Brainwave States in Traditional Buddhist and Hindu Teachings Part 2
Gross Body, Gross State The densest body in Vedanta is the gross body—the sthula sarira, which supports the waking state of consciousness as well as the annamayakosha, the outermost of five sheaths which cover the deepest Self like a 5-layered lampshade. It is the physical body made up of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and…
Read MoreBrainwave States in Traditional Buddhist and Hindu Teachings Part 1
WAKING, DREAMING, SLEEPING by Eric Thompson The four brainwave patterns most often studied in science (Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta) represent states of waking, dreaming and sleeping through which we pass every 24 hours. While all brainwave patterns are usually present throughout the day, Beta activity is dominant during the waking state. Alpha and Theta appear…
Read MoreBrainwave Meditation Programs
My History With Brainwave Meditation Programs by Eric Thompson I first became aware of brainwave meditation programs and brain waves when researching alternative methods for treating the bipolar disorder I had been unsuccessfully living with my entire adult life. I eventually learned a method of releasing difficult emotions on the spot, which I then practiced…
Read MoreDelta Meditation in Tradition and Science
Delta Meditation Q: Is delta meditation really that important? Isn’t gamma more important? Why do some people focus on delta meditation when there is virtually no scientific evidence for it? A: The reason I tend to focus on delta meditation is in part because of its significance in the major meditative traditions. Vedanta, for example,…
Read MoreSpiritual Growth Through Bi-Directional Causality
Ever since the emergence of behaviorism, the trend to interpret the material world as being primary and the world of conscious awareness as being secondary (and therefore without the capacity for causation) has increased steadily and rapidly. The wisdom traditions, on the other hand, have usually maintained that the intangible world of spirit is primary.…
Read MoreAction Of Nerves Is Based On Sound Pulses, Anesthetics Research Shows
Danish scientists challenge the accepted scientific views of how nerves function and of how anesthetics work. Their research suggests that action of nerves is based on sound pulses and that anesthetics inhibit their transmission. Every medical and biological textbook says that nerves function by sending electrical impulses along their length. “But for us as physicists,…
Read MoreThe Object of Your Attention Becomes Your Meditation
The scientific literature generally defines meditation as a form of attentional training, either active or passive in nature. In its active form, meditation concentrates on a single object until the subject-object duality of the observation collapses in on itself, giving rise to nonduality. Meditation can also take on a more passive quality in which, instead…
Read MoreThe Brain in Your Gut: Gut health linked to brain health
The Brain in Your Gut: Gut health linked to brain health by Carolyn C. Ross, M.D., M.P.H You may already know that different parts of the body communicate and send signals back and forth. Researchers have recently discovered that “cross-talk” between gut bacteria and the brain may reduce your risk for a variety of health issues, including psychiatric illness,…
Read MoreKen Wilber’s “Big 3” – A Graphic Presentation
I, We and It. Ken Wilber’s “Big 3” in graphic form. The first-person, second-person and third-person pronouns used in the world’s major languages.
Read MoreResponse To A Question About Carrier Frequency
The following is a 2-part response I offered for the following question regarding carrier frequency: “The only problem with this (and with Bill Harris’s similar assertions) is that in physics: With a constant amplitude, a lower frequency has LESS energy than the higher frequency of that amplitude. I suspect that what REALLY is happening is that…
Read MoreAcute Optogenetic Silencing of Orexin/Hypocretin Neurons Induces Slow-Wave Sleep in Mice
Orexin/hypocretin neurons have a crucial role in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. To help determine how these neurons promote wakefulness, we generated transgenic mice in which orexin neurons expressed halorhodopsin (orexin/Halo mice), an orange light-activated neuronal silencer. Slice patch-clamp recordings of orexin neurons that expressed halorhodopsin demonstrated that orange light photic illumination immediately hyperpolarized membrane…
Read MoreHow Do You Stop Tasting?
New findings may lend insight into why some people are especially sensitive to bitter tastes. Scientists from the Monell Center and Givaudan Flavors have identified a protein inside of taste cells that acts to shorten bitter taste signals… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232142.php
Read More{alpha}4{beta}2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors on Dopaminergic Neurons Mediate Nicotine Reward and Anxiety Relief
Nicotine is the primary psychoactive substance in tobacco, and it exerts its effects by interaction with various subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain. One of the major subtypes expressed in brain, the α4β2-nAChR, endogenously modulates neuronal excitability and thereby, modifies certain normal as well as nicotine-induced behaviors. Although α4-containing nAChRs are widely…
Read MoreHow Nerve Cells Are Kept Up To Speed
Scientists from the Freie Universität Berlin have identified mechanisms regulating chemical neurotransmission in the nervous system Scientists from the Freie Universität Berlin and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, led by Volker Haucke in collaboration with colleagues from the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin, have unravelled a mechanism… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232135.php
Read MoreDevelopment Of Mouse With ‘Off Switch’ In Key Brain Cell Population May Aid Research Into SIDS, Depression
NIH-funded scientists have developed a strain of mice with a built-in off switch that can selectively shut down the animals’ serotonin-producing cells, which make up a brain network controlling breathing, temperature regulation, and mood. The switch controls only the serotonin-producing cells, and does not affect any other cells in the animal’s brains or bodies… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231940.php
Read MoreMeditation and The Brain: A Video Series
These videos are the first three in a series Eric Thompson is developing on Meditation and the Brain. This first video in the series looks at Dr. Daniel Siegel’s writing on meditation and the brain. Meditation and the Brain, Part 2: A fun introduction to the scientific study of meditation and the brain that looks at…
Read MoreDifferences in neurological activity in advanced meditators
The following post was originally part of a presentation Eric Thompson gave on the Neuroscience of Meditation at the MindHive event at Naropa University in March, 2010. It is based on the research of Newberg and d’Aquili. Stage 1 Attention Association Area (AAA) in the right hemisphere is activated Eventually spreads to AAA in…
Read MoreWelcome To the iAwake Technologies Blog
Dear Profound Meditation Friends & Community, Welcome! This is an initial blog to which your iAwake Technologies Team intends to add to regularly, to inspire, inform and support the transformational journey that you have begun, by using the Profound Meditation Program on a daily basis. I find it very easy to speak about this, as…
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