好習慣好腦力！ (續)

第2招　在有限的時間內集中精神──保持「應考狀態」

假如你想像中的應考狀態是熬夜不睡，精神緊繃。那就不是這一招的原意了。杯子要中空才有用，實心的杯子不過是一團死磁土，誰會要它？要它何用？良好的「應考狀態』，是在有限的時間內保持最大限度的空間彈性。這裡的「空間』，就是你的精神狀態。永遠繃緊的神經，不多久就彈性疲乏了。永遠鬆懈的神經，則無法做出立即反應；唯有時時調整，能在短時間達到最佳彈性狀態的心理素質，才是你勝出的最大保證。

好習慣好腦力！ Good Habit = Good Brain Power

好習慣好腦力！　

第1招　 早一點起床，少一點癡呆── 聰明醒腦，就靠動手、動腳、動嘴巴
「早晨起得來嗎？」／生活規律失調就等著癡呆吧？／叫醒發懶的腦袋／早晨暖身醒腦／可以動，就不要呆坐／多走路，讓血液循環到腦部／我的晨間醒腦活動／「打招呼外加一句話」效果驚人／朗讀力＝腦力／動手做就對

Here is the Tip #1: Get up earlier, less dullness -- enlightenment hinges on moving your hands, feet and mouth

Can you really get up early? / You can't keep a regular life schedule? Well then, wait for your turn of dementia
Wake up your brain by exercising in the morning is very essential. Whenever you have a chance to walk around, stand up and move. Don't just sitting and idling. Walking improves blood circulation toward your brain. Read something aloud also improves your brain functionality. You don't buy that? Why not try it out first before denounce it?

五欲之樂

視、聽、嗅、味、觸，這些感官上的樂受，是存在的，就每一個人的覺受來說，也都是真實的。「好(看的)色』，照說可能會比看不到的樂受，譬如禪定之樂，來得強烈。你要是這樣想，也不能說你錯。除非你已經嘗過禪定之樂，或是體驗過一點輕安的樂感，要你放棄「感官之樂才是真樂樂』這樣的想法，是無濟於事的。連智中法師都說「韓國影星裴永俊來台，日本歐巴桑追隨而至，個個眉飛色舞、喜心洋溢；年輕影迷在機場迎接時則興奮、激動、尖叫甚至流淚，視覺之樂何其激動人心？』所以，法師要感嘆：「難怪孔夫子要說：『吾未見好德如好色者也！』」

那些色能有如許的魔力？先看看視覺所及之處：

1. 美貌：五官、身材、體重、三圍、髮色、膚色、儀態、明眸、皓齒…等。(不知只限於對人類，還是涵蓋了其它動物。許多人對度動物的迷戀，遠遠超過他們對人類的興趣，不知又有何解？)

2. 化妝：脂粉、眼影、畫（紋）眉、刷睫毛、美髮、彩指甲、美白、整型…等。(原始部落的人們也在身上做許多裝飾，但是未必為了好看或吸引異性，反倒多半是為了識別彼我。這就談不上是樂受了。)

3. 衣飾：衣著、髮飾、頭巾、耳環、項鍊、手環、戒指、腰帶、唇環…等。(你穿衣服是為了好看還是保暖？-- 萬一我答說是「為了遮羞』呢？)

4. 美術：圖畫、雕刻、陶塑、攝影、書法、花藝、剪紙、建築、裝潢…等。(這絕對是富而好禮才有條件去做的事，毫無疑問與追求某種視覺上的快感是有關的)

5. 風景：名山、古剎、遺跡、森林、海洋、峽谷、天象、園藝、造景…等。(山即是山，水即是水，漁樵終日處於山水之間，對「景』何嘗不見？卻不以此為景，乃心有旁騖之故。「風景』一詞的出現，恰恰影射出人心的造作。)

6. 娛樂：戲劇、臉譜、收集古董、郵票、人偶、生肖、寵物、嗜好品…等。(不做無益之事，何以遣此有涯之生？然則，收集考古物証，保存人類歷史，是功是過？原始戲曲，來自先民敬天謝天，或是苦中作樂，又有何過？)

7. 宗教：神像、聖山、神殿、祭壇、圖騰、光環、舍利子、聖物、吉祥物…等。(這是個馬蜂窩...真要捅嗎？)

………

我想，這就差不多已經包羅萬象了。明天再看看下一個：聽覺的樂受。

Mindfulness meditation produced lasting positive changes

Wisconsin University's research started as early as 2003. Here is an excerpt from Science Daily (Feb. 4, 2003):
...

The findings suggest that meditation, long promoted as a technique to reduce anxiety and stress, might produce important biological effects that improve a person's resiliency.

Richard Davidson, Ph.D., Vilas Professor of psychology and psychiatry at UW-Madison, led the research team. The study, conducted at the biotechnology company Promega near Madison, will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

"Mindfulness meditation," often recommended as an antidote to the stress and pain of chronic disease, is a practice designed to focus one's attention intensely on the moment, noting thoughts and feelings as they occur but refraining from judging or acting on those thoughts and feelings. The intent is to deepen awareness of the present, develop skills of focused attention, and cultivate positive emotions such as compassion.

In the UW study, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group, with 25 subjects, received training in mindfulness meditation from one of its most noted adherents, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. (Kabat-Zinn, a popular author of books on stress reduction, developed the mindfulness-based stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.) This group attended a weekly class and one seven-hour retreat during the study; they also were assigned home practice for an hour a day, six days a week. The 16 members of the control group did not receive meditation training until after the study was completed.

For each group, in addition to asking the participants to assess how they felt, the research team measured electrical activity in the frontal part of the brain, an area specialized for certain kinds of emotion. Earlier research has shown that, in people who are generally positive and optimistic and during times of positive emotion, the left side of this frontal area becomes more active than the right side does.

The findings confirmed the researchers' hypothesis: the meditation group showed an increase of activation in the left-side part of the frontal region. This suggests that the meditation itself produced more activity in this region of the brain. This activity is associated with lower anxiety and a more positive emotional state.

The research team also tested whether the meditation group had better immune function than the control group did. All the study participants got a flu vaccine at the end of the eight-week meditation group. Then, at four and eight weeks after vaccine administration, both groups had blood tests to measure the level of antibodies they had produced against the flu vaccine. While both groups (as expected) had developed increased antibodies, the meditation group had a significantly larger increase than the controls, at both four and eight weeks after receiving the vaccine.

"Although our study is preliminary and more research clearly is warranted," said Davidson, "we are very encouraged by these results. The Promega employees who took part have given us a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate a real biological impact of this ancient practice."

Davidson, who is integrally involved with the HealthEmotions Research Institute at UW, plans further research on the impact of meditation. He is currently studying a group of people who have been using meditation for more than 30 years. His research team is also planning to study the impact of mindfulness meditation on patients with particular illnesses.

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。

快樂

不久前，我第一次聽說詠給．明就仁波切（Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche）這位出家人，也是頭一次聽說有這麼一位「全世界最快樂的人」。幾天前，我從一本書的封面，看到了這名出家人的盧山真面目。我想，假如「相由心生」這句話果真有點道理的話，這位仁波切縱使不是全世界最快樂的人，也必然是個很自在的人。見賢思齊，不妨探索一下他是如何做到的。
現代社會中的現代人，物質生活無疑遠邁先人，但是心靈所受的煎熬與束縛，在我看來，也同樣的遠邁古人。這是非常值得同情與協助的。在這方面，智中法師對我頗有啟法。他已經下了五年的功夫，廣泛搜集了與中醫養生、西醫心理諮商以及佛家內觀禪修有關的種種理論、著述，寫出了「紓壓安心之道手冊」，實地造福了許多人。到目前為止，他雖然自謙談不上足成一家之言，卻足以補足目前佛教界的一片空白區，同時，確實呼應了現代人的實際需要。我目前的總結是：所有的人都想離苦得樂。快樂，可以不花大錢就取得，但絕不會毫無代價的不召自至。
我選擇的方法是：挑出一列書單，因為看書在我而言是快樂的來源之一，好整以暇的讀完它，然後拿起紙筆，寫出我的心得。假如我高興，還可以在無出版壓力的情況下做點研究，然後貼上來跟大家分享。看不看、聽不聽、做不做，當然，就「隨在你」啦！