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Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness
This is an absorbing account of a dialogue between leading Western scientists and the foremost representative of Buddhism today, the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
For modern science, the transitional states of consciousness lie at the forefront of research in many fields. For a Buddhist practitioner these same states present crucial opportunities to explore and transform consciousness itself. This book is the account of a historic dialogue between leading Western scientists and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Revolving around three key moments of consciousness--sleep, dreams, and death--the conversations recorded here are both engrossing and highly readable. Whether the topic is lucid dreaming, near-death experiences, or the very structure of consciousness itself, the reader is continually surprised and delighted.
Narrated by Francisco Varela, an internationally recognized neuroscientist, the book begins with insightful remarks on the notion of personal identity by noted philosopher Charles Taylor, author of the acclaimed Sources of Self . This sets the stage for Dr. Jerome Engel, Dr. Joyce MacDougal, and others to engage in extraordinary exchanges with the Dalai Lama on topics ranging from the neurology of sleep to the yoga of dreams.
Remarkable convergences between the Western scientific tradition and the Buddhist contemplative sciences are revealed. Dr. Jayne Gackenbach's discussion of lucid dreaming, for example, prompts a detailed and fascinating response from the Dalai Lama on the manipulation of dreams by Buddhist meditators. The conversations also reveal provocative divergences of opinion, as when the Dalai Lama expresses skepticism about "Near-Death Experiences" as presented by Joan Halifax. The conversations are engrossing and highly readable. Any reader interested in psychology, neuroscience, Buddhism, or the alternative worlds of dreams will surely enjoy Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying .
For modern science, the transitional states of consciousness lie at the forefront of research in many fields. For a Buddhist practitioner these same states present crucial opportunities to explore and transform consciousness itself. This book is the account of a historic dialogue between leading Western scientists and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Revolving around three key moments of consciousness--sleep, dreams, and death--the conversations recorded here are both engrossing and highly readable. Whether the topic is lucid dreaming, near-death experiences, or the very structure of consciousness itself, the reader is continually surprised and delighted.
Narrated by Francisco Varela, an internationally recognized neuroscientist, the book begins with insightful remarks on the notion of personal identity by noted philosopher Charles Taylor, author of the acclaimed Sources of Self . This sets the stage for Dr. Jerome Engel, Dr. Joyce MacDougal, and others to engage in extraordinary exchanges with the Dalai Lama on topics ranging from the neurology of sleep to the yoga of dreams.
Remarkable convergences between the Western scientific tradition and the Buddhist contemplative sciences are revealed. Dr. Jayne Gackenbach's discussion of lucid dreaming, for example, prompts a detailed and fascinating response from the Dalai Lama on the manipulation of dreams by Buddhist meditators. The conversations also reveal provocative divergences of opinion, as when the Dalai Lama expresses skepticism about "Near-Death Experiences" as presented by Joan Halifax. The conversations are engrossing and highly readable. Any reader interested in psychology, neuroscience, Buddhism, or the alternative worlds of dreams will surely enjoy Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying .
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 1997
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,117 books5,749 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 25, 2018
The Dalai Lama's voice is actually one of many in this book, which recounts a symposium that brought a group of Western neuroscientists, psychoanalysts and philosophers to exchange ideas and compare and contrast findings and beliefs. Even with grounding in these disciplines, I found the extremely incisive summaries of their views to be at least as useful as the lectures from the Buddhist perspective. The latter were very compelling as well, but seemingly very difficult to summarize. The Dalai Lama is a great scholar and a very careful reasoner. In answering any question, he takes into account the tremendous diversity of schools of thought within Tibetan Buddhism and attempts to broadly summarize the meticulous distinctions many hold between a myriad of mind states. There are a few exciting places of convergence and divergence between disciplines revealed, but I also often felt overwhelmed by the vastness and complexity of Tibetan Buddhist thought in trying to get footholds in Buddhist points of view. One thing that does come across is the Dali Lama's genuine interest in testing his religion's beliefs with whatever tools he can in order to continue to revise or deepen understanding, as well as in sharing insights and data with the worlds of Western science and philosophy.
