Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness

This book is the account of a historic dialogue between leading Western scientists and one of the foremost representatives of Buddhism today, the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Revolving around the three key moments of consciousness of sleep, dreams, and death-what internationally acclaimed neuroscientist Francisco Varela calls the ego's shadow zones-the conversations recorded here took place at the fourth Mind and Life Conference in Dharamsala, India. With contributions from acclaimed voices such as philosopher Charles Taylor, psychoanalyst Joyce McDougall, psychologist Jayne Gackenbach, cultural ecologist Joan Halifax, and neuroscientist Jerome Engel, the book is both engrossing and highly readable. Whether the topic is lucid dreaming, near death experiences, or the very structure of consciousness itself, the participants in this unique exchange continually surprise and delight us with their discoveries of convergences and divergences between their respective traditions. Any reader interested in Buddhism, psychology, neuroscience, or the alternative worlds of dreams and the afterlife will surely enjoy the rich discoveries contained in this book.