When the mind moves the brain
unconvinced by what he had to listen to and very interested in the conversation, the Dalai Lama then went on to point out the mental processes in which the mind seems to boost brain activity and said
"When you move your eyes is evident that changes in visual perception, but the change in focus of attention within the visual field keeping eyes still seems a purely mental event. This I am not defending the absence in this case, neural correlates, but it seems a clear example of what Francis has called downward causation, ie the way in which the mind influences the physiology.
then asked how it considered, in scientific terms, this shift in consciousness.
-cognitive neuroscience then said Richie Davidson, who has worked extensively on this subject called "spatial attention" the fact of keeping the eyes focused on a point without losing, therefore, awareness of peripheral information.
- What changes are then asked the Dalai Lama that accompany this selective mechanism? Because it seems clear that there are two completely different processes. One is the simple visual perception, and the other is the process, completely different, which is responsible for selecting, identifying, discern and judge the things that happen within that field without relying, therefore, directly on what is included in the visual field. My question therefore is: Does this kind of mental cognition correlates in brain regions outside the visual cortex?
The Dalai Lama said at the time the possibility to investigate experimentally the differences in brain activity occurring during passive contemplation of what appears in the visual field and those that accompany the fact of keeping the focus on a particular sound open eye.
"Your question," said Richie seems to me excellent, because it summarizes the research program we are currently taking place on the brain mechanisms underlying attention.
Selective attention to specific attributes of the visual field without moving your eyes, 'said Richie is accompanied by activation of certain regions of the frontal lobe and parietal cortex. The fact serve a sound, by contrast, activate the frontal lobe and its connections with the auditory cortex. When, finally, attention is passive and the eyes are open, there is a deactivation of the control mechanisms of the frontal lobe involved in selecting care, while maintaining the activity of sensory systems involved in vision . Richie
While answering questions raised by the Dalai Lama, his hands illustrated in a very clear, elegant and precisely what he was saying, showing an attitude much less contained than it took during his presentation.
Then, Thupten Jinpa took the plastic model of the human brain, which that morning had left on Richie the table to try to understand what Richie was saying, but soon give up and give it to Francis to show the whole world the various structures involved.
The Dalai Lama, meanwhile, continued with his line of thought:
-Consider now what happens in two situations in which no cognition aims both to apprehend or identify something, but rather inactive. It is very likely that in the event that the subject is tired, his attitude is unintentional and mind remain empty and distant, that part of the brain remain disabled. But it is also possible that one voluntarily choose not to identify and remaining however. With his mind clear and active. Should not these two states might be called the voluntary and involuntary neural correlates very different? Is it possible to determine the presence of different neural correlates related to both states?
At this time, Francisco took the sheath covering the brain model, and when he stood in front of Richie, suddenly fell apart, sparking laughter from all present.
- Go disaster brain! "Said Richie. And then he went on. To respond to His Holiness must say that, although science has not yet been thoroughly investigated this point, yes has made some very specific predictions. In this sense, for example, scientists say that in alertness, an increased signal / noise ratio and that it therefore a lower rate of sensory, perceptual and accompanying mental a certain noise level, which obviously demonstrates a high level of activation. When, however, we are fatigued, the rate of irrelevant background noise from other parts of the brain is very high and, consequently, it is plausible to expect a lower activation of visual regions of the brain. So when we decided to remain vigilant, we should see the presence of a pattern of activation other events associated with both the sensory and mental events.
-Leaving, however, ignore the case just mentioned fatigue, "said the Dalai Lama," perhaps science has identified the neural correlates accompanying treatment approaches awake and wide-open senses in which one does not mean, judge not identify with what is presented to your senses?
The Dalai Lama was referring to a meditative state similar to that in the experiments in the lab in Madison Richie, Oser Lama later described as "open awareness", a state in which consciousness is still and silent and the subject is lucidly aware of all mental activity. Although mental activity appears to indicate a degree of neuronal activity, the Dalai Lama wanted to know whether they had investigated the neural processes that may correspond to that state apparently "idle" of consciousness.
"That's something that, until now, has not been studied," said Richie, unaware that, before a year later, he carried out this research in his lab in Madison.
impulsive emotion versus emotion reasoned
His Holiness turned to me and motioned that the time had arrived to kick off the afternoon session. Then I asked
- Do you want His Holiness to clarify some point?
