Living Zen Remindfully: Retraining Subconscious Awareness (The MIT Press)

Even though his use of brain anatomy is dense and difficult, his insights into a zen path are really helpful and worth the effort (I often skip the technical details).

Whilst I appreciate the author's effort to mix the two disciplines together, the neuroscience part, beyond the apprehension of most I bet, definitely bypasses the zen one. In case you don't have a sound understanding of neuroscience in the first place, I suggest you to give it a pass.p.s. Below please find some favorite passages of mine fyr.Meditation in the midst of action is definitely superior to meditation in stillness. – Hakuin Ekaku pg21Talent is formed in stillness, character in the world’s torrent. – Goethe pg21In the valley of humility, they learned to quiet the self. Only by quieting the self could they see the world clearly,….understand other people and accept what they are offering. Pg23To study the way of the Buddha is to study your own self. To study your own self is to forget yourself. To forget yourself is to have the objective world prevail in you. – Dogen KigenIn the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the pursuit of the Tao, every day something is dropped. – Tao Te Ching pg147Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are. – Jose Ortega y Gasset pg155Zen is not about being irresponsible and ignoring things; it is about being able to remain unattached, about seeing clearly, and beginning again, and letting go of the mind that hungers on something over and over again. – Shodo Harada RoshiWhen waking up, really pay attention. But make no effort to struggle with what may be going on in your mind. Strugging wastes energy. One gains energy by preserving it right in the midst of the mundane stress of daily affairs. It is here that you obtain Buddhahood. Here, you can turn hell into heaven. – Dahui ZonggaoKeep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps the singing bird will come. – Old Chinese ProverbHow many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? – Bob Dylan

What an amazing and dense book! Everywhere in this book are some seeds for future research and discoveries. When science meets Zen it’s an entire new world that opens- a world of space, a world where oneness takes its real dimension. Thank you James for all your amazing work and insight and for sharing your experience so we can live a little bit more Zenfully and let our true nature shines more for others.