“An encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
and the scientific study of meditation”
By: Christof Koch
Published: Scientific American Mind, July –
August 2013; http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neuroscientists-dalai-lama-swap-insights-meditation
Alternatively, copy paste the following to access a free copy:
http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v24/n3/full/scientificamericanmind0713-28.html
Level of Difficulty:****
http://www.nature.com/scientificamericanmind/journal/v24/n3/full/scientificamericanmind0713-28.html
Level of Difficulty:****
BEFORE YOU READ
·
Have
you ever meditated or thought about meditating?
·
What
are the advantages of meditating?
·
Do
you believe that meditation has long term effects? Can it be used for treatment
purposes?
QUESTIONS
1.
Read
the first two paragraphs of the text. The major difference between the eastern
and the western mode of thinking is that the former does not involve
……………………………………………..
2.
The
ultimate aim of the eastern mode of thinking is to attain …………………………………………
3.
What
is the ultimate aim of those practicing meditation?
4.
What
does “such techniques” in the phrase “to familiarize our future doctors,
soldiers, engineers, scientists, accountants and politicians with such
techniques” refer to?
5.
Our
addiction to external stimuli is fueled by our inherent characteristics; in
other words ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
6.
External
stimuli have the advantage of eliminating the need to ……………………………………….
7.
What
amazing discovery did the writer make concerning the monks: they appeared to
have achieved everything we’ve always desired despite …………………………………………………………..
8.
Read
the story of the Buddhist monk Quang Duc to the end. What conclusion can we
draw from this example?
·
Complete
mind control is possible
·
Mind
control enables calm deliberate heroic acts
·
Sitting
in the meditative lotus position enables mind control
·
All
of the above
·
None
of the above
·
Other:
please specify
9.
Read
the experiment conducted by Fadel Zeidan, Robert C. Coghill and their
colleagues to the end. What amazing effect did shamatha have on the subjects?
10.
How
exactly did shamatha reduce pain for the subjects?
11.
Brain
activity in specific parts of the brain proved that two important aspects of
pain, …………………….. and ………………………. were reduced as a result of meditation.
12.
What
does “their” refer to in the phrase “their footprints in the brain”?
13.
The
purpose of Richard J. Davidson’s study was to try and see if …………………………….
14.
Could
the instruments of science pick up signs of the activities that steer the mind
or not? How do you know?
15.
What
long term effect does a habit of meditation have on the brain?
16.
Read
the conclusion to the text and think back to the quotation at the beginning.
Who has the knowledge and the wisdom?
WRITING TASK
Do some more research,
make notes and write an essay discussing the advantages of meditation.
THE BRAIN OF BUDDHA KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES
This is another brilliant text with a definite wow factor out of
Scientific American Mind; a magazine I can’t or want to get away from for
advanced level reading material. Discussing the content of the text should be
interesting considering the new generation is so firmly hooked on external
stimuli.
1.
A
third person
2.
Enlightenment
3.
Achieve
control over the mind
4.
To
enable the developing or (this is a typo in the actual text; it should be
of)the mature mind to become quiet and to focus its considerable powers on a
single object, event or train of thought; OR Daily contemplative exercises
5.
The
mental clutter, the chatter that makes up our daily lives
6.
Think
7.
Their
life of poverty and being deprived of most of the things we believe are
necessary to live fully realized life
8.
The
first
9.
It
reduced the unpleasantness of the pain by a whopping 57% and its intensity by
40%
10.
By
promoting a sense of detachment and reducing the subjectively experienced
saliency of the heated metal plate.
11.
The
intensity, the unpleasantness
12.
These
skills to steer the mind
13.
Our
instruments are always sufficiently sensitive to pick up the footprints of the
skills that steer the mind
14.
Yes;
there was an increase in high frequency EEG electrical activity in the so
called gamma band.
15.
It
changed the exterior aspect of the mind.
16.
The
scientists and the monks both have different aspects of the knowledge but only
the monks have the wisdom.
