The Embodied Mind, Revised Edition: Cognitive Science and Human Experience

Francisco Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch's The Embodied Mind—the groundbreaking work that originated the "embodied cognition" movement and pioneered the connections between cognitive science and Buddhist contemplative practices, presenting a revolutionary vision of mind as inseparable from body, world, and lived experience.

Francisco J. Varela, Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch first published The Embodied Mind in 1991, introducing "enaction"—a form of cognitive science where both the environment and first-person experience are essential aspects of embodiment. The book challenged the dominant computational view of mind, arguing instead that cognition arises through the dynamic interaction of brain, body, and world. Drawing on phenomenology, Buddhist philosophy, and neuroscience, the authors demonstrate that mind cannot be understood apart from the lived body and its engagement with the environment.

What you'll discover:

• The revolutionary concept of enaction and embodied cognition
• Connections between cognitive science and Buddhist philosophy
• Critique of computational and representational theories of mind
• The role of phenomenology and first-person experience in science
• How mindfulness practice illuminates the nature of cognition
• The groundless, interdependent nature of self and world

The authors bridge Western cognitive science and Buddhist Madhyamaka philosophy, showing how contemplative practice offers direct insight into the processes cognitive science studies theoretically. Mindfulness meditation reveals the moment-to-moment arising of experience, the absence of a fixed self, and the interdependence of perceiver and perceived—insights that align with enactive cognitive science's understanding of mind as embodied, embedded, and enacted.

What makes The Embodied Mind essential for contemplative readers is its rigorous integration of scientific and contemplative approaches to understanding mind. The book demonstrates that Buddhist insights into no-self, emptiness, and dependent origination are not merely philosophical positions but descriptions of cognitive reality accessible through disciplined introspection. This revised edition includes substantive introductions by Evan Thompson and Eleanor Rosch clarifying central arguments and discussing subsequent research, plus a preface by Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Perfect for: Students of cognitive science and philosophy of mind, readers interested in embodied cognition and enactivism, those exploring connections between Buddhism and neuroscience, practitioners seeking scientific frameworks for contemplative experience, students of phenomenology and consciousness studies, readers interested in interdisciplinary approaches to mind, and contemplative readers drawn to rigorous integration of science and Buddhist philosophy.

This revised edition presents the classic work that transformed cognitive science—demonstrating that mind is embodied, enacted, and inseparable from the world, with profound implications for both scientific understanding and contemplative practice.