Waking, Dreaming, Being
eBook - ePub

Waking, Dreaming, Being

Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy

Evan Thompson

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  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
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eBook - ePub

Waking, Dreaming, Being

Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy

Evan Thompson

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

A renowned philosopher of the mind, also known for his groundbreaking work on Buddhism and cognitive science, Evan Thompson combines the latest neuroscience research on sleep, dreaming, and meditation with Indian and Western philosophy of mind, casting new light on the self and its relation to the brain.

Thompson shows how the self is a changing process, not a static thing. When we are awake we identify with our body, but if we let our mind wander or daydream, we project a mentally imagined self into the remembered past or anticipated future. As we fall asleep, the impression of being a bounded self distinct from the world dissolves, but the self reappears in the dream state. If we have a lucid dream, we no longer identify only with the self within the dream. Our sense of self now includes our dreaming self, the "I" as dreamer. Finally, as we meditate—either in the waking state or in a lucid dream—we can observe whatever images or thoughts arise and how we tend to identify with them as "me." We can also experience sheer awareness itself, distinct from the changing contents that make up our image of the self.

Contemplative traditions say that we can learn to let go of the self, so that when we die we can witness its dissolution with equanimity. Thompson weaves together neuroscience, philosophy, and personal narrative to depict these transformations, adding uncommon depth to life's profound questions. Contemplative experience comes to illuminate scientific findings, and scientific evidence enriches the vast knowledge acquired by contemplatives.

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Information

Publisher
Columbia University Press
Year
2014
ISBN
9780231538312
Topic
Theology & Religion
Subtopic
Buddhism

Table of contents

  1. Cover 
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents 
  7. Foreword
  8. Prologue: The Dalai Lama’s Conjecture
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. Introduction
  11. 1. Seeing: What Is Consciousness?
  12. 2. Waking: How Do We Perceive?
  13. 3. Being: What Is Pure Awareness?
  14. 4. Dreaming: Who Am I?
  15. 5. Witnessing: Is This a Dream?
  16. 6. Imagining: Are We Real?
  17. 7. Floating: Where Am I?
  18. 8. Sleeping: Are We Conscious in Deep Sleep?
  19. 9. Dying: What Happens When We Die?
  20. 10. Knowing: Is the Self an Illusion?
  21. Notes
  22. Bibliography
  23. Index
Citation styles for Waking, Dreaming, Being

APA 6 Citation

Thompson, E. (2014). Waking, Dreaming, Being ([edition missing]). Columbia University Press. Retrieved from https://www.perlego.com/book/773905/waking-dreaming-being-pdf (Original work published 2014)

Chicago Citation

Thompson, Evan. (2014) 2014. Waking, Dreaming, Being. [Edition missing]. Columbia University Press. https://www.perlego.com/book/773905/waking-dreaming-being-pdf.

Harvard Citation

Thompson, E. (2014) Waking, Dreaming, Being. [edition missing]. Columbia University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/773905/waking-dreaming-being-pdf (Accessed: 26 September 2021).

MLA 7 Citation

Thompson, Evan. Waking, Dreaming, Being. [edition missing]. Columbia University Press, 2014. Web. 26 Sept. 2021.