Buddha's Nature: A Practical Guide to Enlightenment Through Evolution

by Wes "Scoop" Nisker

The Buddha said that "everything we need to know about life can be found inside this fathom-long body." Yet when most people start on the spiritual path, they consciously or unconsciously cut themselves off from their body. Why?

This provocative synthesis of Eastern wisdom and Western science seeks to correct that tendency by bringing us back to the Buddha's original revolutionary message.  It shows how the path to true liberation comes only through a deep understanding and acceptance of our biology and its important role in our spiritual evolution.

It also shows how twentieth-century science is finally catching up with the time-honored beliefs of Buddhism.  The latest discoveries in physics, evolutionary biology, and psychology are expressing in scientific terms the same insights the Buddha first discovered more than 2,500 years ago.  Insights such as the impermanence of the body, where thoughts come from, and how the body communicates with itself.  Based on the traditional Buddhist meditation sequence known as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Buddha's Nature propels us on an extraordinary journey through our entire biological and psychological heritage.

Here is a practical program from a renowned meditation teacher for gaining a greater understanding of our true place in the cosmos as well as invaluable insight into the origin of attachment, desire, emotion, thought, and consciousness itself.  These practices do not require a belief in Buddhism, nirvana, or any religious concept.  Instead they offer a spiritual and scientific path to personal freedom and peace of mind.


Wes Nisker is the author of Crazy Wisdom and a renowned lecturer who has taught courses on Buddhist meditation in such places as the Esalen Institute, the University of California, and Spirit Rock Buddhist Meditation Center.  He has been a featured speaker at the Buddhism in America conferences as well as the Transpersonal Psychology Association conferences.  Mr.  Nisker currently serves as secretary of the International Transpersonal Association's board of directors and is the founder and co-editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Mind.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Psychology, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 1998

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book found me. I work at a retreat center and was tidying up the teacher's cottage. The teacher from the last retreat had left this book by accident -- under the bed. If on a shelf at the book store, I wouldn't have bought it... I wasn't particularly attracted to the title or the 'enlightment through evolution' part. However, I flipped through it and got hooked.

I emailed the teacher and asked her if I could read it... So, I guess I *borrowed* this book.

Wes discusses the Mahasatipatthana Sutra which discusses the four kinds of mindfulness. Wes asserts that this is the most fundamental Buddhist text. He discusses the sutra, breaks it down quite well...and offers quite a bit of insight though experiences with his own practice. I like how his underlying intention (at least, this is what I picked up)...is to connect people back to our basic nature...and to the brilliance of nature...ours and the phenomenal world. Quite lovely...

[Tim Peel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Combing Buddhist meditation practices with current scientific knowledge seems a wise use of human resources. Generally speaking, Buddhism and science represent the respective genius of Asian and Western civilizations. In comparing the two ways of knowing, one might conclude that the planet was somehow divided along the lines of the two hemispheres of the brain. In the West we looked outside of ourselves for the truth, dividing up the world with our intellect and reason to see if reality's secrets were hiding inside of things. Meanwhile, the genius of Asia was directed inward, relying more on intuition and experiential knowing, seeking to resolve the questions themselves in the realization of nonduality and the great mystery of consciousness.

In recent decades, through modern communications and travel, a bridge has been built between the two civilizations, a kind of corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of the world brain. Perhaps out of the confluence, some tools and techniques will be discovered that will nurture a more awakened and satisfied human existence."

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Might do a book club on it

[Jim O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who admires Buddhism, and a lover of science, this book was a pleasure to read. The author shows how using the ideas and practices of Buddhism can actually instill a deeper appreciation of the natural world, and of our own bodies and minds. As he says, "The Buddha was a biologist"; the Buddha taught that one can learn about nature and oneself by simply experimenting with meditation, focused breathing, and mindfulness. Our connection with Nature is apparent in the ways we humans live, think, move, and breathe, and yes, also love, hate, and fear. We are products of our evolutionary development. Nisker shows how the tenets of Buddhism are surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) backed up by the latest findings of biology and neuroscience. He also provides lots of meditation exercises to focus our mindfulness, and thus "discover our place in the Cosmos." This is a short, light read; it is also an older book, from 1998, so I am sure there have been even more discoveries in the field of neuroscience, and especially as it relates to meditation. As I said at the beginning, this book is recommended for those who are interested in Buddhism, as well as those interested in biology and evolution. It may also qualify as sort of a self help book, since it shows how our human impulses of fearfulness, hatred, and anger are to some extant programmed into us through evolution, and are holdovers from our primitive past; after all, we still contain within us the "reptilian", "mammalian", and "primate" parts of our brain. We still see the world partly through those ancient eyes...

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas showing how modern neuroscience is basically agreeing with what Buddhism always taught, but I found it hard to concentrate on the text. Not because it was difficult - it was all dumbed down for the general reader - but I think there were too many short sections broken up by quotes instead of examples, and it wasn't clear who it was intended for. Worth reading if you are interested in the nature of thought and the mind.

[Shelley Schanfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second time read was even better than the first. Karma is in a sense another word for evolution: we are the sum of all that's gone before, back to the first single-cell creatures that lived on this planet.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy reading, fun book.

[Elizabeth Ruther · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing I do believe in is the natural world and this book is an interesting perspective on Zen buddhism from an evolutionary biology perspective.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guy is speaking from experience. Presenting the concepts of Buddhist meditation to the western reader. Very good!

[Kirk Nesset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the guided meditation suggestions.

[Anastasia Beaverhousen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh...