(Generation Calm) Mindfulness (sati) exercises come no more delicious than mindfully eating chocolate for a "chocolate meditation."
This mindful eating exercise brings our full attention to a piece of chocolate and uses all of our senses to intensify the experience.
Mindful eating is paying attention to the food before, during, and after dining. We have six senses, so we can take notice of:
how it looks,
how it sounds (unwrapping),
how it smells,
how it feels,
how it tastes,
how it is otherwise sensed [by the mind].
Chocolate, of course, has a smell. More than that, it has a texture, as we sense how it feels in our mouth and in hand as it melts.
But perhaps most importantly is the assessment of how it feels throughout the body before and after being taken as food.
Assessing is, of course, NOT the right word. Why? A chocolate meditation is not a taste test, evaluation, or comparison. It is an experience of what is real -- without judgements, concepts, preconceptions, evaluations, measuring, assessing -- as it is experienced with the body.
Mindful eating is associated with weight loss in that it helps us make healthy eating choices to develop healthier habits. Mindfulness helps us notice when we are feeling full and can help stop the rollercoaster ride of dieting and bingeing.
❤ Pick a favorite piece of chocolate and join this 6-minute meditation for a peaceful mindful eating exercise. - Clare
DISCLAIMER: This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition or disease and is not intended as a substitute for consulting with a physician or healthcare provider.
Generation Calm is where viewers can become masters at reducing stress and anxiety naturally in their own time, so as to keep body and mind feeling great.
The phsyical heart is closer to the seat of consciousness than the brain between the ears.
Buddha's Brain (Dr. Rick Hanson, Ph.D.)
Science is finally catching up to Buddhism (Abhidharma), realizing the unbelievable fact that "there is no self" because all things are impersonal. (Mahayana Buddhists hedge this powerful insight by saying there is a self, even a higher self as in Hinduism, but it is interdependent; in other words, "there is no separate self." That makes it sound like there is no self separate from other selves, as in "We are all One," rather than what is really being said, which is that there is no ego, soul, self, personality, being because what appears to be the atta or atman (self) is completely dependent on Five Groups clung to as self: body, feelings, perceptions, formations, and consciousness. The self is not a unity but a composite of ever-changing phenomena. Each of these groups or aggregates is composed of countless different elements grouped and classified according to their function. "Self" is a psycho-physical epi-phenomenon of rapidly arising and perishing particles (kalapas, form, body, composed of the four general qualities of ultimate materiality) and mind-moments (cittas, a stream of events that constitute awareness) that does not persist unchanged for even one moment because each composite arises, turns, and vanishes in three consecutive sub-moments that constitute one mind-moment. The same is true of each kalapa or ultimate particle, as explained in Buddhist physics in the Abhidhamma of the Pali canon. This is interesting because author Annaka Harris, the wife of prominent meditation proponent Sam Harris, almost certainly knows about the Buddhist position on these questions of ultimate reality.
Annaka Harris (née Gorton, born 1976) is an American writer whose work touches on meditation, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and consciousness. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind (2019). She is the wife of Sam Harris:
Samuel Benjamin Harris (born 1967) is an American neuroscientist, philosopher, author, and podcast host. His work touches on rationality, religion, ethics, freewill, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics, philosophy of mind, politics, terrorism, and AI. He came to prominence for his criticism of religion, Islam in particular, and is known as one of the "Four Horsemen" of New Atheism, along with Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. His first book, The End of Faith (2004), won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction and remained on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks. He has since written six additional books: Letter to a Christian Nation in 2006, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values in 2010, the long-form essay Lying in 2011, the short book Free Will in 2012, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion in 2014.
The physical base of consciousness is near the heart.
Buddhism exhausts the topic of "consciousness" (vinnana), but for all that one is left with a definition of it as simply "awareness." It is also pursued as "mind" (mano), that which measures or reckons or compares (manas), subconscious (bhavanga), streams of "mind-moments" (cittas), and as an inseparable part of the Five Aggregates clung to as self, one of the four groups of "mental formations" (sankharas) -- and always, always an impersonal PROCESS (verb), never a static OBJECT (noun).
Here Harris, echoing this problem of getting a handle on a better definition, chooses to translate consciousness as "experience." That is not even as good as awareness. There are in Buddhism six kinds of awareness: consciousness associated with each of the five senses and consciousness associated with the sixth sense, "mind." (Some Western translators note that all that mind does is a version of the other five senses, or it remembers or projects the other five in their absence, but "mind objects" (dhammas) -- "things" that are not sights, sounds, tastes, tangibles, or fragrances -- like ideas are not taken in by any of the other senses, so it is its own sense door with its own objects.
