Selfless Insight

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Selfless Insight

James H. Austin
Selfless Insight Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 371 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2011-09-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780262260367

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Selfless Insight by James H. Austin Pdf

Attention, self-consciousness, insight, wisdom, emotional maturity: how Zen teachings can illuminate the way our brains function and vice-versa. When neurology researcher James Austin began Zen training, he found that his medical education was inadequate. During the past three decades, he has been at the cutting edge of both Zen and neuroscience, constantly discovering new examples of how these two large fields each illuminate the other. Now, in Selfless Insight, Austin arrives at a fresh synthesis, one that invokes the latest brain research to explain the basis for meditative states and clarifies what Zen awakening implies for our understanding of consciousness. Austin, author of the widely read Zen and the Brain, reminds us why Zen meditation is not only mindfully attentive but evolves to become increasingly selfless and intuitive. Meditators are gradually learning how to replace over-emotionality with calm, clear objective comprehension. In this new book, Austin discusses how meditation trains our attention, reprogramming it toward subtle forms of awareness that are more openly mindful. He explains how our maladaptive notions of self are rooted in interactive brain functions. And he describes how, after the extraordinary, deep states of kensho-satori strike off the roots of the self, a flash of transforming insight-wisdom leads toward ways of living more harmoniously and selflessly. Selfless Insight is the capstone to Austin's journey both as a creative neuroscientist and as a Zen practitioner. His quest has spanned an era of unprecedented progress in brain research and has helped define the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience.

Selfless Insight

James H. Austin
Selfless Insight Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : Mit Press
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 0262012596

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Selfless Insight by James H. Austin Pdf

Attention, self-consciousness, insight, wisdom, emotional maturity: how Zen teachings can illuminate the way our brains function and vice-versa.

Meditating Selflessly

James H. Austin
Meditating Selflessly Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2011-10-07
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780262297714

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Meditating Selflessly by James H. Austin Pdf

A guide to Zen meditative practice informed by the latest findings in brain research. This is not the usual kind of self-help book. Indeed, its major premise heeds a Zen master's advice to be less self-centered. Yes, it is "one more book of words about Zen," as the author concedes, yet this book explains meditative practices from the perspective of a "neural Zen." The latest findings in brain research inform its suggestions. In Meditating Selflessly, James Austin—Zen practitioner, neurologist, and author of three acclaimed books on Zen and neuroscience—guides readers toward that open awareness already awaiting them on the cushion and in the natural world. Austin offers concrete advice—often in a simplified question-and-answer format—about different ways to meditate. He clarifies both the concentrative and receptive styles of meditation. Drawing widely from the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience, Austin helps resolve an ancient paradox: why both insight wisdom and selflessness arise simultaneously during enlightened states of consciousness.

Zen and the Brain

James H. Austin
Zen and the Brain Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 876 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 1999-06-04
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0262260352

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Zen and the Brain by James H. Austin Pdf

A neuroscientist and Zen practitioner interweaves the latest research on the brain with his personal narrative of Zen. 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.

Selfishness and Selflessness

Linda L. Layne
Selfishness and Selflessness Book PDF

Author : Linda L. Layne
Publisher : Berghahn Books
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2020-04-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781789205503

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Selfishness and Selflessness by Linda L. Layne Pdf

We are said to be suffering a narcissism epidemic when the need for collective action seems more pressing than ever. The traits of Selfishness and selflessness address the ‘proper’ and ‘improper’ relationship between one’s self and others. The work they do during periods of social instability and cultural change is probed in this original, interdisciplinary collection. Contributions range from an examination of how these concepts animated the eighteenth-century anti-slavery campaigners to a dissection of the way middle-class mothers’ experiences illustrate gendered struggles over how much and to whom one is morally obliged to give.

Selfless Minds

Monima Chadha
Selfless Minds Book PDF

Author : Monima Chadha
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2023-01-28
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780192657947

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Selfless Minds by Monima Chadha Pdf

Selfless Minds offers a new interpretation of no-self metaphysics in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosa-Bhasya. Monima Chadha reads Vasubandhu as defending not only eliminativism about self but also about persons, and illusionism about the sense of self and all kinds of self-representation. This radical no-self thesis presents several challenges for Abhidharma Buddhist philosophy of mind. Even if we then grant that there is no self, we are left with deeper questions about the sense of self or self-representations implicated in our ordinary everyday experience and thought about the world and ourselves. And if we grant that there are no persons, questions remain about the status of our person-related concerns and interpersonal practices. Selfless Minds answers these questions on behalf of the Abhidharma Buddhist. The first part of the book defends the hypothesis that we can salvage much of our experience and thought without implicating self-representations. The second part of the book examines the revisionary implications of the no-person metaphysics. Some of these seem unpalatable, if not downright absurd. This, she argues, give us reason to re-evaluate both the Abhidharma metaphysics and our ordinary person-related practices and concerns in light of each other by using some sort of wide reflective equilibrium. Selfless Minds is a contribution to cross-cultural philosophy that studies the nature of selfless minds from a place at the crossroads of different traditions and disciplines: philosophy in the traditional Buddhist and contemporary Western traditions, and contemporary cognitive sciences.

