Buddha's Principle of Relativity

Buddha’s Principle of Relativity A Scientific approach to Buddhist psychotherapy Our body is constantly disturbed by some stimulus or other from the external environment. Example – you see a snake, you hear a dog bark, or you shiver from the cold blowing. Something like this happens all the time. When our sensory receptors, (eyes, ears, nose, mouth or skin), take in these stimuli, they send messages to the brain (Control Centre) for necessary action. The body reacts, resulting in stress. Physiology/biology explains that messages so received generate brain activity at the Control Centre, for a quick response. The Centre having received these messages activates its regulating functions to bring the system back to normal by providing output commands to the body (Effector). From the Effector onwards, there is a departure in the areas of interest between conventional biological-physiological study, and Buddha’s philosophy; the study of personality development and functioning in terms of the interaction of the mind with the body. While Biology/Physiology concentrates on the effects of feedback from the body, Buddha’s Philosophy of the mind devotes itself to the study of psychological processes in the brain. We, the reader would want to know how emotions affect our understanding and thinking – also whether these factors affect our health. Can we overcome emotions? Can we overcome stress? Yes we can Relaxation and stress release Homeostasis is good way of doing it, relaxing you at the end of a stressful day. The word implies maintaining a relative calmness of the internal environment, body and mind, the naturally maintained adaptive responses promoting healthy survival. Homeostasis or meditation both refer to a calm and peaceful state of mind. Find a comfortable room in your house where you can sit quietly for a few minutes. You can call it meditation or homeostasis, it does not matter. Imagine two persons; a man and a woman relaxing to attain homeostasis. Complete silence is a must: no phone calls, no TV, no radio and no interruptions. In the quiet stillness, a cat quite innocently attempts to jump on to his / her lap. Result - psychological and bodily disturbance – and the possibility of subsequent reactions The woman quietly accepts the cat without protest. The man reacts, and the cat is even thrown off or is frightened away. One impact, two different reactions According to Buddha’s Principle, the reason for different reactions dependent primarily on emotions harboured in their memory store, - in this case, how they feel about a cat unexpectedly jumping on their lap. By this simple reaction, the man is actually strengthening abhorrence to this sort of interruption. With the woman, her ability to ignore such interruptions becomes even stronger. Monitor those thoughts In order to eliminate too much stress from our lives we have to ensure that we do not overload it with stressful events- and this includes our stressful thinking. This is the area we have to monitor on an individual basis. No one else can do it for us. We have to learn to become aware of our habitual thoughts. We have to determine whether or not such thoughts are stressing us, or relaxing us. If you have had a particular busy day - take it easy. You can relax your muscles within seconds. Try it. Then take a slow, deep breath. It will calm you. A particularly good technique is to sit down, close your eyes, then count slowly as you inhale, hold a breath, and then exhale. This is actually a yoga technique and is particularly useful in calming both mind and body. You simply sit, relaxed, eyes closed. Then you cover one nostril and slowly and quietly take in a breath. You might inhale for, say, eight or ten seconds. You then pinch off that nostril, and hold the breath for another eight to ten seconds. Then, you gently release the air within you through the same nostril for another eight to ten seconds. Once the cycle is complete, you try the other nostril. A couple of times with each, and you can open your eyes. You’ll be cool, calm and collected - and very much with the present moment, alert, attentive, and relaxed. Remember stress is a physical phenomenon, but our mental state causes it. Yet the stress, as far as our health is concerned, is in the body. The mind, as I have shown here, is a cluster of mental states, and mental states do not get stressed in the way we understand stress. It is only the physical body that ‘feels’ stress. If our body is not disturbed by external factors, then it appears we do not have stress. How to reduce stress Meditation has the effect of the voluntarily releasing both muscle and psychological tension. It calms the body and mind. Meditation is something you can learn to do yourself, though some of us may prefer to learn how to do it in a class situation from someone with experience in such matters. Its results can, after all, be quite profound. Be that as it may, we know that involuntary muscle contraction can make people feel bad-tempered and worn out, eventuating in muscle pain and discomfort. Such psychological tension, too, can make us feel angry, frustrated, bringing about conflict. Emotions are the ones to watch. Every emotion carries with it a chemical. If you use them, you are OK. If you don’t .... Further reading (1) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Emotions (Please read connected items – feeling theories, morality and emotions, etc) (2) Encyclopedia of Human Emotions – (Vol 2 – page 509) – by David Layvinson James J Potzetti, Peter Jorgenson “In Asia Buddhists are warned against emotions that are ‘antagonistic’ and cause frustration and suffering”. (3) The Cancer Council NSW –Emotions and Cancer “Some people find relaxation or meditation helps cancer patients feel better by releasing tension and anxiety. Some people find comfort and strength in their spirituality or religion”.