For moments of anxiety

This has been a hectic time of transition as I completed the semester, and packed up my belongings from Anderson Hall, after nearly 10 years as faculty resident. My new “second home” is in a nice condominium apartment, less than 10 minutes walk from the university. During this time I have noted down many blog topics – such periods in life evoke tumultuous thoughts and feelings – but actually writing and posting them has not made it onto my list of urgent “to dos.” It seemed a form of self-indulgence, taking time from more pressing imperatives, even though I recognize that my reflections may sometimes provide value to others.

During the moving out > moving in process, however, I have continued to listen to “On Being” (formerly “Speaking of Faith”) podcasts. An interview with Silvia Boorstein ( http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/what-we-nurture/ ) entitled “What we nurture” has proved particularly valuable and readers may find it valuable as well . Boorstein is a founding member of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre California. She was one of the first to begin raising consciousness of Americans about the value of Buddhist teachings in the 1970s. Like The Buddha himself, she does not identify Buddhism as a religion, primarily, and continues to identify herself as Jewish. The combination of humor and wisdom that characterizes her teaching is captured in the title of her first book, That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist and in the two brief excerpts from her teachings, below.

I call the first, “the war between the two wolves:”

Two wolves are at war for my heart.

One is loving and compassionate.

The other is angry and resentful.

The wolf that wins the war will be the one that I feed.

(Note how this captures ideas about how the way we think actually changes the structure of our brains, described in the work of Richard Davidson and others on “neuroplasticity.”)

The second teaching is a reminder she speaks to herself in moments of anxiety.

Sweetheart.

You are in pain.

Relax; take a breath.

Let’s pay attention to what is happening.

Then we’ll figure out what to do.

Take time to listen to Krista Tippett’s interview with Silvia Boorstein. I promise you won’t regret it.

Neuroplasticity and Spirituality

I wrote this note to a new acquaintance, this morning. She is an oncologist, but also believes that neuropsychology and spirituality have important roles to play in cancer treatment. That was what we discussed when we met. I thought others might be interested in the topic and references as well.

Dear .........,

For some time I have been wanting to share references on neuroplasticity with you, but have not done so. I first learned about this from listening to podcasts of one of my favorite American Public Media radio programs, Speaking of Faith. I have been interested in the relationship between neuroscience and spirituality ever since I read the Dalai Lama’s book, The Universe in a Single Atom and learned about the Mind and Life Conferences, with which you are no doubt familiar. The interview I listened to some time ago, and again this morning, was with Matthieu Rickard. Ricard is the son of the French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and before becoming a Buddhist monk in his twenties, earned a Ph.D. degree in molecular genetics at the Institut Pasteur. He is a board member of the Mind and Life Institute. A particular passage in his discussion of neuroplasticity is one that I still remember. “A virtuoso violinist practices for years to gain his virtuosity. We can measure the changes in his (or her) brain. A chess master studies for years to gain mastery and we can measure those changes. Why should we think it would be any different with compassion....”

Anyhow, when listening to Ricard earlier this morning, I thought of you once again and have finally gotten around to writing this note. Here is the link to his interview. I prefer the uncut version, which I listen to while cooking, cleaning or taking a meal. However the produced version takes less time and covers the essential points.

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/ricard/

http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/speakingoffaith/unheard_cuts/2009/11/12/20091112_ricard_uc_ricard_64.mp3?_kip_ipx=165231802-1268701213

With best wishes,

Dormgrandpop