Harvard Mind Science Symposium - 1999 - MindScience - An East-West Dialogue (135p).pdf

Harvard Mind Science Symposium - 1999 - MindScience - An East-West Dialogue (135p).pdf

Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Wisdom Publications (November 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0861710665
ISBN-13: 978-0861710669

This is an interesting, slim little volume, basically a transcript of the MindScience symposium held at Harvard University years ago, featuring the Dalai Lama and a slew of top-tier Harvard neuroscientists. There are some great neuroscience-Buddhism dialogues recorded here, as well as some interesting lectures by the various scientists who participated. Some go over what was, at the time, cutting edge research on the physiological side of meditation, others hit on the philosophy of mind and so on. Robert Thurman (ever present at these types of things) gives a provocative but overall, I felt, rather incoherent talk on the possibly physiological aspects of tantra and higher forms of meditation.

Overall it's a fairly superficial look at all these processes and questions, but then it was only a couple of days' conference! This kind of dialogue is, I think, absolutely essential, and this book will give you a little window on what is being discussed by some great thinkers of our time, if you can't get down to Harvard or the Mind and Life conferences yourself.