Karma and Chaos: New and Collected Essays on Vipassana Meditation

This book shows how psychiatry and Buddhist meditation overlap and the integrity of Paul Fleischman, MD, definitely comes through in his words. Freud and Buddha both agreed that we can free ourselves only by directly confronting the source of our suffering. Observing our minds or getting in touch with formative memories, however, is frequently difficult and often impossible. According to the Buddha though, our thoughts become EMBODIED. Like all mammals we strongly identify with the sensations in our bodies. We think we are responding to external events and people but we are really responding to the physical sensations triggered in us by the external world. Buddhist meditation (i.e. Vipassana) shows us how to transcend our conditioning by directly experiencing our bodily sensations. Just like those who lived 2,500 years ago, people today want ease, happiness and clarity in their lives. This excellent book points the way to a technique that can take us there.

- - - In Karma and Chaos a scholar (professor/psychiatrist/meditation teacher) and his son examine the ancient doctrine of karma in the light of modern Chaos Theory. Though most religious and moral philosophies express a belief in some law of "you reap as you sow," from the limited perspective of an individual this seems to be contradicted by accidents, luck, and an unscientific, mystical cosmology. The idea that there might be a higher moral law that functions independent of capricious, supernatural powers in a complex but rational way is intriguing. In this book the complexities of karma are made more intelligible, even rational, by applying an overview of Chaos Theory. This helps one transcend the limited linear rationality of the individual and examine karma within a cosmic framework. Whatever your views of karma, Karma and Chaos provides unique and interesting insights. And it's only one of seven essays in the book. It's worth a read.

Paul Fleischman's writing stirs more ideas than could be followed tghrough in the space of an essay. His language has a technical tone yet tends toward the poetic. Some sentences need to be read more than once. But for those who find themselves drawn into his writings, these challenges fall away to reveal a rare gem. His unique style is integral to the power it evokes, and he writes things I have always wanted to be able to read. My favorite was the title essay, Karma and Chaos, where he explains, and better yet, demonstrates, how a life in line with karma can yield a balanced personality without sacrificing intellectual integrity. To me this book exudes compassion, wisdom, and joy.

This collection of essays is the most lyrically beautiful and forcefully personal account of the effect of the Buddha's teachings in real life I have ever read. Dr. Fleischman writes with the soul of a poet and the critical thought of a scientist. His and his family's life and growth together in Dhamma shine through again and again as the real theme of the essays. Anyone who wonders about the amorphous interface between modern psychotherapy and the Buddha's path should not miss the essay, "Vipassana Meditation: A Unique Contribution to Mental Health."And the title essay, "Karma and Chaos" is an amazingly fertile presentation of the ancient and timeless teachings of the Buddha in light of the cutting edge discoveries of western science.Mu Soeng, director of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, has said of it: "I just finished reading the essay on Karma and Chaos from your book and I want to congratulate you on an extraordinary piece on Dhamma and scientific perspectives. I would like to say that it is one of the shining moments of how ancient wisdom tradition from the East is being received in the West. The language is beautiful and there is a cogent and passionate communication of some very complex ideas in ways that do not oversimplify them and yet make them accessible."