Siddhartha’s Brain — an in-depth review (part 2)
Golden Slippers
In this chapter the author focuses on mental health issues. A recent study described here shows that people prefer pain (even self inflicted electric shocks in the experiment) to sitting still. The wandering mind which lights up the ‘default mode network’ is shown to be responsible to cause depression, anxiety, rumination etc. I agree with the conclusions of the study based on my own personal experiences. Self referential thinking which during challenging phases of life manifests itself as self-pity which is a downward spiral. The mind, I have seen is able to link seemingly unrelated events and is able to come up with a narrative that evokes the feelings of low self-worth, and the ‘why is it always me?’ , ‘Nobody likes me’ thinking. An example could be automobile accidents. Everyday in any major city in the world there is at least one automobile incident with some of them being painfully tragic. Nevertheless, when these events are reported by media, I, like most others paid little attention. But, when I personally got into an accident, I sensed this enormous wave of self-pity. ‘Why me?’ thinking. Although I am not an advanced practitioner by any means, the small amount of awareness about the nature of my thoughts was immensely helpful in helping me tide over those difficult times. Instead of ‘self-pity’ I am filled with a sense of boundless gratefulness to the innumerable kind people who helped me. I now see it as an opportunity to witness ‘human kindness’ — the most beautiful thing in the world in my opinion.
This chapter deals with the precursors and the origins of the so called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy or MBCT. The author cites several studies where feelings of ‘self-pity’ are now replaced by ‘self-compassion’. I could sense that the razor of scientific skepticism is unusually sharp to dissect studies that may have some basis in ‘eastern philosophy’. The author goes on to quote several ongoing scientific studies to further understand the benefits of this practice. The chapter ends with a ‘how to’ section on meditation. I personally feel that it is better to learn the technique from a practicing teacher rather than from a book. I think learning from a teacher can be inspiring and a good teacher can offer a more personalized approach that is well suited for one’s personality rather than a generic technique that could be incompatible to the student’s personality and thus hinder practice and progression.
Fire Worshipers
This chapter deals specifically with addictions and the role of mindfulness based therapies to alleviate them. Addictions can take several forms. From the seemingly innocent addiction to Coffee right up to extremely debilitating hard drugs. Addictions need not be chemicals even, they could also be things like gambling, gaming, shopping, plastic surgery etc. The brain regions within the ‘default mode network’ are seen to play a significant role in addiction. The author cites several studies that show that MBCT techniques show a very high rate of success in combating addiction.
‘Desire is the root of all evil’ is one of the most famous quote attributed to the Buddha. This is usually the most common area that critics attack first. ‘Isn’t achieving Nirvana a desire too?’ they ask. I believe this is a misunderstanding. The teachings of the Buddha are referred to as the ‘middle path’ with none of the extreme torment and self-deprivations of the ascetic orders nor the other extremes of epicurean indulgences. The path to Nirvana is in being able to recognize when one is caught up in the cycle of craving, gratification and withdrawal. It is in seeing the futility and helplessness of being in such a state and being able to come out of it through one’s own efforts.
A Drunk Elephant
This chapter begins with the well-known story of how the Buddha calms an elephant that goes on rampage. The author uses this story as an analogy to describe the unruly mind. In ancient India, the elephant can be used for constructive purposes like building temples, logging wood etc. and also as an instrument of war where it can go on a destructive uncontrolled rampage. Similarly, the mind that is emotionally balanced can be productive while the unbalanced mind can be destructive to oneself and others.
Initially I had misunderstood non-reaction to emotional stimuli as simply ignoring them and keeping my mind numb. It is only much later that I realized that it is the opposite of ignoring emotions, especially the negative ones. The practice of mediation helps to accept and understand those emotions with an attitude of curiousness and realize the impermanence of the sensations caused by such emotions.
The author goes on to cite studies that have shown that meditation results in greater grey matter density in the hippocampus — An area of the brain known to play an important role in emotional regulation. Studies show the opposite phenomenon in patients with PTSD, depression where this region has shrunk relatively. The Author also cites studies that show heightened immunity response in the test group compared to a control group. I found this fascinating.
The rest of the chapter deals with the topic of Compassion. The author cites the Buddhist canon and also modern studies that shed light on the seemingly ‘un-scientific’ term like compassion.
I believe compassion is something that is to be practiced to be directed towards others and also towards oneself. Compassion is the basis for mindfulness meditation as it is essential for acceptance. I took a long while to appreciate the huge difference between self-compassion and self-pity. This may be a whole topic in itself which I hope to write about in the future, but, in short, self-pity is negative, backward looking and prevents one from moving forward, while self-compassion is accepting, understanding and looking forward with hope.
