http://www.dogensangha.org/downloads/Pdf/ANS&Buddhism.PDF
The Relation Between the Autonomic Nervous System and
Buddhism
- A talk by Gudo Wafu
Nishijima -
My
theory about the relation between the autonomic nervous system
and Buddhism is only my supposition, but I have been utilizing
it in explaining Buddhism for many years. And since I first
arrived at this proposition many years ago, I have not met a
case that caused me to change my theory. Therefore I would like to
express my primitive proposition to the audience for
reference. Of course, I am only a Buddhist monk and do not
have sufficient knowledge of physiology, psychology, and so
forth. However, in my experience, I have found it very useful
to explain Buddhism on the basis of scientific knowledge, and
so I would like to express my proposition on
this occasion.
1. Fundamental
basis
(1) The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts,
i.e., the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic
nervous system.
(2) The two parts generally function in opposite ways. For
example: In general, when the sympathetic nervous system
(hereafter, I call it the “SNS”) is stronger than
the parasympathetic nervous system (hereafter, the “PNS”),
people are prone to be tense, to have a weaker appetite, to
suffer from insomnia, and so forth. On the other hand, when
the PNS is stronger than the SNS, people are prone to feel
dull, to have a strong appetite, to sleep heavily, to have
rather high blood pressure, and so forth.
(3) Therefore the state of having a stronger SNS is not
preferable, and neither is a state of having a stronger
PNS.
(4) I guess that, in some way, Gautama Buddha found this kind of
important fact by his experience in his sincere life. Of
course, at that time there was no scientific knowledge about
the autonomic nervous system, but I think that through
his enormous efforts and his genius he knew such a kind of
fact intuitively.
2. Oneness between
body and mind
(1) We Buddhists believe in the theory of oneness between body
and mind absolutely. Therefore I became interested in knowing
about the mutual relation between the state of the autonomic
nervous system (hereafter the “ANS”) and the human mind, and I
arrived at the proposition that when people have a stronger SNS
they are prone to be idealistic, and when people have a
stronger PNS they are prone to be materialistic.
(2) In human society there are so many people who are very
spiritual and ascetic, but sometimes they can be rather
aggressive and criticizing towards others. However there is
also another kind of people. These people are very attached to
physical enjoyments and do not to like to work so much, but
tend to be pessimistic and hesitant.
(3) When I was young I had a chance to read two books by an
American psychiatrist named Karl Menninger. One was called
"Man against Himself" (Harcourt, 1938,1956), and the other was
"Love and Hate" (Harcourt, 1942).
"Man
against Himself" explains the psychology of a person who commits
suicide. The author says that a person who commits suicide is
not a weak person, but usually a very strong and aggressive
person. But for some reason, when his or her aggressive attack
against others fails, his/her attack is directed
against himself or herself. And when I read this description,
I had to agree with Dr. Menninger's opinion.
However, in "Love and Hate" Karl Menninger insisted that if
we want to be healthy in body and mind, it is necessary for us
to maintain love and hate equally. Before that time I had been
taught that only love is valuable, and hate should be
avoided, but when I read Dr. Menninger's idea it was
impossible for me to disagree with his opinion.
(4) In Buddhism we believe that it is not good to be emotional,
and so we should not be angry or greedy and so on. And when I
compare such teachings with the theory of Karl Menninger, I
can notice the reason why Gautama Buddha recommended the
Middle Way to us.
3. Buddhism and the
ANS
(1) A fundamental principle of Buddhism is that it denies both
idealistic belief and materialistic belief. And I think this
fact suggests that we should avoid having both a state where
our SNS is stronger and a state where our PNS is stronger.
We can say that ideas are only the motion of our brain cells, and
therefore they are not real entities in themselves. And
likewise we can say that sense stimuli are just excitement in
our sense organs, and so they also are not real entities
in themselves.
(2) Therefore I think that Buddhism emphasizes the importance of
equality or equilibrium between the SNS and the PNS. In
Buddhism there is a Chinese and Japanese phrase, Jijuyo
Zanmai, which explains the state in Zazen. The word Jijuyo is
divided into two parts, one is Jiju and the other is Jiyo. Jiju
means “to accept self,” and Jiyo means “to utilize self.” And
Zanmai means a state in Zazen. Therefore we can interpret that
“to accept self” suggests the function of the PNS, and “to
utilize self” suggests the function of the SNS. So we can think
that Jijuyo Zanmai means a state of equality between the SNS
and PNS.
(3) But it is very difficult, and almost impossible, for us to
make the ANS balanced, because the ANS originally has a
function of autonomy. But in such situation, I think that
Gautama Buddha has presented us with a very effective and
calm method to make the ANS balanced, and that is Zazen.
(4) Why does Zazen have such excellent power? For many years
after I began to study Buddhism I didn’t know the reason. Then
about 10 years ago, because of the recommendation of my
student, named Mike Cross, I read a book entitled “A Teacher’s
Window into the Child’s Mind” (Fern Ridge Press) by Sally Goddard,
an American psychiatrist and teacher.
In her
book she explains that in our human life the important term of
development is the first 7 or 8 years after birth, and in
particular, the first 15 months. She says that if a child
receives some unfortunate influence during that term, the child
will suffer from rather serious effects on his or her
personality, and it will be very difficult for the child to
get rid of those bad effects during his or her life.
However she says that, “Ultimately, the cerebellum is
responsible for regulating the postural reflexes and muscle
tone, and thus maintaining the body’s equilibrium.” Reading
Ms. Goddard’s book I could get an outline of the reason why Zazen
is useful to make us better.
4. The meaning of
Zazen
(1) Zazen is not a means to attain “enlightenment,” but is just
an act to experience the balance of the ANS.
(2) Zazen is just practice of keeping the spine straight
vertically in the regular posture.
(3) The state in Zazen is called Shinjin Datsuraku, which means,
“dropping body and mind off.” And when we think about the
meaning of “dropping body and mind off,” we can interpret that
when we are keeping the ANS in balance, the balance of the ANS
can be felt like plus/minus 0, and so we sometimes feel that
consciousness of our body seems to be 0, and consciousness of
our mind seems also to be 0. And such a state is called
“dropping body and mind off.”
(4) Therefore, by practicing Zazen everyday we can become
accustomed to having balance in our ANS, and such a state is
just the state of Buddhas.
End