Taming the Mind - Part II

On August 25th 2012, one of the greatest American heroes, the astronaut Neil Armstrong died. He left behind a legacy of pioneering space exploration that may one day lead to a manned mission to Mars. He is immortalized in the words he uttered on stepping onto the lunar surface, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." These simple words hold a great meaning. Having achieved what no human had done before, he dedicated this to all of mankind, not one individual or a group of people. Herein lies his greatness. When the thought of putting man on the moon was first conceived, it may have seemed far fetched. Similarly, all great discoveries or inventions started as a simple thought in the mind of man.

Several hundred years after we understood the force of gravity, we were finally able to come up with a rocket having sufficient thrust to overcome this fundamental force in nature. Just as the physical body is subjected to gravitational forces that keep us from flying off the surface of the Earth, the mind has strong instinctual thoughts that keep us from going deeper within. If life on Earth suddenly became very difficult and uncomfortable, mankind will have no choice but to make the most of it. Currently, we have only rudimentary capabilities of extraterrestrial survival.  On a mental plane, life alternates between periods when things seem very comfortable and other times when life is very uncomfortable. Although the mind does not have physical limitations, we create a finite world within our minds and remain rooted to the oscillating feelings of happiness and unhappiness. 

Turning stress into positive energy: The inner alchemy

Based on a talk given in Bradenton, FL on Sept 20, 2012

Stress is an ubiquitous part of the fabric of life. It is a subjective phenomenon and it is difficult to quantify. The effects of stress on the body and mind can be perceived by everyone, the triggering factors leading to stress can also be identified. The fundamental source of this energy however, is difficult to pinpoint. It originates deep in the mind. Just as gravity is an inescapable fact of life as long as earth retains its mass, stress is inescapable as long as there is life in the mind and body. It is helpful to look at stress in the form of energy. Energy can be beneficial or destructive. Even destructive energy can be contained and channeled in the right direction. Everyday life offers plenty of avenues to channel this stress energy in a positive and beneficial direction. 

Taming the Mind

Recently, a mobile, one-ton nuclear powered science lab safely landed on the surface of Mars. This miracle of modern science has started sending data to receiving stations earth which is over 150 million miles away. This surely is one of the great achievements of the human mind. Mars is thought to have been a planet with plentiful water billions of years ago, today it is a dry, dusty and desolate world making human inhabitation practically impossible. If humans were to go to Mars, they would need a very robust space suit to protect against lethal radiation, lack of oxygen and extremes of temperature.

We don’t however have to land on Mars to consider ourselves space travellers. We inhabit a spherical globe we call Earth, that is hurtling through space at a speed that would cover the distance between the Earth and its moon in about 4 hours. Our awareness of the concept of life is limited to the time between the metaphorical curtain raising up heralding our birth and the curtain falling down signalling our death. Behind this curtain is a mysterious darkness that the conscious mind cannot perceive, hence no living proof of what lies beyond. When mankind finally makes the trip to Mars, the pioneering astronauts would have to carry specialized spacesuits for survival. The hard shell of a space suit protects a living being inside. Unlike manufactured spacesuits that can be replaced at a cost, this specialized spacesuit called the human body is irreplaceable.  The human body has a hard bony skeleton that supports living cells. Although life in the cells evaporates rather quickly in the matter of years, the bony skeleton can be preserved for millions of years. Going to a natural history museum and seeing skeletal remains of now extinct dinosaurs is a fascinating experience. It brings the massive scale of time into perspective. 

Getting to the heart of a stroke - Part II

Based on a talk at the HOPE stroke support group July 2012

The word ‘stroke’ is derived from the Greek word apoplexia which means “to strike”. The first written descriptions of sudden paralysis appeared in the writings of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine. Before the word stroke became popular, the term apoplexy was commonly used to describe this disease.

From a structural standpoint, the brain can be thought of as a house with three levels. The first floor or the lowest level is called the hindbrain. The second floor or the middle level is called the midbrain and the top floor is the forebrain. The hindbrain or the lowest part of the brain controls vital bodily functions such as breathing, heart rate and digestion. This part of the brain is connected to the spinal cord and controls many bodily functions that does not need approval from the higher centers in the brain. There is a certain amount of autonomy that is given to this part of the brain. The midbrain controls posture, movement and reflex eye movements. The midbrain is a small structure that connects the forebrain and the hindbrain. The forebrain is the largest part of the brain and most of it taken up by what is called the cerebral cortex. Of all the earthly creatures, humans have the largest cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex fills most of the space under the skull and is divided into two halves that are interconnected. Although the two halves of the brain appear similar, they have very different functions. The right brain controls the left side of the body and the left brain controls the right side of the body. 

Getting to the heart of a stroke - Part I

Based on a talk at Dr. Purser's wellness group, July 2012.

What do economists and physicians have in common?  The world we now live in is straddled with economic woes. In the eyes of an economist, there is a sickness going around and that illness is ‘debt’. Economists make forecasts and propose fixes for the monetary structure. They look at debt from this perspective. Everyone would agree that economic growth is the best way to get out of debt. In politics, the word debt is looked at differently depending on who you talk to. One end of the spectrum, debt stands for ‘Do Everything But Tax’ and at the other end of the spectrum, ‘Do Everything By Tax’.  

The word debt has also crept into human physiology. This is an entirely different kind of debt, the kind that draws the line between health and disease, life and death. In  the human body, the stakes are a lot higher. This debt is called the oxygen debt. In simple terms, cells use oxygen. If the supply of oxygen to individual cells is interrupted, the cells don’t immediately die. They survive by other means and the cells go into debt, called the oxygen debt. If the cells don’t repay this debt by replenishing itself with fresh oxygen, cellular ‘default’ occurs. The cellular equivalent of bankruptcy called cell death then slowly sets in. Depending on the location in the body, cellular death is called different names. For, example, if cells in the heart are deprived of oxygen, a heart attack ensues and similarly if oxygen supply to the cells of brain is interrupted, brain cells die resulting in a stroke. 

The Genie and the Mind - Part V

The young man held up the two glass statues after dusting them off with the old piece of cloth in which they were wrapped. “I have carried these with me everywhere I have gone. I look at them every morning wondering what is concealed behind the coloring on the glass surface.” The statues were about a foot long each and weighed a pound.

When the wise old man was handing over the statues, he told the young man, “I want you to discover what is inside these statutes without breaking them. These two statues are actually keys to a lock. That lock can only be opened if you have them both.”

The young man’s curiosity was aroused and he asked, “Where is the door that has the lock?”

The Genie and the Mind - Part IV

On hearing that the young man had a clue about where the treasure was, the Genie’s master expressed a huge sigh of relief. The young man, the Genie and his master sat down next to the container to plot their next move.

The young man said, “There were several things that the wise old man told me. As I remember them, some of what he said back then makes sense now in the context of the treasure and other things are very much a riddle. In fact, most of what he spoke was misunderstood by people who came across him. Since he had a reputation of being a kind old soul who did not expect anything from anyone, he was left alone without being ridiculed. I once asked him why he did not speak in a manner that would be easily understood by everyone.”

The wise man replied, “The knowledge of the truth that I have acquired is freely available to anyone who seeks it. The price I paid for this knowledge of the truth that pervades everything is complete detachment and deep introspection.”

The young man asked, “What path did you follow?”