Mindfulness meditation: Lotus therapy

[bananas]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/27/healthscience/27budd.php

Mindfulness meditation: Lotus therapy

By Benedict Carey
Published: May 27, 2008

<snip>

This exercise in focused awareness and mental catch-and-release of emotions has become perhaps the most popular new psychotherapy technique of the past decade. Mindfulness meditation, as it is called, is rooted in the teachings of a fifth-century BC Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. It is catching the attention of talk therapists of all stripes, including academic researchers, Freudian analysts in private practice and skeptics who see all the hallmarks of another fad.

For years, psychotherapists have worked to relieve suffering by reframing the content of patients' thoughts, directly altering behavior or helping people gain insight into the subconscious sources of their despair and anxiety. The promise of mindfulness meditation is that it can help patients endure flash floods of emotion during the therapeutic process — and ultimately alter reactions to daily experience at a level that words cannot reach. "The interest in this has just taken off," said Zindel Segal, a psychologist at the Center of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, where the above group therapy session was taped. "And I think a big part of it is that more and more therapists are practicing some form of contemplation themselves and want to bring that into therapy."

At workshops and conferences across the country, students, counselors and psychologists in private practice throng lectures on mindfulness. The National Institutes of Health is financing more than 50 studies testing mindfulness techniques, up from 3 in 2000, to help relieve stress, soothe addictive cravings, improve attention, lift despair and reduce hot flashes.

Some proponents say Buddha's arrival in psychotherapy signals a broader opening in the culture at large — a way to access deeper healing, a hidden path revealed.

<snip>

[Book Lover]

1. More from the article

Yet so far, the evidence that mindfulness meditation helps relieve psychiatric symptoms is thin, and in some cases, it may make people worse, some studies suggest. Many researchers now worry that the enthusiasm for Buddhist practice will run so far ahead of the science that this promising psychological tool could turn into another fad.

"I'm very open to the possibility that this approach could be effective, and it certainly should be studied," said Scott Lilienfeld, a psychology professor at Emory. "What concerns me is the hype, the talk about changing the world, this allure of the guru that the field of psychotherapy has a tendency to cultivate."

<snip>

Therapists who incorporate mindfulness practices do not agree when the meditation is most useful, either. Some say Buddhist meditation is most useful for patients with moderate emotional problems. Others, like Linehan, insist that patients in severe mental distress are the best candidates for mindfulness.

A case in point is mindfulness-based therapy to prevent a relapse into depression. The treatment significantly reduced the risk of relapse in people who have had three or more episodes of depression. But it may have had the opposite effect on people who had one or two previous episodes, two studies suggest.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. It's not really all that new.

When Elmer Green developed EEG biofeedback in the 1970's, he described it as a form of Vipassana (mindfulness) meditation. He developed it after studying the brainwaves of master meditators. I have been practicing meditation for 30 years and teaching various forms of it to patients for a long time. I've used Elmer's EEG training methods since 1994.

Herbert Benson at Harvard has been teaching & promoting a form of meditation he calls "the Relaxation Response" since the 1970's as well.

These days, I end up teaching most of my patients to meditate--all of them who are ready for it & will accept it. Almost all of them benefit immensely from the practice. I don't think it's just a fad, even if some people are just now discovering it.

[Bob Dobbs]

3. Also, Buddhism is NOT A RELIGION, so even Christians can meditate

without fearing HELLFIRE.

It is merely a technique for living, does not demand adherence to a dogma, does not worship a specific god being, is totally inclusive, and most importantly, it teaches COMPASSION, which is the most needed commodity in the world today.

Quantum physics is scientifically proving the effect mindfulness has on reality at a sub-cellular level.

If not for meditation, I would not have been able to endure the last 28 years of American fascism with the modicum of sanity I have remaining.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. You are correct

I believe that studies have shown that certain brain areas are more developed in people who have meditated for a long time. Which makes sense, since we are basically talking about breathing here--the more oxygen to the brain and the rest of the body, the more likely changes will result. My MD regularly prescribes meditation for her patients with high levels of stress.

[Evoman]

6. Any links?

"Quantum physics is scientifically proving the effect mindfulness has on reality at a sub-cellular level."

[Bob Dobbs]

8. Observing a sub atomic particle changes its position.

Observing with intention changes particle position in a specific way.

http://www.mindandlife.org/history.html

[cosmik debris]

9. I did a little reading on that site

Until I came across the phrase "quantum teleportation"

After that I was laughing so hard I could not continue to read.

:rofl: "quantum teleportation" :rofl:

[Bob Dobbs]

11. Whatever.

Enjoy your limited reality.

[cosmik debris]

12. Oooo, such arrogance from one so superstitious!

Enjoy your hallucinations!

