my mind on books

James H. Austin and Susan Blackmore, two favorite authors on consciousness, have new books out. First,
Selfless Insight: Zen and the Meditative Transformations of Consciousness by James H. Austin (MIT Press, 2009):

Product Description
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.

Then Ten Zen Questions by Susan Blackmore (Oneworld Publications, 2009) :

Product Description
Who are you? When are you? What were you conscious of a moment ago? This groundbreaking book sees acclaimed psychologist Susan Blackmore combining the latest scientific theories about mind, self, and consciousness, with a lifetime’s practice of Zen.

Alongside her research on consciousness and memes, Susan Blackmore has been practising Zen for over twenty-five years; not as a Buddhist, but as a scientist who longs to understand the mind. Many neuroscientists and philosophers believe that we need first-person approaches as well as third-person scientific research in order to fully comprehend consciousness. In Ten Zen Questions, she brings the two together for the first time.

Seeking to understand whether personal experience can help penetrate the scientific mystery of consciousness, she uses traditional techniques of calming the mind and looking directly into experience as she delves into ten great questions, including “How does thought arise?”, “Am I conscious now?”, and the Zen koan “There is no time. What is memory?”

Featuring the ten questions, a critical response from her Zen master, and lively illustrations, Ten Zen Questions offers a revolutionary way to try to understand who we are. This is not the kind of book that provides final – or easy – answers, but instead offers an inspiring exploration of how intellectual enquiry and meditation can tackle the questions behind some of today’s greatest scientific mysteries.

Website for the book

I recently read Transformative Phenomenology: Changing Ourselves, Lifeworlds, and Professional Practice, hoping to find some instructions for phenomenological techniques. The book is a collection of accounts by students at Fielding Graduate University.

Most of the articles were descriptions of the results of applying phenomenological techniques to various experiences, with only a few hints on what they were actually doing, although after reading through many accounts it was possible to get a rough idea of the method. The first step is to collect written accounts (“protocols”) of experience on a certain theme, either from one’s own experience or from a group of people who share the experience being investigated. These accounts are studied to discover common themes.

In the introduction, three specific phenomenological techniques are discussed: bracketing, imaginative variations, and horizontalization:
p. 11-17

bracketing – learn “to recognize, then set aside, the myriad assumptions, filters, conceptual frameworks that structure our perceptions and experiences.” levels – (1) suspend what has been learned from scientific studies, accepted theories, legitimated sources of knowledge (2) notions from cultural milieu; third deeper level, set aside object of consciousness itself, to experience pure consciousness, the self beneath the particular content.

imaginative variations – one imaginatively changes components with the aim of discovering what must be present, what does not need to be present for the phenomenon to exist

horizontalization – making elements in a situation equal and putting that situation at a distance to better view it without assumptions or bias

One article — Intentionality in Action by David B. Haddad — did spell out a method, since his project involved teaching the process to artists:
p. 196-197

My goal was to instruct artists with no prior knowledge of phenomenology to write and think about their work using the techniques of writing protocols, and work with them using bracketing, imaginative variations, and other phenomenological techniques…

!. Initiate an act of intentionality simply by making a spontaneous choice. Participants were urged to make their choice about a future state of affairs.

2. Describe your choice in the fullest possible detail. To assist the participants, I encouraged them to base their descriptions on a range of existential categories. I asked them to describe their intentional act in terms of time, space, the body, and their relationships to others. Meditation develops most of its content by applying these existential prompts.

3. Next was the clustering phase, to cluster meanings, to identify and isolate themes. Phrases, sentences, even whole paragraphs, of rich description were brought together into concentrations of like thoughts. Then we mined their horizontal qualities. Each horizon of the meditation was an aspect of the meaning within the overall meditation. Each was considered on its own merits, in isolation from the rest, so that its full significance could be felt and explored. Once exploration of horizons begins, one quickly discovers their open-endedness. Horizons of meaning possess inexhaustible qualities.

4. Next, we inverted the contents of the meditation. By subjecting the results gained to playfully upturned, imaginative reversals and polarities, we were able to shake ourselves out of any residual linear thinking and consider the radical breadth still buried in the original act of intentionality.

5. Finally, we reassessed and condensed the entire meditation into a final synthesis. Whereas all of the above steps were carried out in writing, only the final synthesis was open to artistic rather than textual rendering.

Emotional Awareness: Overcoming the Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion by the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman (Times Books, 2008) seems quite similar to the Mind and Life Institute series of books but it doesn’t appear on their list of publications.

Product Description

Two leading thinkers engage in a landmark conversation about human emotions and the pursuit of psychological fulfillment

At their first meeting, a remarkable bond was sparked between His Holiness the Dalai Lama, one of the world’s most revered spiritual leaders, and the psychologist Paul Ekman, whose groundbreaking work helped to define the science of emotions. Now these two luminaries share their thinking about science and spirituality, the bonds between East and West, and the nature and quality of our emotional lives.

In this unparalleled series of conversations, the Dalai Lama and Ekman prod and push toward answers to the central questions of emotional experience. What are the sources of hate and compassion? Should a person extend her compassion to a torturer—and would that even be biologically possible? What does science reveal about the benefits of Buddhist meditation, and can Buddhism improve through engagement with the scientific method? As they come to grips with these issues, they invite us to join them in an unfiltered view of two great traditions and two great minds.

Accompanied by commentaries on the findings of emotion research and the teachings of Buddhism, their interplay—amusing, challenging, eye-opening, and moving—guides us on a transformative journey in the understanding of emotions.

Dr. Peter Grossenbacher, from the Consciousness Laboratory at Naropa University, visits the Buddhist Geeks in the first of a two-part series of podcasts.

Dr. Grossenbacher is the editor of Finding Consciousness in the Brain: A Neurocognitive Approach (John Benjamins Co., 2001) (“Look Inside” the book available from Amazon).

Once again I was gifted with a book through the wonderful Early Reviewers Program at LibraryThing. This time it is Authenticity: Clearing the Junk: A Buddhist Perspective by Venerable Yifa (Lantern, 2007). Speaking unpretentiously, like a wise sister, Yifa looks at junk in many manifestations: junk food, stuff, communication, relationships, emotions and thoughts.

This slim volume does not have practical tips for dealing with clutter, nor does it advocate asceticism for all, but takes more of a typically Buddhist approach that involves changing attitudes, working from the inside out. One aspect of the Buddhist approach is to evaluate how behaviors affect the mind, seeking to promote those that are conducive to mental equanimity. Another is to look at whole systems, focusing on the interdependence of all things.

It was surprising to come across a reference to Heidegger in the midst of this Buddhist book, but I appreciated the concept. Yifa refers to “…a kind of junk conversation where we’re being what the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) called das Man. Das Man is the everyday and impersonal public face of who we are. It’s the type of individual who doesn’t mean what he says, and who doesn’t bother whether he’s authentic or truthful. He gets by on white lies, exaggerations, small talk, and sarcasm. In the process, the individual forgets who he is and replaces his authentic self with a kind of shallow and flexible persona that adapts to all things and believes in nothing.” p. 58. (More on ‘Das Man’ at Wikipedia)

Another nice quote from the book is an anonymous Chinese piece called “The Temperature of Speech” (p. 62):

If something is urgent, say it slowly.

If something is important, say it clearly.

If something is unimportant, say it humorously.

If something is uncertain, say it discreetly.

If something did not happen, do not mention it at all.

If you cannot do something, do not claim it for yourself.

If what you say could harm others, keep silent.

When something annoys you, don’t take it personally.

If something makes you happy, don’t make too much of it.

When talking about your own affairs, pay attention to how you talk.

When talking about someone else’s affairs, be judicious.

When your heart is broken, not everyone needs to know.

Of things that remain to be done, talk of them when they are finished.

Of things that happen in the future, don’t talk of them in the present.

If I have not satisfied you, tell me.

These principles are well exemplified in Yifa’s writing itself.

Sample content (Table of Contents, Introduction and Chapter One) available through the publisher

Yifa interview on YouTube