From: MarshaV (marshalz@i-2000.com)
Date: Sun Aug 22 2004 - 22:57:40 BST
Dear Chris,
Thank you for your kind suggestions.
I have only recently been investigating Buddhism. (I had studied Yoga in
the past.) Concepts of Buddhism keep appearing in the books I've been
reading. I've just finished 'The Mind & The Brain', by Jeffrey Schwartz
(Buddhist). He's a Neuropsychiatrist. Great book!!!! He writes about the
mind physically changing the brain, the world-view changing from one based
on physical laws to a world-view based on quantum mechanics, and biological
humanism replacing biological materialism. Attention is volition!
Attention means meditation.
I've never read anything by Aldous Huxley. Maybe I should. But another
name that seems to be everywhere lately is William James. So many books,
so little time.
An aspect of physical pain coming from this loss was the physical struggle
not to cry in front of anyone. The pain went from my chest to my
throat. It was very real until I surrendered to the tears. I realized my
little dog was more important than my fear of losing control.
Thanks for the wisdom.
MarshaV
At 11:24 AM 8/22/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>By "suffering" I meant the suffering that comes from physical pain. I
>have not thought about the suffering that comes from an external event
>like the loss of a loved one.
>
>I just finished re-reading an excellent book on how applied psychology and
>applied Buddhism (plus applied physiology and several other things) can be
>used to build a rather nice society. A major theme in the book is how to
>deal with death and loss. The book is _Island_ by Aldous Huxley.
>
>The best one-sentence summary I can give of the book is, "Pay continuous
>attention to the here-and-now, turning every activity into the yoga of
>itself." If the second part of that doesn't make sense, ignore it; the
>first part is still good advice in general.
>
>On the theory that grief causes physical misery as well, it might be
>worthwhile paying attention to that process. It might turn out that some
>part of the misery is self-reinforcing and unnecessary.
>
>For the mental part, my only suggestion (and I offer it only as tentative
>theory) is to pay here-and-now attention to the various patterns and
>processes of thought, memory, and emotion, especially semi-conscious
>efforts to suppress any of the above (which makes them persist). Of
>course, this is probably easier when practiced in advance.
>
>And be easy on yourself, and make sure you have friends and loved ones around.
>
>Chris
>
>MarshaV wrote:
>
>>
>>Loss can be considered under the heading of pain and suffering? I had to
>>put my little dog to sleep this morning. She was 16 1/2, and pure buddha
>>nature.
>>MarshaV
>>
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>--
>Chris Phoenix cphoenix@CRNano.org
>Director of Research
>Center for Responsible Nanotechnology http://CRNano.org
>
>
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