Awakening Your Brain:

Tools for Meditative Depth,

Peacefulness, Happiness, and Equanimity

Rick Hanson, Ph.D. Richard Mendius, M.D.

drrh@comcast.net jrichardmendius@aol.com

© 2007
Plan for the Day

„ Context
„ Awareness and Equanimity
„ Guided Meditation
„ Neurodharma: The Executive Summary
„ Lunch
„ The Biochemistry of Inner Peace
„ Cultivating Happiness throught Taking in the Good
„ Settling into Your Best Parts
„ Equanimity: Neurobiology and Practice
Common - and Fertile - Ground

Neuroscience Psychology

Buddhism
Heartwood
This spiritual life does not have gain, honor,
and renown for its benefit, or the attainment
of moral discipline for its benefit, or the
attainment of concentration for its benefit, or
knowledge and vision for its benefit.
But it is this unshakable liberation of mind that
is the goal of this spiritual life, its heartwood,
and its end.

The Buddha
The Nature of Awareness
Consciousness ~ Awareness

“Core consciousness” is the sensing - by deep

structures of the brain - of the sensors detecting
change in the sensing of the body. [Any questions?]
Always in the present moment . . .

“Autobiographical consciousness” is more global, has

past and present, and personal associations

Attention is controlled awareness. Steadiness of mind

is the control of control.
Equanimity
„ More than calm:
Equanimity means not reacting to your reactions

„ Impartial about the “feeling tone:”

Positive, negative, or neutral

„ Breaking the chain of "dependent

origination:"
From contact to feeling to craving to clinging to
suffering

Yes, the first dart lands. But not the second one.
 Know the mind.

Shape the mind.

Free the mind.

Christina Feldman
Meditation
„ Relaxation

„ Intention

„ Feeling safe

„ Happiness

„ Steadiness of mind

„ Equanimity
 Breathing in, be calm.
Breathing out, be useful.
Nun, Thailand

Don't try to bring meditation into daily life.

Bring daily life into meditation.
Ajahn Amaro
Framework of Western Science
„ We respect the possibility of a mysterious
transcendental Something.

„ But that is not our focus today.

„ We’re exploring what an entirely materialistic

perspective on the brain - informed by the
Dharma - might offer for steadiness of mind,
peacefulness, happiness, and wisdom.
A Few Disclaimers

„ On the frontiers of science. Be skeptical.

„ Neuroscience is no replacement for

contemplative wisdom.

„ Adapt this to your own needs and practices.

„ Even science itself contains incredible

mysteries.
The Union of Mind and Body

„ Subjective experience correlates with

brain activities.

„ Change your experience - and you change

your brain, temporarily and then
permanently.

„ Change your brain - and you change

your experience.
Fleeting Experiences Leave Structural Traces

„ Neurons that fire together wire together.

„ Brains get thicker in regions that are used.

„ Your experience matters.

„ This creates an incredible opportunity . . .

„ . . . and a great responsibility.

Your Brain - The FAQs
Evolutionary History

The Triune Brain

Three Stages of Brain Evolution
„ Reptilian:
„ Brainstem, cerebellum, hypothalamus
„ Reactive and reflexive

„ Mammalian:
„ Limbic system, hypothalamus, thalamus, hippocampus,
amygdala
„ Complex emotion, social behavior, enhanced memory

„ “Clever Ape” (Homo sapiens):

„ Cerebral hemispheres
„ Language, sophisticated planning, abstract thought,
elaborate social behavior, self-reflection
Your Amazing Brain
„ Size:
„ 3 pounds of “cottage cheese”
„ 1.1 trillion neurons, 100 billion in the "gray matter"

„ Activity:
„ Always on 24/7/365 - instant access to info on demand
„ 2% of your body weight, 25% of your oxygen

„ Speed:
„ Neurons firing 10 to 100 times a second
„ Signals crossing brain in a tenth or hundredth of a second

„ Connectivity:
„ A neuron gets inputs from 10,000 neurons and sends outputs
to 10,000.
One Simple Neuron . . .

