Alex Honnold's Amgydala and Free Soloing with Tonglen

For those who got a chance to see the Oscar wining film "Free Solo" on National Geographic channel, they got a glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of the most amazing climber ever put on film. Directed by Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, it's in theaters now as well as the safety of the National Geographic Channel in your own home.

There was a key moment in the film, when Alex agreed to have his brain MRI'd. The doctor looking at the inner workings of his brain, said "Your amygdala isn't functioning normally."

Alex made a comment like "I guess my brain's different."

Typical amygdala - Wikimedia

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Some can argue that the evidence of why Alex appears to be unafraid of heights, is because the "flight or fight" mechanism in his brain is malfunctioning.  It's the catchall phrase that people use when talking about the amygdala - a peanut sized part of the brain that regulates serotonin.

I'm not a doctor, but I've studied a little bit about the amygdala because it appears in an epic study on meditation, something I am familiar with.

Using MRI to study meditation

Richie Davidson

Part of his study with a monk trained in meditation.

Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin did a study with MRI of brains of people who were expert at meditation, where he showed that a "single session of meditation can change the shape of the amygdala." 

I attended a lecture he gave at UCLA where he talked about this research to a room full of psychiatrists, eager to find an alternate to the customary methodology of prescribing SSRI drugs to children who are depressed.

I attended the lecture because I know that Davidson is part of the Dalai Lama's mind science program, and was curious what his research might show about meditation.  But after the lecture where he demonstrated that his study showed that "mediation can cure or alleviate symptoms of depression," hand after hand went up.

The psychiatrists in the SRO room were concerned because parents were insisting, asking for help with depressed children, or with children who were acting out - and the only medicine they had in their arsenal was medicine that would "inhibit serotonin release." (SSRI drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, etc).  (The "misfiring" of serotonin is frequently cited in everything from autism to not being able to sleep properly)

As it turns out, there had been no definite studies done with teens and these SSRI drugs, and the side effects (one pediatrician told me that it was as high as 15%) could be severe; ideations of suicide or violence.  Here is a warning from the National Institute of Health: 

"The documented efficacy and long-term benefit of antidepressants in patients with recurrent forms of severe anxiety or depressive disorders support their use in those individuals with these disorders, who experience suicidal thoughts or behavior. In general, it is assumed that antidepressants are beneficial for all symptoms of depression, including suicidality. However, some evidence suggests that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors [SSRIs] may cause worsening of suicidal ideas in vulnerable patients. Systematic reviews and pooled analysis of experimental, observational, and epidemiological studies have investigated the use of SSRIs and their association with suicidality. Taking account of the methodological limitations of these studies, the current evidence fails to provide a clear relationship between their use and risk of suicidality in adults. However, in children and adolescents, there appears to be a bit of increased risk of suicidal ideations and attempts, but not of completed suicides."  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/

(And further, if one wants to make the case that every mass shooting since Columbine has had an SSRI or "antidepressant" component - that case can be made. Many of the shooters had been under psychiatric care, or had a history of Serotonin Release inhibitor use). 

Michael Moore weighs in on the topic:




It's not my opinion, theory or belief that is the case - it's just in the public records when there has been an autopsy done on the shooter or shooters, or there is a known record of that kind of medical prescription.

Be that as it may, this isn't a post about SSRI abuse, or the medical community prescribing something that hasn't been fully studied - it's about the part of the brain that for some reason, wasn't "functioning normally" in the brain of Alex Honnold, the man who is the first to free solo "El Cap" in Yosemite.

Robert Thurman (left) leading a meditation under the north face of Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet

If you've seen the film, it's thrilling, dizzying, almost disturbing to see him defy gravity and reach the top.  His casual comments of his success - not screaming, hopping up and down, but of sitting down and smiling profusely - point to someone who has his amygdala "not abnormal" but functioning perfectly well.

In the voice over, he talks about "controlling his fear" by "expanding his horizon" - by expanding what it is that he is doing in his mind with regard to each step of the journey.  It's as if he's "meditating on what he should be doing" and "visualizing what can be done."  Further, he had done the trip "40 or 50 times" the year prior, so he was very familiar with the journey. He was able to previsualize each step.

However, there are not many human beings that could make that trip, as is noted throughout the film.  He has an amazing ability to either compartmentalize fear, or as the MRI shows - to not have it both him at all.

El Capitan in Yosemite (wiki)

Was it his determination to succeed that caused the amygdala to work differently in such adverse conditions?  Or was he born that way?

