September 20, 2012: James H. Austin and his books. by P. Norton

     This month, we have returned to more specific preplanned presentations on various topics of the presenter's choice. Today, Paul is bringing the books and ideas of James H. Austin to our attention, especially his most recent book entitled Meditating Selflessly: Practical Neural Zen, 2011 which Paul feels is James H. Austin's most understandable book out of his volumes of professional and lay writing.
     James H. Austin MD has been a professor of neurology first at the University of Oregon Medical School, then at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Currently he is a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He has conducted research and written in areas of clinical neurology, neuropathology, neurochemistry and neuropharmacology.
     Dr. Austin is an unusual MD and neurologist in that he has been practicing Zen Buddhism since 1974 and was a student of the late Rinzai roshi Kobori Nanrei Sohaku. This combination of interests has led him to do research and write about the connection between Zen meditation and the actual neural structure and function of various areas of the brain. His first book was a huge tome, called Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness which won the Scientific and Medical Network Book Prize for 1998. There are two sequels to this book: Zen-Brain Reflection (2006) and Selfless Insight (2009). And then there is his most recent book we are discussing today.

     Austin's writing emphasizes the coordination and coexistence of attainment of degrees of spiritual wisdom with increasingly a loss of appreciation of the Self. By Self he means the egocentric and monkey mind producing thought processes that are characteristic of our Western psyche. Otto Meninger on psychotherapy says that we must start working for others, which will then relieve some of our suffering that catering to the self arrouses.
     Based on his research with functional MRI scans done on meditating versus non meditating people, Austin proposes that this action of losing the self and becoming non dualistic and attaining various degrees of spiritual wisdom as defined in Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, etc) probably takes place in the thalamus which gets information from the frontal neocortex. Particularly this activity and emotions seem to arrise more from the reticular cap of the thalamus. This latter area operates particularly with GABA (one of the neuropeptides responsible for tranmissions at nerve cell synapses). When GABA is released at the synapses in this area of the brain, it seems to calm down all the activity. Therefore the thalamus serves as sort of a pacemaker of the brain.
     Paul described how Austin talks about two major identified pathways of nerve conduction or streams of consciousness in the brain. One is called the egocentric pathway and runs from the occipital lobe up over the top of the brain to the frontal cortex and then to the thalamus. It is also called the dorsal pathway. The second pathway or stream of consciousness is located deeper in the brain and runs more directly to the thalamus by going under the temporal lobe and then to the frontal neocortex and then to the thalamus. This one is called the ventral pathway or the allocentric pathway. Apparently neuroanatomists and neurophysiologists have known about these two different pathways for some time and some writers assume everyone knows about them much as we know about differences between the right brain and the left brain activities. But indeed most non neurologists do not know about these. Austin works to illuminate the differences between these two patheways.
     The egocentric or dorsal pathway is a much more powerful pathway. The ventral or allocentric pathway normally only has 1/3 the traffic that the dorsal egocentric pathway has. The egocentric pathway handles especially left brain functions, while the allopathic or ventral pathway seems more associated with right brain functions. Our society may be moving away from allocentric pathway use becaus of the predominance of words and language in our activites. It may be beneficial to balance these pathways more by paying attention to the allocentric pathway which over time may have become less important.
     Indeed the way we meditate and the physical posture and various anatomical positions of body, limbs, and eyes, even, may influence which of these pathways are utilized during meditation. Concentrative meditation such as concentrating on the breath probably uses the egocentric path more. If you cast your eyes downward during meditation it emphasizes the egocentric path. Casting the eyes upward seems to activate the allopathic pathway more. There are some interesting applications of this in daily life. What about the hobby of birdwatching which has become one of the top 5 hobbies around the world? You are looking up more when you are birding. Does this drive the allopathic stream of consciousness which might be more associated with spiritual feelings. What type of meditatoin would drive the allopathic pathway more? Well, in a book entitled Buddha Takes No Prisoners, two types of meditation are colloquially described: There is open pasture meditation in which you figuratively put your (meditation) cow in an open pasture and let it wonder around. In the other type of meditation you want to protect your cow, so you "squeeze" the cow through one certain pathway through concentration. It would seem that the open pasture meditation would be more allopathic and the "squeezing cow" meditation would be more egocentric. It is thought that sitting with light from the left might drive the allopathic pathway more. An interesting aside is that a study of  religious artwork showed that the light comes from the left in these paintings in a ration of 6:1.
     Austin found another interesting phenomenon. It appears that the traffic on these two pathways oscillates at a rate of 3 times per minute. We all have these two pathways and even if the allopathic pathway is not used as much, there is an oscillation of nerve stimulation there.

     One of the experiences described of rigid Rinsai Zen meditation is a sudden awakening or expansion of consciousness called by the Zen Buddhists, kensho. We discussed this phenomenon very briefly. Following is a very nice description from Wikipedia which tells what Austin experienced when he feels he had a kensho experience. Some of this passage is his direct quote.                                               

After eight years of regular Zen meditation, Austin experienced the taste of what Zen practice calls kensho. The chief characteristic of this experience was a loss of the sense of "self" which is so central to human identity, plus a feeling that this is the way all things really are in the world. While he was on a sabbatical in England, he was waiting for a subway train when he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment unlike anything he had ever experienced. In Austin's words, "It strikes unexpectedly at 9 am on the surface platform of the London subway system. [Due to a mistake] ... I wind up at a station where I have never been before...The view includes the dingy interior of the station, some grimy buildings, a bit of open sky above and beyond. Instantly the entire view acquires three qualities: Absolute Reality, Intrinsic Rightness, Ultimate Perfection."
" With no transition, it is all complete....Yes, there is the paradox of this extraordinary viewing. But there is no viewer. The scene is utterly empty, stripped of every last extension of an I-Me-Mine [his name for ego-self]. Vanished in one split second is the familiar sensation that this person is viewing an ordinary city scene. The new viewing proceeds impersonally, not pausing to register the paradox that there is no human subject "doing" it. Three insights penetrate the experiant, each conveying Total Understanding at depths far beyond simple knowledge: This is the eternal state of affairs. There is nothing more to do. There is nothing whatsoever to fear."

Following is a link to an interview of Dr. Austin conducted at a religious conference in the fall of 2010, at which Dr. Austin gave the annual Schiffman Lecture in Religious Studies. . He is a calm white haired professorial type and very concisely describes his work and areas of interest with his books sitting in front of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4HmSKyCokg

September 13, 2012:

September 6, 2012: Bake Off

August 30, 2012: Gunther Pohlman Society

August 23, 2012: Bake Off

August 16, 2012: Bake Off

August 9, 2012: Bake Off

August 2, 2012: Bake Off

July 26, 2012

July 19, 2012: Bake Off

July 12, 2012: Bake Off

July 5, 2012: Bake Off

June 28, 2012: Good listening! by Jean H.

Might this be called "active listening?"

        One of our active members, Jean H. had taken a course in Listening and decided to share some of the things she learned with our group. Various experts about listening have stated that listening is an art form. It is very close to mindfulness and can be easily elevated to a spiritual level.

