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Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism
This book addresses some of the most fundamental and troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between the realms of Western science and religion for centuries.
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
4 people are currently reading
232 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,554 books6,202 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2022
This book is based on a conversation that happened in the early 1989 between the Dalai Lama and some prominent neuroscientist at that time. The goal of the conversation was to learn from each other - comparing the physical science of the brain with the more practical practice of Tibetan Buddhism and their experience of consciousness.
Most chapters where the westerners explaining something new they are learning about the brain and how it relates to things such as consciousness, awareness, memory, body functions and then having the Dalai Lama comment and ask questions. Yes, the science is outdated in this book. ( they were convinced that anti depressant pills were the savior of mental illness.) But the spirit of the book and the type of conversation I really enjoyed.
I especially enjoyed both sides admitting they were willing and able to change their minds. That they are working with current knowledge and doing the best they can. I think that mindset is healthy for science and ways of life.
The western mindset in this book was focused on what can be seen and experienced by tools. If we can observe it, then we can test it, thus proving it. However there are things in Buddhism that are only known through experience. The scientist didn't enjoy the concept that things that are real cannot be observed. However the Dalai Lama put it like this. To the flower the tree does not exist, and to the human the _____ doesn't exist. Just because we are not able to track and record something is a very naïve conclusion that it must not exist.
The book ends with an essay about Buddhism and the causes of suffering by Alan Wallace. It was my favorite part of the book.
A large portion of the essay was discussing the body/mind connection. We can't really determine what the 'mind' is - it's something we feel, how we think, the beliefs we hold. But we do know that there is a connection with thoughts and body - and vice versa. People with similar genetics and be affected by the same external circumstance is different ways depending on how their mindset is. Different ways of thinking and the literal thoughts in your head and effect your body. ( calming your mind, meditation, can lower blood pressure etc)
So there is a connection between body and mind. The tricky part is the mind is something that cannot really be studying with scientific evidence. How would we run an experiment with controlled variables if we are asking people to think a particular way and then record their body reactions. Everyones thoughts are their own and there is no concrete way to record one persons thoughts - their intensity, visualizations, consistency, with another persons thoughts.
This allows space, for me especially to believe and trust in things that science cannot yet prove. Yes science, and the scientific method is great for understanding things we can measure. But we also have to hold space and believe in things that science cannot prove.
Most chapters where the westerners explaining something new they are learning about the brain and how it relates to things such as consciousness, awareness, memory, body functions and then having the Dalai Lama comment and ask questions. Yes, the science is outdated in this book. ( they were convinced that anti depressant pills were the savior of mental illness.) But the spirit of the book and the type of conversation I really enjoyed.
I especially enjoyed both sides admitting they were willing and able to change their minds. That they are working with current knowledge and doing the best they can. I think that mindset is healthy for science and ways of life.
The western mindset in this book was focused on what can be seen and experienced by tools. If we can observe it, then we can test it, thus proving it. However there are things in Buddhism that are only known through experience. The scientist didn't enjoy the concept that things that are real cannot be observed. However the Dalai Lama put it like this. To the flower the tree does not exist, and to the human the _____ doesn't exist. Just because we are not able to track and record something is a very naïve conclusion that it must not exist.
The book ends with an essay about Buddhism and the causes of suffering by Alan Wallace. It was my favorite part of the book.
A large portion of the essay was discussing the body/mind connection. We can't really determine what the 'mind' is - it's something we feel, how we think, the beliefs we hold. But we do know that there is a connection with thoughts and body - and vice versa. People with similar genetics and be affected by the same external circumstance is different ways depending on how their mindset is. Different ways of thinking and the literal thoughts in your head and effect your body. ( calming your mind, meditation, can lower blood pressure etc)
So there is a connection between body and mind. The tricky part is the mind is something that cannot really be studying with scientific evidence. How would we run an experiment with controlled variables if we are asking people to think a particular way and then record their body reactions. Everyones thoughts are their own and there is no concrete way to record one persons thoughts - their intensity, visualizations, consistency, with another persons thoughts.
This allows space, for me especially to believe and trust in things that science cannot yet prove. Yes science, and the scientific method is great for understanding things we can measure. But we also have to hold space and believe in things that science cannot prove.
July 29, 2018
(čeština níže)
I was expecting the book to be about a discussion between the Dalai Lama and scientists, but when I read the book I was slightly disappointed. Instead of a discussion, I found only monologues from scientists who have complemented their knowledge about contemporary science and the scientific view of a consciousness as a brain states.
Don't get me wrong, the scientific part of the book was very interesting, and it clarified the "contemporary" view of materialism, but I would appreciate the scientists being more open to the knowledge of the Dalai Lama who occasionally honestly asked the scientists about more detailed explanation of the topic.
What I really appreciated was the final part of the book (essay), which summed up all the basics of the Buddhist perspective, along with the addition of why Buddhists see it along with the contrast as how we look at the scientists' view. Although this part was written by one person, he really nicely summed up both a Buddhist and a scientific view of the subject.
_____________
Očekával jsem, že kniha bude o diskuzi mezi Dalai Lamou a vědci, ale při čtení knihy jsem byl mírně zklamán. Místo diskuze jsem v knize nalezl jen samé monology od vědců, kteří vzájemně doplňovali svoje vědomosti o současné vědě a vědeckém pohledu na vědomí, jakožto jednotlivé stavy mozku.