One neuron: on or off. A simple switch, yes?

. . . Multiplied by Billions of
Neurons
„ Multiply the complexity of a single neuron by 100,000,000,000
neurons (and that’s only gray matter)

„ Each with 10,000 synapses:

„ One quadrillion - 1,000,000,000,000,000 - synapses total
„ Most synapses flickering 1 - 50 times a second
„ Neural nets rocked by bursts of 80/second waves

„ Possible brain states: 1 followed by a million zeros

„ Circular loops:
„ Recursion and self-observation
„ Dynamic, “chaotic” effects: determined, but unpredictable
A Profoundly Complex System

YOUR BRAIN IS THE MOST COMPLEX OBJECT

KNOWN IN THE UNIVERSE.

MORE COMPLEX THAN THE CLIMATE,

OR A SUPERNOVA
The Buddha on the Brain

„ Basic conditions of existence:

„ Impermanent, changing, “mountain-ing”
„ Interdependent, non-dual, “empty”

„ Beings suffer due to clinging. Clinging to

what is changing and has no absolute
existence in itself.
Impermanent Brain and Mind
„ Constant change:
„ Brain waves, neurotransmitters, “arborization”
„ Fast speeds, tiny scales, gigantic quantities

„ Brain change -> mind change: “Stream(s) of

consciousness”

„ No condition of mind - or environment - is a

dependable source of enduring happiness.

Are you still looking for happiness in samsara?

Ani Tenzin Palmo
 With dewdrops dripping,
I wish somehow I could wash
this perishing world

Basho
Interconnected, Interdependent
Brain/Mind/World

„ Brain: Most extraordinary network known

„ Neurological loops -> associations in mind

„ Brain and mind at one with the body

„ Brain and body at one with the physical world

„ Mind at one with the informational world

What me? Who, me?

„ Self is a useful fiction.

„ Self is variable, organized around clinging

„ Self is compounded, with component parts

distributed throughout the brain

„ Self is intertwined with world

A mosaic with 10,000 pieces

To study the Way is to study the self.

To study the self is to forget the self.

To forget the self is

To be enlightened by all things.

Dogen
Who am I?
„ A person:
„ With individual personality, temperament, history
„ Morally responsible
„ Deserving of humane treatment

„ In what “grout” do the tiles of seeming self abide?

„ Background hum of neurological activity
„ Pure awareness

„ A pulsing of consciousness . . . or a stable knowing?

Infused with a mysterious Brightness?
No self, no problem
The Construction of Suffering
The brain has five properties that help you survive,
but also lead to your suffering:

„ Separation of organism and world

„ Identification with the body

„ Anxiety of survival

„ Seeking stability in a changing world

„ Pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain

Ordinary Suffering

„ In mind: uneasy, hurried, frazzled,

uncomfortable, stressed

„ In body: sympathetic nervous system arousal

„ In brain/mind: intensified clinging and selfing

-> more stress -> more sympathetic arousal
Brain States in Relaxed Well-Being
„ Autonomic nervous system:
„ Parasympathetic activation
„ Sympathetic quieting down
„ Breathing and heart rate slow, vascular walls relax
(lowering blood pressure), digestion increases, immune
system strengthens

„ Pleasant, rewarding hormones, neuro-transmitters/modulators:

Serotonin, norepinephrine, oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins

„ Brain waves:
„ Emphasize delta (1 - 3 Hz) and theta (4 - 7 Hz), with some
beta (14 - 30 Hz) mixed in
„ Increased coherence and resonance
The Intentional Brain
„ Frontal lobes:
„ Manager of the capital city of the great land of you
„ Pitfalls: too much or too little control over the provinces

„ Frontal lobe goals/instructions:

„ Increase responsiveness of circuits
„ Receive feedback and revise plans
„ Thus helping you adapt and succeed

„ Forward focus and success foster sense of strength

„ Evoked sense of good qualities/people activates emotional

and bodily states
Feeling Safe

„ Luscious cascades of GABA and serotonin

neurotransmitters

„ Adding to the effects of relaxation and

parasympathetic arousal

„ Neurological systems of vigilance - motivating you

with a steady trickle of anxiety - quiet down.

