I recommend this book for anyone interested in learning both theoretical and practical knowledge relating to the extremely difficult task of coloring fabric. Plenty of hands-on examples and illustrations provided.

There are full of garbages and a little bit of potentially interesting stuffs that can be scientifically validated/invalidated in this book. Intelligent design creationism elucidated by Rhawn Joseph not only lacks scietific evidence (well he does use the term "evidence", but they are not. They are mere speculations based on scientific evidence), but can be refuted by major scientific evidence (not by speculations). It is an interesting attempt to shift readers' attention from "hard-earned Darwin's evolution theory" to "creation of life by intelligent being (aliens?) theory, by invalidating some minor aspects of evolution theory. But does everyone think "if evolution is invalidated, creationism must be true"? I don't think so (I hope not). For the sake of devil's adovocate, let's assume that creationism does become prevalently popular among non-critical public. Some people with a little bit of critical thinking will eventually claim "show me intelligent beings that created us, and how they did it. Until that happens, I will not decide that this hypothesis is not any closer to the truth than other hypotheses out there." Reasonable?
Chapters by other scientits, both famous and not-so-famous, try to invalidate or validate the "reality" of anomalous experiences such as religious experiences. Evidence and scientific methods for/against those phenomenon are so thin that we can interpret in any possible way. I recommend that you buy and read this book, but read a book called "The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan beforehand or afterwards to decide where you want to place your opinion in this vague area that occupies science and pseudoscience. If you would really like to know solid "scientific" studies of anomalous experiences (e.g. near-death experiences), please take a look at "Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence" by Etzel Cardena (Editor), Steven Jay Lynn (Editor), Stanley C. Krippner (Editor). It might be more worthwhile to read those books first.

NeuroTheology is an excellent, comprehensive, scholarly text which begins at the beginning (the Creation) and ends at the end (Armageddon). Some of the best, most daring minds in the science of religious experience, have chapters included in this book, including Newberg, Persinger, Alper, Albright, d'Aquili, Bruce MacLennan, and Fraser Watts of the University of Cambridge. ... this is otherwise an excellent, comprehensive text which deserves a place on the bookshelf of any serious scientist.

This is a provocative and ground breaking book. NeuroTheology contains 34 chapters written by 20 different experts, including Michael Persinger (who many consider the father of the field), Rhawn Joseph (who Newberg refers to as one of the founders of the field), Dr. Paloutzian (the editor of the International Journal of the Psychology of Religion), Dr. Albright (the former Executive Editor of Zygon the Journal of Science & Religion), and a host of others including those who do not believe in NeuroTheology. The value of this book is that it offers so many different perspectives. It is 644 pages in length, contains over 100 pictures, and addresses and answers many provocative questions regarding the nature, origin, and scientific basis of spirituality and religious belief.

This book offers the advantage of being short and introducing the general reader to recent events in Kashmir. However, I think the book is less of a rigorous history than an advocacy piece. Newberg is right to emphasize the human rights abuses and political repression of Kashmir by the Indian central (federal) government; however, this does not bring out the complexity of the problem, which is also influenced by economic conditions, military assistance from Pakistan, and the inevitable problem with all guerrilla movements, which is that they need popular support, but can quickly turn into oppressors themselves. And the writer seems to have interviewed a lot of militant group members, but not that many local people or government officials for their side of the story. For a more detailed, recent historical analysis, see Sumit Ganguly's book on the Crisis in Kashmir.

As an American of Kashmiri and Pakistani origin, i found this book to be very intriguing. It explains Indian attrocities that have been dismissed by the rest of the world. I just wish more was written about militants as well. This book could also do with some more pictures. All in all, a good book, if youre willing to forget that it is 6 years old, and in that 6 years is where the Kashmir movement evolved from a mere shoot-and-run rebellion, to a deadly and daring guerilla war.

The authors have presented an informative and objective analysis of one of the least known and understood of freedom struggles to the American people. Kashmir, a region in South Asia bordered by India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China is in a state of siege similar to Bosnia. Since the creation of India and Pakistan in August of 1947 by Great Britain, the people of Kashmir have been in a struggle to exercise their right to self-determination, as guaranteed by UN Security Council Resolutions. Thousands of young Kashmiris have lost their lives, as documented by the authors in a very revealing and understandable text.(p)

I highly encourage Westerners who value freedom and civil liberties for all peoples to read this relevant and well documented book. It is one of the finest books on modern Kashmir I have read and a moving tribute to the tragedy of a noble people who are victims of the greed and whims of corrupt politicians.

