The True Path: Western Science And The Quest For Yoga

by Roy J. Mathew

In The True Path , Duke psychiatrist Roy J. Mathew draws on his own extensive knowledge of neuroscience as he looks at the centuries-old Indian idea that spirituality is a state of mind-a higher form of consciousness. Mathew shows how the latest brain research demonstrates that activities such as prayer, music, art, nature, intuitive knowledge, altruism, and meditation stimulate the non-dominant hemisphere of the brain. Spirituality is intimately connected to this area of the brain and must be accessed-according to Indian philosophy-by removing the "sheaths" of everyday life. With scientific evidence that this "pure consciousness" truly exists, Mathew shows readers how to use meditation, yoga, and other traditional methods of contemplation to achieve this spiritual state of mind.

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Anthony]

My first ever 0 stars rating!

This is some of the worst non-fiction reading I have ever laid eyes on. It reads more like a C+ long-winded college essay than an actual book. It's amazing this even got published. Seriously.

It definitely had no competent editor. At one point he misspells the word koan twice. Rather than being, as the book jacket advertises a look at the"neuroscience of yoga" (there is a brief section on the brain waves of people during meditation) the author lurches seemingly at random, across every half-baked synecdoche of pseudo-science and shallow spirituality ever glossed over by stoned college students.

With the dryness of an encyclopedia entry the author informs us that: Einstein equates time and space as one, Hindus are mystical, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is within, and many primitive tribes used hallucinatory drugs in their rituals. No kidding? He then totally fails to tie these no-shit-sherlock observations together into anything remotely resembling an argument or thesis . . . this book is a travesty. It's like warmed over, second rate, "Dancing Wu Li Masters" or Terrence MckEnna essays, but with all creativity and brio completely lobotomized. Ugh.

To be fair, I did speed read this in one sitting to get it over with, so it could be I missed something interesting . . . but I doubt it.

[Ryan Haczynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent book. I would have rated it 2 stars if it hadn't been for the penultimate chapter, which was quite good and almost made the book worth slogging through. I think the biggest challenge the text faces is that it tries to tackle too much, yet goes way too in depth with certain aspects while skirting around others that could have been given more attention. Moreover, had I not been a Religious Studies major, a yoga practitioner, and a somewhat well-read person with regards to current neuroscience (at least in layman's terms/level of understanding), I would have put this book down much sooner. It would be a daunting read for anyone with a passing interest in these topics. This isn't to say that the book isn't well researched, but I don't think Dr. Mathew gave much consideration to his audience. It's almost as if he wrote it for the aforesaid communities (i.e. yogis and neuroscientists) and tried to wed the formers' insights to the latters' research. Decent albeit slow read on the whole, but only for those with a good amount of schema in one (or preferrably both) of the fields being discussed.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of scientific validation to the Eastern science of Yoga.