The Dalai Lama had been very impressed by the sophisticated methods used by science to determine the correlation between mental states and brain activity and, as I had said, was very interested in knowing the relationship between emotional states and the activity of left and right frontal cortices and amygdala. In his view, the data provided by brain science seemed to support The findings of Buddhist psychology, but had some concerns about how the mapping their theory of mind and wondered, for example, the role of reason or thought, which also depends on the frontal lobes-in the cultivation of healthy emotions and destructive emotions.
-Science today, "said the Dalai Lama after a long pause, he tells us a lot about destructive emotions such as fear, anger, and so on. It is very natural emotions that everyone experiences. But I wonder if neuroscience can determine the qualitative difference between what Buddhists consider as two distinctly different forms of emotion. It is true that there are impulsive emotions like anger, for example, whose intensity has a large interindividual difference, but for the moment, science seems to tell us much about its development.
But we must also bear in mind that Buddhism concerns and encourages the deliberate cultivation of emotions such as compassion and sense of disillusionment with the unenlightened state. Consider, for example, the case of faith. There is a blind faith and spontaneous, but there are other forms of faith based on the understanding that sit in the assessment of positive qualities.
Do you think it would be possible determine the existence of a neurological difference between both types of emotion, ie emotion reasoned impulse and emotion?
"Yesterday you said Richie," replied the possibility, indeed fascinating, on the other hand, from the perspective of neuroscience that positive emotions arising from the right, while negative emotions emerge in a more spontaneous. I also remember that this morning we reported the existence of a clear link between some positive emotions and the activation of left frontal lobe, an area that is clearly tied to reasoning.
Also there is some evidence, "continued Richie, while the Dalai Lama listened very carefully that you can use our abilities to increase the activation of this region which, in turn, may encourage the presence of certain positive emotions. In this regard, studies seem to suggest that activation of the left frontal region accompanied by the emergence of some positive emotions such as interest, enthusiasm and persistence.
Knowing that the Dalai Lama are interested in the role of the frontal lobes in impulsive emotions (as opposed to reasoned), I asked for the investigation Richie regard.
"Before I had time to refer to it," said Richie, but it seems that certain negative emotions, linked to spontaneous violence or antisocial impulsive than not accompanied by the activation of the frontal lobes. In fact, a recent article, for example, emphasizes the presence of frontal lobe atrophy in people who tend to inadvertently incur in antisocial behaviors.
All this suggests the possibility of cultivating positive emotions by appealing to certain kinds of thinking. But it remains to determine whether such mental process that causes changes in brain region.
Chaining of thought: the warrior and the dove
"We've talked enough," said Matthieu Ricard then the possibility of change. How change happens within the context of contemplative practice? We know that emotions last seconds, the mood is maintained throughout a day and that temperament comes to last for years. Therefore, any attempt at change must start focusing on the emotions to alter moods and ultimately end up causing a change in temperament. In other words, our work must begin acting on the instantaneous events constitutive of our mental life because, as they say, if we take care of our future we must begin at the present moment.
"But what can we do in this regard? The concept of refractory period and the rest are somewhat abstract. Who wants to deal with the emotions now must pay attention to the chain of thoughts, ie the way in which one thought leads to the next.
"Once, my teacher told me a story about a former warlord warrior eastern Tibet one day, he renounced all worldly activities and retired to meditate in a cave for several years. One day, a flock of pigeons perched in front of his cave and our man was ready to feed, but the sight of the bird guide reminded his former travels, and the subsequent train of thought ended, triggering anger towards their former enemies. Then, his mind was soon invaded by memories that drive him to the valley where his old buddies together and started a new war!
"This anecdote illustrates how just a fleeting thought triggering an obsession, as the tiny little cloud who becomes a leaden sky full of lightning. How can we cope with this situation?
"The etymological meaning of the term that Tibetans refer to meditation is the "familiarity", which literally means a new way of dealing with the emergence of thoughts. For if, when a thought of anger, desire or jealousy, we are not prepared to cope, just triggering the appearance of a second and a third thought that darken all our mental landscape, but perhaps, as with spark that eventually leads to the burning of an entire forest, then it's too late.
