Meditation and the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Meditation and the Brain When discussing the relationship of brain and behavior, the materialist facial expression of human experience runs into conflict with the historically dominant religious accounts. novel studies, however, suggests that there may be a middle view in the midst of the two world-views. Religions, especially Buddhism, stress the role of guess in ones aimual growth. Meditation has tangible psychological and physiological benefits, though, which can be explained strictly in neurobiological terms. Understanding of how meditation affects the brain, and, by extension, human behavior, too gives insight into consciousness, the role of feedback loops, and the nature of the I-function.The goal of Buddhist meditation is to distract oneself from desires and purposes which are the cause of suffering. Other forms of meditation, while differing in terms of their metaphysical grounding (1), effectively separate the individual from the transitory nature of the world. In p rayer, the effort is largely mental, but Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Zen meditation also involve the body. Body positioning is important to the meditation, and in Zen, the object is to have as little tension as possible in the body. The body has a way of communicating outwardly to the world and inwardly to oneself. How you position your body has a lot to do with what happens with your mind and your trace . . . Although Zen meditation looks very disciplined, the muscles should be soft. There should be no tension in the body (2). The correlation of physical states with mental states in meditation reinforces the counterpoise between neural functions and behavior.Zen practice also has a unveil theory about the nature of the self, namely that it ... ...n.http//www.zen-mtn.org/zmm/zazen.shtml3)Buddhist Meditation and individualised Construct Psychology by Phouttasone Thirakoul.http//serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/Pilou.html4)Physiological Functioning.http//info.miu.edu/tm_research/ tm_charts/1Phys.html5)Addiction and Zen.http//viacorp.com/addiction.html6)Psychotherapy, Meditation, & Spirituality.http//www.buddhanet.net/psyspir3.htm7)Grief and the heedfulness Approach.http//www.buddhanet.net/psygrief.htm8) Wallis, Claudia. Faith & Healing. Time. June 24, 1998. Vol. 147, no.26.http//www.hope.edu/academic/religion/bandstra/REL100/TIME960624.HTM9)God on the Brain, by Jeremy Creedon.http//www.utne.com/lens98/spirit/god.html10) Zen and the Brain (Review), by Kimford O. Meadov.http//www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/archive/jama/vol_281/no_4/review_2.htm