compassion meditation

Study shows compassion meditation changes the brain (March 25, 2008)
http://www.news.wisc.edu/14944
Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Published March 25 in the Public Library of Science One, the study was the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to indicate that positive emotions such as loving-kindness and compassion can be learned in the same way as playing a musical instrument or being proficient in a sport. The scans revealed that brain circuits used to detect emotions and feelings were dramatically changed in subjects who had extensive experience practicing compassion meditation.The research suggests that individuals - from children who may engage in bullying to people prone to recurring depression - and society in general could benefit from such meditative practices (...) The study was part of the researchers' ongoing investigations with a group of Tibetan monks and lay practitioners who have practiced meditation for a minimum of 10,000 hours. In this case, Lutz and Davidson worked with 16 monks who have cultivated compassion meditation practices. Sixteen age-matched controls with no previous training were taught the fundamentals of compassion meditation two weeks before the brain scanning took place."Many contemplative traditions speak of loving-kindness as the wish for happiness for others and of compassion as the wish to relieve others' suffering. Loving-kindness and compassion are central to the Dalai Lama's philosophy and mission," says Davidson, who has worked extensively with the Tibetan Buddhist leader. "We wanted to see how this voluntary generation of compassion affects the brain systems involved in empathy." CLIP

MID, I am responding to ALL of yesterday and today's posts here in Rumpus Room to let you know how important this kind of posting is. I am very familiar with the international male prostitute ring, for example. I used to make comments, post links, etc. about it, several years ago and literally had my website blocked, to the point that I have since then put my "messages" in poetic form, or not at all. Particularly the message from Matthew resonates in its entirety with me. Whether it is whistle blowing, or whistle blowing PLUS what to do about it, without the "hook" (usually sexual content), it is either ignored or made to appear as "rumor" by "weirdos". The truth is so ruthless and criminal, one cannot continue bringing it up unless one is willing to keep the flame burning, (sometimes a personal risk one needs to examine before posting).

Thanks for all of your posts on these subjects. These in particular need to be "starred, archived", and made available to those who want " The Hook" to get people interested in the REAL content the posts are meant to evoke......Wa do!

MID, Here is my channeled work on the subject:

05/15/2002 Portland 6Mercury3
Continue on

That feeling of just plodding along as usual and the more "spiritually correct", "Be steadfast and strong" doesn't say much to me. I don't have a sence of duty, but I have a continual overall feeling of enthusiasm to continue acting out the choice I made . I am encouraged by my new friends and by The Teaching Spirits. I am grateful. Here are The Teachers response:

White Eagle speaks:

Be swift and fast
Show leadership in your community
Practical Beaver and Turtle are slow
These qualities are very useful but they aren't yours to focus on now.
You are a leader by divine right
A King on all fronts
Use your gifts wisely
And we will surmount the forces of evil
And subdue them.
"Confront or conquer" and "seek to find" have a corelation to each other.
One motivates. The other one follows through.
People often confuse the two.

Sometimes the finding is in the seeking, sometimes the confronting of the enemy is equal to the conquering of the enemy, particularly when the enemy is one's own mind. Aho!

Phase 72 Total Liquidation of the Past
(How is this accomplished?)

Adults cannot completely empty their minds when entering a new territory. No wilderness or territory once visited by humans is truely virgin. Adults like to hang onto their intentions, ideas, etc. like old baggage. But they don't have to. If we stop thinking about "privileges or duty" and become a new born child once more and simply be open to whatever comes next as a gift, and a privelege, then we can get as close to emptying out the old baggage as though it was virgin . Is that a good interpretation of this passage, White Eagle?

Yes, it is Willy. Practise being a child again and all will go well with you, and us, today. Aho!

05/16/2002 Portland 5Mars6
Paper work, government, agencies, welfare on the phone. How may I perform well?

Thoth speaks:

Alternatives are clear-cut: No turning back. Pierce the inevitable and you may win.....Perform well and you may gain immortality, become a possible source of inspiration yourself. Biological fulfillment, potency, is conquered by polarizing relationships, (between) You and (your) God, you and your work (creative). You and them (ie. society) and their work ethics, which one do you want to pursue?

(My answer was Creator God's plan and purpose.) He then continued:

Ritualize your relationship with God by being passive and accepting the inner you and Him from the feelings inside to the outside, not the other way around. From the inside, what do you really want to accomplish? Answer this honestly, right now.

(I want success with my creative work, I want my work to reflect the conscious activities of Mother Nature and the harmonics that are so hidden from society's idea of this relationship's worthiness and the way it unfolds, where it will lead.)

