What do you think?
Rate this book
Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic: A Manifesto for the Mind Sciences and Contemplative Practice
Renowned Buddhist philosopher B. Alan Wallace reasserts the power of shamatha and vipashyana, traditional Buddhist meditations, to clarify the mind's role in the natural world. Raising profound questions about human nature, free will, and experience versus dogma, Wallace challenges the claim that consciousness is nothing more than an emergent property of the brain with little relation to universal events. Rather, he maintains that the observer is essential to measuring quantum systems and that mental phenomena (however conceived) influence brain function and behavior.
Wallace embarks on a two-part mission: to restore human nature and to transcend it. He begins by explaining the value of skepticism in Buddhism and science and the difficulty of merging their experiential methods of inquiry. Yet Wallace also proves that Buddhist views on human nature and the possibility of free will liberate us from the metaphysical constraints of scientific materialism. He then explores the radical empiricism inspired by William James and applies it to Indian Buddhist philosophy's four schools and the Great Perfection school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Since Buddhism begins with the assertion that ignorance lies at the root of all suffering and that the path to freedom is reached through knowledge, Buddhist practice can be viewed as a progression from agnosticism (not knowing) to gnosticism (knowing), acquired through the maintenance of exceptional mental health, mindfulness, and introspection. Wallace discusses these topics in detail, identifying similarities and differences between scientific and Buddhist understanding, and he concludes with an explanation of shamatha and vipashyana and their potential for realizing the full nature, origins, and potential of consciousness.
Wallace embarks on a two-part mission: to restore human nature and to transcend it. He begins by explaining the value of skepticism in Buddhism and science and the difficulty of merging their experiential methods of inquiry. Yet Wallace also proves that Buddhist views on human nature and the possibility of free will liberate us from the metaphysical constraints of scientific materialism. He then explores the radical empiricism inspired by William James and applies it to Indian Buddhist philosophy's four schools and the Great Perfection school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Since Buddhism begins with the assertion that ignorance lies at the root of all suffering and that the path to freedom is reached through knowledge, Buddhist practice can be viewed as a progression from agnosticism (not knowing) to gnosticism (knowing), acquired through the maintenance of exceptional mental health, mindfulness, and introspection. Wallace discusses these topics in detail, identifying similarities and differences between scientific and Buddhist understanding, and he concludes with an explanation of shamatha and vipashyana and their potential for realizing the full nature, origins, and potential of consciousness.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 20, 2011
18 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2022
Якби автора був чесним, то назвав би просто книгу - Апологетика тибетського буддизму у контексті боротьби із комунізмом. Чи щось схоже до цього.. Наплутано все: 1) що таке релігія - відсутні чіткі визначення і розуміння різновидів цього поняття; 2) наука ідентифікується із матеріалізмом в дусі комунізму і десь у передостанньому розділі стає зрозуміло, що йдеться про образу на комуністичні режими Азії, які переслідували буддизм як релігії, але робили вони це не тому, що дуже "наукові", а через ідеологічну конкуренцію; 3) багато критики в сторону "науки" і "раціоналізму", але аргументація грунтується на дослідженнях першої половини 20 століття, без врахування еволюції науки, світогляду, розвитку різних галузей. Тут все дуже намішано. Я би йому порадив розпочати із Томаса Куна "Структура наукових революцій", а потім вже лізти у тему, в якій він не розуміється. Психологію критикує на основі старого доброго бігевіоризму початку 20 століття, а Фройд десь у підтанцьовці як "психолог". Серйозно?
Навіть із буддизмом не все так просто у автора, бо він собі вирішив, що саме тибетський буддизм, із яким себе ідентифікує, є всеохопною формою буддизму, не враховуючи ані різних гілок буддизму, ані його тенденції до модернізації поза межами Ваджраяни.. Як у одному із коментарів до цієї книги прочитав: "вам ця книга підійде, якщо хочете побачити світ як біле і чорне". Тільки тут все дуже хаотичне, а межа дуже розмита через нефаховість і популізм тексту.
Навіть із буддизмом не все так просто у автора, бо він собі вирішив, що саме тибетський буддизм, із яким себе ідентифікує, є всеохопною формою буддизму, не враховуючи ані різних гілок буддизму, ані його тенденції до модернізації поза межами Ваджраяни.. Як у одному із коментарів до цієї книги прочитав: "вам ця книга підійде, якщо хочете побачити світ як біле і чорне". Тільки тут все дуже хаотичне, а межа дуже розмита через нефаховість і популізм тексту.