"Buddhism invites us to cultivate an attitude which he calls" consider the source of thought "and is to observe the emergence of thought and go back to its source. In other words, we propose to observe carefully the nature of the mind, an attitude that just breaking up the apparent strength and disrupts its automatic chaining. But it should be noted that this does not mean we should strive to avoid the appearance of thought-thing, on the other hand impossible, but only that we must keep our minds end up invading. And since this is something really unusual, also urges us to repeat it over and over again. Sometimes this training process is similar to the attempt to flatten on the table a sheet of paper that has been rolled for a long time and, initially, will tend to take the old form until, finally adopting the new finish.
"Perhaps there are those who wonder what people do at retreats sitting for about eight hours a day. As this is precisely what they do, become familiar with a new way to address the emergence of thoughts. And this process of familiarization with the emergence of thoughts at the same time displayed is comparable to that fact quickly identify an acquaintance in the crowd. In this case just be seen the emergence of a strong thought of attraction or the emergence of anger, for example, one will quickly realize that, if fed, will soon introduce a new sequence of thoughts and say something like, "Wow, here comes a new thought." The first step, then, to prevent the proliferation of thoughts is your emergency warning at the same time they appear.
"When one is familiar, it's much easier to deal with thoughts. Then you do not have to fight or to apply specific antidotes for every negative thought, because he knows how to get themselves to vanish without trace. In this case, the thoughts are no longer linked in endless streams, as is usually illustrated with the example of snake capable of making a knot with his body and undo at the same time. This is how it comes, finally, to the point that the thoughts appear and disappear as the bird across the sky without leaving any trace of their passage. Another example often given in this regard is the thief who sneaks into an empty house, a house in which the owner has nothing to lose and which, therefore, the thief does not find anything to steal.
"And I must say that this freedom has nothing to do with the apathy or the fact of becoming a kind of plant, but, on the contrary, to control the appearance of thoughts and thus avoid its influence, something that can only be achieved through sustained practice.
"That way, you can also gradually develop certain qualities that are subsequently turned into a sort of second nature, a new mood. Lets see a new example on compassion. In the nineteenth century there was a great hermit named Patrul Rinpoche on one occasion, he sent one of his disciples to a withdrawal of six months in a cave to meditate on compassion alone. At first, the feeling of compassion for all beings is somewhat artificial, but practice compassion allows our mind will gradually permeate without making any effort.
"Towards the end of his retirement, our meditator was sitting in the doorway of his cave when he saw in the distance a rider singing solo in the middle of the valley and had a clear premonition that he would die within a week. The contrast between what I was seeing and sudden intuition that clearly showed the nature of conditioned existence that Buddhism calls samsara. His mind was then suddenly invaded by an overwhelming and genuine compassion that had become a sort of second nature and never left him. This is the true meaning of meditation. We may think that this vision was the trigger of compassion, but in this case, the error would incur to bypass the long process of familiarization that was gradually permeating the mind of that quality, without which the incident most likely would have gone unnoticed.
"If we want to contribute positively to the development of society must begin transforming ourselves. And you do not just a fleeting idea, but it is necessary to undertake a lengthy training process. That is the only contribution that Buddhist practice. "
Throughout Matthieu's parliament, the Dalai Lama remained very attentive, and leaning forward. When finished, removed glasses and said in a tone completely honest:
"Okay, Matthieu, very well.
Meanwhile, Paul Ekman had also been listening to the words of Matthew absorbed.
Enslaved by emotion
- How quietly asked the venerable Amchok Rinpoche from his seat located behind the Dalai Lama can thought to strengthen the destructive emotions, as does the positive or constructive?
"I believe," said Richard Davidson, as His Holiness has emphasized, there are a range of emotions destructive occur spontaneously. And when a emotion takes over and is followed by use of the term of Paul Ekman, a long refractory period. There is also some evidence that these emotions are associated with increased activity, or a less-restricted structures such as the amygdala, clearly linked to the frontal cortex.
reason is as if not strengthen, but, on the contrary, weaken the impact of impulsive feelings, "continued Richie. The reasoning active frontal cortex and inhibits the activation of the amygdala. Therefore, from the perspective of neuroscience, the reason hampers the emergence of this particular type of destructive emotions. This is not the reason I am denying that strengthens some destructive emotions because it is highly likely to occur such thing, all I am saying is that the reason inhibits activation of the destructive emotions that arise spontaneously. Paul Ekman
then got ready to speak and said: "I ask
here by the use of" reason. " In the example I gave yesterday about my experience of being caught in the excitement, I noted the presence of a multitude of thoughts like. For example, "Is he with another man?" Or "Does be hit by a car? "that may qualify as some irrational thoughts, but I presume they do not have much to do with the decline of cognitive skills associated with the frontal lobes.
