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  • Why Buddhism Is True

  • The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
  • By: Robert Wright
  • Narrated by: Fred Sanders
  • Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (251 ratings)

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Why Buddhism Is True

By: Robert Wright
Narrated by: Fred Sanders
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Publisher's Summary

From one of America's greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness.

Robert Wright famously explained in The Moral Animal how evolution shaped the human brain. The mind is designed to often delude us, he argued, about ourselves and about the world. And it is designed to make happiness hard to sustain.

But if we know our minds are rigged for anxiety, depression, anger, and greed, what do we do? Wright locates the answer in Buddhism, which figured out thousands of years ago what scientists are discovering only now. Buddhism holds that human suffering is a result of not seeing the world clearly - and proposes that seeing the world more clearly, through meditation, will make us better, happier people.

In Why Buddhism Is True, Wright leads listeners on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age. At once excitingly ambitious and wittily accessible, this is the first book to combine evolutionary psychology with cutting-edge neuroscience to defend the radical claims at the heart of Buddhist philosophy. With bracing honesty and fierce wisdom, it will persuade you not just that Buddhism is true - which is to say, a way out of our delusion - but that it can ultimately save us from ourselves, as individuals and as a species.

©2017 Robert Wright. All rights reserved. (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"I have been waiting all my life for a readable, lucid explanation of Buddhism by a tough-minded, skeptical intellect. Here it is. This is a scientific and spiritual voyage unlike any I have taken before." (Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and best-selling author of Authentic Happiness)
"This is exactly the book that so many of us are looking for. Writing with his characteristic wit, brilliance, and tenderhearted skepticism, Robert Wright tells us everything we need to know about the science, practice, and power of Buddhism." (Susan Cain, best-selling author of Quiet)
"Robert Wright brings his sharp wit and love of analysis to good purpose, making a compelling case for the nuts and bolts of how meditation actually works. This book will be useful for all of us, from experienced meditators to hardened skeptics who are wondering what all the fuss is about." (Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and best-selling author of Real Happiness)

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Incredible!

Absolutely amazing book. The information itself is fascinating and intensely thought provoking but the way it is presented is so natural and easy to follow. Found myself laughing out loud more than once! Would recommend 100% especially for those who value the scientific approach. Superb! Narration was great too!

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3 people found this helpful

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Why Evolution is sometimes fake news

Robert Wright’s persuasive argument of the benefits of meditation - that it makes us all more aware of when our emotions are not aligned with our values or even our short term interests - was a profound insight for me.
It is written for someone who may not understand Buddhism at all, and in an accessible style.
The narrator has a calm voice well suited to the text.

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2 people found this helpful

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Convincing

A highly accessible and well ordered book with seriously convincing arguments, with perspectives rarely considered. Any fluff you come across is well worth the overall message. A great combination of modern psychology, neuroscience, Darwinian evolution, evolutionary psychology and of course, Buddhism! Get mediating!

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Dull narration

I’m sad to say that I just can’t sit this one out.
Sad because I had such high expectations but a couple hours in and I am finding the narrative Simply overwhelmingly droll and un-captivating.

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Excellent truth

vert good book that was told with humility, honesty, integrity and humour. Relateable and inspiring.

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Excellent summary

Very good explanation of Buddhist theory of the universe from a western mindset. The core teachings are all there, apart from rebirth & karma!

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Nice

Nice book. That's it for you. Kek. Thank you for reading my review on Audible.

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Incredibly thought provoking.

I’ve been listening to this and some of the concepts are so hard to get my head around, that I’ve been listening to it over and over. Then the lightbulb moment happens and multiple of the confused concepts merge and become clear. Interesting that days later I watch a new Netflix series surviving death, that challenges my beliefs that reincarnation was impossible. Where is all this going… just start by listening.

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Terrible narration

Can’t actually believe the author would choose this narrator. Monotonous delivery that made me switch off al the time

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It had so much potential...

The first three chapters suggested a potential to fulfil it’s goal of connecting Buddhist doctrine and practises with ‘scientific truth’. Unfortunately it soon descended into a monologue of conflicted personal experience and incessantly contradictory and poorly argued opinions. When you hear the word “paradox” used as a celebration of “reality” you know the author really doesn’t want to dig too deeply. Yes, I am disappointed.

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