Rin's Research Paper

[Rin Daemoko]

I'm posting this here because I find it much easier to write anything if it's in a forum post (go figure). I can't stand Word. So I'm going to post my paper as it unfolds here, make corrects, and such. I realize that the forums in their current state are impermanent, which is why I'm copying and pasting to a Word document every so often. (As I go, feedback and proofreading would be welcome.)
om tare tuttare ture svaha
====================================
Buddhism in Two Words: Practice Mindfulness
om tare tuttare ture svaha
In quiet, they practice. Men and women of all ages, from several socio-economic backgrounds have come together to sit in quiet and meditate. Some live nearby, while others have traveled from the other end of the country to this place, Sravasti Abbey in Washington State, America. Meditation is a centuries-old practice which has been practiced by many people regardless of religious affiliation. An obvious question to ask is "why?" Why have so many people been practicing meditation for so long? What, exactly does it do?

If you ask any long-time practitioner of meditation, you'll receive answers ranging from "it calms the mind" to "it focuses the mind." Meditation seems to offer people a way in which they can quiet their usually very busy minds, and organize their thoughts and emotions. It offers people a way to make sense of their tumultuous lives, shedding insight on fundamental questions such as "why am I here?" and "what is the true nature of God?" In meditation, when the mind becomes very still and clear, one is able to think clearly about such questions and arrive at solutions which would not ordinarily occur to the meditator.

There also seems to be as many meditative techniques as there are benefits to meditative practice. In the West there are common practices in which one meditates along with visualized journeys, for the purpose of having a divine encounter. It is in Christian groups and Neo-Pagan circles that these kinds of meditative practices deepen one's spirituality, and offers a greater understanding of one's religious paradigm.

It is in the East, however, that one finds extensive meditative practices which have affects that are causing scientists in the West to sit up and take notice. In the Buddhist tradition of Therevada there exists a widely-known pair of meditative practices known as shamatha and vipassana - also known as "tranquility" and "insight" meditation. These two meditative techniques have been employed for centuries to help monks and lay practitioners of Buddhism to tame their restless minds, to purify patterns of discursive thought, and uproot disturbing attitudes.

Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote of these techniques:

"Ajahn Brahmavamso, abbot of Bodhinaya Monastery in Western Australia, teaches meditation in accordance with this ancient paradigm. Like many other meditation teachers, he takes mindfulness of breathing as his primary subject of meditation, but he emphasizes the development of breath meditation in a particular way designed to induce states of deep concentration culminating in the jhanas, the exalted stages of mental unification. In this model, the meditator first pursues the development of a powerful, peaceful, focused mind by means of tranquility meditation. Once this is achieved, one then applies this mind to investigate the true characteristics of phenomena. This is the cultivation of vipassana, also called higher wisdom of insight into phenomena, which brings direct personal insight into the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selfless nature of all conditioned things."

[Rin Daemoko]

That sounds pretty intense, doesn't it? It almost seems impossible to actually attain, and yet people have been doing this for literally centuries. So how is it actually done? It is one thing to speak about what meditation is, and how it's benefited people before you - it's quite another to experience it for yourself.

Well, the aforementioned Ajahn Brahmavamso presents a very simple meditative technique which anyone can try. It does not rely upon one's being a Buddhist because it's focus is on your breath. Since everyone breathes, everyone can practice this!

Brahmavamso suggests that one should start by abandoning the "baggage" of the past and the future, to abide in the present moment. Since in meditation one is focusing the mind, it helps if you're not always thinking about what you've done this morning, or yesterday. Similarly, it helps if you're not anticipating or worrying about what will happen to you later today, or tomorrow. To really derive benefit from meditation, one should be firmly grounded in the present moment - where the breath is observed.

Of course "abandoning" does not mean that you forget about your responsibilities, or your family or your well-being. You don't have to ignore your children or your job - that would do more harm than good, wouldn't it? Rather, just for the moment, this moment, you should become home to the present moment - to become aware of where you are at this very point in time, this moment … this fleeting moment.

"In this way," Brahmavamso instructs, "you carry no burden from the past into the present. You do not allow the past to reverberate in your mind. During the time that you meditate you become someone who has no history. In this way, everyone becomes equal, just a meditator."

As you begin to settle in the ever-present moment of "now," you shift your attention from your thoughts and emotions to your breath. You can become aware of the sensation of your chest rising and falling, or of the feeling of the breath passing through your nose, or of the natural repetition of the process of inhaling and exhaling. Everything becomes very simple and very easy to follow.

