Fascinating article in the Wa Po today about a study whose findings show that meditation can improve one's brain.
Brain research is beginning to produce concrete evidence for something that Buddhist practitioners of meditation have maintained for centuries: Mental discipline and meditative practice can change the workings of the brain and allow people to achieve different levels of awareness.
"What we found is that the longtime practitioners showed brain activation on a scale we have never seen before," said Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the university's new $10 million W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior. "Their mental practice is having an effect on the brain in the same way golf or tennis practice will enhance performance." It demonstrates, he said, that the brain is capable of being trained and physically modified in ways few people can imagine.
Despite how much has been achieved in the world of science, far more remains for us to discover. Of course, one study does not mean that these findings really are the case, but - they may well be.
Perhaps those who wish to have a minute of silent meditation in classrooms should be given their due as a matter of mental health for all!
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