Is the “Self” real? What’s the nature of the sense of being that remains when parts of the psyche fall away? The answer depends on how you define “Self.”  I use that word to refer to the central “I” that’s presumed in Western psychology and philosophy (and everyday...

Your brain is the product of 3.5 billion years of intense evolutionary pressure, including 2.7 million years as tool-using hominids and over 100,000 years as homo sapiens. Human DNA is about 98-99% identical to chimpanzee DNA. But that crucial 1-2% difference is...

What is the Best Time of Day to Meditate? In all the studies (and reviews of studies) I’ve seen on meditation, I’ve never seen anything scientific about best time of day to meditate. Maybe it exists, but I’ve never heard of it. From the standpoint of a long-time...

Did you know? Neurons typically fire 5 – 50 times a second, with millions and even billions of them pulsing in harmony with each other many times a second; the electrical currents of that pulsing are revealed as brain waves in an EEG. In the half second it takes you...

This is a broad aim of not causing pain, loss, or destruction to any living thing. At a minimum, this is a sweeping resolution to avoid any whit of harm to another human being. The implications are far-reaching, since most of us participate daily in activities whose...

Of course, the first question regarding intention is, for what? All the great wisdom traditions of the world, and all the great moral philosophers, have grappled with this question. What should we want? There are many ways to approach this question. Some try to answer...

What role does gratitude play in developing a “buddha brain” and why? A ”buddha brain” is one that knows how to be deeply happy, loving, and wise. We develop ourselves in this way by cultivating wholesome qualities and uprooting unwholesome ones. In a sense, we plant...

Our intentions arise in the brain, are represented in the brain, and are pursued in the brain. Where else? Therefore, a basic understanding of how intentions work in the brain – and thus in your mind – is a very useful thing to have. The Executive Functions The brain...

In this video, I explain how mindfulness meditation can strengthen our brains and help us focus our attention. This video was taken at the Greater Good Science Center in UC Berkeley as part of the Science of a Meaningful Life Series. Take a look and let me know what...

These statements about reality, about the way things really are, are central to Buddhism, and you can test them for yourself: Everything happens because of preceding causes. Everything, both inside our minds and outside in the world. Those causes lead to results that...