What We Know About Ourselves: Dharma and Science
Fall 1999 Vol. 16 #1
Fall 1999 Vol. 16 #1
Introduction
Our editors summarize the contents of this issue.
Features
Imagine That: Buddhism & the Big Self. A Conversation with Brian Swimme and Joanna Macy
By Wes Nisker
Brian Swimme and Joanna Macy talk about our need to transform scientific knowledge into a new mythos.
Francisco Varela explores the intersection of cognitive science and Buddhism. He says science “can, for instance, give the notion of selflessness a stamp of authority or validity.”
Jourdan Arenson looks to evolutionary psychology to discover how much our minds are the product of biology—ape instinct—and how much they are influenced by culture.
The Tao of Physics author Fritjof Capra is one of the few to have individually budged the dominant paradigm. Then, as he explains here, his attention shifted from physics to life sciences and systems theory.
Tanya Shaffer shares her experience of taking refuge at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village.
We’re Actually Having a Good Time: How to Transform Your Depression into Suffering
By the Vulnerable Tofu Roshi, Susan Moon
Renowned Zen teacher Tofu Roshi, abbot of the No Way Zen Center, offers advice for beating the blues.
Diana Winston gives us a glimpse into her year as a nun in Burma.
Reviews
Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki, by David Chadwick
Reviewed By Edward Espe Brown
(432 pp., Broadway Books, 1999)
Soaring and Settling: Buddhist Perspectives on Contemporary Social and Religious Issues, by Rita M. Gross
Reviewed By Nancy Van House
(251 pp., Continuum, 1998)
(272 pp., Bell Tower, 1999)
Enlightenment Unfolds: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Dogen, Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi
Reviewed By Alan Senauke
(311 pp., Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1999)
Practice
American-born monk Ajahn Sumedho imparts some of the wisdom he’s gained over more than thirty years of ordained life.
The Dharma & the Drama
As Y2K approaches, Wes Nisker ponders that the real millennium bug has to do with consciousness.