{"title":"James H Austin","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"selfless-insight-book-james-h-austin-9780262012591","title":"Selfless Insight","description":"Attention, self-consciousness, insight, wisdom, emotional maturity: how Zen teachings can illuminate the way our brains function and vice-versa.When neurology researcher James Austin began Zen training, he found that his medical education was inadequate. During the past three decades, he has been at the cutting edge of both Zen and neuroscience, constantly discovering new examples of how these two large fields each illuminate the other. Now, in Selfless Insight, Austin arrives at a fresh synthesis, one that invokes the latest brain research to explain the basis for meditative states and clarifies what Zen awakening implies for our understanding of consciousness. Austin, author of the widely read Zen and the Brain, reminds us why Zen meditation is not only mindfully attentive but evolves to become increasingly selfless and intuitive. Meditators are gradually learning how to replace over-emotionality with calm, clear objective comprehension. In this new book, Austin discusses how meditation trains our attention, reprogramming it toward subtle forms of awareness that are more openly mindful. He explains how our maladaptive notions of self are rooted in interactive brain functions. And he describes how, after the extraordinary, deep states of kensho-satori strike off the roots of the self, a flash of transforming insight-wisdom leads toward ways of living more harmoniously and selflessly. Selfless Insight is the capstone to Austin's journey both as a creative neuroscientist and as a Zen practitioner. His quest has spanned an era of unprecedented progress in brain research and has helped define the exciting new field of contemplative neuroscience.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49512773812497,"sku":"GOR005669779","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49723935424785,"sku":"CIN0262012596VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262012596.jpg?v=1750780545"},{"product_id":"zen-brain-reflections-book-james-h-austin-9780262012232","title":"Zen-Brain Reflections","description":". you can benefit from reading this book only if you are . Christian, free of the shackles of ossified dogmas Muslim, your Allah expects you to honour life in your fellow Muslims, and in all infidels - Jews too, the same way, without exception Jew, and even though Jehovah told you that your kind are the chosen ones, you dare to abandon your right to rule the world Atheist, and your non-existent god can't live side-by-side with the anthropomorphic gods organised religions promote Part-Time Freelancer, and you are searching - in your spare time, for answers to questions like How did I happen to be here? Why did I show up now? What is the point in all this? Searching to meet the One who loved you into existence In dire need of a trustworthy companion who is always there to hear you out and lend you a helping hand Old, unwanted, discarded and society has no use for you Looking for the light that nurtures you and heals all your ailments Wanting to live for ever, expanding into infinity Longing for peace, love and security in all your affairs Ready to let the Absolute Force expand into what you are","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49602518515985,"sku":"GOR004985541","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50215726121233,"sku":"GOR010352821","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50580131479825,"sku":"CIN0262012235VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51717657133329,"sku":"CIN0262012235G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53157564743953,"sku":"GOR007199455","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262012235.jpg?v=1751195333"},{"product_id":"zen-brain-reflections-book-james-h-austin-9780262514859","title":"Zen-Brain Reflections","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA sequel to the popular \u003ci\u003eZen and the Brain\u003c\/i\u003e further explores pivotal points of intersection in Zen Buddhism, neuroscience, and consciousness, arriving at a new synthesis of information from both neuroscience research and Zen studies.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis sequel to the widely read Zen and the Brain continues James Austin's explorations into the key interrelationships between Zen Buddhism and brain research. In \u003ci\u003eZen-Brain Reflections\u003c\/i\u003e, Austin, a clinical neurologist, researcher, and Zen practitioner, examines the evolving psychological processes and brain changes associated with the path of long-range meditative training. Austin draws not only on the latest neuroscience research and new neuroimaging studies but also on Zen literature and his personal experience with alternate states of consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eZen-Brain Reflections\u003c\/i\u003e takes up where the earlier book left off. It addresses such questions as: how do placebos and acupuncture change the brain? Can neuroimaging studies localize the sites where our notions of self arise? How can the latest brain imaging methods monitor meditators more effectively? How do long years of meditative training plus brief enlightened states produce pivotal transformations in the physiology of the brain? In many chapters testable hypotheses suggest ways to correlate normal brain functions and meditative training with the phenomena of extraordinary states of consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter briefly introducing the topic of Zen and describing recent research into meditation, Austin reviews the latest studies on the amygdala, frontotemporal interactions, and paralimbic extensions of the limbic system. He then explores different states of consciousness, both the early superficial absorptions and the later, major peak experiences. This discussion begins with the states called kensho and satori and includes a fresh analysis of their several different expressions of oneness. He points beyond the still more advanced states toward that rare ongoing stage of enlightenment that is manifest as sage wisdom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, with reference to a delayed moonlight phase of kensho, Austin envisions novel links between migraines and metaphors, moonlight and mysticism. The Zen perspective on the self and consciousness is an ancient one. Readers will discover how relevant Zen is to the neurosciences, and how each field can illuminate the other.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49622164177169,"sku":"GOR013765161","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347522064657,"sku":"CIN0262514850G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50487144513809,"sku":"GOR013966601","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50627443720465,"sku":"CIN0262514850VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262514850.jpg?v=1751070362"},{"product_id":"chase-chance-and-creativity-book-james-h-austin-9780262511353","title":"Chase, Chance, and Creativity","description":"A personal story of the ways in which persistence, chance, and creativity interact in biomedical research.This first book by the author of Zen and the Brain examines the role of chance in the creative process. James Austin tells a personal story of the ways in which persistence, chance, and creativity interact in biomedical research; the conclusions he reaches shed light on the creative process in any field. Austin shows how, in his own investigations, unpredictable events shaped the outcome of his research and brought about novel results. He then goes beyond this story of serendipity to propose a new classification of the varieties of chance, drawing on his own research and examples from the history of science--including the famous accidents that led Fleming to the discovery of penicillin. Finally, he explores the nature of the creative process, considering not only the environmental and neurophysiological correlates of creativity but also the role of intuition in both scientific discoveries and spiritual quests. This updated MIT Press paperback edition includes a new introduction and recent material on medical research, creativity, and spirituality.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49644819054865,"sku":"GOR006774290","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50484523499793,"sku":"CIN0262511355G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50484523991313,"sku":"GOR013808705","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51327170248977,"sku":"CIN0262511355VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52502350135569,"sku":"NLS9780262511353","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262511355.jpg?v=1750780653"},{"product_id":"zen-and-the-brain-book-james-h-austin-9780262511094","title":"Zen and the Brain","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA neuroscientist and Zen practitioner interweaves the latest research on the brain with his personal narrative of Zen.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAldous Huxley called humankind's basic trend toward spiritual growth the perennial philosophy. In the view of James Austin, the trend implies a perennial psychophysiology--because awakening, or enlightenment, occurs only when the human brain undergoes substantial changes. What are the peak experiences of enlightenment? How could these states profoundly enhance, and yet simplify, the workings of the brain? \u003ci\u003eZen and the Brain \u003c\/i\u003epresents the latest evidence. In this book Zen Buddhism becomes the opening wedge for an extraordinarily wide-ranging exploration of consciousness. In order to understand which brain mechanisms produce Zen states, one needs some understanding of the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain. Austin, both a neurologist and a Zen practitioner, interweaves the most recent brain research with the personal narrative of his Zen experiences. The science is both inclusive and rigorous; the Zen sections are clear and evocative. Along the way, Austin examines such topics as similar states in other disciplines and religions, sleep and dreams, mental illness, consciousness-altering drugs, and the social consequences of the advanced stage of ongoing enlightenment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49667540189457,"sku":"GOR001968998","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347467538705,"sku":"CIN0262511096A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50975524847889,"sku":"CIN0262511096VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51434164125969,"sku":"GOR010835230","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52103204241681,"sku":"CIN0262511096G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53252067328273,"sku":"GOR003870376","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0262511096.jpg?v=1750780653"},{"product_id":"memories-of-a-nobody-book-james-h-austin-9781418432157","title":"Memories of a Nobody","description":"Find out what it was like to grow up in rural, Southwest Louisiana in the late '4O's and early 50's, such as: How we made it without electricity, What we boys did for entertainment, What lots of families ate during those lean times, Why most yards were grassless, How we made our own toys, Butcher a hog; make lye soap; scrub chairs happened when a boy's dog was lied about, and how the family milk cow changed the way a boy 'looked at things'. have changed. Share some camping\/fishing experiences that only happen once (thank goodness). their biscuit sandwiches from a rust-spotted lunch bucket and listen in on bits and pieces of their long ago conversations. a campfire, while being serenaded by hoot-owls and bullfrogs, until sleep takes over; then awaken to the sounds of nature greeting a new day.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51288982192401,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51288984224017,"sku":"NIN9781418432157","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52121468141841,"sku":"NLS9781418432157","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1418432156.jpg?v=1750955362"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-james-h-austin.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}