Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, & Wisdom by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
Review by By Pat Weeks
Rick Hanson
This month I read a couple of books as possible review subjects, but I found them shallow, facile, and glib—and not worth any recommendation. Then a friend mentioned that she heard a wonderful message from a Unity minister that was based on the book, Buddha’s Brain. Phil and I had recently watched an absolutely fascinating documentary on PBS called The Buddha. The program told the story of the Buddha’s life and featured artwork and sculpture (by some of the world’s artists and sculptors) that showed the Buddha’s life in its beauty and complexity. We were enthralled by the depiction of the Buddha’s entire life and had a deeper understanding of the truths his life embodied. I was happy to find a book that would further enrich my understanding of these truths and that combined modern science with ancient teachings.
The book addresses our relationships with one another and contends that they are not a casual part of our lives, but are fundamental to how our minds function and are an essential part of brain health. Our social connections shape our neural connections that form the structure of the brain. The way we communicate alters the circuitry of our brain, especially in ways that help keep our lives in ways that contribute to keeping our lives in balance.
Buddha’s Brain shows readers how to have greater emotional balance in turbulent times, as well as healthier relationships, more effective actions, and a deeper religious or spiritual practice. In Unity we say, “Change your thoughts; change your life.” Similarly, this book says that by changing our brain, we can change our life. The author points out that Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and other great teachers were all born with a brain built essentially like anyone else’s. Then they used their minds to actually alter their brains in ways that changed history.
Well-referenced and grounded in science, the book is full of practical tools and skills that we can use in daily life to tap the unused potential of the brain-and rewire it over time for greater peace and well-being. I wish that I had a science teacher in school like Rick Hanson, because he explains difficult concepts in understandable language without jargon.
I suddenly realized, while reading this book, why keeping a gratitude journal had a real impact in people’s lives. We so often focus on negative experiences, and we ignore the everyday, positive blessings in our lives. The author emphasizes that taking in the good in our lives highlights the key states of mind, such as inner peace and kindness so that we can find our way back to them again. Taking note of the good in our lives helps keep us on the path to awakening (which sometimes feels like an uphill slog). It nourishes wholeheartedness through its emphasis on positive, heartfelt emotions. When your heart is full, you have more to give to others. Every time we take in the good, we build a little bit of neural structure. Doing this a few times a day-for months and even years) will gradually change our brain. It influences how we feel and act in far-reaching ways.
The author says taking in the good is not about putting on a happy and shiny face on everything nor is it about turning away from the hard things in life. It is about nourishing well-being, contentment, and peace inside ourselves that “are refuges you can always come from and return to.”
I heartily recommend this book. It has given me increased understanding of the mind/body connection. It also has given me practical steps to accomplish the feat of actually changing the brain’s structure to expand my universe.