Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment

[MJD]

Use this thread to discuss Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright.

[MJD]

Here is a podcast episode that the author was on talking about this book: https://samharris.org/podcasts/is-bud...

[MJD]

I really enjoyed reading his conception of "emptiness" in this book. I also liked how he argues for the practical application of disassociating existence from preconceived conceptions of its essence. Reminds me a lot of existentialism.

[MJD]

I want to point out that I read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins before reading this book, and I am happy I did so. I think that the arguments in this book that are supported by concepts founded on evolutionary psychology are in turn supported by concepts found in Dawkins' book.

[MJD]

MJD wrote: "I really enjoyed reading his conception of "emptiness" in this book. I also liked how he argues for the practical application of disassociating existence from preconceived conceptions of its essenc..."

As I wrote in "message 3", I was seeing similarities to how this book was describing elements of Buddhist philosophy to elements I know of in existentialism. Here is an article written by someone who saw similar similarities between the two schools of philosophy:

"Existentialism Meets Buddhism: The philosophies of
Existentialism and Buddhism are more common than you
think."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...