Showing posts with label Rick Hanson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Hanson. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

World Brain Day: the 'Buddha's Brain'

Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom
 is an Audible audiobook (unabridged) by Dr. Rick Hanson, PhD. He is the author and narrator and has 4.7 out of 5 stars with 1,984 ratings.

Change your brain, change your life with this essential classic from New York Times bestselling author Dr. Hanson—now celebrating 15 years in print with more than 500,000 copies sold.

Great teachers like the Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, and Gandhi were all born with brains built essentially like anyone else’s—and then they changed their brains in ways that changed the world.

Neuroscience now reveals how the flow of thoughts actually sculpts the brain. More and more, we are learning that it’s possible to strengthen positive brain states. By combining breakthroughs in science with insights from thousands of years of mindfulness (sati) practice, we too can shape our own “Buddha’s Brain” for greater happiness, love, and wisdom.

Buddha’s Brain draws on evidence-based neuroscience to show how to stimulate our brain for more fulfilling relationships, a deeper spiritual life, and a greater sense of inner confidence and self-worth.

Using guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, readers learn how to activate the brain states of calm, joy, and compassion instead of worry, sorrow, and anger. Most importantly, they will foster positive psychological growth that will literally change the way we live our day-to-day life.

This book provides an essential intersection of psychology, neurology, and contemplative practice, and is filled with practical tools and skills that anyone can use every day to tap into the unused potential of the brain and rewire it over time for greater well-being.

PLEASE NOTE: Purchase of this title is accompanied by a PDF in the Audible Library along with the audio. More: Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom by Dr. Rick Hanson, PhD, and Daniel J. Siegel, MD, with foreword by Dr. Richard Mendius, MD and contributor Jack Kornfield for preface (Brilliance Audio)

Saturday, March 1, 2025

World's largest pyramid in Guatemala?


El Mirador ("The Viewpoint or Lookout") is the biggest pyramid in the world, according to Mel Gibson who heard it from archeologist Richard Hansen. Yet, we are told Mexico's Cholula Pyramid is the world's largest -- larger than the famous ones on the Giza Plateau in Egypt, or the many in Sudan (formerly Nubia along the Nile River) known as the Nubian pyramids, or the 200 or more in China, or all the ones we're not told about in Alaska, Antarctica, Mars, the Moon, and all over the planet, like the new one recently discovered in Peru at Caral Supe. Of course, larger ones may exist in Bosnia or Indonesia (Gunung Padang), one being mirrored by the world's largest excavated Buddhist temple in the world, Borobudur in Java, which is likely smaller than the colossal Mes Aynak in formerly Buddhist Afghanistan with stupas but no pyramids yet, even though one pyramidal stupa was recently discovered in Central Asia. Interestingly, according to American Rick Fields in A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, the country next to Mexico called Guatemala is named after Gautama the Buddha. Buddhist missionaries reached the Americas before Columbus and Christianity, as demonstrated in American Edward P. Vining's 1895 classic An Inglorious Columbus, which makes the connection to Afghanistan and Afghan Buddhist missionaries along with Chinese pilgrim Hwui Shen. That the country should be so advanced -- like the stone temples all through the jungles of Buddhist Cambodia (Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, etc.) -- is not entirely without explanation.
  • Joe Rogan, Mel Gibson; Richard Hansen; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval. Xochitl (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

The brain's perception deception (NOVA)

NOVA PBS Official, May 17, 2023; CC Liu, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Your Brain: Perception Deception | full documentary | NOVA | PBS
Buddha's Brain (Dr. Rick Hanson, Ph.D.)
(NOVA PBS Official) Is what we see real? Join neuroscientist Heather Berlin on a quest to understand how our brain shapes our reality, and why we can’t always trust what you perceive.

In the first hour of this two-part series, learn what the latest research shows about how our brain processes and shapes the world around us, and discover the surprising tricks and shortcuts our brain takes to help us survive.

CHAPTERS
  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 03:59 The Science of Optical Illusions and Blind Spots
  • 13:48 Is the Dress Blue and Black or White and Gold?
  • 21:06 Yanny or Laurel? Auditory Illusions
  • 24:46 Is Pain an Illusion?
  • 30:28 What is Consciousness? Blind Spots and Babies
  • 41:35 How is Consciousness Measured?
  • 45:32 How the Brain Affects Memories
  • 50:14 Conclusion
Official website: to.pbs.org/3Ic9dRS | #novapbs
© 2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.  This program was produced by GBH, which is solely responsible for its content. This program is made possible by viewers like us. Support our local PBS station: pbs.org/donate. Enjoy full episodes of favorite PBS shows anytime, anywhere with the free PBS App: to.pbs.org/2QbtzhR. Stay up to date on the latest science discoveries, full episodes, articles, videos, and more by signing up for NOVA's newsletter.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

FREE Summit: (3/29) Gabor Mate, Tara Brach, Rick Hanson, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldberg, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Dan Harris...