May 18, 2014
B. Alan Wallace is among the foremost practitioner-teachers of Buddhism today. He reports “while brought up in a Christian household, and even though I found great meaning in the teachings of Jesus, some of the church’s doctrines made no sense to me”. (Kindle Locations 71-72). He grew up in California, Scotland, and Switzerland. He started as an undergrad at UC San Diego and then he transferred to Göttingen in West Germany, moving from an ecology major at UCSD to a primary interest in philosophy and religion at Gottingen, where he studied the Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhism. Then, instead of finishing his degree (great message for the parents, no doubt), in 1971 (I’m just transitioning from high school to college), he heads to Tibet. For the next 13 years he studied and meditated in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition in India and Europe, and he came to serve as a translator for the Dalai Lama. After this phase of his life, he returned to academia to complete a degree at Amherst College in physics and philosophy of science. After another meditation retreat, he entered graduate studies in religion at Stanford University. He completed his doctorate, focusing his studies on “the interface between Buddhism and Western science and philosophy”. (B. Alan Wallace website). Since then he has taught, written a number of books for both academic and popular audiences, and he continues to teach meditation. Having read several of his works and now in the midst of listening to podcasts of his meditation retreats, I find him one of the most intriguing, no-nonsense, and persuasive teachers of Buddhism active today.
This book, his most recent “academic” book (2011), addresses topics important to him. One of the attractive aspects of Buddhism to me and to many others, especially those of us coming from Western traditions, is its radical empiricism and willingness to undergo scrutiny. Wallace scrutinizes the Buddhist tradition, but the main target of his skepticism is Western materialism. Wallace is especially critical of academic psychology for its abandonment of the legacy of William James, who valued and promoted introspection as important source of data about the mind. (Indeed, James is obviously in intellectual hero to Wallace, as well as a great many others—including me.) Instead of following the lead of James, psychology turned to Watson’s behaviorism (no mind, just observable behavior), which was wedded to the ideas of 19th century physics. Wallace is uniquely qualified to challenge the citadel of materialism from his background in physics and philosophy of science combined with his experience in Buddhism.
While critical of Western materialism (we’re just stuff & consciousness a mere by-product of brain activity), Wallace unabashedly asserts the traditional Buddhist view, which includes an emphasis on mind and consciousness as more than just brain activity and where the paranormal (not magic) exists. Wallace makes these assertions as one who has been on the other side of reality from the majority of Western scientists and philosophers who adhere to the simple materialist paradigm. Wallace also notes the importance of ethical behavior in Buddhism and its effect on our perception of the world. This, too, contrasts markedly with the value-free attitude of Western science. Wallace discusses phenomena like “the placebo effect”, which Western science shunts aside without addressing the implications that physically inert substances can effect with body when combined with the non-physical world of information (even false information). Many in the West know to reject Descartes’s dualism of mind and body, but they attempt to go around it by going all body, no mind. But mind—as in the form of information—is a part of our reality.
In addition to criticizing the materialists, Wallace also criticizes those who sell “mindfulness” as simply the practice of observing what passes through the mind. This is not Buddhism. Buddhist mindfulness involves mindfulness of right conduct, effort, and livelihood, among other things. It’s not just “whatever”, but an attempt to monitor the contents of the mind.
All of this simply touches the surface of all that Wallace addresses and argues. His appreciation of the history and enterprise of Western science, Western philosophy and psychology, and traditional Buddhism make him a formidable author. Yet, for all of the depth of his analysis and argument, the book is well written and argued so that it’s easy to follow. In short, he’s an outstanding teacher whom I can’t recommend highly enough (this comes from listening to his podcasts as well). If you want to come into the deep end of the pool, you not find many guides as worthwhile as Wallace.
This book, his most recent “academic” book (2011), addresses topics important to him. One of the attractive aspects of Buddhism to me and to many others, especially those of us coming from Western traditions, is its radical empiricism and willingness to undergo scrutiny. Wallace scrutinizes the Buddhist tradition, but the main target of his skepticism is Western materialism. Wallace is especially critical of academic psychology for its abandonment of the legacy of William James, who valued and promoted introspection as important source of data about the mind. (Indeed, James is obviously in intellectual hero to Wallace, as well as a great many others—including me.) Instead of following the lead of James, psychology turned to Watson’s behaviorism (no mind, just observable behavior), which was wedded to the ideas of 19th century physics. Wallace is uniquely qualified to challenge the citadel of materialism from his background in physics and philosophy of science combined with his experience in Buddhism.
While critical of Western materialism (we’re just stuff & consciousness a mere by-product of brain activity), Wallace unabashedly asserts the traditional Buddhist view, which includes an emphasis on mind and consciousness as more than just brain activity and where the paranormal (not magic) exists. Wallace makes these assertions as one who has been on the other side of reality from the majority of Western scientists and philosophers who adhere to the simple materialist paradigm. Wallace also notes the importance of ethical behavior in Buddhism and its effect on our perception of the world. This, too, contrasts markedly with the value-free attitude of Western science. Wallace discusses phenomena like “the placebo effect”, which Western science shunts aside without addressing the implications that physically inert substances can effect with body when combined with the non-physical world of information (even false information). Many in the West know to reject Descartes’s dualism of mind and body, but they attempt to go around it by going all body, no mind. But mind—as in the form of information—is a part of our reality.
