All that we are

03 Feb All that we are

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought” – Buddha

In this blog I will be drawing heavily from the book “Buddha’s Brain” by Rick Hanson. If you get the chance I highly recommend reading it. In the previous blog we looked at how thoughts just enter our mind. When we try to keep our minds empty of all thoughts they flow into our mind uninvited.

When our minds change so do our brains. The psychologist Donald Hebb famously said “when neurons fire together, they wire together”. Mental activity actually creates new neural structures (Hebb 1949; LeDoux 2003). This malleable nature of our brains is known as “neuroplasticity”. One example of this is how London taxi drivers develop a larger hippocampus due to the demands of their job (Maguire et al. 2000). Another example is that Meditating has been shown to make the left frontal region of the brain more active. The happier a person becomes the more active the left frontal region of their brain becomes (Davidson 2004).

Even our fleeting thoughts and feelings can leave lasting marks on our brain, the same way rain over time can reshape mountains. If we are not in command of our minds we are in a state of mindlessness. In this state we are no better than a leaf in the wind being blown about by our immediate fears and desires.

The opposite of mindlessness is mindfulness. Mindfulness simply means having good control over our attention. We can place our attention wherever we want and keep it there. Whenever we want to move it to somewhere else, we can. Attention is often compared to a spotlight. Whatever the spotlight of our attention illuminates streams into our minds and shapes our brains.

The fact that what flows through our minds sculpts our brains means we can use our minds to change our brains. Meditation gives us the tools to shape our own brains. Meditation builds up our attention and strengthens our focus. When our attention is solid and steady so are our minds. Our minds are not shaken or hijacked by whatever pops into our awareness, but are stable, grounded and present in the moment. Developing greater control over our attention through meditation is probably the single most powerful way for us to reshape our brains and our lives.

In summary;

1/ Our thoughts shape who we are. If our mind is constantly wandering out of our control we become like leaves in the wind being blown about by our immediate fears and desires.

2/ Meditation is the best way to develop mindfulness. Mindfulness gives us control over our attention.

3/ Developing greater control over our attention through meditation is probably the single most powerful way for us to reshape our brains and our lives because we can then choose what our minds focus on.