Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 256 pages
- Published by: Columbia University Press September 29, 2006
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0231138342
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0231138345
-
Book Dimensions:
9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
- Weighs: 11.2 ounces
Product Review
"[From] one of the most prominent voices in the discussions
Contemplative Science is a useful primer." -- Benjamin Bogin
"Wallace makes a strong case." -- George Scialabba,
Boston Globe"A copy should go to every scientist - both physical and contemplative - in the land." -- David Fontana
Product Review
"Provocative, challenging, and engaging,
Contemplative Science should be read by all serious students of the mind, scientists, contemplatives, and religious scholars alike. Alan Wallace has a breathtaking command of knowledge rooted in Buddhism but embracing the physical and cognitive sciences and most importantly informed by meditation practice. This book will help set the stage for a unique development in the twenty-first-century& mdash;a genuine collaboration between the contemplative traditions and Western science." -- Richard J. Davidson, William James and Vilas Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Reader ReviewsUnless you are involved in neuroscience, it is difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the seismic shifts that are occurring in our knowledge about the brain, and the extraordinary consequences for our understanding of what it means to be human. Or the important implications of the new brain sciences for such issues as education and legal responsibility. There is a robust and growing literature on Buddhism, Western psychology and cognitive science, consciousness and the brain. And this book is a new installment that summarizes some of this work. The author of this fine book is B. Alan Wallace who spent fourteen years as a Buddhist monk and was ordained by the Dalai Lama. He is also the founder and president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. He has also translated a number of Tibetan Buddhist texts and is the author of several other books. His central thesis is that although objective science has long said that religion, faith, belief and other subjective experiences are no more than epiphenomena of physical processes, that can and should change. He proposes that Western science and contemplative practices of Buddhism, and for that matter Christianity and Taoism, can be integrated to create a single discipline that he calls "Contemplative science." Alan contends that the development of this science is already underway and promises to illuminate both objective Western science and contemplative practices. It will in all likelihood bear many other fruits as well. I am persuaded by what he has to say. I have never felt that we could or should relegate important human experiences to epiphenomena. Not only does it belittle meaningful experiences, it diminishes science. As Albert Einstein once said, "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind." This book presents us with a roadmap to abolish both of those handicaps. This is a must read for anyone interested in consciousness and human potential. Highly recommended. Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life
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