This book continues James Austin’s quest to clarify how meditative practices transform our states of consciousness. The book is in five parts. Part I considers how meditation can enhance creativity and how Zen enlightenment (awakening) can help develop altruism and compassion. Part II explores the neural correlates of Self-relationships, of selflessness and allocentric processing. It explains how they differ from Self-centered (egocentric) processing. Part III considers the neural correlates of memory in general and of mindful attention to the present. It then introduces the topic of remindful ... More

This book continues James Austin’s quest to clarify how meditative practices transform our states of consciousness. The book is in five parts. Part I considers how meditation can enhance creativity and how Zen enlightenment (awakening) can help develop altruism and compassion. Part II explores the neural correlates of Self-relationships, of selflessness and allocentric processing. It explains how they differ from Self-centered (egocentric) processing. Part III considers the neural correlates of memory in general and of mindful attention to the present. It then introduces the topic of remindfulness. It defines remindfulness as the quality of recollecting the most appropriate thing at the right time. Related topics include mind wandering, hallucinations, and the reticular nucleus of the thalamus. Part IV discusses the neural mechanisms involved in focal and global attentive processing. Related topics include “pop-out” phenomena, disengaging attention, and “playing in the zone.” Part V examines what a living Zen means during the direct experience of everyday life events. It means repeatedly practicing an earthy flexible empiricism. The haiku poetry of Basho reveals avian Zen influences. Gazing upward spontaneously sometimes helps precipitate an alternate state of consciousness. The appendix and chapter notes illuminate a variety of related topics. Eight chapters provide examples of testable hypotheses.