The Dalai Lama - States of Consciousness in Meditation

CONSCIOUSNESS AT THE CROSSROADS:
Conversations with the Dalai Lama
on Brain Science and Buddhism
edited by Zara Houshmand,
Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace
more...

Dalai Lama Quote of the Week

[During sleep and waking states] there are physiological processes that correspond to different mental states, and these are associated with subjectively experienced energies in the body.

In the waking state, these energies tend to be drawn into a locus in the center of the head, at the level of the forehead. In the dreaming stage, these energies will be even more drawn to a point in the throat. In the deep sleep state, these energies are more drawn into the heart. The location is not the physical heart, the organ, but the heart center which is right in the center of the chest.

Certain events are experienced in meditation that seem to corroborate this theory. For example, in meditation, it is possible to bring your awareness into the heart cakra, and sometimes when this happens, the person will faint. On other occasions, the meditative awareness, finely concentrated, may be brought into the area of the navel. And at this juncture, it has been found experientially that heat is produced by such concentration. If you look at the anatomy of the body, you don't find these cakra points. (p.106)

[See also February 25 2010 and June 27 2009 archives for more of this discussion.]

--from Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism edited by Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, published by Snow Lion Publications

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