Continue, then, in doing what you are doing and stop thinking about what it will accomplish. The indestructable forces of divine nature preserve everyhing. Every accomplishment is on record. Its not your concern. Blessings to you, my brother. Aho!
-end of transmission-

"We have many things to tell you today. Its taken you a long time to come back to us, nearly a month....( I said my thanks to the Arapahoe and Apache ancestors who have helped me with these conversations)....We have a new beginning to share with you. Go to page 58. (of Dane Rudhyar's Cycles of Transformation) The cosmic order in the sky, spoken of here, is not the order you may be thinking of. We speak of a dire quickening of the ley lines that link you to us. They are compressing. The continental plates on your planet too, are shifting, drawing closer and closer together. Dhyani Ywahoo spoke about the winds shifting, the lunar and solar winds of the Tibetan and Coloradan plateaus. The winds of the solar system are changing rapidly. Within two years you will see the effect...(he was referring to a dream I had many years ago about solar winds creating an extreme fire, draught, blackened power lines, abandoned cities and towns. I discovered one of the towns three years ago was Silver City, NM. The buildings across the street kiddy-corner from the A rtist I n R esidence Cafe` were in that dream, and also in dreams of several other people who were drawn to Silver City.)....All of the things you have been worrying about lately....(my fears about financially being unable to travel this continent as planned as well as, the day would come when I would be asked to reveal the prophetic warnings I have been receiving)....are useless to us. Take your pen and start writing each morning after you have taken Little Bear for a walk. This is your work. There is no time to hesitate. We are going far, far away from your planet into another realm. We want to take you with us. We speak of living in the dream world no matter what, no matter how absurd it may seem at this point. The patterns being drawn up are merely moving the pieces in place to balance the solar winds, the crystaline forms....the fixations underground necessary to restore balance between you and us. ( He was referring to the process interupted by our incessant digging into the ground in the Southwest from the gulf of Mexico across the entire Coloradan plateau)....Your scientists, like Noah, did not KNOW what was ahead. But unlike Noah, they disregarded the warnings. They not only failed to obey the commands, they ignored them entirely. You never should have dug one iota into the layers that reach into the aquafleurs underneath the surface. Your Mother Earth IS angry. Many of you WILL be gone from the surface of your planet so She can restore the balance. Its the way it is. Worry but prepare not and you WILL drown. Its not about your finances, personal belongings or any other resources, for that matter. There is only one thing for you to do. Secure the belongings you will need for surviving disasters...electrical storms, thundering light and fire, water tables upsetting, turning things backwards, flooding, coastal tidal waves....all of that is coming upon the northern section, from the gulf of New Mexico to Canada. Its unchangeable. Its the way it is. Its that simple."

"If you were asked to take sides, which one would you chose, bear light on a subject(issue) for it to be examined, possibly dissected, scrutinized or cut into pieces, or do the cutting yourself once it was brought to light? Why does a battle between these two forces continue? Why do we have to take sides? What is behind this apparant conflict? Torches and clubs are older than lamps and swords, older still than laser-light (scrutiny) and missile force(modern mind). Is it always going to be this way? In the manner and how man continues to slice through and play out this drama, our future is being determined. On the carnate level, the implements seem to mean more than the implementation itself. In Spirit the drama is about perfecting, not eliminating or dominating, as it appears you (we humans) still seem to be doing more and more of instead of less of."

"Ask yourself is this action for the good of ALL sides, not for "my side" only. Its where we falter the most, so afraid that "giving in" means losing. For Spirit, giving in means winning! The highest good for GodMother/Father and all of creation is a dance-play some callThe Spiral Dance. Could we look upon that phrase, "The Great Eternal War" and change it to "The Great Eternal Dance"? If we don't, (in my opinion, too) it might just become The Great War of Darkness and Gloom. Its up to each and everyone of us to RISE ABOVE the battles, the everyday skirmishes with the power of that divine torch-bearer who also bears a sword. However, that Divine Warrior weilding and marshalling the forces, carries The Sword of Light that Heals Us instead of wounding us."

-end of transmission-

So! What do we do? After blowing the whistle and lining up the perpetrators, do we shoot them? Do we throw them in a room, throw away the key, let them duke it out among themselves?.

I think the latter is the way to go. While they're battling it out, THAT'S WHEN WE PRAY THE HARDEST FOR THEM. Then when we see they are still fighting, we let them go and still keep on praying for them, and if they happen to cross our path again, we just invite them to come and sup with us.....ah, if only that was the case......I keep on tryin' though.

You see, ACTIVE COMPASSION WHEN NEEDED MOST is the most difficult part. Compassion for those who've had a change of heart isn't that hard to forgive and move on. Its the stubborn ones who, no matter how strong your prayer/influence/position of strength is, one still has to learn how to BE compassionate. Hard ball curve I'm giving you, isn't it?

(But then again, a challenging softball game doesn't build the same character as a real hard-ball tournament does........) Aho!