Synopses & Reviews
Extraordinary things happen when we harness the power of both the brain and the heart
Growing up in the high desert of California, Jim Doty was poor, with an
alcoholic father and a mother chronically depressed and paralyzed by a
stroke. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and
Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which
the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor. But back then his life was at a
dead end until at twelve he wandered into a magic shop looking for a
plastic thumb. Instead he met Ruth, a woman who taught him a series of
exercises to ease his own suffering and manifest his greatest desires.
Her final mandate was that he keep his heart open and teach these
techniques to others. She gave him his first glimpse of the unique
relationship between the brain and the heart.
Doty would go on
to put Ruth’s practices to work with extraordinary results — power and
wealth that he could only imagine as a twelve-year-old, riding his
orange Sting-Ray bike. But he neglects Ruth’s most important lesson, to
keep his heart open, with disastrous results — until he has the
opportunity to make a spectacular charitable contribution that will
virtually ruin him. Part memoir, part science, part inspiration, and
part practical instruction, Into the Magic Shop shows us how we can fundamentally change our lives by first changing our brains and our hearts.
Review
“This book tells the remarkable story of a neurosurgeon’s quest to
unravel the mystery of the link between our brains and our hearts. From
the moment in his childhood when a simple act of kindness changed the
course of his own life to his founding a center to study compassion at
Stanford University. Jim Doty’s life illustrates how each of us can make
a difference. We can make the world a more compassionate place. I’m
sure many readers will be moved by this inspiring story to open their
hearts and see what they too can do for others.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Review
“Into the Magic Shop is pure magic! That a child from humble
beginnings could become a professor of neurosurgery and the founder of a
center that studies compassion and altruism at a major university, as
well as an entrepreneur and philanthropist is extraordinary enough. But
it is Doty’s ability to describe his journey so lyrically, and then his
willingness to share his methods that make this book a gem.”
Abraham Verghese, MD, Author of Cutting for Stone
Review
“An optimistic and engagingly well-told life story that incorporates scientific investigation into its altruistic message.” Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
James R. Doty, M.D., is a professor in the Department of
Neurosurgery at Stanford University and the director of the Center for
Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), where he
researches the neuroscience of compassion and altruism. He is also a
philanthropist funding health clinics throughout the world and has
endowed scholarships and chairs at multiple universities. He serves on
the board of a number of nonprofits, including the Charter for
Compassion International and the Dalai Lama Foundation.