"In my opinion, dissented Richie, turning to Paul, his thoughts were not those run by their emotions, but, on the contrary, were led by them or, put another way, his thoughts were a consequence of emotion.
"True, I was enslaved by emotion," said Paul.
"We were talking about a deliberate and voluntary use of thought to regulate emotion "Said Richie. Where appropriate, the thoughts were not intentional, but is derived from an emotion. Only when he tried to overcome the emotion and distanced himself from the event could outline deliberate thoughts that ended with anger.
"I think things are a bit more complex," remarked Paul, because it is intermingled with all deliberate effort was also the emotion that I dragged to impulsive action which might later regret, ie also implied there was some kind of thought. The only thing I question is that we can distinguish so clearly a form of reasoning linked to the frontal lobe (which is independent of the emotion) but other forms involuntary conscious (and therefore rely on emotion) do not have much to do with the frontal lobe.
-I remind you, "Richie said that research has shown that patients with frontal lobe damage are unable to voluntarily direct their thoughts. This is a fact that we should not forget. 2
"From a Buddhist perspective, then the Dalai Lama broke in different forms of reasoning, some valid and others not. The method used for the cultivation of compassion, for example, is based on experiences and observations are valid. But there are other modes of reasoning that can intensify anger. You, for example, may mistakenly think that someone has treated you unfairly, but this type of reasoning, and the excitement consequent lack a valid basis.
Am I right if I say "said the Dalai Lama, speaking to Paul, that seems too simplistic to associate the sound reasoning of the frontal lobe activity and other forms of reasoning to a different brain region?
"Exactly," said Paul.
"Perfect," said Richie, but that's not what I'm suggesting. When we were in the clutches of an insane mind can concoct morally reprehensible and violent actions and reach even to plan solutions to any problems that might arise. Such activity would also involve a malfunction of the frontal lobes. I mean in any way, then, that the activity of the frontal lobes must necessarily be healthy, because that's not the case.
Although in some ways, all responded to the original question about Rinpoche Amchok deliberate cultivation of destructive emotions such as anger, do not we go further on this point. Just take a look at the newspapers for news find many examples of the inappropriate use of the frontal lobes as, for example, when lecture to members of a group to hate members of another. Then, our attention shifted to the possible remedies to this situation.
education of heart
then headed the group's attention to a point raised by the Dalai Lama:
"All this brings us back to the point mentioned earlier by His Holiness if you really want to educate people to overcome their destructive emotions, unraveling agree before all its complexities. Matthieu has told us of a Buddhist practice that is consistently evoke a positive state of compassion, for example, to get familiar with it, that is, until he ends up becoming a habit, at which point we can say that it has stabilized . This process could provide a general model for designing change programs that would help people better manage their destructive emotions.
We are interested, "I insisted, hoping that the group's attention would focus on practical applications, to discover ways of overcoming destructive emotions.
-I-said Mark Greenberg, then make a small comment and a question for Richie. Not only are we interested in the development of thought but also in educating the heart. These are two distinctly different processes that we should also take into account. Do you think that the teaching of kindness could reduce the recovery time of negative emotions?
- perhaps decreasing its intensity or frequency of their occurrence? "I said.
I knew Richie was going to respond affirmatively to the question, but Matthieu then intervened and directed the conversation in another direction: "True
study of children in Bangladesh who were recovering from the aftermath of a disaster trauma revealed the existence of a significant difference in recovery time of children in Buddhist communities. In this sense, who had been educated in Buddhist values \u200b\u200brecovered more quickly from the disaster and trauma suffered far fewer than those from other cultures, a difference that seems to revolve around the fact of having been educated in the culture kindness.
