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In 1977, at a conference of the Lindisfarne Association, the teenage Evan Thompson met Francisco Varela, who became his mentor. Lindisfarne was the contemplative institute his parents, Gail Thompson and William Irwin Thompson, had founded, and Evan was home-schooled there through the 1970s, among visiting Zen and Tibetan teachers. Fourteen years later he, Varela and Eleanor Rosch published The Embodied Mind (1991). Thompson went on to study Asian studies at Amherst and philosophy at Toronto, and now teaches philosophy at the University of British Columbia. This guide covers his 6 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 6 key books · 1991–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Evan Thompson has written six books: The Embodied Mind (1991, with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch), Colour Vision (1995), Mind in Life (2007), Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014), Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020) and The Blind Spot (2024, with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser). Start with Waking, Dreaming, Being. Below: what each book covers, how his view of Buddhism changed, and where he stands on the self.
Where to Start with Evan Thompson
If you want the most readable way in
→ Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014) — self and consciousness in neuroscience, meditation and philosophy.
If you want the book that started it all
→ The Embodied Mind (1991) — cognitive science and Buddhist thought, co-written with Varela and Rosch.
If you want his argument with Buddhist modernism
→ Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020) — why he calls himself a friend of Buddhism, not a Buddhist.
If you want his major work of philosophy
→ Mind in Life (2007) — biology, phenomenology and the sciences of mind.
6 Evan Thompson Books, in Order
The Embodied Mind
Written with Thompson’s mentor Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, and published by MIT Press, the book brings cognitive science into conversation with human experience as Buddhist meditative traditions describe it. Thompson has since called this the early phase of his work, when he presented Buddhism as compatible with science. MIT Press published a revised edition in 2016.
Colour Vision
His first solo book, published by Routledge, grew out of his 1990 doctoral thesis at the University of Toronto, Colour Vision and the Comparative Argument. As the subtitle says, it uses colour as a case study at the meeting point of cognitive science and the philosophy of perception.
Mind in Life
Published by Harvard University Press, the book brings together the three fields named in its subtitle: biology, phenomenology and the sciences of mind.
Waking, Dreaming, Being
Published by Columbia University Press, the book examines self and consciousness, as its subtitle says, through neuroscience, meditation and philosophy. In a 2014 master lecture for the Mind & Life Institute he spoke on dreamless sleep and consciousness. It has been translated into German as Wachen, Träumen, Sein.
Why I Am Not a Buddhist
Published by Yale University Press, the book argues against what Thompson calls “Buddhist exceptionalism”, the idea that Buddhism is fundamentally different from any other religion. He also questions “neural Buddhism”, the claim that neuroscience validates meditation and shows there is no self, and sets out his commitment to cosmopolitanism, the view that all human beings belong to one human family. Writers the book takes on include Robert Wright, B. Alan Wallace, the Dalai Lama and his own mentor Varela.
The Blind Spot
Written with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser and published by MIT Press, the book argues, as its subtitle says, that science cannot ignore human experience.
In What Order to Read Evan Thompson
Publication order shows a clear arc: from The Embodied Mind, which brought Buddhist thought into cognitive science, through the technical philosophy of Colour Vision and Mind in Life, to the more personal and critical books of the 2010s and 2020s. Most general readers will find Waking, Dreaming, Being the easiest way in, and Why I Am Not a Buddhist reads best after it.
Read The Embodied Mind next if you want to see where the questions began, and keep Colour Vision and Mind in Life for last: they are academic books written for philosophers and scientists.
A reading path
1. Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014)
2. Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020)
3. The Embodied Mind (1991)
4. The Blind Spot (2024)
5. Mind in Life (2007)
Everything Else Evan Thompson Published
Beyond the 6 key books: 5 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Edited volumes
5
5 books · 2001–2007
- 2001Between Ourselves: Second Person Issues in the Study of Consciousnessessays, also a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies
- 2002Vision and Mind: Selected Readings in the Philosophy of Perceptionedited with Alva Noë
- 2003The Problem of Consciousness: New Essays in Phenomenological Philosophy of Minda supplementary volume of the Canadian Journal of Philosophy
- 2005Emotion Experienceedited with Giovanna Colombetti
- 2007The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousnessedited with Philip David Zelazo and Morris Moscovitch
The years · 1962–2024
Quick facts about Evan Thompson
- Known for
- Bringing cognitive science, phenomenology and Buddhist and Indian philosophy into one conversation about mind and self, and later questioning the claim that Buddhism is a science of the mind.
