4 papers in the library · publishing 2014-2016
Living Zen Remindfully October 21, 2016 James H. Austin
Meditation and creativity are linked, and recent research indicates that meditation can enhance creative problem-solving skills. The chapter reviews updated findings on how these practices influence cognitive processes related to generating novel ideas and solutions.
Living Zen Remindfully October 21, 2016 James H. Austin
Over 12 years, the author's benign auditory hypnopompic hallucinations evolved, serving as a memory retrieval function that becomes more elaborate with frequent meditation.
Living Zen Remindfully October 21, 2016 James H. Austin
This chapter examines episodes in the later life of the poet Basho when he appeared to have experienced an altered state of consciousness. The author suggests that spontaneously gazing upward and listening upward can trigger such states. The analysis focuses on Basho's subjective experiences and the circumstances surrounding these episodes, offering a historical and interpretive account of his mental states.
Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014 James H. Austin
Zen Buddhist meditation trains attention and awareness during daily life, reduces egocentric behaviors, and applies compassionate insight-wisdom. This review examines how such training relates to Zen's emphasis on direct experience, particularly acute states of awakening called kensho and satori. It distinguishes concentrative and receptive forms of meditation, which train top-down and bottom-up attentional processing. Two processing pathways are contrasted: an egocentric frame of reference tied to body and mind, and an other-centered (allocentric) frame. A model proposes that a triggering stimulus causes the reticular nucleus to release GABA, inhibiting the dorsal thalamus and blocking somatic and psychic cortical functions, thereby deleting maladaptive aspects of selfhood while releasing a unified experience of other.