Re: the truth about posture ( there is no posture)
Yes, that is the fellow, and Nishijima Roshi was very influenced by some of his books on a balanced life written in the 1950's. However, I should have mentioned more directly the research on meditation by Dr. Herbert Benson (although, as you will note in the interview, Benson does not particularly attribute the effect to sitting posture or the spine) ...
More here ...
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/usin ... 0101110780
Gassho, Jundo
P.S. - Oh, and before someone asks ...
Do I [Jundo] believe that the full impact of meditation is simply via attaining the "relaxation response"? The answer is "No, I do not." That is one reason that I am somewhat skeptical of attempts ... by Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn and others ... to teach a kind of stripped down, clinical "mindfulness meditation".
Why?
Simply because, without the additional Teachings, Practices and masteries of Buddhist and Zen Wisdom and Compassion ... ranging from piercing Non-self, Impermanence, the causes and workings of Dukkha, Emptiness, living in balance and harmlessness by the Precepts, the poisons of greed anger and ignorance and the rest of the "mind theatre", freedom from excess desire and attachments, Non-attaining, Non-thinking and so much more (all interrelated, by the way) ... one is really leaving out and missing out on the True Fruits of this Way. The "relaxation response" or any such effect of Zazen is just the tip of the iceberg and lacks the real power of the Whole Deal. Zazen/Buddhism is not just some kind of seated valium pill (or as Benson says "knitting or crocheting", as lovely and relaxing as those activities are
), but a total integration with this self-life-world As It Is.
Originally posted by willow
Herbert Benson, MD, is the father of modern mind-body medicine. From the late 1960s onward, Dr. Benson’s breakthrough research at Harvard Medical School has demonstrated that the relaxation response, which can be elicited through a variety of methods including meditation, is the physiological counterpoint to the fight-or-flight response and serves as a natural antidote to stress. Numerous markers including metabolic rate, heart rate and blood pressure are increased by stress and decreased by the relaxation response. Benson continues to lead research into its basic physiology and efficacy in counteracting the harmful effects of stress.
...
[INTERVIEW]:
What we found was that when people practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM), there were a set of profound physiologic changes that were opposite to those of stress. Namely, decreased metabolism, decreased blood pressure, decreased heart rate, decreased rate of breathing, and also slower brain waves. These findings were performed at Harvard Medical School in the late 1960s, in the very laboratory in which Walter B. Cannon had defined the fight-orflight response back in the early 20th century, where he found increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased rate of breathing, increased blood flow to the muscles, and called it “fight-or-flight,” or emergency response. ...
It is elicited by using two steps. The first is a repetition, which could be a word, a sound, a prayer, a phrase or even a repetitive movement. The second step is, when other thoughts came to mind, you disregard them and come back to the repetition. This would bring forth the same physiologic changes that were brought about by the practice of Transcendental Meditation. The importance of this was that, again, for millennia people have been bringing forth a response opposite to the stress response, that has therapeutic value in disorders caused or exacerbated by stress.
We recognized the importance of this immediately. We recognized that what we were doing was putting numbers on what people had been doing for thousands of years, be it through yoga, meditation, repetitive prayer, tai chi, qigong, jogging, knitting, crocheting. it didn’t matter. There was one response brought forth by scores of techniques that have a scientific definition for the first time
...
The conditions in which the relaxation response is found to be effective include anxiety, mild
and moderate depression, and excessive anger and hostility. They are all effectively treated by regularly evoking the relaxation response. It’s very important to note that health and well being is akin to a three-legged stool. One leg is pharmaceuticals. The second leg is surgery and other procedures. There has to be a third leg and that leg is self-care. And within that self-care leg we have the relaxation response, nutrition, exercise, the beliefs of the patient, socialization, and also cognitive restructuring. So you see, when we say that the relaxation response is effective in many mental disorders, it does not preclude, nor is it meant to preclude, the simultaneous use of appropriate medications or surgeries
...