Well, in Davidson's epic study, he showed that anyone can change their amygdala by being mindful.  In fact, the idea of "mindfulness" comes directly from his study, because the word "meditation" is often associated with religious practices, or worse - yoga - meaning a person would have to do "some form of exercise in order to accomplish a task."  Which is why the word meditation was changed to something more precise about what was going on.  Mind. Full. Ness.

Palden Gyatso was able to endure thirty years of torture
at the hands of the Chinese authorities through meditation.

After his lecture, I asked Richard Davidson what specific meditation he used to achieve the results.  I figured since there are so many different meditations that are possible, the specific meditation might hold a clue as to why he achieved those results.

He told me; "Tonglen;" but a "non-specific version," using the idea of "healing of the Earth as an object" instead of a person to not skew the scientific results.

As close as I'll get to climbing a mountain
in Tibet

I happen to know what "Tonglen" is and how it's used.  And indeed, it does hold a clue - not only to why Alex Honnold can climb a mountain without fear, but as to how we can help cure or alleviate depression without the use of drugs.

Tonglen means "give and take" in Tibetan.  It refers to the practice itself, where the person meditating imagines someone (or in this case, the non specific Earth) that is ill and needs healing.  The meditator pictures their loved one (or object) in front of them, then imagines the problem that needs repair (or illness) as a "color or smoke."  It doesn't matter which color they choose to represent "illness" or "trauma" - they imagine it on the person or object they're trying to heal.  It's up to the person doing the imagining to determine what color or smoke they see.

Then as they breathe in, the imagine "pulling that illness" out of the person or object, pulling that color or smoke into themselves.

It may sound counterintuitive - pulling an illness out of someone and imagine pulling it into yourself - but as the illness arrives, you're supposed to imagine a healing light ("the healing light of the universe") blasting that illness and transforming it into a healed light - and the color or smoke changes.

So for example, if you're imagining someone's broken rib, you might imagine a color for that injury - perhaps red, or red smoke.  As you picture your friend, you imagine "pulling that color out of them" as you breathe in - the color finds its way into your own rib, but as it arrives, you turn on a "klieg light of healing energy" - and turn that color into a healed energy and then breathe it back into the loved one.

Or in this case the Earth.

Richard Davidson and HHDL

As you breathe in, you pull the color out of the loved one, as you breathe out, you breathe healed light back into them. Perhaps you "take the red" and "give back gold" into your loved one.

In one case, I know of someone who tried this with someone who had pneumonia - they got a call from their friend who was deathly ill, and was asking for help.  First he called a doctor who agreed to go to this person's home, and then as a test of their ability, imagined trying to heal the loved one using Tonglen. First, the person saw the wife's chest as a fireplace with coals inside of it, burning red. And as he breathed in, he saw the coals get brighter, with flames - but then as he breathed out, he imagined his breath was a cool ice filled mist, that damped the coals. 

Eventually the imaginary cool mist turned to snow, and he said that he pictured snow falling on the red coals in his wife's chest - until the fire went out.  

A few moments later, prior to the doctor's arrival, he called his wife, and she said "I don't know what just happened, but my fever broke. My pneumonia just seemed to end. I feel better now."  The doctor arrived moments after that and gave her a dose of antibiotics. It's not as if the meditation saved this person's life where antibiotics did the trick, but it's an anecdotal story of someone claiming to "feel the physical effects" of the tonglen meditation.

There is no scientific proof (that I'm aware of) that demonstrates that prayer or meditation can cure or help the object of the prayer or meditation (there is plenty of anecdotal tales) but there is medical evidence that proves the person doing the prayer or meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression" in themselves.

Literally "doing unto others" selflessly has a physical healing effect on the person doing the selfless act.

When they imagine themselves healing someone else - doing something selflessly, indeed, they heal themselves.  They alter the amgydala in such a way that it now is able to regulate serotonin normally, or better - or whatever term they use to describe the normal function of the amygdala.  

Which indeed, may very well by the way that Alex Honnold's amygdala works - just fine, thank you very much.  His amygdala may be what we all might aspire to - to be able to experience life without fear on a daily basis.

For further information, Richard Davidson's website is here:https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/founder-richard-davidson  Pema Chodron has a book and technique on teaching Tonglen which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwqlurCvXuM and for further adventures into the flipside, my film can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0081U6K1Y - highly recommend watching Free Solo as it's a monumental achievement in film and in sport: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7775622/

Maximum Selfie and other thoughts on the S word

I received this email today, and with the author's permission, am sharing it here.

Divine Light or dust in the Vatican?

"Dear Rich,

I lost my beautiful 23 yr old daughter to suicide a year and a half ago.  There were a lot of factors that hit at once, creating a perfect storm, and she decided to go.  

As you would imagine, this caused the kind of pain to me that dropped me to my knees, hurt my chest, made me physically ill for months.  

