Guest guest Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 [Without ever taking drugs] I am beginning to suspect meditation and drugs work in somewhat similar way on the brain! .... People have reported to experience many of the similar things under the influence of some drugs that many meditators experience during meditations and... that 'siddhas' effortlessly and naturally experience all the time! These experiences include - uncaused joy, elation, and love... euphoria..., feeling of 'no body', feeling of 'no gravity', floating away, Weightless [or very light] body, feeling of being 'like space'... no sense of boundary, time or space, no sense of pain or ache... feeling 'out of body'! .... One difference is that under the influence of drugs some parts of brains are 'forcibly' 'put to sleep' for some time and can not wake up even if the physical survival of the organism was at stake! Whereas, in case of meditation they are only allowed to be at rest! The watcher, the presence can activate and engage them fully anytime it feels their need. Other difference is the health damaging effect of the drugs on the brain which is not the case with meditation. .... Both drugs and mediation tend to 'alter' the brain as the parts that are 'used' more tend to develop and part that are used rarely start becoming naturally 'dormant'! More the exposure... more 'stable' and 'long lasting' these 'changes' become! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 > Both drugs and mediation tend to > 'alter' the brain as the parts that are > 'used' more tend to develop and part > that are used rarely start becoming > naturally 'dormant'! > > > More the exposure... more 'stable' and > 'long lasting' these 'changes' become! > Scientists studying emotional behavior in animals discovered that when a baby find itself in its mother's embrace - the animal brain releases a hormone that works somewhat similar to morphine i.e. it is both soothing and relaxing as well as addictive! A mother hug and touch... literally... soothes the ache and pain! And, this is among the many ways that the nature work to reward the activities that it sees furthering its cause... feeling of 'feeling good' in sexual orgasm is another such example as the nature encourages and rewards physical union between sexes! .... While neuroscience is still very much in its infancy... scientists have been amazed by the degree of evolved design and complexity that the human brain operates on. Among other thing they have found brain being able to continually form new pathways and structure, to be able to dissolve old/expired/unused part into cerebellum liquid and to form new parts from the cerebellum liquid. They have discovered that one part of the brain can instruct and control the other parts and these parts... can switch roles. .... Brain/body releases hormones and transmits signals... some of which feel very pleasant, claming, peaceful and soothing as they work ease or remove pain and put body and brain at rest. Whereas, other hormones and signals seem hot and disturbing as they work to keep body awake, alert and not allow it to relax rest or be at ease and fall sleep! Physical survival of the organism is one of the primary tasks that the brain is interested in and as long as there is any perception of threat it works by creating and transmitting signals that feel like pain, ache and doesn't let body/brain to relax and be at ease. These signal work to define the boundary of 'self' as rigidly as possible to ensure the defense of that 'enclosed' entity... the Body! Whether these threats are real or imaginary doesn't matter to brain. And, as our civilization is built around exploiting and utilizing these 'fear' 'signals' most humans live their entire life ruled by IT - and, by its resultant Pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 The brain regulates and controls the body, secretes hormones and sends various signals while us [the known, conscious sense of 'me the doer'] remains mostly unconscious of it. Thus, we mostly only see the 'after effect' of what has happened and rarely get to consciously control or 'cause' its happening. Yet, it is also true that for a large part normal human beings are capable for generating these signals and thus 'causing' the resultant 'state' consciously. Examples will include hearing of the great loss of " my " money in the stock market and the resultant emotional pain first [and physical pain later] that it causes. In a way [though, we might be unaware of its real 'effect'], we are instructing brain to generate certain kind of signals as I attempt to... 'experience' 'loss'! Many tribes [and even the 'civilized' world] perform rituals where they consciously 'remember' the atrocities performed on them by the 'enemies' before they go to war! This in a way is a conscious attempt to instruct brain to generate the signal for ... Rage! As we start to become more and more conscious... not only we start to become more readily aware of these signals and their effects - we also start getting more conscious control over them! In some cases as such as Swami Rama <http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Rama.html >, people have demonstrated conscious control of many brain/body functions which were previously thought beyond conscious human control. One of the functions that Rama demonstrated to control and generate while staying fully awake and conscious was the generation of theta waves that brain generates during deep sleep and deeply relaxing. One could assume that Rama was/is not the only one capable of brain control of such degree as Rama himself claimed to have learnt it from his guru. .... While not every meditator controls or needs to control the functions of brain to such extent. Conscious mediation is a conscious practice to teach brain to function in new ways. It is a practice to teach brain to remain clam, peaceful, relaxed... yet, fully Conscious, Alert and Present! .... While drugs work by 'forcibly' putting some parts of the brain to sleep and thus eliminating pain [as well as eliminating full consciousness] - the meditation experiences Conscious Alert Presence Free Of Pain! 