     First Jean presented a list of listening characteristics. We were asked to just consider some of these characteristics and if we commonly practice them in our communications with other people. Some of these descriptive listening practices are examples of good listening and others are examples of common habits that do not promote good listening.
     1) I quiet myself - clear my mind.
     2) Be present to the person speaking.
     3) Tune out someone speaking.
     4) Multitasking while on the phone, supposedly listening to someone.
     5) Focus on fact someone is speaking to me rather than what I am going to say next.
     6) Interested in people and the topic they are speaking of
     7) Interrupt or finish sentence for other person.
     8) Uncomfortable with silence -- want to fill it with words.
     9) Maintain eye contact, maintain appropriate space between other person.
    10) Ask appropriate questions
    11) Quickly want to tell about myself.
    12) Listen more than I speak.

     A member of the audience commented: "There's a reason God gave us two ears and one mouth."
Whistler said, "How are we going to have a conversation if you keep talking."

     Good listening makes for better communication, improves work performance, and improves interpersonal relationships.

     Jean cited the Dale Carnegie Course on Listening and the importance of good listening put forth in Carnegie's well known book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People." It is a fact that we all love to tell our own story. In fact commonly while others are talking, we stop listening and think about what we want to say next . But if we can resist that impulse to speak quickly or interject, the impulse will rise but then it will fall without speaking. And if a little time passes, we often see that what we were so pressured to say was not really that important in the scheme of the conversation. If people show a genuine interest in others, ask questions about them, listen to the other's responses and basically to their story, everyone loves the listeners

     So what are the qualities of good listening? Here are some of them:
Pay attention.
Let our own thoughts subside. If you have a meditation practice and skill, you can do this more easily.
Don't have your rebuttal all ready. Listen and don't think how to change the other person's mind.
Show you are listening (a nod, an "Uh, huh." smile, or gestures.)
Listening with the whole body but especially with your heart.
Your posture is open and inviting. You are leaning toward the other person slightly.
To encourage people in conversation, ask questions.
Observe the subtext; the body language may say something that you can see is not true.
Give positive  feedback. (Repeat what you heard, ask questions, don't judge, defer opinion, don't interrupt, allow person to finish. Be candid and open with response.)
In general have respect for others.

     We then did some listening practice. We divided into pairs. One person talked for 1.5 minutes about a small issue they have. Then for 1.5 minutes the other person repeated back what they had heard. Then for the next 1.5 minutes both discussed and shared thoughts.
Comments of the group about this listening practice:
1) There may be an urge to fix the problem. Some members thought, this might be a gender specific response. IE men may want to fix what seems to be wrong.
2) There was some discussion of the subtext -- the feelings behind the worry. It is important to have a self-awareness of how you are feeling about what is being said.
3) Good listening depends on maturity and lack of fear.
4) Some members of the group reported participating in listening exercises where they were only supposed to demonstrate "cow eyes" in response to the speaker. They were not to use nods, and other verbal or body gestures. On the other hand too many nods, and too many encouraging comments can be off putting as well. The consensus seemed to be that the correct way to respond in good listening is somewhere between these two extremes. The good speaker will respond to his listener's actions and adjust his presentation accordingly as will the listener.

     The author always likes to look up something 'scientific' about the topic of our meetings. Interestingly, good old Wikipedia has some very interesting things to say about listening. Here are two links -- the one to Wikipedia article and then a sub article that sheds further light on what exactly we are doing when we speak and when we listen.


     
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-sides_model

June 21, 2012: Bake Off 2

     Unfortunately, the freedom of having a BakeOff every week has led to what I regard as some difficulties. Readers, let me warn you right off the bat. This post is going to be an op-ed piece. In other words, it is my opinion about what took place and not representative of the groups consensus, though I know some members of the group feel like me. I thought long and hard about what to do about this morning on the blog. As most of you know, I am an allopathic MD and this view colors my vision of health care to the extreme. I decided that I could not let this presentation stand without comment. Hence this opinion piece.
     First, unfortunately, with no approval process through the group as a whole, with Sharleen monitoring the calendar and Todd providing somewhat careful approval about the topics that are presented , we had two people come to the meeting prepared to give presentations that might have taken the whole hour meeting easily. Neither of these individuals had gone through our "unofficial" planning and approval process as described above. That was one of the problems but I regard it as the more minor of the two problems.
     First Karen Kolberg who has presented the poetry of Hafiz to our group before has lost her job counseling substance abuse victims. She, like so many in this current economic crisis, has gone through a whirlwind of emotions related to this event. She chose to try to write herself out of this maelstrom and presented an original poem written in the rhyming fashion of Theodore Seuss Giesel (Dr. Seuss). It was humorous and well written, perhaps just a little too long, but otherwise enjoyable to hear. There could have been a discussion of the poem which would have elevated it further with the group's participation, but unfortunately because another member had brought another outside presenter we were obligated to proceed with that presentation. In fact, the slide projector was all set up for that presentation when Sky announced Karen would read her poem.
     The second presenter is my second major problem with the morning. That presenter said he had about a half hour presentation about something called Maximized Living, which Dr. F****, the presenter said was a worldwide company dedicated to totally revolutionize health care and turn it toward total prevention. What followed was basically an infomercial for Dr. F**** chiropractic clinic and its merger or adoption of the Maximized Living method of health care. In fact, Dr F**** is planning an open house to introduce this new merger and was present to promote this open house.
     The presentation was filled with two extremes of information. There was some information that is backed by science and evidence based practice. Everyone knows that exercise and good nutrition is basic to good health and is preventative of disease. Every chiropractor, osteopath, and MD would agree with some of these basic ideas even as presented.
     I looked up Maximized Living on the Internet and found the 5 essentials that Dr. F**** talked about. Here is the website: http://www.maximizedliving.com/HealthEssentials.aspx
     Number 1 is called Maximized Mind. This basically is some self counseling, trying to remove negative self fulfilling prophecies and statements about yourself and replacing them with affirmations that are more positive. I basically don't have any problem with Number 1.
     Number 2 is Maximizing Nerve supply. Now here is where I start to have a problem. Basically this Essential of the 5 is the basic belief in chiropractic which you know that most MDs do not believe in. It is presented in a very nice way, stating facts that the nervous system is very important to us and we can't live even a few seconds without a nervous system. However, the nice facts that most people could agree with then lead to the necessity of spinal manipulation to realign the spine to allow the organs of the body to function. Now I have had people get benefit from chiropractic adjustment and I have even referred people to chiropractors when I have determined that there is nothing medically seriously wrong with them and I have seen them get benefits. But I have chosen my chiropractors that I refer to very carefully because I know that they can work with allopathic medicine and we can achieve a good result. My problem is with chiropractors and some of the chiropractic teachings that claim that spinal adjustment can correct a vast number of medical problems, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, when there is no evidence of this.  Stating or implying to patients with these diseases that the spinal adjustment or other processes undertaken in an office chiropractic without the treatments necessary in modern traditional allopathic medicine in my mind is very dangerous  And extreme chiropractors find a reason to adjust almost everyone who comes into their clinic even if just preventatively.  Now I don't have factual knowledge here, but Dr. F**** made a statement during his presentation that alarmed me and makes me think this office is one of those offices where I would not send my patients. That statement that slipped out during the presentation was something to this effect: (paraphrased): "Our office doesn't just treat young athletes. We have patients of many types and ages come in and we are able to help them with adjustments. Why just recently we treated a 2 week old baby with an adjustment."  Now, ask yourself what need would a 2 week old baby have of a spinal adjustment. And how would you monitor what you are accomplishing in this newborn infant? That was very scary to me.
     Number 3 of the 5 essentials has to do with nutrition. Again there are some facts here. Certainly our society has erred in its dietary practices with too many carbs and the wrong kind of fats. Most MDs would agree that we would all benefit from reduced refined sugar in our diet. But I am a little afraid that this diet for weight loss may be a little too extreme. It completely eliminates any fruits because there is fructose in them. And it eliminates whole grains. Instead calories come from organic grass fed meats, and fats including coconut oil and butter which we MDs believe is not good. It might be that weight loss is achieved by reducing carbohydrates much like the Atkins diet does. In a very low carbohydrate diet, the body breaks down fat and muscle for fuel and ketones are produced. When these reach a high level in the blood, they trigger anorexia (poor appetite) and even a little nausea. The Atkins diet even advises participants to test their urine for ketones to confirm that they are in that range where their appetite will be suppressed. This is basically how weight loss occurs. Perhaps that is what this weight loss diet is trying to achieve. However, the Atkins diet maintains this ketotic diet only for a set amount of time, I believe at the most 3 months. Then it is modified because the human body is not intended to be ketotic, (acidotic) permanently. There is no discussion on the website for the length of time that this restrictive diet would be followed. However, then on the website is the sales portion and I note that there are at least two products that Maximized Living wants to sell you -- one is a protein made from whey (a biproduct of milk) and the second are Omega fatty acids with what they say is a proper balance of Omega 6 fatty acids to Omega 3 fatty acids (4:1). I am not aware of any benefits to health or weight loss from these products and it always makes me a little suspicious when these are being sold on the side.
     Number 4 in the essentials is :Maximized oxygen and lean muscle. This is the program's attempt to promote exercise. Now no one could disagree with that, right? There are many factual statements in this section of the website. There seems to be an underpinning of science here. The different types of muscle fibers are discussed and there is an emphasis on trying to stimulate the growth of the quick twitch muscle fibers not the endurance muscle fibers. To attract people to this exercise program it states that goals of exercise can be reached by only 12 minutes of exercise per day. Now that doesn't sound like very much time, does it? Indeed as stated in this company's literature, the body does not care how long you exercise. You can gain the same benefit by exercising intensely for 15 minutes as you can by slow walking for an hour. So to get your exercise needs in 12 minutes you can imagine that this will be very intense exercise. Indeed, this program promotes exercise at 100% maximum heart rate for those 12 minutes. Now I know that even the astronauts are carefully monitored and advised to slow down and rest if their heart rate continues at 100% maximum for a period of time, and they are all in very good athletic shape. One member of the audience asked: "You are talking about a young healthy individual, right? What about an elderly person or someone with a heart condition?"
"Oh," said Dr. F****, "on the contrary. We use this protocol even for the elderly and those with heart problems. Oh, we would monitor them a little bit at first."
Again, the extremes in these between the lines statements are what frightens this modern traditional allopathic doctor.
     Number 5 essential: Detoxify. This one really goes off the deep end. Some statements in the website are certainly true. Our world does contain many toxins, the weed killers on our lawn, some chemicals that we use to clean our homes, etc. And some of us still smoke, and no doubt we have air pollution. But lumped in with these toxins are medications, medications that your doctor has prescribed. There is no statement that these medications might be necessary and that you should check with your doctor before stopping them. Even a statement slips in that (paraphrased) "Exercise has been shown to be as effective in treating depression as antidepressant medications." Then comes the sales pitch. Under this essential, you are encouraged to eliminate the meds you take, eat organically (fine) and avoid outdoor and indoor chemicals AND you must buy two products sold by Maximized Living and put them into your body. One is glutathione which is fairly harmless since it is an amino acid. But this ad claims that it will eliminate toxins from your body. I don't know the proof for that and would be interested in it. The second product is some unknown concoction that is claimed to detoxify your body, and help your own body functions to get rid of bad things you have ingested. It doesn't explain what this is and how it works. "So folks, don't trust your MD's medications, stop them and purchase our unknown product and take it into your body." Does this sound strange at all?

