Publisher Description
Twenty-seven years ago, Matthieu Ricard gave up a promising career as a scientist to study Tibetan Buddhism-not as a detached observer but by immersing himself in its practice under the guidance of its greatest living masters. Years later, this project was born, and Richard met with his father, Jean-Francois Revel-a French philosopher who became world famous for his challenges to both Communism and Christianity. At an inn overlooking Kathmandu, these two profoundly thoughtful men explored questions that have occupied humankind throughout its history: Does life have meaning? What is consciousness? Is man free? What is the value of scientific and material progress? Why is there suffering, war, and hatred? Utterly absorbing, inspiring, and accessible, that conversation became this remarkable dialogue - one that engages East with West, ideas with life, and science with the humanities, providing wisdom concerning how to enrich the way we live our lives.
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About the Authors
Jean-François Revel (1924–2006), was the author of several international bestsellers and was perhaps best known for Without Marx or Jesus, How Democracies Perish, and The Totalitarian Temptation.
Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, trained as a molecular biologist before moving to Nepal to study Buddhism. He is the author or co-author of several books, including The Monk and the Philosopher, The Quantum and the Lotus, Happiness, The Art of Meditation, Altruism, A Plea for the Animals, and Beyond the Self:, among others. Conversations between Buddhism and Neuroscience. He is the French interpreter for the Dalai Lama.
About David Shaw-Parker
David Shaw-Parker is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1975 and began his career at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977, appearing in over twenty-five productions between then and 1991. He went on to appear at The National Theatre in Oedipus Rex, The False Servant, and My Fair Lady and in London’s West End in Grand Hotel, The Country Wife, Acorn Antiques, Heavenly Ivy,and Cyrano de Bergerac,among others. His numerous television credits include Inspector Morse, Space Precinct, and The Commander, and his films include Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka, Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life, and The Muppet Christmas Carol.