„ Making more neurological and thus mental

resources available for inner awareness
Positive Emotions

„ The brain on happiness:

„ Alert, energized: norepinephrine, etc.
„ Pleasant feelings: dopamine, etc.
„ Supports parasympathetic arousal

„ A happy mind:
„ Increases resilience
„ Counteracts depression and anxiety

„ Happiness is skillful means:

„ Joy is one of the seven factors of enlightenment.
„ Bliss and joy are factors of the jhanas.
Steady Mind, Coherent Brain
„ Attention to an object increases the physical sensitivity of neural
networks processing information about it.

„ Cingulate gyrus monitors stability of attention (nourished by

compassion), playing a leading role in the control of control

„ Pleasure circuits reward success, and more dopamine flows with

bliss and joy.

„ High dopamine helps keep the gates of awareness closed to new

and distracting information.

„ Norepinephrine surges brightening the mind

„ This internal stimulation puts the basal ganglia at ease.

„ High frequency resonance synchronizing the whole brain

A Road Map from the Buddha

„ Milestones toward Awakening . . .

„ A gradual, progressive process in which:

“…the mind is steadied internally
. . . quieted
. . . brought to singleness
. . . and concentrated.”
Anguttara Nikaya 3:100
What Does a Quiet Brain Look Like?
Cultivating Vipassana

„ Insight is the ultimate aim.

„ Insight is nourished by stable, quiet, collected, and

concentrated states . . . of the brain.

„ The Buddha: Liberating insight - and Nibbana itself -

are the fruits of virtue, wisdom, and contemplative
practice.

Even if the ripe apple falls ultimately by grace,

its ripening was caused
by the watering, feeding, protecting, and shaping of its tree.
 Penetrative insight

joined with calm abiding

utterly eradicates

afflicted states.

Shantideva
The Brain of Equanimity
 Indeed, the sage who's fully quenched
Rests at ease in every way;
No sense desire adheres to him
Whose fires have cooled, deprived of fuel.

All attachments have been severed,

The heart's been led away from pain;
Tranquil, he rests with utmost ease.
The mind has found its way to peace.

The Buddha
Pathways to Inner Peace

„ Using mind to change matter to benefit mind

„ Relaxation
„ Recognizing that there is no threat
„ Taking refuge in supportive settings and with
supportive people
„ Accessing a sense of inner strength
„ Activating positive emotions
„ Equanimity toward reactions, including fearful ones

„ Using matter to change matter to benefit mind

The Landscape of Anxiety
„ Experiences of nervousness, apprehension, fear,
“the jitters,” dread, on edge, keyed up, uptight,
terror, alarm, panic

„ Ranging in intensity and bodily involvement

„ State anxiety vs. trait anxiety

„ Necessary to survive; a drip-drip of fear

„ But disproportionate state anxiety and chronic trait

anxiety are excess suffering.
What biochemical processes create more or
less anxiety?

What biochemical interventions can a person

do on his or her own to feel less anxious –
and feel more safe, secure, and peaceful?
The Neuron Returns
Neurotransmitter Functions

„ Two core functions:

„ Calming down - “Inhibitory”
„ Energizing up - “Excitatory”

„ Inhibitory neurotransmitters put the brakes on

excitatory activity.

„ Too much excitatory activity and too little

inhibitory activity leads to anxiety, etc.
Inhibitory and Excitatory
Neurotransmitters
„ Inhibitory:
„ Serotonin
„ Taurine
„ GABA
„ Glycine

„ Excitatory:
„ Norepinephrine
„ Dopamine
„ Adrenaline
„ Glutamic acid (glutamate)
The Glutamic Acid and GABA Dance

„ GABA modulates glutamic acid (GA)

effects.

