A Buddhist monk and esteemed neuroscientist discuss their converging—and diverging—views on the mind and self, consciousness and the unconscious, free will and perception, and more.Buddhism shares with science the task of examining the mind empirically; it has pursued, for two millennia, direct investigation of the mind through penetrating introspection. Neuroscience, on the other hand, relies on third-person knowledge in the form of scientific observation. In this...

This volume is the result of a research project entitled “Evolutionary Continuity – Human Specifics – The Possibility of Objective Knowledge” that was carried out by representatives of six academic disciplines (evolutionary biology, evolutionary anthropology, brain research, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and philosophy) over a period of three and a half years. The starting point for the project was the newly emerging riddle of human uniqueness: though the uniqueness of human...

One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024The bestselling author of Other Minds shows how we and our ancestors have reinvented our planet.If the history of the Earth were compressed down to a year, our species would arise in the last thirty minutes or so of the final hour. But life itself is not such a late arrival: It has existed on Earth for something like 3.7 billion years—most of our planet’s history...

A Spirituality & Practice Best Spiritual Book of 2023Enduring and accessible advice for living with wisdom and compassion―and meeting the end of life with courage and peaceThrough countless editions and across centuries, The Tibetan Book of the Dead has drawn readers intrigued by the Tibetan Buddhist view of the end of life. In a world that often ignores death or hides it from view, Tibetan Buddhists acknowledge it as the la...

What kind of object is the brain? And how does it really work? A neuroscientist offers a new vision of the brain as a fully integrated, networked organ.Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, cognition, or memory, but The Entangled Brain tackles a much bigger question: What kind of object is the brain? Neuroscientist Luiz Pessoa describes the brain as a highly networked, interconne...

"A truly delightful and wonderfully compact introduction to philosophy's key questions and major thinkers from ancient times to the present day." —William Irwin, general editor of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture seriesWho are you? What is truly real? Is there such a thing as free will? If you have ever considered questions like these, that's philosophy. The Philosophy Book for Beginners breaks down the core concepts of both Eastern and Western phi...

A 6-week Artist's Way Program from legendary author Julia CameronA Washington Post and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller"Cameron's fans will love this"— Publishers WeeklyThe newest book from beloved author Julia Cameron, The Listening Path is a transformational journey to deeper, more profound listening and creativity. Over six weeks, readers will be given the tools to become better li...

Designed as a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Western neuroscientists, this book takes readers on a journey through opposing fields of thought—showing that they may not be so opposing after allIs the mind an ephemeral side effect of the brain’s physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness happen? Organized by the Mind and Life Institute, this discussion addresses some of the ...

An accessible translation of the ancient classic handbook on Buddhist meditation by Kamalashila—with commentary from everyone’s favorite Buddhist teacher, the Dalai LamaBased upon the middle section of the Bhavanakrama by Kamalashila—a translation of which is included—this is the most extensive commentary given by the Dalai Lama on this concise but important meditation handbook. It is a favorite text of the Dalai Lama, and he often takes the opportunity to...

The New York Times bestselling author and a central figure in the field of meditation, Sharon Salzberg, uses ancient Buddhist wisdom to redefine love and experience it in a more profound way.You are a person worthy of love. You don't have to do anything to deserve all the love in the world.Real Love is a creative tool kit of mindfulness exercises and meditation techniques that help you to truly engage with your present experience an...

"A critical overview of scientific orthodoxy in an attempt to answer the fundamental questions "what are we?" and "why are we here?" ( Kirkus Reviews).Specialist scientific fields are developing at incredibly swift speeds, but what can they really tell us about how the universe began and how we as humans evolved to play such a dominant role on Earth?John Hands's extraordinarily ambitious book merges scientific knowledge from multiple disciplines and ...

A captivating exploration of how underwater animals tap into sound to survive, and a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes—from an award-winning science writer“Sing Like Fish is that rare book that makes you see the world differently.”—Mark Kurlansky, New York Times bestselling author of Salt and CodLONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE ...