Comparison makes people unhappy

I have come across a piece of interesting information concerning people comparing a lot of things to worry themselves. That made people unhappy. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/happiness/interviews/paulwhitehouse/index.shtml)

In the BBC series on Happiness, psychologists observed that comparison makes people unhappy.

The world can be very unfair and unjust - when we compare ourselves to others.

What is to be done, then?

A Buddhist tends not to look outward to mend the world and make it better; rather, he/she tends to look inward to find out why and how is it that his/her own mind should feel such an unpleasant feelings toward something quite beyond individual control. To me, that would be the point you start to discover happiness.

Thanks to Wil Lang, LA chapter of ELEAD, we have another addition of good websites to the Happy Academy: http://www.eastern-philosophy-and-meditation.com/. As the URL shows, it's about Eastern philosophy and about meditation. Take a "closer" look at the material, some of the remarks need to be put in perspectives to grasp the meaning accurately. Thanks Wil!

Face Your Problem

"Facing our problems is usually the only way to get past them."

"There is an art to facing difficulties in ways that lead to effective solutions and to inner peace and harmony. When we are able to mobilize our inner resources to face our problems artfully, we find we are usually able to orient ourselves in such a way that we can use the pressure of the problem itself to propel us through it, just as a sailor can position a sail to make the best use of the pressure of the wind to propel the boat. You can't sail straight into the wind, and if you only know how to sail with the wind at your back, you will only go where the wind blows you. But if you know how to use the wind energy and are patient, you can sometimes get where you want to go. You can still be in control."

The above paragraph was drawn from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the now famous MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) program. It's a somewhat different version of his "full catastrophe living." Throughout your life, you will experience all kinds of down moments, which are part and parcel of life. You cant control the wind, but surely you can control the boat to use the wind energy. Down times can be useful momentum for you if you know just how to smile at catastrophe.

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.