纽约圣派翠克大教堂游客祈祷或休息各得其所 黄安年文 黄安年的博客 /2011 年12 月28 日 ( 美东时间 ) 纽约圣派翠克大教堂和洛克菲勒中心是紧邻 , 游客来到这里往往一前一后就地参观 , 特别是一般游客在洛克菲勒中心逗留时间较长后 , 需要寻找一个安静和暂时歇脚的地方 , 而纽约圣派翠克大教堂就是最佳地点 , 于是圣派翠克大教堂就成了游客祈祷或休息各得其所的场所。 12 月 26 日 , 我们先后参观了洛克菲勒中心和圣派翠克大教堂，当然也和肢体需要稍许调整有关，一路连续行走好几个小时 , 对于 5-8 岁的孩子和 76 岁的老人都不是一件容易的事。真要感谢建筑家的桥安排 , 当然也要感谢当今教会进一步世俗化趋势。 附照片 17 张是 26 日拍摄的，第 18 张是从网上下载的。 **********************88888 纽约圣派翠克大教堂 (St. Patrick's Cathedral) 掠影 (2007-04-14) 黄安年文 黄安年的博客 /2008 年3 月10 日 发布 圣派翠克大教堂 (St. Patrick's Cathedral) 紐約最大、最華麗的教堂。在第五大道上和洛克斐勒中心的亞特拉斯大力神雕像相對而望 (5th Ave. E 50th St, New York, NY 10022-6810) 聖派翠克是愛爾蘭人的守護神， 19 世紀時愛爾蘭移民在這個地方，建立了自己的教堂。 每年 3 月 17 日是聖派翠克的祭日，這一天，� Designated NHL: December 8, 1976 1913 photograph of the cathedral Detail of the cathedral's fa?ade (September 2006) Detail of the cathedral's entrance (October 2007) The nave of the cathedral (September 2006) The nave of the cathedral decorated for Christmas Eve Mass (December 1987) View of the cathedral from Rockefeller Center (May 2006) View of the cathedral from across Fifth Avenue, with Lee Lawrie's bronze statue of Atlas in the right foreground (March 2005) The Cathedral of St. Patrick (commonly called St. Patrick's Cathedral) is a decorated Neo-Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and a parish church, located on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets in midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, directly across the street from Rockefeller Center and specifically facing the Atlas statue. Purchase of the property The land on which the present cathedral sits, sold by the city's aldermen in 1799 at a quit rent, was purchased at auction for unpaid taxes in November 1828 by Francis Cooper, who conveyed it to the trustees of St Peter's Church in the city that still lay far to the south. The trustees intended it for a Catholic burial ground. The site at 50th Street and Fifth Avenue contained a "fine old house," which was then fitted with a chapel of St. Ignatius. The school closed in 1814 and the Jesuits sold the lot to the diocese. In 1813, the diocese gave use of the property to Dom Augustin LeStrange, abbot of a community of Trappists (from the original monastery of La Trappe) who came to America fleeing persecution by French authorities. In addition to a small monastic community, they also looked after some thirty-three orphans. With the downfall of Napoleon in that year, the Trappists returned to France in 1815, abandoning the property. The property at this point was designated for a future cemetery. The neighboring orphanage was maintained by the diocese into the late nineteenth century. Some of the Trappists resettled to Canada and eventually founded St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Bishop DuBois reopened the chapel in 1840 for Catholics employed at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and in the general neighborhood. A modest frame church was built for the parish of St. John the Evangelist and dedicated 9 May 1841 by the Rev. John Hughes, administrator of the diocese. Tickets were