October 26, 2016
This book is a product of the 4th Mind & Life Institute Conference that took place over five days in October of 1992 in Dharamsala, India. It reads as a narrated description / transcription of the event. The Mind & Life Institute was established as a dialogue between science and Tibetan Buddhism, and is actively supported by His Holiness the Dalai Lama—who is an important figure in the book, both asking questions of the presenters and offering clarification on Tibetan Buddhist thinking on various points. The exact subject of each conference is different, but the mind is a recurring theme. Which makes sense as Tibetan Buddhist practices of the mind are as advanced as any, and it would be of great benefit to understand them better from a scientific perspective.
As the title suggests, this conference (and the book) deal with three topics: sleeping, dreaming, and dying. This may seem like a case of “one of these things doesn’t belong,” but from the Buddhist perspective on consciousness it’s a sensible enough grouping. One can think of it this way, sleeping and dying are points at which consciousness goes bye-bye. [Although, lucid dreamers retain consciousness in REM sleep, and there are unsubstantiated claims of the ability to maintain consciousness in sleep by extremely advanced practitioners.]
There is some front matter (a forward by the Dalai Lama and and editor’s Introduction) and then eight chapters. The first chapter discusses both the Western and Tibetan perspectives on “the self,” what it is, and whether it is [real or illusory.] This topic seems unrelated to the book’s theme, but it’s a way to develop a common understanding for the rest of the discussion. If participants have different views on what a person is, mentally speaking, and what consciousness is, then it’s easy to talk past each other without even realizing it. The second chapter is an overview of what was known about sleep, principally from the perspective of neuroscience (it should be noted that neuroscience was a fairly fledgling term at that time.) The next three chapters (ch. 3, 4, and 5) are about dreaming. The third chapter is a bit unique. The general approach throughout the book is to give the understanding of science and then to compare and contrast that with Buddhist thinking. However, chapter three’s discussion is led by a proponent of psychoanalysis (i.e. the Freudian approach,) which isn’t so scientific, but is a Western philosophical approach. [Chapter one is also heavily philosophical.]
Chapters four and five delve into the subject of lucid dreaming, which is referred to as dream yoga in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. For me this was the meat of the subject, and it was the reason that I bought the book. Tibetan practices on lucid dreaming are incomparable, and at this point science’s understanding was beginning to blossoming as well.
The last three chapters are on death, and each offers a different character. The first two emphasize Western views, but in different ways. Chapter six outlines the Christian position on death—a theological rather than scientific understanding. Chapter seven explains the medical community’s view of death. This sounds straight forward, but it’s a much more technical subject than one might imagine. What organ has to stop functioning and for how long before one is actually dead. Besides all the coma patient stories, one may be aware of cases historically in which people were discovered to have been buried alive accidentally due to bad calls by doctors. The last chapter is about near-death experiences. This is an area in which there is a great potential for differing views. While science doesn’t deny that people have all sorts of fascinating experiences such as seeing bright lights at the end of “tunnels” and out-of-body experiences, scientists tend to attribute such events to material causes. [Neuroscientists can now induce out-of-body experiences by zapping a specific part of the brain.]
There are graphics in the form of diagrams and tables in the chapters that are most technical (e.g. chapter two and chapter seven,) but they are used sparingly. There’s an appendix that describes the Mind & Life Institute, as well as a glossary that explains both Tibetan and scientific terms. There are also a few pages of endnotes that will help one find related material.
The weakness of this book is clearly its age. The Buddhism probably hasn’t changed much, but the science has changed a lot. Since 1992 there has been a revolution in understanding of the brain due to advances in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and other technologies.
However, despite the book’s age, there’s a lot of thought provoking discussion, which offers plenty of room for both scientists and Buddhists to gain a better understanding of the mind and consciousness. I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in dream yoga / lucid dreaming, or—for that matter—death.
As the title suggests, this conference (and the book) deal with three topics: sleeping, dreaming, and dying. This may seem like a case of “one of these things doesn’t belong,” but from the Buddhist perspective on consciousness it’s a sensible enough grouping. One can think of it this way, sleeping and dying are points at which consciousness goes bye-bye. [Although, lucid dreamers retain consciousness in REM sleep, and there are unsubstantiated claims of the ability to maintain consciousness in sleep by extremely advanced practitioners.]