I'd looked forward to reading this book, hoping that it would describe the resesarch and actual experiences in some detail. Instead it was a hotch-potch of assumptions and generalisations that ultimately add nothing to our understanding of these states. The writers started off with the opinion that the states weren't real and set out to prove that this was so, rather than weighing up the evidence and then drawing a conclusion.

On the whole, the researchers make exactly the same mistake about what meditation is as every other researcher does, Persinger in particular. Meditation in the way that most think of it is only a tool to calm the mind, not meditation itself. No practitioner will sit staring for hours at religious images, nor is there a trance state that is the platform for such experiences. In meditation (and in spontaneous events) the perfect 'ground' for enightenment experiences is a perfectly natural awareness of the moment, not a 'locked in' state of not thinking.

Anyone who wants to seriously examine how meditators create a ground for these experiences should read books covering Mahamudra and Dzongchen rather than misinformed nonsense like this.

Ian Harling

Given the title of the book, and the author's pioneering research background, I had expected some in depth discussion of the author's research and results. Instead, we are presented with pedantic background material having to do with religion and biology which is widely available in thousands of other books, and perhaps 5 pages altogether of research reports. And those 5 pages are not even contiguous! As a result, I find myself quite skeptical of the author's hypothetical framework that he labors so hard to present in this work.

There is at least one glaring omission as well - there is no discussion of the commonality of the kundalini experience among the major mystics, nor any background on the chakra system and its relation to the endocrine system. To have ignored these topics in a book dedicated to 'probing' mysticism, is to be presented with a very shallow probe indeed.

This book is evidently intended as an undergraduate text for a narrowly focused survey class, and not for the general reader.

The text of this book is difficult to work through. It is not designed for the light reader or the quick student. Taking twice as long to read this book was a drain, but the payoff was excellent.

He does not simply give facts, but works to tie them together into a specific working hypothesis, which is yet to be proven. Yet he has asked the correct questions and cannot be faulted in not having all the answers.

Highly recommended.

The Pope of Paleontology once bemoaned the woeful inadequacies of education in evolution in America. The authors of this book represent a prime example of the validity of Stephen Gould's lament. It may seem an oversimplification of the authors' theme to call it "neurotheology" or "hardwired for gods", but their case is so overstated that perhaps a balance is thereby achieved. Relying on Buddhist meditators and praying nuns, the authors recorded brain activity states to compare with "normal" conditions. They then go on to link various areas and functions of the brain to demonstrate that religion is an evolutionary product. For the prurient reader, they contend that the transcendental feelings we obtain from sex links through the limbic system to other parts of the brain becoming the foundation for "religious experience". Freud would have loved this book.

The authors map the brain/mind to build a framework to explain the universality of religion. Their outlook is almost entirely from Western Civilization - even the Buddhist meditators are American. From this flimsy foundation and the contributions of some Western philosophers, the authors go on to construct their edifice. The brain, they argue, is designed as a "window to [g]od" which they rename the Absolute Unitary Being. They contend that gods are not the product of a cognitive, deductive process, but were instead "discovered" in a mystical or spiritual encounter. Shoring up their structure with numerous spurious assertions of the brains' processes, they see this capability having been designed through evolution. Not since the concept of "the Great Chain of Being" have humans been granted such a glorious role. GCoB exalted reasoning as giving humans "superiority" over the rest of the animal kingdom - telepathy to the divine was a step too far.

Many fine books reflecting recent brain research have been published in recent years. While their descriptions of brain processes make vivid reading, there are far better sources available on the topic. The authors cite a few and ignore the rest. The ones they cite utilise information with adroit selectivity. In fact, most of their sources have been chosen with finesse. A glaring omission is Walter Burkert's Creation of the Sacred. Whatever Burkert's flaws he, at least, makes a serious attempt to extract valid evolutionary roots for religious ideas. Newberg and D'Aquili begin with the premise that there is a god [one, please note] and then manipulate neurological research to "discover" it. Like Burkert, this pair ignores the power of memes to propagate ideas and stimulate response behaviour, a major element in the dissemination of religious thought, but Richard Dawkins is ignored in this book at any level. It's interesting that after pages of "neurotheology" explaining how the brain is there to communicate with a god, at the end they waffle over its actual existence.