sold to the dedication to ease the parish's debt level, managed by a lay Board of Trustees, but to no avail and the property mortgage was finally foreclosed on and the church sold at auctioned in 1844. The stress is said to have contributed to the death that year of the church's pastor, the Rev. Felix Larkin. The experience was blamed on the management of the trustees and this incident is said to have played a significant role in the abolishment of the lay trusteeship, which occurred shortly thereafter. The young and energetic Rev. Michael A. Curran was appointed to raise fund for the devastated parish, and shortly fitted up an old college hall as a temporary church. Fr. Curran continued raising funds to buy back the church during the Great Famine in Ireland, eventually succeeding and taking the deed in his own name. "The site of St. Patrick's Cathedral, hence, came to the Church through the labors of this young priest and the self-denial of his countrymen and not by the fight of the city." The debt was finally all paid for by 1853 when it was clear a large church was needed and the site was selected as appropriate for the new cathedral. Construction of the cathedral The Diocese of New York, created in 1808, was made an archdiocese by Pope Pius IX on July 19, 1850. In 1853, Archbishop John Joseph Hughes announced his intention to erect a new cathedral to replace the Old Saint Patrick's Cathedral in downtown Manhattan. The new cathedral was designed by James Renwick, Jr. in the Gothic Revival style. On August 15, 1858, the cornerstone was laid, just south of the diocese's orphanage. At that time, present-day midtown Manhattan was far north of the populous areas of New York City. Work was begun in 1858 but was halted during the Civil War and resumed in 1865. The cathedral was completed in 1878 and dedicated on May 25, 1879, its huge proportions dominating the midtown of that time. The archbishop's house and rectory were added from 1882 to 1884, and an adjacent school (no longer in existence) opened in 1882. The towers on the west fa?ade were added in 1888, and an addition on the east, including a Lady chapel, designed by Charles T. Mathews, was begun in 1901. The stained-glass windows in the Lady Chapel were designed and made in Chipping Campden, England by Paul Vincent Woodroffe between 1912 and 1930. The cathedral was renovated between 1927 and 1931 when the great organ was installed and the sanctuary enlarged. The cathedral and associated buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Architectural features This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (August 2011) ?