23/02/2016 - The Neuroscience Behind Buddhist Enlightenment

by John Hopton   
FEBRUARY 22, 2016    

To many non-believers, Buddhism is the "good" kind of religion, one that doesn't start wars and has powerful things to say on the mindfulness and mental self control we all seek by one method or another.

RedOrbit spoke to Dr. Rick Hanson, psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, and New York Times best-selling author, to discuss the science of what was going on inside Buddha's brain, and how we might just be able to attain a little of his enlightenment for ourselves.

Dr. Hanson begins by stressing that the word "enlightenment" has to be defined carefully.

"The word enlightenment has two kinds of meaning," he says. "One is in an entirely secular frame. In the Buddhist tradition, it's very psychological operationalized as a mind, a nervous system, that's no longer capable of any kind of sustained greed, hatred or delusion."
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Pleasant things can still be experienced, he expands, but enlightenment means we don't get attached to the experience. At the same time, we are aware of unpleasantness, but it doesn't result in anger or hatred.  more...