Dharamsala Conference

His holiness spoke of the lifeforce within us all, referred to as Jivitindriya and he described it as “the water sustains the lotus flower”. He spoke heavily about cultivating Bodicitta and one thought that arose from the dialogue was a very helpful mantra and form of koan:

Do not reflect ON experience, use reflection as an act of experience.

This Jivitindriya makes the mind “alive” as a lifeforce provides warmth and consciousness and contributes to elements of Bodicitta aiding the practitioner to distinguish between wholesome/meritorious and unwholesome/unmeritorious activity. This comes from the Abhidamma apparently and arises in the practitioner as he/she studies the Abhidamma. The question that arises for me is how such ethical and deep awareness of citta (Pali for mind or consciousness - I’ve heard both translations), its qualities that give it sustenance, and the arising of wholesome/unwholesome categorization contribute to the healthy development of mind and does the failure of development from this domain result in an unhealthy mind or some form of psychopathology?

The discussion that spontaneously generated these ideas came from HHDL commenting on the 7 qualities of initial sensory and subsequent conceptual awareness of an experienced object.

1. Contact

2. Feeling

3. Perception (Sanna) - Making a mark like a Carpenter would on a piece of wood

4. volition (cetana)

5. One-pointedness - The seed of samadhi (where awareness of the object begins)

6. Life

7. Attention (manasikara)

HHDL was asked whether these 7 qualities arise all together instantaneously, he commented that he believed they arise simultaneously, but are more likely to arise in a brief sequence. He continued by explaining this is the process by which the mind is made unlike the previous mind, steering the mind toward an object only. There are 6 further qualities of citta that occur after examining takes place.

Two that were mentioned were Vitakka or “thinking of” the object in which the object is “striked by persistent and deliberate pushing”, then Vicara or “examining” takes place which was described as a “constant rubbing or exploring” of the object.

Lastly, it is Sati which is the remembering or “not forgetting” or losing the object - remembering in the moment as a Guard post for stopping unwholesome thoughts from getting into consciousness.

So..it appears to me in my own translation that if retrospective forms of memory help one develop the mind to move through proper steps of sensation, perception, and categorization of object, then the current working memory will aid in directing that attention in a deliberate wholesome direction that is free of distraction and/or unnecessary mental factors and further directed towards the ultimate nature/awareness of the object with prospective forms of memory.

Hi all,

The meeting has finished, but the effects are likely to be long-lasting and it may take weeks or months for it all to sink in. That being said, I do plan to keep posting on the site my continued reflections and responding to the active discussion. Thank you all for such a rich discussion. Last night and today, MLI met with a group of Indian scientists to explore a future collaboration. I will comment more soon.

Cliff Saron’s lovely daughter Rayna has also been blogging and sent her blog address. To get a view of the meeting from youth, please visit!

anamazingindianadventure.blogspot.com

Dear friends,

We are preparing for the final day here today. Philosopher Shaun Gallagher will present on phenomenology and the study of the mind. Shaun is quite interested in incorporating the body, social others, and social contexts in our study of the mind.  He will talk about how the orientation of the body, for instance, as lying or standing, can affect basic cognitive processes.  In addition, the presence of social others and contexts is the crucible in which mind evolved. To the extend we want to fully understand the mind and the brain, one necessarily needs to take a social, contextual, and developmental view.

The weather seems most auspicious for the final day. After many storms, a beautiful full moon arose last night and the sun has come this morning!  More later!

Moonrise

Butterlamps

Women & Prayer Wheels

Today the talks shifted to a focus on emotion and its relation to attention and memory.

Dr. Liz Phelps from New York University began the morning by talking about how emotion is defined in the western scientific tradition and why we have them.  Liz noted that emotion means many different things, and is defined as consisting of many different components, including a subjective feeling, a bodily response, expressions in the face and voice, a motivational tendency to act, and various facets of appraisal that are critical in the generation of particular emotions.  In the most basic sense, Liz noted that emotions signal the presence of various opportunities or harms, things that are important, in ourselves and the environment. She then went on to talk about how emotion amplifies focal attention and enhances confidence in memories, if not actual details. This was an effect, she said, of the amplification of attention on focal but not peripheral details of emotionally-charged experiences.

Liz Phelps on Left

The discussion centered around the definition of emotion in both scientific and Buddhist traditions. Richie Davidson and Matthieu Ricard discussed their work in trying to bring together these traditions by positing a 2 x 2 typology of emotions. One dimension is valence (pleasant, neutral, unpleasant) and the other is the “wholesomeness” dimension (unwholesome to wholesome).  The operationalization of the notion of “wholesomeness” was hypothesized to depend on the effect of that emotion on the health of the mind and body and social relationships over time. That is, a functional, pragmatic approach to defining this dimension was posited. The importance of the 2 x 2 typology was seen as necessary because some people find unwholesome emotions pleasant in the moment (e.g., greed), whereas sometimes unpleasant emotions are wholesome if they are in the service of attaining a greater good over a longer time period (e.g., confusion and dismay on the spiritual path).

Himalaya

The discussion also moved to the issue of whether or not it made sense really to separate out notions of “cognition” from “emotion.”  As Richie Davidson said - “The brain does not respect the dichotomy of passions (emotion) and reason handed to us by the Greek tradition.” That is, there is nowhere in the brain that is purely “emotional” or “cognitive.”  

Another important aspect of the overall discussion this week has been that the training of compassion and emotion regulation is dependent upon the same attentional mechanisms that are essential for the training of shamatha and vipassana. The mechanisms of attention are central to both cognitive and emotional functioning.  Cliff Saron, in a wonderful presentation on the Shamatha project, described some of these same ideas and presented data on them.

Today is the final day wherein we try to tie together some of these concepts related to attention, memory and the mind.

One of the best parts of being here in Dharamsala is meeting new and incredibly interesting and heartfelt people who are all interested in and committed to enhancing the well-being of others.

Dave Vago and Rob Roeser

It has also been so nice to receive all of the wonderful comments from the broader sangha out there following the meeting. Thank you! Here are a few new friends and some nice Tibetan music we heard this evening Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

Listen here:

Betsy, Rob, Dave, Sonia & Luigi

Robert Thurman

Anne Treisman

Here are just a few morsels that we heard today as the dialogue moved to a consideration of issues of emotion and its relation to attention and emotion on day 4.

“I describe myself as a messenger of Ancient Indian thought.”

HH Dalai Lama

“Many of the problems we are facing today in the world are of our own making due to greed, fear and so on. Therefore, we cannot neglect our inner mind - it is a key factor in both personal happiness and the well-being of the world.”

HH Dalai Lama

“How can the inner life be introduced into the education of young people? One view is morals come from religious training. Another view is that there is a fundamental and universal level of ethics that can be taught to all - things like affection, respect for others and a sense of interconnection. Modern education can teach these things.”

HH Dalai Lama