Sati Center for Buddhist Studies

The Buddha taught that not-self was one of the three fundamental characteristics of existence, alongside impermanence and suffering. In this workshop, we examined self - and its release - in light of Buddhism, evolution, and modern brain science; these perspectives inform each other, and together they offer powerfully practical tools for deconstructing the apparent self.

In this workshop, we covered:

• Buddhist perspectives on the interconnectedness of all things, and thus the emptiness of any apparent thing - including the personal self
• How awareness and self evolved in animals, including humans
• The costs and benefits of me, myself, and I
• The distributed, variable, conditioned – thus “empty” – nature of creating self in the brain
• A poignant consideration of narcissistic wounds; Non-dual perspectives on the oneness of self and world
• Brain-savvy ways to relax the sense of self, take things less personally, feel more at peace with the world, and rest in the spacious awareness in which self activates and then disperses

Slides for this workshop can be downloaded here (pdf format).

More information and resources are available at www.wisebrain.org.

Recordings: