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Serenity Now
UW Professor's Research Includes Studying Brain Waves Of The Peerlessly
Tranquil Dalai Lama And Other Buddhist Monks.
The search for happiness can take many paths. For example, you might fly
Buddhist monks and teachers from India and Nepal to UW-Madison so you can watch
the electrical impulses inside their brains while they meditate. At least, that's what Richard Davidson has done. The science superstar will present "Be Happy Like a Monk," an overview of his
ground-breaking research into the nature of happiness, at the Overture Center
for the Arts this evening. "In this culture we don't take our minds as seriously as they are taken in
other cultures," says Davidson, a professor of psychology and psychiatry. "It's
my belief that the emotional mind shouldn't be treated any differently than
other components of the mind, or the body."
The leader of Tibetan Buddhism, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, wrote an
article for The New York Times after visiting Davidson's labs. The Dalai Lama
also collaborated with Davidson and co-editor Anne Harrington for their 2001
book, "Visions of Compassion: Western Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine
Human Nature," published by Oxford University Press. We can have the same serenity for which Buddhists are popularly renowned,
says Davidson. "Happiness can be thought of as a skill that can be learned in a way that is
not dissimilar from learning a musical instrument or athletic skill. If you
practice, you will get better at it," he says. But, he adds, "To produce the kinds of changes that people really yearn for
requires work and training." A little background on Buddhism and the Dalai Lama: Siddhattha Gautama
founded Buddhism in India around 580 B.C., following extensive travel and study.
He became Buddha, "the enlightened one," after he received a series of visions
during three days of intense meditation. (The Deer Park Buddhist Center in
Oregon is named after Gautama's own religious settlement at Benares). Gautama's fundamental teaching, wrote H.G. Wells, "is clear and simple and in
the closest harmony with modern ideas. It is beyond all dispute the achievement
of one of the most penetrating intelligences the world has ever known."
Buddhism grew to take many forms; the Dalai Lama leads just one branch. The
religion strives to overcome three principal forms of craving in the individual
-- for sensuality, prosperity and personal immortality -- in part through "right
mindfulness" and "right composure," two sign posts on "The Eightfold Path" that
emphasize awareness, concentration and consideration. In other words,
meditation. Tests here of visiting Buddhists show that "there are some rather profound
changes in the brain that occur with this purely mental exercise," Davidson
says. In "Visions of Compassion," Davidson and co-editor Harrington identify three
steps to Buddhist meditation. The first is relaxation, with an emphasis on
breathing. Davidson suggests that we can all benefit from a form of this. "If we have a moment in our day when we're not otherwise engaged, we can come
back to our breath, since it's always there, and just pay attention to a few
breaths and use that to center ourselves," he says. The next step is attentional stability, focusing on a real or imaginary
object. The third step is attentional clarity, during which the object is
envisioned with increasing vividness. During Buddhists' meditation, "we don't know if they're changing the
structure of the brain, though it's our hunch that they do," says Davidson. "But
they do change the function of the brain over time, in a rather enduring way. So
that kind of evidence suggests that these changes really do persist in a way
that infuses everyday life with certain qualities that are cultivated by the
meditation." For some automatic emotional responses, Davidson says, meditation may be more
effective than Western psychology and psychiatry's cognitive therapy. In an eight-week UW study of non-Buddhists given meditation training,
magnetic resonance imaging and other testing revealed changes, some lasting four
months: 50 percent more electrical activity in the left frontal regions of the
brain, associated with positive emotions and anxiety reduction, and an increase
in antibodies of as much as 25 percent. "There are some detectable changes after even a week of training," Davidson
says. He also notes that Buddhist-style meditation is not the only route to
happiness. There are other faiths, and other contemplative paths to "right
mindfulness." "Many different traditions call upon many similar basic mechanisms to call
upon these effects," says Davidson. "I do believe there is something quite
generic about this. "I think the most important thing for the individual is to find the path that
he or she feels most comfortable with, and which is most appropriate."
If you go * What: "Be Happy Like a Monk," the debut of the Wisconsin Academy of
Sciences, Arts and Letters' "Academy Evenings" monthly series, which is open to
the public. A sign language interpreter will be provided, and jazz musician Ben
Sidran will provide opening words. * When: 7 to 9 tonight. * Where: Wisconsin Studio of the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St.
* Cost: Free. * Information: www.wisconsinacademy.org or 263-1692. |
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