Nechápejte mě špatně, vědecká část knihy byla velice zajímavá a zasvětila mě více do „současného” pohledu na materialismus, ale ocenil bych, aby byli vědci více otevření vědomostem od Dalai Lamy, který se občas upřímně zeptal vědců aby mu pověděli více k danému tématu.
Co jsem opravdu ocenil, byla závěrečná část knihy (esej), kde byly shrnuty všechny základy buddhistického pohledu, spolu s doplněním, proč to tak současně buddhisté vidí a spolu s kontrastem jak nahlížíme na pohled vědců. I když tuto část napsal jeden člověk, bylo vidět, že opravdu krásně shrnul jak buddhistický, tak vědecký pohled na dané téma.
I was expecting the book to be about a discussion between the Dalai Lama and scientists, but when I read the book I was slightly disappointed. Instead of a discussion, I found only monologues from scientists who have complemented their knowledge about contemporary science and the scientific view of a consciousness as a brain states.
Don't get me wrong, the scientific part of the book was very interesting, and it clarified the "contemporary" view of materialism, but I would appreciate the scientists being more open to the knowledge of the Dalai Lama who occasionally honestly asked the scientists about more detailed explanation of the topic.
What I really appreciated was the final part of the book (essay), which summed up all the basics of the Buddhist perspective, along with the addition of why Buddhists see it along with the contrast as how we look at the scientists' view. Although this part was written by one person, he really nicely summed up both a Buddhist and a scientific view of the subject.
_____________
Očekával jsem, že kniha bude o diskuzi mezi Dalai Lamou a vědci, ale při čtení knihy jsem byl mírně zklamán. Místo diskuze jsem v knize nalezl jen samé monology od vědců, kteří vzájemně doplňovali svoje vědomosti o současné vědě a vědeckém pohledu na vědomí, jakožto jednotlivé stavy mozku.
Nechápejte mě špatně, vědecká část knihy byla velice zajímavá a zasvětila mě více do „současného” pohledu na materialismus, ale ocenil bych, aby byli vědci více otevření vědomostem od Dalai Lamy, který se občas upřímně zeptal vědců aby mu pověděli více k danému tématu.
Co jsem opravdu ocenil, byla závěrečná část knihy (esej), kde byly shrnuty všechny základy buddhistického pohledu, spolu s doplněním, proč to tak současně buddhisté vidí a spolu s kontrastem jak nahlížíme na pohled vědců. I když tuto část napsal jeden člověk, bylo vidět, že opravdu krásně shrnul jak buddhistický, tak vědecký pohled na dané téma.
April 10, 2025
Ergens tussen de 4 en 5 sterren. …. Hangt er bewustzijn : ).
Een mooi boek over de zoektocht en aard van bewustzijn, ergens tussen kennis en wijsheid ,
En 30 jaar later blijft het nog steeds een zoektocht, met mss heel kleine stapjes , en als er onderweg kans is op hulp / verbetering van psychische/ geestelijke gezondheid is de zoektocht alleen maar aan te moedigen , ……. Hoewel taal waarschijnlijk altijd een probleem zal blijven om zaken te omschrijven die niet stoffelijk zijn. ……. Ik vond het boek zo mooi als . .. een zonsondergang …. , of als een tomaat , Tomaten zijn mooi , vind je niet ?
Een mooi boek over de zoektocht en aard van bewustzijn, ergens tussen kennis en wijsheid ,
En 30 jaar later blijft het nog steeds een zoektocht, met mss heel kleine stapjes , en als er onderweg kans is op hulp / verbetering van psychische/ geestelijke gezondheid is de zoektocht alleen maar aan te moedigen , ……. Hoewel taal waarschijnlijk altijd een probleem zal blijven om zaken te omschrijven die niet stoffelijk zijn. ……. Ik vond het boek zo mooi als . .. een zonsondergang …. , of als een tomaat , Tomaten zijn mooi , vind je niet ?
February 6, 2022
The views of the western scientists sure haven't aged well. Especially not the part about 85% of future depression being mitigated by antidepressants...
January 31, 2013
I found this book to be a bit of a disappointment. I suppose if you want an over-view of scientific thought on the brain, then this might be interesting. The Dalai Lama mostly asked questions and the scientists spoke about science. Only once did a scientist ask the Dalai Lama a point about Buddhism, and then it was only to set him up to be debunked. The scientists just can't accept any view point that is not materialist. They don't even understand other viewpoints except as superstition. So there is no real dialogue.
Actually, I didn't really expect a dialogue when I bought this. I was hoping for some clarity and insight into Buddhist thoughts on consciousness, using Western terminology. No such luck.
Gave it a few stars because everyone was intelligent and articulate.
Actually, I didn't really expect a dialogue when I bought this. I was hoping for some clarity and insight into Buddhist thoughts on consciousness, using Western terminology. No such luck.
Gave it a few stars because everyone was intelligent and articulate.
March 19, 2008
The Mind & Life Institute gathers scientists, thinkers, and the Dali Lama every two years to discuss selected topics in a round table format.
Read
August 9, 2012love the books in this series; I'll put them all on the mind-life-institute shelf
September 27, 2008
I am having a second read on this... so far so good...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews