MindScience: An East-West Dialogue

by Dalai Lama XIV, Daniel Goleman, Herbert Benson

What is the subtle relationship between mind and body? What can today's scientists learn about this relationship from masters of Buddhist thought? Is it possible that by combining Western and Eastern approaches, we can reach a new understanding of the nature of the mind, the human potential for growth, the possibilities for mental and physical health?

MindScience explores these and other questions as it documents the beginning of a historic dialogue between modern science and Buddhism. The Harvard Mind Science Symposium brought together the Dalai Lama and authorities from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, and education. Here, they examine myriad questions concerning the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body.

Genres: Buddhism, Psychology, Nonfiction, Religion, Neuroscience

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jetsun 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.

Reviews

[Frank Jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published in 1991, this book is already dated -- and that's a good thing! It remains of interest for cultural history reasons, but so much has been published around the interface of Buddhism and western psychology and cognitive science since then, if you've been in on the conversation, you won't learn anything new here.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am neutral about this book and what it offers. I was able to get some key information from it that I can certainly use for my schooling but I do not think it's a book that I see myself telling others to read. I also was looking for it to offer more of a contrast and comparison of East/West Culture.

[Darice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to profound spiritual and psychological thoughts that are being connected and synthesized into a vision of the transcendence of consciousness.

[William Kamau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful

[Iulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un dialog concis intre Orient si Occident, dovada a progresului remarcabil posibil atunci când lideri ai unor ideologii puternice, distincte, inteleg sa pună alături ceea ce știu, pentru a obține un nivel superior de cunoaștere.
Cartea reda discuțiile desfășurate in 1991, la simpozionul MinteStiinta, parte din programul Harvard’s Medical School, simpozion organizat pentru a celebra un deceniu de cercetări comune ale comunității budiste tibetane si a Harvard Medical School, unde invitat a fost si Dalai Lama.
Lectura densa, idei comprimate, gravitând in jurul polarității dintre exterioritatea științelor occidentale (in sensul orientării catre înțelegerea si controlul mediului înconjurator) si interioritatea științelor orientale (in sensul orientării catre înțelegerea si controlul sinelui).
O carte cu si despre religii, filosofii, cunoașteri.

[Jace Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I was a little disappointed by this. Here we have a discussion of the mind and its abilities centered around a highly advanced Tibetan technique called Tummo. This book talks about the minds abilities to affect the body but they give such a high-level example that it seems almost unrelatable to the average person. And although the Dalai Lama speaks in this, he talks about the simpler side of cultivating a good mind through right thought and living. Why not discuss more simple techniques that a person can relate to and incorporate into their life other than things anyone can get from any other Buddhist text.

[Tenzin Tsering · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book does a good job explaining the psychological difference between the east and west. There is a big emphasis made on the materialistic nature of the west compared to the eastern philosophy which has focused more on the inner self and the unconscious. I liked the parts about the negative social consequences a materialistic philosophy has had on western society. The only problem I have with this book is that each chapter is a recount of a different moment, and only one of them is of a dialogue with the dalai lama. I guess I was just expecting more wisdom directly from the 14th. Overall, short and concise

[Tashi Lhamo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book for the people who wants to peep into the world of psychologist, neusoscience and Buddhist psychology.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only got half way through this book. It is good! It was too intellectual for me :). So I am passing it on.