Harris then makes a small advancement by making the distinction between "experience" (bare awareness) and "consciousness" in the sense of complex thinking or reasoning or self-reflection, which is actually what most of us think we're trying to get at when understanding or explaining consciousness. That kind of consciousness is not addressed, except that the Buddha defines it in extreme detail in the "Higher Doctrine" or "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms" (Abhidhamma) texts, exploring it like a dispassionate scientist from inside the experience then grasping it as impersonal (not-self).
This is going to hurt. Everything you think you know is false
(Tom Bilyeu) What if everything you think you know about yourself is wrong? Most of us have the intuition that we have a "self" that is separate from our body and brain and that we can control our experience with conscious will. But what if that isn’t true?
Bestselling author Annaka Harris is devoted to challenging our deepest intuitions about the nature of consciousness and the self.
In this episode of Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu, she discusses experiments on the cutting edge of physics and neuroscience and explains why those experiments matter.
The result is a fascinating conversation that will leave you questioning some of our most cherished, comforting intuitions.
SHOW NOTES
Consciousness is exactly as mysterious as it seems to be [2:29]
Annaka defines what consciousness is [4:54]
Tom and Annaka discuss the story of Phineas Gage [6:31]
Annaka talks about the difference between consciousness and high-level thought [9:14]
There is a basic level of consciousness that doesn’t involve awareness of consciousness [11:35]
Challenging intuitions is a basic element of the scientific method [14:58]
Is there outer evidence of conscious experience? Is consciousness doing anything? [18:46]
Upending comfortable intuitions is eventually a freeing experience [20:57]
Annaka explains how the brain binds disparate signals to make them seem congruent [22:23]
Annaka and Tom discuss how much unconscious brain functioning we take for granted [27:09]
Annaka describes the false sense of self and conscious will [29:53]
We make decisions before we are aware of them [33:41]
Annaka discusses the question of whether or to what extent plants are conscious [35:30]
Trees take care of their own kin, and defend their kin [40:48]
What if consciousness is a field like gravity? [43:39]
Annaka describes the double-slit light experiment [46:13]
QUOTES: “There’s something jarring about learning that the things that feel most true to you about reality are possibly not structured that way.” [21:29]
“We feel that consciousness is behind our willed actions, when in fact, there is a lot of neuroscience to suggest that it’s actually the reverse. It’s at the end. That all this processing happens, a decision gets made, and we’re kind of the last to know.” [31:54]
“We have no evidence that consciousness is due to complexity.” [1:00:24]
Near Death Experience: I died and found out why "souls" come to Earth | NDE
(Beyond Death) Sept. 5, 2022. Today's near-death experience (NDE) comes from Jay who describes going through a tunnel as an orb of light and having an in-depth conversation with an angel (Sanskrit deva) about why souls (gandhabbvas) choose rebirth on Earth of all places with all its problems and fast learning.
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I get it. Yeah, this'll work! I've memorized the lists, understood, and I'm ready to start.
.
Don't be too stiff (serious) nor too lax.
Practice with unflinching dedication! If anyone wants to practice Dharma then please try not to think too much.
If we’re meditating and we find ourselves trying to force specific results then it’s better to stop.
When our mind settles and becomes peaceful and we think, "That’s it! That’s it, isn’t it? Is that it?" then stop.
Take all that analytical and theoretical knowledge, wrap it up, and store it away in a locked chest. And don’t drag it out to discuss or teach. That’s not the type of knowledge that penetrates inside. Theory and experience are different types of knowledge.
Ah, this is a much better way to sit and sleep.
When the reality of something is seen, it’s not the same as any written description.
For example, let’s say we write the words "sensual craving." When "sensual craving" actually floods in and overwhelms the heart/mind, it’s impossible that the written word had any ability to convey the meaning of the reality.
It’s the same with the word "anger." We can write the letters on a blackboard, but when we’re actually angry, the experience is different. We can’t read the letters we've written fast enough when the heart becomes engulfed with rage.
You said you wouldn't get angry any more. - STFU!
This is an extremely important point. The theoretical Buddhist teaching is accurate, but it’s essential to bring it into our hearts. It must be internalized.
If the Dharma isn’t brought into the heart, it’s not truly known. It’s not actually seen.
How do I get enlightened?
Relax. Pushing is NOT the way to meditate.
Directly knowing-and-seeing is at the heart of successful Buddhist practice.
Paradoxically, it is accomplished by not thinking too much and not trying too hard. Instead, go easy and keep going.
The Buddha said it very beautifully using the analogy of how he himself crossed the "great flood" samsara to reach the great peace nirvana. They are not the same thing, though it may be useful to think so or tell oneself so.
We already are, in a sense, all we are capable of being, so long as we keep striving in a balanced way because we certainly do not yet realize what we are capable of. See Crossing the Flood.
In another very powerful analogy, the Buddha teaches a lute player that just as he cannot make beautiful music if his strings are either too tight or too loose, so a meditator cannot succeed if s/he is too stiff or too lazy. The secret is balanced effort and persistence.
