Brain Surgery Without Scalpels

10"x10" Mixed Media with Cold wax  "Setting The Inner Compass"

Near the end of September I had the pleasure of doing a weekend retreat with Rick Hanson.  I really like how he marries the Dharma to current brain research.  He even gives it a fancy layer cake kinda name: "applied neurodharma".  I'm all about the applied part of the layer cake.  If our spiritual practice doesn't help us lead increasingly saner lives, then what it's all about?  Can we be a little kinder to that neighbour who seems annoying, a little less reactive and self centred when family needs call? Can we just be quiet and listen more sometimes?

One of the major tenets of Buddhist thought is "there is suffering in this world".  I know people that say Buddhism is "negative" because it focuses on suffering but to quote John Cleese, it's really just stating the "bleeding obvious."  It didn't invent suffering, it just stopped long enough to observe this phenomena.  I used to sit with people in my old Sangha who would say they had no suffering in their lives.  This always made me raise my inner eyebrow.

6"x6" mixed media with cold wax "Following The Dots"

I liked the matter of fact way Hanson defined suffering.  He handled it like this: "Craving causes suffering and what causes craving but states of deficiency and deficit." So when we feel liked we're missing something, that we "need" something we are in a state of suffering, be it mild or intense.  If we're sick and we want to be well, that "wanting" can cause us all kinds of agitation and discomfort. If we want a cup of coffee, that can be a pretty mild form of craving (or not), one we might not even identify as suffering.

He went on to round things up with his trade mark clarity.  As humans we have 3 basic needs.
-the need to feel safe
-the need to feel satisfied
-the need to feel connected.

If these needs are not met we wander into states of deficiency which trail off into states of suffering (not one of the 50 states to the south of me, though it could be present in any of them)

Our need to feel safe relates to the oldest part of our brain, the limbic system and is the part of the brain that's hardest to change.  This is the "fight or flight" part or as Hanson referred to it "the avoidance system" of the brain.  So if you ever wondered why it is so hard to step out of the fear response, it's because this is the hardest part of the brain to change.  Hard to teach an old brain new tricks? Apparently.

This ancient part of the brain spends a lot of time scanning the environment for danger.  While this stirs anxiety and reactivity, we can thank this part of our brain for our basic survival as humans.  Hanson suggested that we spend time reminding ourselves that we are safe in the present moment (if of course this is the truth), noticing and taking in our sense of safety in our home, our car, wherever we may be. When we're feeling safe, we are open to experience feelings of peace.

6"x6" mixed media "Highways That Lead Home"

Our second need as humans is to feel satisfied or accomplished, as opposed to frustrated or disappointed.  This relates to what Hanson called our "approach and reward system". The sub cortex or mammalian part of the brain handles our needs for satisfaction.  Here we are concerned with opportunities for food, for career, for the creative aspirations of our lives.  When these needs are met we feel contented and grateful.

Our third need is to feel connected to others.  You may have read  stories of babies failing to thrive in orphanages because they are deprived of the very basic human need for connection.  Our cortex is the source of our primate need for relationship, inclusion and our need for basic human warmth.  Our need to be seen, liked and appreciated are part of our basic human needs.  This is the part of us that feels love, compassion and kindness in relation to others.  The absence of  feelings of connection are sources of hurt, loneliness, and unworthiness.  We have all experienced these whether real or imagined.

6"x8" mixed media "Pilgrimage To The East"

Hanson talked about green zones and red zones as ways of thinking about these systems.  When our needs are met, we are living in the green zone.  If we feel deficient in any one of these areas we tip over into deficiency and find ourselves in the red zone.

One of the things I found  interesting was how we can deal with the "deficient" states when we find ourselves there.  I think finding our way out of the red zone is often a source of confusion.  If you are feeling deficient in the "need for connection" area of life ie, feeling lonely or left out", it's not hugely helpful to notice that you feel safe, or to work more diligently on your career aspirations.  That may improve things slightly or temporarily, but the real need for love and connection is not being addressed.  This clarity is so helpful when we (or others) are experiencing suffering or feelings of things not being right.  And while a bag of popcorn tastes good, it doesn't really address feelings of unworthiness or feeling left out.   Hanson recommends taking in the good in all areas of these systems, reminding ourselves regularly where in our lives we are safe, accomplished and loved.  Over time we can actually change the structure of our brains by taking in the good in our lives.  And who among us doesn't wish for a new brain sometimes??

Grumbling Mind Meets Grateful Mind

Today I got to look at grumbling mind.  It was not big grumbling, but more a series of little grumbles .... the barking dog, the truck parked across the driveway from the house next door, the cat scratching the couch again and yada yada yada ....

 And by the time I headed out to do the too many errands in too little time I was grumpy for no good reason.  I  added "my grumpiness"  to the list of  what was wrong and then went Bingo! "what IS wrong with this picture?"  As kids we used to hear "it's all in the way you hold your mouth." And as I told my partner this he said maybe it should be "it's all in the way you hold your mind."

As we drove to pick up a cake and birthday gift for my mother on a fine day, in a fine city, where we are both well and want for nothing,  I remembered that in the "Awakening Joy" course  I took last year, Jane Baraz talked about the gratitude journal she keeps.  "I should do that." I said.  It would orient me to look at the good things in my life, rather than the habitual tendency to face in the direction of the small irritations.  It would be a helpful way to build wholesome mind habits rather than just slop into lazy complaining mind.  