Having had a mother who was a clairvoyant (and moments of my own that come in unexpected bursts), and having attended my local Buddhist Center for about 12 years, I began searching for something.  Peace, validation, anything.   

After reading everyone else’s books, I read all of yours and really did like them best.  

I did the best that I could, but it is hard to quell a grieving mother’s pain, and she was on my mind often.  

About three months after (her) dying, she came to me in a dream/vision/lucid thing and told me that she will be coming back, as her  brother’s child.  I have told her brother, but he has not told his wife!  

Three weeks ago, I went to the hospital with trouble breathing.  It turns out, I was in the middle of active heart failure.   I am in my 50's, and my co-workers were in shock as I appear to be the healthiest there!  

Heathy eating, exercise, etc.  When I went in, I really did not care whether I lived or died.   The cardiologist found that I needed a double bypass, and I didn’t care.   I called my son, and told him (what I wanted him to do with my belongings) and had the surgery.   
Two days after surgery, I developed blood clots in my leg and one in each side of my heart.  The doctors were stunned, as this is apparently a rare complication and very life threatening. They put me on strong blood thinners, IV.  With the lighting in Intensive Care, sleep was elusive.   

I had several “incidents” while in there.  One was a foggy, distant vision of what you would call a council meeting, except I wasn’t included.  I was the subject, though.  

It seemed one cloudy spirit was discussing me, presenting my case to the five indistinct shapes in front of me.  I asked that they please, please send help to break up the clots, because I wanted to go home.  My significant other is an introvert, and (I feel it would be hard to leave him on his own...)

I was also thinking of my son, who has no one but me left. Grandparents, his father, friends, he (like me) has more people on that side than on this, and I knew (my leaving would be difficult.)  

The spirits seemed to take this into account, but there were a couple things they wanted me to know. The first was that my grief was causing an attachment that is preventing my daughter from moving forward and coming back.  

The second came in a separate incident.  I had always suspected I had been in the Holocaust and I saw myself, in a different body (trimmer and slight) rushing at dusk to Shabbat.  

I didn’t even know what Shabbat was until I looked it up the next morning!  But I recalled the cobbled street, the rush to get inside before nightfall, and the awful horror of being caught out.  
A night or two later, I was moved to a private room, which would allow for sleep.  But, I laid awake and could feel long fingers on a very small hand reaching into my heart and “squishing up” the clots.

Friday, the cardiologists gathered, as they generally do in scary groups. They told me they would repeat the ultrasound test to determine the size of the clots.  If they were the same or bigger, they would transport me to a hospital about 30 miles east of me.  
IF they showed any sign of reducing, they would send me home on coumadin and a wearable vest with an external defibrillator.  They said that once the clots became small enough to move out of the heart, in 2-3 months, they could cause a stroke, so I’d wear the vest daily.   Those were the choices.  

Once of them started to say, "If they had dissipated..." but trailed off and told me to "never mind, as that wasn’t possible."  

I knew what was possible, and had told my significant other.  He said when they came into the waiting room, he could tell the cardiologist couldn’t believe it, but the clots were entirely GONE.   

So, I am home, recovering.  

I have always been extremely disturbed when others are hungry, although I have no problem skipping meals myself.  But, seeing hungry people kills me, and watching the movie “Into the Wild” threw me into uncontrollable hysterics.  

I think they were providing me with a reason why, and perhaps I can help heal the past by volunteering at a local food bank.  As for my daughter, I am working on the grief.  I have spent years in meditation and “training the mind”, so when the thoughts intrude, I calmly redirect them now.  She isn’t forgotten at all!  I am glad to be here, to welcome her when she comes back!

I saw a story in the last Good Housekeeping.  A mother lost her daughter, to Cerebral Palsy I believe.  And, Mom then became pregnant right through a tubal!  They are so astonished at how much the new baby reminds them of the lost child.  

Why, oh why, do people raised in Western faiths not believe that their God can do ANYTHING? They deny the very possibilities, limiting their own God.  

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Alice in Wonderland. And so should we.

Thank you for the wonderful work that you do.  I follow your blog, receive and read your every email and look forward to your future work...."

My reply:

"Wow. Thanks for sharing this. It's very moving. I'm sorry to hear of your trauma but so encouraged to hear of your spiritual journey. 

There are a few Michael Newton trained therapists near you. A session might allow you further access as well as some answers and new observations. 

The Maestro Michael Newton
"Journey of Souls"

Also check out Carol Bowman book "Children's Past Lives" and website are worth checking out. Erik Medhus book "My life after Death" is worth reading, Galen Stoller's "My Life after Life" or "The Afterlife of Billie Fingers" all give insight into what your daughter is experiencing.

