8 aug2012the science of meditation

Enlightened Wisdom for a Better Life

The Science of Meditation


(August 4, 2003 | Vol. 162)

“Scientists study it. Doctors recommend it. Millions of Americans--many of whom don't even own crystals--practice it every day. Why……?

Because …… Meditation works”


Modern scientific techniques and instruments, such as fMRI and

EEG , have been used to see what happens in the body of people when they meditate and its effects in the

long run.


These studies have shown substantial growth in regions of

the brain involved with compassion and understanding

others.


The brain waves of meditators show why they're healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before.

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Happy Brain


Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is Professor of Medicine and founding director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.


Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn received his Ph.D. in molecular biology in 1971 from MIT where he studied under Salvador Luria, Nobel Laureate in medicine. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with those of Western science.


Meditation in many well-known organizations such as Google, Microsoft and Ford Motor.


For the benefits of meditation to become widely accessible to humanity, it cannot just be the domain of bald people in funny robes living in mountains, or small groups of New Age folks in San Francisco. Meditation needs to become "real." It needs to align with the lives and interests of real people.—from Search Inside Yourself


Early Google engineer and personal growth pioneer Chade-Meng Tan first designed Search Inside Yourself as a popular course at Google intended to transform the work and lives of the best and brightest behind one of the most innovative, successful, and profitable businesses in the world


Blaise Pabon, an enterprise sales engineer, said “The amenities are seductive but when you get to a place like this, it can tear you apart if you don’t find a way to handle the hard-driving culture.”


Little wonder, then, that among the hundreds of free classes that Google offers to employees here, one of the most popular is called S.I.Y., for “Search Inside Yourself.”

It is the brainchild of Chade-Meng Tan, 41, a tall, thin, soft-spoken engineer who arrived at Google in 2000 as Employee No. 107.



Think of S.I.Y. as the Zen of Google. Mr. Tan dreamed up the course and refined it with the help of nine experts in the use of mindfulness at work.


If it sounds a bit touchy-feely, consider this: More than 1,000 Google employees have taken the class, and there’s a waiting list of 30 when it’s offered, four times a year. The class accepts 60 people and runs seven weeks.


“Business is a machine made out of people,” says Bill Duane, an engineer in rockabilly spectacles who works in site reliability, helping to ensure that Gmail works smoothly.


“If you have people, you have problems. You can have friction between them or smoothness.”


Mr. Duane took S.I.Y. four years ago and considers it as sort of a necessary lubricant between driven, ambitious employees and

Google’s demanding corporate culture.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created the problems.”

Albert Einstein



Why “Steve Jobs” is regarded as one of the greatest CEOs of the

Century?


In August 2011, right before he stepped down as CEO, Apple

become the world’s most valuable company with the

market capitalization more than $350 Billion.


He revolutionized six industries 1) Personal Computer


2) Animated Movies


3) Music


4) Phones


5) Tablet Computer


6) Application Store


“Why did Steve Jobs go to India?”


—In early 1970s, his friend, Robert Friedland, who had gone to India the summer before was

urging Jobs to take his own spiritual journey there.


Jobs said “For me it was a serious search, I’d been turned on to the idea of enlightenment and trying to figure

out who I was and how I fit into things.” Jobs actually spent seven

months in India.


What did Jobs discover in India

Trip?


Jobs said “The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead, and their intuition is far

more developed than in the rest of the world.”


“Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion, That’s had a big impact on

my work.”


Coming back after seven months in Indian villages, I saw the craziness of

the Western world as well as its capacity for rational thought, If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your

mind is.


If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to

hear more subtle things—that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly

and be in the present more.


Your mind just slow down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the

moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s discipline;

you have to practice it.


What did Jobs discover in India

Trip?


Steve Jobs discovered “Inner Peace and

Intuition”


“Buddhist teachings are not a religion, They are a Science of the mind”- The Dalai Lama


It is not a big deal about your religion

“ I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not. What really are important, are our behaviors in front of our peers, family, work, community, and in front of the worldRemember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts”


“ Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words.Take care of your Words because they will become Actions.Take care of your Actions because they will become Habits.Take care of your Habits because they will form your Character.Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny,and your destiny will be your Life. ”

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Meditation for students

Meditation for children


Meditation for working people


Meditation for senior citizens

Meditation for sick people


USA

The Middle Way meditation in various continents in the world


England


Denmark


Mongolia


Australia


Dubai, UAE


South Africa


Next Week’s Topic“ Meditation not

Medication: The New Treatment for Modern

Day Illness”


Next Week’s Teaching MonkVen. Pawithai graduated from Chiang Mai Medical School in 1991. Beginning in 1997, he traveled throughout Europe to establish meditation centers in various cities. He later received a Bachelor's degree in Educational Sciences, Master's degree in Occupational Sciences, and Doctoral degree in Medical Sciences from the Université Louis Pasteur in France. In 2008, he ordained as a monk. Currently, Director of the Power of Peace (POP) House Retreat Center.

8 aug2012the science of meditation

Health & Medicine