lotusinthemud

altruism, mirror neurons and how the human brain is wired for compassion

In his latest book, Social Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, author of the best-seller Emotional Intelligence, illustrates how new clinical results in the fields of neuroscience and biology show that humans are in fact wired for empathy - that without any conscious effort, we feel the joy, pain, anger, and other emotions of the people around us. Sharon Salzberg, co-founder and teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, spoke to Goleman this summer about the emerging field of social neuroscience and its implications for the principles and practices of Buddhism.

::read here

meditation changes brain structure in eight weeks

Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress. In a study that will appear in the January 30 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, a team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's grey matter.

"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day"...

::read more

6th living buddhism conference: 'culturally engaged buddhism': may 2011

Dates: May 12 - 15, 2011

6th Living Buddhism Conference: Culturally Engaged Buddhism'

Location: 12 Coventry Road, Narborough, Leics LE19 2GR, UK

At this conference we shall discuss the culturally engaged Buddhism that is the hallmark of Amida Trust's work in Europe, Asia and North America. We will have presentations and workshops to explore principles and practice. We shall meet as a sangha and renew our resolve to go forth for the good of the many following the inspiration of the message of the Buddhas.

how to be sick - a review by a psychiatrist

Here's a review of the book by a psychiatrist who mostly works with people in
chronic pain:

This book is spectacular!

The author Toni Bernhard developed a post-viral illness in 2001, later diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Although she was a serious student of Buddhist meditation already, this experience challenged her body, mind and spirit to its core.

What she shares in How to Be Sick is how Buddhist-inspired practices have helped her cope with her illness and its consequences, as well as continue on her spiritual journey.

This is a book for people who will not be their old self again and for all those for whom, at least now, getting better isn’t possible.  This is a book that most reassuringly says even to those people, ”You, too, are going to be okay – even if you never recover your health!”