Hi Steve, This is very interesting, and I appreciate you sharing this. Truthfully, I only learned a bit about his work when I took a class years ago, "Sensation and Perception". You may have a much better understanding of his conclusions. I like how you see buddhist thought reflected here. As you may remember, I am a fan of Rick Hanson, Ph.D.'s work. His book Buddha's Brain" is a good foundation connecting neuroscience with buddhism. His web site also has some quality information to access.
Given your interest here.. The current issue of the journal "Nature" has a cover article on "Understanding Neural Nets", if that intrigues you. I know the abstracts are free on-line--and maybe the articles. If not, contact me privately, and I'll give you my access info that you can use if you want. Thanks again..k --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, "SteveW" <eugnostos2000@...> wrote: > > > > --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, "Healthyplay1" <healthyplay1@> wrote: > > > > > > Um... so does forensics psychology. So-- its as simple as an unconscious > > wish --"manifests"? > > > > Sorry to interrupt. .. > > > > Hi Kristy. Actually, I think that Libet's work supports a rather > Buddhist way of looking at it. We tend to assume that the conscious > mind is initiating thoughts and intentions, but Libet's work calls > this into question. Of course, anyone who has practiced zazen soon > notices that thoughts and volitional impulses just bubble-up into > awareness. There is no Little Person in a control room pushing > buttons to make thoughts and volitional impulses manifest. Our > conscious minds only become aware of the volitional impulse about > a half-second after it starts. Libet said that although we clearly > do not initiate the impulse, we do have a split-second in which to > veto it. He called this Free-Won't in contradistinction to Free-Will. > So basically, our volitional impulses, which Buddhists call Samskaras, are > karmic, which is to say that they are conditioned > automatic habits. Some researchers, such as Jeffrey Schwartz (who > is a practicing Buddhist), think that by being mindful of the > volitional impulse in that little half-second, and refusing to > identify with and act upon it, allows us to deprive the impulse > of it's "habit-energy" (vasana) that it needs to perpetuate itself. > If this is done each time the habitual impulse arises, then the > impulse will die out. And this, of course, is how Buddhists de-condition > negative impulses. I, myself, do this on a daily basis. > When I become aware of a negative impulse such as anger arising, > I disengage from the impulse by focussing on the Name of the Buddha. > This provides me with a mental anchor that prevents my attention from > being swept away by the anger. Of course, this has nothing to do with > enlightenment, just with deconditioning bad habits of thought, word and deed > which make me a pain in the butt both to myself and others. > Steve > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zen_forum-dig...@yahoogroups.com zen_forum-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zen_forum-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/