Zen and the Brain TheMITPress Cambridge,Massachusetts London,England Zen and the Brain Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness James H. Austin, M.D. q1998MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanyelectronicormechani- calmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformationstorageandretrieval)withoutpermis- sioninwritingfromthepublisher. ThisbookwassetinPalatinobyGraphicComposition,Inc.andwasprintedandboundintheUnited StatesofAmerica. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Austin,JamesH.,1925– Zenandthebrain:towardanunderstandingofmeditationandconsciousness/JamesH.Austin. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-262-01164-6(alk.paper) 1. Meditation—Zen Buddhism—Physiological aspects. 2. Meditation—Zen Buddhism—Psy- chology. 3. Consciousness—Religiousaspects—ZenBuddhism. 4. ZenBuddhism. I. Title. BQ9288.A96 1998 294.39422—DC21 97-24693 CIP TomyteachersNanreiKobori-roshi,Myokyo-ni,JoshuSasaki-roshi,andto allthosewhosecontributionstoZen,andtothebrain,havebeenreviewedin thisbook. Sciencewithoutreligionislame, religionwithoutscienceisblind. AlbertEinstein(1879–1955) Withallyoursciencecanyoutell howitis,andwhenceitis thatlightcomesintothesoul? HenryDavidThoreau(1817–1862) Contents in Brief ContentsinDetail xi ChaptersContainingTestableHypotheses xvi ListofFigures xvii ListofTables xviii Preface xix Acknowledgments xxi ByWayofIntroduction xxiii PartI StartingtoPointtowardZen 1 PartII Meditating 55 PartIII Neurologizing 147 PartIV ExploringStatesofConsciousness 291 PartV Quickening 371 PartVI TurningIn:TheAbsorptions 467 PartVII TurningOut:TheAwakenings 519 PartVIII BeingandBeyond:TotheStageofOngoingEnlightenment 625 InClosing 695 Appendixes A IntroductiontoTheHeartSutra 698 B SelectionsfromAffirmationofFaithinMind 700 C SuggestedFurtherReading 702 Glossary 704 ReferencesandNotes 712 SourceNotes 825 Index 827