Why Buddhism is true : the science and philosophy of meditation and enlightenment / Robert Wright.
By: Wright, Robert [author.].
Material type: TextPublisher: New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.Description: xii, 321 pages ; 24 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9781439195451; 1439195455; 1439195471; 9781439195475; 9781439195468; 1439195463.Subject(s): Buddhism -- Apologetic works | Buddhism -- Apologetic works | Bouddhisme -- Ouvrages apologétiques | PHILOSOPHY -- Buddhist | PSYCHOLOGY -- Evolutionary Psychology | SELF-HELP -- Personal Growth -- Happiness | Buddhism | Achtsamkeit | Buddhismus | Lebensführung | Meditation | PhilosophieGenre/Form: Apologetic writings. | Apologetic writings. | Apologetic writings. | Écrits apologétiques.Additional physical formats: Online version:: Why Buddhism is true.Item type | Current library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Haddon Twp. | Nonfiction | Adult | 294.342 Wri (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Checked out | 04/22/2024 | 05000009326161 | ||
Book - Paperback | Voorhees | New | Adult | 294.342 Wri (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Checked out | 05/11/2024 | 05000011500829 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
New York Times Bestseller
From one of America's greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness.
Robert Wright famously explained in The Moral Animal how evolution shaped the human brain. The mind is designed to often delude us, he argued, about ourselves and about the world. And it is designed to make happiness hard to sustain.
But if we know our minds are rigged for anxiety, depression, anger, and greed, what do we do? Wright locates the answer in Buddhism, which figured out thousands of years ago what scientists are only discovering now. Buddhism holds that human suffering is a result of not seeing the world clearly--and proposes that seeing the world more clearly, through meditation, will make us better, happier people.
In Why Buddhism is True , Wright leads readers on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age. At once excitingly ambitious and wittily accessible, this is the first book to combine evolutionary psychology with cutting-edge neuroscience to defend the radical claims at the heart of Buddhist philosophy. With bracing honesty and fierce wisdom, it will persuade you not just that Buddhism is true--which is to say, a way out of our delusion--but that it can ultimately save us from ourselves, as individuals and as a species.
"August 2017"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-311) and index.
Taking the red pill -- Paradoxes of meditation -- When are feelings illusions? -- Bliss, ecstasy, and more important reasons to meditate -- The alleged nonexistence of your self -- Your CEO is MIA -- The mental modules that run your life -- How thoughts think themselves -- "Self" control -- Encounters with the formless -- The upside of emptiness -- A weedless world -- Like, wow, everything is one (at most) -- Nirvana in a nutshell -- Is enlightenment enlightening? -- Meditation and the unseen order -- Appendix: A list of Buddhist truths.
At the heart of Buddhism is a simple claim: The reason we suffer--and the reason we make other people suffer--is that we don't see the world clearly. At the heart of Buddhist meditative practice is a radical promise: we can learn to see the world, including ourselves, more clearly, and so gain a deep and morally valid happiness. Robert Wright not only shows how taking this promise seriously can change your life--how it can loosen the grip of anxiety, regret, and hatred--but also how it can deepen your appreciation of beauty and of other people. Drawing on the latest in neuroscience and psychology, Wright explains why the path toward truth and the path toward happiness are the same path. In the light of modern science, both the Buddhist diagnosis and the Buddhist prescription make a whole new kind of sense. This book is the culmination of a personal journey that began with Wright's book on evolutionary psychology, The Moral Animal, and deepened as he immersed himself in meditative practice and conversed with some of the world's most skilled meditators. It shows how, in a time of technological distraction and social division, we can save ourselves from ourselves, both as individuals and as a species.--INSIDE FLAP.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- A Note to Readers (p. xi)
- 1 Taking the Red Pill (p. 1)
- 2 Paradoxes of Meditation (p. 15)
- 3 When Are Feelings Illusions? (p. 27)
- 4 Bliss, Ecstasy, and More Important Reasons to Meditate (p. 44)
- 5 The Alleged Nonexistence of Your Self (p. 58)
- 6 Your CEO Is MIA (p. 75)
- 7 The Mental Modules That Run Your Life (p. 91)
- 8 How Thoughts Think Themselves (p. 105)
- 9 "Self" Control (p. 121)
- 10 Encounters with the Formless (p. 142)
- 11 The Upside of Emptiness (p. 153)
- 12 A Weedless World (p. 172)
- 13 Like, Wow, Everything Is One (at Most) (p. 193)
- 14 Nirvana in a Nutshell (p. 215)
- 15 Is Enlightenment Enlightening? (p. 225)
- 16 Meditation and the Unseen Order (p. 246)
- Appendix: A List of Buddhist Truths (p. 269)
- A Note on Terminology (p. 277)
- Acknowledgments (p. 279)
- Notes (p. 283)
- Bibliography (p. 303)
- Index (p. 313)