*The cathedral is built of brick clad in marble, quarried in New York and Massachusetts. * It can accommodate 2,200 people. * The site of the church takes up a whole city block, bounded by East 51st Street to the north, Madison Avenue to the east, East 50th Street to the south, and Fifth Avenue to the west. * The spires rise 330 feet (100 m) from street level. * The windows were made by artists in Chartres, France; Birmingham, England; and Boston, Massachusetts. The great rose window is one of Charles Connick's major works. * The Saint Michael and Saint Louis altar was designed by Tiffany Co. The Saint Elizabeth altar was designed by Paolo Medici of Rome, Italy. * The Saint John Baptist de la Salle altar, sculpted by Dominic Borgia, remains one of the few original side-chapel altars commemorating the patron saint of catechists and teachers. The adjoining stained-glass window depicts the Papal bull (a type of letters patent) of approbation granted by the Vatican to the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools who, since 1848, have conducted numerous parish grade and high schools throughout the Archdiocese of New York, as well as Manhattan College, Riverdale (in The Bronx borough of New York City) and Lincoln Hall. * The cathedral's Stations of the Cross won a prize for artistry at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. * The Piet à is three times larger than Michelangelo's Piet à . It was sculpted by William Ordway Partridge. * A bust of Pope John Paul II is located in the rear of the cathedral, commemorating his visit to the city in 1979. * Archbishop Francis Spellman, later cardinal, undertook a major renovation of the cathedral's main altar area in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The bronze baldachin in the sanctuary is part of this work, and the former high altar and reredos that stood there were removed and replaced. The original high altar of Saint Patrick's is now in the University Church of Fordham University in The Bronx (Spellman's alma mater). Coincidentally, that church, built in the 1830s, is also home to stained-glass windows donated by French King Louis-Philippe I for Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral downtown when it was originally being built. The windows were installed in the University Church when it was discovered that they did not fit in the Old Saint Patrick's. Clendenin J. Ryan donated the rose window. He was the grandson of Thomas Fortune Ryan and Ida Barry Ryan who built the Church of St. Jean Baptiste at East 76th Street and Lexington Avenue. * In the 1980s, Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor undertook further renovation work, most notably the construction of a new stone altar in the middle of the sanctuary, closer and more visible to the congregation. It was built from sections of one of the side altars that were removed to reposition the baptismal font in the north transept. * The roof is made from slate from Monson, Maine. Organs The original pipe organs, built by George Jardine Son in the 19th century, have been replaced. The chancel organ, in the north ambulatory, was made by the St. Louis, Missouri, firm of George Kilgen Son, and installed in 1928; it has 3,920 pipes. The grand gallery organ, by the same company, was installed in 1930, and has 5,918 pipes. The combined organs, totaling 177 stops and 9,838 pipes, can be played from either of two five-manual consoles installed in the early 1990s to replace