James Kingsland

Prominent GUARDIAN science editor JAMES KINGSLAND discusses the groundbreaking exploration of the “science of enlightenment” in "SIDDHARTHA’S BRAIN: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment" coming out on April 26th, 2016. In a lush grove on the banks of the Neranjara in northern India, 400 years before the birth of Christ, a homeless man in his late 30s sat beneath a fig tree. His name was Siddhartha Gautama, though he is better known now as the Buddha, and he was in the process of unlocking the secrets of mental wellness and spiritual “enlightenment” through mindful meditation. Framed by the historical journey and teachings of the Buddha, SIDDHARTHA’S BRAIN shows how meditative and Buddhist practice anticipated the findings of cutting-edge science by two millennia. Far from a New Age fad, the principles of meditation have deep scientific support for their efficacy, and have been proven to be effective in combating many of the psychiatric disorders associated with our technology-driven world. Moving from the evolutionary history of the brain to the disorders and neuroses associated with modern life, Kingsland explores why the ancient practice of mindfulness has been so beneficial and so important for human beings across time. Siddhartha posited that “Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think,” and as we are increasingly driven to distraction by the various demands of the modern world, our ability to focus and control our own thought patterns has never been more challenged, nor more vital. About the author: James Kingsland is a science and medical journalist with twenty-five years of experience working for publications such as New Scientist, Nature, and most recently the Guardian (UK), where he was a commissioning editor and a contributor for its Notes & Theories blog. On his own blog, Plastic Brain, he writes about neuroscience and Buddhist psychology.