Zen and the Art of Consciousness
by Susan Blackmore
Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Oneworld
Summary:
Who are you? When are you? What were you conscious of a moment ago?
This groundbreaking book sees acclaimed psychologist Susan Blackmore combining the latest scientific theories about mind, self, and consciousness with a lifetime’s practice of Zen.
Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
by Stephen Batchelor
Copyright: 1998
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Summary:
In this simple but important volume, Stephen Batchelor reminds us that the Buddha was not a mystic who claimed privileged, esoteric knowledge of the universe, but a man who challenged us to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, and bring into being a way of life that is available to us all. What the Buddha taught, says Batchelor, is not something to believe in but something to do—and as he explains clearly and compellingly, it is a practice that we can engage in, regardless of our background or beliefs, as we live every day on the path to awakening.
Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World
by Michael Dowd
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Plume
Summary:
With evidence from contemporary astrophysics, geology, biology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology,Thank God for Evolution lays out a compelling argument for how religion and science can be mutually enriching forces in our lives.
Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses
by Thomas W. Clark
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Center for Naturalism
Summary:
Most of us have a worldview, an overarching context for life that helps to shape our beliefs, goals and actions. This book explores the science-based worldview known as naturalism, a comprehensive and fulfilling alternative to faith-based religion and other varieties of dualism. Taking empirical science as the route to reliable knowledge, naturalism holds that we inhabit a single, natural world; there is no separate supernatural realm. We are fully physical beings whose origins lie in cosmic and biological evolution, thus we are entirely at home in the universe. By understanding and accepting our complete connection to the natural world, naturalism provides a secure foundation for human flourishing, an effective basis for achieving our purposes and addressing our deepest concerns. We don t need belief in the supernatural to sustain us. Nature, it turns out, is enough.
The Humanist Approach to Happiness: Practical Wisdom
by Jennifer Hancock
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Summary:
The Humanist Approach to Happiness is a book that basically says – here are personal ethics, here is why they are important, and here is how you can apply them to your daily life and why doing so will help you live a happier more productive life. It isn’t a philosophy book so much as a book about the pragmatic reasons for being an ethical, compassionate and responsible person.
The Sacred Depths of Nature
by Ursula Goodenough
Copyright: 2000
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Summary:
For many of us, the great scientific discoveries of the modern age–the Big Bang, evolution, quantum physics, relativity–point to an existence that is bleak, devoid of meaning, pointless. But in The Sacred Depths of Nature, eminent biologist Ursula Goodenough shows us that the scientific world view need not be a source of despair. Indeed, it can be a wellspring of solace and hope.
The Promise of Religious Naturalism
by Michael S. Hogue
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Summary:
The Promise of Religious Naturalism explores religious naturalism as a distinctly promising form of contemporary religious ethics. Examining how religious naturalism responds to the challenges of recent religious transformations and ecological peril worldwide, author Michael Hogue argues that religious naturalism is emerging as an increasingly plausible and potentially rewarding form of religious moral life. Beginning with an introduction of religious naturalism in the larger context of religious and ethical theories, the book undertakes the first extended study of the works of religious naturalists Loyal Rue, Donald Crosby, Jerome Stone, and Ursula Goodenough. Hogue pays particular attention to the ethical components of religious naturalism in relation to religious pluralism and ecological issues.
Nature is Enough: Religious Naturalism and the Meaning of Life
by Loyal Rue
Copyright: 2012
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Summary:
Claims that the natural world, as opposed to a supernatural realm, can inspire a religious sensibility and a conviction that life is meaningful.