16-year-old Robert lies anaesthetized. A routine operation has just gone wrong. As Robert slowly wakes, he can hear, he can feel, but he can't scream. The operation isn't over. But life, as Robert knows it, is. He goes on the run, terrified and desperate for answers.

According to Thomas Metzinger, no such things as selves exist in the world: nobody ever had or was a self. All that exists are phenomenal selves, as they appear in conscious experience. The phenomenal self, however, is not a thing but an ongoing process; it is the content of a "transparent self-model." In Being No One, Metzinger, a German philosopher, draws strongly on neuroscientific research to present a representationalist and functional analysis of what a consciously experienced first-person perspective actually is. Building a bridge between the humanities and the empirical sciences of the mind, he develops new conceptual toolkits and metaphors; uses case studies of unusual states of mind such as agnosia, neglect, blindsight, and hallucinations; and offers new sets of multilevel constraints for the concept of consciousness. Metzinger's central question is: How exactly does strong, consciously experienced subjectivity emerge out of objective events in the natural world? His epistemic goal is to determine whether conscious experience, in particular the experience of being someone that results from the emergence of a phenomenal self, can be analyzed on subpersonal levels of description. He also asks if and how our Cartesian intuitions that subjective experiences as such can never be reductively explained are themselves ultimately rooted in the deeper representational structure of our conscious minds.

An enchanting, visually arresting, “extraordinary children’s book for adults...that peers into the depths of the human experience and the meaning of our existence.” (Brainpickings.org).

Why do some people and businesses accomplish deep and resounding success and prosperity while others do not? What are the qualities that set them apart? Prior to writing this book, Ashkan Tashvir spent more than a decade working with and studying entrepreneurs, startups, leaders and investors, including many exceptionally high achievers, to discover the behavioural patterns and qualities that determine success or failure. He found that it's not due to a lack of capital, technology or the right techniques or strategies; it's because of who and how they are BEING, the underlying qualities that drive their behaviours and actions. In his book, BEING, Ashkan lays out a comprehensive paradigm called the Being Framework which distinguishes each of these qualities, mapping out how and why each plays a critical role in performance, effectiveness, influence and leadership. Too many leaders overlook the people side of business. This framework is engineered to deliver a unique, systematic way to address this. The Being Framework transcends far beyond today's popular quick-fix recipes for success or self-affirmation. Instead, it draws your attention to the extraordinary power of discovering and honing your well-polished qualities and casting light on your Being to reveal the 'shadow' or troubled parts of you, explaining how those can be transformed. Fundamentally, this book focuses on how to BE so you can have whatever you care most about in life and make a meaningful contribution to humanity.

Frank follows the motto, "Honesty is the best policy." He tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Frank never lies to his schoolmates, he always tells the truth to adults, and he's always honest with police officers. The balancing act of finding tact, that fine line between telling the truth and telling too much truth, is the main theme of this story, and it's very funny—although not necessarily to his friend Dotti whose freckles remind Frank of the Big Dipper, or to the teacher who hears that her breath smells like onions, or to the principal who is told that his toupee looks like a weasel. No one is quite as impressed with Frank's honesty as he thinks they should be. He is sweet and straightforward, and, well, very frank, but with everyone annoyed at him, Frank is now honestly unhappy. He decides to visit his confidante and pal, Grandpa Ernest, who has a history of frankness himself. With a few lessons from Grandpa, Frank begins to understand that the truth is important, but so is not being hurtful. With amusing characters and expressive artwork, this story tells the powerful message of finding the good in everything—a lesson that sends compassion and understanding to take the place of rudeness in the complex concept of truth.

An expansive collection of love letters to books, libraries, and reading, from a wonderfully eclectic array of thinkers and creators.

How Alex Grey’s visionary art is evolving the cultural body through icons of interconnectedness • Includes over 200 reproductions of Grey’s artwork • Contains spectacular photos of Grey’s collaboration with the cult band TOOL plus his worldwide live-painting performances • Offers Grey’s reflections on how art evolves consciousness with a new symbology of the Networked Self • Winner of the 2013 Nautilus Silver Book Award in Photography and Art Revealing the interwoven energies of body and soul, love and spirit that illuminate the core of each being, Alex Grey’s mystic paintings articulate the realms of consciousness encountered during visits to entheogenic heaven worlds. His painting Net of Being--inspired by a blazing vision of an infinite grid of Godheads during an ayahuasca journey--has reached millions as the cover and interior of the band TOOL’s Grammy award–winning triple-platinum album, 10,000 Days. Net of Being is one of many images Grey has created that have resulted in a chain reaction of uses--from apparel and jewelry to tattoos and music videos--embedding these iconic works into our culture’s living Net of Being. The book explores how the mystical experience expressed in Alex Grey’s work opens a new understanding of our shared consciousness and unveils the deep influence art can have on cultural evolution. The narrative progresses through a successive expansion of identity--from the self, to self and beloved, to self and community, world spirit, and cosmic consciousness, where bodies are transparent to galactic energies. Presenting over 200 images, including many never-before-reproduced paintings as well as masterworks such as St. Albert and the LSD Revelation Revolution and Godself, the book also documents performance art, live-painting on stage throughout the world, and the “social sculpture” called CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, that Grey cofounded with his wife and creative collaborator, artist Allyson Grey.