Hello:

Luciano provided the following quote from Richard's site:

RIchard:
From http://www.actualfreedom.com.au/richard/default.htm



Does anyone who has achieved actual freedom from/in Richard's instruction recognize this?



For example, [another's] actual freedom is made public (older thread) and recounted below in the [x] thread (I have not included [person's]useful descriptions of the days before):



[X] do you recall if anything was felt in the brain stem region?

[Edited 5/30/11 to remove contributor's personal information]

Do brains have touch receptors, or whatever, that enable kinesthetic sensation?

http://anesthesiology.osu.edu/article.cfm?ID=3259

No it doesn't. However this is an experience, so that doesn't suggest it relates to the physical anatomy. It might be related to how the brain maps that anatomy. Much like phantom limb syndrome.

HI Jason -

Most brains do have receptors that enable sensory perception.

Some people cannot feel pain at all (CIPA).

Brain can modulate nerve signaling pain.

Here's how pain works (simply and with a simple current understanding):



stimuli ---> peripheral nerves (nociceptors, specifically) ---> spinal cord (dorsal horn! not Vince Horn!) transmission of nociceptors' electrical pulses (slight delay after the stimuli) ---> chemical activation of different nerve cells that promote the message to the brain ---> thalamus! (control tower) ---> (3) branches instantaneously get triggered:

-- somatosensory cortex (voila, pain is (enter location here))

--- limbic system (emotional suffering)

--- frontal cortex (cultural meanings of pain)


The brain is obviously a huge frontier, and I am not expert, so all of the above should be amended and expanded as desired.



I hope we will address the physicality of the AF experience.

Hi Jason - James Austin wrote a book several years ago called Zen and the Brain. He has a section on the thalamus (top of brain stem) that is available to read on google books.

Thanks Katy, I'll check it out.

Hi Jason -

I personally caveat science-citing to say, that while I appreciate any logical look at anything/anyone -- philosophy, science and their professional stewards may be no more or less likely to uphold a logical, objective-aspiring view than anyone else.

However, because they usually exist in a realm of peer review and scrutiny, I do think stewards of the scientific method are a bit more likely to be logical in their proposals and conclusions than the non-scientific method population. With this tremendous information age, knowledge, scrutiny and conclusions can be subjected to so many more considerations, to everyone's advantage, in my opinion.


What I use in regards to any conclusion being promoted:

-- its sources (which can include financial-backing, which backing can grossly re-size the nature of a study and can strongly influence for desired outcomes)

-- its methodology

-- its ability to withstand challenges to its methodology



What I do to form personal conviction (which I require for myself in lieu of faith), is to seek answers through experience and logic. If I cannot recreate the experience/experiment, I scrutinize the methodology (if there is one).

With actualism, one can perform the experiments for themselves. With AF, I do not know if I can perform the experiment for myself yet, but it is logical that a) some in the forum have conviction that anyone can do the AF experiment for ourselves, and b) others in the forum trust the experiment is worth doing.

I.e., It took a long time for Stanley to get his 1919 image of space-time, but he did, which photo brought Mr. Einstein's theories to millions rather quickly (and nearly a century of experimentation, scrutiny and applications!).

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I have admired the tibetan tradition of debate and the requirement that its monastic children be able to express for themselves their conviction in an isolated subject, i.e., nothingness. The students spend hours a day in practice, study and debate. The debate has conduct codes in ensure orderly process and learning, as well as respect between the defender and the questioner.

here is a video and write-up:
http://www.snow-crest-inn-dharamsala.com/tibetan-monks-debate.html

For me, DhO offers this wonderful opportunity.

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So, back to the point: brain stem - anyone what to share their brain-change?

More from sir richard on the brain stem change:

http://actualfreedom.com.au/richard/default.htm


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[EDIT: grammar and added 'aspiring' after 'objective'. In my view no being can not achieve 100% 'objective' view do to the containment of the being's lens. I.e., we can see many aspects of a flower, but we cannot see it in the full UV spectrum, because the human lens does not allow for UV perception as such. This is a point of mental curiosity though and not necessarily needed for practice, although may benefit practice].
[EDIT2: clarification of my admiration for the tibetan dialetic]

Here are some of tarin's words on the causality of the brain stem change (from Luciano's thread - RE: How I achieved Actual Freedom from Actual Freedom 10/17/10 8:57 ):


So, while the above is part of a clarification in another thread, what tarin is confirming is: "a mutation of consciousness".

And Richard confirms a "physiological occurrence".


