Discussions

I want to remind everyone that Ted keeps pretty good tabs on Buddhist books out there, and organizes them quite nicely on this page: http://secularbuddhism.org/resources/resources-books/

Many of us have read most of these books, so if you have questions, want to discuss any particular book, this forum is a great place to open those conversations!

Thank you!

Thank you, Candol. Not Self is such a fascinating topic, and I would enjoy writing about it, however, as I've been a professional writer for yeas, I know a book is not something I want to invest time in write now. But thank you for the compliment!

I would like to suggest a few books out there that I found incredibly helpful to my practice, even though they are not from the Buddhist perspective, but they are indeed about how our brains and our psychologies create various types of self, how flexible these processes can be. If while you read these you keep in mind what you know of clinging and attachment, you can put together how you might run into problems with attaching to these selfing processes. You can also then watch in your daily life how you go about creating many types of self, and then you can practice observing them without attachment and see how that feels.

The easy part, as you have mentioned in other posts, is letting go of the idea of a permanent soul, as many of us don't believe that any way. The complex part for us is, but what about that feeling of self that arises when we're angry, when we want to cling to things, our ideas about ourselves, etc. So, these books will help identify those processes, and then you can observe through mindfulness and meditation:

* The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity by Bruce Hood
* The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self by Thomas Metzinger
* Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph LeDoux (Author)

For the first, I think you read my review, but for those who did not, it may be helpful for the first book:

http://secularbuddhism.org/2012/07/14/if-not-self-then-what/

and Ginger Campbell did a great podcast with Thomas Metzinger for the Brain Science Podcast: http://www.brainsciencepodcast.com/bsp/thomas-metzinger-explores-consciousness-bsp-67.html

But I'm also happy to write more on this topic as well. I find not self one of the most fascinating areas of Buddhism and neuroscience, and one of the most challenging areas of letting go. But ultimately the most rewarding once you do!

http://www.amazon.com/Kosambi-Intrigue-Tale-Buddha-ebook/dp/B007SWDG1S/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dpThis looks like fun. a historical buddhist thriller

I'm reading the reading list of This guy - Leign Brassington. http://www.leighb.com/index.html#aboutme

http://www.leighb.com/readlist.htm

I like the site. His brahma vihara "prayer" is the best i've come across yet i think.

I'll look forward to it.

Which ones were the zen books then? And why are you sorry?

Quote from Dana Nourie on August 6, 2012, 18:26

, I decided since not self is such an important topic, and should be investigated deeply in practice, and because there is so much confusion about it, I'm going to write at least one article, possibly a series on it. I'm deep in the suttas this week, then I have the Buddhist Geeks conference to attend, so I hope to start the writing late next week.

I also look forward to your article. I have some difficulties with not-self too.

You know who gives great dharma talks without even knowing it? Radiolab. They're indirectly endorsing many Buddhist claims all the time on their radio show. This one episode on the self and where the self is located and the evolution of introspective consciousness I found very helpful.

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/07/where-is-that-part-that-is-me