[Bob Dobbs]

13. If you look for something to disbelieve you will find it.

Meditation is devoid of superstition and hallucination and is about discovering the core of reality.

But a nihilist can't comprehend a meaning to reality, so it's not surprising you would misinterpret that way.

[cosmik debris]

15. "quantum teleportation" is not reality.

I have no quarrel with meditation, but bogus science wrapped up in the word "quantum" is equivalent to hallucination. It is not part of the real world. It is superstition.

You may appreciate the faith based community, but I live in the reality based community. In my world we don't confuse dreams with reality, and we don't put "quantum" in front of a word to make it sound mysterious.

Nothing demonstrates a person's ignorance of physics better than their mis-use of the word "quantum".

[Bob Dobbs]

16. My original point was about the physical effects of mindfulness.

I was not pushing "quantum teleportation" as a concept. I think your disbelief of what "quantum teleportation" involves is shortsighted and ultimately incorrect. There are many examples of quantum teleportation that are being studied at the Mind and Life Institute and elsewhere.

But, most importantly, you went to the site in search of something to disbelieve and you found it. This is a demonstration of mindfulness in a negative application, which proves my original point. Thanks.

BTW I am a big Zappa fan and was present at the concerts at Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin that made up the Bongo Fury album. I saw him many times, both with the Mothers, and in various other ensembles and was always amazed and inspired by his performances. He was a genius and I miss him greatly. I have been listening to the "You Can't Do That on Stage" series and the "Guitar" set recently with great enjoyment.

Namaste.

[cosmik debris]

17. I went to the site to find the evidence to resolve the concern

expressed by Evoman. I went to several pages and searched each page for the word "quantum". What I found appeared to be non-scientific mumbo-jumbo.

If, as you say, "There are many examples of quantum teleportation" perhaps you would be kind enough to direct me to some actual evidence for that phenomenon.

[Bob Dobbs]

18. OK. As you can see, your understanding of quantum science is quite limited.

http://www.physorg.com/news79265847.html

http://www.quantum.univie.ac.at/research/photonentangle/teleport/

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~qoptics/teleport.html


I will accept your apology.

[cosmik debris]

20. Well, it seems that I was wrong.

I apologize.

[Bob Dobbs]

21. No problem, quantum physics challenges our concept of reality,

and that is the exciting thing about it.

It is normal for anyone to be very skeptical.

You are a good person and have excellent taste in music.

I have enjoyed our conversation.

Namaste.

[Evoman]

34. Actually, "quantum teleportation" is a real phenomenon.

Sort of. From what I got of it, it's got to do with entaglement (i.e. you change the properties of a particle (quark?) and it has an effect on a entangled sister particle). I'm no physicist, but apparently the end result is that you could separate entangled particle, and more or less "transport" information at faster than the speed of light by changing the state or spin on one of the entangled particles (which would change the other). I can't remember the specifics though.

What this had to do with meditation or human beings, I have absolutely no idea.

On edit: NM...I didn't read the other posts before I answered. Read those links instead of my stupid explanations.

[Warpy]

10. Thank you. At its heart, it's a philosophy and a psychology.

I discovered meditation when I was a kid dealing with pain that everybody told me was all in my head. It turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis, and if that dumb doctor my parents had taken me to had still been alive when I was finally diagnosed, I'd have sued him for many years of needless pain, suffering and joint destruction.

Imagine my surprise when I read through the religion/philosophy section of the local library and found out I was doing classical jhana meditation.

I consider myself a very bad Buddhist because I have so little patience with people who cultivate ignorance like it's worth something.

However, meditation has taken me many unexpected places. There is nothing religious about my practice and I don't see how there is a conflict with people who are religious.

Just don't expect it to be what you think it is.

[ZombieHorde]

23. According to the English language, Buddhism is a religion.

From Dictionary.com

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion
If you create your own definition of religion and/or Buddhism, then Buddhism can be anything you want it to be.

The Dali Lama has called Buddhism a religion. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.http://www.spiritual-endeavors.org/peace/dalilama.htm

I believe that Buddhism in the U.S. enjoys tax exempt status for being a religion, which makes it legally a religion as well.

So, the dictionary, U.S. government, and the Dali Lama consider Buddhism to be a religion.

[Bob Dobbs]

25. Insomuch as one can practice Buddhism and Christianity concurrently

it is to me not so much a religion as a way to live life.

No god is worshiped, no dogma demanded, it is not exclusive, it is not judgmental.

It certainly is unlike all other "religions" in those respects.

[ZombieHorde]

29. "unlike all other "religions" "

Taoism, Thelema, and Discordianism is just like what you described, and they are religions.

practice Buddhism and Christianity concurrently

Many Christians would disagree with this statement. Buddhism has beliefs that contradict the Bible.

