Buddha's Mom: The Neurobiology of Spiritual Awakening

Twenty-five hundred years ago the Lord Buddha declared attachment to be the cause of suffering. Fifty years ago British psychiatrist John Bowlby came to the opposite conclusion. A lack of attachment he observed caused extreme suffering and sometimes even death in babies who were separated from their mothers. Educated seekers are warmly invited to participate in this scholarly meditation on these two attachments. Representing spirit and science these offer the basis of a neurobiology of spiritual awakening. This bridging becomes ever more vivid in the interpersonal biology underlying the biography of Siddhartha: the
baby boy and man who becomes the Buddha.To unpack this we revisit Siddharthas most impactful personal attachment relationships--most notably his extended relationship with his stepmother Prajapati. In addition to their attachment multiple layering of evidence enhances a modern lens on the human mind that gives birth to the Dharma and what is sometimes called nonattachment. Vital fuel for this journey comes from evolutionary psychology affective neuroscience polyvagal theory and depth psychology. Insights into sufferingandhealingincreasewithcompellingstoriesfromtheauthorsclinicalpractice. A nuanced integral paradigm builds. This offers welcome relief from the reductionisms some call neuromania. In Buddhas Mom love molecules and related findings provide scaffolding for a model of the psyches substrate and ultimately for the full scope of human sentience.A deepening appreciation of the feminine principle turns out to be key. This enables for example the unique gifts of Socrates Rumi Milarepa Dogen Hongzhi and Jesus to shine anew. The coherence and elegance of this science-spirit paradigm melts away some of the mixed messages and paradoxes characteristic of Buddhism. This aspiring science of sentience achieves a pristine clarity in the mirror of Vajrayana and Tantric Buddhism. These spiritual wellsprings demonstrate both that and how the immediacy and vastness of sacred human being is somatic. Liberation from attachment the evidence shows comes through attachment.Ultimately Buddhas Mom reaches from the deep past forward to the next generation. The impulse of life--living sacred desire--is one in the same with compassion for fellow travelers human and otherwise. Such is the bodhisattva spark. At the core they are me. We-spaces are portals to more of the same more inter-being wego and co-arising meaning. No end of sentience is locatable yet the essence of this inherited miracle realization of our human lineage can be mapped. May Buddhas Mom add grit and immediacy for readers intrigued by Buddhisms call to fully awaken now in this lifetime.