In Tibetan society, for example, is very strange to see a child deliberately stepping on an insect. I remember during a bus ride I did for France with a group of Tibetan monks, they were shocked when the driver killed a bee. For its part, the study of children in Bangladesh showed the presence of a positive correlation between the attitude of compassion and the ability to recover from the stress and trauma. The Dalai Lama
wanted then add more to the story told by the monk Matthieu meditated on compassion for six months and said:
"From the Buddhist perspective, the success of compassion meditation depends on the purification of negativity and the exaltation of the virtues, ie the positive qualities. In this regard, meditator in question was not limited to simply repeating "compassion, pity, compassion" as if it were a mantra. The process of "familiarization" meditation is very different and is deliberately direct every thought consciously in a sort of concentration toward the cultivation of compassion until it ends up permeating every activity. That was, in fact, causing your experience.
"Sometimes" Matthieu said that these practices are very complex. In the sutras explains how to perform even the simplest of gestures. Upon waking, for example, you think Can release the suffering of all beings ", the seat belt, you should think" May the belt sticking mindfulness "down stairs" may descend to the suffering and release it to all beings as opening a door, "I opened the door of liberation for all sentient beings" to close it, "You can close the door to the suffering of all sentient beings", etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. This is how every moment is imbued with the notion of compassion until it just integrated into the continuum of the mind.
"I think the description given by Matthieu make much sense from the perspective of neuroscience," said Richie Davidson then. It is clear that the training that each action associated with the cultivation of compassion just changing our brain functioning. After all, there is every reason to suspect that a thorough and systematic practice as somehow ends up affecting our brains. Perhaps we could begin to identify brain regions and neural connections that should be strengthened to facilitate more rapid recovery of the type of trauma described by Matthieu. There are also studies that give us a model for understanding advantages of this type of training. So far, however, has not conducted any scientific research on this because, in this sense, the West has not yet exceeded the level, so to speak, the nursery school.
Forty hours of compassion
Then Paul, who had been very attentive to all that debate, asked
-; believe you, "he said to Richie and the Dalai Lama that, if they could the governor of California would give them forty hours to train prisoners could become more humane and compassionate people? I am well aware that, compared to the thousands of hours of which you speak, it is a very short amount of time. But the simple fact of having these forty hours a breakthrough. And it is not a utopia because I know of places where the public has been willing to grant that time. What do you think we could get in forty hours?
"I'd like to discuss a case in point," said Matthieu. This is someone who was teaching Buddhist meditation meditation-no, but simple mental relaxation murderers who were sentenced to life imprisonment and that during his period of confinement, had relapsed. Said one of them, the gang leader had pointed to the program because it was something new, but at some point, something dramatic happened suddenly as if a wall collapses and suddenly had understood that his whole previous life had gravitated exclusively on hatred.
That experience radically changed his life, which says a lot about brain plasticity and also shows that sometimes can be made great strides in a short time. Thereafter, that person started to behave radically different and tried to share their feelings with some of his peers. Unfortunately, however, was murdered soon after, although I must say that during the last year of his life, was a completely different person.
- What do you think? I asked Paul.
then said "I'd rather listen before they have to say Richie and His Holiness the matter.
-Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama said then uses a meditative process for the cultivation of compassion which he calls "step into the shoes of others" and that is to assume the role of the person suffering and try to understand things from their perspective.
- Do you think this practice might be beneficial to the prisoners? Paul then asked the Dalai Lama.
"Of course it would be an excellent learning experience," said.
Compassion is not necessarily religious
Mark Greenberg said, then, we should not confine our program at the prison context, but, on the contrary, to extend all possible fields:
- What would happen, for example, if teachers practice kindness, or take some kind of meditative practice? Obviously, not every admit alike. What could we do then, to secularize the practice so that everyone could accept it without reservations? I think this is a major issue, because many teachers who lack compassion for his disciples. The Dalai Lama
gestured emphatically, tapping his finger on his head as if driving a nail and said
"This is a really crucial point. The cultivation of kindness and compassion is not in any way, an exclusively religious commitment, but has a relevance and a much wider application. One need not communicate with a particular religious doctrine to carry it out. Therefore I think it is worth developing techniques who are stripped of all religious content.
- Do you think then that would be enough with forty hours to receive such training? Paul asked again.
"I think so," said Matthieu People rarely think about the feelings of others, so I think that would be sufficient to forty hours taking the perspective that other people perceive things to start a genuine process of change .
I wanted the Dalai Lama also commented that in his opinion, should include such a program, so I said:
-Richie noted that when a person, even if an inmate has the opportunity to cultivate kindness, change the way we experience the destructive emotions. Then one takes less time to get rid of them and is more prone to positive emotions. We all know that Tibetan Buddhism has many skillful means to cultivate positive emotions, but can you outline some of its possible applications in terms clearly not secular Buddhists?
"I have studied in some detail so very excited," said the Dalai Lama the possibility of a secular ethic. The problem is that from the perspective of the man in the street, all that sound to ethics seems almost a luxury. But the truth is that it would be nice to spread because it is ultimately, like education and health, of real need. Many medical research conducted so far to try to determine the type of eating and exercise appropriate for the full development of the infant brain.
health has never been considered a luxury and the same could be said of education that our society considers essential. But today, the education system is limited to transmit the necessary information so that students can get a job and perform adequately.
Unfortunately, education and research are not involved in the development of the mind. It is as if people say, "Oh that would be fine, but not as urgent as education or health." So we need another term that does not have religious overtones, something that does not sound like "ethics" or "moral", something like "peaceful society", "flourishing society" or "human flourishing." Should that be something very secular, and that would fit more in the social sciences than in religious studies or ethics.
should define our possible contribution from the field of medical and scientific research, the flourishing of peace and harmony and individual and social welfare. In my opinion, this is a more pressing imperative as health and education. It is from this perspective that we should ask for an education that not only focus on mathematics, but also teach students to ignore the power of destructive emotions and cultivate healthy and positive emotions.
"We have good news for you," I said. Mark Greenberg Tomorrow we will present in detail a program of this type.
-Al we might well qualify as social-emotional learning and stated Mark.
"I think very well, met the Dalai Lama said. And then he added. And I would add that all this should be universally applicable, just as you study the same mathematics in Beijing than anywhere else in the world. Social and emotional learning that should be considered as necessary as reading, writing, science and mathematics, who are neither Chinese nor Western, but universal.
"I must say," I said then that this type of learning is already underway and is becoming a true international movement, not only in America but in many other countries including Israel, Korea and the Netherlands, to name a few.
"This is one of the reasons for the presentation tomorrow and I'll Jeanne Tsai," added Mark. And, if we consider this type of learning as something universal, we should be attentive to possible cultural differences.
An adult education program
Paul, very active that day, he wanted us to continue with the same subject and said:
-Mark will talk morning of emotional education program aimed at children, but we must not forget that it is adults who create the problems that afflict our world. I hope that we have enough time to design a similar education program aimed at adults. I am sure that in this case would even be possible to raise funds to investigate its effectiveness. I think there's no better team to develop this type of program that is meeting in this room.
-Young people are more flexible, "said His Holiness with a smile, while adults are like gnarled old trees. But, even more difficult to correct adults, we should not therefore discouraged, because it is absolutely necessary if only to serve for ten people ... or a single.
- What would you suggest this? I asked.
I do not know, I know, "he said thoughtfully, beginning to seriously consider the issue.
mundane applications of Buddhist practice
"I wish," said Mark Greenberg, who had been mulling over the suggestion of Paul continue in the same line as Paul just mentioned. I think for the training of adults, we should emphasize the need to put ourselves in the place of another. I wonder, "said Matthieu then addressing whether there was any way to secularize his account of the warrior, the doves and the linking of emotions.
"I think that history and secular enough," said Matthieu since there is in it, nothing to appeal to any religious faith or belief. It is true that there is a tradition that is based on thousands of years of experience of contemplation, but in my opinion, it is possible to explain things more easily. In itself, this is a practice that requires no particular religious belief or philosophical.
That reminded me of the program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Medical Center of the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, using an adapted version of the mindfulness meditation (ie, careful and dispassionate observation of thoughts and feelings that come through moment after moment, without being carried away by them.) The Kabat-Zinn program helps patients to calm your spirit, which relieves physical pain, suffering and symptoms. Then I said,
"Some hospitals use, with great success, otherwise an adapted version of the Buddhist meditation of mindfulness in which there no need to even mention Buddhism.
Maybe we could do something like, "I continued with the case of empathy. The first step in treatment of criminals serving sentences for committing child abuse is to make them relive the crime from the point of view of children, because it was precisely their lack of empathy that led them to crime, which is similar to meditative practice of taking the perspective of others.
-Sogyal Rinpoche has long Matthieu said then, referring to one of the attendees lamas has launched a number of secular programs to treat implicitly based hospice in Buddhist practice. In his popular The Tibetan Book of life and death, Sogyal Rinpoche presents the West traditional Tibetan approach to the dying and their loved ones can cope with the emotional and spiritual dimensions associated with the experience of death. 4
"From my limited understanding," said Richie then I think, to apply the Buddhist approach is necessary to develop in advance a certain degree of concentration. The case mentioned by Matthew of the person that associates each action to the ideas of love and compassion is extremely difficult for most people, because attention and concentration are poorly developed. What is it that His Holiness would include a training program for adults who have not cultivated this ability?
I do not think, "he pointed Matthieu that agreed to start devoting many hours. It would be much better to start with short sessions and repeated, as an exercise. Maybe we could start, for example, a short exercise to teach the subject could practice at home and go tasting the flavor of what we transmit. At the beginning, then it may suffice to ten minutes daily.
In what ways emotions can become a problem
-I then said the Dalai Lama, taking the floor again to present a secular version inspired by the traditional Buddhist notion of the Four Noble Truths. Not so much a technical as something very concrete thinking every time you open a door, for example. Nature is something much more analytical and reflective.
The issue would be to pay attention to the great problems that afflict our society. As you said Paul, there is much suffering, but rather than look for causes outside of us in the economy or in other areas, we should realize that we all have destructive emotions and, consequently, it would not hurt the investigásemos, we consider the analizásemos and its effects. What is the impact of our destructive emotions-that is, our hatreds, our prejudices, etc.-in the whole of society? What is the role they play in the big problems and sufferings that afflict humanity?
Having carefully examined the relationship between our internal problems and problems of society can continue making us more questions. Can we modify or reduce the destructive emotions that we are so conditioned? What is the impact it would in the society as a whole, the transformation of our destructive emotions?
After having asked this question, we should find a way to use the brain and mental plasticity to promote our development process and reduce the impact of destructive emotions. Matthieu has presented a set of methods that can be used to deal with destructive emotions, but maybe we should have a broader context to understand and investigate them properly.
That is precisely the kind of research and education should be introduced into the education system. Young children believe that the problems are unrelated to them, for this reason should use the school for the children realize how our emotions contribute to generating the problems that plague society. How, then, we can use education to reduce the impact of negative emotions and develop positive emotions?
is a lot of research in the field of physical health. You have all heard of the importance of exercise, diet, etc., and you all know also that there is only one way to exercise, like going to the gym, playing sports, etc.. In this sense, research has opened many doors.
- Why, "asked Alan, then there are people that, having tested the type of practice proposed by Matthieu, do not take it more seriously? In my opinion, the reason for this is that, most of the time, this practice is not within a framework of proper understanding, which is considered more a luxury than a necessity. The venerable Kusalacitto
presented, then a report of the programs that regard, apply in Thailand. In your country, education has always been associated with the temples, which dealt with the cultivation of positive qualities. In the last century, however, education has decoupled the religious sphere, and there is great concern that children no longer receive the teachings that make up the character. Thus, for the past thirty years, the monks have begun to organize summer camps that teach children to meditate and to conform to a certain social ethics. In one of the games played in these camps, for example, each child should write on a sheet of paper the things you want to give, such as anger, illusion and envy, then put in a bowl as a way symbolic of shedding them.
are many parents, seeing their children returning from camp emotionally positive, the monks asked similar camps aimed at adults who have completed formalized in weekend retreats. Thus, parents also have the opportunity to learn as well as their children and many people are benefiting from the course. The Bhante topped his presentation by saying:
"Perhaps, this information is helpful to develop the program and intensive short course.
Then we paused for tea. During the interruption, the enthusiasm of the participants on the possible emotional education of adults, especially Richie, Mark and Paul was so palpable that there were many discussions on the design of a program to implement these ideas and demonstrate their effectiveness through behavioral and biological assessments.