AUDIO: Balance Spiritual Urgency with Serene Calm
Happiness is not the destination; happiness is the way
This is a very basic beginner's outline of the Four Noble Truths.
Wat Tham Sua, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
When we hear anything about Buddhism in the daily news, we
usually think of it as having a background of huge golden idols and saffron-robed
monastics, with a thick atmosphere of incense smoke.
We never feel that
there is anything in it for us -- except, maybe, an exotic spectacle.
Is that all there is to Buddhism? Does the news photograph the real Buddhism? Do glossy magazines show the
fundamentals or only the externals?
Let's see, then, what Buddhism really is. Buddhism as originally expounded still exists underneath the external
trappings and trimmings.
Though generally regarded as a religion, Buddhism is basically a
method of cultivating the mind. It is true that, with its monastic
tradition and its emphasis on ethics, it possesses many of the
superficial characteristics Westerners associate with religion.
However, it is non-theistic. It affirms that the universe is
governed by impersonal rules (regularities) and not by a creator-god. It has little use
for petitionary prayer, for the Buddha was a great teacher of gods (devas) and humans.
It regards
devotion not as a religious obligation but as a means of expressing
gratitude and as a means of self-development. So it is
not a religion at all from these usual points of view.
Faith or confidence?
Sutra to the Kalamas, Charter of Free Inquiry
Buddhism knows "faith" (saddha) only in the sense of confidence in
the path pointed out by the Buddha. Buddhists are expected to avoid
blind faith, questioning everything.
The Kalama Sutra shows that nothing is true or to be "taken on faith" merely
because someone -- even the Buddha -- says it,
or
because it is written in ancient books,
or because it has been
handed down by tradition,
or because others claim it,
or because it agrees with our biases,
or because of specious reasoning.
One may decide to take the Buddha-Dharma (the Buddha's eightfold path to enlightenment) as a testable hypothesis, having great confidence in it as one investigates to prove it, to directly see for oneself. One is not expected to
accept anything unless it can be verified by direct experience in this very life.
That is not to say that
everything can be demonstrated rationally and intellectually. Many things exist beyond
the scope of intellect and can be cognized (directly known and seen) only by the development
of higher faculties. So Buddhism may seem strictly mystical but, in fact, is experiential.
However one arrives at firm conviction from tentative confidence, the fact remains that there is no need for
blind faith or acceptance of anything in Buddhism.
Buddhism is a way of life based on the training of the mind. Its
ultimate aim is to show the way to complete liberation from
suffering by the attainment of the unconditioned (nirvana), the deathless, a state beyond the
range of the normal untrained mind.
Its immediate aim is to strike at
the roots of suffering in everyday life. More
*Leonard A. Bullen(1909-1984) was one of the pioneers of the Buddhist movement
in Australia. He was the first president of the Buddhist Society of
Victoria when it was established in 1953 and one of the first
office-bearers of the executive committee of the Buddhist Federation of
Australia. He was also a co-editor of the Buddhist journal Metta (BPS).
(TheravadaBlog.de, Sept. 5, 2009) Dhamma blog – Jhana Access or dealing with the arising phenomena whilst accessing the ascending states of jhana (arupa-jhana) [namely, meditative-absorptions beyond the 4th, which are called the "four formless absorptions"].
One thing I would like to mention about the nimittas["signs," objects focused on in deep meditation such as the breath, internal light, kasina-discs], sounds, and other tingling and inspiring experiences found in Jhana Meditation, is the fact that they are hypnotic and induce sukha ["pleasurable sensation," contrasted with dukkhaor unpleasant sensation. This bodily-bliss is usually said to stem from purification as concentration temporarily suppresses the mental defilements].
Although most Western practitioners do not find anything negative about pleasurable experiences, experiences [themselves] are actually not pleasurable or unpleasurable. They are just exper-iences. Instead, it is our creation of mental formations (sankharas) and subsequent sensations (vedana) that arise (become) when our sanya (perception) and vinyana (conscious awareness) of these things come into contact with the object…
Alex Grey discusses his direct experience with a mind expanding, shamanic substance. The drug (an entheogen) in question is the sacramental Ayahuasca -- an Amazon tea brewed from a jungle vine and tree bark.
More than psychedelic and/or hallucinogenic properties, the molecule of consciousness (DMT) it contains is said to have the ability (like ancient manna, soma, amrita, and the divine or immortal nectar) to put one in communication with otherwise unseen beings. Grey claims its effects are those spoken of in Buddhist meditation and enlightenment.
Its serotonergic effects are indeed analogous to those of Prozac and other synthetic pharmaceuticals aimed at rebalancing brain chemistry -- without the toxic side effects of consuming fluoride and other excipients.
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