the original Kilgen consoles. Burials and funeral Masses Located underneath the high altar is a crypt in which notable Catholic figures that served the Archdiocese are entombed. They include: The eight past deceased Archbishops of New York: * John Hughes (interred 1883) * John McCloskey (interred 1885) * Michael Corrigan (interred 1902) * John Murphy Farley (interred 1918) * Patrick Joseph Hayes (interred 1938) * Francis Spellman (interred 1967) * Terence Cooke (interred 1983) * John Joseph O'Connor (interred 2000) Other interments: * Michael J. Lavelle (Cathedral Rector and Vicar General; interred 1939) * Joseph F. Flannelly (Auxiliary Bishop, 1948 – 1969; interred 1973) * Fulton J. Sheen (Auxiliary Bishop, 1951 – 1965; interred 1979) * John Maguire (Coadjutor Archbishop, 1965 – 1980; interred 1989) * Pierre Toussaint (interred 1990) In 1996 he was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II, the second step toward sainthood. Four of the Cardinals' galeros (those of Cardinals McCloskey, Farley, Hayes, and Spellman) are located high above the crypt at the back of the sanctuary. Cardinal Spellman's galero was also worn by Pope Pius XII (as Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli) until the latter's election to the papacy at the 1939 Papal conclave. In 1967, the ceremony of the consistory was revised by Pope Paul VI and therefore no galero was presented to Cardinal Cooke or any of his successors. Some notable people whose Requiem Masses were said at the cathedral include New York Yankees greats Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and Billy Martin; legendary football coach Vince Lombardi; singer Celia Cruz; former Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York Robert F. Kennedy; and New York Giants owner Wellington Mara. Special memorial Masses were held at the cathedral following the deaths of artist Andy Warhol, baseball player Joe DiMaggio, author William F. Buckley, Jr , and governor Hugh Carey. In popular culture * The film Miracle in the Rain (1956) was filmed in the cathedral. * Nelson DeMille's novel, Cathedral, (1981) concerns a fictional seizure and threatened destruction of Saint Patrick's Cathedral by members of the Irish Republican Army. Much of the novel is set in and around the cathedral and details of the cathedral's structure contribute important elements to the plot. * Progressive-metal band Savatage's album Streets: A Rock Opera (1991) features a song called "St. Patrick's" during which the main character, DT Jesus, speaks to God in the cathedral demanding an explanation for his misfortunes. * In August 2002, the talk-radio program The Opie and Anthony Show broadcast a couple having foreplay in a vestibule in the cathedral. Commonly mistaken for having anal sex. The show's hosts were suspended from radio station WNEW-FM one week later and their show was subsequently cancelled due to the controversy. * In the Giannina Braschi's novel, Empire of Dreams (1994), the ringing of the church bells at the cathedral marks a pastoral revolution