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Where Buddhism Meets Neuroscience: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Spiritual and Scientific Views of Our Minds
This book, designed as a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Western neuroscientists, takes readers on a journey through opposing fields of thought--showing that they may not be so opposing after all.
Is the mind an ephemeral side effect of the brain’s physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness happen? Organized by the Mind and Life Institute, this discussion addresses some of the most troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between Western science and religion. Edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, Where Buddhism Meets Neuroscience is the culmination of meetings between the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent neuroscientists and psychiatrists. The Dalai Lama’s incisive, open-minded approach both challenges and offers inspiration to Western scientists.
This book was previously published under the title Consciousness at the Crossroads.
Is the mind an ephemeral side effect of the brain’s physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness happen? Organized by the Mind and Life Institute, this discussion addresses some of the most troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between Western science and religion. Edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, Where Buddhism Meets Neuroscience is the culmination of meetings between the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent neuroscientists and psychiatrists. The Dalai Lama’s incisive, open-minded approach both challenges and offers inspiration to Western scientists.
This book was previously published under the title Consciousness at the Crossroads.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2018
120 people are currently reading
802 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,554 books6,198 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 9, 2019
Interesting dialogue that is now 20 years old. If you are looking for the "latest" on consciousness, this is not it.
That being said, it is a fascinating discussion between Buddhists and neuroscientists about what we know (but mainly what we don't know) about the nature of the mind. Thought provoking.
That being said, it is a fascinating discussion between Buddhists and neuroscientists about what we know (but mainly what we don't know) about the nature of the mind. Thought provoking.
July 6, 2019
This is a very interesting read. Few topics like soul, consciousness, dreaming are debated by scientists and the Dalai Lama. And you get to know about different perspectives.
However, a lot more topics have been left - Karma, past lives, state of dissatisfaction in life and many more which I highly talked about in Buddhism.
However, a lot more topics have been left - Karma, past lives, state of dissatisfaction in life and many more which I highly talked about in Buddhism.
June 8, 2020
About Memory:
Memory is a result of a different strength of neural connection in the brain. Stronger the neuronal connection, better the memory. Memory is genetic in some ways. We inherit the gene for capacity to learn languages, gene for perception of olfaction, gene for perception of auditory information and so on. Memory in science is defined as an extension of perception. Thus, when we perceive something, it is the neuronal connection that was first formed when experiencing the event that is reactivated. “Squire paradox” (Larry R. Squire) says that memory is a mesh of neurons all over the brain but when a person suffers anterior amnesia, only parts of the mesh are dysfunctional. What is expected is that the whole mesh should become dysfunctional because a memory is a resultant of activation of the entire neuronal mesh, not a piece of it.
About Sleep:
A fetus is experimented to have almost 90% of sleep with dreams. Brain stem which resembles a stalk in the base of a flower is what supports the conscious experience. Wakefulness is remote controlled by Pons or the bridge. Wakefulness is a result of neuronal connection framed by a chemical system also known as a aminergic system. Because of activation of this chemical system, wakefulness is experienced. This aminergic system also regulates breathing, blood pressure, and other visceral and cerebral functions. The antagonist to a aminergic system is called a cholinergic system. During wakeful state, our aminergic system is highly active and cholinergic is relatively dormant. However it is the other way around while sleeping. In fact, dreams are initiated by these cholinergic cells and these cells are the same cells that inhibit muscular movement.
Question- Is a sleepwalking man using non-declarative memory only or some level of declarative memory since there is some level of semantic memory used. For instance, my grandma was travelling to her agricultural field while sleepwalking. In this scenario, my grandma had a concept that if she visits her field, she will be able to take care of it. Also, it can be added that she used the knowledge that going to the field is important to her because if she is there at the field, she can shoo pests and take care of the field. In addition, she knew how to get to the farm, by walking which is stored in her procedural memory.
This book brings the smartest people from the field and shares intricate explanation on phenomenon such as sleep, memory, and consciousness though the discussion of consciousness was not as riveting as I hoped.
Memory is a result of a different strength of neural connection in the brain. Stronger the neuronal connection, better the memory. Memory is genetic in some ways. We inherit the gene for capacity to learn languages, gene for perception of olfaction, gene for perception of auditory information and so on. Memory in science is defined as an extension of perception. Thus, when we perceive something, it is the neuronal connection that was first formed when experiencing the event that is reactivated. “Squire paradox” (Larry R. Squire) says that memory is a mesh of neurons all over the brain but when a person suffers anterior amnesia, only parts of the mesh are dysfunctional. What is expected is that the whole mesh should become dysfunctional because a memory is a resultant of activation of the entire neuronal mesh, not a piece of it.