Following this progression, one's mind gradually becomes quieter and quieter. With practice one is able to experience what Bhikkhu Bodhi called "jhanas," of which there are eight. These altered states of consciousness are said to begin with happiness and extraordinary bliss. The second is similar to the first except that one abandons the causes of the happiness experienced and one begins to experience sustained tranquility. In the third, one lets go of that tranquility and abides in "equanimity, mindful, and discerning."

The fourth jhana is said to be of even greater tranquility, and it is believed that it was at this point that the historical Buddha attained his Enlightenment 2500 years ago.

[Rin Daemoko]

Through these incredibly simple techniques, meditators have been able to attain these exalted states of consciousness. It's all fine and well if you feel fuzzy and good about your meditation, but a good question is why? Why do people experience these states of consciousness? What, exactly, is happening to the mind or to the brain?

While the notion of experiencing blissful states of consciousness, of cultivating penetrating insight is all well and good for the meditator, these words don't mean much for scientists. This is why neurologists have begun to apply their inquisitive natures to the study of meditation and its affects on the brain itself. What these scientists have uncovered is very interesting and very exciting.

In 1997 a series of experiments were carried out in which a meditator, one hour into his practice, was injected with a harmless radioactive dye. This dye enabled the scientists monitoring him to observe how the activity in his brain had changed after spending some time in meditation.

What they found was that a specific part of the brain called the OAA underwent a significant decrease in activity. The OAA is the part of the brain which is said to be responsible for orienting oneself in physical space. It is what ensures that you know that you are separate from the things around you, that you know where "up" is relative to you.

Andrew Newberg, one of the scientists conducting the experiment remarks, "This finding intrigued us. We know that the orientation are never rests, so what could account for this unusual drop in activity levels in this small section of the brain?"

[Rin Daemoko]

Of course the neuro-weirdness doesn't end there. Recent research conducted by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and detailed in the November issue of the journal NeuroReport, has shown that meditation physically alters the brain in ways that are "likely permanent."

Using brain-imaging techniques, Lazar and her team found that people who meditate regularly experience a thickening of the cortical regions of the brain, related directly to sensory, auditory and visual perception (as well as internal perception such as monitoring the heart rate or breathing).

As people age, this area of the brain undergoes degredation, so the implication of this finding is that regular meditation can prevent a lot of the neurological problems typically associated with the aging process (such as memory loss).

(I'm about 1/2 done at this point.)

[morningstar2651]

Of course the neuro-weirdness doesn't end there. Recent research conducted by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and detailed in the November issue of the journal NeuroReport, has shown that meditation physically alters the brain in ways that are "likely permanent."

Using brain-imaging techniques, Lazar and her team found that people who meditate regularly experience a thickening of the cortical regions of the brain, related directly to sensory, auditory and visual perception (as well as internal perception such as monitoring the heart rate or breathing).

As people age, this area of the brain undergoes degredation, so the implication of this finding is that regular meditation can prevent a lot of the neurological problems typically associated with the aging process (such as memory loss).

(I'm about 1/2 done at this point.)I might help you proof it should I get the urge. I have my own stuff to write right now.

[morningstar2651]

They practice in quiet. Men and women of all ages and several socio-economic backgrounds have come together to sit and meditate in silence. Some live nearby, while others have traveled from the other end of the country to Sravasti Abbey in Washington State. Meditation is a centuries-old practice which has been practiced by many people regardless of religious affiliation. An obvious question to ask is "why?" Why have so many people been practicing meditation for so long? What, exactly does it do?

If you ask any long-time practitioner of meditation, you'll receive answers ranging from "it calms the mind" to "it focuses the mind." Meditation seems to offer people a way in which they can quiet their usually very busy minds and organize their thoughts and their emotions. It offers people a way to make sense of their tumultuous lives, shedding insight on fundamental questions such as "why am I here?" and "what is the true nature of God?" When the mind becomes very still and clear in meditation, people are able to think clearly about such questions and arrive at solutions which would not ordinarily occur to them.

There also seems to be as many meditative techniques as there are benefits to meditative practice. In the West, there are common practices in which a person meditates with visualized journeys for the purpose of having a divine encounter. It is in Christian groups and Neo-Pagan circles that these kinds of meditative practices deepen one's spirituality, and offers a greater understanding of one's religious paradigm.(Only Christians and Neo-Pagans? Are you sure about that? Did you mean to word this differently?)

