Monks' Brains
A Native American grandfather is talking to his
young grandson. He tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him
struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love
and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred.
"Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" asks
the young boy.
"Whichever one I feed," replies the man.
This parable demonstrates that what we focus on
can change who we are and how we perceive the world. And this
in turn affects our quality of life and who we attract into our
lives.
You may be saying to yourself, "Well, of course,"
and I'm only repeating the obvious. But if you're skeptical, or
a downright unbeliever, read the article below. Then dare to practice
a little bit of love, gratitude, and positive outlook every day.
What have you got to lose?
Namaste,
Honor the light within,
Sue Redding
"If you love everything, you will perceive
the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin
to comprehend it better every day. And you will come to love the
whole world with an all-embracing love."
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
"Separation is an optical illusion of consciousness."
Albert Einstein
In this life, we cannot do great things – We
can only do small things with great love. Mother Theresa
"Scans of Monks' Brains Show Meditation Alters
Structure, Functioning"
Science Journal, by Sharon Begley
November 5, 2004; Page B1 The Wall Street Journal
All of the Dalai Lama's guests peered intently
at the brain scan projected onto screens at either end of the
room, but what different guests they were. On one side sat five
neuroscientists, united in their belief that physical processes
in the brain can explain all the wonders of the mind, without
appealto anything spiritual or nonphysical.
Facing them sat dozens of Tibetan Buddhist monks
in burgundy-and-saffron robes, convinced that one round-faced
young man in their midst is the reincarnation of one of the Dalai
Lama's late teachers, that another is the reincarnation of a 12th-century
monk, and that the entity we call "mind" is not, as
neuroscience says, just a manifestation of the brain.
It was not, in other words, your typical science
meeting. But although the Buddhists and scientists who met for
five days last month in the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India,
had different views on the little matters of reincarnation and
the relationship of mind to brain, they set them aside in the
interest of a shared goal. They had come together in the shadows
of the Himalayas to discuss one of the hottest topics in brain
science: neuroplasticity.
The term refers to the brain's recently discovered
ability to change its structure and function, in particular by
expanding or strengthening circuits that are used and by shrinking
or weakening those that are rarely engaged. In its short history,
the science of neuroplasticity has mostly documented brain changes
that reflect physical experience and input from the outside world.
In pianists who play many arpeggios, for instance, brain regions
that control the index finger and middle finger become fused,
apparently because when one finger hits a key in one of these
fast-tempo movements, the other does so almost simultaneously,
fooling the brain into thinking the two fingers are one. As a
result of the fused brain regions, the pianist can no longer move
those fingers independently of one another.
Lately, however, scientists have begun to wonder
whether the brain can change in response to purely internal, mental
signals. That's where the Buddhists come in. Their centuries-old
tradition of meditation offers a real-life experiment in the power
of those will-o'-the-wisps, thoughts, to alter the physical matter
of the brain.
"Of all the concepts in modern neuroscience,
it is neuroplasticity that has the greatest potential for meaningful
interaction with Buddhism," says neuroscientist Richard Davidson
of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The Dalai Lama agreed,
and he encouraged monks to donate (temporarily) their brains to
science.
The result was the scans that Prof. Davidson projected
in Dharamsala. They compared brain activity in volunteers who
were novice meditators to that ofBuddhist monks who had spent
more than 10,000 hours in meditation. The task was to practice
"compassion" meditation, generating a feeling of loving
kindness toward all beings.
"We tried to generate a mental state in which
compassion permeates the whole mind with no other thoughts,"
says Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk at Shechen Monastery in
Katmandu, Nepal, who holds a Ph.D. in genetics. In a striking
difference between novices and monks, the latter showed a dramatic
increase in high-frequency brain activity called gamma waves during
compassion meditation.
Thought to be the signature of neuronal activity
that knits together far-flung brain circuits, gamma waves underlie
higher mental activity such as consciousness. The novice meditators
"showed a slight increase in gamma activity, but most monks
showed extremely large increases of a sort that has never been
reported before in the neuroscience literature," says Prof.
Davidson, suggesting that mental training can bring the brain
to a greater level of consciousness.
Using the brain scan called functional magnetic
resonance imaging, the scientists pinpointed regions that were
active during compassion meditation. In almost every case, the
enhanced activity was greater in the monks' brains than the novices'.
Activity in the left prefrontal cortex (the seat of positive emotions
such as happiness) swamped activity in the right prefrontal (site
of negative emotions and anxiety), something never before seen
from purely mental activity. A sprawling circuit that switches
on at the sight of suffering also showed greater activity in the
monks. So did regions responsible for planned movement, as if
the monks' brains were itching to go to the aid of those in distress.
"It feels like a total readiness to act, to
help," recalled Mr. Ricard.
The study will be published next week in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences. "We can't rule out the
possibility that there was a pre-existing difference in brain
function between monks and novices," says Prof. Davidson,
"but the fact that monks with the most hours of meditation
showed the greatest brain changes gives us confidence that the
changes are actually produced by mental training."
That opens up the tantalizing possibility that
the brain, like the rest of the body, can be altered intentionally.
Just as aerobics sculpt the muscles, so mental training sculpts
the gray matter in ways scientists are only beginning to fathom.
Perhaps the word alone sparks a reaction.
Here are some musings on the topic which may awaken your curiosity
or a different level of awareness. If you'd like to share
comments with me, please click here to email me at Sue@sueredding.com.
What is the nature of power? Why do some people
fear it, while others lust for it? Perhaps this has more
to do with our beliefs about power than with the nature of power
itself. Power is too often understood to mean the ability
to dominate and destroy. Another view is that power is the
ability to create, to nurture, and to heal. The first view
is based in fear, while the second comes from love. The
dictionary definition is: "the ability to act effectively";
"to be able." Power is neutral. Our confusion
seems to be around how we choose to use it.
Power is strength, and the ethical use of strength
requires clarity and compassion. The first step is to recognize
our power. We all have power in varying degrees, whether
we realize it or not. Our power varies in different situations
and in different relationships. We may not recognize our
power because it is not overt, or because it doesn't match our
beliefs about power. We may not feel powerful. For example,
someone may be crying, feeling intense, painful emotions. She
doesn't feel powerful, but it affects people.
We must make peace with power, our personal power
and whatever greater power we may have access to. We must
learn to recognize it and become conscious of how we use it. Can
we have the courage to be harmless?
Namaste,
(Honor the Light within),
Sue Redding
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