     Well, I feel better. In some ways I am sorry to subject the readers to this controversy. But I felt the need to counter this infomercial that we were subjected to. Again chiropractic has its place and can benefit people, but only when it works with allopathic medicine. This infomercial contained statements that were alarming to me and that implied this program will not work well with allopathy and may do harm. I think if we had known what this presentation was before hand the group would not have chosen to entertain it. I would welcome any comments that you might have about this post.

June 14, 2012: Summer Bake Off 1

I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.

I've been circling for thousands of years

and I still don't know: am I a falcon,

a storm, or a great song?


--Rainer Maria Rilke--
(Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poem to God. Translated by Anita Barrows and Joana Macy)

A member of the group presented the above poem for discussion. It certainly is a beautiful poem and fits the venue perfectly, but for some reason the discussion did not take off.
Instead there were other discussions as listed below.

June 7, 2012: Bake Off

   Even though this was a Bake Off session, our discussion centered on just one topic for the most part. Someone presented the book pictured at the left, called The Spirit Level: Why greater equality makes society stronger by Richard Wilkerson and Kate Pickett. The book argues that there are "pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness (and) encouraging excessive consumption." It claims that for each of eleven different health and social problems: physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies and child well-being, outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries.
   A multitude of graphs seem to indicate these conclusions, but critiques have said that the book emphasizes income inequality too much and doesn't look at the cultural effects of income differences. The Spirit Level conclusions are strongest in the area of health. The links between average health outcomes and income inequality do appear strong, and disturbing. Other critics have decried the books lack of statistical analyses. Another critic stated that only the correlation between infant mortality and income inequality stood up to statistical scrutiny.

   The book also concludes that it does not matter how a country gets to equality. It can be legislated, through socialization of the economic basis, or the economic basis of the country can exist equally through cultural influences. In either case, the data supports that more equality is associated with better outcomes in multiple broad areas.

   The group then discussed how this greater inequality translates into the degree of happiness in the country or American state. In the past, this group read and discussed Jonathan Haight's book on happiness, entitled The Happiness Hypothesis. Haight says that 5 items in our lives contribute positively to the presence of happiness. 1) Support group, 2)Flow in work, 3) Faith, 4) Noise level, 5) Having savings (ie not living hand to mouth.)

   What should be looked at really is the equality of the ability to achieve satisfaction -- not so much equality of income. It is the equal opportunity to find meaning or purpose in life. Inequality is also associated with a heavy negative government. A kind government seems to increase equality. An example is the Scandanavian countries where it almost seems as though they legislate equality. One member of the audience states that in Norway, there is no such thing as trespassing. You can go onto another's property as long as you don't bother the owner. Items are sold on the road based on an honor system. For example, one can stop and take some farm produce and leave the payment in a container. This is a common practice there.

   Members of the audience sited various experiences that either they or their family have had while volunteering in very poor countries. Haiti is an example that some people have had first hand experience with. Nicaragua also was described as extremely poor with very poor infrastructure. There is no potable water in many communities. School children have no shoes, no school supplies, or even desks. It is a male dominated society and even male children do not respect their mothers. Certainly there are major cultural problems in addition to the poverty. Dave talked about Dominican Republic when he was there some years ago. His friend enjoyed the culture there so in some cases volunteers become very charmed by the local people, even when poverty is a major characteristic of the local society. Vlad talked about Russia. He originates from Russia and can discuss how things are with first hand knowledge. He told the story of how a blacksmith in a small town was making good money and could afford to hire men to work for him to increase his business still further. But official collectivism meant that he should not be making money for himself and hiring people to work for him. If people did this, they were exiled to Siberia. But a community needs its blacksmith very much so that could not be done to the blacksmith. So instead the Russian authorities collectivized the blacksmith, solving the problem. It should be noted that we have mentioned another book that looks comparatively at happiness in various countries-- the book is entitled The Geography of Bliss by the NPR foreign correspondant, Eric Weiner.