„ Too much GA feels like a monosodium

glutamate overdose.
Perspectives on Natural Methods
„ Potential benefits:
„ Often highly effective
„ Minimal side effects (pure molecules that the body
knows how to metabolize)
„ Readily available

„ But use wisely:

„ Gather information.
„ Do not take on your own if you’re using
psychotropic meds.
„ Start with low doses.
„ If something does not feel good, stop.
Increasing GABA

„ Glutamic acid -> GABA

„ Vitamin B-6 as Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate

(P-5-P) is the key nutritional co-factor that
shifts the balance in the direction of GABA.

„ Take 50 mg./day of P-5-P on an empty

stomach.
Increasing Serotonin
„ Serotonin is a “neuromodulator” of GABA that
increases its effects.

„ Serotonin also helps decrease overactive

norepinephrine, dopamine, adrenalin, and cortisol.

„ Tryptophan (with iron) -> 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-

HTP) (with P-5-P) -> serotonin

„ Options for increasing serotonin:

„ Tryptophan, 500 – 1500 mg./day
„ 5-HTP, 50 – 200 mg./day
Increasing Taurine

„ Taurine binds to GABA receptors, thus

stimulating GABA-like activity.

„ It’s typically a benign amino acid, also

depleted during breastfeeing.

„ Consider 1000 mg./day.

Increasing Theanine

„ Theanine is an amino acid found in green tea

and added to soft drinks in Japan (!).

„ It is “antagonistic” to glutamic acid.

„ Consider 100 – 200 mg./day.

Taking GABA

„ Theoretically, GABA does not cross the

blood-brain barrier, but many people do
report a calming effect.
„ Possibly there is a “leaky brain syndrome” allowing
GABA to get through.

„ Consider 250 - 750 mg./day on an empty

stomach.
Taking Progesterone
„ For women only . . .

„ Progesterone stimulates GABA receptors,

triggering a GABA-like effect.

„ Approaching menopause, progesterone

decreases before estrogen does, so
supplementing progesterone may be helpful.

„ Consider Pro-Gest cream, during the second

half of your cycle.
Increasing Glycine

„ Glycine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. In

the spine, it performs a GABA-like role,
balancing the effect of glutamic acid.

„ Consider:
„ Glycine, 500 – 1000 mg./day, or more
„ Magnesium glycinate, enough to get 400 mg.
of magnesium
Summary of Possible Interventions
„ P-5-P: 50 mg. on an empty stomach

„ Tryptophan or 5-HTP to enhance serotonin

„ Taurine: 1000 mg. on an empty stomach (in a.m.)

„ Theanine: 100 – 200 mg.

„ GABA: 250 - 750 mg.

„ Progesterone cream (women only)

„ Glycine: 500 - 1000 mg.

 These three ways lead to the deathless realm:

living in the truth,

not yielding to anger,

and giving (even if you have only a little to share).

Dhammapada
You Are What You “Remember”

„ Two kinds of memory:

„ Explicit
„ Implicit

„ Negative experiences are more central to

survival:
„ They register immediately, but positive ones
need to be held in awareness longer.
„ Negative experiences trump positive ones.
Benefits of Taking in the Good
„ Cultivating wholesome qualities

„ Crowding out bad ones

„ Highlighting key experiences so you can reactivate

them again

„ Building faith and confidence in the fruits of the path;

conviction is one of the factors of enlightenment.

„ Rewarding yourself for walking a hard but noble

path, supporting motivation
How to Take in the Good
„ Convert positive events to positive experiences.
„ Pay attention to the good.
„ Create positive experiences.
„ Allow yourself to have a good experience.

„ Extend the experience in time and space

„ Sustain attention to it.
„ Let it fill your body and heart.
„ Savor it. It’s delicious!

