Ten Zen Questions

by Susan Blackmore

Use Zen meditation to unravel the mysteries of consciousness.

Using Zen meditation to unravel the mysteries of consciousness.

The calming and de-stressing benefits of Zen meditation have long been known, but scientists are now considering its huge potential to influence our ability to understand and experience consciousness – though few will say it!

Susan Blackmore is about to change all she’s a world expert in brain science who has also been practising Zen meditation for over twenty-five years. In this revolutionary book, she doesn’t push any religious or spiritual agenda but simply presents the methods used in Zen as an aid to help us understand consciousness and identity – concepts which have stumped scientists and philosophers – in an exciting new way. Each chapter takes as its starting point one of Zen’s - and science's - most intriguing questions such as, "Am I conscious now?" and "How does thought arise?"

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Zen, Science

176 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

About the author

Susan Jane Blackmore is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. She has a degree in psychology and physiology from Oxford University (1973) and a PhD in parapsychology from the University of Surrey (1980). Her research interests include memes, evolutionary theory, consciousness, and meditation. She practices Zen and campaigns for drug legalization. Sue Blackmore no longer works on the paranormal.

She writes for several magazines and newspapers, blogs for the Guardian newspaper and Psychology Today, and is a frequent contributor and presenter on radio and television. She is author of over sixty academic articles, about fifty book contributions, and many book reviews. Her books include Dying to Live (on near-death experiences, 1993), In Search of the Light (autobiography, 1996),Test Your Psychic Powers (with Adam Hart-Davis, 1997), The Meme Machine (1999, now translated into 13 other languages), Consciousness: An Introduction (a textbook 2003), Conversations on Consciousness (2005) and Ten Zen Questions (2009).

http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Artic...

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

Ah, this is one of those books, (and what do I even mean by that? I'm not sure, but it seems true to me).

Ah, the author, Madame Blackmore is a trained psychologist and engaged in the business of consciousness studies all of which sounds like Philosophy to me, and apart from Sophie in The Tiger who came to Tea I don't think I've known anyone called Sophia, let alone loved her that was my Greek joke, sorry if you were expecting a better one, anyway Blackmore is firing this book across the bows of Consciousness Studies as a warning that they are heading in entirely the wrong direction, however I have my doubts that Consciousness Studies are either consciousness or capable of adjusting course. Blackmore (spoiler alert) thinks that Daniel Dennett in his Consciousness Explained Away is heading in the right direction, though she is concerned that the metaphors involved are dangerous and misleading, rocky and covered in sweet singing Sirens.

Her conviction I assume though, and this is where I imagine some of those on board the steam ship Consciousness Studies might not even be able or want to see her position on the nautical charts, comes from a long standing practise of Buddhist meditation and her particular engagement with Zen. Possibly in an attempt to win over the scientists, she twice writes 'I am not a Buddhist' bringing to mind Bart Simpson at the chalkboard in the opening credits of the Simpsons , equally I can't help thinking that if it looks like a Duck, walks like a Duck, quacks Zen Koans and ponders over the sound of one wing flapping that the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

If you are going to experiment scientifically, she says, on consciousness, there are two routes, one involving electrodes and measurements the other scrutinising what is happening inside one's own head. This dovetails into her experience of meditation practise and going on Zen retreats in the Welsh countryside somewhere about three hours from Bristol. And this book is the result.

So there is a mixture of being woken up at five in the morning, reflecting on how physical movement begins before electrical activity starts in the brain, walks under the moon lit sky while the fields are white with autumn frost, and the differences in colour perception between bees and humans.

Finally she submits her manuscript to a Zen Master and his response is included at the back of the book. Naturally he finds her approach too sciency, Zen, curiously enough for a tradition very interested in thinking and perception, tries not to be too intellectual "Let go of emptiness and come back to the brambly forest. Riding backwards on the ox, drunken and singing, who could dislike the misty rain pattering on your bamboo raincoat and hat" (p.171).

So it is one of those books it is firmly targeted at two distinct audiences Conscious Studies people who while they might agree with her conclusions will be suspicious of her method (while experimental and repeatable, it is designed and intended to deliver the practitioner at a certain conclusion - that there is no self and perceptions of consciousness are illusionary) and Zen types who while they will agree with her conclusions find her starting points and attitudes a hindrance in noticing that the idea of a continuous and real self, and free will are illusions.