Either way thank you for sharing. Perhaps I can share some of it on my blog so others can experience your story? "

Her reply:

"Actually, I’ve read all of those and more!  

I will be looking for a hypnotist near me. No hurry in this moment.

And, of course you can share!  That’s why we’re here, right?" 

Hacking the Afterlife

And my reply:

"Thank you.

Well, I've had pals interested in the topic reach out to hypnotists near you before, and come away with a bad experience - or no experience.  So before you see one, make sure you've done your research on them - most hypnotists don't have a clue about the flipside, or about Michael Newton's work. That's why I recommend people who've trained with him or his institute... and some of them are doing skype sessions now... or you can ask. 

(I think Scott De Tamble lightbetweenlives.com might be, you can ask him.)  

JenniferShaffer.com (medium) and Scott De Tamble (hypnotherapist)
My two secret weapons when I want to address or interview the flipside.

"By the way; I think it's time we stopped using the term suicide... but I can't think of a more apt one that allows for grieving and loss - after all, even if they are somewhere else, or aren't here - it's a loss to not have them around.... and it's always tricky when they decide they want to come back right away - did they learn the lessons they were trying to learn?  

It's one of those long discussions with council and guides and soul group members....  because over there is the natural state of affairs... not here.  So when we discuss coming back here "right away" it's usually because we feel as if we didn't accomplish what we set out to do.  And there's no punishment in that - there's no "spanking machine" for failing to accomplish your goals.  (Something I remember from my days of playing "Kick the Can.")

There's regret, to be sure, perhaps the pain and sorry of making everyone else suffer through the experience - that's reported consistently.  But those are emotions we feel regret about - that we feel awful about when we've done something that has screwed up our path or the paths of those we love.

But the flipside is a place of unconditional love. It's a place of ultimate compassion. It's a place where we can see why we've done things, why we've come to the fork in the road, and how not to be swept away by it the next time around.  It's a place of ultimate reflection and learning.

So once someone goes "home" - what's the big hurry to get out of the house?  Chill awhile.  Reflect.  Everyone you've ever loved will eventually join you - and the time over there is so relatively different, it'll feel like ten minutes went by.

So "ultimate selfie" - "maximum selfie" come to mind as alternatives for "The S word." The idea that we get so wrapped up in our minds (sometimes because of ssri drugs as I've mentioned in my books, or allowing the amygdala to control our emotions, etc) - that we can't think of anything but checking ourselves out... 

But as we know, as science proves - the physical act of helping others - and in your case helping in a food bank - are physical things that we can do to "cure or alleviate depression."  

To alter the repository of depression - regulated by the amygdala - to allow for a more compassionate flow in our minds - (See "Tonglen Meditation" as a Tibetan meditation that helps regulate this, as proven scientifically by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin) 

Davidson with a monk described as the
"Happiest person on the planet" according to former neuroscientist turned Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard's MRI.

I attended a lecture by Davidson at UCLA and it was filled with psychiatrists eager to find an alternative to prescribing SSRI drugs to teens.  There had been a spike in suicides - and Davidson's research on Tibetan monks - a ten year study - showed that just one session of meditation could change the physical shape of the amygdala.  

Further that meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression."  It's not a religious concept - or a yoga method - but a scientific method.  Meditate on healing and helping others and you heal yourself. (I asked him specifically what Tibetan Meditation he used in the study, and he told me "Tonglen" - which means "give and take" and is designed for the meditator to heal or cure someone else in their mind.)  

In Davidson's study, monks trained in meditation were used.

What I realized is that this "mental act of helping others" - is reflected/identical to the physical act of helping others.  

In other words "Love your neighbor as yourself" and physically help them - can cure you or alleviate symptoms of depression.

Helping others actually helps us... I'm fond of saying that when someone is super depressed, get on a plane and go to India... the people over there live in such difficult circumstances, yet have the brightest smiles, the happiest dispositions - and I think it's because under extreme conditions, in a culture that believes that life is temporary, and that we all return here - they can enjoy the ride for what it is.... 

Of course there are all kinds of people in India - there are good guys, bad guys, criminals, sadhus, holy men, pandits - as in every culture - but when I'm in India I literally feel like I'm on Mars.  

So it's really hard to focus on whatever I thought was depressing when there's so many people who need my immediate help, even if it's a stick of gum or a smile.

So when depressed, go to Mars.

One of my many trips to Mars.

Anyways, thanks for writing, yes, I'm working on the next book - as we speak....

