#buddhasbrain

[micahammon]

Buddha's Brain (Intro & Chapter 1)

These are my notes from the book.

In the past they said that the mind is the activity of the brain. Mental activity creates new neural structures

Neurons that fire together wire together

We can use the mind to change the brain itself

The adult brain is open to change

The mind is an embodied, relational process that regulates flow of energy and information

How we focus attention and intentionally direct the flow of energy and information can alter the brain's activity and its structure

Relationships are fundamental to how minds function. Social interactions shape neural connections which shapes brain. Science verifies that cultivating compassion and mindful awareness harnesses the social circuits which enable one to transform the relationship with self.

Compassion refers to letting go of judgments

Mindful awareness means to attend fully to the present

Our goal is to build circuits of kindness and well-being

We'll seek to answer:

What brain states underlie the mental states of happiness, love and wisdom

How can you use your mind to stimulate and strengthen the positive brain states

Chapter 1 - The Self-Transforming Brain

Taxi drivers in London develop a larger hippocampus (region for making visual spatial memories). Happy people have more activity in the left frontal brain region.

The brain is the basis of the mind, but that's an oversimplification.

The body, natural world and human culture also shape the mind.

Perhaps importantly, the mind also shapes the mind.

It's probably best to understand the brain and mind as a single system. All mental activity maps to neural activity. The current working hypothesis is that the mind is what the brain does. Most animals don't have sufficiently complex nervous systems to allow them to experience significant distress (long term significant distresses).

Worrying about the future, past, present; getting what you want, suffering for the sake of suffering, sadness, etc is constructed by the brain.

It is made up.

The brain is the cause and cure of suffering

The three pillars of Buddhism are:

Virtue

Mindfulness (concentration)

Wisdom

Virtue is regulating actions, words, thoughts to create benefit for oneself and others

Prefrontal cortex regulates this, top-down and bottom-up

Relationships is where virtue is challenged

Mindfulness is using attention on both inner and outer worlds

Since the brain learns by what it focuses on, mindfulness helps take in good experiences and makes them a part of oneself

Wisdom is applied common sense

Understand what hurts and what helps

That is, the causes of pain and the path to its end

Let go of things that hurt and strengthen things that help.

Over time one feels:

more connected with everything

more serene about how things change and end

more able to meet pleasure and pain without grasping after one and struggling with the other

*The most seductive and subtle challenge to wisdom is the sense of being a self who is separate from and vulnerable to the world

Virtue → (Brain) Regulation → Green light (excite) / Red light (inhibit) Mindfulness → (Brain) Learning → Strengthen / Weaken circuits

Attention shapes neural circuits

Wisdom → (Brain) Selection → Trained by what experience tells it to value

Regulation, Learning, Selection regulate all levels of the nervous system. The happy and loving parts deep below the surface are what is considered to be the true nature. Like constant rain verses a single raindrop, little actions over time add up.

[mantrapiece]

Solid 999 silver Buddha pendant of exquisite quality! For more details, website link is in the bio. @mantrapiece . #mantrapiece #buddhastatus #tinybuddah #budduh #buddhahand #buddhaheads #tinybuddha #buddhashand #buddhasteachings #buddhastemple #buddhasayings #buddhashakyamuni #buddhasteaching #buddhasbrain #buddhaslife #buddhastupa #10000buddhas #buddhasbelly #buddhasdelight #buddhaseverywhere #crassulabuddhastemple #acrobuddhas #buddhassister #buddhathoughts #buddhatrends #buddhatshirt #buddhateeshirt #buddhamind #buddhamamajewelry (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkcTXiuLJkn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[hannahcrazyhawk]

This book takes an interesting look into the mind of Buddha and the neuroscience behind love, happiness, and wisdom. 🧠🙏🎋 #buddhasbrain #book #rickhanson #amazon #neuroscience #wisdom #happiness #danielsiegel #neuroplasticity #neurogenesis (at Bend, Oregon)

[naschaperon]

#sundaymood #buddhasbrain #reading #sunnysunday #relax #springiscoming #bookworm #booksofinstagram #behappy https://www.instagram.com/p/B86avBLImag/?igshid=1qi18ssxyuv44

[rofawn]

@quotes__.lover is giving it for free from Their Heart.. Follow @quotes__.lover like me.. Their warmth makes my day 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 @quotes__.lover #Buddha #buddhaandme #buddhatouch #buddhalivingmoments #buddhanecklace #buddhasplace #buddhabarmonaco #buddhawisdom #buddhastatue #buddhapark #buddhamusicgroup #buddhaclubzgz #buddhasbrain #buddhaapproved #buddhasdraiato #buddhaismyhomeboy #BuddhaPremium #buddhaliving #buddhaBoy #buddhathoughts #buddhaseeds #buddhashand #buddhafieldinthecity #Buddhaminds #BuddhaBear #buddhasmonastery #buddhaspotto #buddhatheman #buddhastyles #buddhalover https://www.instagram.com/p/B8vVKsPhecf/?igshid=13cr936qtqw6n

