B. Alan Wallace

Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. However, B. Alan Wallace, a respected Buddhist scholar, proposes that the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and of Western science are capable of being integrated into a single discipline: contemplative science. The science of consciousness introduces first-person methods of investigating the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as samatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their own theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, including a wide range of states of consciousness, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances. Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience have all shed light on the cognitive processes that enable us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious that transcends the traditional science-based understanding of the self.

Citing the benefits of meditation as a means of improving and honing concentration skills, the author of Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up is aimed at contemporary readers and offers advice on how to address the challenges of today's hectic world, overcome depression and other mental disorders, and more. Original.

B. Alan Wallace, widely recognized as of the clearest facilitators of the dialogue between science and Buddhism explains the methods and exoeriences fo those Tibetan practitioners and compares these with investigations of consciousness by Western scientists.

Discover your personal path to bliss""This book will give anyone interested in the spectrum of core meditative practices stemming from the Buddhist tradition but in essence universal the deepest of perspectives on what is possible for us as human beings as well as excellent guidance in the essential, time-tested attitudes and practices for actualizing our innate capacity for wisdom, compassion, and well-being, right here and right now.""--Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Coming to Our Senses and Full Catastrophe Living""In Genuine Happiness, Alan Wallace displays his rare talent in boiling down the complex to the clear and in guiding readers through a practical path to contentment. A gift for all moods and seasons.""--Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ""This lucid and rich book offers brillant, wise, and accessible teachings on the essentials of four core meditation techniques that lead one to genuine joy and happiness. Alan Wallace's years of practice and teaching shine through every page, as with ease and great humanity, he brings to the reader the possibility of liberation.""--Joan Halifax Roshi, abbot of Upaya Zen Center""Genuine Happiness is a treasure chest of wisdom: clear, inspiring teaching jewels. It is an excellent support for any student of meditation.""--Sharon Salzberg, author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest ExperienceIn today's overstimulated world, many are realizing that happiness gained through material wealth and frivolous conquests is short-lived. To achieve long-term happiness, you must access your own bountiful resources--housed in your heart and mind. In Genuine Happiness, longtime Buddhist practitioner Alan Wallace shows you the path to bliss. Drawing on more than three decades of study under His Holiness the Dalai Lama and sixty other teachers, as well as 2,500 years of Buddhist tradition, Alan Wallace guides you step by step through five simple yet powerful meditations to help you focus your mind and open your heart to true happiness. Featuring a Foreword by the Dalai Lama, this book will help you discover that it is possible to experience genuine happiness every day. As you incorporate the meditations from Genuine Happiness into your life, you will discover that the joy you've sought has always been only a few meditative minutes away.

This book takes a bold new look at ways of exploring the nature, origins, and potentials of consciousness within the context of science and religion. Alan Wallace draws careful distinctions between four elements of the scientific tradition: science itself, scientific realism, scientific materialism, and scientism. Arguing that the metaphysical doctrine of scientific materialism has taken on the role of ersatz-religion for its adherents, he traces its development from its Greek and Judeo-Christian origins, focusing on the interrelation between the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. He looks at scientists' long term resistance to the firsthand study of consciousness and details the ways in which subjectivity has been deemed taboo within the scientific community. In conclusion, Wallace draws on William James's idea for a "science of religion" that would study the nature of religious and, in particular, contemplative experience. In exploring the nature of consciousness, this groundbreaking study will help to bridge the chasm between religious belief and scientific knowledge. It is essential reading for philosophers and historians of science, scholars of religion, and anyone interested in the relationship between science and religion.

Consciousness is a riddle for Western science and philosophy, yet for centuries Tibetan Buddhist contemplatives have directly explored consciousness through carefully honed, rigorous techniques of meditation. This book brings together the findings of these Tibetan practitioners and the findings of Western scientists and philosophers on the nature of consiousness. The foundation of the Tibetan Buddhist science of consciousness was laid by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), acclaimed by some as the Martin Luther, and by others as the Thomas Aquinas, of Tibetan Buddhism. "The Bridge of Quiescence" gives a readable account of Tsongkhapa's thought, and includes an original translation (with detailed commentary) of Tsongkhapa's presentation of techniques for developing exceptionally high degrees of attentional stability and clarity. According to Tsongkhapa, enchancement and refining of one's attention is an indispensable prerequisite to fruitful introspective inquiry into the nature of the mind and of consciousness itself. The insights gleaned from such contemplative investigations can be used to identify and eliminate the inner sources of anxiety, frustration and discontent. To make the implications of Tsongkhapa's thinking clear, B. Alan Wallace provides an outline of Tsongkhapa's outlook and assumptions. Western science, influenced by what Wallace calls "the cult of objectivity", neglected consciousness for 300 years, and then turned to the study of consciousness employing methods devised for investigating the external world of physical objects. Introspection has often been dismissed as futile or unscientific yet, Wallace contends, trained introspection may yield important knowledge of consciousness. "The Bridge of Quiescence" provides valuable materials for the practice of meditation, and also affords a bridge from Eastern meditative practice to Western philosophy, science and religion. Wallace's discussion draws upon his knowledge of experimental psychology, such as the sensory deprivation studies, and relates Buddhist meditation to discussions of consciousness by such Western philosophers as William James, William Christian and John Searle.