Many meditative practices in the East have affects that Western scientists are noticing. In the Buddhist tradition of Therevada, there exists a widely-known pair of meditative practices known as shamatha and vipassana -- also known as "tranquility" and "insight" meditation. These two meditative techniques have been employed for centuries to help monks and lay-practitioners of Buddhism to tame their restless minds, purify patterns of discursive thought, and uproot disturbing attitudes.

Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote of these techniques:

"Ajahn Brahmavamso, abbot of Bodhinaya Monastery in Western Australia, teaches meditation in accordance with this ancient paradigm. Like many other meditation teachers, he takes mindfulness of breathing as his primary subject of meditation, but he emphasizes the development of breath meditation in a particular way designed to induce states of deep concentration culminating in the jhanas, the exalted stages of mental unification. In this model, the meditator first pursues the development of a powerful, peaceful, focused mind by means of tranquility meditation. Once this is achieved, one then applies this mind to investigate the true characteristics of phenomena. This is the cultivation of vipassana, also called higher wisdom of insight into phenomena, which brings direct personal insight into the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selfless nature of all conditioned things."

[morningstar2651]

Also, please find a way to get rid of "neuro-weirdness". It's not a word, it's a "hyphen monster".

[Rin Daemoko]

It is in Christian groups and Neo-Pagan circles that these kinds of meditative practices deepen one's spirituality, and offers a greater understanding of one's religious paradigm.(Only Christians and Neo-Pagans? Are you sure about that? Did you mean to word this differently?)
No, I did not mean exclusive these two groups, I just used these two as examples.

:D Thank you very much for the help!

I finished writing the paper today while I was at work. I took my laptop along with me and completed the last half of it, proofread, expanded, condensed, and added my list of sources. Here's the final product:

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Seated comfortably on floored cushions and mats of the meditation hall, they practice. Men and women of several ages, from different socio-economic backgrounds, have come together to sit and receive instruction, followed by a guided meditation led by the Venerable Thubten Chodron. Some live nearby, while others have traveled from the other end of the country to this place, Sravasti Abbey in Washington State, USA. Meditation is a centuries-old practice which has been picked up by thousands of people regardless of their religious affiliation. An obvious question to ask is "why?" Why have so many people taken up the practice of meditation, and why have scores of people been practicing for so long? What, exactly does it do?
If you ask any long-time practitioner of meditation, you'll receive answers ranging from "it calms the mind and focuses the mind" to "it helps to put one’s life into a more meaningful context." Meditation seems to offer people a way in which they can quiet their usually busy minds, and organize their thoughts. “The most important aspect in Buddhism is mind,” writes Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche. So it’s easy to see why people would want to study and practice Buddhist meditation – we all have minds, minds that are often cluttered with repetitious thoughts and bothersome emotional states.
When we see that meditation can offers us a way to make sense of our noisy minds, the potential benefit that this ancient practice can offer us is immeasurable. It can offer us ways to sort out our tumultuous lives, shedding insight on fundamental questions such as "why am I here?" and "what is the true nature of God?" by offering ways to directly experience the solutions to these inquiries. In meditation, when the mind becomes very still and focused, one is able to think clearly about such questions and arrive at answers which would not ordinarily occur to the meditator.
There seems to be as many meditative techniques as there are benefits to meditative practice. In the West, there are common practices in which one meditates along with visualized journeys through caves, down stairs, and through doors, for the purpose of having a divine encounter. It is in Christian groups, and Neo-Pagan circles that one finds these kinds of meditative practices being used to deepen one's spirituality, and acquire a greater understanding of one's own religious paradigm.
It is in the East, however, that one finds extensive meditative practices, which have neurological effects that are causing scientists in the West to sit up and take notice. In the Buddhist tradition of Therevada (sometimes referred to as Hinaya) there exists a widely-known pair of meditative practices known as shamatha and vipassana - also known as "tranquility" and "insight" meditation. These two meditative techniques have been employed for centuries to help monks and lay practitioners of Buddhism to tame their restless minds - to purify patterns of discursive thought, and uproot disturbing attitudes.
Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote of these techniques:

"Ajahn Brahmavamso, abbot of Bodhinaya Monastery in Western Australia, teaches meditation in accordance with this ancient paradigm. Like many other meditation teachers, he takes mindfulness of breathing as his primary subject of meditation, but he emphasizes the development of breath meditation in a particular way designed to induce states of deep concentration culminating in the jhanas, the exalted stages of mental unification. In this model, the meditator first pursues the development of a powerful, peaceful, focused mind by means of tranquility meditation. Once this is achieved, one then applies this mind to investigate the true characteristics of phenomena. This is the cultivation of vipassana, also called higher wisdom of insight into phenomena, which brings direct personal insight into the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and selfless nature of all conditioned things."

