Chris Niebauer – författare

While in grad school in the early 1990s, Chris Niebauer began to notice striking parallels between the latest discoveries in psychology, neuroscience, and the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and other schools of Eastern thought. When he presented his findings to a professor, his ideas were quickly dismissed as “pure coincidence, nothing more.” Fast-forward 20 years later and Niebauer is a PhD and a tenured professor, and the Buddhist-neuroscience connection he found as a student is practically its own genre in the bookstore. But according to Niebauer, we are just beginning to understand the link between Eastern philosophy and the latest findings in psychology and neuroscience and what these assimilated ideas mean for the human experience. In this groundbreaking book, Niebauer writes that the latest research in neuropsychology is now confirming a fundamental tenet of Buddhism, what is called Anatta, or the doctrine of “no self.” Niebauer writes that our sense of self, or what we commonly refer to as the ego, is an illusion created entirely by the left side of the brain. Niebauer is quick to point out that this doesn't mean that the self doesn't exist but rather that it does so in the same way that a mirage in the middle of the desert exists, as a thought rather than a thing. His conclusions have significant ramifications for much of modern psychological modalities, which he says are spending much of their time trying to fix something that isn’t there. What makes this book unique is that Niebauer offers a series of exercises to allow the reader to experience this truth for him- or herself, as well as additional tools and practices to use after reading the book, all of which are designed to change the way we experience the world—a way that is based on being rather than thinking.

“Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you think, and of everything you do, is for yourself—and there isn’t one.” —Wei Wu Wei  In his bestselling book No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism, Professor Chris Niebauer explored the incredible link between Eastern philosophy and recent findings in neuropsychology, which is now confirming a fundamental tenet of Buddhism: anatta, or the doctrine of “no self.”We are just beginning to understand these parallels and what they mean for the human experience.  Now, Niebauer takes a deeper dive, offering exercises and practices you can do right now to experience the state of “no self” and its benefits. These include being more present, finding inner peace, and seeing the world through the eyes of what Niebauer calls “clear consciousness.” Read this book, do the practices, and begin to disidentify with the false sense of self that is the root cause of almost all the anxiety, depression, and fear we experience as human beings.

Your mind spends most of its time dreaming. It's time to wake up.Our ability to think abstractly is humanity’s superpower. It gave us language, art, science, and civilization. Before a wheel was built, it was imagined. Before a law was written, it was conceived. Abstraction lets us plan, create, and transcend our immediate circumstances.But this gift has a shadow. The same mind that builds bridges also builds prisons—of worry, comparison, and endless mental chatter. We fret over insults that never came, chase status that can’t satisfy, and wage wars over lines on a map. The abstract world, once a tool, has become our cage.In The Abstract Mind, bestselling author and cognitive neuropsychologist Chris Niebauer illuminates how abstraction creates illusions that interfere with our perception of reality, how these illusions give rise to mental suffering, and how, with a little practice, you can learn to see through them. This book isn’t another guide to mindfulness. It’s a mirror—one that reveals how deeply we’ve confused thought for life. Like a dreamer realizing they’re asleep, the moment you notice the abstract world is a mirage, the spell begins to break.Put down your phone. Feel the air on your skin. Listen to the hum of the world. This is where life happens—not in your head, but here. Now.Welcome back.