'Freedom from Pain' part for both drugs and mediation remain quite similar - yet - the consciousness IN which that 'freedom' happens is Vastly Different! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 [..] > Conscious mediation is > a conscious practice to teach brain to > function in new ways. It is a practice > to teach brain to remain clam, > peaceful, relaxed... yet, fully > Conscious, Alert and Present! > > Zen Meditation is practicing the art of Conscious Alert Presence... without needing 'pain signals' to stay awake! Once mind fully learns it... the large part of human pain becomes necessary as what [is seen as] 'needs' to happen... happens without needing any Pain! .... " No me " is the art of taking ... " me " .... out of human experiences such as taking " me " and " mine " out of stock losses. It is the art of learning that events can be easily understood, analyzed as well as solved without investing sense of " me " in them such as an efficient paid consultant working on to 'analyze' and 'solve' a client's loss in stock market. Once learn fully... this too stops much of the psychological pain and the consciousness learns to work efficiently without needing to invest a 'personal' sense in events and things. .... " Who Am I? " is the art of seeing and realizing the Real Me and knowing that the Real Me is Never threatened [or is enhanced by] by anything that happens in the world and thus, whatever happens doesn't really happen to... " me " ! Once seen clearly... sense of " me " 'in things and events' naturally drops in this case and so does the Pain. .... Surrender and trust is the practice to leave everything to the higher powers - to the one that circulates the blood, divides cells, beats the heart - breathes - without needing instructions from us. Even the sleep happens with the same attitude - as we leave everything to it. Once fully done... brain sees no need 'not to relax' or send pain signals as it is told that all the problems and threats will be solved without needing any pain and work on the entity's part. .... Seeing all things as passing, temporary [or seeing the world itself as maya] is realizing that the things often change by themselves thus fretting [and pain and arduous effort] about them is not necessary. This too stops instructing brain to generate pain signals in most cases. .... Acceptance... is the art of learning that that 'what is' doesn't really change by my mental 'reaction' to it! What [i see as] 'needs to be done' can be quite [and even more] efficiently done without me reacting against... 'What Already Is' and thus, any pain that in generate here is unnecessary [and even purely harmful]! Once it becomes a conscious 'way of life' and 'consciousness' becomes predominant the mind learns to do what it feels 'needs be done' without needing any mental pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 love is the best drug Nisargadatta , " adithya_comming " <adithya_comming> wrote: > > [..] > > > Conscious mediation is > > a conscious practice to teach brain to > > function in new ways. It is a practice > > to teach brain to remain clam, > > peaceful, relaxed... yet, fully > > Conscious, Alert and Present! > > > > > > > Zen Meditation is practicing the art of > Conscious Alert Presence... without > needing 'pain signals' to stay awake! > > Once mind fully learns it... the large > part of human pain becomes necessary as > what [is seen as] 'needs' to happen... > happens without needing any Pain! > > > ... > > " No me " is the art of taking ... " me " > ... out of human experiences such as > taking " me " and " mine " out of stock > losses. It is the art of learning that > events can be easily understood, > analyzed as well as solved without > investing sense of " me " in them such as > an efficient paid consultant working on > to 'analyze' and 'solve' a client's > loss in stock market. > > Once learn fully... this too stops > much of the psychological pain and the > consciousness learns to work > efficiently without needing to invest a > 'personal' sense in events and things. > > > ... > > " Who Am I? " is the art of seeing and > realizing the Real Me and knowing that > the Real Me is Never threatened [or is > enhanced by] by anything that happens > in the world and thus, whatever happens > doesn't really happen to... " me " ! > > Once seen clearly... sense of " me " 'in > things and events' naturally drops in > this case and so does the Pain. > > ... > > Surrender and trust is the practice to > leave everything to the higher powers - > to the one that circulates the blood, > divides cells, beats the heart - > breathes - without needing instructions > from us. Even the sleep happens with > the same attitude - as we leave > everything to it. > > Once fully done... brain sees no need > 'not to relax' or send pain signals as > it is told that all the problems and > threats will be solved without needing > any pain and work on the entity's part. > > ... > > Seeing all things as passing, > temporary [or seeing the world itself > as maya] is realizing that the things > often change by themselves thus > fretting [and pain and arduous effort] > about them is not necessary. > > This too stops instructing brain to > generate pain signals in most cases. > > > ... > > Acceptance... is the art of learning > that that 'what is' doesn't really > change by my mental 'reaction' to it! > > What [i see as] 'needs to be done' > can be quite [and even more] > efficiently done without me reacting > against... 'What Already Is' and thus, > any pain that in generate here is > unnecessary [and even purely harmful]! > > > Once it becomes a conscious 'way of > life' and 'consciousness' becomes > predominant the mind learns to do what > it feels 'needs be done' without > needing any mental pain! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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