That sounds pretty intense, doesn't it? It almost seems impossible to actually attain such exalted states of concentration, and yet people have been doing this literally for centuries! So what is meditation, exactly, and how is it actually done?
Chӧgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a meditation master, founder of the Naropa Institute and author of several books on Buddhism and the path of meditation wrote: “By meditation here we mean something very basic and simple that is not tied to any one culture. We are talking about a very basic act: sitting on the ground, assuming a good posture, and developing a sense of our spot, our place on this earth.”
He goes on to explain that the word meditation itself is often used to mean some sort of contemplation on an object such as a candle’s flame, a statue, or a symbol; or on a theme such as compassion, forgiveness, or generosity. Some traditions, such as the one Trungpa Rinpoche writes from, expound the necessity of seated meditation with a proper posture. Other traditions, such as Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism speak of integrating meditative practice with everyday exercises such as eating, walking, and physical labor.
While it is one thing to speak about what meditation is, and how it's been know to benefit people from all walks of life - it's quite another to experience it for yourself. Experience is heavily emphasize in Buddhist traditions, because it is through experience that one comes to understand the true nature of one’s self and the universe – not through reading about it in books, or hearing about it from esteemed teachers and gurus.
The aforementioned Ajahn Brahmavamso presents a very simple meditative technique to his students which anyone can try. It is a practice that does not rely upon your being a Buddhist to understand it, or to derive benefit from it – all because the focus of this technique is on your breath – and since everyone breathes, everyone can practice this technique!
Brahmavamso suggests that one should start by abandoning the "baggage" of the past and the future, to abide in the present moment. What he means is that in meditation, one is focusing the mind - so it helps if you're not always thinking about what you've done this morning, or yesterday. Similarly, it helps if you're not anticipating or worrying about what will happen to you later today, or tomorrow. To really derive benefit from meditation, one should be firmly grounded in the present moment - where the breath is observed as happening.
Of course "abandoning" does not mean that you forget about your responsibilities, or your family or your well-being. You don't have to run away to a monastery in Nepal, ignore your children or your job to do it - that would do more harm than good, wouldn't it? Rather, just for the moment, this moment, you should become home to the present - to become aware of where you are at this very point in time, this fleeting moment.

The body is the Bodhi Tree,
The mind is like a bright mirror standing.
Take care to wipe it diligently,
Keep it free from all dust.

