Zen and the brain : toward an understanding of meditation and consciousness /
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| Author / Creator: | Austin, James H., 1925- |
|---|---|
| Edition: | 1st MIT pbk. ed. |
| Imprint: | Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1999, c1998. |
| Description: | xxiv, 844 p. : ill. ; 26 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | |
| Format: | Print Book |
| URL for this record: | http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/3853505 |
Table of Contents:
- Chapters Containing Testable Hypotheses
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- By Way of Introduction
- Part I. Starting to Point toward Zen
- 1. Is There Any Common Ground between Zen and the Brain?
- 2. A Brief Outline of Zen History
- 3. But What Is Zen?
- 4. Mysticism, Zen, Religion, and Neuroscience
- 5. Western Perspectives on Mystical Experiences
- 6. Is Mysticism a Kind of Schizophrenia in Disguise?
- 7. The Semantics of Self
- 8. Constructing Our Self
- 9. Some ABCs of the I-Me-Mine
- 10. The Zen Mirror: Beyond Narcissism and Depersonalization
- 11. Where Does Zen Think It's Coming From?
- Part II. Meditating
- 12. What Is Meditation?
- 13. Ryoko-in, Kyoto, 1974
- 14. Zazen at Ryoko-in
- 15. Attention
- 16. The Attentive Art of Meditation
- 17. Restraint and Renunciation
- 18. Zen Meditative Techniques and Skills
- 19. Physiological Changes during Meditation
- 20. Brain Waves and Their Limitations
- 21. The EEG in Meditation
- 22. Breathing In; Breathing Out
- 23. The Effects of Sensorimotor Deprivation
- 24. Monks and Clicks: Habituation
- 25. The Koan and Sanzen: Kyoto, 1974
- 26. A Quest for Non-Answers: Mondo and Koan
- 27. The Roshi
- 28. The Mindful, Introspective Path toward Insight
- 29. Inkblots, Blind Spots, and High Spots
- 30. Sesshin and Teisho at Ryoko-in, 1974
- 31. Sesshin
- 32. The Meditative Approach to the Dissolution of the Self
- Part III. Neurologizing
- 33. Brain in Overview: The Large of It
- 34. Brain in Overview: The Small of It
- 35. Brain in Overview: Coordinated Networks Synthesizing Higher Functions
- 36. The Orienting Reflex and Activation
- 37. Arousal Pathways in the Reticular Formation and Beyond
- 38. Acetylcholine Systems
- 39. The Septum and Pleasure
- 40. The Attachments of the Cingulate Gyrus
- 41. The Amygdala and Fear
- 42. Remembrances and the Hippocampus
- 43. Visceral Drives and the Hypothalamus
- 44. Biogenic Amines: Three Systems
- 45. GABA and Inhibition
- 46. Peptides
- 47. The Brain's Own Opioids
- 48. Ripples in the Next Cell: Second and Third Messengers
- 49. The Aplysia Withdraws
- 50. Matters of Taste
- 51. The Mouse in Victory and Defeat
- 52. The Central Gray: Offense, Defense, and Loss of Pain
- 53. The Third Route: Stress Responses within the Brain
- 54. The Large Visual Brain
- 55. Where Is It? The Parietal Lobe Pathway
- 56. What Is It? The Temporal Lobe Pathway
- 57. What Should I Do About It? The Frontal Lobes
- 58. Ripples in Larger Systems: Laying Down and Retrieving Memories
- 59. The Thalamus
- 60. The Reticular Nucleus
- 61. The Pulvinar
- 62. Higher Mechanisms of Attention
- 63. Looking, and Seeing Preattentively
- 64. Laboratory Correlates of Awareness, Attention, Novelty, and Surprise
- 65. Biological Theories: What Causes Mystical Experiences? How Does Meditation Act?
