The Science of Enlightenment: How Meditation Works

“Enlightenment”—is it a myth or is it real? In every spiritual tradition, inner explorers have discovered that the liberated state is in fact a natural experience, as real as the sensations you are having right now—and that through the investigation of your own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions you can awaken to clear insight and a happiness independent of conditions.

For decades, one of the most engaging teachers of our time has illuminated the many dimensions of awakening—but solely at his live retreats and on audio recordings. Now, with The Science of Enlightenment, Shinzen Young brings to readers an uncommonly lucid guide to mindfulness meditation for the first time: how it works and how to use it to enhance your cognitive capacities, your kindness and connection with the world, and the richness of all your experiences.

As thousands of his students and listeners will confirm, Shinzen is like no other teacher you’ve ever encountered. He merges scientific clarity, a rare grasp of source-language teachings East and West, and a gift for sparking insight through unexpected analogies, illustrations, humor, and firsthand accounts that reveal the inner journey to be as wondrous as any geographical expedition.

• Universal insights spanning Buddhism, Christian and Jewish mysticism, shamanism, the yogas of India, and many other paths

• How to begin and navigate your own meditation practice

• Concentration, clarity, and equanimity—the core catalysts of awakening

• Impermanence—its many aspects and how to work with them

• Experiencing the “wave” and “particle” natures of self

• Purification and clarification—how we digest mental blockages and habits through inner work

• Emerging neuroscience research, the future of enlightenment, and much more

For meditators of all levels and beliefs—especially those who think they’ve heard it all—this many-faceted gem will be sure to surprise, provoke, illuminate, and inspire.