About Sleep:
A fetus is experimented to have almost 90% of sleep with dreams. Brain stem which resembles a stalk in the base of a flower is what supports the conscious experience. Wakefulness is remote controlled by Pons or the bridge. Wakefulness is a result of neuronal connection framed by a chemical system also known as a aminergic system. Because of activation of this chemical system, wakefulness is experienced. This aminergic system also regulates breathing, blood pressure, and other visceral and cerebral functions. The antagonist to a aminergic system is called a cholinergic system. During wakeful state, our aminergic system is highly active and cholinergic is relatively dormant. However it is the other way around while sleeping. In fact, dreams are initiated by these cholinergic cells and these cells are the same cells that inhibit muscular movement.
Question- Is a sleepwalking man using non-declarative memory only or some level of declarative memory since there is some level of semantic memory used. For instance, my grandma was travelling to her agricultural field while sleepwalking. In this scenario, my grandma had a concept that if she visits her field, she will be able to take care of it. Also, it can be added that she used the knowledge that going to the field is important to her because if she is there at the field, she can shoo pests and take care of the field. In addition, she knew how to get to the farm, by walking which is stored in her procedural memory.
This book brings the smartest people from the field and shares intricate explanation on phenomenon such as sleep, memory, and consciousness though the discussion of consciousness was not as riveting as I hoped.
January 22, 2021
Wish there was more.
In the forward, it talks about the conference being shortened from five days to two days. I definitely can see where this book could have benefited from more conversation exchange. That said, what exists is a quick read and a motivation to explore neuroscience from a different perspective.
What is most remarkable is the ability for two seemingly different approaches to be compatible, or in the very least capable of respectful conversation.
There are better neuroscience books and there are better books on Buddhism, but this is the first one I have found to combine the two, and it was very much enjoyable.
In the forward, it talks about the conference being shortened from five days to two days. I definitely can see where this book could have benefited from more conversation exchange. That said, what exists is a quick read and a motivation to explore neuroscience from a different perspective.
What is most remarkable is the ability for two seemingly different approaches to be compatible, or in the very least capable of respectful conversation.
There are better neuroscience books and there are better books on Buddhism, but this is the first one I have found to combine the two, and it was very much enjoyable.
January 28, 2023
if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
230113: very interesting conversations on Buddhist and 'Western' approaches mind and brain. most of this is confident neuroscientists perhaps unconsciously materialist, explaining all their current (1999) theories of neurology. there is some dialogue, some questioning, from the Dalai Lama, interpreting according to buddhist perspective, which of course I find more amenable- but ultimately it is not long and detailed enough...
230113: very interesting conversations on Buddhist and 'Western' approaches mind and brain. most of this is confident neuroscientists perhaps unconsciously materialist, explaining all their current (1999) theories of neurology. there is some dialogue, some questioning, from the Dalai Lama, interpreting according to buddhist perspective, which of course I find more amenable- but ultimately it is not long and detailed enough...
July 10, 2023
An interesting book … I like to think of it as an intentional collision between science and religion to explain faith. What religion would invite that? :)
The early chapters rely heavily on western scientists presenting current (1990s) scientific research findings on the brain. The scholar’s research presentations on subjects like memory, brain injuries, sleep and dreams really reminded me of a psychology class I took in college (ironically around the same time). The Dalai Lama’s limited questions were mostly to clarify discussion point.
Somewhere in this first half of the book, I thought of “The Tao of Pooh” and started to feel like it was a conversation between “oh so smart” Owl and Pooh … the scientists intent on proving consciousness is merely a construct dependent upon our grey matter and the Buddhist listening agreeably and intimating realms inaccessible to the current science.
In the second half of the book, the Dalai Lama more actively probes the boundaries of philosophy and neuroscience. His questions are more direct and cover the range of topics from both days of their conference. But, as the chapters passed, I felt like the Dalai Lama’s questions morphed into koans and both the Dalai Lama and Science Community became more defensive of their positions (or at least the author made it sound that way) while trying to give answers to questions that don’t really have answers (or at least not ones we’ll ever know).