Thanks for the encouraging words - you who need encouragement to be on the planet as well - and I believe sharing your story will help someone neither one of us knows." (Who's been guided by a loved on on the flipside to this page.)

Everyone you've ever loved is keeping an eye on you.  But don't take my word for it. They're trying to tell that to you.

Post Script:

When I was writing this post, as I started to refer to the suicide mentioned in her email, I had the feeling I should include some information about SSRI drugs and Davidson's work at the University of Wisconsin. 

I refer to them in my books - it's a topic I'm familiar with, and have done research on.

SSRI drugs are the ones commonly given to treat depression and a variety of other symptoms not related to depression.  ("Prozac," "Zoloft" and others). I first encountered them in Europe when a filmmaker friend committed suicide a few weeks after finishing his film. His wife was befuddled as he was the happiest he'd ever been, but was having trouble sleeping. He was given Prozac to help him sleep.

On the other hand, I have heard a number of people say their lives were "saved" by SSRI drugs. They are offended when I talk about them, and I've even been asked to leave them out of my books.

According to a physician I interviewed for Flipside, up to 15% of the folks who take SSRI drugs can't tolerate them. (He said there's a simple test that Doctors don't give.) 

And these people have the "adverse effects" - the warnings that are buried deep in the website of the drug manufacturers. (By law, they have to publish them. They're rarely on the drug itself, but they are in the drug literature in the pharma co's site.)

As a point of fact, every mass shooting since Columbine has had an SSRI component - the shooter or shooters had taken them, sometimes in their teen years.  As I've noted, the NIMH issued a warning on their website about prescribing SSRI drugs to children under 18 AS THEY HAVE NOT BEEN TESTED for that.  They were seeing a spike in suicides and were warning doctors from prescribing adult medicine for children. (And also the reason that Davidson's talk at UCLA was standing room only.  He queried the room as to why they'd come to his talk, and they spoke of how they were looking for "alternative" therapies to prescribing SSRI drugs.)

This is not my opinion, belief or theory. These facts are easy to find in the literature about these drugs.  Yet for some reason, like the S word, we tend to ignore what we don't like to hear.  I understand that. But I post this anyway.

After I posted this today, I received this email from the mother of the daughter who killed herself: 

"I hadn’t even mentioned, but they had put her on the SSRI drugs. They were switching her prescription at the time, she was hormonal and when she failed a test (in school) that day, she (killed) herself.

 When I tried going to a suicide survivor group, I was shocked by how many of the living and the dead had prescriptions for those drugs.  

We are a drugged society.  One of our monks did a teaching on it, pointing out how many people believe physical “things” bring them happiness.  

If they did, you would think Americans would be the happiest people on earth!  But, as you know, it is the poorest who are the most generous, and giving to others brings true happiness."

Well said ma'am.  

Like I say, I'm terribly sorry for her loss, but perhaps by sharing it someone else will think twice about a prescription for their children that includes SSRI medication. 

Be vigilant. 
Do the research. 
Go to the drug manufacturer's website.
Get a second opinion.
Check into Davidson's work at the University of Wisconsin.  It's breathtaking science.

My two cents.

States of Mind and the Flipside

I have a friend who used to have OCD.

The Universe is a state of mind.

Obsessive compulsive disorder.  He's had it since he was a youngster; it may or may not be related to a car accident he was in as a youth.  I have relatives who have variations of the same - inability to throw stuff away is one of them, I know it's part of who I am as well. But in this case, I'm here to examine the genesis of "states of mind."

We all know people who have this "disorder" as medicine calls it - it's where the brain is firing willy nilly across a part of the brain, misfiring is more accurate - where a "loop" can be created and it causes them to wash their hands obsessively, count money obsessively - and a whole host of phobias, including not being able to get out of the house.  Or perhaps is causing a "tic" that can be identified as "tourette's" in extreme cases, as a twitch in those less so.

One could argue that we all have varying degrees of this "disorder" - which would make it not a disorder, but a natural example of how the brain works - like many flowers in the garden - it's why some of us can't stand crowds, can't stand certain foods, can't stand not being able to not stand something....

But today we were having this discussion, and some of the flipside notions discussed here began to line up.

An unusual state of mind in DC these days.

Bear with me.

While discussing "partitions" in the mind - Dr. Bruce Greyson notes (in "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" and in his public talk "Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain?") that in the reports from the British Health system, 70% of the Alzheimer care givers reported a moment when their patient's memory would come back to them just prior to passing. 

It could be "a few minutes, an hour, sometimes months" where people whose brains have atrophied - suddenly rally and remember everyone around them, and it's as if they've come back to say farewell. Come back to say goodbye to their loved ones.