If you are in neither of those categories then there is the account of her struggles not to notice a fox in her garden, insisting that she is not in the room and her preference for maintaining the composting toilet over being kitchen assistant while on retreat in Wales.

The title, evoking Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance and Herrrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery was the editor's.

[Rossdavidh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a difficult one to write a review of. It is easy for me to rate it; 5 stars, easily, and I give most books 3 stars. But, to know how to describe it is a "hard problem".

Susan Blackmore reminds me in some ways of Jon Ronson, in that she is open-minded and even-tempered in her investigation of topics that others are too emotionally invested in to remain rational about. In this book, she is looking at what the practices of Zen (meditation, koans, etc.) have to tell us about consciousness. She mostly does this by letting us inside her mind, for a while, as she does things like go on Zen retreats or meditate at her home. She is, she claims, not actually a Buddhist, although as Buddhism is a religion of practice rather than belief, I'm not sure if the distinction between "Buddhist" and "just someone who meditates and goes on retreats and such" means much.

One of the difficulties of examining a question like "what is consciousness?" or "who am I that is experiencing this?", is that you are so close to the question (nothing closer) that it is difficult to even get enough perspective to think about it. Much of the process of Zen seems to consist of various techniques (sitting meditation, slow-walking meditation, koans, etc.) for helping one to attain that perspective. Even trickier would be how to get enough perspective to be able to write about it.

Or, who knows, perhaps writing about her own thought processes in regards to these questions, is how she got enough perspective on them. Regardless, I found this to be most definitely not a "page turner"; it's a book that requires that you stop and ponder what you have just read. Perhaps not even exactly "think" about it; just sit with it in your mind for a bit. I mostly read it by the side of a river on a coffeeshop patio, in the mornings, which worked well for this purpose.

By the end, she has (she believes, and I do as well) seen a great deal about what life and death are, and what we are, and how to think about it all. It is (unsurprisingly) not a book for which "spoilers" are even possible. Understanding the words on each page require that you have spent some time digesting what came before.

[Kellen Bass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freshman year I had to pick out a book under the theme of “Zen and the art of…” trope and landed myself on this…. this one.

Never before has a book sent me so utterly spiraling. To say it inspired a massive existential crisis is a mild understatement. I couldn’t grasp the blunt confrontation of my own consciousness as Susan Blackmore gladly leads me through this book of sheer mental horrors. The less I know the better and now I know too much. The pain of existing has never reached such maxims.

I give this book 4 stars. Honestly impressed by the depth of crisis Madame Blackmore facilitated. Pretty enjoyable read, fun prose, good storytelling, and easy to follow. Didn’t get more than halfway through, will admit, due to my inability to distinguish reality while reading in the library but I imagine the rest of the book was pretty nice. Would I recommend it to a friend? Sure absolutely.

I’ve had some amazing conversations with dozens of unlike minded people concerning the content of this book. I’d say I bring it up in conversation, we’ll it’s gotta be over once a month on average. Maybe once an hour when I was actively reading it. I gained a lot of perspective on life after this: like how if I were in the matrix I would most certainly choose the blue pill. This book is the red pill and I’d rather sit and enjoy the show, in retrospect.

[Martinxo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Sue Blackmore's use of Zen koans to explore consciousness is inspiring, it's certainly got me back on the mat again.

Great for anyone interested in why and what we are and why and what we are doing, for atheists and Buddhists (and any other religious persuasion)

[Irene Jurna · Rating 5 out of 5]

De afgelopen weken ervaarde ik weer hoe pijnlijk zen-koans kunnen zijn. Maar voor het eerst merkte ik ook iets anders: dat koans kunnen leiden tot je wakker voelen.

Beide ervaringen herkende ik in het verhaal van Blackmore. Zo leek het voor mij alsof we samen met een koan werkten - al was de exacte vraag niet hetzelfde en legde zij de focus niet op zen, maar op wetenschap.

Blackmore’s wetenschappelijke studie naar bewustzijn en zen-studie naar bewust zijn: ze overlappen elkaar in dit boek. Ik vind die combinatie, haar inzet, conclusies, en het delen daarvan zó dapper: daarvoor vijf sterren.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out in a very interesting way, very cleverly written and to the point. However, as we move forward, the author seems to lose herself in her thoughts (which she transcribes brilliantly to the paper! I really was impressed by how one could do such a writing!), and since they are her thoughts on whatever subject, they get really annoying, boring and tedious... I think the response Susan Blackmore got from John sums up perfectly what this book made me feel! Also, when she mentions having smoked marijuana, I couldn't help but to think "Oh! That explains a lot!"

