Stifling the startle reflex (almost)

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• Stifling the startle reflex (almost)
• VOLUME 1 : 元曉 WONHYO: SELECTED WORKS
• VOLUME 2: 知訥 CHINUL SELECTED WORKS
• VOLUME 3: 休靜 HYUJEONG: SELECTED WORKS
• VOLUME 4: 華嚴 HWAŎM I: THE MAINSTREAM TRADITION
• VOLUME 5: 華嚴 HWAŎM II: SELECTED WORKS
• VOLUME 6: 諸敎學 DOCTRINAL TREATISES: SELECTED WORKS
• VOLUME 7-1: 公案集 GONGAN COLLECTIONS I
• VOLUME 7-2: 公案集 GONGAN COLLECTIONS II
• VOLUME 8: 禪語錄 SEON DIALOGUES
• VOLUME 10: 文化 KOREAN BUDDHIST CULTURE: ACCOUNTS OF A PILGRIMAGE, MONUMENTS, AND EMINENT MONKS
• VOLUME 11: 梵網經古迹記 EXPOSITION OF THE SUTRA OF BRAHMĀ’S NET
• Publication Information
• Preface to the English Edition of The Collected Works of Korean Buddhist
• VOLUME 12: 韓國高僧碑文 ANTHOLOGY OF STELE INSCRIPTIONS OF EMINENT KOREAN BUDDHIST MONKS
• The Buddhist Geeks Conference: New ways to engage the world
• FPMT teacher Geshe Tsering dies
• Cultural misunderstanding nearly lands tourists in Sri Lankan prison

Stifling the startle reflex (almost) Posted: 23 Aug 2012 09:00 AM PDT When humans are startled, we flinch, we shut our eyes, and our hearts start beating faster. It's an automatic response that's nearly impossible to suppress — unless, maybe, you're meditating. There's an oft-repeated anecdote about an experiment conducted with Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard. During meditation, he responded quite differently than most people would to a sudden loud noise. While Ricard sat in a room and meditated, researchers set off a 115-decibel burst of noise, equivalent to a gunshot. It was loud, but as the story goes, Ricard didn't notice — well, almost. Many reports that have circulated about the study say Ricard was able to completely suppress the facial muscle movement that people always show after being startled. But, as Tom Bartlett points out in a blog post at the Chronicle of Higher Education, the truth isn't quite that dramatic. While Ricard was sitting in meditation, Bartlett explains, the muscles in his face did react to the sound, though not as much as other test subjects' did, and not as much as Ricard's did when he wasn't meditating. The experiment was performed ten years ago, but the study, titled "Meditation and the startle response: a case study," wasn't published until this summer. But in that decade, some of the study's findings have been reported and sometimes exaggerated. The exaggerations, Bartlett explains, came from remarks made by Paul Ekman, one of the study's authors and an expert on the relationships between emotions and facial expressions. Ekman said that he couldn't see the startle response, and he thinks people misinterpreted this to mean that because Ekman couldn't see it, Ricard had completely eliminated it. Still, that doesn't mean Ricard's reaction — or relative lack of one — isn't impressive. As the Shambhala Sun's Barry Boyce explains in "Two Sciences of Mind": Ekman also decided to test whether Ricard could alter the startle reflex, the physiological response to a sudden loud noise. Following standard procedure, the researchers told the subject that they would count down from ten to one, at which point a loud noise would go off, the equivalent of a pistol fired near one's ear. "I documented that Matthieu was able to focus his attention using a meditative practice so as to minimize any sign he had been startled," Ekman says. He told the Dalai Lama, "I thought it was an enormous long shot that anyone could choose to prevent this very primitive, very fast reflex." See also: Why Meditate? — Matthieu Ricard answers everyone's first questions. Why Can't 'I' Be Happy? — Ricard says happiness is only possible after we understand a fundamental mistake. Survival of the Kindest — Paul Ekman explains Charles Darwin's real view of compassion, and it's not what you might think. Read More @ Source