   One discussant thought that we miss the boat if we focus only on income equality because we miss the spiritual. We need to find a way to help people to connect and join together. We need to empower people. Welfare does not do this. One avenue to do this is listening.

   Those who have read the book The Spirit Level recommended it to the rest of the group.

Schedule:

The Eternal Bake Off

Every  meeting during the Summer of 2012 will be a Bake Off

Bring some items to discuss -- something that you have read or seen, or some item that stimulated you spiritually. We will read it and it will be subjected to the power of this group. It will be baked and therefore changed so that the end result will be finished in a way that you will not believe until you see it.

June 21, Jean Hausman who is not usuall with us in the winter, will offer something for our summer Bakeoff. come and partake.

Discourse on the five Ways of Putting an End to Anger

Vladimir N, a member of our group whom we have not seen for a while sent me this ancient Buddhist parable. I thought it went nicely with some of our recent discussions of anger and what to do with it. 

Discourse on the Five Ways of Putting an End to Anger

ShareI heard these words of the Buddha one time when he was staying in the Anathapindika Monastery in the Jeta Grove near the town of Shravasti.

One day the Venerable Shariputra said to the monks, “Friends, today I want to share with you five ways of putting an end to anger. Please listen carefully and put into practice what I teach.”

The bhikshus agreed and listened carefully.

The Venerable Shariputra then said, “What are these five ways of putting an end to anger?

“This is the first way. My friends, if there is someone whose bodily actions are not kind but whose words are kind, if you feel anger toward that person but you are wise, you will know how to meditate in order to put an end to your anger.

“My friends, say there is a bhikshu practicing asceticism who wears a patchwork robe. One day he is going past a garbage pile filled with excrement, urine, mucus, and many other filthy things, and he sees in the pile one piece of cloth still intact. Using his left hand, he picks up the piece of cloth, and he takes the other end and stretches it out with his right hand. He observes that this piece of cloth is not torn and has not been stained by excrement, urine, sputum, or other kinds of filth. So he folds it and puts it away to take home, wash, and sew into his patchwork robe. My friends, if we are wise, when someone’s bodily actions are not kind but his words are kind, we should not pay attention to his unkind bodily actions, but only be attentive to his kind words. This will help us put an end to our anger.

“My friends, this is the second method. If you become angry with someone whose words are not kind but whose bodily actions are kind, if you are wise, you will know how to meditate in order to put an end to your anger.

“My friends, say that not far from the village there is a deep lake, and the surface of that lake is covered with algae and grass. There is someone who comes near that lake who is very thirsty, suffering greatly from the heat. He takes off his clothes, jumps into the water, and using his hands to clear away the algae and grass, enjoys bathing and drinking the cool water of the lake. It is the same, my friends, with someone whose words are not kind but whose bodily actions are kind. Do not pay attention to that person’s words. Only be attentive to his bodily actions in order to be able to put an end to your anger. Someone who is wise should practice in this way.

“Here is the third method, my friends. If there is someone whose bodily actions and words are not kind, but who still has a little kindness in his heart, if you feel anger toward that person and are wise, you will know how to meditate to put an end to your anger.

“My friends, say there is someone going to a crossroads. She is weak, thirsty, poor, hot, deprived, and filled with sorrow. When she arrives at the crossroads, she sees a buffalo’s footprint with a little stagnant rainwater in it. She thinks to herself, ‘There is very little water in this buffalo’s footprint. If I use my hand or a leaf to scoop it up, I will stir it up and it will become muddy and undrinkable. Therefore, I will have to kneel down with my arms and knees on the earth, put my lips right to the water, and drink it directly.’ Straightaway, she does just that. My friends, when you see someone whose bodily actions and words are not kind, but where there is still a little kindness in her heart, do not pay attention to her actions and words, but to the little kindness that is in her heart so that you may put an end to your anger. Someone who is wise should practice in that way.

“This is the fourth method, my friends. If there is someone whose words and bodily actions are not kind, and in whose heart there is nothing that can be called kindness, if you are angry with that person and you are wise, you will know how to meditate in order to put an end to your anger.

“My friends, suppose there is someone on a long journey who falls sick. He is alone, completely exhausted, and not near any village. He falls into despair, knowing that he will die before completing his journey. If at that point, someone comes along and sees this man’s situation, she immediately takes the man’s hand and leads him to the next village, where she takes care of him, treats his illness, and makes sure he has everything he needs by way of clothes, medicine, and food. Because of this compassion and loving kindness, the man’s life is saved. Just so, my friends, when you see someone whose words and bodily actions are not kind, and in whose heart there is nothing that can be called kindness, give rise to this thought: ‘Someone whose words and bodily actions are not kind and in whose heart is nothing that can be called kindness, is someone who is undergoing great suffering. Unless he meets a good spiritual friend, there will be no chance for him to transform and go to realms of happiness.’ Thinking like this, you will be able to open your heart with love and compassion toward that person. You will be able to put an end to your anger and help that person. Someone who is wise should practice like this.

“My friends, this is the fifth method. If there is someone whose bodily actions are kind, whose words are kind, and whose mind is also kind, if you are angry with that person and you are wise, you will know how to meditate in order to put an end to your anger.

“My friends, suppose that not far from the village there is a very beautiful lake. The water in the lake is clear and sweet, the bed of the lake is even, the banks of the lake are lush with green grass, and all around the lake, beautiful fresh trees give shade. Someone who is thirsty, suffering from heat, whose body is covered in sweat, comes to the lake, takes off his clothes, leaves them on the shore, jumps down into the water, and finds great comfort and enjoyment in drinking and bathing in the pure water. His heat, thirst, and suffering disappear immediately. In the same way, my friends, when you see someone whose bodily actions are kind, whose words are kind, and whose mind is also kind, give your attention to all his kindness of body, speech, and mind, and do not allow anger or jealousy to overwhelm you. If you do not know how to live happily with someone who is as fresh as that, you cannot be called someone who has wisdom.

“My dear friends, I have shared with you the five ways of putting an end to anger.”

When the bhikshus heard the Venerable Shariputra’s words, they were happy to receive them and put them into practice.

Madhyama Agama 25
(Corresponds with Aghata Vinaya Sutta
[Discourse on Water as an Example], Anguttara Nikaya 5.162)

May 31, 2012: Guenther Pohlmann Society Meeting

     Again in any month when there is a 5th Thursday, we call our meeting the Guenther Pohlmann Society Meeting, in memory of one of our founding members.
     We often discuss something Guenther had written, or just our memories of the extraordinary man. Sometimes his daughter, Heidi, brings in something -- one of his photos or something he wrote or had researched.
     On this occasion Heidi could not be with us, and she sent this quote:
     Philosophers ruin language,
     Poets ruin logic,
     But with human reasoning alone, 
    Man will never make it through life."


     Friedrich Von Schiller

This time we all reminesced about our recollections of Guenther, his contributions to these meetings, his ability to present an erudite discussion of almost any topic, his searching mind, his interest and expertise in photography, and his great ethics. We all recognized his love of his work in medical care; he was indeed "a doctor's doctor."

