Customer Reviews

Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book presents notes from a summit of several top thinkers in the fields of psychoanalysis, neurophysiology, Buddhism, Western philosophy and others. Completely unlike a collection of essays; you're presented with the rich, dynamic and fascinating syntheses of the theories from each of these fields. The dialog format emphasizes the creativity and intelligence of participants. Worth reading no matter which philosphy you endorse -- all the better if you have some interest in each! This book has that rare quality of really making you work your brain muscle AND being a book you can't wait to come home to after work. Don't skip a page

Can you imagine a conversation about the essence of art taking place between, oh, say, Picasso and art therapists who treat mental patients, and some chemists who concoct formulaes for oil paints? Something like that is taking place here. The title alone is enough to pique your interest, but the content is less than secret-divulging. If you're not a neurologist,or a specialist in a related area,then much of the material presented by the neurologist will be for all practical purposes useless. If you're not familiar with the basic assumptions of esoteric buddhist psychology, then much of what HH Dalai Lama has to say will sound like so much dogma or articles of faith. I know next to nothing about brain sciences, but am academically acquainted with the buddhist conception of reality, so I found what the Dalai Lama had to say both interesting and amusing. Interesting, because he speaks as plainly as he can about things that are usually wrapped in some hairy buddhist language. Amusing, becuase the Dalai Lama would show utmost courtesy in listening to all the dry academic presentations, which even I found somewhat tedious, and then offer his views about the matter at hand by often beginning with what sounds like a gentle correction rather than a positing of difference of perspective only. I paraphrase from memory: "Well, your numbers and theories are all very nice, but no, it's actually like this." Some of the discussions on REM, and animal responses to dream states are interesting, but just merely interesting. Better on the Discovery channel. Much of the philosopher Charles Taylor's presentations concerning the Western/Christian conception of the Self is reliable but elementary. And dealing with the subject matter at hand, even an eminent philosopher can do only so much with Ratio alone. The book is of some value if one is willing to be open to the possibility that the Dalai Lama may be speaking of things that are real but not measurable, at least not with knobs and dials. Not yet. He never mentions it specifically in the book, but the idea of rebirth and the attendant conditions are indirectly there, for example when he questions the authenticity of the phenomenon of seeing one's departed ones in a near-death experience. He says, "Maybe the person is hallucinating at that point or projecting a wish. They (the loved ones who departed long ago) would have found new bodies by then." Taken as an record of an encounter with the Dalai Lama, this book sheds some light into that aspect of the man that won't show up when he is on Larry King or speaking of compassion to the multitude in Central Park. The guy is a professional in his own field, after all, and he knows his chops. Here, refreshingly enough, he sheds some of his avuncular "hey, be cool, people!" image and divulges some of his professional knowledge at a speed and intensity of delivery considerably higher than the mass media have shown him to be capable.

I found this book to be a little dry at times but nonetheless provides some useful explanations on the myths which have been with the human race since the ancient time: dream, sleep and death.

From a buddhist perspective it helps reinforces the belief (at least not disproved it) of buddhist that there is a higher level of consciousness not yet been measured via any scientific means. From a scientific standpoint, the book has summarised the recent developments in neuroscience and showed us that there is a possibility one day both religion and science will meet face to face and one would have to change the fundamental concepts one used to hold. It could be the scientific community or the religious groups. At least HH the Dalai Lama is very open to the ideas in the book while the scientists were at times pretty "close" and reluctant to take a different perspective which made some of them sounded a little bit defensive.

I'm not sure why this book received all the bad reviews that it did (though I confess I have never given a Dalai Lama book less than a 5 start review-I love the guy!). The book is one of a plethora of transcripts of the Mind and Life Conferences held in India, this being the fourth conference in 1992. Sure the discussions are varied, and by no means is everyone simply in agreement with one another here. But the dialogue is engaging and thought provoking, and above all else, illuminating. At the conference we had philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and many more; so of course we are going to get a huge spectrum of views.

The cultural ecologist, Jane Halifax (whom you all may know of), had a particularly fascinating section in here on near death experiences. All the Dalai Lama did was show some uncertainty as to the validity of these claims in light of the Buddhist view of a natural death and rebirth. So what if the Dalai Lama didn't agree with her, you don't have to have agreement to have a good book! Differentiating views provide all of us more food to chew on, and then decide which works for us. It's not a matter of who had it right, but rather, "Does it sound right to you?"

Enjoy the book!

Don't get me wrong: the Mind and Life institute is doing good and necessary work, and some of their publications I thought were excellent (e.g., The Dalai Lama at MIT) and provide some real food for thought. This book is simply not in this class, however. As the reviewer above noted (Sagan Lazar), what we have here is people who speak completely different languages (literally and figuratively) lecturing each other with little or no real 'dialogue.' There are some occasional interesting diversions, but these are very much the exception rather than the rule.