Contemplative Practices in Action

Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Contemplative Practices in Action Book PDF

Author : Thomas G. Plante Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2010-07-15
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780313382574

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Contemplative Practices in Action by Thomas G. Plante Ph.D. Pdf

This groundbreaking primer illuminates contemplative methods that can improve mental and physical health. Contemplative practices, from meditation to Zen, are growing in popularity as methods to inspire physical and mental health. Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health offers readers an introduction to these practices and the ways they can be used in the service of well being, wisdom, healing, and stress reduction. Bringing together various traditions from the East and West, this thought-provoking work summarizes the history of each practice, highlights classic and emerging research proving its power, and details how each practice is performed. Expert authors offer step-by-step approaches to practice methods including the 8-Point Program of Passage Meditation, Centering Prayer, mindful stress management, mantram meditation, energizing meditation, yoga, and Zen. Beneficial practices from Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic religions are also featured. Vignettes illustrate each of the practices, while the contributors explain how and why they are effective in facing challenges as varied as the loss of a partner or child, job loss, chronic pain or disease, or psychological disorders.

Selfless Persons

Steven Collins
Selfless Persons Book PDF

Author : Steven Collins
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1982
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 052139726X

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Selfless Persons by Steven Collins Pdf

This book seeks to explain carefully and sympathetically the Buddhist doctrine of anatta ('not-self'), which denies the existence of any self, soul or enduring essence in human beings. The author relates this doctrine to its cultural and historical context, particularly to its Brahmanical background, and shows how the Theravada Buddhist tradition has constructed a philosophical and psychological account of personal identity and continuity on the apparently impossible basis of the denial of self.

The Selfless Act of Breathing

JJ Bola
The Selfless Act of Breathing Book PDF

Author : JJ Bola
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2022-02-15
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781982175580

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The Selfless Act of Breathing by JJ Bola Pdf

A Black teacher searches for himself across the United States in this “emotive, brave” (Daily Mail, London) story for all of us who have fantasized about escaping our daily lives and starting over. Michael Kabongo is a British Congolese teacher living in London and living the dream: he’s beloved by his students, popular with his coworkers, and adored by his proud mother who emigrated from the Congo to the UK in search of a better life. But when he suffers a devastating loss, his life is thrown into a tailspin. As he struggles to find a way forward, memories of his fathers’ violent death, the weight of refugeehood, and an increasing sense of dread threaten everything he’s worked so hard to achieve. Longing to start over, Michael decides to spontaneously pack up and go to America, the mythical “land of the free,” where he imagines everything will be better and easier. On this transformative journey, Michael travels everywhere from New York City to San Francisco, partying with new friends, sparking fleeting romances, and splurging on big adventures, with the intention of living the life of his dreams until the money in his bank account runs out. “Narrated with haunting lyricism, The Selfless Act of Breathing is an intimate journey through the darkest of human impulses to the gleaming flickers of love and radical hope” (Susan Abulhawa, author of Against the Loveless World).

On the Varieties of Attention, digital original edition

James H. Austin
On the Varieties of Attention digital original edition Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 94 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2014-01-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262318846

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On the Varieties of Attention, digital original edition by James H. Austin Pdf

During the past three decades, neurology researcher James Austin (author of Zen and the Brain) has been at the cutting edge of both Zen and neuroscience, constantly discovering new examples of how these two large fields each illuminate the other. In this BIT, Austin discusses how meditation trains our attention, reprogramming it toward subtle forms of awareness that are more openly mindful. He reveals many subtleties in our networks of attention. They enable us to direct attention voluntarily—from the top down—or reflexively—from the bottom up—and to focus it either internally or externally.

Meditating Selflessly

James H. Austin
Meditating Selflessly Book PDF

Author : James H. Austin
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2013-09-20
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 9780262525190

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Meditating Selflessly by James H. Austin Pdf

A guide to Zen meditative practice informed by the latest findings in brain research. This is not the usual kind of self-help book. Indeed, its major premise heeds a Zen master's advice to be less self-centered. Yes, it is "one more book of words about Zen," as the author concedes, yet this book explains meditative practices from the perspective of a "neural Zen." The latest findings in brain research inform its suggestions. In Meditating Selflessly, James Austin—Zen practitioner, neurologist, and author of three acclaimed books on Zen and neuroscience—guides readers toward that open awareness already awaiting them on the cushion and in the natural world. Austin offers concrete advice—often in a simplified question-and-answer format—about different ways to meditate. He clarifies both the concentrative and receptive styles of meditation. Drawing widely from the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience, Austin helps resolve an ancient paradox: why both insight wisdom and selflessness arise simultaneously during enlightened states of consciousness.

