Mike, Again, I agree with your analysis and sympathize with your proposed solution; but for me that’s just substituting one illusory explanation with another. Describing it in scientific terms is just as misleading as describing it in spiritual terms. But, I must admit it would be a refreshing change…Bill!
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of mike brown Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2010 7:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question Bill!, The thing for me though, is that Zen is (or can be) too cloaked in arcane and esoteric language placing it on the borders of religious/spiritual thinking - something it definitely is *not*. A basic scientific understanding of the process of meditation and what physiologically happens to the brain as a result of zazen grounds a person much more than faith will do. Mike _____ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 20 October, 2010 10:40:50 Subject: RE: [Zen] Questions, questions, question Mike, I understand what you are saying below, and even support your sentiments, but I worry that an emphasis on understanding just how meditation affects your body might take someone in the wrong direction, or at least down a useless side road in which they could get entirely lost. As you know I already believe zen is the ‘art of living’, and have long since jettisoned the ‘religious mumbo-jumbo’, including Buddhism. I don't want to replace that with 'scientific mumbo-jumbo'. To me there is not any difference. …Bill! From: [email protected] <mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of mike brown Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 7:23 AM To: [email protected] <mailto:Zen_Forum%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [Zen] Questions, questions, question ED, Bill, Mayka et al, If I can just jump in here. There is scientific data to suggest that the brain has a kind of plasticity and so can be neurologically changed according to how it is used. I think this is should hold a huge interest for those of us interested in zen/meditation. Learning to pay attention to the moment and letting go of negative thoughts can be seen as a 'skill' just like learning a language or playing the piano. If one incorporates sitting into their daily lives it'd be possible to change the physiology of the brain to better respond to internal/external stimuli with happier results. Zen, as an art of living, could then jettison all the religious mumbo-jumbo that it's wrapped up in now. Mike __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5546 (20101019) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com <http://www.eset.com/> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5546 (20101019) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com <http://www.eset.com/> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5553 (20101021) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