Bottom line, I was expecting so much more from this book, and all we get in the end are the ramblings of a seemingly crazy person with nothing else to do with her life.
But this might be unfair.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you ever wondered exactly who it is who is thinking your thoughts, or seeing the world through your eyes, do not miss this book. It's a fascinating, engaging, and thoroughly human read about consciousness and zen, filled with lovely illustrations drawn by the author herself.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff here, and some good writing, but lots of it seemed a bit hard to grasp. I liked her approach and the fact that she’s interested in consciousness on a philosophical level and a Zen level - but somehow the mixture just got muddled, in my mind at least.

[Alaíde Ventura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un buen libro para regalar sin que el destinatario sienta que le estás regalando un bodrio. Al final tiene una conversación con John Crook, maestro zen.

[Rob Adey · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, this looks and sounds like it might be some awful 'spiritual quest' book. But Susan Blackmore is one of the most hardcore materialists on the planet, and this is an account of her using some of the tools discovered by Zen practitioners to - apparently - actually experience some of the way the brain really works i.e. without volition or a continuing, centralised self.

For a book that's mostly about someone sitting still and thinking/trying not to think, it's immensely compelling and readable. And such is the clarity with which Blackmore explains her experiences, it's even kind of frightening, the sheer extent of the difference between her eventual mental life and the norm.

One possible downside: there's not very much of the science that would seem to support Blackmore's introspection; it might have been stronger to refer more to people like Metzenger and Wegner (who are in the bibliography but not in the text) than Dennett, her clear favourite. If you read this book without familiarity with some of their research, it might not seem as convincing.

Still: this is a fantastically committed book on consciousness. And the bonus is Blackmore lives with Adam Hart-Davis, so you get to imagine her trying to meditate in their garden while he 'helps' by hammering together some half-timbered steam-powered Faraday cage in his shed.

[Cheryl]

I couldn't do it. I have enjoyed some works by Blackmore, and really admire her as a bold & daring scientist, but this book doesn't seem to do what it claims to set out to do, and is not really about Zen but is rather, yet again, about the nature of Consciousness, and is not written in a way that I could connect to. I just don't think the way she talks about thinking. For example I would never want to make several visits to an ancient isolated Welsh 'estate' as a retreat to learn to better meditate.

The appendix is her Teacher's response to the manuscript. He is tactful, but basically doesn't like it. Why did Blackmore send it to him if she wasn't going to take his advice into account? Why did she share his letter with us readers? It's possible an answer could be teased out of the book, but I only read the appendix, intro., and first chapter and don't want to read more. So disappointed. Sorry, Sue, you're an amazing woman but you are still too tangled up in your own corner to reach most readers. (I do have your Ted Talk and other YouTube contributions on my queue, though.)

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zen meets the philosophy of consciousness

This book is about the problem of consciousness and how the practice of Zen Buddhism as experienced by Dr. Blackmore relates to that problem. She is a UK-based psychologist and author of, most notably, The Meme Machine (1999) in which she lends considerable support to Richard Dawkins’ notion of the meme as a Darwinian mechanism of culture.

This is a more personal book. It’s a bit self-indulgent as Blackmore takes us to her garden and her meditation shed and back through her Zen retreat experiences in a kind of experiential way without really coming to any more than a series of purely personal insights. The book also suffers from a failure to clearly define “consciousness.” Perhaps Blackmore has defined consciousness so many times before and has grown weary of doing so again, or perhaps she thinks we all know what consciousness means more or less. Or, more likely, she believes that the meaning of consciousness will emerge through a reading of this book, the idea being that by asking these ten Zen questions one will be lead to an understanding of consciousness—or at least to an understanding of why consciousness is such a conundrum.

Blackmore graciously lets her Zen master, John Crook, have the last word in the form of a letter to her after he read a draft copy of her book. His response comes under the heading of what I like to call “sometimes it is best to quote them.”