in New York City. * The cathedral appeared in the 2002 movie Spider-Man, when Spider-Man saves Mary Jane Watson and leaves her on one of the Rockefeller Center roof gardens across the street. * The cathedral features prominently in James Patterson's novel, Step on a Crack (2007). * The underground ruins were the setting for the climax of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) where Taylor destroyed the earth with the Alpha-Omega bomb. Centuries earlier, mutant humans surviving a nuclear holocaust had founded a religion on the bomb (later depicted in Battle for the Planet of the Apes), reconsecrated the cathedral to their new religion, and installed the bomb in front of the organ pipes in place of the crucifix. * In the ABC television series Ugly Betty, the cathedral was used as the venue for the wedding of Wilhelmina Slater to Bradford Meade. * The cathedral ranked eleventh out of 150 buildings in the recent list, "America's Favorite Architecture", based on a public-opinion poll. See also * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York External links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick's_Cathedral_(New_York)
wilddonkey 发表于 2009-01-07 21:41 佛经上记载了这样一则故事：某一日，佛祖饭后在恒河边打坐。不久，有一商队在此处过河，车马众多，喧闹不已。佛祖出定后见地上一片狼藉，便问身边弟子是怎么回事，弟子答曰：刚才有很多车马过来。佛说他自己一点都不知道。 佛经上的记载真伪难辨，不过我们可以假设这是真的。那么之所以佛祖会对过往的商队听而不闻，肯定与打坐这一行为有关。而如果有兴趣一探其究竟，弄清楚是否会有类似故事中的情形出现的话，要想得出可靠的判断，基本上只有两种方法可供选择。第一种是在佛家的思想体系下，依照佛家的方式打坐、修行，依循特定的修习过程去亲身体证这一情形，并最终做出判断。以佛学的观点来看，要做到这一步非常困难。 另一种方法也有一定困难，不过相对来说要容易，那就是请来被认为或自认能实现这一情形的人，将其作为研究目标，应用针对性的试验手段加以试验，以试验结果为依据，通过严密的逻辑推理得出相应的结论。此即科学的方法。这种方法的好处除了相对容易外，还在于它是一种较为通用的方法，不管是何种现象寻常的，有悖常理的，神秘主义色彩浓厚的只要试验条件允许，都可以用它来研究一番。而惯常运用此方法的科学家们也习惯了以这样一种态度去面对那些可供研究的对象：客观、事先不带任何成见、几分怀疑和一份必不可少的好奇心。于是，当打坐、冥想这类行为及其可能对人体带来的影响被列为研究对象时，科学家们沿着思维的惯性，如此盘算：这儿有人声称能做些不同寻常的事，来，让我们把电极放在他们身上 名不虚传 2005 年，日本国立生理学研究所的几位科学家动用了他们的电极。对象是一位 65 岁，拥有 38 年冥想经验的瑜伽大师，他声称自己在冥想过程中感觉不到痛。根据先前的研究，大脑中存在一个与痛觉感受有关的皮层网络，只要有某种痛的感受产生，该网络的相应区域就会兴奋。由此，如要通过科学的方法来对这位大师的声明进行判断，接下来要做的就是分别在他冥想和非冥想状态下，施以一个能够引发常人疼痛的刺激，同时观察其脑中痛觉网络的反应情况，并加以对比。 一束强度足够劲儿的激光打到手背上，同时呈现出来的脑中痛觉网络对此刺激的反应对比鲜明：非冥想状态下强烈兴奋；冥想时波澜不惊。另外，在试验结束后，大师还被要求对两种状态下的主观疼痛程度进行评分，分数从 0 到 10 ，代表从弱到强不同的疼痛等级。结果非冥想状态得分 8 ，冥想状态得分 0 ，这与两种状态下脑中的表现相一致。 从科学的角度出发，基于先前对痛觉的研究和理解，根据该试验结果，我们目前所能得出的结论是：这位瑜伽大师在冥想过程中确实感觉不到痛。 如要进一步阐明瑜伽大师是如何做到这一点的，由于人的痛觉感知受心理状态的影响很大，因此可以这样初步简单的解释：长期的瑜伽冥想训练改变了冥想时的心理状态，进而减弱了痛觉感知。至于这时在体内、脑中具体发生了怎样的变化，还有很多电极在等着被科学家们用。 冥想研究 科学从不拒绝匪夷所思，什么都可以拿来研究，什么样的结果都是结果，都是启发。瑜伽大师不同寻常的能力为痛觉感知潜在机制的研究打开了一扇门，而这只是打坐、冥想这类古老而颇富神秘色彩，宗教意味浓厚，蕴含着千年前的人类对生命、宇宙之理解的行为为生活在现世，对生命、宇宙有了全新理解的我们所带来的启示的很小一个方面。 冥想（ meditation ），自 20 世纪 60 年代起开始进入科学的视野，到目前为止研究最多的有三种类型：瑜伽冥想术、禅宗冥想和先验冥想（ transcendental meditation ， 20 世纪 70 年代在美国兴起的一种冥想方式）。其他的还有佛家另外一些派别的冥想（如密宗）、道家静坐和近几十年在西方新兴起的几种冥想方式。早期对冥想所引发的生理上变化的初步研究达成了初步的共识：不同于睡眠、催眠和自我暗示，冥想期间人体处在的是一种觉醒，同时代谢减缓的生理状态。 随后的研究确认了这个论断，也否认了这个论断。这是因为研究所采用的冥想类型各有针对，而即便是同一种类型，在具体的冥想手段和冥想内容上也是多有不同：冥想时保持安静的、一开始要默诵宗教习语的、整个过程中都有语音、音乐引导的；冥想时不着意于一点的、着意于呼吸的、着意于某部分身体的、想象某种场景的、感知自我的、开始注意于一处，而后不着意于一点的、体验某种情绪（如快乐、悲悯）的，如此等等。 试验条件的参差多态导致了试验结果上的巨大分歧，这是冥想研究一直到现在都存在的问题，研究结果相互矛盾之处甚多，为冥想赋予一个标准的，四方皆认可的科学上的定义一时还难以做到。 