Organized by the Mind and Life Institute, this discussion addresses some of the most troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between Western science and religion. Consciousness at the Crossroads resulted from meetings of the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent neuroscientists and psychiatrists. Is the mind an ephemeral side effect of the brain's physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness happen? The Dalai Lama's incisive, open-minded approach both challenges and offers inspiration to Western scientists. The book consists primarily of dialogue and intense, frank conversations between the Dalai Lama and participants. How about getting a plain-English rendition of the latest in brain research and psychology from the leading lights in the field? Or a succinct explanation of the Buddhist view of consciousness from the Dalai Lama himself? No need to choose. When the second Mind and Life conference convened in 1989, East and West became collaborators in understanding consciousness. Antonio Damasio, neurologist and author of The Feeling of What Happens , Larry Squire, psychiatrist and author of Memory: from Mind to Molecules , and Lewis Judd, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, sat down with other scholars and scientists for face-to-face talks with the Dalai Lama. Although late in coming, the result is this tidy volume of eager exchange and cross-cultural bridge building. Each specialist first summarizes the latest in research and then accepts questions from and poses questions to the Dalai Lama, acting representative of Buddhism's extraordinarily sophisticated views on consciousness, dreams, memory, meditation, and that stickiest of points, rebirth. The inevitable collision of scientific materialism and Buddhist emptiness isn't avoided, but neither is it fatal, serving instead as motivation for further conversations. Step up to the roundtable and set your mind spinning. --Brian Bruya "The Dalai Lama's clear approach and open-minded pursuit of knowledge faciliates an important bridge between Western science and the Buddhist empirical observation of mental processes. For the reader, this interfacing offers immediately relevant and interesting material regarding the working of one's brain and mind."— Branches of Light , Banyen Books's semiannual review journal "Both informative and well-balanced, seeking to further the dialogue rather than asserting the superiority of one tradition over another."— Pacific World "...both informative and well-balanced seeking to further the dialogue rather than asserting the superiority of one tradition over another."--Pacific World Organized by the Mind and Life Institute, this discussion addresses some of the most troublesome questions that have driven a wedge between Western science and religion. Consciousness at the Crossroads resulted from meetings of the Dalai Lama and a group of eminent neuroscientists and psychiatrists. Is the mind an ephemeral side-effect of the brain's physical processes? Are there forms of consciousness so subtle that science has not yet identified them? How does consciousness happen? The Dalai Lama's incisive, clear approach and open-minded pursuit of knowledge both challenges and offers inspiration to Western scientists. "The book consists primarily of dialogue and intense, frank conversations between the Dalai Lama and participants....The Dalai Lama's clear approach and open-minded pursuit of knowledge faciliates an important bridge between Western science and the Buddhist empirical observation of mental processes. For the reader, this interfacing offers immediately relevant and interesting material regarding the working of one's brain and mind."-- Branches of Light of Banyon Books "...both informative and well-balanced seeking to further the dialogue rather than asserting the superiority of one tradition over another."--Pacific World His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama is considered the foremost Buddhist leader of our time. The exiled spiritual head of the Tibetan people, he is a Nobel Peace Laureate, a Congressional Gold Medal recipient, and a remarkable teacher and scholar who has authored over one hundred books.