This talk is an exploration of meditation and the relationship between the mind and the body through the Buddhist and Yogic lens. For the past 2000 years, the Indian Continent is a culture that has practised the art of meditation as a means to directly experience the deepest nature of reality and the mind-body connection.  As a result of such refined meditation techniques, meditation masters have discovered truly profound insights and radical psychological transformations which can remove the causes of mental and physical suffering. 

 

In this talk, I will discuss my phenomenological research with advanced meditators and monks.  We will also look at scientific studies which provide evidence of a greater potential for the human mind and body.  We will look at some of the meditation techniques in the Buddhist path and discuss how these techniques transform the human psyche and to what end.  We will also look at how meditation affects the nervous system and how certain Buddhist Jhanaic states (deep ecstatic meditation states)  can be measured through MRI.  I will pair the nervous system onto older models of the ancient Indian Subtle body system to draw comparisons between the body and the subtle body.   There will be an open discussion at the end of the talk to further explore any of the topics touched on during the talk.