 Sky asked shy was he such a good man that he was, and why such a good doctor? The group consensus was that he continued to learn throughout his life and he was dedicated to the learning of others. He also managed to stay engaged. He was involved in so many things at the hospital that he had multiple retirements and yet he still was there every day until his death. He was a very ethical man and a gentle hero.

It was recalled that Guenther Pohlmann went to Iraq to the first Gulf War and directed the establishment of one of the major field hospitals there. He also was instrumental in instigating debriefing of veterans as they returned home from this war, a practice to try to reduce the frequency of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) in returning veterans.

Someone spoke of how interviewing patients is taught to medical students now. The students are given only 30 minutes to figure out the diagnosis. A "professional" patient who hired to do this acts as the "patient". This type of training puts an enormous amount of pressure on the interviewer and teaches the student that they cannot allow the patient to open up because there is a time pressure. We know that we doctors can't learn about a patient without a dialogue. Therefore objective medicine has had a diminution with these techniques.

Aristotle said: (paraphrased): It's more important to know the person with the disease than to know the disease itself.

Paul commented that 1/5 of kids who see him have nothing wrong with them. The parents are just worried about them and bring them in to him, as a doctor specializing in development. In my experience the actual ill patients in a primary care adult medicine practice is more like maybe 5% of visits. The care of the remaining 95% is really "The art of medicine."

We also have an announcement about an honor bestowed on one of our regular members:
Eric Weiner won an international award for his recent book, n the area of Self Hope, Journals and quotes for his book:
Words from the Heart: Practical Guide to Writing An Ethical Will.

 

May 24, 2012: "The Emotional Life of Your Brain" by Richard Davidson

     Gary S. our resident scholar again came to direct a discussion of a book that we have run in to through Gary's attendance at the recent "Mindfulness in Healthcare" seminar in Madison where Dr. Richard Davidson talked about some of the premises in his new book, released March 1, 2012.

     The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live --  and How You Can Change Them. by Richard J. Davidson PhD with Sharon Begley.

He speaks of six distinct emotional dimensions -- resilience, outlook, social intuition, self-awareness, sensitivity to context and attention. Each person's unique combination of these dimensions make up what Dr. Davidson calls their own "emotional style" or the essence of our personality and the reflection of how we live and respond to our experiences.

Dr. Davidson remains on the cutting edge of brain research that investigates understanding our emotions and co-authored this book with Sharon Begley, the former science writer for Newsweek. She herself has written a book called Change of Mind, Change of Body. 


From the following link you can access this book and read its Table of Contents, Introduction and I think even the first chapter.

http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Life-Your-Brain-Live/dp/1594630895

May 17, 2012: Notes on Mindfulness in Health Care Seminar by Gary S.

Gary attended a Seminar in Madison which provided a lot of gist for this discussion.

Below are Gary's actual notes provided to us to remind us of the great discussion.

Some Notes on the Mindfulness in Health Care Seminar (Notes written by Gary.)

  

Philip Chard was the 1st presenter. Some points of interest that he raised involved a change in the medical model from one dominated by a biological focus to one that includes a focus on spirituality. A mindful physician would have a greater sense of purpose, presence and empathy. Mindfulness includes the self-regulation of attention, conscious awareness of one's thoughts, feelings and experiences as they unfold in the present and curiosity, openness and acceptance of thoughts, feelings and experiences. The result is a beginner's mind, meaning that experiences are new.

Things that get in the way of mindfulness include ADHD, hurry sickness (this involves time being measured by the brain, it is a primary cause of anger), emotional hijacking (the amygdala rules and the prefrontal cortex is overloaded), burnout and the pursuit of “happiness,” as defined by our culture with a focus on there and then.

Mindfulness melds the existential states of doing and being. It allows us to do with an awareness of being fully aware. As you pay attention, you notice what you're doing and have the power to change it. It allows you to have a clearer sense of your life purpose by allowing the meaning you give to life as opposed to the meaning of life. It also allows for forgiveness starting with ourselves. It is about effort, not outcomes.

In practice, “The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence.” You are in the present, aware of the now, resulting in compassion, acceptance, and flow. You can be with the other person resulting in an interpersonal dance. Rapport and empathy are created with presence and pacing. Rapport is largely dependent on body language, less so on voice and minimally on words.

Dr. Richard Davidson presented on the topic, “Change Your Brain by Transforming Your Mind.” He started out with the concept that neuroplasticity allows for the potential that well-being can be a skill. He noted that 5-10,000 brain cells are made each day. Stress impairs neurogenesis. The new concept of epi-genetics means that genes can be turned on and off depending on our interaction with the environment; therefore we can influence this turning on and off. Essentially, we can change our gene expression and influence our neuroplasticity. Meditation can lead to a change in gene expression within 8 hours. Studies have been done regarding the inflammatory response that are consistent with this.

He went on to discuss studies regarding the voluntary cultivation of compassion. He discussed his study of long-term meditators using functional MRI. He found that long-term meditators had a more persistent presentation of gamma oscillations (40 cps) on their EEG. This is associated with focused intent. One of the circuits modulated by meditation is the anterior insula, where a viscerotopic map is present, providing the brain and mind with knowledge of the body. He would present sounds of human suffering to the meditators while in the MRI and found that the insula would light up.

He thought it would be interesting to look at a group of people trained in compassion meditation for 2 weeks and compare them to a group trained in cognitive reappraisal for 2 weeks. The training involved contemplation and visualization of suffering and relief of a loved one, themselves, a stranger, a different person and all beings. The compassionate contemplatives were trained in the phrase:

                “May you be free from suffering. May you experience joy and peace.”

The contemplatives were instructed to feel this phrase, not merely repeat it cognitively. They were also instructed to notice their visceral sensations, especially in the heart. Indeed, differences were found in the MRIs of the contemplative group. There was lower activation of the amygdala. There was increased connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the insula and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens. He felt this connectivity predicted increased altruism. However, he thought this connectivity might be lost unless you continue to practice meditation, i.e. use it or lose it.

He went on to discuss the fact that meditation leads to an increase in attention. He cited a quote by William James, “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention over and over again is the very root of judgment, character, and will. No one is the master of him or herself if he have it not. An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par evcellence.” His study utilized something called the attentional blink test. This test takes advantage of the fact that we are more likely to miss parts of a pattern the more immediately they follow similar parts of the same pattern. Meditators have a much shorter attentional blink than non-meditators. Thus, meditation may be associated with a dramatic change in the capacity to pay attention. He did note that there was one study that applied this to ADHD.

He discussed briefly the role of meditation on peripheral biology. Meditation-based stress reduction (MBSR) is found to lead to enhanced immune response. Meditators developed higher titers to a flu vaccine than did non-meditators. Thus a change in the brain correlated to a change in the body. Meditators heal more quickly.

He briefly discussed the future of some of these findings. His hope is that these kinds of practices will be increasingly pursued. We might develop a science of virtuous qualities. We would incorporate the mind back in to medicine and take more responsibility for our health.

From an education standpoint he noted that the children have an even greater capacity for neuroplasticity. He discussed the implications for puberty occurring at a younger age, while the prefrontal cortex continues to develop until the age of 20 or so. This leaves adolescents increasingly vulnerable, as hormones flourish while brain is not done developing. His sense is that meditation could be a very helpful bridge to this increasing discrepancy.

