Genre: Meditative, Science, Nonfiction
Buddha’s Brain, a book that responds to this question: Why am I not happy and how can I become happier?
Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius has something important to tell us about how the brain functions and what that has to do with mood disorders. Hanson and Mendius, a neuropsychologist and a neurologist, believe that the basic tenants of Buddhism: mindfulness, virtue, and wisdom, can be applied to the three fundamental neural functions of the brain: learning, regulating, and selecting. I found this book both helpful and fascinating, the way the authors explained how the teachings of an ancient religion have something significant to say about healing the mind and improving our emotional health today. “We get upset about being in pain, angry about dying, sad about waking up sad yet another day. This kind of suffering–which encompasses most of our unhappiness and dissatisfaction–is constructed by the brain. It is made up. Which is ironic, poignant–and supremely hopeful,” Buddha’s Brain, pg. 12.