In addition to criticizing the materialists, Wallace also criticizes those who sell “mindfulness” as simply the practice of observing what passes through the mind. This is not Buddhism. Buddhist mindfulness involves mindfulness of right conduct, effort, and livelihood, among other things. It’s not just “whatever”, but an attempt to monitor the contents of the mind.
All of this simply touches the surface of all that Wallace addresses and argues. His appreciation of the history and enterprise of Western science, Western philosophy and psychology, and traditional Buddhism make him a formidable author. Yet, for all of the depth of his analysis and argument, the book is well written and argued so that it’s easy to follow. In short, he’s an outstanding teacher whom I can’t recommend highly enough (this comes from listening to his podcasts as well). If you want to come into the deep end of the pool, you not find many guides as worthwhile as Wallace.
to-read-more
February 19, 2014The rise to prominence in the 19th century of belief in scientific materialism, while resolving the Cartesian mind-body problem by seeing all as body (matter), in doing so suspended the possibility for an introspective approach to psychology to develop following its foundation as a scientific discipline in 1875, independently by Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and William James in America. We are still in the grip of dogmatic materialism.
Alan Wallace would like to see a rejection of dogma, either dualistic or monistic, and a return to empiricism, that is a willingness to put cherished assumptions, including those of Buddhism and science, to the test of experience. Belief and even reason are subordinate to direct perception.
(a book to be continued one day, but I found the above jotted down...)
Alan Wallace would like to see a rejection of dogma, either dualistic or monistic, and a return to empiricism, that is a willingness to put cherished assumptions, including those of Buddhism and science, to the test of experience. Belief and even reason are subordinate to direct perception.
(a book to be continued one day, but I found the above jotted down...)
October 10, 2020
Alan Wallace compares modern sciences worldview with the buddhist one and also shares his ideas on a common ground from which everyone can benefit. In between he gives a general overview of the buddhist view of reality.
December 15, 2023
A great argument against the belief that all phenomena are physical in origin and occurrence.
November 6, 2025
a frustrsting book that i did not finish. quit at the half way point, not what i was looking for.
August 31, 2016
I've been struggling to write this review because I don't want to be caught in the irony of dogmatically rejecting a book because I thought it too dogmatic! I started reading the book in the summer, stopped because I found it too prescriptive, but then finished it off because I'm trying to clear my "Currently Reading" bookshelf for the New Year.
So I thought I'd try this approach. You will REALLY like this book if:
1) having the word "Manifesto" in the title of this book doesn't remind you of the Unabomber
2) you think that all of Science has somehow organized itself to decry ANY form of spirituality (I am a scientist and found this idea quite far-fetched)
3) you don't feel any responsibility for making decisions along you own spiritual path and are looking for someone to tell you EXACTLY what is right and wrong
4) your favorite colors are black and white
5) scratch that. You think there are only two colors: black and white
6) you have incurable insomnia
Alan Wallace is obviously a very bright guy, but the habit of discrediting other parts of his own religion just seems hollow to me. Isn't that how we all got into this mess in the first place?
I rate less than 1% of books a "2," but this just got on my nerves, I guess.
So I thought I'd try this approach. You will REALLY like this book if:
1) having the word "Manifesto" in the title of this book doesn't remind you of the Unabomber
2) you think that all of Science has somehow organized itself to decry ANY form of spirituality (I am a scientist and found this idea quite far-fetched)
3) you don't feel any responsibility for making decisions along you own spiritual path and are looking for someone to tell you EXACTLY what is right and wrong
4) your favorite colors are black and white
5) scratch that. You think there are only two colors: black and white
6) you have incurable insomnia
Alan Wallace is obviously a very bright guy, but the habit of discrediting other parts of his own religion just seems hollow to me. Isn't that how we all got into this mess in the first place?
I rate less than 1% of books a "2," but this just got on my nerves, I guess.
December 29, 2025
Read this a few years ago. Lama Alan provides a great explanation for how Buddhism isn’t compatible with physicalist metaphysics (contrary to the claims of “Secular” Buddhists like Stephen Batchelor & Susan Blackmore). He goes into a little detail about William James & arguing for including introspection (phenomenology) into science & scientific research but he explains that better in his Taboo of Subjectivity book. This text is moreso a refutation of Secular Buddhism specifically & somewhat physicalism (scientific materialism) than anything else honestly.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews