics and the philosophy of science, he went on to earn his Ph.D. in religious studies at Stanford University. He then taught for four years in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and is now the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (http://sbinstitute.com). He is also Chairman of the Thanypura Mind Centre (http://piamc.com) in Thailand, where he leads meditation retreats. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and Buddhism, including Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic: A Manifesto for the Mind Sciences and Contemplative Practice, Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity, and Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness.