Beyond the Self: Conversations between Buddhism and Neuroscience (Mit Press)

This kind of book is more than a breath of fresh air into inquiries into the nature of consciousness and how we apprehend reality, it is a much-needed whirlwind that has the potential to scour away years of accumulated speculations and half-baked blah-blah from ‘masters’ in the domains of psychology and spirituality.“Pure thought alone does not enable us to draw any conclusions one way or another about things that are non-spatiotemporal”. – Stephenson in Anathem. Why is this so? Why and how does self-observation revolve within its own limitations? We are largely incapable of perceiving anything as it is, in its intrinsic nature, and that includes ourselves and our patterns of perception. This is because from birth onward we are unremittingly subjected to haphazard and random influences, which become embedded in our memories after being filtered through our preconditionings and our preferences, where they achieve the status of becoming aspects of an agglomerate and ultimately false identity of no enduring reality: what we call our personality. To resort to a tradition that purports to offer a transcendent experience by which we should obtain a broader and more objective perspective entails a similar pitfall – a tradition, like an individual, has its own inherent randomnesses, and accrues its own preconceptions (precepts) and preferences, reinforced over time through the company of the like-minded, faulty or not. Traditions that observe themselves critically and with effectiveness are rare, although all claim to do so. That is to say, while the human mind does possess a reflective capability, and can examine itself, this faculty has severe limitations: a horse cannot self-examine itself into being a veterinarian, and a meditative or contemplative person who lacks understanding of the tools at her or his disposal is similarly circumscribed. Lack of admission about this circumscription has driven not only many individuals, but also entire spiritual and psychological schools of practice, off the rails. Gurdjieff taught that an outside shock or force or surprise is sometimes necessary to break us out of our unrecognised habits of perception and self-perception … but we cannot guarantee the efficacy of such disruptions, which have the potential for further harm, through despair or bitterness or resentment or some other outcome. Until recent decades, we had scant means to understand our innate tools of perception, our central nervous system, how the organs of our ‘mind’ function, even how our bodies function at subtle levels.Specialists and researchers in such fields as those of the authors here, who can comfortably and effectively communicate with practitioners of spiritual disciplines, have been few and far between. Spiritual practitioners have likewise often presented barriers to communication, by discounting scientists as lacking in ethics and morals, and accusing them of being incapable of understanding spiritual matters because they are bound to methods that demand testing and rigorous proofs. This is ironic, because even a poor scientist is probably more aware than a spiritual practitioner of the limitations of his or her methods, and of how these limitations are magnified by his or her assumptions and assertions, and how their previously-held ideas can cloud interpretation of results.Which takes us to the value of this title: it is a fruitful conversation between two men who have devoted their lives with integrity and honesty to their scientific and spiritual disciplines (and more), and who can convey their insights with ease and coherence to probably any thoughtful reader. Their discussions provide more than a hint of what can be gained by attention to our means of perception beyond mere self-observation and mental regurgitation, in our pursuit of transformation. (By the way, this applies to the domain of psychology also – how few counselors and therapists have studied basic neurophysiology, or even physiology and endocrinology, disciplines that have profound impacts upon human behavior? Such courses are seldom pre-reqs for a simple Masters degree.) The authors do not try to debunk. They are not out to diminish the value of the Dharma traditions. They are as unflinching in their assessments of shoddy science and pop psychology as they are of fuzzy New Age pseudo-spiritual blah-blah. One particularly delights in their ‘disagreements’, expressed not as conflicting perspectives, but as nuanced and textured complementary meanings derived from their respective experiences and training. I am late to the party – this was first published in 2017 – as I only heard about this book in late 2021, and regret I did not pick it up when it first came out. Do not do yourself this injustice – buy it and study it, and you will be amply rewarded. – Daniel O’Donnell, Portland Oregon‘Beyond the Self, Conversations between Buddhism and Neuroscience’ – flyleaf info: Matthieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk & molecular biologist > emphasis upon experiential findings, direct experience of the mind through penetrating introspection … he is also a published photographer, and the French translator for the Dalai Lama / Wolf Singer is a neuroscientist > emphasis upon experimental results, third-person knowledge in the form of scientific observation … director of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, founding director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience & Ernst Strüngmann Forum. The MIT Press 2017, 261 pgs, 265-274 notes, 275-282 index

