In the evening attended a meditation and dharma talk. The talk was one more of question and answer and I focused on an answer to one question in which Chuladasa , the teacher, said that in order to meditate more deeply it is helpful to observe those experiences that allow the mind to best more at ease,happy, and in repose and to associate that with other experiences in the mind to let go into those states rather than do as much randomly.
The next morning I tried that. Rick Hansen has written a book :"Buddha's Brain", that I am reading and in it he describes that effects of some of the hormones that the body produces. One of them is oxytocin which is associated with the sate of happiness and well-being in the body.
So associating the state of well being with oxytocin and the state of flight or flight with adrenalin I began several hours of meditation observing how when the mind became calm and restful and happy that I defined that as the state of being under the influence of oxytocin and as I observed in the meditation that other hormones would emerge.
I had a big hint of the adrenalin effect when I was talking to Prima Amiga on the phone and she became scared because their was a strange shape at her door and the electricity had failed and night had fallen.
WHen I heard the beginning of panic in her voice I felt a flood of adrenaline wanting to do something immediately, interesting since we were 3000 miles apart but that has nothing to do with physiology . My body was set to jump into action. It was primeval and intense. It turned out in was a friend of hers who came earlier than expected but the sound of PA's voice on initial hearing set me up for a flight or fight response.
Having a strong insight into those two hormones activated in the body, I meditated and realized that that adrenalin is also present when I am excited and that I have consistently conflated excitement and happiness. The two hormones act together in the system. By meditating I can tease out the effect of each individually. My relaxing the body and letting go of the adrenalin the mind became very calm and serene. By allowing the oxytocin to continue to flood in great satisfaction and well being emerged.
This seems to be a state of shamatha meditation in which the mind is intensely alert and the body is deeply relaxed and that the two are balanced.
After several hours of meditation I started my return to Phoenix stoping by the Catalina mountain state park for a walk in a beautiful desert park that I had never been to. As I was hiking into the park someone had a beautiful little Welsh Corgi which looked a great deal like my little Corgi named Foo, whom I still miss.
One of the most unusual things that saw was a prickly pear cactus growing out of a notch in a mesquite tree.
On the way home listened to SHinzen on Cd's and he diverted into the subject of the
Korteweg-de Vries equation. Called B , my nephew and we got into a long conversation about the equation and how it relates to some of the meditations that I am doing. Also got into the subject of using models to create more encompassing understandings.
My hypothesis is that meditation of the oxytocin enhancement will strengthen the immune system since it pours hormones that are nurturing and relaxing into the system combating some of the effects of stress and adrenalin
Prima Amiga seems to believe that I am over thinking this but is encouraging none the less.
Today I am getting the house rugs put back as I had the carpets cleaned right before I left and let them dry while I was gone. Then there is a four hour phone conference that SHinzen is giving. I like the idea but my ell phone is going to be a pain to hold for tat long. I comes over tonight for pizza and then more tomorrow.
The comic relief for the day came from my niece S who in trying to get her new car registered in Ohio discovered that the Dept. of Motor Vehicles needed to have written proof that she was a female. Always wondered about her.
No comments:
Post a Comment