There is some front matter (a forward by the Dalai Lama and and editor’s Introduction) and then eight chapters. The first chapter discusses both the Western and Tibetan perspectives on “the self,” what it is, and whether it is [real or illusory.] This topic seems unrelated to the book’s theme, but it’s a way to develop a common understanding for the rest of the discussion. If participants have different views on what a person is, mentally speaking, and what consciousness is, then it’s easy to talk past each other without even realizing it. The second chapter is an overview of what was known about sleep, principally from the perspective of neuroscience (it should be noted that neuroscience was a fairly fledgling term at that time.) The next three chapters (ch. 3, 4, and 5) are about dreaming. The third chapter is a bit unique. The general approach throughout the book is to give the understanding of science and then to compare and contrast that with Buddhist thinking. However, chapter three’s discussion is led by a proponent of psychoanalysis (i.e. the Freudian approach,) which isn’t so scientific, but is a Western philosophical approach. [Chapter one is also heavily philosophical.]
Chapters four and five delve into the subject of lucid dreaming, which is referred to as dream yoga in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. For me this was the meat of the subject, and it was the reason that I bought the book. Tibetan practices on lucid dreaming are incomparable, and at this point science’s understanding was beginning to blossoming as well.
The last three chapters are on death, and each offers a different character. The first two emphasize Western views, but in different ways. Chapter six outlines the Christian position on death—a theological rather than scientific understanding. Chapter seven explains the medical community’s view of death. This sounds straight forward, but it’s a much more technical subject than one might imagine. What organ has to stop functioning and for how long before one is actually dead. Besides all the coma patient stories, one may be aware of cases historically in which people were discovered to have been buried alive accidentally due to bad calls by doctors. The last chapter is about near-death experiences. This is an area in which there is a great potential for differing views. While science doesn’t deny that people have all sorts of fascinating experiences such as seeing bright lights at the end of “tunnels” and out-of-body experiences, scientists tend to attribute such events to material causes. [Neuroscientists can now induce out-of-body experiences by zapping a specific part of the brain.]
There are graphics in the form of diagrams and tables in the chapters that are most technical (e.g. chapter two and chapter seven,) but they are used sparingly. There’s an appendix that describes the Mind & Life Institute, as well as a glossary that explains both Tibetan and scientific terms. There are also a few pages of endnotes that will help one find related material.
The weakness of this book is clearly its age. The Buddhism probably hasn’t changed much, but the science has changed a lot. Since 1992 there has been a revolution in understanding of the brain due to advances in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and other technologies.
However, despite the book’s age, there’s a lot of thought provoking discussion, which offers plenty of room for both scientists and Buddhists to gain a better understanding of the mind and consciousness. I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in dream yoga / lucid dreaming, or—for that matter—death.
December 30, 2021
Mi-a placut mai mult Emotii vindecatoare si nu am putut sa nu le compar. Cred insa ca orice carte de la Dalai Lama merita citita.
November 17, 2018
If you want to explore the possibilities in your evolution this is the right book for you.
The Dalai Lama and his colleagues will walk you through the steps of living, dying and beyond.
There is no death, it's a transition or some like to call it transformation.
Every time we fall asleep we are dying to ourselves and this is when we discover out true nature through dreams and sometimes lucid dreaming. This is a continuation of our deepest self that we experience through the unconscious.
The following is a dream that I experienced on Nov. 8, 2018. I have been keeping a dream journal for over 40 years.
Dream
"I am in deep sleep and find myself transitioning out of my body. I am in my bedroom and different people come into my room. A young woman on my left, another person on my right comes through the door.
I am not ready to come out of my body state. I am not comfortable with the people in the room. This is not the way that I want to transition to the spirit world. I want Jesus with me. Jesus knows the way."
Dreamwork
I realize that this was lucid dreaming (very real) A very active dream state, where I can make my own decisions and control the outcome.
This in not my first experience with lucid dreaming. My first experience was in 1972.
The Dalai Lama and his colleagues will walk you through the steps of living, dying and beyond.
There is no death, it's a transition or some like to call it transformation.
Every time we fall asleep we are dying to ourselves and this is when we discover out true nature through dreams and sometimes lucid dreaming. This is a continuation of our deepest self that we experience through the unconscious.
The following is a dream that I experienced on Nov. 8, 2018. I have been keeping a dream journal for over 40 years.
Dream
"I am in deep sleep and find myself transitioning out of my body. I am in my bedroom and different people come into my room. A young woman on my left, another person on my right comes through the door.
I am not ready to come out of my body state. I am not comfortable with the people in the room. This is not the way that I want to transition to the spirit world. I want Jesus with me. Jesus knows the way."
