High Life

20 美 国健康心灵研究中心的理查 德• 戴维森教授是一位世界领 先的神经科学家，在冥想对人类的裨 益方面，他做了广泛的研究。在其研 究院生涯的早期阶段，他遇到一些热 心、谦和和神采奕奕的人，并从此踏 上了这段旅程——将冥想从宗教背景 带入科学领域，进行缜密的研究。每 每和这些人在一起，他都能受到极大 的感染。 他回忆说：“我了解到他们都对 禅修冥想有兴趣，从此引领我走进了 这扇大门。在研究院学习两年之后， P rofessor Richard Davidson from America’s Center forHealthyMinds is a world leading neuroscientist who has conducted extensive research on the benefits of meditation for human beings. The journey of taking meditation out of its religious context, bringing it to the scientific realm and studying it rigorously came about during the early stages of his graduate career after hemet a number of people who were warm-hearted, gracious and radiant. Their presence was “infectious” to him. “I learned that they all had an interest in the practice of meditation 我第一次踏上印度之旅，亲身体验了 深入冥想，并深切体会到它的重大意 义。” 1970年代，有关冥想对大脑影 响的科学研究少之又少。当时，科学 界的狭隘心态阻碍了戴维森追求兴趣 的脚步，成为一名“闭门禅修者”。 直至1990年代，当他遇到藏传佛教 界的一位重要成员时，才开始深入探 究常年做冥想练习的人的大脑有可能 会异于常人。 现代神经科学研究方法不仅可以 用来研究焦虑和抑郁等消极情绪，亦 可应用于检视正面情绪。因此戴维森 认为，从神经科学的角度来看，身心 健康可以通过四个部分得以证实：意 识、关联、洞悉和意义。 意识是我们认知和理解世界的能 力；关联是我们与他人的融洽关系， 尤其是和谐或满怀慈悲的关系；洞悉 是对“自我”的叙说；而意义则是我 们为之努力的人生理想。 戴维森解释说：“神经科学对这 四个组成部分一一做过研究，每一个 轨迹都表现出可塑性。藉此我们了解 到，它们可以通过训练以及经历来塑 and that led me to begin my journey. After my second year of graduate school, I went to India for the first time and got a taste of intensive meditation practice myself. I came back with a fervent aspiration that this is important,” he recalls. During the 1970s there was little scientific research done on the effects of meditation on the brain. At that time, narrow-mindedness within the scientific community discouraged Davidson from pursuing his interest and he became a “closeted meditator.” It was not until the 1990s when he encountered an important member of the Tibetan Buddhist community that he started to investigate the possibility that the brains of people who spend years training their mind may differ from those of the broader community. Modernneuroscientificmethods cannot onlybe used to studynegative elements like anxiety and depression but can also be applied to examining positive emotions of the mind. As a result, Davidson believes that, from a neuroscientific perspective, wellbeing can be validated through four constituents: awareness, connection, insight and purpose.