Although the flaws in the authors' logic are immeasurable, their frequent references to human evolution display even more glaring faults. They assert that Australapithicines likely didn't have sufficient brain power to invoke deities, but grant this level of intellect to Homo erectus. They assert H. erectus was the first to have a mind capable of considering "existential dread", but unable to perceive their deity. Not until H. Neanderthalis did the concept of deities arise, which they claim is evidenced by ritual burials. Ritual burial and deities are linked in today's world, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest this is the way of Neanderthal thought. Nor is there any reason to believe that "dread" alone was the prime mover in considering the natural world. Benefits were clearly available - successful hunts, available fruits and vegetables, water - were these not also granted divine status? Their theme, rife with inconsistencies, keeps the deity at arm's length until a hominid evolved to talk to It. That presupposes 3.6 billion years of their god waiting in limbo. Divine patience, indeed! And if the Chixculub asteroid had missed the Earth, who would the AUB communicate with today? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I found this book in the Science / Biology section, and since it seemed to go address an important and interesting topic ("A facinating study of the neurological basis of mystical and religious experience") I bought a copy. The first several chapters contained interesting information about brain structure and function, but had the feel of 'lightweight' science. The authors seemed to be drawing conclusions not supported by the data. As the book progressed it became apparent that the authors had their own agenda and beliefs to promote, and rational scientific inquiry was nowhere to be seen. Statements like "The wisdom of the mystics, it seems, has predicted for centuries what neurology now shows to be true: In Absolute Unitary Being, self blends into other, mind and matter are one and the same state" show how far afield the authors take their data. Their clear belief in the "Absolute Unitary Being" (not to be confused with anything like the Judeo-Christian concept of a personal God), and frequent use of phrases like "being one with the universe" were difficult to take seriously. If you're into 'New Age' reading, this book is right up your alley. If you're looking for serious science, save yourself some time and frustration and look elsewhere.

Science cannot determine that gods of any type exist, nor can it determine that no gods exist. However, there may be scientific reasons why the belief in gods remains strong. In the surprisingly titled _Why God Won't Go Away_ Ballantine Books) by Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene D'Aquilli, M.D., and Vince Rause, we get a fascinating scientific answer to the title question, and a review of the current scientific understanding of the roots of belief. The authors have done research by means of brain scans on those who are having mystical or religious experiences. The brain scans show that something is going on among the neurons that doesn't happen at other times. Most of the scans described in the authors' research show an increase in activity in the posterior superior parietal lobe, an area just behind the top of the head. They call this for operational purposes the "orientation association area (OAA)," because the OAA orients a person in physical space. "To perform this crucial function, it must first generate a clear, consistent cognition of the physical limits of the self. In simple terms, it must draw a sharp distinction between the individual and everything else; to sort out the you from the infinite not-you that makes up the rest of the universe." When this area is damaged by trauma or stroke, patients have difficulty maneuvering in physical space; when it is extra active, it seems to be a source of an inexplicable feeling of connection to all creation. A meditator describes the ineffable state in terms that are typical: "There's a sense of timelessness and infinity. It feels like I am part of everyone and everything in existence."

The authors explain that the gene-driven wiring of the brain to encourage religious beliefs exists because it has been evolutionarily good for us. Stimulating the OAA or the autonomic nervous system can produce calm and a sense of well-being which may be not only pleasant but physically beneficial. Beliefs driven by neurology could reinforce themselves by building myths, encouraging ritual, uniting societies and providing social support from fellow believers. They can check worry about eventual annihilation. They can provide a feeling of control.

Those of a religious bent will find matter to argue with inside these pages, even though the authors are very careful not to argue for or against the existence of deities, only that "the neurological aspects of spiritual experience support the sense of the realness of God." Some may also find disconcerting the idea that ecstasy of religious mysticism may have its roots in the structures that bring on orgasm. Others will find the practical answer to the title's question just too pragmatic and pat, but given the extraordinary research as it now stands, it is the best that science can do as it begins to look into religious feeling: "What we know beyond question is that the mind is essentially a machine designed to solve the riddles of existence, and as long as our brains are wired as they are, God will not go away." This book is a wonderful introduction into this fascinating research.