© Columbia University Press
Mind and Life: Discussions with the Dalai Lama on the Nature of Reality
November, 2008
Cloth, 232 pages, 59 illus.
ISBN: 978-0-231-14550-3
$24.95
/ £16.95
"A pleasure to read." — Buddhadharma
"Stimulating." — Nature
"One of the best books of its kind. Mind and Life is accessible and engaging and yet deals with this topic in a technically sophisticated way." — Vic Mansfield, professor of physics and astronomy, Colgate University
"In the fascinating dialogues presented in this book, leading physicists and biologists discuss with H. H. the Dalai Lama the current scientific understanding of the essential nature of the material world and the living organisms that have emerged within it. Can we know anything about atoms independently of our systems of measurement and conceptual frameworks in which we make sense of our data? Does life and consciousness emerge solely from complex configurations of molecules and cells, or are there other dimensions to reality besides the physical? These are some of the compelling questions addressed in the conversations between two great knowledge traditions—science and Buddhism—by some of the leading proponents of those cultures." — B. Alan Wallace, president, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
"The dialogues in this book give us many fascinating insights into the new conception of life that is now emerging at the forefront of science. Yet the book does much more. The author vividly describes a remarkable encounter of people from very different cultures who meet in a spirit of great kindness and deep mutual respect. Their non-dogmatic approach to fundamental questions of human existence provide a model for cross-cultural communications that is urgently needed in today's world." — Fritjof Capra, author of The Tao of Physics and The Science of Leonardo