#perception

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quoted Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana

Henepola Gunaratana: Mindfulness in Plain English (AudiobookFormat, 2016, Audible Studios)

With over a quarter of a million copies sold, Mindfulness in Plain English is one …

Meditating your way through the ups and downs of daily life is the whole point of vipassana. This kind of practice is extremely rigorous and demanding, but it engenders a state of mental flexibility that is beyond comparison. A meditator keeps his mind open every second. He is constantly investigating life, inspecting his own experience, viewing existence in a detached and inquisitive way. Thus, he is constantly open to truth in any form, from any source, and at any time. This is the state of mind you need for liberation.

It is said that one may attain enlightenment at any moment if the mind is kept in a state of meditative readiness. The tiniest, most ordinary perception can be the stimulus: a view of the moon, the cry of a bird, the sound of the wind in the trees. It’s not so important what is perceived as the way in which you attend to that perception. That state of open readiness is essential. It could happen to you right now if you are ready. The tactile sensation of this book in your fingers could be the cue. The sound of these words in your head might be enough. You could attain enlightenment right now, if you are ready.

— Mindfulness in Plain English by 

What a wake-up call!

#mindfulness #enlightenment #awakening #awareness #meditation #Buddhism #vipassana #perception #attention

the key to , ie first not .

'The findings imply that while the prefrontal cortex is essential for reasoning and planning, conscious experience may depend more heavily on sensory processing and visual perception. In simple terms, intelligence is about doing, but consciousness is about being.

The researchers also found that the back of the brain plays a critical role in holding detailed visual information, such as the orientation of an object. The frontal areas contribute too, but more in terms of identifying general categories, like recognizing an object as a face or a chair.

This challenges the long-standing idea that the front of the brain contains the full, detailed content of our visual experiences. Instead, the brain’s rear sensory regions may be more central to the richness of what we see.'

https://scitechdaily.com/epic-brain-showdown-reveals-surprising-origins-of-human-consciousness/

"Sleight-of-hand magic trick only fools monkeys with opposable thumbs

By performing a famous magic trick for three species of monkey with differing hand structures, scientists have discovered that—in order to deceive—a conjuror needs a similar anatomy to their audience.

Psychologists used a sleight-of-hand trick called the French drop, in which an object appears to vanish when a spectator assumes it is taken from one hand by the hidden thumb of the other hand.

The study, carried out at the University of Cambridge's Comparative Cognition Lab, found that monkeys lacking opposable thumbs did not fall for the assumption—staying wise to the whereabouts of tasty treats a magician tried to make disappear.

The research suggest that sharing a biomechanical ability may be necessary for accurately anticipating the movements of those same limbs in other individuals."

🔗: https://phys.org/news/2023-04-sleight-of-hand-magic-monkeys-opposable-thumbs.html