Jeanine regaled us during this session on a recent trip she took to New York City. She visited the Museum of Mindfulness, where the first floor was dedicated to Tibetan art. She then planned to attend a lecture in which both an Eastern and a Western speaker considered the topic of Mindfulness.
But what made these plans unusual was that on her way to the lecture, she came upon a scene where a small band was set up to play ancient instruments in a corridor. As she watched this set up, she noted that one band member seemed slumped over and appeared unresponsive in the center of the band. Other band members were somewhat gathered around him, but no one seemed to be calling any alarm. She went over to see what she could do, and the other band members reassured her that nothing was out of the ordinary -- that this type of occurrence was not uncommon for this band member. She attempted to take his pulse and assess him, but no one wished for a 911 to be called, though she did initiate such a call. Apparently this gentleman came out of his episode -- whatever it was, and proceeded to be playing in the band about 30 minutes later. This occasion just seem to set a mood for this lecture that she then went to hear. There was an other worldly nature to the whole afternoon.
The Eastern speaker for this lecture was Shyala Tsen Tsen Rimpoche (means reincarnated teacher) has written a book entitled Living Fully, just published recently. Jeanine has just begun reading this book. The other speaker for the Western view was Marsha Lucas, Jeanine's electronic friend who hosted her in New York. Marsha has also just written a book entitled Rewire Your Brain for Love: Creating Vibrant Relationships Using the Science of Minfulness. Jeanine feels this latter book is a life changing book. Jeanine summarizes some of the basic tenants of the book: The author is interested in the attachment integration of the brain. She emphasizes how important your primary attachments are, and especially how important they are in children. Lucas has done considerable study in this area and feels that we enter life as "right brain" individuals. At that time of our development we are interested in the present where our emotional reactions are and where our creativity comes from. In the book, the author, Marsha Lucas, explains her theory of attachment backed up by her knowledge of neuroscience. Lucas talks about anxious attachments where one caretaker attaches too closely to the child. The opposite attachment would be called avoidant. All attachments are on a continuum between these two extremes. In many cases, caregivers are inconsistent and could not respond to the child's needs. This leads to mistrust when the caregiver was only interested in themselves. The author feels that past theories of mental illness were rudimentary because they did not take into account these relationships. The book is hopeful -- it indicates that we can fix our relationships. We can balance the right brain effects and the left brain effects by mindfulness practice -- meditation. During these practices, Lucas recommends starting on the outside, but then goes inward. But she also meditates outward to her relationships. She presents about 7 simple mindfulness techniques at the ends of each chapter to work on balancing, and improving the results of relationships in our past and present. Jeanine says that Lucas uses humor to teach in this book, making it very readable.
Jeanine went on to describe the lecture which consisted of these two speakers having a conversation. I am sure the idea was to balance the Eastern and the Western views, but there was some difficulty due to differences in language. This interfered with the presentation to some degree.
Our group provided some discussion:
Every thought and every feeling is a transient neurological event. Sometimes we get very attached to our thoughts. We think they define us. But they do not. We must realize this last in order to move on spiritually. Someone brought up various memory types: explicit memory ( memory that we can call up) and implicit memory (memory that we can not call up). At some point we need to use and deal with both types of memory.
Unrelated to this lecture in NY, Jeanine brought along another book that she recommends: Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser by Lewis Richmond.
But what made these plans unusual was that on her way to the lecture, she came upon a scene where a small band was set up to play ancient instruments in a corridor. As she watched this set up, she noted that one band member seemed slumped over and appeared unresponsive in the center of the band. Other band members were somewhat gathered around him, but no one seemed to be calling any alarm. She went over to see what she could do, and the other band members reassured her that nothing was out of the ordinary -- that this type of occurrence was not uncommon for this band member. She attempted to take his pulse and assess him, but no one wished for a 911 to be called, though she did initiate such a call. Apparently this gentleman came out of his episode -- whatever it was, and proceeded to be playing in the band about 30 minutes later. This occasion just seem to set a mood for this lecture that she then went to hear. There was an other worldly nature to the whole afternoon.
The Eastern speaker for this lecture was Shyala Tsen Tsen Rimpoche (means reincarnated teacher) has written a book entitled Living Fully, just published recently. Jeanine has just begun reading this book. The other speaker for the Western view was Marsha Lucas, Jeanine's electronic friend who hosted her in New York. Marsha has also just written a book entitled Rewire Your Brain for Love: Creating Vibrant Relationships Using the Science of Minfulness. Jeanine feels this latter book is a life changing book. Jeanine summarizes some of the basic tenants of the book: The author is interested in the attachment integration of the brain. She emphasizes how important your primary attachments are, and especially how important they are in children. Lucas has done considerable study in this area and feels that we enter life as "right brain" individuals. At that time of our development we are interested in the present where our emotional reactions are and where our creativity comes from. In the book, the author, Marsha Lucas, explains her theory of attachment backed up by her knowledge of neuroscience. Lucas talks about anxious attachments where one caretaker attaches too closely to the child. The opposite attachment would be called avoidant. All attachments are on a continuum between these two extremes. In many cases, caregivers are inconsistent and could not respond to the child's needs. This leads to mistrust when the caregiver was only interested in themselves. The author feels that past theories of mental illness were rudimentary because they did not take into account these relationships. The book is hopeful -- it indicates that we can fix our relationships. We can balance the right brain effects and the left brain effects by mindfulness practice -- meditation. During these practices, Lucas recommends starting on the outside, but then goes inward. But she also meditates outward to her relationships. She presents about 7 simple mindfulness techniques at the ends of each chapter to work on balancing, and improving the results of relationships in our past and present. Jeanine says that Lucas uses humor to teach in this book, making it very readable.
Jeanine went on to describe the lecture which consisted of these two speakers having a conversation. I am sure the idea was to balance the Eastern and the Western views, but there was some difficulty due to differences in language. This interfered with the presentation to some degree.
Our group provided some discussion:
Every thought and every feeling is a transient neurological event. Sometimes we get very attached to our thoughts. We think they define us. But they do not. We must realize this last in order to move on spiritually. Someone brought up various memory types: explicit memory ( memory that we can call up) and implicit memory (memory that we can not call up). At some point we need to use and deal with both types of memory.
Unrelated to this lecture in NY, Jeanine brought along another book that she recommends: Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser by Lewis Richmond.
