Waking, Dreaming, Being

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A renowned philosopher of the mind, Evan Thompson merges the latest neuroscience on sleep, dreaming, and meditation with Indian and Western philosophy, illuminating the self's relationship to the brain. He argues that the self is a dynamic process rather than a static entity. While awake, we identify with our bodies, but through daydreaming or wandering thoughts, we project a mentally imagined self into the past or future. As we fall asleep, the sense of being a bounded self fades, yet the self reemerges in dreams. In lucid dreams, we expand our identity to include the dreaming self, recognizing the "I" as the dreamer. Through meditation, whether in waking life or lucid dreams, we can observe the thoughts and images that arise, learning to distinguish them from our true awareness. Contemplative traditions suggest that by letting go of the self, we can face its dissolution at death with equanimity. Thompson intricately weaves neuroscience, philosophy, and personal narrative to explore these transformations, enriching profound life questions. The interplay between contemplative experience and scientific findings deepens our understanding of the self and consciousness.