The advantages of meditation in social emotional learning were cited. There have been 207 studies of social emotional learning. There were increases in positive attitudes, decreases in bullying, decreases in emotional distress, and improvement in tests and grades. They have developed a preschool children program in Madison and have begun taking it into the Madison schools. They have an 8 week program that they are working on. Very hopeful.

On Saturday morning, we spent much of the time listening to David Rakel M.D. He has put together a book on integrative medicine and written several papers. He spent time talking about the mindful encounter in medicine. It allows us to pause and be self-aware. It allows us to have a presence and be more authentic, using our child's eye. It impacts our perception, allowing for meeting and mystery. Much of our life is habitual, and mindfulness helps address this. The key part of mindfulness again is the concept of forgiveness. He cited a quote that, “Forgiveness is giving up hope of a better past.” And again, this is because we are in the present.

He cited a little bit of research about neural protein Y (NPY). They're looking at increases in the production of this protein in relation to the stress response. It leads to craving of carbohydrates to give us energy and causes an increase in weight. He noted that the number 1 emotion associated with heart disease is hostility.

We live life as we are, not as life is. Mindfulness allows us to live life as it is and start to see the mystery and awe of life and the people that we see. It allows us to carve out time to see people as they are.

Subsequently he cited 4 ingredients of a healing in counter that include an emotionally charged relationship with a helping person, a healing setting, an explanation, ritual, procedure, or plan that allows for belief in action.

He went on to discuss the power of touch. He noted that, as a doctor, who you are trumps the power of a pill. An enhanced visit with the doctor includes a positive prognosis, empathy, empowerment, connection and education. If a patient perceives empathy, studies have shown an improved immune response. They have found an increase in interleukin 8 leading to increases in neutrophils. He cited a study that revealed that empathy is the best treatment for the common cold.

He cited a study comparing the use of the medical system in 3 groups: one group that regularly followed a moderate exercise routine over 8 weeks, another group that was trained in MBSR for 8 weeks and a control group. Interestingly the exercise group showed the greatest reduction in cold symptoms but had more M.D. visits and used more medication. The mindfulness group also had a reduction in cold symptoms but fewer M.D. visits and medication use. The mindfulness group utilized the medical system about half as much as the exercise group, while the control group utilized the medical model 4 times as much as the mindfulness group.

Unfortunately, studies also revealed that medical school leads to a decrease in empathy. He showed a graph of changes in empathy during medical school, noting that women come in to medical school with greater empathy than men, but leave medical school with the same empathy that men had when they entered medical school. (Of course, men really decrease in empathy during medical school as well.) He went on to comment that the best way to change a woman into a man is to send them to medical school.

He closed the morning talking about guided imagery and how it may be used in things like enuresis (locked gate, how do you open it), and the fear of the dark (a protector). The session closed with some guided imagery.

All in all, this was a wonderful seminar.

May 10, 2012: Mindfulness in Children by Paul N.

   Paul N. presented to us today about his encounter with Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child, 2010. Paul heard her speak at a conference and became interested in her theories.
   Susan Greenland had worked as a lawyer for a TV station. But then something made her move to the country with her family. Her husband Seth Greenland was a novelist. Eventually Susan became interested in mindfulness training for children and wrote this book. She calls herself a recovering lawyer. She admits that her book is largely anecdotal, but she plans on coming out with a manual which will be more practical for use in the classroom.
   Susan Greenland also founded the group Inner Kids which has put classroom time into Los Angeles area schools teaching mindfulness training to kids from K-12, with increasing time and complexity as children grow older. Now it is also being used in Singapore schools, and is being heavily studied in both locations to determine if children progress more rapidly in school, if they have better control of emotions and other parameters. Inhibition control and cognition seem a little better in children who have been taught a 8 week module unit on mindfulness. It is know that our train changes and especially a lot in child as they grow. Synaptic connections increase even in adults and certainly are very changeable in children.  We know that myelination is not complete until the age of 25. Pruning (the cutting back of cells in the child's brain) and even in the uterus continues strongly throughout childhood.
   This program is explained in more detail for those who want to delve into the methods further. Here is the link:  http://www.susankaisergreenland.com/inner-kids.html.
   There are also a lot of video clips on this site explaining and demonstrating mindfulness for children. It is located at the above website under clips:
http://www.susankaisergreenland.com/clips.html
   Hit read more for further details, and also for the notes that Paul provided us for this session of our Spirit Mind Body Group meeting.

May 3, 2012: Bake Off: Topic of Emotions and Anger

     On the first Thursday of every month, we have what we call a Bake Off. This session is up for grabs metaphorically speaking. Members bring something either in their head, or on paper, or other media, which struck them spiritually. It might be a quote, or a newspaper article or op-ed piece, or some reading from traditional sacred texts in any religion -- it can be almost anything. These pieces are shared and then they are subject to our specific kind of Bake Off -- the group discussion. There is no doubt that that piece will be stirred, ingredients will be added, and it will be baked until it rivals the best confectionery in town. Come and join us!

     During this May 3 session, our thoughts are still on Meditation. There was a question about the Monkey Mind. The consensus was that this state of mind with its multiple thought strings and processes is indeed normal. The author always likes to bring forth the River Analogy. During our waking moments, our stream of thought is like a river, swollen by rain and storm, with a very fast current, and lots of tree trunks, and debris in this rain swollen river. Our being is floating in this river rapidly with all this debris around us. It is tumultuous, turbulent and even perhaps dangerous. Through meditation we can gradually pull ourselves from this river to sit on the bank and watch the tumult. And slowly with time we may be able to even calm the raging torrent and the debris thins out and the currents slow. But at the very least we are able to safely watch this torrent from a bank without threat to our spiritual safety. This is what meditation does and how it might feel to achieve some small degree of enlightenment.

     A technique was discussed where if threatened by negative emotions, we can name the emotion or the negative experience. When we have faced this negativity and named it and even embraced it, slowly the sense of negativity decreases. Our amygdala is stimulated by novel thoughts. If you embrace something, it is no longer novel and you will not respond negatively to this thought.

     Someone quoted a portion of this Rumi poem (and it was not Sky).

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes 

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing, 

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes, 
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

The Essential Rumi -- Versions by Coleman Barks

     Someone in the group asked" "Should one try to feel the emotion you are trying to embrace or should one observe it objectively?"  Well the answer is "You do both."  Make friends with the emotions. Remember putting your feelings into rage is not the same as recognizing anger.

         Todd said that in therapy, the therapist lets the patient/client label their own emotions. The therapist says -- "You seem to be having strong emotions."  This helps them to put it into words. But the therapist does not put the emotions into words for them. This may be the mechanism of how journaling helps. You just don't want what you are doing to turn into brooding so you then can choose to change. 

     There was some talk about dealing with anger. The best way is to just state the obvious, "I am angry." Paul said it might be better to say "I have anger."  Another very neat way to put it: "My seeds of anger have been watered."

     After all pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice. You can chose not to suffer. (That's what the Buddha said.)