The Fall
This chapter talks about the paradox of mental illness and evolution. It is generally accepted that a particular trait that is detrimental towards survival and reproduction should eventually be weeded out from a population. But, it is observed that mental illnesses have continued to be part of the human species. The author offers two theories, the ‘balancing selection’ and ‘Cliff-edge hypothesis’. The former is explained through the example of sickle cell anemia and malaria resistance and the latter through several other examples.
The most interesting example that is presented in this chapter according to me is about the mirror neurons-language-mental illness. Mirror-neurons are known to help us in forming the ‘theory of the mind’(the ability to understand how others feel) and self-referential thoughts. These neurons are also observed in other primates as well. Most importantly these neurons are essential for linguistic capability. Language is one of the fundamental trait that enabled the rise of the humans. This came at a cost.
The author cites several studies that show a strong link between impairment in these regions of the brain in causing Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The author cheekily opines that being good at numbers leads to a happier life than being good at language (based on a scientific study of course)
Wonderful and Marvelous
This chapter is a sort of a continuation of the previous chapter. In the previous chapter the problem statement was brought out and in this chapter the effects of mediation on alleviating them are described.
The author tells the story from the life of Buddha where the Buddha tells his followers that the biggest miracle is the miracle of being able to watch one’s own mind, also known as metacognition. The Author cites studies that describe various regions of the brain that are responsible for metacognition. I found the Brodman area 10(found only in primates and the size is proportional to the social group size of a primate specie) to be particularly interesting. The analogy of the railway switch that explains the ‘gateway hypothesis’ is ingenious.
The mind can broadly have one of the two networks on at a given time. One is the ‘default mode network’ which is responsible for imagination, memory, mental time-travel etc. The other is the ‘task positive network’ which is responsible for being in the present, reality etc. The Brodman area 10 acts as a switch between these two modes. Brain scans of seasoned meditators show an age defying vigor in this area. Any structural faults in this area show up as mental illnesses like Schizophrenia . I try to understand this as an imaginary train of memory that runs onto the tracks of reality due to a faulty switch (I love trains).
The next section of the chapter goes on to talk about the insula, its association with the sensation of being alive, the effects of meditation and drugs on this area of the brain etc. This is a fairly technical section. The author ends this section with the description of the Jhanas as described by the Buddha. This is a topic of interest to me and would like to write about in the future. In short however, I have experienced the first Jhana through my practice. It is a heightened sense of awareness, pleasantness and contentment.
The practice of mediation allows us to move from being caught up in ones own thoughts and feelings to coming out of them and viewing them without reacting. i.e. moving from saying ‘I am frustrated’ to saying ‘There is frustration’. The chapter ends with the description of dreams where our metacognition related brain areas are less active than the ‘default mode network’. I could relate to this based on personal experiences. During dreams, I hardly question anything, however absurd the experiences might me. I am so caught up that I accept everything as ‘real’. I often wake up and laugh at myself for being so worked-up. It was a dream after-all.
“If you don’t have mindfulness your whole life will be like a dream” — Thich Nhat Hanh (from The Heart of the Buddha’s teaching)
Mind Mirrors
In this penultimate chapter the author summarizes the current state of research on the subject of meditation and mindfulness based studies. The author talks about the limitations of the studies along with potential new areas of research.
One such area that I am interested in is the preventative benefits of meditation in protecting practitioners from not only mental illnesses but also old age related mental diseases like Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc. I agree with the author’s speculation that in the future meditation might be seen as a form of an exercise that is prescribed by modern medicine.
In this chapter, the slight discontent of a monk whom the author is interviewing is described. The monk points out that the western perception of mindfulness based techniques are only a small part of the complete teachings of the Buddha.
I personally believe that the western understanding of mediation as a means to a more productive self for the ends of increasing success in a materialistic and competitive sense is a misunderstanding. The teachings of the Buddha were to alleviate suffering and not just make one feel good. I am hopeful just like the monk that further research will find evidence of the benefits of practicing the complete teachings.
The Deathless Realm
In this last chapter the author talks about the karmic cycle and Nirvana. I felt that the author’s attempts to explain the complete philosophy along with providing historical contexts (Emperor Ashoka) were incomplete and understandably so. This is a vast subject and I think the author did as much as it is possible to summarize this vast subject within the space of a single chapter.
I really appreciate the sense of gratefulness the author alludes to in the chapter towards all the countless people that have worked to enable us to receive this teaching along with all the comforts of modern life.
Conclusion
I see this book as a node that connects to other sources of information for research on this subject for an interested reader. It has over 400 citations. I feel the need to dive deeper into certain concepts that were mentioned in the book at greater depth. These I would like to write about in the future.
