Three books that take the inner life seriously
A short reading list at the seam of contemplative science and philosophy of mind — what each gets right, and where the tradition pushes back.
A short, opinionated list at the meeting point of contemplative practice, cognitive science, and the philosophy of mind — chosen for rigor over reassurance.
- On attention — a careful account of how the faculty the contemplatives trained is the same one the laboratories now measure.
- On the self — a philosophy of mind that takes the tradition's "no fixed self" seriously rather than as exotic decoration.
- On practice — a clear-eyed look at what sustained discipline does and does not deliver, with the hype removed.
Where each is strong on evidence, the tradition pushes back on aim: not a better-regulated nervous system as an end in itself, but freedom.
Also in the Review
Full contents →Narada Muni and the Art of Liberation in Motion
Devotee, cosmic messenger, philosopher, divine mischief-maker. What the wandering sage with the vina teaches about remaining free while wholly engaged in the world.
The breath that steadies the mind
A verse on prāṇāyāma from the Yoga Sutras, set beside what contemporary neuroscience now understands about slow exhalation and the parasympathetic state.