Dreamwork
I realize that this was lucid dreaming (very real) A very active dream state, where I can make my own decisions and control the outcome.
This in not my first experience with lucid dreaming. My first experience was in 1972.
August 6, 2007
neuroscience, psychology et al v. h.h.the dalai llama. these books as conference reports can go either way, but this one is an engaging read. it helps if you like to read books with death in the title, like me and alvy singer.
November 27, 2011
Kind of misleading at first, the book is from the viewpoint of a scientist, with the Dalai Lama commenting every now and than. To me, it lacked any real Buddhist insights. Very tedious to read through a bunch of drawn out scientific discussion.
September 19, 2020
Exploration of Consciousness.
Tolerance and Respect of Cultural Differences.
Cultivation of the Inner World and Experience.
Tolerance and Respect of Cultural Differences.
Cultivation of the Inner World and Experience.
August 2, 2017
A very illuminating text on insights from science, psychology and Tibetan Buddhism on the mental and spiritual states we enter upon sleeping, dreaming and, ultimately, dying. With my slight education in science, I was able to follow the scientific findings pretty easily, but the references to Buddhist practices and theories had me pretty confused. It would certainly help to have a better understanding of Tibetan Buddhism, or any Buddhism, before diving into this read, but even still, I found it fascinating. The studies on sleep alone that show the brain activity during different sleep stages was so cool-- some of the EMGs showed more activity during heavy sleep than during wakefulness! What is going on during these moments of sleep? We may never know. And there are some very interesting parallels between sleep, meditation and death that I hope scientists will delve more deeply into.
May 31, 2021
A tremendously fascinating book which I have recently finished. It proves pivotal in understanding a lot of enigmas that have consumed me through the years and was a good literary companion in my process of passing. Highly recommend to anyone interested in karma, reincarnation, occultism, Buddhism, or spirituality!
June 3, 2012
I really enjoyed it. Planning to read again along with "Tibetan Yogas of Sleep and Dream". There is so much valuable information to study and practice.
September 19, 2021
I heard the Dalai Lama speak on the UC Santa Cruz campus when I was a student there decades ago. It seemed to me that everyone was excited about this event. I was not so excited because I knew next to nothing about the Dalai Lama or Buddhism and was not particularly curious. At that stage in my life, I was somewhat contrarian. If everyone else was going to be excited, I was going to be skeptical. I don’t remember details from his talk. He answered many questions from the audience and struck me as a nice man with common sense but nothing extraordinary. After reading “Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying,” I am wondering if perhaps I, as an audience member and the Dalai Lama were not ideally matched. Nevertheless, I am grateful to UC Santa Cruz for giving me an initial exposure to this important thinker and historical figure.
From the start of reading this book, I was struck by the Dalai Lama’s modesty, intellectual curiosity, and precise communication when asking questions and speaking about Tibetan Buddhism, especially as it relates to “the self” and states of consciousness. I was also impressed by how the Life and Mind Institute brings together the Dalai Lama and scholars in the Western tradition. In particular, effort is made to create a bridge between the Dalai Lama and the scholars. The scholars are chosen not only for being experts in relevant fields but also for their knowledge of Buddhism while the Dalai Lama is briefed ahead of time about the contents of all speeches. The Dalai Lama’s translator is not only fluent in English and Tibetan but also has the Tibetan equivalent of a doctorate in divinity and has studied Western philosophy at Cambridge. In my opinion, this kind of preparation was instrumental in making the meeting and the resulting book narrative a success. I am still digesting the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of self, the various levels of consciousness, and “clear light.” What an amazing tradition!
P.S. This book contains a helpful glossary.
From the start of reading this book, I was struck by the Dalai Lama’s modesty, intellectual curiosity, and precise communication when asking questions and speaking about Tibetan Buddhism, especially as it relates to “the self” and states of consciousness. I was also impressed by how the Life and Mind Institute brings together the Dalai Lama and scholars in the Western tradition. In particular, effort is made to create a bridge between the Dalai Lama and the scholars. The scholars are chosen not only for being experts in relevant fields but also for their knowledge of Buddhism while the Dalai Lama is briefed ahead of time about the contents of all speeches. The Dalai Lama’s translator is not only fluent in English and Tibetan but also has the Tibetan equivalent of a doctorate in divinity and has studied Western philosophy at Cambridge. In my opinion, this kind of preparation was instrumental in making the meeting and the resulting book narrative a success. I am still digesting the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of self, the various levels of consciousness, and “clear light.” What an amazing tradition!