But when the patient dies, autopsies show that the brain should not have been able to function - it's as if the "partitions" that kept us from accessing our higher consciousness - or past memories - have fallen, or died as well. The brain was dying, so perhaps the partitions died as well. 

And for that brief moment, we're able to access some form of higher consciousness which appears to retain those memories.

Dalai Lama and Richard Davidson

So in discussing OCD today, my pal was talking about his own "partitions."  And pointed out that when he was a young person, he'd "created" an alternate persona - someone who didn't have OCD, someone who could handle navigating the world.  He said that he knew a "tough guy" at work - and while his mind was worrying about the smallest details ("did I count that person's change correctly?" "Maybe I'm responsible for someone getting sick when I served them food...") he adopted this "tough guy" persona to be able to navigate the world. 

My film director persona

He says he borrowed another person's persona, someone at word he knew that was tough, and didn't care or worry about the small things he normally worried about during an OCD event.

Then he pointed out that at another time in his life, he had another persona that would appear - and this person was entirely selfless, would literally give the shirt off his back to someone in need, invite homeless people over to stay who needed a place to sleep.  Then he'd wake up and wonder "what did I do? I let this homeless person in my house, am I crazy?"

I pointed out that perhaps that the selfless fella, was actually giving him a glimpse of what it's like "between lives."  Because back there, people report (consistently) a place of selflessness, where we give and share love equally, without judgment.  That when he was acting without judgment, but just out of love, he was actually tapping into the nature of who we are when we're "back home."

Literal states of mind.

I pointed out that perhaps his brain was giving him a glimpse of another side of himself (and not what psychiatry might categorize as an illness.)  

In like form, adopting the tough guy persona was a way to deal with issues of the brain - and if someone could figure out to do that, how to actually get the brain to compartmentalize, or create partitions from the parts of it that cause problems (auto immune illnesses, viruses, OCD, things that occur as a result of certain pathways) then whoever figured out how to do that would win the Nobel Prize for medicine.

The seat of consciousness in Tibet, the Potala Palace

So let's look at some people who can do that.

Tibetan Monks for example. They've perfected the art of meditation in such a way as to change the body's reaction to pain, to cold, to any number of things that cause problems. (see "tummo" on youtube for examples.)  They've also perfected the meditation that directly affects the amygdala in the brain, which regulates serotonin release. (see Richard Davidson's work on it at the University of Wisconsin.)

Davidson with his pal HHDL

Davidson's work is monumental, because he shows that a single meditation session (and the one he used with Tibetan monks was "Tonglen" but a "non specific version" which he told me at a conference at UCLA years ago.)

What's a specific version of Tonglen?  I talk about it in "Flipside" and my other books. In essence it's imagining being a "mental physician" where you conjure up a vision of someone who is ill, you draw their illness into you as you breathe in, and then blast it with the "healing light of the universe" before you breathe the cured energy back into the patient. (In Richardson's study, he had the monks substitute the whole planet for a single individual - making it "non specific.")

But hang on.

So if its possible to mentally change the shape of the amygdala in one meditation session (according to Davidson's study) then that means that any one of us can do the same kind of work to change pathways in our brain.

You've heard of those cancer studies where a person helps the healing process by imagining a real "battle" against cancer cells.  I've heard the same from a doctor who talked about teaching his patients to imagine a "loving affection" towards cancer cells, to isolate and eliminate them using "love."  That doesn't mean that someone should stop doing traditional therapies - surgery, chemo, etc - but it does mean that there are ways that you can use your brain to affect healing.

No longer the lovable losers. They earned that.

It does mean that you can use your brain to change OCD behavior. It does mean that you can use your brain to eliminate phobias and other issues.

Because when you examine the mind more fully - you may find that the phobias are related to a past life experience - not a past life experience based on your DNA, as science is trying to prove that DNA has a "fear" memory - which may or may not be accurate, but is not necessarily the source of your fear - but being able to examine your previous lifetimes, and further, the life between lives, where you can access and understand all your lifetimes, and by doing so, pinpoint precisely when the phobia began, and more importantly...

Why you chose this lifetime to experience this phobia (again, or for the first time - it's really up to you.)  Why you chose this lifetime to experience this problem or dilemma, or illness, or whatever it is that's the stone in your path.  

It's hard to see that the stones in our paths turn to diamonds after we've overcome them.  And it's hard to see that we may appear to be "crushed" by the stone in our path - and it actually may be in a future lifetime that we've overcome them - we can't think of our lives in that fashion, that each one is part of the overall journey we've signed up to take.  That even the most difficult of stones, in this context, may be the stone we revisit over a couple of lifetimes in order to master it.

Which brings us back to states of mind.

