Learner Reviews & Feedback for Buddhism and Modern Psychology by Princeton University

This is a great effort which should be appreciated. Just because at a time like this, some are curious to know about the Buddhism, & with the psychological background, which adds more value for this.

I have been practicing meditation for two years already.In so far I have attended all Deepak Chopra meditation experiences which I found very helpful but not as helpful this course provided me so far.

Engaging content and excellent pace. While the level is introductory (I'd have liked a bit more depth), I would expect this from a lower-division/breadth course—and even more so from a MOOC like this.

I have learned new knowledge about the workings of the human mind. It's eye-opening. Professor Wright's lectures and after office hour lectures were all very educational. Thank you very much! :-)

Acquired huge amounts of insight from this course and enjoyed reading the various perspectives when marking papers in the peer marked assessments. Thank you for providing such a wonderful course!

I have a negative opinion of the structure of this course. It is not laid out in a format that I, a native English speaker, understood. The interviews and recorded lectures were not adequate or sufficiently rehearsed. The gentleman that drills his own cavities in his home workshop was most annoying and pointless. Looked at the ceiling Buddha 97% of his screen time.

The reading was too disjointed and the book on Mindfulness is really more commercial and repetitious that one would expect of a course in Coursera. Professor Wright is too laconic, phlegmatic and unengaging. I wrote the assignment for week three but there were no instructions on how to convert a document in textedit (Mac WP) to the course submission page so that was a total crash for me. I would never recommend this course to anyone.

I loved this course so much. It gave me personal clarity. I also find Prof. Wright's examples amusing, as he connects Buddhism and modern psychology to the mundane things in life, like donuts. :)

Video after video of lengthy lecture with little variation. It's a long content dump with just two peer-reviewed assignments. If this is the best online Princeton can do, count me out.

¿Y si la mente al recibir un alimento "sano de verdad..." se desarrollara hacia insospechados límites?.

¿Y si en verdad lo hiciere...?.

Meditar, autoobservarse y observarlo todo sin prejuicios, seguramente nos acerca desde nuestra mayor calma, a ser más protagonistas en la construcción de un mundo mejor.

Worst course I have ever seen on Coursera. Such a shame, as the subject is very exciting, and the 'lectures' in the first couple of weeks are a monotonous jabble.

Seems to me the professor needs to study evolution a bit more or change his language a bit. For example, he said, "Evolution happens for a reason." I know what he meant- that the success of the organism is served by the results of gene mutation - but evolution is a RANDOM event. The success of an organism depends on its survival in the habitat, etc. but it does not depend on the mutation itself. The mutation confers a fighting advantage, perhaps, but it has no will of its own. There were many times the professor seems to be saying that evolution is somehow willful. I direct him to read Richard Dawkins on this subject. I had to read it twice before I got this point - we are inclined to believe that evolution is a lot like us - driven by some purpose - but, alas, no.

One of my ALL-TIME favourite courses on Coursera. I reaped so much joy of this course. As a baby meditator, I was first captured by the interest to see the parallels between mindfulness meditation and evolutionary psychology, and I'm very happy to have seen the latest scientific findings that corroborate some of the teachings of the Buddha. Mr. Robert Wright - the professor - is smart, authentic and fun. His lectures are well-crafted and well-sequenced. I especially enjoyed going through most of the supplemental course materials which included book readings and video interviews. These were thoughtfully selected to back up Prof. Wright's hypothesis and suppositions, and the interviews were conducted by himself with various scholars both in the scientific and Buddhist realms. I totally enjoyed the office hour videos which were useful and fun. I'm saving all of the course materials- that's how good it was. Thank you, Mr. Wright. May you be happy, peaceful and liberated! :-)

I found this course fascinating. The course is developed by Robert Wright who published the book "Why Buddhism is True." Really made a strong case, within the context of evolutionary psychology and modern neuroscience, of the "truth" behind Buddhist practices and their philosophy about the world. This course strips away the spiritual aspects in a non-denigrating fashion, focuses on the core concepts, examines their accuracy in context of Western evolutionary understanding of the natural world and how the human brain was designed to function via natural selection.

Many of the claims made by Buddhist spiritual practitioners about how they've come to experience existence is generally at odds with how neurotypical people experience the world. However, if you're open to the assertion that meditative practices may change the way the brain operates and interested in how natural selection may have wired us in a way that both obscures our perceptions of reality and lead us to feel unsatisfied, even the most staunch secularist may come to appreciate how the Buddhist prescription may bring a type of Enlightenment congruent with the natural world.

