About Happy

I came across this "happiness is measurable" idea a few weeks back and was impressed. I have been practicing meditation for many years. There were certainly moments when I felt quite certain that it was "unusual." Yet, it never occurs to me that science has something to say about this. Moreover, it seems now that, with strong backup of scientific evidence, there's a whole new trend of life coaching in DYI format. Welcoming sign, from a sociological point of view. How that would affect individual life? Need a deeper exploration.

快樂的測量

快樂只是一種覺受，再加上你的價值判斷，斷定這個覺受是苦是樂而已。不是嗎？本質上，與痛苦並無兩樣。或者，我以為是如此的。好比說，我從來不認同「幸福」的感覺或程度是可以量化表現的一般。快樂，應該也是一樣的。威斯康辛大學的腦科學研究，卻明確指出經過禪修訓練，培養慈悲與善意之後，人體腦部的特定區域會產生改變，對其他人的心理狀態產生更強的同理心。這是不到一個月前，威斯康辛大學的校報報導的。同市出版的新聞週刊(Newsweek)，也刊出Sharon Begley的文章，詳細報導了這項研究的成果與過程。其它知名媒體，包括CNN和BBC，都沒錯過這則消息。更正確的來說，這項研究的成果指出，「你可以學著更慈悲一點」，而禪修靜坐就是好方法。慈悲與快樂是不是同義？我得好好想想。正如同Scientific American期刊在報導這個研究是所用的標題一樣 “Meditate on this…” – 好好琢磨一下。