Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) [Hardcover]

B. Alan Wallace (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231138342 | ISBN-13: 978-0231138345 | Publication Date: October 17, 2006

Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. However, B. Alan Wallace, a respected Buddhist scholar, proposes that the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and of Western science are capable of being integrated into a single discipline: contemplative science.

The science of consciousness introduces first-person methods of investigating the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as samatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their own theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, including a wide range of states of consciousness, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances.

Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience have all shed light on the cognitive processes that enable us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious that transcends the traditional science-based understanding of the self.

(Spring 2007)

Editorial Reviews

Review

[From] one of the most prominent voices in the discussions... Contemplative Science is a useful primer.

(Benjamin Bogin Buddhadharma )

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 The Scientific and Medical Network )

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—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 Summer 2007)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231138342
• ISBN-13: 978-0231138345
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Trained for ten years in Buddhist monasteries in India and Switzerland, Alan Wallace has taught Buddhist theory and practice in Europe and America since 1976; and he has served as interpreter for numerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the Dalai Lama. After graduating summa cum laude from Amherst College, where he studied physics and the philosophy of science, he earned a doctorate in religious studies at Stanford University.

He has edited, translated, authored, or contributed to more than thirty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, as well as the interface between religion and science. He teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is launching one program in Tibetan Buddhist studies and another in science and religion. His published works include The Bridge of Quiescence: Experiencing Buddhist Meditation), Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind, and Tibetan Buddhism From the Ground Up.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

184 of 194 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what it suggests, March 7, 2008

By 

MindCurious (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) (Hardcover)

Readers be warned: the subtitle to this book,"Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge" is quite misleading--there are only a few very cursory references to anything about neuroscience. Based on the title and introduction, I purchased this assuming it might explain how scientific research on the brain illuminates the practice of meditation and the contemplative tradition (and vice-versa). It does not. For those interested in the connection between meditation and Western neuroscience, you'll find little here to satisfy you.

The book you want is Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, by Sharon Begley. The unfortunate title suggests little more than standard pop-psych self-help, but Ms. Begley's book provides a solid, readable account of neuroscience research from the last 10-15 years that relates specifically to the potential changes brought about in the brain through the practice of meditation, including recent studies on the brains of highly experienced meditators. I cannot recommend that book highly enough.

138 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptional Contribution to Consciousness Studies, March 8, 2007

By 

Dr. Richard G. Petty (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) (Hardcover)

Unless 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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough going, but worth the effort, October 15, 2009

By 

James A. Godfrey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) (Hardcover)

This is the fifth Alan Wallace book that I have purchased, the fourth that I have finished reading. This one is more detailed than the others. Alan presents justification for a science of meditation. Then he presents some observations by skilled Buddhist practitioners as seed areas for initial investigation using skilled meditation practitioners in this new proposed contemplative science.

Buddhists don't talk about their personal progress, so it is difficult for an interested observer to see details of their path. This book contains the clearest explanation and illustration of what it is like to be at various stages of the path towards enlightenment that I've seen anywhere.

I especially like the notes section which gives extensive references. It is surprising just how many of the references that Dr Wallace uses are to his own books and his original translations.

I would not recommend this book for those interested in an introduction to contemplation. It is an excellent reference work and ties together many thoughts that are only hinted at in introductory works.

Disclaimer: I am an interested observer of Buddhism and follow several different meditative practices. I attended a one week Samatha retreat presented by Alan Wallace several years ago.