Power of the mind

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

What is the most powerful weapon in the world? I doubt that anyone will say it is the human mind. Perhaps, many may give that answer if the question is reworded as ‘what is the most powerful tool in the world?’ It is just a word apart. After all, even the deadliest weapons like nuclear bombs are products of the ingenuity of human mind. Thus, it is the most powerful and has been made use of for welfare and betterment on one hand, and weaponised for destruction on the other.

It was a prince born in Lumbini, in present day Nepal, in 563 BCE who demonstrated the ultimate power of the mind. Disstisfied with the worldly pleasures he had, in seeking the cause of the ever pervading ‘unsatisfactoriness’, he turned the searchlight inwards and by exploration with the mind, he not only found the reason but also the means to overcome, showing us the path to ultimate detachment: Nibbana. In fact, he has shown that the world around us is nothing more than a creation of our mind. It is his birth, enlightenment becoming Gautama Buddha and attaining Parinibbana, at the age of 80, that we commemorate on Vesak day.

The Buddha’s greatest gift was giving his followers the freedom of thought. His guidance was that we should accept even His words by conviction. Guidance laid down in the Kalama Sutta can be considered the foundation for scientific thought. Therefore, categorising his doctrine as a religion is the greatest disservice done, as most other religions force their followers to adhere to their doctrine unchallenged, as it is the word of a superhuman conveyed through an intermediary. One can argue that religion is the first, and the most powerful, brainwashing we endure. Today, we are constrained not only by religion but also, by various political ‘isms’.

The Buddha’s analysis of the mind remains unsurpassed and it is only now that science is catching up with what he taught. He showed us the ways to control our mind, to improve our mind and, perhaps, tame our mind. This He did by introducing a new type of meditation, Vipassana or Mindfulness meditation. Though Samatha or Concentration meditation, which predates the Buddha, can be used to achieve higher mental states, it is only through Mindfulness meditation that one is able to achieve ultimate detachment.

The Buddha also showed that our deeds can be executed through three portals: body, words, and mind; the most difficult of which to control being the mind. Vast majority of us have never committed an actual murder physically but it is rare to find someone who has not uttered the words “Wish he/she was dead” killing someone with words. Even more frequent is our wish that our enemy be dead. This illustrates how difficult it is to control one’s mind and Buddha’s teachings are primarily directed at ways and means of achieveing this.

According to the Buddha’s teachings, ‘The Three Marks of Existence’ are Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (dissatisfaction) and Anatta (lack of a soul), the last being at total variance with all other major religions. It is easy to understand impermanence, as even the billons of galaxies in the universe too are impermanent, some being born whilst others are dying, as shown by modern mega space telescopes. There is nothing permanent in this universe. Long before scientist established dynamic flux, the Buddha spoke about this phenomenon. Dukkha leads to confusion as it is often mistranslated as sorrow but if we use the more apt term dissatisfaction, it is very easy to comprehend. Even the richest are dissatisfied as they want more! The most difficult concept to understand is Anatta as we are so obsessed with ‘self’

I too have been on the search for a scientific explanation for the concept of non-self, for a long time, and am thankful to my good friend Dr Manasara Wedisinghe, who directed me to a very valuable piece of writing which I may have missed otherwise. “Neuro-biological basis of the concept of non-self (anatta)” which appeared in The Sunday Times of 30 April, gives a very plausible explanation and ought to be read by anyone interested in this question. (https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230430/sunday-times-2/neuro-biological-basis-of-the-concept-of-non-self-anatta-518384.html)

It is by Dr Channa Ratnatunga, retired professor of surgery from Kandy, whose book “Anecdotes from a Surgeon’s life in Sri Lanka” was reviewed in The Island of 20 January 2021. It is noteworthy and very creditable that he continues to write despite a stroke that nearly killed him in March 2015. He got a clot in the arteries at the base of his brain, whilst at work, which needed sucking out as clot-buster drugs failed to dissolve it. The long arduous path to recovery made him publish his story in many newapapers including The Island, more as an appeal for strengthening stroke services.

Despite the risk of lack of accuracy, I will attempt to summarise his explanation as it deserves maximum exposure. Human brain, the most developed, is virtually made of three brains, in keeping with evolution. The most primitive part of the brain is the Reptilian Brain, situated at the base of the brain, which is responsible for instinctual action. Wrapped around this is the Limbic Brain which is the emotional or feeling brain. This type of brain evolved in animals when birth begins in a womb rather than in an egg. This is wrapped around by the most developed part, the Neocortex, which is the rational or the thinking brain.

When we were medical students, we were taught that the brain was an unchanging entity which has long been disproved and is recognised to have plasticity. Inability to increase cells is compensated by increasing the connections and there are two dominant networks in the Neocortex concerned with the mind: the Default Mode Network (DMN) which deals with self-referenced thinking like thinking about the past as well as worrying about the future and the Central Executive Network (CEN) dealing with thoughts about the present, task orientated. We are in DMN mode, most of the time, the concept of ‘self’, which starts developing around 3-5 years of age, being located in many loci in this network. Those who do intense Mindfulness mediation increase connections in CEN whilst decreasing connections in DMN and once practice is established, can enter CEN at will.

The facts that the concept of self is developed a few years after birth, though it continues to develop is in multiple loci, dies with the dissolution of brain matter after death and that it can be made to atrophy by Mindfulness meditation, all point to lack of a locus for ‘self’ and are compatible with the concept of Anatta. ‘Self’ therefore is a neuro-plastically determined ‘construct’ or ‘fabrication’ which is impermanent.

These explanations are very convincing and I wonder whether Channa’s brain has moved up a gear by the stroke! Stephen Hawking did the best of his thinking whilst afflicted with Motor Neurone Disease but, by the way, that disease does not affect the brain.

Channa ends his article with:

“Awareness of the truth of Anatta, mitigates Karmic acts and delinks Paticca Samuppada i.e. Sansaric progression, and dukkha that follows. This is the Buddha legacy to humankind.

A more detailed exposition will be presented in a book, ‘Buddhist Philosophy and Neuroscience’, which I hope to publish in the near future.”

I join many others in looking forward to this publication and Channa’s continuing contributions stand testimony to the power of the mind.