Some observations:

The Zen questions themselves, e.g., “Am I conscious now?”; “Who is asking the question?”; “How does thought arise?” etc., become Zen koans as Blackmore grapples with them. At one point when considering questions about the mind “abiding in tranquility” on the one hand and “moving in thought” on the other, Professor Blackmore observes, “The only point of these questions is to lure you into tranquility. The answers don’t matter.” (p. 86)

I believe this is correct and at any rate it is the same understanding that I came to many years ago in regard to Zen koans. The fact that Blackmore understands this demonstrates to me at least that she really does have some Zen.

As for whether John Crook has as much Zen is to my mind more in doubt. He writes that he found Blackmore’s section on free-will “rather tedious.” I found it exactly the opposite, instead very much to the point. What I found tedious were what seemed to be the atmosphere and regimen at Crook’s Zen retreats. His apparent dismissal of Blackmore’s understanding of consciousness with “What about enlightenment? Keep going!” (p. 173) I found egotistical. Furthermore, Crook’s statement that “all this intellection is Not It” (p. 172) seemed to be another easy dismissal of Blackmore’s work. The fact that he found all the ink she gave to her experiences at his various retreats “heart-warming, precise and truthful” (p. 167) probably gives us an insight into his primary concern.

I will give Crook credit for writing “I suspect the word [“consciousness”] needs deconstructing philosophically” because this really points to the problem with most books on consciousness, namely that the word is not adequately defined.

As the term is generally used, consciousness has three aspects:

One: awareness of the world (including awareness of our self and our processes, that is, self-awareness).
Two: self-identity. Notice that awareness of self is different from this identification with self.
Three: experience or sensation, the feelings we get when we experience the world. This is sometimes called “phenomenal consciousness.” An example would be the subjective experience of the color red, or the taste of a strawberry.

The first aspect of consciousness, awareness, in¬cluding self-awareness, is something that all (or nearly all) living things have. The range of awareness of course is large. A bacterium has awareness of the texture or feel of certain surfaces, an awareness of the molecules of certain substances in the air and perhaps heat as opposed to cold, and so on. It has a sense of self and not self to some primitive extent—I presume since it doesn’t eat itself. Actually a bacterium is powerfully aware compared to a rock.
A primate has an awareness of so much that I won’t attempt to reiterate.
The second aspect of consciousness, self-identity, is a psychological trick of the evolutionary process that works toward self-preservation.
The third aspect of consciousness, feelings or sensation, is what is most mysterious (and trivial, by the way, compared to the other two) and is what has had philosophers in a tizzy since time immemorial. Quite simply there is no way that such subjective experiences can ever become objective. The experience of the red that I see may or may not be the same as the experience you have; and there is no way that we can say for sure whether our experiences are the same or different. (from my book, The World Is Not as We Think It Is (2011) p. 82)


Failure to identify which aspect of consciousness one is considering at any given time leads to confusion. Blackmore is able at times to dispel this confusion by being specific about which aspect of consciousness she is talking about. For example on page 164 she refers separately to “awareness” and “self-awareness.” Would that she were more circumspect throughout!

The problem of Cartesian dualism resulting in the ghost of a homunculus inside our heads doesn’t arise if we ask, as Blackmore does, “Am I conscious now?” meaning “Am I aware of what is going on around me?” which is what she often seems to mean. Nor does it arise if she is asking, “Am I aware of what I am feeling?” However it arises massively when she asks who it is that is asking these questions!

Despite of these misgivings there is a lot to admire in this book: Blackmore’s grit and determination, her fairness, her often vivid prose, and her considerable knowledge of the subject. I also like the book because I tend to agree with her conclusions, most notably that free will is an illusion and that there is no continually existing self. I found her idea that “There is no now,” (page 162) compelling but wonder if one could say that there is only the eternal now and nothing else and be saying much the same thing.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”

[Alexi Parizeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is written in a brilliant stream of consciousness style which takes the reader along for the ride of deep meditative introspection. It's actually quite demanding on the reader, because introspection is tedious work, but Blackmore's final conclusions are worth it and I've come to many of them during my own years of introspections. Unfortunately, these conclusions cannot be explanations or truths in themselves; this is the unrealized insight of Blackmore's book: if we accept that consciousness is illusory then we can't trust introspective evidence that consciousness is illusory; it might very well be an illusion of an illusion. But it's a helpful paradox to find out more. Very Zen. :)

