Last night a public television show talked about how effective meditation was to focus the thought process. The science behind it came from studying brain waves of Buddhist monks. Evidence was readouts of monk brain waves compared to non-meditators. Monk-lines were smooth, gentle waves while non-meditators lines were jagged and jivey. So what I'd like to know: If monks brain waves are so focused, do they think new or better thoughts than the rest of us? I don't recall any smart ideas coming out of monasteries. What kind of tasks do monks use their focused brains for, spinning prayer wheels? Balancing their yins and yangs? If the brain is focused on being thoughtless, is it really a well-functioning brain? Years ago, I decided to try meditation, so I know that it is a fast track to boredom. To be honest, I simply couldn't concentrate on 'oohmmm' without the un-oohmmming part of my brain whispering, “this is a big joke and you fell for it.” And most of my brain remained un-oohmmmed. Come to think of it, those smooth, quiet monk-brain wave readouts might be saying, “pull the plug,he's brain dead.” |
Copyright 1997 - 2010
SalmonRiverPublishing
All rights reserved