For the avoidance of confusion, tarin's "mutation of consciousness" is not incongruous with Richard's "physiological occurrence"

Physiology:
The scientific study of an organism's vital functions, including growth and development, the absorption and processing of nutrients, the synthesis and distribution of proteins and other organic molecules, and the functioning of different tissues, organs, and other anatomic structures. Physiology studies the normal mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of animals and plants.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/physiology

As reprinted on the web here: http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/auszp/austin/chapter107.html
Austin's earlier work (excerpted a one-page Q&A excerpted section of chp 107) addresses some brain stem phenomena and postulations (brain stem bolded by me):



I do not know if any AFer has noted light as part of their change.




Without getting too technical, research has gone further since austin's publication in that a depressed person (unresponsive to chemical and psycho-behavioural treatment) may have a pace maker inserted into the brain to the alleviation of their depression.


Interesting that some actualists compare their practice to a dream-state (see Jason L's thread Everything Becomes Dream Like)

[Slight Deviation from Brain Stem] Here is Austin (on the same MITPress page presenting sleep and meditation effects:



I think stephanie cites headaches and some anxiety just before her experience of actual freedom.

here are her journal notes from 9/19/10 just prior to her claiming actual freedom excerpted from the thread SW's Path to Actual Freedom:


Lots more citations on the thalamus on the Austin excerpt:

This thread is traveling up from the brain stem, and into the hippocampus for a moment.

Why? As the yearning for peace/peace of mind exists, there are natural mechanics in the human body of which to take advantage in conjunction with anatta/af/[?] practices/foci. There are also natural processes that can cause one to think, "this is me - anxious/depressed/testosterone slave/bliss junky/[etc]"

Using human body assets helped me with counter-elements in thinking and self (such as, contempt- or boredom- or distraught-feeling added superfluously to a process thought (i.e., how to do xyz).

Starting: what is "stress"? Maybe the most well-known stress pathway is the HPA Axis.

In the brain, it is thought that a normal short-term stress (any fight-or-flight trigger like dodging a car accident) causes:
[indent]1. a release of corticosteriod hormone from hypothalamus to the the anterior pituitary, then
2. the anterior pituitary release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which makes the adrenal glands (which are atop of the kidneys) produce cortisol, and
3. cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone; it is also a major stress hormone.
4. this glucocorticoid now acts back on the hypothalamus and pituitary - inhibiting them and stopping the production of the ACTH.

However,
5. To be in a chronic state of fear/anxiety (chronic stress) keeps this loop in action: HPA dysregulation.
6. When glucocorticoids keep hitting the brain, the hippocampus (associated with memory, spatial awareness, navigation (animals)) - which has a lot of receptors for glucocorticoids and therefore more affected by this barrage than other parts of the brain - is shown over time to lose volume and or degenerate
7. Aliments like Parkinson's, major depression, Alzheimer's, Cushings, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder are associated with atrophy of the hippocampus[/indent]

There are people who reverse even the most progressive in the above item 7 (e.g., a Australian ND who reversed his parkinsonism (disclosure: I contacted him once about a family member with PD). He sites routine meditation as a tool in his health).

HPA Axis dysregulation is not absolutely causal to hippocampal atrophy; there is frequent documented association.
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In addition to whatever meditative practice you have, there is the human body's evolution for exercise. John Medina (brain rules book) notes humans typically moved 12 miles per day(start at 1:26). I use a minimum 20-minute rule: 10 minutes warm-up in the activity, 10 minutes of 30 seconds intense and 30 seconds recover pace in that activity (i.e., bike riding) - whatever to get to something before the incoming-earning part of the day.

Here is a short video (again, related to PD due to familial reasons) * about the benefits of exercise.

Please correct or add-to as you'd like. I will add further. Probably next about women, brains and the luteal phase, since a mature female spends about 15 years in this phase (say from age 14-45 yo), and it is associated with changes/reductions in the immune-system. These changes can be deemed one's self-hood, when the changes are but biology and can be mitigated.


__________
and here is a video about hippocampal atrophy in chimpanzees used in medical research... to raise awareness about the similarities in mammals including humans with regards to stress and, consequently, how animals are used, treated, and/or affected today...and reiterate the HPA axis dysregulation.

I'll add in a few tidbits!

Richard's description always reminded me of this:

"That rupture is felt physically, as a crack in the base of the skull [brainstem] or as the sound of a bell. From that starting point, it becomes a matter of how much power has been accumulated". - from Armando Torres' Encounters with the Nagual.