Comments on: Like a Reflex, But So Much More: Frans De Waal Video on Empathy http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/like-a-reflex-but-so-much-more-frans-de-waal-video-on-empathy/ A neuropsychologist's exploration of relationships, mindfulness meditation, and the brain Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:01:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: uberVU - social comments http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/like-a-reflex-but-so-much-more-frans-de-waal-video-on-empathy/comment-page-1/#comment-105 uberVU - social comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:36:28 +0000 http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/?p=547#comment-105 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by DrMarsha: Like a Reflex, But So Much More: Frans De Waal Video on Empathy http://bit.ly/bdI61b... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by DrMarsha: Like a Reflex, But So Much More: Frans De Waal Video on Empathy http://bit.ly/bdI61b...

]]> By: tite http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/like-a-reflex-but-so-much-more-frans-de-waal-video-on-empathy/comment-page-1/#comment-104 tite Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:48:09 +0000 http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/?p=547#comment-104 YOGA, like maeditation, stops you from wandering (phisically and mentally) (Patanjali: Yoga Citta Vritti Nirodha) and allows you to create or find connections within. Therefore you are then able to connect (love) with the other living creatures (and dead too.:) YOGA, like maeditation, stops you from wandering (phisically and mentally) (Patanjali: Yoga Citta Vritti Nirodha) and allows you to create or find connections within. Therefore you are then able to connect (love) with the other living creatures (and dead too.:)

]]> By: Derek http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/like-a-reflex-but-so-much-more-frans-de-waal-video-on-empathy/comment-page-1/#comment-103 Derek Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:45:43 +0000 http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/?p=547#comment-103 Yes, I couldn't agree more. Within months of first starting the practice of zazen (Zen meditation) about 30 years ago, I was surprised that I started to feel an empathy with others and animals, and even plants! This was not something I had even thought of before. One minute I was an average guy in the street, minding my own business and not really caring about anything other than earning a living for my family, the next I discovered Zen and was soon "feeling" for others in bad situations. I was aware of a dualism at first. I was "loving" but part of me didn't care. Well, what was "caring" anyway? And yet I could feel their suffering. Buddha said that the source of all suffering was desire, and what I desired was for the suffering of other life forms to change for the better. I could see that when I perceive something, it is internalized, therefore it is part of me and that I (and each of us) creates our reality from our external experiences and that created reality, is our inner world, and that is what the great masters mean when they say, that the (external) world is an illusion. They are not saying that it does not exist, they are saying that we are merely visitors and when we leave, we leave with nothing physical at all, just our own experiences. But I don't think it is that simple, because internal and external are being separated the moment I think if the world as an illusion. Physical and psychogical are also being separated by merely naming them as so. Illusion and reality go the same way. To look at illusion is impossible, because if it is an illusion, it cannot exist. In zazen, I focus on hara (lower abdomen) and breathe into that area to the exclusion of all thought. It is near impossible to keep this up for long periods, yet by working at it, I can suddenly get an experience that I am my breathing, I am my hara, I am the physical and non-physical. My zazen I believe, is the action that creates the ability to be empathic, becoming one with all there is. I can't help but add judgment though, and thus sink into my emotional mind and things can get complicated again. The mind is complicated, the spirit simple yet difficult to maintain. Yes, I couldn’t agree more. Within months of first starting the practice of zazen (Zen meditation) about 30 years ago, I was surprised that I started to feel an empathy with others and animals, and even plants! This was not something I had even thought of before. One minute I was an average guy in the street, minding my own business and not really caring about anything other than earning a living for my family, the next I discovered Zen and was soon “feeling” for others in bad situations. I was aware of a dualism at first. I was “loving” but part of me didn’t care. Well, what was “caring” anyway? And yet I could feel their suffering.

Buddha said that the source of all suffering was desire, and what I desired was for the suffering of other life forms to change for the better. I could see that when I perceive something, it is internalized, therefore it is part of me and that I (and each of us) creates our reality from our external experiences and that created reality, is our inner world, and that is what the great masters mean when they say, that the (external) world is an illusion. They are not saying that it does not exist, they are saying that we are merely visitors and when we leave, we leave with nothing physical at all, just our own experiences.

But I don’t think it is that simple, because internal and external are being separated the moment I think if the world as an illusion. Physical and psychogical are also being separated by merely naming them as so. Illusion and reality go the same way. To look at illusion is impossible, because if it is an illusion, it cannot exist.

In zazen, I focus on hara (lower abdomen) and breathe into that area to the exclusion of all thought. It is near impossible to keep this up for long periods, yet by working at it, I can suddenly get an experience that I am my breathing, I am my hara, I am the physical and non-physical. My zazen I believe, is the action that creates the ability to be empathic, becoming one with all there is. I can’t help but add judgment though, and thus sink into my emotional mind and things can get complicated again. The mind is complicated, the spirit simple yet difficult to maintain.

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