     Buddhists like to make lists and emotions are among those lists. There are about 54 emotions listed in Buddhist writings. Thich Nhat Hanh once counted these emotion lists and got into the 60s. They are divided into wholesome, neutral and negative. Some would surprise you. For example shame is a wholesome emotion because it is an impetus for change. Guilt is regarded as neutral. Some were asking questions about this. Here are a couple of links that might answer those questions. http://www.leighb.com/listlist.htm This website is the Buddhist List of Lists. The following link is an article about negative emotions and how they enter into human behavior. 

http://www.bodhiraja.net/Pages/articles/Managing%20Negative%20Emotions.pdf

     Professor Irwin Corey said "Hate is a more important emotion than others, because without hate, vengeance means nothing." (Professor Irwin Corey was an actor, and comedian for most of his life and has worked with greats such as Jackie Gleason. For the last 17years, now at age 97,  he has been panhandling on the streets of Manhattan; the money he collects goes to mostly relief efforts in Haiti, and also Cuba. He lives in a small home in Manhattan that is worth about 3 million dollars, but panhandles for charity every day for 4 hours on the streets of New York.)

      Lily Tomlin said, "Forgiveness is giving up all chance of a happy past.".

     Some one asked how do you break through the denial when someone is using that primitive defense mechanism during an interpersonal relationship. 

Todd said you just have to break away at it like a fingernail on granite.

Paul said one can use so called body work. Ask that person, "How does this feel in you body?"

Eric said to contextualize the denial:  "How is this working out for you?"

Sharleen suggested mirroring the other persons anger. Eg. in a conversation where the person says, "Oh, I never get angry."  You reply, "Oh you never get angry?" and then wait for them to hopefully open up. 

     As an aside, some one reminded us that  Richard Davidson (see link below) has a new book, entitled The Emotional Life of Your Brain.   out in March I think. His website is listed below. On it are all of his publications noted. 

http://psyphz.psych.wisc.edu/web/personnel/director.html

Following is a talk that Dr. Davidson gave in Madison on April 13, 2012 talking about his new book and its writing. This is an interesting talk and may entice you to want to read his book. 

http://media.cityofmadison.com:8093/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=9f11caedcd464c7bbcbbf52a22c27ae71d

Here is another great site I found: Dr. Richard Davidson participated in this Symposium. I have not watched it all, but think there is some "gold in them there hills" of Colorado where this meeting was held in April, 2012.
http://events.powerstream.net/008/00189/2012_ISCS/index.html#powershow

By the way, the photo in this posting is taken of a Sacred Volcanic Lake in Guatemala, often called the "most beautiful lake in the world." It is in the middle of Mayan territory in the highlands of this country, regarded as sacred by the pure Mayan villages that surround it. It is Lake Aititlan, Guatemala. 

Schedule: May, 2012

May 3, 2012:  Bake Off

May 10, 2012:  Paul will talk about Mindfulness in Children. This topic may continue for 2 weeks.

May 24, 2012:  Ben will present.

May 31, 2012: Gunther Pohlman Society meeting -- the 5th Thursday of the month..

For June, July, and August, most or all Thursday sessions will be open. That is they will be like a Bake Off.
          Bring any items that you would like to discuss. If anyone has any topics that they would like to present, please bring them up and we may have a few presentations on a short-planning schedule.

April 26, 2012: Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry presented by Sharleen.

     Sharleen attended a workshop on Meditation based on a book by Arthur Zajonc, entitled Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love.  Published by Lidisfarne Books 2009.

Be sure to read the comments, especially my third one. It explains the white outs.

April 19, 2012: Quotes of Fred Rogers: presented by Sky

Sky sent me his notes for his presentation:  Lots of treasures here:

Sky says: Fred Rogers is one of my heroes, and some of you requested some of the quotes I selected for my talk last week, so I have included some about him and by him.

If you want to get a feel for the man, you might want to read this delightfully written article: “Fred Rogers, man of steel and prayer.”  In this 1998 Esquire profile of Mister Rogers by Tom Junod. http://www.thedqtimes.com/pages/castpages/other/fredrogerscanyousayheropg8.htm

If you wish a book about him, also very well written by a friend of his: Amy Hollingsworth. She is the author of The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor (2005), based on her nine-year friendship with Fred.

Fred Rogers had a favorite quote:

You can only see clearly with the heart…What is essential is invisible to the eye.” – Antoine de Saint Exupéry.


Read on for much more about Mr. Rogers, a familiar memory from most of our childhoods. Notes from our own wonderful Sky.

From another blog: Last of the Bohemians

    Eric sent me this reference to another blog on blogspot.com and an article entitled "Out of Helplessness", posted on March 30, 2012. This article is a good read>

http://lastofthebohemians.blogspot.com/2012/03/out-of-helplessness.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LastOfTheBohemians+%28Last+of+the+Bohemians%29

April 12, 2012: Shel Silverstein and "the Giving Tree" Ann S.

Shel Silverstein

The Man, Creative Paradox
Born Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein in Chicago - Sept 25, 1930. Died in Key West, FL, May 8 or 9, 1999 of a heart attack.
American poet, singer (in a fashion), songwriter, musician (guitar), composer, cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and author of children's books.
Shel said he would rather have been a baseball player, or a hit with the girsl, but he was not athletic, and women didn't like him, so he became all of the above.

Hit Read More to learn more about Shel Silverstein, his accomplishments, hear him sing with Johnny Cash, and read the Giving Tree, on You tube.

April 5, 2012: Bake Off

     During this bake off, at first we discussed a little bit of Heart Math. For those new members that had never heard of it before, we outlined how it works. Heart Math refers to a technique of seizing a moment, time or episode of strong gratitude in your life such as holding your newborn child, experiencing a sacred moment, anything that you can think of that fills you with gratitude. Then you hold that sensation in your chest where your heart is and focus on this feeling. Heart Math works with a pulse ox type machine that registers your pulse rate in a finger tip and applies a computer calculation to this pulse to calculate not just the heart rate but the variation of the rate of the heart beat. When focusing on gratitude, the variability of the heart rate reaches what is called coherence. That is it forms a sine wave of heart rate variability. When this happens the blood pressure lowers, and other autonomic functions in the body calm down. The sympathetic nervous system slows its firing. It is thought that the electromagnetic waves generated by the heart during coherence have a beneficial effect even on the brain, even calming the brain. One can work with the Em Wave machine which gives biofeedback information to the wearer to determine if he/she is practicing the appreciation and gratitude exercises appropriately. With practice, a person no longer even needs the Em wave pulse readings. The feeling itself produces the necessary body function changes itself. People can keep sort of a Rolodex of gratitude experiences to call on and can achieve this sense of well-being readily in all external situation.s This technique achieves the relaxation response much like meditation does, but it seems to do it much quicker. I had seen that the Em Wave machine, a hand held device that changes color to show coherence, is being sold in airline magazines.

     Someone commented that HeartMath is "The World according to Garf (not Garp). -- gratitude, appreciation, reverence, and friendship.

     Paul commented that the science of spirituality may be distracting. Eve if science doesn't explain or we can't understand , for example, 26 dimensions, so it just is -- whether science proves it or not. Science is a system of faith.

     A common source of spirituality is awe. Some people pursue the religious way of this awe. Some pursue science as the source of this awe. Science confirms religion and vice versa. You can be comforted by these thoughts and you can hopefully get past the historical conflict of science and religion.

     Dick brought an excerpt from the Upanishads he wished to share with the group.
Sacred song of the Chandogya Upanishad
Chapter VIII
The city of Brahman


1.1 In the city of Brahman is a secret dwelling, 
the lotus of the heart. Within this dwelling is a space, and within that 
space is the fulfillment of our desires. What is within that space
should be longed for and realized. 


