Thomas Metzinger was Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at theJohannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. He is the author of The Ego Tunnel and Being No One (MIT Press), the coeditor of Open MIND, and the editor of Neural Correlates of Consciousness (both MIT Press).

Contents:
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The Elephant and the Blind xiii

1 Relaxation 1
2 Peace 9
3 Silence 21
4 Wakefulness 33
5 Clarity 45
6 Density 55
7 Soundness 63
8 Nonidentification 71
9 Suchness 85
10 Presence 103
11 Connectedness 113
12 The Most Natural State 123
13 Coming Home 129
14 There Is Nothing Left to Do 137
15 Joy, Awe, Bliss, and Gratitude 145
16 Simplicity, Nothingness, and Absence 155
17 Emptiness and Fullness 167
18 Luminosity 191
19 Witnessing 203
20 Pure Awareness during Dreamless Deep Sleep 213


21 Pure Awareness and Lucid Dreaming 233
22 From Timelessness to Timeless Change 247
23 Space without Structure, Center, or Periphery 257
24 Bodiless Body- Experience 271
25 Ego Dissolution: Melting into the Phenomenal Field 297
26 Nondual Being: Unity 307
27 Nondual Awareness: Insight 329
28 Transparency, Translucency, and Virtuality 353
29 The True Self 379
30 Pure Awareness Knows Itself 393
31 It Is Not an Experience 407
32 Meditation and Nonmeditation 421
33 Timeless Continuity 445
34 The Elephant: What Is Pure Awareness? 455
Epilogue: Bewusstseinskultur 479

Glossary of Terms 497
Notes 515
References 547
Index 583