Into the Mirror combines contemporary Western inquiries into the nature of consciousness, with classical Buddhist investigations into the nature of mind, to offer deep insights into the nature of reality. Andy Karr invites the reader to make this a personal, experiential journey through study, contemplation, and meditation.

The first part of the book presents the Mahayana Buddhist approach to the path of freedom from suffering. It explores foundational teachings, such as the four truths, the notion of enlightenment, and the practice of meditation, from a fresh perspective. The second part deconstructs assumptions about mind and the material world using easily understood tools from contemporary Western philosophy. Part three presents a series of contemplative practices, ethics, and insights, starting with the Middle Way teachings on emptiness and interdependence, through Yogachara's subtle understanding of non-duality, to the view that buddha nature is already within us to be revealed rather than something external to be acquired.

Into the Mirror concludes with a call to cultivate compassion for beings and the environment right within this world of illusion.

Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality; Andy Karr; Shambhala Publications; Paperback; 272 pages; $21.95

Andy Karr is a teacher, author, and photographer who offers profound and penetrating insights into dharma and mind. He trained at the San Francisco Zen Center under Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and under Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Andy cofounded the first Shambhala Centre in France and taught regularly in Paris and other European Dharma centers for ten years. Andy is the author of Into the Mirror and Contemplating Reality and the coauthor of The Practice of Contemplative Photography. Andy mainly teaches the Mahayana view and meditation, and Mahamudra.

CONTENTS: Into the Mirror
Foreword by Matthieu Ricard		ix
Prologue		xiii
Introduction: Dispelling the Darkness		xv
PART ONE: Starting from Square One		1
1	Four Truths for Noble Beings	3
2	The Three Trainings	8
3	Awakening	14
4	Textures of Feelings	22
5	Perception and Conception	28
6	Exorcising Ego	34
An Interlude		43
PART TWO: Overcoming Materialism		45
7	Through the Looking Glass	47
8	The Hard Problem	52
9	Eliminative Materialism	59
10	Reductive Materialism	64
11	The Case against Materialism	70
An Interlude		78
PART THREE: A Profound Journey		81
12	Traces of the Buddha	83
13	The Mahayana Emerges	91
14	The Middle Way	96
15	Experiencing Emptiness	102
16	Two Realities	112
17	Illusory Forms	119
18	Two Brothers Take It to Another Level	124
19	Mere-Cognizance	130
20	New Insights into Consciousness	139
21	Three Natures	147
22	We Are All Buddhas (with Stains)	155
23	Where Rubber and Road Meet	162
24	Compassion in an Illusory World	171
25	The End	177
Epilogue		186
APPENDIX 1: Contemporary Thinking about Mind and Nature		187
APPENDIX 2: Root Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind		209
Acknowledgments		213
Notes		217
Selected Bibliography		235
Index		241