I read this book yesterday:
(Note that while the book says it's 328 pages, my copy in hardcover is 308 pages. It's a small format book, and after page 213 is appendices, and extensive notes. So it's a pretty quick read; I read it in one day.)
I've read other books by Austin, who is a neurologist, and who has been a zen practitioner for decades. They can be tough going. In fact, in this one, I skipped some parts about specific types of fMRI tests, neurotransmitters, etc. However, it's a fascinating book. It looks at the difference between self and other, and much of it looks at kensho experiences and how they can be triggered, in people with long experience of meditation, but sounds, movements, words, etc.
It ends with a long section about Basho's haiku, showing how it seems that Basho had at least two major enlightenment experiences, and how they influenced his poetry.
It's not a book for everyone; you have to be curious about the scientific foundations of what happens when we sit. But the part about Basho was extremely interesting, so if you're into haiku (Kokuu; this is for you), you'll like it.
Gasso,
Kirk
sat
(Note that while the book says it's 328 pages, my copy in hardcover is 308 pages. It's a small format book, and after page 213 is appendices, and extensive notes. So it's a pretty quick read; I read it in one day.)
This is a book for readers who want to probe more deeply into mindfulness. It goes beyond the casual, once-in-awhile meditation in popular culture, grounding mindfulness in daily practice, Zen teachings, and recent research in neuroscience. In Living Zen Remindfully, James Austin, author of the groundbreaking Zen and the Brain, describes authentic Zen training—the commitment to a process of regular, ongoing daily life practice. This training process enables us to unlearn unfruitful habits, develop more wholesome ones, and lead a more genuinely creative life.
Austin shows that mindfulness can mean more than our being conscious of the immediate “now.” It can extend into the subconscious, where most of our brain's activities take place, invisibly. Austin suggests ways that long-term meditative training helps cultivate the hidden, affirmative resource of our unconscious memory. Remindfulness, as Austin terms it, can help us to adapt more effectively and to live more authentic lives.
Austin discusses different types of meditation, meditation and problem-solving, and the meaning of enlightenment. He addresses egocentrism (self-centeredness) and allocentrism (other-centeredness), and the blending of focal and global attention. He explains the remarkable processes that encode, store, and retrieve our memories, focusing on the covert, helpful remindful processes incubating at subconscious levels. And he considers the illuminating confluence of Zen, clinical neurology, and neuroscience. Finally, he describes an everyday life of “living Zen,” drawing on the poetry of Basho, the seventeenth-century haiku master.
Austin shows that mindfulness can mean more than our being conscious of the immediate “now.” It can extend into the subconscious, where most of our brain's activities take place, invisibly. Austin suggests ways that long-term meditative training helps cultivate the hidden, affirmative resource of our unconscious memory. Remindfulness, as Austin terms it, can help us to adapt more effectively and to live more authentic lives.
Austin discusses different types of meditation, meditation and problem-solving, and the meaning of enlightenment. He addresses egocentrism (self-centeredness) and allocentrism (other-centeredness), and the blending of focal and global attention. He explains the remarkable processes that encode, store, and retrieve our memories, focusing on the covert, helpful remindful processes incubating at subconscious levels. And he considers the illuminating confluence of Zen, clinical neurology, and neuroscience. Finally, he describes an everyday life of “living Zen,” drawing on the poetry of Basho, the seventeenth-century haiku master.
It ends with a long section about Basho's haiku, showing how it seems that Basho had at least two major enlightenment experiences, and how they influenced his poetry.
It's not a book for everyone; you have to be curious about the scientific foundations of what happens when we sit. But the part about Basho was extremely interesting, so if you're into haiku (Kokuu; this is for you), you'll like it.
Gasso,
Kirk
sat
. I needed recovery zazen! Worth checking out.
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