Lovingkindness Meditation - A Western Scientific Approach

[gatito]

I thought that I might run a thread on the benefits and the pitfalls of Metta meditation (basing it on a rational Western scientific approach).

 

Maybe this would be a good starting point?

 

 

The other master signal to our cells - equal and in some respects, even more important than exercise is emotion. One of the most fascinating revelations of the last decade is that emotions change our cells through the same mechanisms as exercise. Anger, stress and loneliness are signals for "starvation" and chronic danger. They "melt" our bodies as surely as sedentary living. Optimism, love and community trigger the process of growth, building our hearts and minds... Everywhere you look, you see the role of emotion in our biology. Like exercise, it's a choice... Deep in our cells, down at the level of molecular genetics, we are wired to exercise and to care. Start today. Your cells are listening.

Henry Lodge MD. You Can Stop "Normal" Aging, Modesto Bee Supplement, March 18, 2007

[gatito]

Dunbar's Number also needs to be taken into careful consideration because of the practical implications.

[SeekerOfHealing]

I used to laugh at metta in the sense how 4 verses can change things - it's like cheating yourself? Then I just tried and metta is the best foundation to meditation ever. Liberates mind and body. Heals and everything. That's why I test everything now no matter how ridiculous it's looks or sounds.

[gatito]

That's a nice segue to the next point that I wanted to raise which is the safety aspects of learning a practice (even one as apparently safe as the practice of Lovingkindness meditation - let alone one which is stated to be a 50:50/blue pill:red pill situation).

 

The way that I look at this is influenced by my encounter with Chaos theory a couple of decades ago.

[gatito]