Thiền và những lợi ích thiết thực

(a) Meditation and Beauty (Thiền và sắc đẹp) by Sugandha Indulkar (Inputs from Manjiree Surve, yoga and meditation expert)

Meditation releases the unlimited power of the subconscious. It enhances inner as well as outer beauty. Ageless body and timeless mind can be achieved by daily practice of meditation.

(Thiền mang đến một sức mạnh tiềm ẩn vô biên. Ngoại hình, thì gia tăng sắc đẹp, nội tạng thì khỏe mạnh hơn. Thân thể trẻ trung và tinh thần an lạc có thể đạt được bằng cách hành thiền mỗi ngày) [Mỗi lần từ 10 đến 20 phút, ngày 2 lần].

(b) Thay vì hành thiền mỗi ngày để tăng trưởng trí nhớ và thông minh hơn, nhiều học sinh và sinh viên đến mùa thi hay dùng thuốc giúp trí nhớ như Glutaminol (Âu dược) hay dưỡng não (thuốc Bắc) nhưng những phản ứng phụ không phải ít.

(1) Why Meditation May Help Hepatitis C. Evidence indicates that incorporating meditation into your daily routine could prevent a Hepatitis C flare up. This article tells you how it works and what you can do. By Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

Most who have emerged from the invincible self-perception of the teen years know that their body is more vulnerable to illness when under stress.

Whether evaluating the common cold or cancer, medical researchers have repeatedly confirmed this association. For those managing chronic Hepatitis C, the connection between health and stress takes on monumental significance. There are various ways one can reduce or relieve stress.

However, meditation’s ability to prevent liver disease from flaring up makes it a top stress-relieving choice for many with chronic Hepatitis C.

Understanding Stress. Because it is a subjective sensation that differs with each person, stress is difficult to define. Caused by both positive and negative experiences, stress is the body’s way of responding to any kind of demand. When feeling stressed, the body reacts by releasing chemicals into the bloodstream to enhance energy and strength. Designed to prepare for “fight or flight,” the initial result of this chemical release is:

· Faster breathing
· Quickened heart rate
· Muscle tension

The physiological response described above is intended to boost people’s abilities when in physical danger. However, people often have no outlet for the extra energy and strength that was initiated by emotional stressors.

Therefore, a person’s first line of defense against emotional stress is convincing the body to relax again. By quieting the mind and purposefully slowing down the breathing rate, Meditation helps many people vent the tension in their body and subsequently achieve relaxation…

(2) New genes for lung disease discovered 16/12/2009 16:15:00

New genetics study by consortium led by universities of Leicester and Nottingham

Scientists have discovered five genetic variants that are associated with the health of the human lung.

The research by an internationalconsortium of 96 scientists from 63 centres in Europe and Australia sheds new light on the molecular basis of lung diseases.

The new findings provide hope for better treatment for lung diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma.

(3) Is Buddhism Good for Your Health? Published: September 14, 2003 (Page 3 of 4)

The ”Monk experiments” at Madison are beginning to intersect with a handful of small but suggestive studies showing that Buddhist-style meditation may have not only emotional effects but also distinct physiological effects. That is, the power of meditation might be harnessed by non-Buddhists in a way that along with reducing stress and defusing negative emotion, improves things like immune function as well.

The power of the mind to influence bodily function has long been of interest to scientists, especially connections between the nervous, immune and endocrine systems.

(4) Dr. Benson of the Havard Medical School has researched and tested the effects of meditation on the health and body. In the book called ‘The Relaxation Response’ (1975) (ref. Braphan Ukranun 1998 pp.111), which has introduced the concept of meditation to many Americans, he states that meditation can treat diseases such as cancer because it helps the patient to release tension, bring the will power to fight and the consciousness of being in control of the life. He has found that depression, hopelessness, loneliness and despair, psychological conditions very prevalent in westerners, can be alleviated with meditation. Apart from this, meditation cam also helps heart conditions and high blood pressure. But most interesting of all is that meditation can help people who have difficulty conceiving children. Dr. Benson states that such people are generally unhappy, anxious and hot-tempered but with the regular practice of mediation, they can become healthy and strong, more cheerful and more able to conceive children. The meditation that Dr. Benson advocates to bring such results is one that uses breath control and the silent repetition of a mantra to bring peace and tranquility. Dr. Benson acknowledges that this technique of ‘insight meditation’ can be most effective.