Is the nervous system the primary means through which the effects of relaxation response are mediated?
It seems to start with the breaking of the train of everyday thought, as I just pointed out. So it would appear that as a fundamental entry point, it is the nervous system. But the breaking of the train of everyday thought needn’t be a mental effect; it could be a physical effect brought about by, say, jogging. Or knitting or crocheting. Are you with me? Ultimately it’s mediated through and by the nervous system.
http://www.healthinsightstoday.com/arti ... benson.pdf
...
[INTERVIEW]:
What we found was that when people practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM), there were a set of profound physiologic changes that were opposite to those of stress. Namely, decreased metabolism, decreased blood pressure, decreased heart rate, decreased rate of breathing, and also slower brain waves. These findings were performed at Harvard Medical School in the late 1960s, in the very laboratory in which Walter B. Cannon had defined the fight-orflight response back in the early 20th century, where he found increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased rate of breathing, increased blood flow to the muscles, and called it “fight-or-flight,” or emergency response. ...
It is elicited by using two steps. The first is a repetition, which could be a word, a sound, a prayer, a phrase or even a repetitive movement. The second step is, when other thoughts came to mind, you disregard them and come back to the repetition. This would bring forth the same physiologic changes that were brought about by the practice of Transcendental Meditation. The importance of this was that, again, for millennia people have been bringing forth a response opposite to the stress response, that has therapeutic value in disorders caused or exacerbated by stress.
We recognized the importance of this immediately. We recognized that what we were doing was putting numbers on what people had been doing for thousands of years, be it through yoga, meditation, repetitive prayer, tai chi, qigong, jogging, knitting, crocheting. it didn’t matter. There was one response brought forth by scores of techniques that have a scientific definition for the first time
...
The conditions in which the relaxation response is found to be effective include anxiety, mild
and moderate depression, and excessive anger and hostility. They are all effectively treated by regularly evoking the relaxation response. It’s very important to note that health and well being is akin to a three-legged stool. One leg is pharmaceuticals. The second leg is surgery and other procedures. There has to be a third leg and that leg is self-care. And within that self-care leg we have the relaxation response, nutrition, exercise, the beliefs of the patient, socialization, and also cognitive restructuring. So you see, when we say that the relaxation response is effective in many mental disorders, it does not preclude, nor is it meant to preclude, the simultaneous use of appropriate medications or surgeries
...
Is the nervous system the primary means through which the effects of relaxation response are mediated?
It seems to start with the breaking of the train of everyday thought, as I just pointed out. So it would appear that as a fundamental entry point, it is the nervous system. But the breaking of the train of everyday thought needn’t be a mental effect; it could be a physical effect brought about by, say, jogging. Or knitting or crocheting. Are you with me? Ultimately it’s mediated through and by the nervous system.
http://www.healthinsightstoday.com/arti ... benson.pdf
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/usin ... 0101110780
Gassho, Jundo
P.S. - Oh, and before someone asks ...
Do I [Jundo] believe that the full impact of meditation is simply via attaining the "relaxation response"? The answer is "No, I do not." That is one reason that I am somewhat skeptical of attempts ... by Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn and others ... to teach a kind of stripped down, clinical "mindfulness meditation".
Why?
Simply because, without the additional Teachings, Practices and masteries of Buddhist and Zen Wisdom and Compassion ... ranging from piercing Non-self, Impermanence, the causes and workings of Dukkha, Emptiness, living in balance and harmlessness by the Precepts, the poisons of greed anger and ignorance and the rest of the "mind theatre", freedom from excess desire and attachments, Non-attaining, Non-thinking and so much more (all interrelated, by the way) ... one is really leaving out and missing out on the True Fruits of this Way. The "relaxation response" or any such effect of Zazen is just the tip of the iceberg and lacks the real power of the Whole Deal. Zazen/Buddhism is not just some kind of seated valium pill (or as Benson says "knitting or crocheting", as lovely and relaxing as those activities are
), but a total integration with this self-life-world As It Is.
Comment