Zen-Brain Horizons: Toward a Living Zen

by James H. Austin

Overview

A neurologist and Zen practitioner clarifies the benefits of meditative training, drawing on classical Buddhist literature and modern brain research.

In Zen-Brain Horizons, James Austin draws on his decades of experience as a neurologist and Zen practitioner to clarify the benefits of meditative training. Austin integrates classical Buddhist literature with modern brain research, exploring the horizons of a living, neural Zen.

When viewed in the light of today, the timeless wisdom of some Zen masters seems almost to have anticipated recent research in the neurosciences. The keen attentiveness and awareness that we cultivate during meditative practices becomes the leading edge of our subsequent mental processing. Austin explains how our covert, involuntary functions can make crucial contributions to the subtle ways we learn, intuit, and engage in creative activities. He demonstrates why living Zen means much more than sitting quietly indoors on a cushion, and provides simplified advice that helps guide readers to the most important points.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262321167
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/22/2014
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James H. Austin, a clinical neurologist, researcher, and Zen practitioner for more than three decades, is Professor Emeritus of Neurology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Courtesy Professor of Neurology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He is the author of Zen and the Brain, Chase, Chance, and Creativity, Zen-Brain Reflections, Selfless Insight, Meditating Selflessly, and Zen-Brain Horizons, all published by the MIT Press. For more information, please visit www.zenandthebrain.com.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

By Way of a Personal Introduction xix

Part I Looking Far Back into the Distant Past

1 Two Old Men Consult the Buddha 3

2 Neuropsychological Aspects of the Attentive Self 12

3 Neural Correlations of Meditating Selflessly 22

4 Buddhist Botany 101 33

Part II Looking Back into Earlier Centuries of the Common Era

5 A Glimpse of "Just This" in Tang Dynasty China (618-907) 51

6 Avian Zen 52

7 Homage to William James 65

Part III Sampling Recent Reports

8 Recent Clinical Information 73

9 Mindfulness Starts as Present-Moment Awareness 75

10 Subconscious Background Qualities That Can Infuse Awareness 89

Part IV Looking Out into the Distance above the Horizon

11 Reprocessing Emotionally Traumatic Imagery While Elevating the Gaze 99

12 Spontaneous Color Imagery during Meditation 124

13 A Way Out of the Grand Delusion 143

Part V Peering into the Future

14 New Research Horizons 155

15 Resources of Enduring Happiness; Opening to "Just This" 170

In Closing 183

Appendix A The Forest as a Sanctuary for Re-creation 186

Appendix B Potentially Useful Words and Phrases 190

Appendix C Common Acronyms Used in Brain Research 197

Appendix D Elephants in the Living Room 199

References and Notes 201

Index 250

What People are Saying About This

Eberhard E. Fetz

This insightful book by neurologist and Zen practitioner James Austin is icing on the four-layered cake of his previous books on Zen and the brain. He provides a unique, informed, and readable account of the brain mechanisms generating egocentric and enlightened consciousness, cross-referenced with his earlier works.

Alfred W. Kaszniak

In this, the fifth of Dr. James Austin's explorations of Zen and neuroscience, new research, well-established cerebral anatomy, and the classical stories of Chinese and Japanese Zen are brought together in creative insights regarding the transformative process of Zen practice. Of particular interest to readers who have been following Dr. Austin's unfolding understanding across his books will be the detailed speculations regarding different attentional systems of the brain and how their functioning may relate to sudden awakening experience triggered by sound or visual phenomena above the horizon. As with his previous volumes, this is a feast for the mind to be savored by scientists, meditation practitioners, and everyone fascinated by the interface between science, religion, and the humanities.

Endorsement

In this, the fifth of Dr. James Austin's explorations of Zen and neuroscience, new research, well-established cerebral anatomy, and the classical stories of Chinese and Japanese Zen are brought together in creative insights regarding the transformative process of Zen practice. Of particular interest to readers who have been following Dr. Austin's unfolding understanding across his books will be the detailed speculations regarding different attentional systems of the brain and how their functioning may relate to sudden awakening experience triggered by sound or visual phenomena above the horizon. As with his previous volumes, this is a feast for the mind to be savored by scientists, meditation practitioners, and everyone fascinated by the interface between science, religion, and the humanities.—Alfred W. Kaszniak, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neurology, University of Arizona

Roshi Joan Halifax

Zen-Brain Horizons is a wise and extraordinary book that brings science into focus through the medium of contemplative practice, and opens up new avenues to understanding how the mind works.