The conversation on dreams, my own primary interest and field of research, is particularly disappointing. Almost the entire 'Western' section is devoted to the Freudian view! I was shocked that these speakers weren't embarrassed and ashamed to bring to the table a psychology as pauper, outmoded and frankly ridiculous as Freud's, especially when they were sharing that table with people well-acquainted with the vast, subtle Buddhist psychology. As if this were all the 'West' had to offer! The lucid dreaming section is better, but then the Tibetan Buddhist view on dreams doesn't really have anything to do with them... the Dalai Lama mostly rambles on about consciousness and self, then about 2 pages are devoted to 'dream yoga'; but even this section is mostly just platitudes and vague mentions of how diet affects dreaming. None of the very interesting and practical dream yoga advice you can find in other Tibetan works such as "Ancient Wisdom" by Gyatrul Rinpoche and translated by Alan Wallace (highly recommended).

Death: again the section is mildly interesting, but 'dialogue' is conspicuously absent. With the meeting of all these 'great minds' you would expect a lot of fresh ideas and original opinions, but mostly you get a long list of terms and definitions, nothing you couldn't pick up in a textbook of medicine of Buddhist philosophy.

Altogether forgettable; certainly this book doesn't stand out in the subject of sleep, dreams, or death/dying; and in an effort to combine all three it just fades into further superficiality.

this book covers a small conference where scientists, philosophers and the Dalai Lama have an intimate and candid dialogue. I have read a number of the Dalai Lama works. This one brings new light to his brilliance, sharp thinking, and wit. It illuminates differences between some Tibetan and Western attitudes and philosophies. Yet, it is presented not didactically, but in an interesting conversion which reveals the nuances of personalities and biases. The editor/narrator, Varela is also brilliant at capturing the essence of the conversation in an efficient manner. I highly recommend this book for anyone attempting to reconcile their beliefs in both science and Buddhism.

The work Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness with the Dalai Lama is from the 1992 Mind and Life Conference, sponsored by the Mind and Life Institute, an organization aimed at advancing dialogue between the contemplative traditions, primarily Buddhist, and the tradition of science. Dialogue is exactly what this work is. Divided into chapters with many subsections to help orientate the reader, the work transcribes the proceedings of the conference and thus has a conversational flow along with its natural tangents. Despite the frustration felt at times when a contributor's question remains unanswered or point unexplained, the content is absolutely gripping.

Many perspectives and disciplines are represented by a plethora of acclaimed contributors from backgrounds as diverse as Tibetan Buddhist, neurology, psychology, medical anthropology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, biology, and religious studies. Some of the main topics covered include notions of the self, sleeping, dreams and the unconscious, lucid dreaming and dream yoga, near death experiences, bodily death, and the question of consciousness at death.

This, as well as the other Mind and Life publications, will really appeal to those interested in modern Buddhism, Buddhism and science, and religion and science, but the work has wider appeal too as sleeping, dreaming, and dying are all common factors of the human experience. I would not recommend this for reference or in-depth research, but rather as a topical resource on the historic dialogue occurring between contemplatives and scientists, illustrating the potential for combining methods and findings in the future. This work is a topical treasure, as well as a simply stimulating read.

HHDL has had a lifelong interest in the intersection of buddhist thought and western science, and he has attracted many westerners to buddhism because of it. This is another excellent book on the subject. Highly recommended.

As far as I know, this is the only book of its kind, documenting a true symposium of "East meets West" in classical dialectic. For anyone interested in a spiritual version of "The Tao of Physics", this is a must-read.

I suspect that many will find this book life changing. I was constantly amazed at the intellectual clarity of the Dalai Lama's points and questions and the utter respect the scientists showed for Eastern understanding.

Some years ago, I had the good fortune of doing a graduate-level independent study with one of the leaders in the field of Near Death Experiences. I suspected that though the phenomenon is not a purely physiological one, as the secular humanists would have us believe, the experiences are culturally dependent. I was simply stunned to read the Dalai Lama, with his wealth of knowledge in spritual and mind-related experiences, suspects the same.

I hope this topic will be covered again in the future, and in greater depth, revealing the results of recent studies using the most modern scientific techniques.

What a wonderul read!

Informative book. Lots if information about Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying but little that has to do with the Dalai Lama. These are the notes and observations from a conference on the subject of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying in which the Dalai Lama was present. He is a man of few words. This is really an East meets West discussion of the subject. I really learned more about Western thought than Buddhist thought. Still I did learn.