[natty373]

📖 Reading is a gift where we must slow down to enjoy its full pleasure 📖 : : : Making time to learn everyday is vital for allowing the body to feel alive : : #maketime #read #pleasure #enjoylife #slowdown #slothvation #bethewitness #learnacraft #becomeamaster #buddhasbrain #livingphilosophy #liferefinementtherapies (at Bulli, New South Wales) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtC0beoAZnI/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=znmyk1okooqa

[creativeliza]

Currently reading for the new year... #healing #healingtouch #healinghands #therapeutictouch #buddha #buddhasbrain #meditation #positivethinking (at Fernandina Beach, Florida)

[kathrynevans]

"Anxiety, dread, apprehension, worry, and even panic are just mental states like any other. Recognize fear when it arises, observe the feeling of it in your body, watch it try to convince you that you should be alarmed, see it change and move on. Verbally describe to yourself what you're feeling, to increase frontal lobe regulation of the limbic system. Notice how the awareness which contains fear itself is never fearful. Keep separating from the fear; settle back into the vast space of awareness through which fear passes like a cloud." -Buddha's Brain #buddhasbrain #mindbodysoul #relax

[bananarrystyles]

This is what we're reading right now! (By "we" I mean my husband @this_island_earth and I). His on the left, mine on the right. I actually read Radical Acceptance myself last summer and it rose to the tippy tippy top of my favourite personal development/self-help books. He is reading it right now and he is as inspired by it as I was. I'm reading "Buddha's Brain" in preparation for a yoga workshop this Sunday. It is joining the ranks at the top of the pack as well. So these are our recommendations for you! Do you have any in return? What is one of your favourites you've read in the personal development, psychology, spirituality, wellness or self-help categories. Let's share!! 🙏🙏🙏 #personaldevelopment #buddhasbrain #radicalacceptance http://ift.tt/2nGTx16

[drops-of--jupiter]

Desire leads to suffering. Do not cling to anything Or anyone, For experiences will all end. Just live in that moment. Be present. Let the experiences And people come And go with ease. Do not depend on Interchangeable Objects for your Happiness. #buddhasbrain

[mantrapiece]

New Buddha head pendant in stock! Made of solid 999 silver. Website link is in the bio. @mantrapiece . #mantrapiece #buddhastatus #tinybuddah #budduh #buddhahand #buddhaheads #tinybuddha #buddhashand #buddhasteachings #buddhastemple #buddhasayings #buddhashakyamuni #buddhasteaching #buddhasbrain #buddhaslife #buddhastupa #10000buddhas #buddhasbelly #buddhasdelight #buddhaseverywhere #crassulabuddhastemple #acrobuddhas #buddhassister #buddhathoughts #buddhatrends #buddhatshirt #buddhateeshirt #buddhamind #buddhamamajewelry (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgKF5x-ryWn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rofawn]

💕 #Buddha #buddhaloveschiapudding #buddhaprayerflags #buddhapants #buddhabarofficial #buddhasearch #Buddhasculpture #buddhapunkjewelry #buddhatshirt #buddhaspeaks #buddhasdomain #buddhaphunk #buddhasbrain #buddhav2 #buddhasmoke #buddhabarbeach #buddhagathering #buddhamusicgroup #buddhashand #buddhabarmoscow #buddhafield #buddhamamis #buddhalife #buddhasquote #buddhabaerchen #buddhajoe #buddhastatue #BUDDHAGUNZ365 #BuddhaSkyBar #buddhafood https://www.instagram.com/p/B3o5LVbgjjj/?igshid=5kft1z3a08sm

[trittemily]

Morning

I don't work till 6pm............ I'll read all day 📖 Yaya

[brainybabe]

Whoa. #buddhasbrain #neuroscience # enlightenment #awakening

[dommyboy7]

Incredible book. If you can change your brain, you can change your life. #buddhasbrain #neuroscience

[kathrynevans]

The tragedy and the opportunity of this moment in history are exactly the same: the natural and technical resources needed to pull us back from the brink already exist. The issue is not a lack of resources. It is a lack of will and restraint, of attention to what's truly happening, and of enlightened self-interest--a shortage, in other words, of virtue, mindfulness, and wisdom.

Buddha Brain