If you can partition your mind to create a better happier healthier you - it doesn't mean you have to lose who you are to do so - it means that you've mastered the ability to see all your states of mind as what you've created to deal with your reality on a day to day basis.  And realizing that everything is part of your consciousness dealing with what's in front of you on a day to day basis, is a path to an enlightening way to view your journey on the planet.

N'est pas?

Homo Deus; Immortality and Happiness

Immorality and happiness wrapped into one.

"Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods." A quote from his latest book Homo Deus.

From his Ted talk. Professor Harari

I don't know Professor Harari (Boker tov!) but I did want to comment on his latest book, where he talks about happiness, and humanity's drive to discover immortality.

In the book, he offers the Buddhist concept that happiness or sadness are emotions that are sensations - confined to the experience that we have on a daily basis.  It's what drives the entertainment industry, Big Pharma, silicon valley, gaming - the desire to create instant happiness or feelings of euphoria.

You can find that drive for "happiness" (for lack of a better term) all around us - so that even "waiting for a bus" can be entertaining via our smart screen.  We've come to want, demand instant gratification, technology and drugs are designed to make us "feel happy" instantaneously.  It permeates our culture and our daily lives.  (I've been told that a high percentage of the people working in the tech industry have SSRI drug prescriptions - from someone who would know - and the reason is not to just "dull the senses" but also to help "focus the mind.")

So let me screech to a halt for a moment.

A cloud screeching to a halt. Pacific Palisades.

He talks about how happiness is a sensation - but he does not ask what causes happiness. He talks about how we seem to be striving for happiness, but neglects to identify the actual emotion of happiness - what causes it?  We can fully understand that it is a fleeting experience, but what causes that fleeing experience?  (And by extension is there a pill for that?)

Let's examine something that has been scientifically proven to cause happiness.  Let's talk about a study that was done at the University of Wisconsin by Richard Davidson over ten years, that scientifically proved that people who want to attain or experience happiness can.

Tonglen.

Wait, what?  

Professor Davidson with a happy fellow HHDL

Professor Davidson's study, using monks with MRI showed that meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression."  How? By doing the same thing that SSRI drugs do - regulate the serotonin that is directed by the amygdala.

So the simple answer is; "How do I create happiness? Through meditation."  The term has been altered to "mindfulness" because too many skeptics thought it was associated with some kind of esoteric yoga pose they'd have to learn.  The simple answer is "mindfulness" will create happiness. 

But meditation is like saying "dance."  There are many versions of dancing.  And to say "Just dance and you'll get better" is probably accurate, but for those who are interested in designing the "fastest, best way" to that feeling, might consider what dance that Professor Davidson used.

I attended his lecture at UCLA where he presented these results a few years ago. The room was filled with Los Angeles psychiatrists, doctors, eager to find a way to lessen their client's addiction to Prozac or other SSRI drugs. Particularly they asked questions about helping young people to not use SSRI drugs. 

Light at the end of the tunnel.

Why? Well, there's a fairly high percentage of people who have adverse reactions to SSRI drugs. The number is as high as 15% (one Doctor told me) but basically we're talking about suicide, or ideations of violence.  (Every mass shooting since Columbine has had some history with SSRI drugs. It's in the data.)

So what if there was a method with NO SIDE EFFECTS that could have the SAME RESULT?

That takes us back to Tonglen.

I asked Professor Davidson what Tibetan meditation he'd used with his study. He told me "Tonglen, but a non-specific version to not skew the results. I asked them to meditate on the earth as a whole, instead of an individual."

Professor Davidson, University of Wisconsin

The reason for that is - because the meditation itself asks the meditator to imagine an ill person across from them, and to draw the illness out of the, to merge it with a healing light, and to alter that "ill" or "sick" energy and turn it into a "healed" or "Healing" energy and breath it back into the person they're imagining in front of them.  

To ensure that one monk wasn't focusing on one person, he'd asked them to substitute "all the ills of the planet" instead of one particular individual.

Why is this important?

Because as a metaphor, Tonglen is a creative imagining of helping your neighbor get well.

It's asking your brain to be compassionate towards another individual. To imagine their illness, to draw it out of them and into you, to heal it with your inner light, or your connection to a healing light, and to imagine breathing healed light back into the sick person.

Meditation as a metaphor

There is no scientific proof that this technique helps the person that you're meditating on. After all, it's equivalent to "praying for the long life and health" of another individual.  There's no proof that works.

But there is proof that it cures YOU. That doing that kind of exercise changes the shape of your amygdala, helps regulate serotonin, cures you of depression. There is evidence that tonglen cures depression.

Got it?