[Bob Dobbs]

30. The Bible contradicts itself. Christians disagree with each other.

Buddhism is a practice.

[ZombieHorde]

35. Christians and Buddhists disagree with each other.

Most of the big contradictions in the Bible come from Old Testament vs New Testament. Conservative vs Liberal. Though, even these contradictions are not as big as Heaven vs reincarnation. These two versions of afterlife play a major role in the scriptures of each religion. The only way to really combine the two is to consider one, or both, as non literal.

Buddhists disagree with each other often. A Tibetan Buddhist poster suggested that Zen Buddhists were not real Buddhists about a month ago. A few posts up Tibetan Buddhism was referred to as a folk religion (I believe as an attempt to discredit the Dali Lama as an expert of Buddhism). Doesn't this sound the same as when Christians bicker amongst each other.

Buddhism is a practice.

Only because of your relationship with Buddhism. Any religion can be a practice, if practiced by a highly spiritual person.

[bananas]

38. It's like dual citizenship

The fact that you can be both a Mexican citizen and a U.S. citizen doesn't mean Mexico and U.S. are not seperate sovereign countries.
I've know Buddhist Christians and Taoist Christians, so Buddhism is not alone in this respect.
Buddhism doesn't prohibit worship of gods, so even though Buddhism itself is considered an atheist religion, it's not incompatible with theist religions.
Buddhism is not dogmatic, but not too many people are going to become monks if they seriously disagree with the teachings which are metaphysical/supernatural/religious.
Christianity isn't judgmental either, one of the most quoted Christian teachings is "Judge not lest ye be judged."

[Warpy]

27. Stop quoting dictionaries

and Tibetan Buddhism has been turned very much into a folk religion.

However, the trappings of temples and chanting and prayer wheels are not what Buddhism is really about.

I suggest you visit something a little more detailed than a dictionary written by religious people who define everything in terms of their own experience. I suggest you visit Buddhist sites to find out what you're talking about.

Or you can continue with ignorant posts. Your choice.

[ZombieHorde]

28. It seems like you believe that Tibetan Buddhism is a religion.

What types of Buddhism is not a religion, and how do they compare to Tibetan Buddhism as far as religion/not religion goes?

Or you can continue with ignorant posts. Your choice.

Would it not be better to just tell me what your version of religion is and why Buddhism is excluded? Can you just tell me?

I suggest you visit Buddhist sites

What is wrong with the Buddhist quote that I posted? Do you consider Tibetan Buddhism to real Buddhism?

How do you know if your definition of religion is more accurate than the dictionaries definition?

[greyl]

32. It seems you are along the No True Buddha path to Emancipation.

Do you consider yourself to be a pious and devout Buddhist?

[ZombieHorde]

51. I don't think that he can answer direct questions.

[varkam]

37. It would seem to me that...

Buddhism can be a religion, but that it really depends on which flavor one subscribes to and how one practices it - I could be totally wrong though.

[greyl]

39. No, like a cheeseburger is food, Buddhism is a religion.

It doesn't matter if one eats the whole thing, nibbles at it, or pushes it away. The thing remains the same. The difference is ones relationship to the thing. One could use a cheeseburger as a little warm pillow(which it was never designed to be), thus turning it into a pillow, but it never stops being a cheeseburger.

[varkam]

40. I respectfully disagree.

It seems to me that one can be a buddhist and not believe in anything at all that is supernatural or metaphysical. In other words, one could adapt a completely materialistic worldview and be a buddhist. To call that stance religious seems to me to be a bastardization of the word. If you accept that, then it would also seem to me that one could call any materialistic philosophy "religious".

[greyl]

41. You use "stance", I used "relationship". I'm not sure we disagree.

Elsewhere, I've said that most who claim that Buddhism isn't a religion practice it as a hobby. Their stance may not be religious, pious, or devout, but Buddhism doesn't care. It is still a religion.

[varkam]

45. I see your point, and you are correct.

There is not as much disagreement between us as I suspected. However, I think down this path is the no true scotsman fallacy. IOW, who is to say who is an "actual" buddhist and who is to say who merely practices it as a hobby?

[greyl]

46. Thanks. I did use "No True Buddha" in that other post knowingly. ;)

I'm not trying to establish that one may identify someone as a Buddhist if that someone doesn't consider themselves to be a Buddhist. There are simply varying degrees of piety and devotion to the religion.

[bananas]

42. All of Buddha's teaching focused on the doctrine of rebirth

and how to free oneself from the cycle of death and rebirth.
The doctrine of rebirth is metaphysical and supernatural.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebirth_%28Buddhism%29

[varkam]

44. A great number of his teachings do not focus on rebirth

but rather focus on observations of human suffering in this life - not the next one.

