Category Archives: Books
Book Review: After Buddhism, by Stephen Batchelor
With his latest book, After Buddhism, renowned scholar Stephen Batchelor continues to expand his vision for a “secular Buddhism”, a project he began nearly twenty years ago in his 1997 book Buddhism Without Beliefs. In that groundbreaking book, he sounded … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Buddhism, Mindfulness
Tagged books, Buddhism, mindfulness, Stephen Batchelor
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In praise of “slow thinking”
A while ago, I wrote a post reflecting on Daniel Kahneman’s extraordinary book Thinking Fast and Slow. And just a few days ago, my friend and teacher James Flaherty, the founder of New Ventures West, published his own comments on this book in the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Effectiveness, Mindfulness
Tagged books, Daniel Kahneman, mindfulness, psychology, self-awareness
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Book Review: Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, by Stephen Batchelor
This self-styled “confession” by Stephen Batchelor succeeds brilliantly in three distinct literary genres. First and foremost, it’s an articulate and passionate exposition of Buddhism from this gifted, world-renowned scholar and teacher. Second, it’s a poignant memoir of a lifetime’s journey … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Buddhism, Mindfulness
Tagged books, Buddhism, mindfulness, Stephen Batchelor
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Our Divided Minds – Part 2
My last post explored the eminent social psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s description of our minds as divided into two separate but cooperating functional units, to which he gave the simple names “System 1” and “System 2”. Now, in this continuation post, we’ll move on to … Continue reading
Our Divided Minds – Part 1
Two books I’ve read recently – The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – offer some surprising new insights into how our minds function. Both authors are social psychologists renowned in their field (Kahneman is a Nobel … Continue reading
Mindfulness Quotes and Comments
Every writer must, of necessity, be a reader as well. Every one of the topics I write about in this blog has been informed in one way or another by what I have been reading on the subjects of mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhism. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Buddhism, Mindfulness
Tagged books, Buddhism, Ezra Bayda, Jack Kornfield, mindfulness, Norman Fischer, Pema Chödrön, Phillip Simmons, Shunryu Suzuki, Thich Nhat Hahn, transformation
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Our Tragic Hunger for More
“Please, sir, I want some more.” When young Oliver Twist makes his famous request for a second helping of the miserable food being served to him and his fellow orphans at the start of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, it’s all but impossible for the reader … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Buddhism, Fiction, Films, Mindfulness, Society
Tagged books, Buddhism, Charles Dickens, Cloud Atlas, craving for more, David Mitchell, fiction, films, future of humanity, mindfulness, Oliver Twist, wealth inequality
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Engaged Mindfulness 