Sharon Salzberg; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen, Wisdom Quarterly

Sharon Salzberg is delighted that Wisdom for Life came to her with the idea of creating a summit based on the themes of her new book, Real Life, to be published on April 11th.

The book is based on the possibility of moving from contraction and isolation, the “narrow straits” of habit and assumption, to a world of greater spaciousness, creativity, and connection.

In this summit, too, we will look at common states of narrowness and pain and how to work with them.

We will look at when we feel most expansive and open (e.g., states like loving-kindness and compassion) and how to cultivate them.

We will look at what we want to take along on this journey and what’s a burden best left behind. And we will look at the power of that more open and expansive state and how it can change our lives. 
Sharon Salzberg is hosting the Summit and conducting many of the interviews with 30+ speakers. She’s joined in conducting the interviews by Andrés González, Ali Smith, Atman Smith of the Holistic Life Foundation, and Lily Cushman.

Speakers include meditation teachers, playwrights, activists, scientists, poets/rappers, and more. Several of these extraordinary people will be quite familiar, and some will be the most delightful new discoveries.


Each of the five days of the Summit has a unique theme from the book:
  1. DAY ONE: WHAT IS AUTHENTIC LIVING
  2. DAY TWO: CONTRACTION
  3. DAY THREE EXPANSION
  4. DAY FOUR: THE JOURNEY
  5. DAY FIVE: THE EMERGENCE.
The scheduled speakers are:
  • Ali Smith
  • Amishi Jha
  • Andrés González
  • Anu Gupta
  • Atman Smith
  • Caroline Welch
  • Courtney Martin
  • Daisy Hernández
  • Dan Harris
  • Dan Siegel
  • Daphne Zuniga
  • Duncan Trussell
  • Dr. Gabor Maté
  • Jack Kornfield
  • Jerry Colonna
  • Joel Leon
  • Jon Kabat-Zinn
  • Joseph Goldstein
  • Krishna Das
  • Mark Epstein
  • Omid Safi
  • Parker Palmer
  • Pete Holmes
  • Rhonda V. Magee
  • Rick Hanson
  • Sarah Jones
  • Sarah Ruhl
  • Shelly Tygielski
  • Simran Jeet Singh
  • Sylvia Boorstein
  • Tara Brach
  • Trudy Goodman
  • Valarie Kaur
  • Zainab Salbi.
  • CLICK HERE TO JOIN
Hope you can join us.
Take care, Sharon Salzberg (sharonsalzberg.com)

MEETUP GROUPS (Los Angeles):

Friday, August 26, 2022

Rick Hanson: Intro to Neurodharma Workshop

Dr. Rick Hanson, Ph.D., LionsRoar.org; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Very understandably these days, the person we long to be -- and already are, deep down -- could be covered over with distractions, stresses, frustrations, and fears.

But we’ve all had a sense of being calm and clear, loving and happy, wide open and fully present. The good news is that we can develop these qualities further in a step-by-step path of personal practice.

Join Dr. Rick Hanson on September 10 for An Introduction to Neurodharma Online Workshop. Discover this path and learn practical methods based on modern brain science and ancient wisdom. This live, daylong workshop will explore how to:
  • Steady the mind
  • Warm the heart
  • Feel more satisfied
  • Embrace the whole self
  • Be more present
  • Feel more connected to everything
  • Rest in stillness and possibility
Lion's Roar (lionsroar.org)
Dr. Hanson has pulled together some profound and powerful insights and tools for inner freedom, sweet joy, a radiant heart, and sublime peace.

Sign up by August 31, 2022 and use coupon code LIONSROAR50 with the current discount to get a total of 40% off the regular price.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

insight LA: new class series begins today


 
New Class Series Beginning Thursday! 
Still Home Together with Trudy Goodman
In response to COVID-19, we welcome you to this 3-week class series with founding teacher Trudy Goodman. Begin or sustain YOUR meditation practice in a welcoming environment as we sit together in community. There will be a meditation with some guidance, followed by teaching and conversation. We need each other more than ever right now!
3 Thursdays, April 30th - May 14th
6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
 

Neurodharma:
New Science and Ancient Wisdom
for a Challenging Time

During times like this, it’s natural to feel afraid, anxious, or threatened. The brain has evolved to react quickly to threats, and it’s easy for there to be a sense of helplessness associated with problems that appear far beyond our control.
But being consumed by fear causes wear and tear on the body, which actually undermines your safety. That’s why it’s so important to look for ways to be effective and express our agency, even if it’s only through how we choose to think about things.
Rick Hanson
Saturday, May 2
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
 

