My wife just bought me a beginner's mediation class at the Peace School in Chicago. We just finished our third class. I'll write up a few notes about it later this week on my blog (http://n8.tumblr.com). But it's been pretty cool and positive. I'm surprised how challenging it is to even meditate for 5 minutes a day. Here's a good book I've been enjoying on the brain that introduces some meditation stuff and benefits http://www.amazon.com/Train-Your-Brain-Get-Happy/dp/14405118...
Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
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Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#32I'm getting increasingly interested in meditation, mainly because it seems like it could make me use my brain better. I have no clue where to start though. Anyone has info to share? I'm a total noob to this. Thanks!
Grab some Alan Watts tapes and read Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/0834800799 )!
Alan Watts is great, but he talks too much. It's interesting, and encouraging for those with an already established practice, but people who are new to meditation need to just sit. It's _very_ tempting to read about Zen and think it is nothing but an interesting philosophy.
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is one of my favorite books, but there's very little actual instruction there and, once again, without an established practice, it would be easy to write it off as beautifully poetic but essentially baseless philosophy. (hehe, essentially baseless. Sorry, that's a bad Zen pun)
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've pondered the same thing. However, personally from meditation I feel I have greater focus, a clearer mind, and less stress (or a much better handle on stress), which I couldn't imagine being without today. Concerning shower-insights -- I find myself having less mind wandering in the shower, and instead more deliberate focused insights.
Then what evolutionary purpose do you think mind-wandering serves? We clearly tend to think about various current problems of ours (whether technical, social, or other) when our mind wanders; it's not an accident.
Perhaps a wandering mind was good enough for early hunter-gathers and only now do modern humans have specialized roles that require extreme focus? A hunter might benefit from a "wider" sense of awareness, whereas recent studies show that multitasking is counterproductive for mental tasks that require extreme focus.
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course, the very idea of tracking and working on "improving" via meditation goes against the core idea of zen meditation itself. But I'm interested in your startup anyway. :) edit: in fairness, there are many types of meditation beyond zen.
Isn't enlightenment the ultimate form of self improvement? Maybe you are practicing a different form of Zen than what I am used to. I don't think tracking itself is anti-Zen, but stressing out about your measurements would be. (also worrying about what is and is not Zen seems anti-Zen).
If you're aiming for enlightenment, you've missed the mark :)
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then what evolutionary purpose do you think mind-wandering serves? We clearly tend to think about various current problems of ours (whether technical, social, or other) when our mind wanders; it's not an accident.
I'd say we're half evolved. We have this facility and don't know how to properly control it. It's a byproduct of some other facility (the ability to communicate).
I think we're always "half evolved". Our minds and bodies are an amalgam of "good enough" traits for overcoming yesteryear's evolutionary challenges, not entirely suited for today's challenges.
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#36The two areas highlighted in the article show prefrontal cortex (front of brain) and PCC (towards the back) shutting down. The prefrontal cortex is associated with executive attention and reasoning, while PCC appears to be differentially dialed up or down in conditions with altered states of consciousness (like people under anesthesia, in a coma, or apparently meditating.) Shameless plug: We're using these neuroscien…
You should add an about page. A meditation self-tracking tool sounds interesting (I've just started sitting zazen), but I'm going to need some details before I hand over my email.
Not to dis BrainBot, but the only Zazen tracking tool you need is to sit Zazen every day. I can see how competition and seeing your hours tick over might be encouraging to some degree, and if the site encourages people to sit more then it is worthwhile! But I see enough chest puffing on the 'net as it is with regards to people's meditation, and how amazing they are now because of it or how much they are sitting, and it makes me feel ill. Your practice should be personal, for you (and the big you) and should be a part of your Bodhisattva work, not a device used to enlarge your ego.
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#37I learned to meditate by reading and listening to Krishnamurti (among many others). "Meditation is not different from daily life" he says. "It can be done all day." It's exactly like being in the zone that you get into when you code, play video games, run, exercise, etc. You can do it better and without needing a crutch activity by consciously shaping your thought/energy patterns; by constantly focus your mind on pur…
by constantly focus your mind on pure observance and acceptance of all that exists in the current moment
I'd like to follow up, please, on what these words mean. Does "acceptance of all that exists in the current moment" mean that demonstrators at Tahrir Square should be accepting of a dictatorial government? I'm curious about this issue, because I lived for several years in a predominantly Buddhist country that was a dictatorship the first time I lived there. I (and other Americans who lived there) often wondered why the common people in that country put up with the dictatorship for so long. Is there a limit beyond which acceptance stops? When a person is out of the state of "constantly focus your mind on pure observance and acceptance of all that exists in the current moment," what comes next? What actions do people take to grapple with problems on the basis of such shaping of thought patterns? I'm curious about this, so I appreciate any response you have to these questions.
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd say we're half evolved. We have this facility and don't know how to properly control it. It's a byproduct of some other facility (the ability to communicate).
I think we're always "half evolved". Our minds and bodies are an amalgam of "good enough" traits for overcoming yesteryear's evolutionary challenges, not entirely suited for today's challenges.
Totally agree.
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#39I'm getting increasingly interested in meditation, mainly because it seems like it could make me use my brain better. I have no clue where to start though. Anyone has info to share? I'm a total noob to this. Thanks!
I liked Daniel Ingram's Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, online at http://www.interactivebuddha.com/mctb.shtml .
Re: Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation
#40After reading this press release carefully, I notice that the paper mentioned in the press release was submitted to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which is essentially a publication that accepts most submissions from members of the "club," that is the National Academy. I wonder what additional steps would have to be taken to produce a paper that could get published in a more stringently reviewed journal. While we all look up other literature on the subject, I thought it would be a good idea here to mention once again my favorite hacker's guide to how to read research reports, by Peter Norvig, director of research at Google: