Bjarne Timonen

In contemporary psychology a new technique has been getting a lot of amazing results in various psychiatric and personality disorders; Neurofeedback. Through EEG-scanning a person is confronted with his or her brainwave activity, getting immediate feedback from any form of mental activity. Mental disorders such as ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are characterized by certain patterns in brainwaves, deviating from the equilibrium. The person itself then has to of induce or reduce certain brainwaves by inducing or reducing certain mental activities. This way it is taught which mental activities disturb the equilibrium and therefore the balance in the brains, which are typical for the mental disorder. Although research in neurofeedback remains controversial (some attribute it to the placebo effect), it’s results are at least noteworthy. I believe it also shows some amazing parallels to the Buddhist view of the mind. It is therefore not surprising that mindfulness practice is encouraged in Neurofeedback. In Buddhism one tries to gain a similar state of mind, which is relaxed, open, yet awake. Thoughts and emotions are not discarded but rather observed without trying to judge or reach for anything. In Buddhism this is called resting in the nature of the mind, which brings out all the positive qualities we as humans posses, wisdom, compassion, insight. We slowly let go of our neurotic patterns and become more and more who we really are. In this case feedback is not provided by a computer screen showing brainwaves, but by being mindful of the movements of our mind. Trungpa compared this with letting wild bulls into a meadow, wild as they may be, giving them space will cause them to calm down and become peaceful; it goes the same for our discursive thoughts. It is quite exciting to see both Western and Eastern psychology moving closer towards a more unified view of the healthy mind. We do have to keep in mind that the Eastern insight on this subject is far more ancient and thorough. With our Western empirical techniques, however, we can put this in a scientific frame and thereby also convince the skeptical minds of this matter.