At this point, my mind jumped to the famous vinegar tasters painting. In the painting, Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Tzu (Taoism), the fathers of China’s major religious and philosophical traditions, are tasting vinegar with different reactions. The Buddha’s face winces from the bitterness of life while Lao Tzu smiles from its sweetness … and that’s how one of the major differences between these two philosophies crystallized in my grey matter; while the Buddhist toils looking at the water, the Taoist finds flow. I suppose I believe a little of both.
At the time this book was written, there’s no real research on what control the mind exerts over the body during meditation. A better understanding of the Buddhist mind body connection was one of the stated goals of future conferences but ultimately, I do believe there are some questions that just don’t have answers. Sometimes, the deeper and wider we look in the physical world for answers, the more questions we discover. As an eastern philosophy, Buddhism has a lot to offer western science and, as this book clearly points out, western science has a lot to learn.
The early chapters rely heavily on western scientists presenting current (1990s) scientific research findings on the brain. The scholar’s research presentations on subjects like memory, brain injuries, sleep and dreams really reminded me of a psychology class I took in college (ironically around the same time). The Dalai Lama’s limited questions were mostly to clarify discussion point.
Somewhere in this first half of the book, I thought of “The Tao of Pooh” and started to feel like it was a conversation between “oh so smart” Owl and Pooh … the scientists intent on proving consciousness is merely a construct dependent upon our grey matter and the Buddhist listening agreeably and intimating realms inaccessible to the current science.
In the second half of the book, the Dalai Lama more actively probes the boundaries of philosophy and neuroscience. His questions are more direct and cover the range of topics from both days of their conference. But, as the chapters passed, I felt like the Dalai Lama’s questions morphed into koans and both the Dalai Lama and Science Community became more defensive of their positions (or at least the author made it sound that way) while trying to give answers to questions that don’t really have answers (or at least not ones we’ll ever know).
At this point, my mind jumped to the famous vinegar tasters painting. In the painting, Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Tzu (Taoism), the fathers of China’s major religious and philosophical traditions, are tasting vinegar with different reactions. The Buddha’s face winces from the bitterness of life while Lao Tzu smiles from its sweetness … and that’s how one of the major differences between these two philosophies crystallized in my grey matter; while the Buddhist toils looking at the water, the Taoist finds flow. I suppose I believe a little of both.
At the time this book was written, there’s no real research on what control the mind exerts over the body during meditation. A better understanding of the Buddhist mind body connection was one of the stated goals of future conferences but ultimately, I do believe there are some questions that just don’t have answers. Sometimes, the deeper and wider we look in the physical world for answers, the more questions we discover. As an eastern philosophy, Buddhism has a lot to offer western science and, as this book clearly points out, western science has a lot to learn.
August 21, 2020
A most interesting book, with a few mind-opening passages. It focus on the brain, its activity and functions, while only vaguely touching subjects as Karma, the soul and past-future lives. It is not a general "Buddhism meets science" book.
For those interested by the brain and willing to know more, from two different perspectives, it is a must read
For those interested by the brain and willing to know more, from two different perspectives, it is a must read
January 31, 2025
I appreciate the transcript of contemplative dialogue and the exploration of the uncertainties of our existence, consciousness, universe, etc.
I don’t think this book served me as much as I thought it would at this time of my life, but would recommend to those interested in the intersection of Western science and Buddhism, especially if you’re okay with having more questions than answers.
I don’t think this book served me as much as I thought it would at this time of my life, but would recommend to those interested in the intersection of Western science and Buddhism, especially if you’re okay with having more questions than answers.
January 27, 2021
A fascinating discussion about consciousness between the Dalai Lama and top neuroscientists. The only issue is that this discussion happened back in 1989, and I believe that we have significantly advanced in our knowledge since that time.
May 2, 2025
science meets religion
This is fascinating from a neuroscience perspective. It is deep reading, philosophical, and thought provoking. It is presented in topical chunks, each of which left me wanting more.
This is fascinating from a neuroscience perspective. It is deep reading, philosophical, and thought provoking. It is presented in topical chunks, each of which left me wanting more.
January 7, 2023
Not even half way into the book I ended it...too technical
May 7, 2025
My favorite part is when one of the neuroscientists gets mad about the Dalai Lama's dumb daffodil koan.
November 30, 2021
Not really sure the point of this book? It's something that better belongs on scientific websites, not as a book. There are many other ways to publish this conversation other than a book
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews