Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying

Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying PDF Author: Dalai Lama
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861717651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
This is an absorbing account of a dialogue between leading Western scientists and the foremost representative of Buddhism today, the Dalai Lama of Tibet. For modern science, the transitional states of consciousness lie at the forefront of research in many fields. For a Buddhist practitioner these same states present crucial opportunities to explore and transform consciousness itself. This book is the account of a historic dialogue between leading Western scientists and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Revolving around three key moments of consciousness--sleep, dreams, and death--the conversations recorded here are both engrossing and highly readable. Whether the topic is lucid dreaming, near-death experiences, or the very structure of consciousness itself, the reader is continually surprised and delighted. Narrated by Francisco Varela, an internationally recognized neuroscientist, the book begins with insightful remarks on the notion of personal identity by noted philosopher Charles Taylor, author of the acclaimed Sources of Self. This sets the stage for Dr. Jerome Engel, Dr. Joyce MacDougal, and others to engage in extraordinary exchanges with the Dalai Lama on topics ranging from the neurology of sleep to the yoga of dreams. Remarkable convergences between the Western scientific tradition and the Buddhist contemplative sciences are revealed. Dr. Jayne Gackenbach's discussion of lucid dreaming, for example, prompts a detailed and fascinating response from the Dalai Lama on the manipulation of dreams by Buddhist meditators. The conversations also reveal provocative divergences of opinion, as when the Dalai Lama expresses skepticism about "Near-Death Experiences" as presented by Joan Halifax. The conversations are engrossing and highly readable. Any reader interested in psychology, neuroscience, Buddhism, or the alternative worlds of dreams will surely enjoy Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying.

Dreaming Souls

Dreaming Souls PDF Author: Owen Flanagan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190286547
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
What, if anything, do dreams tell us about ourselves? What is the relationship between types of sleep and types of dreams? Does dreaming serve any purpose? Or are dreams simply meaningless mental noise--"unmusical fingers wandering over the piano keys"? With expertise in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, Owen Flanagan is uniquely qualified to answer these questions. And in Dreaming Souls he provides both an accessible survey of the latest research on sleep and dreams and a compelling new theory about the nature and function of dreaming. Flanagan argues that while sleep has a clear biological function and adaptive value, dreams are merely side effects, "free riders," irrelevant from an evolutionary point of view. But dreams are hardly unimportant. Indeed, Flanagan argues that dreams are self-expressive, the result of our need to find or to create meaning, even when we're sleeping. Rejecting Freud's theory of manifest and latent content--of repressed wishes appearing in disguised form--Flanagan shows how brainstem activity during sleep generates a jumbled profusion of memories, images, thoughts, emotions, and desires, which the cerebral cortex then attempts to shape into a more or less coherent story. Such dream-narratives range from the relatively mundane worries of non REM sleep to the fantastic confabulations of deep REM that resemble psychotic episodes in their strangeness. But however bizarre these narratives may be, they can shed light on our mental life, our well being, and our sense of self. Written with clarity, lively wit, and remarkable insight, Dreaming Souls offers a fascinating new way of apprehending one of the oldest mysteries of mental life.

Healing Night

Healing Night PDF Author: Rubin Naiman, Ph.D.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781502549815
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Book Description
In Healing Night, sleep and dream expert Rubin Naiman explores sleeping, dreaming, and awakening, going far beyond the science of sleep medicine to reflect on what he believes is the profoundly spiritual nature of night consciousness. Naiman reveals how the erosion of night by artificial light and the devaluation of sleep and dreaming have led to an epidemic of sleep disorders and consequent days of chronically dazed waking consciousness. Drawing on both clinical experience and personal explorations, Naiman offers a fresh look at sleep and dreams, and provides alternative healing practices for sleep disturbances. Moreover, he challenges us to acknowledge our spiritual night blindness and embrace the sacredness of night. This edition was revised in 2009.

Waking, Dreaming, Being

Waking, Dreaming, Being PDF Author: Evan Thompson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231538316
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 497

Book Description
A renowned philosopher of the mind, also known for his groundbreaking work on Buddhism and cognitive science, Evan Thompson combines the latest neuroscience research on sleep, dreaming, and meditation with Indian and Western philosophy of mind, casting new light on the self and its relation to the brain. Thompson shows how the self is a changing process, not a static thing. When we are awake we identify with our body, but if we let our mind wander or daydream, we project a mentally imagined self into the remembered past or anticipated future. As we fall asleep, the impression of being a bounded self distinct from the world dissolves, but the self reappears in the dream state. If we have a lucid dream, we no longer identify only with the self within the dream. Our sense of self now includes our dreaming self, the "I" as dreamer. Finally, as we meditate—either in the waking state or in a lucid dream—we can observe whatever images or thoughts arise and how we tend to identify with them as "me." We can also experience sheer awareness itself, distinct from the changing contents that make up our image of the self. Contemplative traditions say that we can learn to let go of the self, so that when we die we can witness its dissolution with equanimity. Thompson weaves together neuroscience, philosophy, and personal narrative to depict these transformations, adding uncommon depth to life's profound questions. Contemplative experience comes to illuminate scientific findings, and scientific evidence enriches the vast knowledge acquired by contemplatives.

Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying

Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying PDF Author: Dalai Lama
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861717651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
This is an absorbing account of a dialogue between leading Western scientists and the foremost representative of Buddhism today, the Dalai Lama of Tibet. For modern science, the transitional states of consciousness lie at the forefront of research in many fields. For a Buddhist practitioner these same states present crucial opportunities to explore and transform consciousness itself. This book is the account of a historic dialogue between leading Western scientists and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Revolving around three key moments of consciousness--sleep, dreams, and death--the conversations recorded here are both engrossing and highly readable. Whether the topic is lucid dreaming, near-death experiences, or the very structure of consciousness itself, the reader is continually surprised and delighted. Narrated by Francisco Varela, an internationally recognized neuroscientist, the book begins with insightful remarks on the notion of personal identity by noted philosopher Charles Taylor, author of the acclaimed Sources of Self. This sets the stage for Dr. Jerome Engel, Dr. Joyce MacDougal, and others to engage in extraordinary exchanges with the Dalai Lama on topics ranging from the neurology of sleep to the yoga of dreams. Remarkable convergences between the Western scientific tradition and the Buddhist contemplative sciences are revealed. Dr. Jayne Gackenbach's discussion of lucid dreaming, for example, prompts a detailed and fascinating response from the Dalai Lama on the manipulation of dreams by Buddhist meditators. The conversations also reveal provocative divergences of opinion, as when the Dalai Lama expresses skepticism about "Near-Death Experiences" as presented by Joan Halifax. The conversations are engrossing and highly readable. Any reader interested in psychology, neuroscience, Buddhism, or the alternative worlds of dreams will surely enjoy Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying.

Dream Yoga

Dream Yoga PDF Author: Andrew Holecek
Publisher: Sounds True
ISBN: 1622035518
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Book Description
Lucid dreaming—becoming fully conscious in the dream state—has attracted legions of those seeking to explore their vast inner worlds. Yet our states of sleep offer much more than entertainment. Combining modern lucid dreaming principles with the time-tested insights of Tibetan dream yoga makes this astonishing yet elusive experience both easier to access and profoundly life-changing. With Dream Yoga, Andrew Holecek presents a practical guide for meditators, lucid dreamers ready to go deeper, and complete beginners. Topics include: meditations and techniques for dream induction and lucidity, enhancing dream recall, dream interpretation, working with nightmares, and more.

Why We Sleep

Why We Sleep PDF Author: Matthew Walker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501144316
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
"Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity ... An explosion of scientific discoveries in the last twenty years has shed new light on this fundamental aspect of our lives. Now ... neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker gives us a new understanding of the vital importance of sleep and dreaming"--Amazon.com.

Dreaming Yourself Awake

Dreaming Yourself Awake PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 083482793X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Book Description
An “accessible look at the ways we can access the hidden adventures within our dreams and stretch our imaginations into the realm of enlightenment” through lucid dreaming and dream yoga (San Francisco Book Review) Some of the greatest of life’s adventures can happen while you’re sound asleep. That’s the promise of lucid dreaming, which is the ability to alter your own dream reality any way you like simply by being aware of the fact that you’re dreaming while you’re in the midst of a dream. There is a range of techniques anyone can learn to become a lucid dreamer—and this book provides all the instruction you need to get started. But B. Alan Wallace also shows how to take the experience of lucid dreaming beyond entertainment to use it to heighten creativity, to solve problems, and to increase self-knowledge. He then goes a step further: moving on to the methods of Tibetan Buddhist dream yoga for using your lucid dreams to attain the profoundest kind of insight.

An Outline of Occult Science

An Outline of Occult Science PDF Author: Rudolf Steiner
Publisher: [Chicago] : Anthroposophical Literature Concern
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 456

Book Description
An Outline of Occult Science is Rudolf Steiner's thesis discussing the unknown, the nature of mankind, and his belief that science may be used to explain the unusual phenomena known as the occult. First published in 1910, this book strives to define, categorize and explain various manifestations of the occult. The author concedes at the opening of the book that many otherwise open-minded and receptive individuals immediately recoil from the concept of the the unknown, especially in relation to attempts to investigate it scientifically. After introducing the occult, Steiner delves into explaining the two worlds he thought comprised the reality we live in. The natural world, that which is visible and readily perceivable around us, and the spiritual world, where the unexplained phenomena arise. The nature of man as a bodily being, and how his physical self bridges the gap between these two worlds, is much detailed. Famous as a literary critic, Rudolf Steiner's interest in the occult phenomena meant that much of his later life was characterized by research into spiritual texts. He passionately believed that much of the strange, paranormal or occult phenomena human beings have observed have a spiritual yet scientific explanation: it is with this essential belief in mind that Steiner attempts to persuade the reader. Although unusual in subject matter, An Outline of Occult Science is written in an accessible style. What would otherwise be dry and inscrutable is made interesting and exotic by Steiner, who was used to writing for a popular audience in his career as a literary critic. This edition of his book contains all of his original notes, which are appended at the conclusion for ease of reference.

Counting Sheep

Counting Sheep PDF Author: Paul Martin
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312327446
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Book Description
Does the early bird really catch the worm, or end up healthy, wealthy, and wise? Can some people really exist on just a few hours' sleep a night? Does everybody dream? Do fish dream? How did people cope before alarm clocks and caffeine? And is anybody getting enough sleep? Even though we will devote a third of our lives to sleep, we still know remarkably little about its origins and purpose. Paul Martin's Counting Sheep answers these questions and more in this illuminating work of popular science. Even the wonders of yawning, the perils of sleepwalking, and the strange ubiquity of nocturnal erections are explained in full. To sleep, to dream: Counting Sheep reflects the centrality of these activities to our lives and can help readers respect, understand, and extract more pleasure from that delicious time when they're lost to the world.
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