- 66. Problems with Words: "Mind"
- 67. Ordinary Forms of Conscious Awareness
- 68. Variations on the Theme of Consciousness
- 69. Alternate States of Consciousness: Avenues of Entry
- 70. The Architecture of Sleep
- 71. Desynchronized Sleep
- 72. Other Perspectives in Dreams
- 73. Lucid Dreaming
- 74. Conditioning: Learning and Unlearning
- 75. Other Ways to Change Behavior
- 76. The Awakening from Hibernation
- 77. Tidal Rhythms and Biological Clocks
- 78. The Roots of Our Emotions
- 79. The Spread of Positive Feeling States
- 80. Pain and the Relief of Pain
- 81. Suffering and the Relief of Suffering
- 82. Bridging the Two Hemispheres
- 83. The Pregnant Meditative Pause
- Part V. Quickening
- 84. Side Effects of Meditation: Makyo
- 85. The Light
- 86. Bright Lights and Blank Vision
- 87. Faces in the Fire: Illusions and Hallucinations
- 88. Stimulating Human Brains
- 89. The Ins and Outs of Imagery
- 90. The Tachistoscope
- 91. The Descent of Charles Darwin: Computer Parallels
- 92. Bytes of Memory
- 93. Where Is the Phantom Limb?
- 94. The Feel of Two Hands
- 95. The Attentive Cat
- 96. Emotionalized Awareness without Sensate Loss
- 97. Seizures, Religious Experience, and Patterns of Behavior
- 98. The Fleeting "Truths" of Nitrous Oxide
- 99. The Roots of Laughter
- 100. How Do Psychedelic and Certain Other Drugs Affect the Brain?
- 101. Levels and Sequences of Psychedelic Experiences after LSD
- 102. The Miracle of Marsh Chapel
- 103. How Do Psychedelic Drugs Affect Amine Receptors?
- 104. Near-Death Experiences; Far-Death Attitudes
- 105. Triggers
- 106. The Surge
- 107. First Zen-Brain Mondo
- Part VI. Turning In: The Absorptions
- 108. Vacuum Plenum: Kyoto, December 1974
- 109. The Leaf: Coda
- 110. The Semantics of Samadhi
- 111. The Vacuum Plenum of Absorption: An Agenda of Events to Be Explained
- 112. The Plunge: Blankness, Then Blackness
- 113. The Hallucinated Leaf
- 114. Space
- 115. The Ascent of Charles Lindbergh: Ambient Vision
- 116. The Ambient Vision of Meditative Absorption
- 117. The Sound of Silence
- 118. The Loss of the Self in Clear, Held Awareness
- 119. The Warm Affective Tone
- 120. Motor and Other Residues of Internal Absorption
- 121. The When and Where of Time
- 122. Gateway to Paradox
- 123. Second Zen-Brain Mondo
- Part VII. Turning Out: The Awakenings
- 124. Dimensions of Meaning
- 125. Authentic Meanings within Wide-Open Boundaries
- 126. Word Problems: "Oneness" and "Unity"
- 127. How Often Does Enlightenment Occur?
- 128. A Taste of Kensho: London, 1982
- 129. What Is My Original Face?
- 130. Major Characteristics of Insight-Wisdom in Kensho
- 131. Prajna: Insight-Wisdom
- 132. Suchness
- 133. Direct Perception of the Eternally Perfect World
- 134. The Construction of Time
- 135. The Dissolution of Time
- 136. The Death of Fear
- 137. Emptiness
- 138. Objective Vision: The Lunar View
- 139. Are There Levels and Sequences of "Nonattainment"?
- 140. Preludes with Potential: Dark Nights and Depressions
- 141. Operational Differences between Absorption and Insight-Wisdom
- 142. Reflections on Kensho, Personal and Neurological
- 143. Selective Mechanisms Underlying Kensho
- 144. Third Zen-Brain Mondo
- Part VIII. Being and Beyond: To the Stage of Ongoing Enlightenment
- 145. The State of Ultimate Pure Being
- 146. The Power of Silence
- 147. Beyond Sudden States of Enlightenment
- 148. The Exceptional Stage of Ongoing Enlightened Traits
- 149. Simplicity and Stability
- 150. An Ethical Base of Zen?
- 151. Compassion, the Native Virtue
- 152. Etching In and Out
- 153. Aging in the Brain
- 154. The Celebration of Nature
- 155. Expressing Zen in Action
- 156. The Other Side of Zen
- 157. Still-Evolving Brains in Still-Evolving Societies
- 158. Commentary on the Trait Change of Ongoing Enlightenment
- In Closing
- Appendix A. Introduction to the Heart Sutra
- Appendix B. Selections from Affirmation of Faith in Mind
- Appendix C. Suggested Further Reading
- Glossary
- References and Notes
- Source Notes
- Index