A Mind at Home with Itself:
A Day with Byron Katie

Join Byron Katie, for an InsightLA ONLINE fundraising event, and learn to question the thoughts that keep you from love and the radiant simplicity of the mind that abides nowhere. In this full-day workshop, Byron Katie won’t merely describe the awakened mind, she’ll support you in experiencing it for yourself. Come question your thinking and find the connectedness with yourself and others that you’ve always longed for.
Byron Katie
Saturday, May 16
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
 
 
Lisa Kring
Tuesday, April 28
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
 

What the Buddha Taught: Finding Meaning in Difficult Times

Beth Sternlieb & Gullu Singh
Wednesday, April 29
7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
 

A Reliable Refuge: How to Stay Openhearted While the Chaos Swirls Around You

Joslyn B. Hitter
Friday, May 1
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

 
Rest In Simplicity
Celeste Young & Dawn Scott
4 Day Online Retreat
Saturday, May 2nd - Tuesday, May 5th
 
 
Click HERE for a full list of our ONLINE offerings. 
 
You can now add InsightLA as your preferred charity on AmazonSmile, when you shop at smile.amazon.com the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of your purchase to InsightLA! 

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Alan Watts new 2-hour radio special (audio)

Wisdom Quarterly; Alan Watts, LA Buddhist Radio with Roy of Hollywood Tuckman (KPFK)
Alan Watts lived the psychedelic sixties in the San Francisco Bay Area (ianmack.com)
Alan Watts Special, 8:00-10:00, Sunday, March 1, 2015 (archive.kpfk.org)
.
Early days of Alan Watts
Alan Watts was one of the best and earliest Westerners to introduce Buddhism and Eastern Philosophy to the U.S. He came from England, was once an Anglican minister, and was very well versed on Hinduism, Taoism, and Christianity as well.

Though he focused on Zen, a Western favorite, he well understood the early Theravada Buddhist teachings and the later much larger Hindu-influenced Mahayana Buddhist teachings. When Watts came to the U.S. he moved to Northern California, where he became a radio broadcaster at Pacifica (KPFA.org) in Berkeley. But his recordings are now only heard on Pacifica (KPFK.org) in Los Angeles. That he is heard anywhere is largely due to SoCal fans and the persistent efforts of veteran radio man Roy of Hollywood Tuckman.

Suffering, Craving, Nirvana
Buddhist Radio exists in Los Angeles thanks to Roy of Hollywood's show "Something's Happening," which airs from midnight to 5:00 am and Sunday mornings at 8:00 am. (Listen free at archive.kpfk.org for up to 90 days from the broadcast).

"Buddhist Radio" on KPFK, Pacifica Radio, Los Angeles (90.7 FM, kpfk.org)

Friday, April 11, 2014

L.A. Festival of Books (April 12-13, 2014)

Ashley Wells, Seven, Pat Macpherson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; LATIMES.com; KPFK.org
The Los Angeles Times hosts the annual Festival of Books for all readers, free at USC
http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Books, books, so many books to read, to skim through on Kindle, to treasure in acid-free paper. Musty and crinkly, artsy and orthogonal, look at our library! We'll never read these...but we will reference them. We edit (see below), we cite (see at left), we treasure, and sleep on like Edgar Cayce (now David Wilcock) imbibing and absorbing information and knowledge -- maybe even a little wisdom. It's a dying art, maybe even a lost one, reading for the witty and well-read. But there are those great ones with all the nice pictures and the filthy ones that come in half a century of shades. Any how, here's a whole FESTIVAL of books and reading brought to us courtesy of the Los Angeles Times and USC.
 
The Buddha's "Higher Teaching" (Abhidharma) made easy to read by Sayalay Susila

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Neuroscience of Awakening (audio)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Mitch Jeserich (KPFA.org, 10-15-13)
Forest tradition meditation in pristine jungle in northeast Thailand (withfriendship.com)

 
Pacifica Radio host Mitch Jeserich (KPFA FM, Berkeley) delves more deeply into meditation this time looking at it from a Buddhist perspective with Dr. Rick Hanson, author of The Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom as well as the voice and brain behind The Enlightened Brain: The Neuroscience of Awakening (7 CD box set), and American Vajrayana (Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Shambhala) Buddhist nun Ven. Pema Chodron ("How to Meditate: A Practical Guide to Making Friends with Your Mind" 5 CD box set).
Meditation Teacher to the Stars
 
(HuffPost Live) His clients include overweight mogul Oprah, comedian Russell Brand, genius Martin Scorsese, and schlocky showman Dr. Oz, but renowned transcendental meditation teacher Guru Bob Roth also serves low-income and under-served communities by sharing his passion: TM. And he stresses that "Stress is the New Black Plague." The guru Roth joins Nancy Redd to explain the benefits of meditation for everyone regardless of socioeconomic status or prestige in society. More