VOLUME 1 : 元曉 WONHYO: SELECTED WORKS Posted: 23 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 2: 知訥 CHINUL SELECTED WORKS Posted: 23 Aug 2012 03:00 AM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 3: 休靜 HYUJEONG: SELECTED WORKS Posted: 23 Aug 2012 02:00 AM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 4: 華嚴 HWAŎM I: THE MAINSTREAM TRADITION Posted: 23 Aug 2012 01:00 AM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 5: 華嚴 HWAŎM II: SELECTED WORKS Posted: 23 Aug 2012 12:00 AM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 6: 諸敎學 DOCTRINAL TREATISES: SELECTED WORKS Posted: 22 Aug 2012 11:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 7-1: 公案集 GONGAN COLLECTIONS I Posted: 22 Aug 2012 10:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 7-2: 公案集 GONGAN COLLECTIONS II Posted: 22 Aug 2012 09:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 8: 禪語錄 SEON DIALOGUES Posted: 22 Aug 2012 08:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 10: 文化 KOREAN BUDDHIST CULTURE: ACCOUNTS OF A PILGRIMAGE, MONUMENTS, AND EMINENT MONKS Posted: 22 Aug 2012 07:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 11: 梵網經古迹記 EXPOSITION OF THE SUTRA OF BRAHMĀ’S NET Posted: 22 Aug 2012 06:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

Publication Information Posted: 22 Aug 2012 05:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

Preface to the English Edition of The Collected Works of Korean Buddhist Posted: 22 Aug 2012 04:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

VOLUME 12: 韓國高僧碑文 ANTHOLOGY OF STELE INSCRIPTIONS OF EMINENT KOREAN BUDDHIST MONKS Posted: 22 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT Read More @ Source

