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James H. Austin is Clinical Professor of Neurology, University of Missouri Health Science Center, and Emeritus Professor of Neurology, University of Colorado Health Science Center. Austin is the author of his well known book Zen and the Brain, which aims to establish links between the neurological workings of the human brain and meditation. Austin has written two sequels to it: Zen-Brain Reflections (February, 2006), and Selfless Insight (2009). He was student of the late Rinzai roshi Kobori Nanrei Sohaku.
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Austin is also a practicing Zen Buddhist. After a number of years of Zen meditation, Austin claims to have spontaneously experienced what Zen practice calls "enlightenment" on a subway platform in London. The chief characteristic of his experience seems to be a loss of the sense of "self" which is central to human identity, and a corresponding feeling of union with the outer world. Austin speculates as to what might be going on in the brain when the "self" module goes offline, and also discusses the seeing timelessness of the experience in the context of the brain's internal clock mechanisms. In Austin's own words,[1]
Austin claims that the experience represented "objective reality" in that his subjective self did not exist to form biased interpretations. Austin claims that there is little conflict between Zen Buddhism and scientific rigor.
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