1.3 As great as the infinite space beyond is 
      the space within the lotus of the heart. 
      Both heaven and earth are contained in that inner
      space, both fire and air, sun and moon, lightning
      and stars. Whether we know it in this
      world or know it not, everything is contained
      in that inner space.


1.5  Never fear that old age will invade that
      city; never fear that this inner treasure of all
      reality will wither and decay. This knows no
      age when the body ages; this knows no dying 
      when the body dies. This is the real city of
      Brahman; this is the Self, free from old age,
      from death and grief, hunger and thirst. In the
      Self all desires are fulfilled.


      The Self desires only what is real, thinks
      nothing but what is true. Here people do what
      they are told, becoming dependent on their
      country, or their piece of land, or the desires
1.6  of another, so their desires are not fulfilled
       and their works come to nothing, both in this
      world and in the next. those who depart from
      this world without knowing who they are or
      what they truly desire have no freedom here or
      hereafter.


      But those who leave here knowing who they
      are and what they truly desire have freedom
      everywhere, both in this world and in the
      next.


1.1  Would they see their departed mother
2     or father? Lo, they see them and are happy.
1.3  Would they see their family and friends?
6     Lo, they see them and are happy. Would 
       they enjoy the world of music, or spring
       flowers, of elegance? Lo, by their mere will
1.10  they enjoy these things. Whatever they
       desire, the object of that desire arises from 
       the power of their own thought; they have
       it and are happy.


3.2   Here our selfless desires are hidden by 
      selfish ones. they are real, but they are
      covered by what is false. Therefore whoever
      of our own departs from this life, not one can
3.2   ever be brought back before our eyes. But
      all those we love, alive or departed, and all 
      things we desire but do not have, are found
     when we enter that space within the heart; for
      there abide all desires that are true, though
      covered by what is false.


      Like strangers in an unfamiliar country
      walking over a hidden treasure, day by day
      we enter the world of Brahman while in deep
      sleep but never find it, carried away by what
      is false.


3.3  The Self is hidden in the lotus of the heart.
     Those who see themselves in all creatures go
     day by day into the world of Brahman hidden
4    in the heart. Established in peace, they rise
     above body-consciousness to the supreme
     light of the Self, Immortal, free from fear, this
5   Self is Brahman, called the True. Beyond the
     mortal and the immortal, he binds both worlds
     together. Those who know this live day after
     day in heaven in this very life.


4.1 The Self is a bulwark against the confounding
     of these worlds and a bridge between
     them. Day and night cannot cross that bridge,
     nor old age, nor death, nor grief, nor evil nor
     good deeds.  All evils turn back there, unable
     to cross; evil comes not into this world of 
     Brahman.


4.2  One who crosses by this bridge, therefore,
     if blind, is blind no more; if hurt, ceases to be
     hurt; if in sorrow, ceases sorrowing.  At this
     boundary night itself becomes day: night
     comes not into this world of Brahman.


4.3  Only those who are pure and self controlled
     can find this world of Brahman. That world is 
     theirs alone. In that world, in all the worlds,
     they live in perfect freedom.


Some comments on these Upanishads:
   What can be said of a state of being in which even the separate observer disappears?  "Words turn back frightened," the Upanishads say: every attempt to explain produces contradictions and inconsistencies. But the sages of the Upanishads must have longed so ardently to communicate that they had to try, even if the picture was doomed to be inadequate.
     Some time ago I remember watching footage of how the Titanic was discovered -- two and a half miles below the surface of the ocean, far beyond depths that light can penetrate, where the sheer weight of the sea would crush a human being. Scientists designed a twelve-foot robot called Argo and lowered it little by little through those black waters right to the ocean floor. At those blind depths, probing with cameras and sonar, they began to piece together a vivid picture of a world no one could have seen before. The video seemed to take us through doors that had not been opened for seventy years, down that famous staircase into a silent crystal ballroom uncorrupted by  time -- eerie, disjointed shots of a lightless landscape. That is how I think of the Upanishads, probing depths where individuality itself dissolves and sending up pictures of treasures sunk in the seabed of the unconscious.
     What do they report" They tell us, first, that whatever we are, whatever we may have done, there is in each of us an inalienable Self that is divine:

     As the sun, who is the eye of the world,
     Cannot be tainted by the defects in our eyes
     Nor by the objects it looks on,
     So the one Self, dwelling in all, cannot
     Be tainted by the evils of the world.
     For this Self transcends all!  
           (Kathat II.2.II


Some comments from the Upanishads are talking about exceeding the speed of light you are in the same place and time. As yo approach the speed of light there is no time -- you are in the moment. Then all is one.

Someone cautions to be careful.  Some scientists are ruled by the fear of what they know and what they don't know. We must realize we can't comprehend the universe. It is incredible arrogance to believe we can comprehends something so incomprehensible.


     As a change of pace, we commented on the following weekly Phillip Chard column on our technological world.


As we increasingly replace face-to-face or phone-to-ear communication with e-interaction (chat, email, social networking), loneliness becomes more prevalent.

Studies show that loneliness has increased in recent decades. For instance, research subjects in 2005 were three times more likely to report feeling lonely than those in 1985.

But just what is loneliness? It's not the same as solitude, which introverted folks need to sustain their well-being. Rather, those who feel lonely have a decreased sense of heartfelt belonging, experience fewer meaningful connections with others, and are without true confidants.

In other words, one's social space may be packed with people, but if these connections are superficial, one still feels alone.

What's more, loneliness is largely a matter of perception. It emerges when there is a significant disparity between your actual level of meaningful social contact and your desired level of such contact. If you want to feel more connected with others but don't, you're lonely.

But it's not all in one's head. Research shows that loneliness is a health risk comparable to obesity or smoking. Also, lonely folks carry biological markers consistent with chronic stress, which wreaks havoc on mental and physical well-being.

The reason electronic communication can't diminish loneliness is because interacting in a transactional way (information minus the emotions) doesn't cut it. Why not? Because emotional self-disclosure is what drives personal connections, not factual self-disclosure, and email, chat and the rest are poor conduits for conveying feelings, which mostly come from facial expressions and vocal intonations.

Granted, if you already have a strong bond with someone, then computer-mediated communication can enhance your connection. And new technologies, such as video chat, may help, but it remains uncertain how well they will substitute for face-to-face interactions.

Addressing loneliness has generally relied on four approaches: (1) improving one's social skills, (2) increasing social support, (3) creating more opportunities for interaction, or (4) addressing the thinking process in one's head. Surprisingly, the last option yields the best results.

Studies show that lonely people usually harbor erroneous assumptions about themselves and about how other people see them. They tend to believe they are not interesting or desirable to others.

This encourages them to withdraw, which effectively shuts down their emotional self-disclosure - the very thing that greases the skids of connecting meaningfully with others. Their dysfunctional thinking creates emotional suppression, spawning a self-defeating cycle.

So if you're lonely but that klatch of Facebook friends or full email inbox aren't helping, consider cognitive behavioral therapy or another approach that addresses your inner thoughts. Changing our thoughts changes our behavior.

Mother Teresa said that, "Loneliness is the most terrible poverty."

And, for most, it's a poverty that begins in their minds.

Philip Chard is a psychotherapist, author and trainer. Names used in this column are changed to honor client confidentiality. Email him at pschard@earthlink.net or visit philipchard.com.