[Mehdi Hassan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a unique masterpiece of a long essay. Essentially, this is a diary of thoughts - not the thoughts as subject itself but the thoughts between the thoughts. The narrator is trying to discover the links between his thoughts - a sort of silent meditation where he is the experiment and scientist. Loosely speaking, it is Neuro-linguistic programming studies in practice. Any single chapter is interesting by itself and there is reference to a plethora of related materials at the end. Grateful to have picked this one.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually am reading many books in rotation and found myself picking this up to read when I felt tired, or in any lanquid state. The book flows in that energy, drifting above the thoughts, very zen in its nature. It can be irritating the repetition of questions, the very nature of how she is going about her study. It is also brilliant for this very reason. That it is an open first person account of the process of studying self, consciousness, reality through meditation.

[Brian Perusek · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing worse than a Zen Buddhist book written for westerners “about Zen Buddhism” is a Zen Buddhist book written by a non-Zen Buddhist for westerners. It’s beyond me how Steven Batchelor was involved in this. Perhaps an attempt at a secular Buddhist writing... but if you have any knowledge of Buddhism, or are Buddhist... this will be a waste of your time.

[Raul · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vision seems so simple. We open our eyes and there is the world. Yet scientists have long appreciated how difficult this is to explain. For a start, we move our eyes about five or six times a second, fixating on something and then moving quickly on, but we don’t notice this, and the world appears stable. Also we can see clearly only a tiny area around that fixation point, yet it feels as though we are seeing the whole visual scene at once. How does this work? Information goes in through the eyes, along the optic nerve, through way stations in the mid-brain, and on up to the visual cortex. And then what happens? It’s so tempting to think that a picture appears ‘in consciousness’so that ‘I’can see it, but that wouldn’t explain anything. ‘I’would have to be another little person who looked at the picture and then there would need to be another little person inside me to look at that picture, and so on into an infinite regress. The idea of an inner observer has long been rejected, but the idea of an inner picture is more persistent. Yet this too is problematic. Suppose that right now, while you are reading this book, all the words changed into different words. Would you notice? Yes, of course you would. Suppose now that the words changed just as you moved your eyes. Would you notice then? Or suppose that they changed just as you blinked. Would you notice? Most people say they would, and are horrified to discover that they probably would not."

"And how is tranquillity maintained? By paying attention. But this is not the kind of focused attention that brings out details or applies concentration to one thing. In fact it is just the reverse. It is something like paying attention equally to everything. There’s a problem here. What is everything? As soon as I think about everything then I think about particular things; and then there’s thingness and division, and the sense of attending to everything is lost in the attempt."

[Peter Spering · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terribly scatter-brained and muddled.

Sue Blackmore constructs, scrambles and knots various threads, until we reach the end and she presents a conclusion that is unsatisfactory. She acknowledges that there is a ‘void’ from which thought arises, yet fails to account for this and worse still, slides into a contradiction by claiming there is no consciousness.

The fact of the matter is that there *is* a consistent consciousness, at least as far as the average person is concerned. That’s not to say, as the book implies, that such a consciousness behaves in an immutable fashion, of course. That would be absurd. You wouldn’t react to being punched in the face the same way you would being hugged by your child, for example. What exists is a general parameter of personality traits and typical behavioural responses that make up a person, and which vary person by person.

Now where's the proof for a consistent consciousness? It’s where you don’t find consistent consciousness. People with personality and schizoid-type disorders. Those whose personalities noticeably shift and alter, and those whose perceptions break from the continuity of reality.

The book also doesn’t give credible reasoning for the impossibility of dualism or free will, and I feel on the latter, that she fails to see the woods for the trees.

So why did I give it even three stars? Because—and this is very zen, very appropriate—of what wasn’t in the book. I gained precisely from what it didn’t say. The book was at least a sounding board for ideas.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so human, and contains so many pointers and things to ponder it’s an absolute treasure.
I consume this book in the way I would the movie Withnail and I as a student.

When Susan is meditating I meditate for a while, when Susan is working through a Koan I work through it for a while first before reading the progression of Susan’s thoughts.
On reading this way it’s highly enjoyable and enlightening to see how regularly your positions match, and to observe that feeling of inner confusion and unease when they don’t. Until they are invariably reconciled as Susan finds a new insight, or you do.

