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Mind in the balance : meditation in science, Buddhism, and Christianity / B. Alan Wallace.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Columbia series in science and religionPublication details: New York : Columbia University Press, c2009.Description: xii, 244 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0231147309 (cloth : alk. paper)
  • 0231519702 (electronic)
  • 9780231147309 (cloth : alk. paper)
  • 9780231519700 (electronic)
Other title:
  • Meditation in science, Buddhism, and Christianity
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part I: Meditation-Where It Started and How It Got Here -- Who am I? -- The origins of contemplation -- The scientific externalization of meditation -- Scientific studies of meditation -- Part II: Meditation in Theory and Practice -- Practice: attending to the breath of life -- Theory: coming to our senses -- Practice: the union of stillness and motion -- Theory: knowing and healing the mind -- Practice: behold the light of consciousness -- Theory: exploring the nature of consciousness -- Practice: probing the nature of the observer -- Theory: the ground state of consciousness -- Practice: oscillating awareness -- Theory: consciousness without beginning or end -- Practice: resting in the stillness of awareness -- Theory: worlds of skepticism -- Practice: the emptiness of mind -- Theory: the participatory worlds of Buddhism -- Practice: the emptiness of matter -- Theory: the participatory worlds of philosophy and science -- Practice: resting in timeless consciousness -- Theory: the luminous space of pristine awareness -- Practice: meditation in action -- The universe as a whole -- What shall we become?
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 158.12 W187 Available 33111006207183
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

By establishing a dialogue in which the meditative practices of Buddhism and Christianity speak to the theories of modern philosophy and science, B. Alan Wallace reveals the theoretical similarities underlying these disparate disciplines and their unified approach to making sense of the objective world.

Wallace begins by exploring the relationship between Christian and Buddhist meditative practices. He outlines a sequence of meditations the reader can undertake, showing that, though Buddhism and Christianity differ in their belief systems, their methods of cognitive inquiry provide similar insight into the nature and origins of consciousness.

From this convergence Wallace then connects the approaches of contemporary cognitive science, quantum mechanics, and the philosophy of the mind. He links Buddhist and Christian views to the provocative philosophical theories of Hilary Putnam, Charles Taylor, and Bas van Fraassen, and he seamlessly incorporates the work of such physicists as Anton Zeilinger, John Wheeler, and Stephen Hawking. Combining a concrete analysis of conceptions of consciousness with a guide to cultivating mindfulness and profound contemplative practice, Wallace takes the scientific and intellectual mapping of the mind in exciting new directions.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [220]-232) and index.

Part I: Meditation-Where It Started and How It Got Here -- Who am I? -- The origins of contemplation -- The scientific externalization of meditation -- Scientific studies of meditation -- Part II: Meditation in Theory and Practice -- Practice: attending to the breath of life -- Theory: coming to our senses -- Practice: the union of stillness and motion -- Theory: knowing and healing the mind -- Practice: behold the light of consciousness -- Theory: exploring the nature of consciousness -- Practice: probing the nature of the observer -- Theory: the ground state of consciousness -- Practice: oscillating awareness -- Theory: consciousness without beginning or end -- Practice: resting in the stillness of awareness -- Theory: worlds of skepticism -- Practice: the emptiness of mind -- Theory: the participatory worlds of Buddhism -- Practice: the emptiness of matter -- Theory: the participatory worlds of philosophy and science -- Practice: resting in timeless consciousness -- Theory: the luminous space of pristine awareness -- Practice: meditation in action -- The universe as a whole -- What shall we become?

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