P.S. This book contains a helpful glossary.
February 12, 2023
Not a book like any thought went in to it. More of a transcript of tape recordings of the speeches at a conference where the Daiai Llama was in attendance.
Very dry dialogue re the 3 title topics and boring psychobabble at times.
The Dalai Llama of course held up his end and replied to and asked sensible questions.
The gathering was in 1992 so these scientific views are 31 years old.
The Dalai Llama merely repeats his talks about the noble truths etc.
This book should be written again now and be better written.
Very dry dialogue re the 3 title topics and boring psychobabble at times.
The Dalai Llama of course held up his end and replied to and asked sensible questions.
The gathering was in 1992 so these scientific views are 31 years old.
The Dalai Llama merely repeats his talks about the noble truths etc.
This book should be written again now and be better written.
October 12, 2017
No quería que terminara, qué manera de aprender! Este tipo de iniciativas son las que realmente ayudan a nuestra evolución como especie humana. Las tradiciones y saberes budistas y occidentales se juntan para pensar y profundizar sobre qué / por qué somos, si es que realmente "somos". Intentar entender un poco nuestra mente y conciencia, los "lugares" en que se mueven, su relación con nuestro cuerpo físico y su comportamiento en los momentos misteriosos como el sueño y la muerte.
January 30, 2021
I listened to this as an audiobook and chapters 7 and 8 were so intriguing that I felt compelled to buy myself a used copy of the paper book, so that I could highlight the interesting parts. I understand that some of the scientific information and technology mentioned might be a bit out of date, but the Dalai Lama's comments are timeless.
May 28, 2021
If you've ever wondered what it'd feel like to be a fly on the wall, during a "Mind and Life" conference between H.H. the Dalai Lama and prominent philosophers & researchers in neuroscience and self, this book is for you.
November 26, 2021
Super interesting, but I knocked it down a star just for the chapter from the Freudian perspective alone. Speaking as someone with a psychology degree, dear god, spare me from all things Freud for the rest of my life.
May 3, 2023
This is kinda like Plato’s symposium except it’s a conversation that actually happened between actual people. Respectful and interesting dialogue between the Dalai Lama and a bunch of scientists, worth checking out.
December 7, 2023
The subjective and universal phenomena which (neuro)science has failed to explain (through systematic isolation, objectification, and quantification) are precisely the areas that the Buddhist tradition has explained with striking lucidity and depth (through systematic peeling back of the layers of phenomenology, and communication about this in community). Interesting :)
January 7, 2020
Interesting stuff here, but it is best suited for someone with a foundational knowledge of Buddhism, and that person isn't me. I found the section on near death experiences the most interesting.
Read
November 20, 2020DNF'd
May 19, 2021
Listening to this pretty much felt like being in an overheated auditorium listening to well-respected and knowledgeable, but boring speakers.
May 16, 2022
Absolutely fascinating! It could be hard to follow at times but such an interesting read.
June 20, 2022
This has been one of the most influential books in my life over the last 6 years.
January 15, 2024
A true exploration of consciousness between different cultures. A mind-opener account from the Mind and Life Dialogues held with Dalai Lama and western scientists from the time this was held.
April 5, 2024
Much better than expected.
November 30, 2022
Good intros to the three scientific disciplines in the title. Although the book is from the '90s, (without being an expert in any of them) it would seem that not much progress has been made in them except maybe for the point that REM sleep is been shown to be important for memory formations, forgetting and treating emotionally distressing situations.
Dalai Lama's input was limited, but you can see how sharp the old man is. If you are interested in tantric practices related to these topics, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying are most likely better reads.
Dalai Lama's input was limited, but you can see how sharp the old man is. If you are interested in tantric practices related to these topics, The Tibetan Yogas Of Dream And Sleep and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying are most likely better reads.
February 12, 2023
I read it as a study of the human mind more than a self growth one
February 25, 2016
Fantastic read. A great way to observe current western philosophies and sciences collide with thousands of years of Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Lots of clear descriptions on the basics of psychology, neurosciences, philosophy and other western sciences. Sometimes the responses from the Dalai Lama are hard to understand as a beginner in studying Tibetan Buddhism but usually they are tailored to be better understood by the western mind. Use the glossary a lot it helps.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews