BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Spiritual Practice and Our Brain

(this is carried over from another thread)


Yes, equanimity is part of seeing things as they really are. But within Buddhist teachings it is very specifically associated with the capacity for non-judgement. It is one step to seeing things as they really are. Usually the 'judging' mind is evaluating every perception as 'good' or 'bad', 'true' or 'not true', 'pleasurable' or 'not pleasurable' and it happens so quickly after the perception that we can barely separate the perception from the mental judgement.

So part of true meditation and mindfulness practice is being able to see this movement of our mind and choosing not to follow it, so that we rest in the pure perception, without the judgement.

What is so interesting about the neuroscience research going on right now is that they are discovering how we are actually 'rewarded' for judgements. We get a 'hit' of endorphins when we feel we are right. So it is a difficult pattern to break.

Of course we are also rewarded on the physiological level for letting go of this, in terms of the endorphins and theta states that doing into deep meditation generates. But this takes a longer time to generate - it's not an immediate hit the way being right is.

This is why regular practice is so important. Because we have to put the time in in order to reprogram ourselves, and in order to experience the physiological benefits of meditation.

It's interesting to me that on so many levels, neuroscience is starting to support the teachings on practice and meditation, and especially what it takes to really change our brain's habitual responses. I am hoping to review Hardwiring Happiness, a new book on a lot of this, soon.

To Lisa ,
Regarding Equanimity ,I can If I make a little research ,give many definitions of Equanimity.The one I gave was the easyist to understand.

loong
part of the Universe

I've often wondered,

Spirituality is a very big part of my life. And I hear, especially these days, the "Living the Now," "Living in the moment." Spiritually and non-judgment, does play a VERY large part in this, for me.

However, in it's entirety, when or can rather, non-judgment turn to complacency or even releasing one's self from interjecting, say a person in harms way, a robbery, bullying, etc.?

I would intervene. But I keep hearing just in conversations, "Everything is happening just as it should. Don't think about it." And, recently,

"I just want to live in my own little bubble."

It made me re-think the whole thing, like this person just wanted to live w/out disruptions. When I asked, what would you do if you saw a child or elderly person being hurt, unable to defend themselves.

There was kind of shrug or nervousness.

So, I guess if there's non-judgment of what is right and wrong, then as human beings, how is it we react in helping where we could or in making a difference in the world of Mankind?

Hi Elleise, at the level of living in the world, I agree completely with you. We have to assess situations and decide what values we want to support and further in the world. So I agree with you, and by non-judgement I didn't mean having no opinions or taking no action in the face of cruelty in the world. And I do think the 'acceptance' thing can get overused in a spiritual context these days to justify complacence.

I was talking more about 'equanimity' as it is used in Buddhist teaching, which has to do with our immediate response to some perception. Our tendency to immediately jump from the perception to the judgement, and in many cases for that judgement to be pre-determined by views we already have. The neuroscience I mentioned is showing that we don't see through fresh eyes at all - we see through this prism of beliefs we already have, and our brain actually rewards us when we recognize and 'match' something to our beliefs, by seeing it a certain way.

So this prevents us from ever seeing anything with 'fresh' eyes. We are locked into our habitual perceptions and judgements, based on the past and our declared opinions and affiliations (think politics, religion, family conditioning etc.)

So in this context equanimity is more at the moment of perception - how can we see the situation clearly, without preconceptions? Then we can choose how to act, and it may not be with acceptance.

Loong, I was not arguing with your definition of equanimity, just adding to it and tying it into the neuroscience research, which is what this thread is about.

Perfection Lisa!

I love your insight. You've touched on every N, S, E & W, really.

I used to say, "Everything I learned, I learned from my garden." From there, I went to perception is EVERYTHING!

There's not one thing, at least I can think of, when you look at it, you have either the choice of seeing it in a positive or negative fashion, or simply that from a different view - in a more centered position.

When I'd go out to my garden and pick my tomatoes. I was certain I'd picked every single one. Each time, I was wrong. So, I learned - "the colors of the wind,"

Taking a step back can bring a person to a position into an entirely different light. Catch the things you missed, and make a different assessment than that which you were first presented.

No more tiny bubbles

To Lisa

Just received this morning in my e-mails ,another definition of Equanimity by Banthe (thera)



Friends:
Equanimity gives delicate Peace & Happiness!

Equanimity (Upekkhā) entails a composed equipoise of solid mental balance!
It is Tatra-majjhattatā = keeping to the moderate middle of all phenomena.
Equanimity balances consciousness so it prevents both all excessiveness and
any deficiency. Neither too much or too little of anything. In equanimity mind
is neither attracted by attractive things, nor repelled by repulsive things.
The cause of equanimity is seeing the law of kamma: All beings are born and
created by their kamma. They are formed, conditioned & restricted by their
kamma. They are owners of their kamma, debtors to their kamma, and they
inherit their kamma. Whatever they do, whether good or bad, the later effects
of that will be theirs only. This accumulation follows them like a shadow of past!
The serene yet superb effect of Equanimity is threefold:
Exquisite, relaxed and subtle peace felt as calm happiness is instantly gained.
Equanimity purifies and completes all the 7 crucial core Links to Awakening...
Equanimity is the proximate cause of knowledge and vision (ñānadassana)!

Dear Elleise,

If ever I would see someone beating someone else,a child an animal ,breaking trees,molesting a woman ,I would without hesitation ,jump in ,I was stabbed once ,would not mind being stabbed a second time to help something in need.

One thing for sure is I would not hide behind beleifs of compassion and loving kindness.

There is a story by Buddha where he says that if he would meet animals in search of food ,he would give alll he has ,and if that was not sufficient.HE WOULD GIVE HIMSELF.

loong
part of the Universe

Yes, this is perfect, exactly what I am talking about. Here they use the term 'karma', and those are what I mean by the forces that shape our perception. What is so interesting is the way neuroscience is discovering the biological basis for this - the way that our brain and endocrine system supports getting and staying attached to certain views (the manifestation of karma). Equanimity is the ability to perceive 'beyond' or 'without' our karma, our or preconceived notions, getting in the way - direct perception.

This teaching uses 'excessiveness' and 'deficieny' as the opposite of equanimity, and that really describes perfectly the mental process of being attached to a certain fundamental view - it becomes 'excessive'. Or if we deny something vehementaly, it is 'deficient.'

So this is what I mean - that modern science is confirming the classic teachings of Buddhism, and of many spiritual traditions really, when it comes to mindfulness and meditation.

I don't think science is the answer to everything, I just find it interesting, and I think it has a lot to add to our understanding of practice.

I have just been reading more about neuroplasticity - the ability of our brain to 'rewrite' old neurologically-based patterns. Neuroplasticity is the foundation for the changes they found in Buddhist monks' brains in the now famous experiments - they discovered that meditating for years on compassion had actually weakened the parts of the brain associated with aggression and strengthened those parts associated with compassionate acts, and that this could be seen and measured on brain scans. They have found changes in stroke patients also, in terms of their ability to 'reroute' brain functions during recovery. And also athletes - visualization of a 'perfect' athletic feat can also help to change the brain to support the performance of that feat.

So truly, what we think about, we become! It takes a lot of hard work, but we can 'rewrite' who we are.