Mike: Fair enough if you need the little hand from the scientific articles to get where you can't with your zen practice alone. I think as Bill here and science articles are not relevant to zen practice. On the other hand if science articles is relevant to you and others, I don't object to it. As ED said: "Different strokes for different people". Mayka --- On Sun, 24/10/10, mike brown <uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: mike brown <uerusub...@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [Zen] Zen and the Brain To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, 24 October, 2010, 4:49 Bill!, Well, I can't speak for others, but this zen practioner finds such articles both interesting and helpful. Science helps us get down to the 'nuts and bolts' of how and why things are what they are. I'm not completely *all* for the jettisoning of the more traditional/arcane side of Zen and meditation (I also like the gongs and incense etc), but an understanding of what physically/mentally happens to us as a result of meditation weakens the grip of the supernatural/esoteric aspects sometimes afforded to Zen/zen. If we think, and appreciate, that science has helped us debunk most religious dogma and superstition, then I find it hypocritical to not turn the light of science on zen. Or perhaps we'd secretly like to keep zen "cool and mysterious"... ; ) Mike From: "billsm...@hhs1963.org" <billsm...@hhs1963.org> To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sun, 24 October, 2010 10:59:24 Subject: RE: [Zen] Zen and the Brain Ed, You keep posting content such as this. Do you think having a scientific explanation of how zen meditation affects the body is helpful to zen practitioners? …Bill! From: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:zen_fo...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ED Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 11:42 AM To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Zen] Zen and the Brain Zen and the Brain >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness is a book authored by James H. Austin. First published in 1998, the book's aim is to establish links between the neurological workings of the human brain and meditation. For example Austin presents evidence from EEG scans that deep relaxed breathing reduces brain activity. The publishers described their book as a "Comprehensive text on the evidence from neuroscience that helps to clarify which brain mechanisms underlie the subjective states of Zen, and employs Zen to 'illuminate' how the brain works in various states of consciousness". Austin is an MD and has also practiced Zen over many years. Later Austin wrote a follow-up, Zen-Brain Reflections. [edit] See also Neurotheology Rational mysticism [edit] References James H. Austin, Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness. Reprint edition July 2, 1999. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-51109-6 James H. Austin, Zen-Brain Reflections. First edition February 14, 2006. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-01223-5 [edit] External links Your Brain on Religion: Mystic visions or brain circuits at work? (Newsweek article on Austin and neurotheology, May 2001) Interview with the author (James H. Austin, M.D. discusses Zen and the Brain) Excerpts from the book __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5558 (20101023) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5558 (20101023) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
