8/22/2003 11:11:22 PM|||Travis|||

Well screw it all.

Why am I going on a divergenc to investigate binural beat technology? Well.. its certainly something that I have looked into more than once in my life. At the age of 17 I bought a book called "Zen and the Brain" which is a 700 page treatise on how the brain works in light of current (2000) medical research along with how Zen and meditation transforms the brain. It is written by a scientist who is trying to come to grips with the fact that he is both a nueroscientist and Zen practicioner. His book is an attempt to bridge the gap between mysticism and science, which is acutally seperated by an ocean. He realizes this, and hopes that one day, a certain super-person will come along and write the authorative work on the subject. He wants a Japanese Zen Master, who is also a practicing neurosugeon, nueroscientist and psycologist to explain exactly what is happening when one practices Zen.

So I have picked up this heavy volume once again, at the age of 21 and knocked the dust off the cover. I still remember my high school friends staring with amazement at the 20 some dollar book I just purchased sitting on my shelf. "You bought thaaattt?" they would blankly ask.

Sure. Its time to get enlightened.

Although is it even something that can be reached like this... I don't know. Reached as in, passed such that I can state "Ahhh ha. Now I am enlightened." Budda claimed this, after a week long mediation session. But perhaps the most powerful message in this book, that I am starting to pickup is that Zen is a psycological way to control the psyological process in the brain.

Zen training is brain training.

And training my brain is important. I need to block out negative thoughts, listen for the positive and constantly attune my emotions to foster a positive environment for the people around me. Such is the job of the leader. And since I feel that this skill is vital to accomplishing my life's ambitions, I set out to determine just what the hell this Zen thing is, and why the East is so crazy about it. Already I have begun to practice Yoga, for the health benefits. I will now incorporate a meditation session along with the phsyical activity, and read about my brain and how we think it works right now.

Then I can make a judgement about this centerpointe crack-pot. Or, as the case may be, this centerpointe genius.

Also- It is important for me to write down why it is that I actually write this journal. The main benefit, besides the psycological benefits of writing down one's ideas, is to document a history of myself. Not really the things I did during the day, such as the events (I went to school, saw a chimpanzee, etc) but how I felt, or what I thought about. What I think about might be the most important thing to remember, or jot down. I feel that my life has had some extremely illuminating experiences... such things that are even hard to describe, but can be percieved as a touch with the divine. Its not something I feel often, but I want to document these experiences, as I feel that I owe it to others.

So far I haven't reflected upon my past all that much, but perhaps with the help of some of the English teachers at the College of Creative Studies, I can relieve these past parts of myslef and document them for my family, at the very least.

Also, I should mention that my journal could be used by an artificial intellegnce program in the future to reconstruct my personality for a virtual environment- which would only be neccesary if my ability to create/write ideas was unfortunately terminated before uploading becomes a viable alternative to death.

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