Mathieu Ricard in Aloka

The ABM Youth group organized a fantastic event around Ricard's visit. 

We had a musical show, and then a very interesting Dhama by Ricard. 

The following Q& A section with Ven Mahinda was enlightening. It showed how different monks have different opinions on things, but then at the bottom, it is the same.

The icing on the cake was the slide show that Ricard gave to the youth group. His sensitivity and analytical skills are reflected on all he does.

Al proceeds from the event went to Ricard's charities. If you can help support orphans in Tibet and Nepal, please visit his website: http://www.karuna-asia.org

Meditation And The Neuroscience Of Consciousness

It feels very strange to comment on two readings as distant as "Peaceful piggy meditation" and  the Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness on almost the same day... but well, that is what I have been reading. 

 

Actually, of the latter I only read "Meditation And The Neuroscience Of Consciousness: An Introduction" by Antoine Lutz, John D. Dunne, And Richard J. Davidson.

This chapter reviews defines meditation by analyzing some of the techniques common to all Buddhist traditions, then it explores where Buddhism and Neuroscience intersect, describing how Buddhism as an exploratory field of study can contribute to the neuroscience of emotions and mind-body interactions. The chapter  concludes with a section discussing the neuroimaging and neuroelectric research that reviews some of the correlates between both. With 120 pages the chapter goes pretty deep.

The authors, from the University of Wisconsin, are working with a number of very experienced meditators, monks from the Tibetan tradition, including Matthieu Ricard.  

  

 

Peaceful Piggy Meditation

On week two of this term I tried to reproduce the successful results I had on week one. We read Peaceful Piggy Meditation a short story about family life in today's fast world. 

The basic premise is that since "Sometimes the world can be such a busy, noisy place" then "it's good to meditate."

According to Amazon, the author is a certified  meditation teacher for children.

The books is very nice, both the writing and the illustrations. For teaching in a large class in fact that images are somewhat realistic makes reading it more difficult: all kids want to see them!

For the older kids I think the story was less interesting than the "Hermit and the Well" I read last week.

Mind Science - a news report

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. (Albert Einstein)

A number of scientists have started looking at Buddhism as a source of information on how the brain works. This is a news report of the research produced at the Lab for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin, led by Prof Richard Davidson.

The Dan Rather news report starts with a section on the impact of meditation on well-being, with interviews to the Dalai Lama and a number of scientists. Then there is a discussion of medical research on how the increased understanding of neuroplasticity is helping people suffering the consequences of stroke. I found the interview to Eric Kandel, nobel prize winner, particularly entretaining.

The Hermit and the Well

For the first lesson of this term I picked The Hermit and the Well a short story by Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh is a fantastic writer. The book tells, in first person, the story of a boy who goes on a school trip to a mountain to find a hermit. They do not find him, but the boy finds something much more important while sitting next to a well.

The story raises a number of issues that can trigger discussion. The kids were interested in knowing if the story was true, or if it could even be true. It also can be used to discuss how when we hurry we do not see the beauty of what lays on the path, or how we sometimes find what we are looking for, in something that looks completely different.

I was actually feeling pretty awful before the class. I had read the terrible story of child abuse and was feeling very sad. But somehow the kids were the quietest they have ever been. The class was fantastic. I had decided to read the story while we 'played' freeze and the distractors, and offer to give candy to those who won. At the end I gave a candy to each of them, because they had all been so good (I actually ran out of them half way).

With the older ones, I used the remaining time to discuss the story. It always amazes me how people can have so different interpretations of a text.
Note: Before starting the reading I asked what a Hermit was. Very few knew the meaning, so one of the kids explained it.