"In this way," Brahmavamso instructs, "you carry no burden from the past into the present. You do not allow the past to reverberate in your mind. During the time that you meditate you become someone who has no history. In this way, everyone becomes equal, just a meditator."
As you begin to settle into the ever-present moment of "now," you shift your attention from your thoughts and emotions to your breath. You can become aware of the sensation of your chest rising and falling, or of the feeling of the breath passing through your nose, or of the natural repetition of the process of inhaling and exhaling. Everything becomes very simple and very easy to follow.
As simple as it sounds, it’s not always that easy, is it? Our minds are usually so terribly noisy, that it’s difficult to get anywhere with meditation. We become distracted by involuntary thoughts of what needs to be done around the house, who you’re meeting up with today or tomorrow, or what you need to be ready for work. Since chasing these thoughts, or trying to suppress them is an exhausting waste of time and effort, the meditator is advised to simply observe their random thoughts as “just thoughts,” and then to return the attention to the breath. Catch yourself as you begin to drift off into other thoughts and feelings, notice yourself doing this and then return to the steady rise and fall of your breath. You can’t do it incorrectly.
Following this progression, one's mind gradually becomes quieter and quieter. With practice one is able to experience what Bhikkhu Bodhi refers to as "jhanas," of which there are eight. These altered states of consciousness are said to begin with a feeling of well-being and even extraordinary bliss. The second jhana is similar to the first except that one abandons the happiness previously experienced and one begins to experience sustained tranquility, sometimes referred to as “calm abiding.” In the third jhana, one lets go of that tranquility and abides in "equanimity, mindful, and discerning."
The fourth jhana is said to be of even greater tranquility, and it is believed that it was at this point that the historical Buddha attained his Enlightenment 2500 years ago. Further progress can lead one through four more jhanas in which one is said to observe brilliant light, strange objects, and a complete cessation of self-awareness.
It is through these incredibly simple techniques that meditators have been able to attain these exalted states of consciousness, but while you can experience incredible states of concentration, tranquility and bliss, a good question to ask is why? Why do people experience these states of consciousness? What, exactly, is happening to the mind or to the brain when one enters these deep states of absorption?
While the notion of experiencing blissful states of consciousness, and of cultivating penetrating insight is all well and good for the meditator, these words don't mean much for scientists who have recently become interested in these centuries-old practices. This is why neurologists have begun to apply their inquisitive natures and powerful machines to the study of meditation and its affects on the brain itself. What these scientists have uncovered is very interesting and very exciting.
In 1997 a researcher by the name of Andrew Newberg, a young radiologist at the University of Pennsylvania Medical school, and Eugene D’Aquili, a professor of psychiatry at the same university, conducted a series of experiments in which a meditator, about an hour into his practice, was injected with a harmless radioactive dye. This dye enabled the scientists monitoring him to observe how the activity in his brain had changed after spending some time in meditation.
What they found was that a specific part of the brain called the OAA underwent a significant decrease in activity. The OAA is the part of the brain which is said to be responsible for orienting oneself in physical space. It is what ensures that you know that you are separate from the things around you, that you know where "up" is relative to you.
This suppressed activity seemed to resembled the biological factors present when on experiences mystical ecstasy, like those of the jhana states, and orgasm. This remarkable discovery seems to have shed light on the neuro-physiological causes and effects of religious peak experiences.
Newberg, "This finding intrigued us. We know that the orientation area never rests, so what could account for this unusual drop in activity levels in this small section of the brain?"
Working later with American Buddhists and Franciscan nuns, they also found that during deep stages of meditation and prayer that there is an increase in neural activity in the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain which controls major intellectual processes such as speech, thought, concentration, memory retrieval, and problem-solving.
Of course the neuro-weirdness doesn't end there. Recent research conducted by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and detailed in the November issue of the journal NeuroReport, has shown that meditation physically alters the brain in ways that are "likely permanent."
Using brain-imaging techniques, Lazar and her team found that people who meditate regularly experience a thickening of the cortical regions of the brain, related directly to sensory, auditory and visual perception (as well as internal perception such as monitoring the heart rate and respiration). As people age, this area of the brain undergoes degradation, so the implication of this finding is that regular meditation can prevent a lot of the neurological problems typically associated with the aging process (such as memory loss).
The effect of meditative practices on brain activity has been observed since the early days of the electroencephalography (EEG). While EEG scans haven’t provided enough detailed information on these observed effects, the information derived from them has led to the creation of some interesting technologies to assist meditators.
While biofeedback isn’t winning too many points with scientists in the field, it has offered up an interesting past-time. In the early 21st Century, a computer game called The Wild Divine Project was released to the public. The game comes with a CD ROM, and a device which plugs into your computer and attaches to your fingers to monitor your bio-signs. As you progress through the game you must learn to control your mood and your breathing to alter the readings of the EEG – this progresses you through the game. The success of the Wild Divine Project has even spawned a sequel and a legion of fans eager to experience something mystical, and to be entertained at the same time.
The practice of meditation, its shrouded origins, has evolved considerably over the last 3000 years. There are countless techniques, countless descriptions for the same states of consciousness achieved, and even a prevalent understanding of it in global popular culture. We’ve seen cartoon characters, and 30-second commercials demonstrate meditation, even if in a superficial way. We have computer games to assist one in controlled meditative techniques, and experienced meditators are lending scientists key insights into how the brain works. The practice of meditation seems as strong as ever, and it will probably continue to intrigue humankind for at least another 3000 years.

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Sources

1) The Life of the Buddha. (2003) BBC/Discovery Channel Co-Production. (Documentary.) Director: Clive Maltby

2) Andrew Newberg, M.D., Eugene D'aquili, M.D., Ph.D., Vince Rause. (2001.) Why God Won't Go Away. New York: Ballantine Books.

3) Meditate on This: Buddhist Tradition Thickens Parts of the Brain. (posted: 11 November 2005). http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/051111_medidate.html

4) Cultivate Tranquility and Harvest Insight. (2004.) Buddhadharma

5) Chӧgyam Trungpa Rinpoche. (1984.) Shambala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambala Publications, Inc.

6) Marcia Binder Schmidt. (2002.) The Dzogchen Primer. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambala Publications, Inc

7) John Horgan. (2003.) Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border Between Science and Spirituality. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

8) Donald W. Mitchell. (2002.) Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience. New York: Oxford Press.

9) The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Second Edition. (2003.) New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.