(*) Brain Behav Immun. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 August 11.

Published in final edited form as: Brain Behav Immun. 2009 February; 23(2): 184–188.

Published online 2008 July 19. doi:

Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, 300 Medical Plaza, Suite 3109, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

The publisher’s final edited version of this article is available at Brain Behav Immun.

… Specifically, the 8-week MBSR participants had a raw mean increase of 20 CD4+ T lymphocytes, whereas the 1-day control participants had a raw mean decrease of 185 CD4+ T lymphocytes from baseline to post-intervention.

(5) Diseases of the modern age, such as cancer, AIDS or psychological conditions caused by the stress and strain of daily life, have complicated symptoms and are progressively more difficult to treat.

Consequently, modern medicine has started to look for different methods of treatment to cure such conditions and to help people get their lives back on an even keel again. This kind of research is carried out objectively within the confine of the medical science. However, on a more spiritual level, we can find within Buddhism various principles and practices which can be used to bring peace and happiness to the mind and the good health to the body. In particular, meditation has brought beneficial effects to the many people who have learned how to practice it.

Thus, many modern doctors admit that the mind can control the body’s performance. The mind can be an important cause of sickness in the body and it inevitably follows that it can also provide the cure. Learning how to meditate can develop both the body and the mind, bringing improvements to the health at the same time. Nowadays, treating a disease like cancer depends on science and technology, and the use of such procedures as radiation and surgery. Even although these modern procedures constitute the progress of medical science; in Thailand at the present one method of treating these diseases which is attracting much attention is holistic. In fact, a group has been established which practices according to the methods of treatment purposed by Dr. Sathit Intharakamhaeng. These methods place an emphasis on understanding how nature works in our lives, including maintaining a correct diet. Nevertheless, importance is also placed on our mental processes and on learning how to meditate. As Dr. Sathtit once stated:

“Actually, living a holistic life doesn’t only mean eating a natural diet. It also means changing and correcting your lifestyle by learning how to meditate, learning how to reduce stress in everyday life” (‘Cheowit’ 1998 pp.37).

In this way, Dr. Sathit has taken hold of the Buddhist precept which teaches us that rust, which comes from iron, can corrode and destroy that same iron. Human minds are the same. If we have learned how to meditate and have minds which produce positive thoughts then our bodies will become stronger and healthier if our minds produce negative thoughts then, like the rust on the iron, this will inevitably be a danger to us…

From a holistic point of view, cancer grows from both physical and mental causes. If one cannot change one’s mind then it follows that one cannot change one’s body.” (‘Goo-ne-ne’ 1998 pp.127).

(6) Buddhadasa Bhikku has stated that meditation can treat diseases of the body and the mind. He has demonstrated the importance of breath control called the mindfulness of breathing; the more we can regulate our breathing the more able we become to fight disease. Breathing is a fundamental human function and therefore bears a relation to the normal balance of our bodies. As he stated: “We have to realize that our breathing affects our nervous system, our thoughts, our awareness and the different mechanisms within our bodies. The liver, the kidneys, the intestines and the stomach are all related to our breathing.” (Buddhadasa Bhikku M.B.B. pp.21.

(7) D.r Ainslie Meares, an Australian psychiatrist published research chronicles in the 1960s entitled Relief Without Drugs. In his journal he records that simple meditation techniques, which he adopted from Hindo practices, was a powerful means of combating anxiety, and educing stress and chronic physical pain.
www.christaudio.com/meditation.html.

(8) Meditation Therapy For Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2007) — A revered contemplative practice for centuries, meditation has recently inspired research into its therapeutic value for everything from anxiety disorders to heart attack prevention. A painful, progressive autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with a high risk of depression–double the risk of the healthy population, by conservative estimates–and various forms of psychological distress. Increasingly, RA patients are turning to alternative therapies like meditation to ease the toll of their disease.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a meditation training program developed by Dr. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. MBSR teaches participants to relate differently to thoughts and emotions, and continually focus the mind on the present moment to increase clarity and calmness. The program has been shown to improve psychological symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, among other conditions.

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