So when we're discussing how to cure people of depression, how to help focus the mind, how to make the world a happier place.... it's simple. Start with tonglen.

A place where tonglen was practiced centuries ago.

I described it recently in a talk I gave - mind you, I'm not a Buddhist. I'm not a practitioner of meditation, I'm not an instructor. I'm not a teacher. I'm not qualified to teach Tonglen, nor am I trying to teach it to anyone, or give medical advice.

Someone asked me recently if I'm a "credited life coach."  I said "No, but I'm a credible afterlife coach."

Look it up, or discover it for yourself.  But at its essence, this form of dance - this form of meditation is effective at curing depression and MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY.

So let's begin there, shall we?

It's one thing to talk about happiness as a sensation - or merely a fleeting feeling. But if we're going to talk about "how to make people happy" there's a simple easy way to do that for yourself.

Do something selfless.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Minions.

Do something for someone else. Help them. You don't have to meditate on this. Literally stop what you're doing, call someone who needs your help and make them laugh.  Walk an elderly lady across the street. Pet your dog more. Play with your cat.  But do it in the way that is selfless.  "This is what you'd like to do, let me help you to do it."

I know this sounds "Christian."  Because he was talking about the same science.  ("Hacking the Afterlife" goes down an entirely different path with the story of Jesus, and his training in a Buddhist monastery, but I digress.)  What's important is the concept behind what I'm saying.  "Do unto others" is an actually prescription of behavior.

Wait, what? It's that easy to be happy? Who knew?

You don't have to do it all the time. But if you want to be happy, or to experience happiness, give things away. Give away your humor, give away your love, give away your possessions.  People give away things not just because they drag them down, or the energy tails them around - but because by giving things away, by putting intent into the giving away, you've helped regulate the serotonin in your amygdala.

Now... onto the second big topic in this discussion.

Immortality.

In Homo Deus, the author argues that the "next big thing" in the tech and medical industries is the pursuit of "Immortality." He talks about using nano tech, how we eventually will become "part machine" and part human, and that tech will be available to the people with the most money.  That health and immortality will be available to the wealthiest individuals.

Well, I'm sorry to dispute that.  

Record scratch. In outer space.

Immortality isn't something to be attained.  It's something to be realized.

You want to be immortal?  Read the following, and voila, you will become immortal.  I'm granting immortality in this blog, and if you don't want to be immortal stop here. Don't read any further.  Go about your day, and forget that you came here to read this post.  Because... I warn you... if you do, you will become immortal.

How does one become immortal?

By opening your eyes.

Not me in another life.
But a good likeness.
Rodin

There's a wonderful parable, both Buddha and Jesus had a moment when their followers said "What's heaven like?"  In Buddha's case, he touched the ground. In Jesus' case, he showed the other fellows on crosses - heaven.

It's here. It's all around you.  It's in the touch of a loved one, in the eyes of a soul mate. It's in the taste of a mother's cake, the smile in a father's laugh. It's in your child's giggle.

Because here, in life, on earth - this is the play. This is the stage.  Think of it this way - two thirds of your energy is always "back home" - in the between lives realm where we exist forever (immortality anyone?) relatively, and we come here to experience the planet Earth and all its foibles.

So two thirds of your energy is ALWAYS back home - always experiencing other friends, loved ones, classes, realms, teachings, experiences - while here on Earth we experience (roughly) about a third of what our energy is capable of.  People claim that's because the human brain can't handle "that much energy" as we'd blow the circuits.  It's also the reason why people who are avatars on the planet - who brought more of their energy to the planet - had such a profound effect on it.

Things on the planet we miss when not here.

As one avatar told me "It's because my energy is more closely aligned with source, that's why people had such a profound reaction to me in that lifetime, and continue to revere and connect with me." (I was hearing this information come through a medium who was connecting with this particular avatar.)

Immortality - the thing that we seem to seek in life - is literally at our fingertips.  There is no death.  There is only life.  People do not die, they step off this realm and go elsewhere.  Most go "home" (their words) where they return to their natural state, which includes a feeling of "unconditional love."

Not home. But a place we like to call home.

You can experience that immortality while you're on the planet. And it's through the experience of unconditional love.  Because that's the natural state of being. So if you want to know what it's like to be immortal, open your heart to everyone and all things. Allow yourself to feel that unconditional love - the kind of love we don't see in commercials, don't see in literature, but we do experience in a mother's love, or a parent's love, or the love of a pet.

You want immortality? 

Just open your eyes. Then open your heart. But it has nothing whatsoever to do with opening your wallet.

(And you got it here for free. Don't have to have wealth to attain immortality. You just have to have eyes to see, and a heart to open. My two cents.)