I really liked this book. There should be more books like this, which bridge the gaps between points of view. One of the great things is they were very respectful of the other's point of view, even when they disagreed. Some books are weak, when the only thing they can claim possible are points of agreement. This one does a good job of expressing both points of view.The only reason I gave it a 4 and and not a 5 is that I would like to see more points of view. I appreciate that this book was a lot of work by itself. But, there are even more ways to look at this. For example, toward the end of the book, when the authors disagreed about consciousness, it was obvious the reason for their disagreement was they were assuming different definitions of consciousness. I have read several books, lately, about the mind, and I can say there are many more definitions of consciousness than these two. It would be great to include others in the discussion: Hindu, zen, a couple members of Jewish/Christian/Muslim faith (one intellectual and one spiritual), a physicist (Michio Kaku has lots of good ideas), a psychologist, and a sociologist. Perhaps there could be a conference on consciousness. Hopefully, the atmosphere would be as constructive as this book.As another example, I respect the one author's point of view, but I disagree with his conclusion about free will. Events need to be reproducible for science to study them. So, of course science is going to conclude that there is no free will, since the assumption of determinism is the starting point. Science is very useful (obviously), but I believe, just like we can't use a thermometer to measure pressure, we can't use science to measure free will. But, this is not a complaint, this is just the sort of discussions I would like to see more of.

It’s a great book for those who interest in meditation like myself. Mr. Ricard makes it easy to understand the life itself and to remind us meaning of a plain living itself, nothing more nothing less. We’re a space occupier for now. Dr. Michigan Kanu mentioned about human species, and its destiny, “ultimate extinction.” Because there have been no species ever continually survived but ultimately being extincted. We humans are no exception, IMHO. The saddest part is that Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy but unfortunately being misled by the cornfirmed bias/belief cemented with limbic brain, just like any other good old religion. Mr. Ricard has no fear to be honest. I had spend several days Lhasa, Tibet in the past. It was such a sad environment for the average humble tiebetians, not even mentioning Chinese brutality. How the Buddhism has helped the hapless naive Tibetans without the cornfirmed belief, the biggest cause of human misery and exploitations. Life is nothing but the actual experiences that matters most. Mr. Ricard reassures my experiences, and I profoundly appreciate him.

Reading this book is not for everyone. But if you're interested in delving into questions of how the mind works, who am I, and how Buddhism can explain some kind phenomena, this book is awesome.

This book eliminates the myth that east is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet. Ricard and Wolf provide us with a true dialogue where neuroscience and Tibetan introspective science of the mind build a bridge for a meeting of the minds. They give us an outside-in and inside-out integration of hindsight, foresight and insight.

This book is very interesting as a conversation between two perspectives on the spiritual nature of humans and the value of meditation. Right on for me in understanding the growth and results of meditation on ones perspective in navigating one's life and the challenges each day brings.

This book is a ‘must read’ for all who wish to wake up!

Me gustó, pero me gustó más el libro de Ricard y Trinh Xuan Thuan "El infinito en la palma de la mano", que es mucho más completo.

es un libro que muestra una conexión entra la ciencia y sus más actuales experimentos y el desarrollo personal a través de leña práctica milenaria de la medicación obteniendo nuevas posibilidades para avanzar. Me gusta mucho el estilo conversaciones que trae el libro por que permite a uno sumarse a esto con preguntas nuevas y generar reflexiones interesantes.Las personas que tengan inquietudes respecto a los temas del libro y en particular a como aprender nuevas habilidades que permitan fortalecer su desarrollo personal son candidatos para leer y disfrutar de esta lectura.

Striking and fascinating interactions between two great minds! Their dialogue brings a common understanding on how the regular application of a set of methods and techniques, established over 2500 years ago, can bring astonishing transformations at different levels, ranging from the biological to far-reaching attitudes of love and compassion that eventually translate into a fundamental sense of well-being.

This is a gem, I learned a huge amount about the Neuroscientists model of how the mind works and the, for a change, clear description of an experienced Buddhist from the Tibetan strand of some of the most subtle ideas. A treasure trove for someone who seeks clearer understanding of the agreements and lack of agreement between the Tibetan Buddhist ideas and the scientific approach, and in the end both sides come together in mutual respect neither one side or the other dismissing the alternative explanations.

AMAZING

Overall a very good book. It took me a while to get used to the style of writing however. Some very interesting conversations were had but I felt that at times it lost itself and tended to ramble somewhat. A Good read for anyone interested in the relationship between Buddhism and Western Science. Not for the faint hearted though with some tricky concepts to get ones head around.