[Buddha-l] neuroscience: neural plasticity

[Joy Vriens]

>I've never understood what "spiritual" means, other than being related 
>to breathing and certain psychological states (e..g, school spirit, 
>which students are exhorted to raise in pep rallies).  

I never liked the term until I read Pierre Hadot's Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique, who convinced me that for lack of a better term covering everything covered by "spiritual" we would have to resign ourselves to seeing and using it. Basically, if one wants to include exercises that go beyond thought or imagine going beyond thought (whatever one prefers), "intellectual exercises" , "thought exercises", "ethical exercises" etc. are simply not sufficient. If there is a better global term, I would like to hear it. Harmonisation exercices?
 
>Seems easy to use "spiritual" as a tool of judgment, i.e., spiritual = 
>good, or at least better than average, and certainly much better than 
>non-spiritual. Related to a question of moral purity, perhaps? 

Anything can be used as a tool of judgment, any stick will do to beat a dog.  
 
>"Any road...." (James Herriott) 
> 
>Regarding meditation research, isn't the point of Buddhism to relieve 
>suffering? The use of skillful means is encouraged, no? 

Unless the forest of skillful means hides the tree of spirituality, the motivation and the objective of the skillful means. And one point one will have to jump out of the skillful means right into the core.
 
>Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, in _The Mind and the Brain_, discusses at length 
>his mindfulness-based approach to treating OCD. Jon Kabat-Zinn (_Full 
>Catastrophe Living_) also uses mindfulness meditation in treating 
>intractable cases of chronic pain. Some methods of cognitive therapy 
>are using mindfulness as part of a treatment regimen for depression. 
 
>So, why not study meditation to learn how it could help people in need? 

I have my doubts about the motivation behind this. Why not teach the same people that Jesus loves them. I am sure it would have a very positive effect on some.

Our lifes become more and more hectic, pressure is growing on us in all aspects of life and instead of trying to change the causes we look for therapeutic tricks so people learn to better cope so they can go on with their hectic lifes without questioning them. It can become an object of consumerism if you like. Buddhism is a gradual path. One of the most basic things the Buddha thought was to simplify one's life, the right way of living, to create conditions that are in favour of dare I say a more spiritual life.  
 
>Speaking of spiritual materialism, the flip side might well be 
>spiritual snobbery, something _all_ religions have in abundance.  

Simplicity is a main ingredient of spirituality. If one can find a place in one's busy life to cram in simplicity and a bit of detachment, then that would be fine I guess, wouldn't it?

Joy