[Buddha-l] FW: buddhism and brain studies

[jkirk]

Ok, now that this topic has led to extreme running for
pain/pleasure, let us not overlook the masochists of the world
who get pleasure from feeling emotional and physical pain. Like
the runners Alberto noted, these folks are usually obsessive, and
they usually do not want to overcome/get rid of their special
predilection.  Same goes for their sadist enablers. 
Luckily, the early Buddhists didn't have to deal with the likes
of these.
Joanna
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If you are interested, there's a fascinating chapter on a similar
topic in Gregory Berns' _Satisfaction_. I can't remember what
chapter it is, but anyway in it the author discusses
ultra-marathon runners, whom he also assisted in a marathon. We
are talking about people who run 100 or even 125 miles (yes,
about 200 kilometers) non-stop in 15-30 hours running from the
lowest to the highest point in California. As you can imagine the
experience produces a lot of physical pain (bad knees and ankles,
massive blisters as well as danger of various injuries) and is
psychologically challenging and it is interesting in so far as it
requires an enormous physical and emotional investment but goes
way beyond what every doctor will tell you is sufficient for
aiding good cardiovascular health. So one question is, if it's
such a grueling experience, why do people do it?
(you can discard monetary remuneration from the possible answers,
I got the impression that they are all amateurs. It doesn't seem
to be a professional sport.)

The book discusses other interesting topics regarding the
relationship between pain, suffering, happiness, satisfaction,
etc.

Unfortunately, the author is a scientist and even (gasp!)
provides data. It's probably safer to leave matters such as these
to arm-chair philosophers.

Best,

Alberto Todeschini
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