In Pursuit of Mysteries

Meditation and Neuroscience

This was sent out on an e-mail list that I am on with other meditators. This is an article published in July, 2006 on recent research.

Studies of Advanced Stages of Meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist and Vedic Traditions.
I: A Comparison of General Changes

Alex Hankey Hethe House, Cowden Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7DZ, UK

This article is the first of two comparing findings of studies of advanced practitioners of Tibetan Buddhist meditation in remote regions of the Himalayas, with established results on long-term practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation programs. Many parallel levels of improvement were found, in sensory acuity, perceptual style and cognitive function, indicating stabilization of aspects of attentional awareness. Together with observed increases in EEG coherence and aspects of brain function, such changes are consistent with growth towards a state of total brain functioning, i.e. development of full mental potential. They are usually accompanied by improved health parameters. How they may be seen to be consistent with growth of enlightenment will be the subject of a second article.

The full text is online. Some of the results from this have been reported earlier this year but I had not seen this full article before now.

Death and Immortality

R and I went and saw The Fountain after work today. This is Darren Aronofsky’s new film.

I had at least one coworker tell me that he wanted to hear what I thought of it when I told him this afternoon that I was going to see it.

I’m not sure what to say to him though. It is a beautiful movie, visually and otherwise. Very few movies actually affect me on an emotional level and most of those are the ones that make me feel anger at the injustices of the world, not a sense of both loss and beauty. The Fountain is far from a perfect movie and is, in fact, very limited in a way. While it is so lush visually, on the level of story, it is quite simple and sparse.

I found that I appreciated and enjoyed the circles that the store made in time, logic, and symbolism. The literalist in my younger self would not have appreciated it but I did. It is easy to empathize with the drives of the main character and the sense of duty and impending loss as he watches what he loves go to a fate that he may not be able to avert.

I found myself thinking in Buddhist terms of both his clutching and his fears, especially when contrasted with what his love was expressing (both his love in emotional terms and his love in the person of his other…).

It is definitely worth seeing on the big screen for both immediacy and the visual impact.

Day of the Ninja

Next week! Be warned!