A gym for the development of emotional skills
"Something has moved among us," I said, to resume the session, "and all seem very interested in implementing the type of program that His Holiness has been talking . Let us continue the same line.
Paul then spoke and said that psychology had some excellent techniques for developing interpersonal skills such as empathy, for example, and that surely would have a lot of Buddhism more.
"We should make the best of both perspectives. I also think the program should not be didactic, but basically experiential, lively and interactive. The Dalai Lama
nodded and kept listening very carefully.
"In the last few hours, Richie optimism has infected me and I think that if we make a serious effort, we can make major changes," continued Paul, to the extent that we see perhaps overwhelmed by the demand and, in my opinion, there is a genuine need for this type of initiative, the same, in short, that arouses interest in the teachings of His Holiness. West is hungry for this kind of thing and urgently needs to transform his inner life and how we relate to others.
are many things we offer but there is nothing, in my opinion, properly combining the best of East and West. I hope that we have enough time to develop this program. I still think that it should be a program geared to adults, partly because I am an adult, and partly, as I said before, they are just adults who have the power and decisions are often worse and more cruel.
"During the interruption," added Richie have been talking about the need to combine this type of program with a brain and behavioral assessment that allows us to determine precisely the changes that arise. Just as irrefutable evidence that physical exercise benefits heart functioning, we should be able to demonstrate that this type of program can improve our brain function and behavior.
- Fitness emotional! Paul then blurted. "Emotional Fitness everywhere! "Added Paul. And when the laughter subsided, he continued: I have no doubt that if we had that choice, everyone would use.
-called in Tibet monasteries "Said Alan undaunted.
"I'm sure that Paul went buyers The art of happiness and emotional intelligence would be interested in this type of initiative. But many people whose thirst is not satisfied with the mere reading. Reading is not only a first step, and I think we are able to take a new step in that direction.
Owen then had an idea:
"There is an old Greek term eudaimonia also used St. Augustine. This is a very old term that has no religious connotation and that means exactly what we mean, human flourishing, something that education has not provided us and what, therefore, we are needed.
- Are there places called eudaimonia asked jokingly as there are gyms?
-Going back to the point of Richie, "said Paul, I have to say that when you start to play tennis, throw many balls into the net, but that learning is causing neurological changes needed to improve our performance. So we need to develop our emotional skills. I do not know if there will now time to speak about this program ... "Come
I encouraged him.
"I can think three things in this sense, "Paul ventured. First, we must develop sensitivity to the subtle signs of the emotions that are highlighted in the faces, voices and gestures of others. We now have the skills needed to do and we know it does not matter much to someone has not developed that capacity because, in a couple of hours can be achieved many things.
Second, we must teach people to pay attention to internal sensations that accompany emotions, to increase their awareness of the emergence of an emotion. People experience emotions in different ways, and although somewhat more difficult -Because it implies a certain kind of self-it is possible to increase the sensitivity to bodily sensations that accompany them. And to do so, we could use the many existing body awareness techniques.
"This is precisely the goal of full attention to bodily sensations" I said.
-The third point I would emphasize, "continued Paul is a program called Interpersonal Process Recall, developed by the late Norman Kagan." You take two people who are well known, a marriage, for example and videotaped while seek to address a particular problem. At the time that get trapped in a given conflict, and view the tape interview separately with each of them, asking them to spell out the feelings unexpressed, ie the internal reactions they had when they lost control. Then both taken up the conversation where it had stopped.
I'm not saying that things have to necessarily work well, but the idea would be to provide people the opportunity to review a specific emotional conflict with the help of a counselor who could help them better understand the process and to try new ways of dealing problems. And I must say that this is a program that has been usefully applied to prison environment in a few states.
Jeanne Tsai, would talk the next day and had been very attentive, then said
"Many of the techniques proposed here are widely used by modern Western psychotherapy. Norman Kagan techniques, for example, are used with couples who have relationship problems. It also tends to appeal to the techniques designed by a cognitive behavioral therapy. There are many people who ignore the link between their thoughts and emotions and behaviors. I think the key would be to use these techniques with people without psychological disorders, people who believe who have no problems, but that certainly could benefit from them.
-From the perspective provided by Tibetan Buddhism, said Alan we are all "sick." So we suffer. CONTINUED ...
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