[bananas]

47. Irrelevant.

A great number of the teachings of Muhammed, Jesus, Moses, Lao Tse, Arjuna, etc are not about the metaphysical or supernatural,
but we still consider them religions.

[varkam]

48. But there is no doctrinal requirement in buddhism that one...

should believe in rebirth, as opposed to buddhism.

[bananas]

49. Some Christians I've known have told me

that they don't believe in any of the supernatural or metaphysical stuff,
for them it's just a way of life and a system of ethics,
and they've found doing meditations like "the stations of the cross" and "saying the rosary" helpful in dealing with physical pain and psychological stress.
Does that mean Christianity isn't a religion?

Buddhism isn't dogmatic because you don't have to accept the teachings on faith,
supposedly if you do the meditations and practices and use "right thinking",
then you'll realize all the teachings are true,
you'll know it from your own experience and rational analysis.

[varkam]

53. I would say that they are not actually Christians if they do not believe in God. eom

[Random_Australian]

24. Would it upset you if you found out the quantum bit of that was complete bunkum?

'cause you can still keep the other stuff, but yeah, the quantum part isn't actually true.

Mindfullness is an effect on the macroscale; it changes the activity of your brain like any other thought does, but no more than that. It still uses the same stuff to do it - neurons, not hadrons.

Of course, maybe I'm wrong. Got any evidence for your claims? :)

[Bob Dobbs]

26. Look here.

http://www.mindandlife.org/

So how does observing a molecule change its position?

[Random_Australian]

33. I'd already looked around there.

They didn't actually offer much in the way of supporting your claims.

To observe something, you must interact with it. For instance, if wanted to know where a black billiard ball was on a black surface, I could roll white balls along the surface and wait until one struck something. But of course, as soon as something is struck, it moves. Thus changing its position.

This is important in quantum mechanics because it is used to relate uncertainty in position to uncertainty in momentum; uncertainty in position being a wave property, and uncertainty in momentum being a wave property.

Deep down, it's another illustration of the de Broglie relationship. It was also very famous because it means that you can never measure something perfectly/without error, which was very controversial at the time.

[greyl]

31. It sure is a religion. Most of the people who don't believe so practice it as a hobby.

Of course, similar can be said about many who claim to be first-rate Christians.

[bananas]

36. The doctrine of rebirth is unarguably religious

and while there's no dogmatic requirement to believe it,
most of the laity do believe it,
and you won't find many monks who don't.

The doctrine of rebirth is essential to Buddhism,
the goal of practicing the meditation and ethics is to become free from rebirth,
the reason Buddha taught these practices was to teach people how to become from rebirth.

You can't just take a small fraction of Buddhist meditation and philosophy and ethics and say,
"This is all there is to Buddhism, this isn't religious, so Buddhism isn't religious".

[struggle4progress]

50. I've read modern Buddhist interpretations of rebirth as an allegory for the succession

of psychological states

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Om mane padme hung

I use meditation and breathing practices, and have found they help lower blood pressure and heart rate. It is important to watch the breath when you are in a stressful situation. If you can then regulate it, making it slow and steady, you can master your emotions and take charge of a situation.

[Evoman]

7. Meditation really is great. I bet some people would be suprised to hear a skeptic like me say that.

But while I think meditation is very useful and has some interesting neurological effects, I hate when unnessecary spiritual garbage is foisted on it.

[Dorian Gray]

19. It is great....

it's a moment to empty your mind of all around it. And breathing techniques are calming, as Aye said above.

You don't have to be in search of the spiritual to meditate. Sometimes it's just focusing on nothing or even something small in your life. It helps me provide emotional clarity for myself.

[bananas]

43. That's backwards

Meditation has traditionally been part of a spiritual system,
here it's being taken out of the spiritual context,
and is being applied for it's useful neurological effects.

[tinrobot]

52. Does it matter?

Whether you meditate with a spiritual or non-spiritual intent, the results are very much the same. Inner peace is a good thing, no matter how you get there.

[tinrobot]

14. Meditation cured my depression.

Over more than a decade, I tried everything - therapy, medication, diet, exercise. They all helped with the depression, but never fully got rid of it. It always came back. I started doing Kundalini yoga/meditation a few years ago and the effect was immediate. Within a year, the depression was completely gone and it's not come back since.

A lot of depression is caused by runaway thoughts that stress people out. Meditation neutralizes the mind and tempers those obsessive thoughts. We also hold a lot of our unconscious pain in our bodies. Yoga helps to release that past pain in a way that psychotherapy can't.

[conscious evolution]

22. I can attest to this

Meditation and chanting changed my life.
I have also seen it change others lives.

I have also seen it screw people up.Fortunately such occurances seem to be fairly rare and most times it can be attributed to kundalini syndrome.