Buddhism, Cognitive Science, and the Doctrine of Selflessness

Hugh Nicholson
Buddhism Cognitive Science and the Doctrine of Selflessness Book PDF

Author : Hugh Nicholson
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2022-09-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781000656190

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Buddhism, Cognitive Science, and the Doctrine of Selflessness by Hugh Nicholson Pdf

This book examines the relationship between Buddhist philosophy and scientific psychology by focusing on the doctrine of No-self. The hypothesis is that No-self can function as an instrument of counter-induction, that is, an alternative conceptual scheme that exposes by contrast the intuitive or "folk" theoretical presuppositions sedimented in our perception of ourselves and others. When incorporated into regimens of meditative and ritual practice, the No-self doctrine works to challenge and disrupt our naïve folk psychology. The author argues that there is a fruitful parallel between the No-self doctrine and anti-Cartesian trends in the cognitive sciences. The No-self doctrine was the product of philosophical speculation undertaken in the context of hegemonic struggles with both Buddhist and non-Buddhist rivals, and the classic No-self doctrine, accordingly, is a somewhat schematic and largely accidental anticipation of the current scientific understanding of the mind and consciousness. Nevertheless, inasmuch as it challenges and unsettles the seemingly self-evident certitudes of folk psychology, it prepares the ground for the revolution in our self-conception promised by the emerging cognitive scientific concept of mind. A novel contribution to the study of Buddhist Philosophy, the book will also be of interest to scholars of Buddhist Studies and Asian Religions.

Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines

Olen Gunnlaugson,Edward W. Sarath,Charles Scott,Heesoon Bai
Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines Book PDF

Author : Olen Gunnlaugson,Edward W. Sarath,Charles Scott,Heesoon Bai
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2014-07-16
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781438452395

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Contemplative Learning and Inquiry across Disciplines by Olen Gunnlaugson,Edward W. Sarath,Charles Scott,Heesoon Bai Pdf

A wide-ranging consideration of the emerging field of contemplative education. Contemplative approaches to higher education have been gaining in popularity and application across a wide range of disciplines. Spurring conferences, a growing body of literature, and several academic programs or centers, these approaches promise to contribute significantly to higher education in the years to come. This volume provides an overview of the current landscape of contemplative instruction, pedagogy, philosophy, and curriculum from the perspectives of leading researchers and scholar-practitioners. Contributors come from a variety of disciplines, including education, management and leadership studies, humanities, social sciences, the arts, and information science. Drawing on diverse contexts, the essays reveal the applicability of contemplative studies as a watershed field, capable of informing, enriching, and sustaining the many disciplines and instructional contexts that comprise higher education. Chapters discuss the theoretical aspects of the field; the details, experiences, and challenges of contemplative approaches; and the hopes and concerns for the future of this field.

Selfless Love and Human Flourishing in Paul Tillich and Iris Murdoch

Julia T. Meszaros
Selfless Love and Human Flourishing in Paul Tillich and Iris Murdoch Book PDF

Author : Julia T. Meszaros
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2016-03-03
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780191078361

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Selfless Love and Human Flourishing in Paul Tillich and Iris Murdoch by Julia T. Meszaros Pdf

In an age of self-affirmation and self-assertion, 'selfless love' can appear as a threat to the lover's personal well-being. This perception jars with the Biblical promise that we gain our life through losing it and therefore calls for a theological response. In conversation with the Protestant theologian Paul Tillich and the atheistic moral philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch, Selfless Love and Human Flourishing in Paul Tillich and Iris Murdoch enquires into the anthropological grounds on which selfless love can be said to build up, rather than undermine, the lover's self. It proposes that while the implausibility of selfless love was furthered by the modern deconstruction of the self, both Tillich and Murdoch utilize this very deconstruction towards explicating and restoring the link between selfless love and human flourishing. Julia T. Meszaros shows that they use the modern diagnosis of the human being's lack of a stable and independent self as manifest in Sartre's existentialism in support of an understanding of the self as relational and fallen. This leads them to view a loving orientation away from self and a surrender to the other as critical to the full flourishing of human selfhood. In arguing that Tillich and Murdoch defend the link between selfless love and human flourishing through reference to the human being's ontological selflessness, Meszaros closely engages Søren Kierkegaard's earlier attempt to keep selfless love and human flourishing in a productive, dialectical tension. She also examines the breakdown of this tension in the later figures of Anders Nygren, Simone Weil, and Jean-Paul Sartre, and addresses the pitfalls of this breakdown. Her examination concludes by arguing that the link between selfless love and human flourishing would be strengthened by a more resolute endorsement of a personal God, and of the reciprocal nature of selfless love.

A Still Forest Pool

Achaan Chah
A Still Forest Pool Book PDF

Author : Achaan Chah
Publisher : Quest Books
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2013-10-23
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780835630238

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A Still Forest Pool by Achaan Chah Pdf

Achaan Chah spent many years walking and meditating in the forest monastery of Wat Ba Pong, engaging in the uncomplicated and disciplined Buddhist practice called dhudanga. A Still Forest Pool reflects the quiet, intensive, and joyous practice of the forest monks of Thailand. Achaan Chah’s humble words, compiled by two Westerners who are former ordained monks, awaken the spirit of inquiry, wonderment, understanding, and deep inner peace. Attachment, according to Achaan Chah, causes all suffering. Understanding the impermanent, insecure, and selfless nature of life is the message he offers for human happiness and realization. To vividly grasp the meaning of attachment leads us to a new place of practice – the path of balance, the Middle Path.