Buddha’s Brain summary

Many of us often feel like victims of our circumstances, and that our unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life is a foregone conclusion. What we don’t realize is that if we actively reflected on these mental processes, this self-reflection would lead to a happier, more prosperous life.

Self-reflection is the active endeavor of trying to understand our mental processes to gain better control over them – processes such as the emotions, thoughts and wishes that we experience daily.

As you might already know, our suffering derives from a useful evolutionary trait – it tells us when something is dangerous. In our modern world, however, sometimes these dangers are not so clear.

Suffering describes all the feelings in life we don’t like and would rather not experience. It’s a blanket term for everything from the frustration that comes from just missing your bus to the profound anguish of losing a loved one.

Unfortunately, pain is impossible to avoid entirely. However, even though physical and mental discomfort is unavoidable, our suffering arises mostly from our reactions to these discomforts.

We usually experience discomfort on two separate levels. The first level can be likened to being struck by a dart – for example, accidentally touching a very hot plate, or being rejected by a romantic interest.

Did you know that each of us has the means to promote his own well-being, cause positive neurological effects and help reduce unhealthy desire? All we need to do is learn a few new ways of thinking.

The first one is mindfulness.

So far we’ve seen that meditation involves focused concentration. But that very concentration is not only a means for gaining awareness, it’s also the driving force behind the generation of important insights.

Such insights about ourselves and the world around us are fundamental to gaining wisdom – which is defined as the quality of having enduring, good judgment.

Our sense of self is the “I” with which we experience the world, and it’s what we believe makes us who we are. Unfortunately, it also leads to some of our greatest feelings of suffering.

We suffer, for example, whenever we take things personally, or crave approval or affirmation from others.

Have you ever wondered why we love? The short answer is that our capacity to love – a concept that encompasses a wide range of feelings associated with kinship and cooperation – is in our DNA.

Indeed, the structure of the human brain has, during our evolution, developed for love.

Have you ever wondered how you could be more compassionate to those around you? Or have you ever considered how empathy could help you to develop a stronger bond to your loved ones?

Well, empathy and compassion are closely related: indeed, empathy is the foundation of true compassion.