Professor Robert Wright did a remarkable job linking the main concepts of Buddhist tradition with many valuable concepts and ideas that have been provided by scientific research, evolutionary psychologists, experienced meditators, and other experts. The course offers a wonderful opportunity for western students to get closer to the world of Buddhist philosophy, from a point of view that is compatible with western thought, science, and philosophy. I totally recommend it.

I have no words to thank Coursera, Princeton University and specially Robert Wright and his two adorable assistants Frasier and Milo for this amazing course.

I have enjoyed every video and lecture and I am looking forward to read the book The moral animal that I have recently got.

Thank you for helping me to look at life in a different way, I am absolutely sure that from now on Meditation will lead me to a more satisfied life and maybe to reach Nirvana, who knows!

This is a life changing course, I wish i could write something smart about it but I just want to say i really enjoyed it. It filled my heart with joy and felt like i learned something each step of the way. I am actually sad this course ended haha i could listen to Dr. Wright forever. :)

Robert Wright provides an incredibly well thought out and in-depth discussion on Buddhist philosophy, providing discussion with some of North America's leading Buddhist scholars, meditation teachers, and psychologists.

A phenomenally interesting course. Professor Wright's clear, yet wry style resonates well. Plenty of fascinating examples, a great discussion board and the 'office hours' feature is superb. Highly recommended.

Highly, highly recommended to people suffering from a psychiatric illness and/or PTSD.

Thank you for the course. I don't like the absolute assumption that mankind evolved from a non human life form. Natural selection and how it is discussed in this course is allright to do, but not to make scholarly assumptions as to how mankind came to be. The professor can clearly describe natural selection processes without the assumption that human evolution from supposed beings in a very scant fossil record is a proven fact. That is the only part of the course that I did not like. The constant assumption that evolution is correct takes a lot away from this course. My concern is that this assumption is taken because there seems to be no particular Creator in the Buddhist relgious tradition. That does not mean that evolution should be given additional weight. I do not consider it a hard science such as mathematics, physics, even climate change science is far more concrete than supposed human evolutionary origins. Professors should focus upon clearly explaining that evolution is a theory. Buddhism and Pschology are more concerned with the present and consciousness and what IS...not upon weak theories like evolution. I was disappointed with the Professors consistent referrral to Natural Selection as though there is no human control over what we are doing, no moral standard the religion helps to set us apart from the animal evolutionary view of humanity. It simply is not fact, not hard science. However, what we can observe and see is hard science, including the effects of Meditation upon our brains and this is a very positive part of the course and for Buddhism.

For me, this was the perfect balance between science, spirituality and that which we do not really know. Professor Wright (with the help of Fraser and Milo) did an excellent job of explaining the current knowledge while, at the same time, leaving interpretation up to the student. I left the class feeling confident about my new found knowledge, but still curious about the depths of Buddhism and Psychology. What could be a better outcome? Thank you, Robert, Milo, Fraser et al!!!

I loved this course! I was much more aware of the evidence that Modern Science gives us that the main ideas of Buddhism are correct. It is fascinating how old ideas about the human mind and the benefits of meditation can be confirmed by neurosciences and psychology. I leave this course with a much clearer idea about these issues that will be very useful to me both professionally and personally. Thank you very much, Professor Robert Wright and thank you very much Coursera!

I really enjoyed the course, it made me think of a lot of things. I started looking for more information and I just can't get enough. And Professor Wright was very good at presenting and linking the ideas. I didn't get bored, as it happened with other MOOCs. On the contrary, I couldn't wait to get to the next video and now I'm sad it's finished. I'm sure not everybody will agree with me. To these people I wish happy mindfull meditation. They will get there, in time.

When I read the title of the course I thought that Buddhism and modern pschology were two things that don't really go together because one of the things that the doctrine is not is modern. But as a Buddhist I found it excellent, it helped me to see meditation and life with aother perspective and to realize how important was to meditate and all the benefits it brings along. Thank you for this woderful course, I had fun doing it!

Language fails in describing the Buddha's teaching of concepts such as Non-Self and the experience of deep meditation common to long-time meditators. This is even harder when you consider many learners are from the Western tradition represented by logic, rationale, science, and monotheism. Yet Professor Wright has done a brilliant job of getting the learner to understand what the Buddha taught, using language, metaphors, office hours and interviews with many scientists, scholars and monks to do so very well.

More than the cerebral understanding of the content of any book I have read on Buddhism, I can honestly say I now have a far clearer understanding of the profoundness of the Buddha's teaching and why he insisted we all have to find our own way. I will even go so far as to say I now don't really see my much vaunted mind as my true self. In that sense, this is truly mind-blowing! For that, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Professor Wright and to his interview guests.