- 1962
- Born; grows up at the Lindisfarne Association
- 1977
- Meets Francisco Varela at Lindisfarne
- 2007
- Mind in Life
- 2024
- The Blind Spot
- Born
- 1962; son of Gail Thompson and William Irwin Thompson, founders of the Lindisfarne Association
- Education
- A.B. in Asian Studies, Amherst College (1983); Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Toronto (1990)
- Positions
- Canada Research Chair, York University (2002–2005); University of Toronto (2005–2013); University of British Columbia (from 2013)
- Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; President of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association (2021)
- Mentor
- Francisco Varela, with whom he worked at CREA, École Polytechnique, Paris
- Next book
- When Death Comes: Our Ultimate Transformation, forthcoming from Columbia University Press
The red mark is 1991: The Embodied Mind, written with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch.
How Evan Thompson Writes: Science, Experience and the Self
Thompson describes his own field as the nature of mind, self and human experience, and he works across cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology and cross-cultural philosophy at once. That mix started early: he grew up among Zen and Tibetan teachers at Lindisfarne, studied Asian studies before philosophy, and worked with Francisco Varela at CREA in Paris.
The self is his recurring subject, and it is why he belongs in a cluster on non-duality, though not as a teacher of it. Waking, Dreaming, Being examines self and consciousness through neuroscience, meditation and philosophy. But he does not treat the self as an illusion. As he told Lion’s Roar in 2020, science treats the self as a construction, an ongoing process rather than a fixed entity: “A dance exists in the dancing and a self exists in the ongoing process of self-making.” For the biologist behind his early thinking, see the guide to Francisco Varela.
His later books are more argumentative. Why I Am Not a Buddhist criticises the Buddhist modernist view, which he once shared, that Buddhism can be extracted from religion and validated by neuroscience, and The Blind Spot turns a similar criticism on science itself for leaving experience out. For one of the writers he argues with, see the guide to Robert Wright.
Watch
Evan Thompson on dreamless sleep and consciousness
A master lecture at the Mind & Life Institute’s 2014 International Symposium for Contemplative Studies, in which Thompson speaks on dreamless sleep and consciousness.
Frequently asked questions about Evan Thompson’s books
How many books has Evan Thompson written?
Six, all on this page: The Embodied Mind (1991, with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch), Colour Vision (1995), Mind in Life (2007), Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014), Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020) and The Blind Spot (2024, with Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser). He has also edited five volumes of essays, and a seventh book, When Death Comes: Our Ultimate Transformation, is forthcoming from Columbia University Press.
What are Evan Thompson’s books in order?
The Embodied Mind (1991), Colour Vision (1995), Mind in Life (2007), Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014), Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020) and The Blind Spot (2024).
Where should I start with Evan Thompson?
Waking, Dreaming, Being (2014). It examines self and consciousness through neuroscience, meditation and philosophy, and, unlike Colour Vision and Mind in Life, does not assume an academic reader. Then read Why I Am Not a Buddhist (2020).
What is Evan Thompson’s most famous book?
The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (1991), which he wrote with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch. MIT Press published a revised edition in 2016.
Is Evan Thompson a Buddhist?
No, as the title of his 2020 book says. He grew up among Buddhist teachers and has worked with Buddhist ideas all his career, but he rejects the idea that Buddhism is fundamentally different from every other religion. “I like to think of myself as trying to be a good friend to Buddhism,” he told Lion’s Roar in 2020.
Does Evan Thompson think the self is an illusion?
No. In his view the self is real but constructed: an ongoing process on biological, social, historical and linguistic levels, which he compares to a dance: “A dance exists in the dancing and a self exists in the ongoing process of self-making.”
Why does Why I Am Not a Buddhist discuss Robert Wright?
The book takes issue with “Buddhist exceptionalism”, the idea that Buddhism is fundamentally different from any other religion, and with “neural Buddhism”. Among the writers it discusses are Robert Wright, author of Why Buddhism Is True, B. Alan Wallace, the Dalai Lama and Francisco Varela. It is a philosophical disagreement, not a personal dispute.
How was Evan Thompson connected to Francisco Varela?
He met Varela in 1977 at a conference of the Lindisfarne Association, the institute founded by Thompson’s parents, where Varela was a scholar in residence. Varela became his mentor; they worked together at CREA at the École Polytechnique in Paris and wrote The Embodied Mind (1991) with Eleanor Rosch.
Is Evan Thompson still alive, and where does he teach?
Yes. He was born in 1962 and has been professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver since 2013, after teaching at York University and the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Who is Evan Thompson’s father?
The writer William Irwin Thompson, who founded the Lindisfarne Association with Evan’s mother, Gail Thompson. Evan was home-schooled there in the 1970s.
Footnotes
- Evan Thompson — Wikipedia
- About Evan Thompson — evanthompson.me
- Why Evan Thompson Isn’t a Buddhist — Lion’s Roar, 2020
- Dreamless Sleep and Consciousness — Mind & Life Institute, 2014
- When Death Comes — NetGalley
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I like to think of myself as trying to be a good friend to Buddhism.”
— Evan Thompson, interview with Sam Littlefair, Lion’s Roar (2020)
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