The Buddhist Geeks Conference: New ways to engage the world Posted: 22 Aug 2012 02:00 PM PDT The second annual Buddhist Geeks Conference, all about the intersection of Buddhism, culture and technology, happened this month in Colorado, and Jampal Namgyel was there. Here's his report about what he saw there. Ping, bleep, ding, swoosh. These were some of the many sounds audible at the second international Buddhist Geeks conference, where a variety of small bright screens illuminated the room. At the University of Colorado at Boulder, participants, designers, philosophers, and programmers gathered to discuss Buddhist philosophy, and its place in the modern world. The conference hall resembled a dimly lit Apple Store. All around the room and above the stage were HD cameras, video streamers, speakers, projectors, soundboards, and an assortment of MacBooks streaming video, tweeting presentation quotes, and projecting slides overhead. Even the audience was armed to the teeth with the latest in digital tech, and there was never an announcement asking them to turn off their phones. Speakers from around world, including Lama Surya Das, author Stephen Batchelor, and scientists and meditation leaders from a variety of backgrounds, gave presentations and led discussion panels. Most of the presentations focused on innovations in presenting the dharma to a "modern" western world, as well as the study and analysis of meditation and dharma's effect on the brain. One presentation, led by Willoughby Britton, summarized the ongoing struggle in the study of meditation and its effect on the brain through purely scientific research. In most cases, any observation of meditation's effect on the brain is limited due to a lack of consensus on what meditation actually is. "I hate to be a buzzkill," she said, "but it looks like science is not making any progress, and has no idea what they were talking about." Britton's presentation also included an array of charts, portraying conventional approaches to the benefit of meditation. The charts were intriguing, since many displayed progress in meditation with a gradual increase as if charting population growth. She spoke of the need for scientist to become more integrated in the practice of meditation, rather than just its analysis. She also spoke of the development of the Mind and Life Institute, which focuses on scientific discovery, as well as personal experience through practice and study. Several other speakers advocated the integration of science and meditation, and the use of technology like YouTube and Twitter to spread teachings and support practice on a worldwide scale. One speaker commented that "by mapping traditions, we hope to use more universal language, rather than traditional, value-laden, and religious language." It was around this time that the word "geek" began to separate itself from "Buddhism." The value of traditional language and teaching methods were called into question as progressive innovation and secular availability began to dominate the presentations and group discussions. Although some speakers, such as philosopher David Loy, warned about throwing the baby out with the bath water, most seemed dismissive towards the structure and language of traditional Buddhism. "A Buddhist center's mission is to spread the dharma," said Rohan Gunatillake. "But all they are really doing, from a business model, is preserving a building." His comment further indicated a disassociation with traditional dharma, and particularly dharma centers, where meditators can find places to practice in solitude or with the support of a spiritual community. Even the titles from both group discussions held during the conference, hinted at a kind of secular annexation. "Reinventing Buddhism," and "Do-It-Yourself Buddhism" seemed less about the buddhadharma, and more about self-empowerment and independence to find one's own dharma. The self-empowerment revolution reached its peak at the end of the conference during author Stephen Batchelor's final presentation. He elucidated his controversial views on the dharma in an eloquent, insightful, and provocative speech. As he understands it, he explained, the dharma "is a body of impersonal practices and teachings, remained over time and managed in a different set or organization." The speech seemed to consider dharma teachings to be less of a guide than as raw material ready to be reshaped by whoever was willing to examine it close enough. Any form of traditional Buddhism or dharma preserved through tradition, in his opinion, was less functional than what he called an "organic" dharma; subject to ones own understanding and engagement. "The only things we preserve are already dead." At this point, tweets from the conference snowballed as Batchelor concluded with his own revision of the teaching on the Four Noble Truths. Despite the general exodus from tradition to modernity, the conference was able to maintain the same core values of selflessness and introspection. Speakers continuously encouraged new ways of worldly engagement and service beyond the meditation cushion. "When we talk about the transformation which Buddhism facilitates," said Loy during a group discussion panel. "Its not just about self-help. It's about finding that there is no difference between self and other." Throughout the conference, participants and guests alike spoke and debated on new ways to engage the world. Conversations ranged all across the motherboard, from environmental engagement, activism, and relating to natural resources to compassion in the work place and responsibility and morality in corporate business. There were discussions on finding dharma teachers, Buddhist art and innovative technology, and for each subject, dozens of new ideas were formed for engaging in the world. "We may not find an answer," said one participant during a break, "But we do gain clarity." In the end, listeners from the audience walked away commenting on how inspired they were by the conference's progressive encouragement, and on their eagerness to become more engaged in whatever way they could, with their own lives, with their communities, and with the world. Dungse Jampal Norbu Namgyel is the son of Dzigar Kongtrul Namgyel and Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel. Through his life, he's traveled extensively through Asia, but spent much of his time in Crestone, Colorado. He recently completed a five-year course of study at the Guna Institute in India to uphold Kongtrul Rinpoche's lineage in the West, and embarked on a North American teaching tour this summer. He's also an avid photographer — you can view his work here. You can watch video of the Buddhist Geeks conference here. And for lots more from Buddhist Geeks, visit their website. Read More @ Source

FPMT teacher Geshe Tsering dies Posted: 22 Aug 2012 01:00 PM PDT Geshe Tsering, a teacher and the half-brother of Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition founder Lama Yeshe, has died. The Tushita Meditation Center in India, where Geshe Tsering lived for 30 years, announced that he died on August 16 in Nepal. Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, where he had been living since 2010, issued a statement about his death, explaining that his health had been in decline for several months. "Geshe la came to India after the Chinese invasion of Tibet," the statment said, in part. "He spent many years at Sera Monastery, where he received his Geshe degree. He spent some years teaching the monks at Kopan, till he went to Tushita, Dharamsala, where he stayed for many years, helping with the regular pujas and giving teachings and advice to the Western students." You can read the full statement here. Read More @ Source

Cultural misunderstanding nearly lands tourists in Sri Lankan prison Posted: 22 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT If you find yourselves visiting Sri Lanka at some point in the future and don't know much about Sri Lankan culture, be sure to not smooch any Buddha statues while you're there. Three French citizens nearly found themselves doing 6 months in prison with hard labor for taking photos of themselves posing with Buddha statues and pretending to kiss one. The images were discovered when the tourists went to have their photos developed at a local photo lab, and a lab employee then notified authorities. The tourists were given suspended sentences, so they will do no jail time. (Photo by Tania Saiz via Flickr using a CC-BY license.) Read More @ Source

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