tosk
in
philosophy
"Let us rejoin the mind to the body, and gaze into the heart of the candle in meditation"
http://www.physorg.com/news102179695.html
MRI scans (according to the above report, based on some study at the University of Wisconsin) appear to confirm that there is a measurable change in the brain during meditation. Instead of a change toward sleep/dream/REM as had once been supposed, it appears it may actually increase activity in the areas of the brain responsible for concentration, paying attention and decision making. Further, the researchers correlated the hours of practice with improved performance during meditation. Not only were regular practitioners more likely to reach this state of brain activity more quickly than non-practiced individuals, it also appears that it required less effort (effortless concentration) and they were less likely to be interrupted by noise (although brain activity showed that they "heard" the external noise, there was no response to the noise).
In a related study, these researchers claim that "three months of meditation training improved the ability to detect a brief visual signal that most people cannot detect". When we examine how easily the human mind can be fooled ( ex. http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/djs_lab/demos.html ) by missing brief sense signals... is it possible that meditation does have some of the impacts which practitioners have claimed for years? Let's take the supernatural out of the issue for a minute and focus solely on the 'model' that many who meditate claim.
Meditation, has for thousands of years been considered by some as a path to Higher Consciousness. Those who have spent their lifetime working with meditation often claim to be more aware of the world (some say the Universe). They often claim to be able to perceive that which many cannot.
Considering that many of these concepts originated long before humans considered the brain as much more than a radiator for the blood... Do some of these claims, perhaps fit with newer scientific proof? If so, then what may most of us be missing in everyday life? Is the data we're missing important? Could the data we're missing be critical to understanding Life, The Universe and Everything? If meditation has a measurable effect on not only our ability to concentrate, but even our breadth of perception... what 'silly claims' may have some basis in fact? Consider hypnotism, which also has some measurable effects... what about "magic" which usually requires specific types of meditation in various rituals and workings. Could the 'effects' that practitioners 'see' afterward be more related to the manipulation of their own mind? This seems to fit well with many statements from Alister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Antero Alli, Phil Hine, Peter Carroll and many other people that practice what is commonly called 'magic'. All of these people saw magic as a way of training the brain, modifying consciousness and raising the awareness of the individual. It also seems to support the claims by Dr. Tim Leary in his theories on metaprogramming the brain and using meditation (as well as various psychoactive substances) to modify how one thinks.
So, could these things be real in some sense, but modeled using less than accurate semantics? (That is, could they be maps of the territory, but illustrated with lots of metaphor and myth?)
Or do I just need a Boot to the Head?
- Ratatosk
MRI scans (according to the above report, based on some study at the University of Wisconsin) appear to confirm that there is a measurable change in the brain during meditation. Instead of a change toward sleep/dream/REM as had once been supposed, it appears it may actually increase activity in the areas of the brain responsible for concentration, paying attention and decision making. Further, the researchers correlated the hours of practice with improved performance during meditation. Not only were regular practitioners more likely to reach this state of brain activity more quickly than non-practiced individuals, it also appears that it required less effort (effortless concentration) and they were less likely to be interrupted by noise (although brain activity showed that they "heard" the external noise, there was no response to the noise).
In a related study, these researchers claim that "three months of meditation training improved the ability to detect a brief visual signal that most people cannot detect". When we examine how easily the human mind can be fooled ( ex. http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/djs_lab/demos.html ) by missing brief sense signals... is it possible that meditation does have some of the impacts which practitioners have claimed for years? Let's take the supernatural out of the issue for a minute and focus solely on the 'model' that many who meditate claim.
Meditation, has for thousands of years been considered by some as a path to Higher Consciousness. Those who have spent their lifetime working with meditation often claim to be more aware of the world (some say the Universe). They often claim to be able to perceive that which many cannot.
Considering that many of these concepts originated long before humans considered the brain as much more than a radiator for the blood... Do some of these claims, perhaps fit with newer scientific proof? If so, then what may most of us be missing in everyday life? Is the data we're missing important? Could the data we're missing be critical to understanding Life, The Universe and Everything? If meditation has a measurable effect on not only our ability to concentrate, but even our breadth of perception... what 'silly claims' may have some basis in fact? Consider hypnotism, which also has some measurable effects... what about "magic" which usually requires specific types of meditation in various rituals and workings. Could the 'effects' that practitioners 'see' afterward be more related to the manipulation of their own mind? This seems to fit well with many statements from Alister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Antero Alli, Phil Hine, Peter Carroll and many other people that practice what is commonly called 'magic'. All of these people saw magic as a way of training the brain, modifying consciousness and raising the awareness of the individual. It also seems to support the claims by Dr. Tim Leary in his theories on metaprogramming the brain and using meditation (as well as various psychoactive substances) to modify how one thinks.
So, could these things be real in some sense, but modeled using less than accurate semantics? (That is, could they be maps of the territory, but illustrated with lots of metaphor and myth?)
Or do I just need a Boot to the Head?
- Ratatosk