Good news! There’s to be a paperback edition of “Ten Zen Questions”. At least, I should say there is to be a paperback edition of a book previously called “Ten Zen Questions”.
The publishers have decided that the title is not good enough and I can see their point. Arguably I wrote the book only because I thought of the title and liked the alliteration, but their argument is that they want it to appeal more directly to neuroscientists and others working on the problem of consciousness. So it needs a different cover and a different title.
They have suggested all sorts of (in my opinion) rather good possible titles, but I’d love to know what you readers think about them. Here is a list of their suggestions.
Consciously Zen
Zen and the Conscious Mind
Zen and the Meditative Mind
Zen and Your Conscious Self
Zen and the Art of Consciousness
Contemplating Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions
Contemplations on Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions
The Meditative Mind: Ten Zen Questions
Your Brain on Zen
Do please comment on any or all of these suggestions, or add some of your own. Also, if you have noticed any errors or problems with the text, now is a good time to tell me about them. I have to submit any changes (which can, of course, only be small) by the end of this month. Your help is much appreciated.
August 22, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Ug to all the “Zen and the…” titles! I would go for “Contemplating Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions”
August 22, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Congratulations!
I really like the title “Ten Zen Questions”, so I’d leave that in. All the ‘Zen and …’ titles remind me of a lot of other Zen book titles and giving your book one of those titles doesn’t distinguish it much.
My favourite is ‘Contemplating Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions’, because it has both the contemplation and the consciousness.
My 2 cents. Good luck!
August 25, 2010 at 12:00 am
It’s already available for pre-order on Amazon as “Zen and the Art of Consciousness”. “Publisher’s wanting to appeal more directly to neuroscientists?” mmmm. Publisher’s jumping on a bandwagon maybe. Still, I hope it gives the book a boost because I thought it was very stimulating and unique even if I am still looking for and pondering its conclusions. I predict further hostile feedback from Zen practitioners with its new title.
Your book made me think about why it is necessary to quieten and clear the mind via meditation to explore consciousness. Why is there so much antagonism to “thought” in Zen and similar practices? I wish you would supplement this book with another that considers what it means to be conscious in an everyday mind noticing the the arising of impulses/habits/itches/urges/movement/stimulii/reaction/experience.
The insights of someone who is mindful or “self-remembering” in this state and is able to articulate the insights from it would be may be widely valuable. Actually this thought came to me when I was reading your book on holiday and was distracted by something. I immediately wrote this stream in my PDA…
I’ve just “woke up” after reading four pages of this book that I obviously didn’t digest. Where was I during this time and what part of my mind was reading (a part of me must have been reading since I am 4 pages further from where I was) And why can’t I control what I think about, why can’t I direct concentration and stop following one association after another. I don’t want a quiet empty mind. And if I decided to control thought what am I doing? Is an insight verbal? What will I think about if I decide to think? What am I doing when I create concepts or words or any act of creation? why do I like this view of the sea, what’s going on in my consciousness when “I like…? I don’t like this dismissal of the apparatus and “intellectualising” activity that actually has created so much
August 25, 2010 at 10:36 am
As you say …. mmmm. John Crook also thinks it a very bad idea, and some other Buddhists I have spoken to give mixed reactions. Anyone else out there got a view on this title?
I loved your description of missing out on reading 4 pages and then “waking up”. This is precisely the kind of noticing and thinking that has led me to my radically disintegrated view of self – and some of it of course is there in 10Zen.
I would now suggest something like this: Whenver there’s a self constructed (e.g. when I’ve just “woken up” or reappeared after a break) I assume that it’s “really me” – that it’s the same self as I always have, the same self who has lived my whole life, holds my opinions, has my desires, and is conscious. All this is a false assumption. Actually new selves keep on being concocted and keep on thinking they are the same one reappearing. I think this is what William James meant with his subtle notion of self. I suspect there can even be multiple selves of this kind coexisting e.g. one reading the book and another noticing the waves breaking on the beach, and another listening to the conversation going on nearby.
There are lots of ways in which I have tried exploring this in meditation. Chapter 2 of 10Zen has some of them.
As for another book mmmm ???? Thanks for the encourgement but not for a long while yet I suspect. I think I need to do a lot more sitting first.
August 25, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Hi,
I thought you were really good on Radio 4′s “Beyond Belief” the other day.
I agree with the previous commenters in liking “Contemplating Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions” best out of the suggestions.
It’s a year since I read the book so the best I can say is it certainly contains no errors or problems with the text that stand out after that length of time. I am however just over half way through the recently published second edition of “Consciousness: An Introduction”. I find it breathtaking how comprehensively the subject feels covered. There do seem to be a few minor errors (these tend to be in the margins). I don’t know if you’re interested in these, but I’d be happy to try and dig them out.
Best wishes,
Antony
August 25, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Thanks.
If anyone else wants to listen to “Beyond Belief” it’s still available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s6p6 – the 16 August programme.
I’d appreciate a list of errors in the textbook (if you can face making one) because the US edition is not yet finalised and at least I could put them right in there. I’m glad you like the book.
August 29, 2010 at 6:52 pm
My Choice: Contemplations on Consciousness: Ten Zen Questions
September 8, 2010 at 2:28 am
From the list above, my choice would be “Your Brain on Zen”. I am happy to see you updating this blog again. I recently discovered your work through a reader of my blog and instantly became a big fan.