Select prefrontal regions in the practitioner's brain reach all the way down to the thalamus to reduce the flood of incoming information from the periphery, leading to a lessening of the pain. These skills to steer the mind are not magical, otherworldly or transcendental. They can be learned by sufficiently intensive practice. The only question is whether our instruments are always sufficiently sensitive to pick up their footprints in the brain.
In Richard J. Davidson and his group at the University of Wisconsin—Madison published a classic study with the active participation of Ricard and other Buddhist monks. The cognitive scientists fitted skullcaps with electroencephalographic EEG electrodes to the heads of eight long-term Buddhist practitioners and 10 student volunteers. The onset of meditation in the monks coincided with an increase in high-frequency EEG electrical activity in the so-called gamma band spanning 25 to 42 oscillations a second , which was synchronized across the frontal and parietal cortices.
Such activity is thought to be the hallmark of highly active and spatially dispersed groups of neurons, typically associated with focusing attention. Indeed, gamma activity in these monks is the largest seen in nonpathological conditions and 30 times greater than in the novices.
The more years the monks had been practicing meditation, the stronger the normalized power in the gamma band. More important, even when the monks were not meditating, but simply quietly resting, their baseline brain activity was distinct from that of the students.
That is, these techniques, practiced by Buddhists for millennia to quiet, focus and expand the mind—the interior aspect of the brain—had changed the brain that is the exterior aspect of the mind.
And the more training they had, the bigger the effect. Yet knowing about meditation and its effect on the brain is not the same as benefiting from it and not the same as achieving wisdom. So just like the young Siddhartha in Hesse's novel, I left the monastic community richer in knowledge about a different way to look at the world but continuing to strive.
Lutz, L. Greischar, N. Rawlings, M. Ricard and R. Buddha's Brain: Neuroplasticity and Meditation. Just thinking about meditating with His Holiness was making me anxious. Nevertheless, who says "no" to a chance to meditate with the Dalai Lama? I agreed to join him early the next morning at his private residence.
A practice that begins at 3 a. At 81 years, old, the Dalai Lama keeps a very active schedule. I met him in Mundgod, India, at the Drepung Monastery, where he was overseeing a symposium bridging Buddhism and science. The monastery itself is a dazzling bejeweled structure built years ago. Inside, there are enormous golden Buddhas standing next to ornate walls. The discussion hall itself is grand but warm, with doors and windows open to the hot South Indian sun. Can meditation really slow aging?
For three days, his Holiness moderated sessions on weighty metaphysical topics such as the criteria for valid reasoning, the fundamental constituents of the universe, origins of life and the subjective experience of the mind. It was fascinating and mind-bending -- but also mentally exhausting. It was difficult to stay awake, let alone keep up with the rapid-fire debate between the Buddhists and the scientists. Yet his Holiness was mentally engaged and inquisitive throughout, even more remarkable given more than half the comments were being translated for him.
The Dalai Lama typically wakes about a. This was the backdrop when one of his senior staff members picked me up outside the monastery early one morning. We drove in a three-car convoy to the gates outside his private residence. If you struggle to meditate, try this. From there, several more staff members escorted us to a small conference room where his security detail was slowly waking and drinking their morning tea.
Finally, his chief of staff walked me just outside the personal quarters of the Dalai Lama. Meditating is hard for him, too. There were a few minor instructions before we entered. Eye contact is not a problem, and shaking hands is acceptable if you use two hands, not just one. Try not to turn your back to him when leaving the room, and instead walk backward, as much as possible facing him. When sitting cross-legged on the floor, don't point your feet at the Dalai Lama.
It is a secular approach to meditation that requires no belief beyond our current understanding of science and psychology. Recent Reviews 4. For those who wish to follow a Tibetan free-form deep participation, I think this will be very rewarding and beneficial.
Email address. Start 30 day free trial. Bob Stahl. Judy Unger. Padma Gordon. Jon Brooks. Andy Hobson. Sacha Stewart. Dakota Earth Cloud Walker.
Brooks Palmer. Across from your selfish self imagine a group of destitute persons— poverty-stricken or in pain. Thus, in the middle looking at the other two sides is your wise, discriminating self. You look out to one side where your cruddy, selfish self is, utilizing any of a variety of examples:. Remember an incident when you were whining in self-pity about your own welfare, putting yourself totally, unreasonably ahead of everyone else. Or, remember a situation when you unreasonably carried on, got angry.
Or, remember a time when you were greedily jealous. Then, on the other side, look at the group of destitute people. Living in poverty. Finding it difficult to get something to eat. My selfish self, or the destitute people? Just imagine it. How could the welfare of this infinitely larger group not be more important?
0コメント