The narrative is open, human, honest and deeply identifiable. You may find yourself inwardly tutting at Susan for being a grumpy bugger about having to prepare vegetables, only to warm to her again when you realise she just wants to look after the toilets, a task that brings her happiness and tranquility.
It’s written in such a way that you share those moments.
I can’t recommend this enough.

Spoiler alert for my friends and family - this is what you’re getting for Christmas.

[Linh Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is quite neat and the author raised some important questions of philosophy foundation, of consciousness and Zen. However, Susan began losing her thought from the second half until the end. She broke the rule of not-thinking in Zen and she thought too much and put too much of her personal emotion (sometimes quite negative) in her writing. That makes reader feel bored and also lose in her thoughts. Eventually, I think she achieved to a certain level of right meditation, and some important questions were raised for her audiences to contemplate:"am I conscious now?", "who is asking the question?", "are you here now?".
The feedback from her Zen master - Mr. John - is quite worth reading. And the title of the book, to me, is too ambitious.

[Calvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great discussion of the subject matter, but I found myself scratching my head at the conclusion that consciousness doesn't exist. Gotta concur with John's feedback at the end of the book. It's like the other side of the same coin is missing from the conclusion. Consciousness definitely exists. I'm experiencing it right now. Perhaps she means that we shouldn't identify with the monadic, individuated consciousness that we usually experience as it is a dreamlike illusion? I could buy that. But you can move away from individuated consciousness to a much larger, awakening consciousness that experiences more of the world rather than moving the opposite direction into nothingness and non-existence.

[Gonpo Dorje · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simplicity lacking

Your book on conversations was suggested . A copy procured and put down with the Churchlands unfinished. Searching out your works this title seemed a likely topic to evaluate whether you were either stuck in intellectual fixation or have tasted the marrow of Zen. I do not rate your books, not only because I did not finish them but because they seem infantile and prematurely accepted by the publisher . I wish you do get to realise the nature of mind and put your passion to write to good use. With kindness and warmth. Dorje

[Josh Clement · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blackmore is a good writer, thinker, scientist, but a fairly average zen student.

She doesn't want to chop vegetables. She's annoyed with everything. The book sees her hammering a series of zen koans with an embarrassingly large hammer of intellect and logic. She 'knows' there must be an answer and has to get it 'right'.

Even her Zen master is gets exasperated. At one point he gives her a red card for thinking too hard. Despite shooting waaay past the target, she stumbles across many insights (even a profound insight isn't safe from her ruthless interrogation).

[Katie Sapphire-Star · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that tries to be deep but just ends up being confusing and concluding nothing. It feels like a personal diary rather than something that was edited into a book for others to read. Unless you're very into meditation and Zen practise I wouldn't recommend this, and if you struggle with mindfulness at all then avoid!! It gets two stars as it did make me think some new things initially and the questions provoke more questions, giving my brain a workout!

[Allisonperkel · Rating 2 out of 5]

About half this book feels like Dr Blackmore tried to channel the thoughts in her head. That idea did not made for an interesting book. I also found her conclusions off: almost like she fixated on an idea. funny enough, she included a critique from her Zen teacher who raised similar issues.

While the book is very much navel gazing when Dr Blackmore going into the technical details, her writing shines. Sadly, that shining was less than 20 pages.

[James Templeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Thoughtful than Most

Interesting to see her approach to meditation practice, and then linking it to her consciousness studies. More thoughtful than most philosophical or scientific approaches that neglect two and a half millennia of introspection by the best and the brightest of their time. But, of course, she raises more questions than she answers. But at least she’s honest about it.

[Joska Pista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a neuroscientist and I am a beginner in meditation. The book is a personal account on the struggles, successes and insights of a the Author on meditation and how the mind is built. I learnt a lot reading it. But might be a reading for insiders. Many good hints on exploring Buddhist meditation and important authors.

[Lux]

Phenomenal interweaving of personal account, Zen philosophy, and science. I recognize in her writing my own thoughts, after I have removed the wrappings of my mind. I had so much fun reading this, sitting out in the back garden.

[Melina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learnt next to nothing. 2 paragraphs in it were very provocative though. The ending bit where her ‘buddhist teacher’ of sorts writes his criticisms and thoughts was more insightful and stirring than the entire work preceding it lol. Might find his work and read it (J.H Crook)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best exploration of Zen I have come across this far. Blackmore tries to clarify and explain where others confuse and seem to enjoy the contradictions.