There has been lots written about gratitude lately.  Brain researcher and Buddhist practitioner, Rick Hanson (from wisebrain.org) talks about the fact that the mind is inclined to give more attention to the negative .... This apparently is based on our origins as hairless little creatures out on the savannas where we needed to sit up and pay attention to the negative to survive.  The blissful were weeded out in the evolutionary process.  For this reason it takes a concerted turning of the mind toward gratitude to encourage a positive mental outlook.  We need to "grasp our will" as my friend the Zen monk calls it and look up, instead of down.  In Kosho Uchiyama's book that I'm reading called  "Opening the Hand Of Thought" he says, "You should always bear in mind that all sentient beings are suffering. Everyone is fretting about something inside their head.  That is why we practice."  And so as part of this practice I will choose to cultivate a little patch of gratitude.  I have the seeds, right here.  All I need to do is scratch a little place for them in the mental terrain, add a little water and watch for something to sprout.  I can taste the fresh flavour of gratitude already.  What are you grateful for today?

Happiness, what is it, how do I get me some?

Happiness has become a big topic.  Last week there was a full page article about it in the local paper.  I recently found "The Happiness Project" on-line and a flurry of books have been published in the last year or two on the subject.  As a culture it seems we are hungry or at least curious about happiness.  As a practicing human I am no exception.  Last January as a result of a health opportunity and some contemplation I decided to take an on-line course called "Awakening Joy" (which I highly recommend).  It has a Buddhist bend to it and is based on a book called "How We Choose To Be Happy."

I have always regarded myself as "a glass half empty" type, inclined toward seeing what is wrong or missing in a situation.  I thought it was "just me" that's how I am.  One piece of info in the course showed me that I was not alone in my position toward life.  Rick Hanson, a brain researcher gave a fabulous talk (wisebrain.org, his website, shares this info freely) that basically said the mind is more attracted to negative information.  We are hard wired for this.  In our former lives as hairless little creatures out on the savannahs it was important to our survival to pay attention to the negative.  So what I had taken as a personal short coming and solidified into "a me" that I didn't much care for was simply a human characteristic. There it is, a curse and blessing all rolled into one!

The next piece of info that seemed important was on the neuroplasticity of the brain.  In Buddhist thought I was familiar with the idea of "habitual tendencies", those behaviours that we repeatedly engage in during this lifetime and if you care to believe, over many life times.  Some of these behaviours are keepers, wholesome or neutral things we do, but others disturb ourselves and others.  In the world of brain research these habitual tendencies are physically manifested as neural pathways that are built and reinforced by repeated behaviour....little dirt roads in the brain where we deepen the ruts each time we drive our beat up old neural pick-up trucks over them.  New brain research shows that we can build new neural pathways by changing our behaviour and weaken the old roads by abandoning them.  This contradicts the former belief that our "set point for happiness" was fixed and reinforced the sentiment that I am just a negative sort so why bother with the hard work of trying to be different.

I have been rambling along here and haven't even approached the question of what is happiness or joy?  What does it mean to me, to you?  If you've read this far maybe you'd like to share your thoughts on the subject.  For me (as in the Matthieu Ricard Youtube video recently posted on fluxlife about happiness) I would separate happiness from pleasure.  There is nothing wrong with a little pleasure, don't get me wrong, but it is not sustaining in any way.  Your spouse leaves you, your child dies, how far does a piece of chocolate cake go?  

At the beginning of my 12 month course on joy I thought of it as something really upbeat or perky, almost manic.  But as time went on I had the opportunity to contemplate and practice what was presented.  I came to see happiness as something quieter, more sedate.  For me I began to notice the bodily sense of relaxation (as opposed to tension and holding) that was associated with a sense of happiness.  It was a sense of relaxing into my life, trying to remember as much as I could that everything is okay in this very moment.  I don't need to get anywhere, rush through this task so I can get on to the next one on my list.  I just need to be here in this moment as much as I can and really experience it, its taste, its texture.  I need to remember that I live in a friendly universe, that no matter what is happening in this moment, that it is all for my good (my Zen teacher would call this faith).  If I can remember to be generous, compassionate and grateful then I am cultivating the habits of mind that bring happiness.  

So while it all seems like a tall order, it also seems to me like one worth working toward.  And because I frequently fall off the top of the tall order and find myself bruised and banged I have learned I need to extend some compassion toward myself.  Now that was a big lesson! Otherwise happiness just becomes another thing I cling to, that I extend my tentacles of desire toward, another subtle form of aggression I use against myself and others.  So let me be off in my bright orange and green neural pick-up truck, on my journey of building new pathways.  There are miles and miles to build before I sleep (Robert Frost said that, right?)  May you be happy!

This painting called "The Three Treasures" looks happy to me, don't you think, in it's brightness and playfulness?  It is a mixed media piece with the three Buddha images cut from different types of paper.  Shades of pink and green acrylics are layered on with some texture and scratching going on.  The three treasures are of course, the Buddha (representing all enlightened ones), the Dharma (the teachings that help us on our path), and the Sangha (like minded practitioners that support us on the path).  This painting is sold but other Buddha paintings can be found at my etsy shop.  (oh, oh, a moment of shameless shilling!)