„ Sense the experience sinking in

„ Feel it going into your body.
„ Maybe use imagery, e.g., treasure chest in your heart
Opening the Heart

„ Natural variability of beat to beat interval

„ Large, smooth changes in variability:

„ Activate parasympathetic nervous system, lower blood
pressure, and support immune function

„ A simple method:
„ Even breathing - inhalation equals exhalation
„ Imagine breathing through your heart
„ Evoke a heartfelt feeling (e.g., gratitude, love); perhaps
combine lovingkindness practice
And for a Bonus . . .
„ Sense that the positive experience is going down
into old hollows and wounds within you, and filling
them up and replacing them with new positive
feelings and views.

„ Have the new experience be prominent in

awareness while the old experience is in the
background.

„ You’re tapping into the way the brain reconstitutes

memories.

A profound, far-reaching, and genuine way to help yourself

Attitudes for Taking in the Good
„ You are just being in reality. Clear-eyed and
fair-minded.

„ You’ve earned the good times. The meal you paid for
is set before you, and you’re entitled to dig in.

„ Recognize the value to yourself and others of taking in

positive experiences. See how it is a good and
virtuous thing to soak in positive experiences.

The root of Buddhism is compassion,

and the root of compassion is compassion for oneself.
Pema Chodren
Settling into Your Best Parts
„ Fitting the “key” of the new good experience to the
“lock” of the hole in the heart
Like experiences of safety, strength, feeling loved or valued

„ Buddhist perspectives on native goodness, “the

stainless purity of mind”

„ As an inherent property of the nervous system,

there is an essence or core in each of us that is
awake, present, interested, caring, and happy.

„ Let a growing feeling of your innate goodness sink

in like any other beautiful experience.
 Be wisdom itself,
rather than a person who isn't wise
trying to become wise.

Trust in awareness, in being awake,

rather than in transient and unstable conditions.

Ajahn Sumedho
Circuits of Emotional Responses
The Neurology of Reactivity

„ Incoming stimuli processed by amygdala

„ Labels: pleasant, unpleasant, neutral
- the “feeling aggregate”
„ Directs a response: approach, avoid or fight, or ignore
„ Is it OK or not? What should I do?

„ Reacts before frontal lobes can process signals

„ “Jump first, ask questions later!”
„ Why “feeling” comes before “perception”

„ But leads reactions to hijack reasoning mind

„ (Especially with history of trauma)
„ Triggering secondary cascade of emotions, views, actions
Dampening Reactivity

„ Train hippocampus - which influences the

amygdala’s labeling - to regard incoming information
more positively; taking in the good really helps.

„ Train amygdala to be less reactive and to label more

experiences neutrally or positively

„ Establish more frontal lobe control.

„ Possible neurological processes in the Third and

Fourth Jhanas (characterized by great equanimity)
Preparation for Equanimity Meditation

„ Feel positive emotion to an intense degree:

„ Bliss (piti) and happiness (sukha)
„ Intensify dopamine, helping steady the mind

„ Be aware of “feeling,” the Second Foundation of

Mindfulness.

„ Abide in an impartiality toward the ten thousand things

that is deeper than tranquility.

“The Great Way is easy for one with no preferences.”

Third Zen Patriarch
 In the deepest forms of insight,
we see that things change so quickly
that we can't hold onto anything,
and eventually the mind lets go of clinging.

Letting go brings equanimity.

The greater the letting go, the deeper the equanimity.

In Buddhist practice, we work to expand

the range of life experiences in which we are free.

U Pandita
Pleasant feeling is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen,
having the nature of wasting, vanishing, fading, and ceasing.
The painful feeling and the neutral feeling, too, are impermanent,
conditioned, dependently arisen, having the nature of wasting
vanishing, fading and ceasing.
When a well-taught disciple perceives this, he becomes dispassionate
toward pleasant feelings, dispassionate toward painful feelings
and dispassionate toward neutral feelings.
Being dispassionate, his lust fades away, and with the fading away of
lust,
he is liberated.
When liberated, there comes to him the knowledge that he is
liberated. He now knows, “Birth is exhausted, the holy life has
been lived, done is what was to be done, there is no more of this to
come.”
From Majjhima Nikaya 146
 Outstanding behavior,
blameless action,
open hands to all,
and selfless giving:

This is a blessing supreme.

The Buddha