不过在多年的研究积累之下，也还是发现了一些基本的规律。综合对不同类型冥想期间脑电波变化情况的研究，一条通常会于冥想过程中出现的脑电图发展轨迹被描记出来：先是冥想初期的波振幅增加和频率减小；接着，在经验丰富的冥想者脑中会有 节律波序列呈现；再接下来，是非常少见的，只有在那些可以达到深度冥想状态（即所谓的入定）的冥想者身上才能够记录到的高频 波（ 20 赫兹以上）爆发。 随着脑成像技术的普遍应用，冥想研究有了新的突破方向，科学家们开始根据冥想过程中相应皮层区域的反应变化，来对其背后的神经机制进行考察。 非同寻常 首先，借助脑功能成像数据，一个问题得以被进一步澄清：冥想与普通的休息状态有什么不同？ 你斜倚在沙发上，或是躺在床上，眼睛闭着，或是随意将目光落往一处，突然想到明天的工作或许会遇到麻烦，接着盘算过会儿要不要去吃点夜宵，随即记起昨晚的麻辣烫味道很不错，这时，发生了一些偶然的事情，比如你漫无目的的转了一下头，眼光从一处移到了另一处，也可能是隔壁音乐声响起，你听出是那首天天都在放，已经没了味的老歌，同时心下黯然：我的耳朵就要起老茧了。 我们休息时的情形就是类似这个样子。对应的，脑中也有一系列事件在上演，概括起来，可作如下表述：不加控制的，自发而流动的各种想法；随时插入的记忆片段；无特定目的行为的认知处理过程；以及无时不在的对自我的感知。如同在不做特殊设定时，电脑软件会按缺省设置运行一般，在没有接收到目的明确的指定任务，即在通常的休息状态下时，大脑会以上述事件为蓝本运行。这个蓝本被称为大脑功能的缺省模式。大脑在缺省模式下运行时总会有固定的一些皮层区域在兴奋，相应的，这些皮层区域被称作缺省神经网络。 而对于冥想，我们一般都会联想到这样的情景：盘膝而坐，上身挺直，闭目不语，神态自如。从表面来看，除了要刻意对身姿进行控制，这与闭着眼睛休息似乎没什么不同。 区别不在于表面。冥想的方式多种多样，并不一定都是静坐不动，但有一个共同点，就是精神上的高度专注。不管是专注于呼吸，还是某种内在景象、某部分躯体，或是根本不专注于任何一处（这是另外一种专注），在冥想时都要对不断涌现的思维、念头进行控制一念即起，立刻觉察，并使之消散，而非任其发展以便将注意集中于要专注的那一点上，或不让任何一点成为注意的对象。这有别于休息时对千思万绪的放任自流，因而标志休息状态的缺省网络在冥想期间兴奋程度会下降，冥想经验越丰富，下降的就越显著。 冥想应该是一种专注而少杂念，乃至无杂念的精神状态。不过如果你之前从未冥想过，现在有兴趣来尝试一下：双腿盘起，姿势摆正，两眼闭上，接着你开始将注意集中于呼吸，或者试图不落注意于一处，这时你会发现各种杂念纷至沓来，不胜其扰，越是努力克制，越是彰显，倒是在休息时不会感到这般的思绪繁乱。 这并不奇怪，因为休息状态下对随时出现的各种思维活动是顺任自流的，所以不会对某一念头本身加以特别关注；而冥想时既然要将意念固定下来，要有意对不请自来的纷纷杂念进行控制，那么这些杂念本身就显得清晰而突兀了。就像流动着的河水虽然杂质众多，看上去却是一片清澈，也无从分辨其中的杂质；而一旦将河水盛到杯中，静止下来，过不了多久，便会泥沙俱下，一目了然。 脑成像仪的扫描结果证实了这种心理感受上的差异。在冥想期间，与维持注意有关的大脑区域；和被认为负责对相互冲突的认知过程进行检测和施以解决的相关脑区强烈兴奋。它们的兴奋意味着对思维活动的选择和控制，而这两者均不包含在缺省网络当中，因此虽然在休息时思如流水念如龙，身处其中的我们却茫然而不觉其纷繁。 有趣的是，经验最为丰富的冥想者在冥想时这两者的兴奋程度反而变得很低，对此的解释是冥想经验丰富者更容易将注意集中起来并加以维持，也更容易控制杂念，故而不需要花费太多的努力。这种情况倒是接近休息时注意涣散、无认知冲突的放松状态，但同时缺省网络的兴奋程度也很低，于是在冥想达到一定阶段时，会进入至这样一种矛盾的境况：既放松，又专注，或者说放松着的专注。这正是冥想的非同寻常之处。 不同凡响 冥想的非同寻常还不止于此。接下来我们关注下恒河边佛祖的声誉，来看看在冥想过程中外部干扰会对冥想者产生什么样的影响。研究者在冥想期间放出一些声响，包括中性的（餐馆嘈杂声）、正面的（婴儿喔啊声）、负面的（女人哭泣声），结果显示跟处理这些声音有关的皮层区域的兴奋程度与冥想经验呈负相关，即冥想经验越丰富，处理声音的皮层区域的兴奋程度就越低。换句话说，冥想经验越丰富，对这些干扰声响所做出的反应就越小，受其影响也就越小。从这一点出发，一个冥想者如果功力足够深厚，比如达到佛祖的程度，那么他在恒河边打坐而不知有商队经过并不是不可能的。 冥想时确实可能会有可供记载的异事发生，那么有冥想经验者在平常时是否也能留下一些过人的事迹？一篇发表于 2007 年《 PLoS Biology 》的研究论文中就记载下了这么一桩。研究者招募了一些并非骨骼清奇、悟性甚高的志愿者，他们的共同点只是之前都没有过任何的冥想经验。志愿者们先参加了一项名为注意瞬脱的试验。所谓的注意瞬脱是指当两个视觉对象（如一个数字或字母）依次呈现在我们面前时，如果间隔时间足够短的话，由于大脑资源有限，在完成对对象 1 的感知过程后，会来不及对对象 2 进行感知。也就是说看清楚了对象 1 ，就看不清楚对象 2 。 研究者设定的时间间隔是 336ms ，志愿者们取得的成绩是有 60% 的概率能够准确辨识出对象 2 ，这就是普通人所能达到的程度。接下来是持续 3 个月的高强度冥想训练，之后，仍然貌不惊人的志愿者们在重复 3 个月前做过的同一试验时，辨识准确率达到了 80% 。 在另一项研究中，研究者请到了真正的奇人异士。 76 名密宗修行者参与了该项研究，经验最丰富者已冥想了 54 个年头。受试者中还包括了 3 名索居 20 年以上的静修者。研究地点不在条件齐全的大学实验室，而是在他们位于喜马拉雅山的静修地及附近，试验采用了不会产生外在干扰的测量手段，以期获得最为确实的结果。 试验内容是向受试者的左右眼分别展示不同的视觉对象，比如左眼前是一张脸；右眼前是一个房子。通常在这种情况下会发生双眼竞争，左右眼分别带来的视觉感知以很快的频率相互转换，脸和房子被交替看到。当然，这是针对普通人而言的。在这次试验中，有 50% 的受试者停留在其中一种感知上的时间大幅增加，与之前 1000 名非冥想者的测试结果对比明显。 不同凡响的背后是长期冥想活动可能在大脑神经层面引发的一些改变。冥想与特定认知处理过程的关系，及其所带来的认知层面的变化是冥想研究将来的热门方向。 积极的情绪 此外，冥想还为另一块研究领域开辟了一方天空情绪。大概是受基督教文化的影响，西方学者在对人的情绪进行研究时，更多时候针对的是负面情绪，如愤怒、恐惧、抑郁之类，对积极情绪的研究比较少。而像佛教这样的宗教更关注的是如怜悯、快乐、仁慈等积极的情感，因此可通过承载了这一宗教思想的冥想行为来对这些积极的情绪加以研究。 这是一种专注于悲悯情绪感受的佛家冥想。一个合理的推测是：经验丰富的冥想者在进行这种冥想时，会对他人痛苦的反应更为敏感。为此冥想过程中出现了三种声音：正面的婴儿笑声、中性的餐馆背景声、负面的女人哭泣声，结果，沉浸于悲天悯人心境中的大脑对所有声音的反应都比在普通休息状态下更为强烈。不出所料，负面的声音尤为刺耳。看来佛祖在恒河边打坐时，采取的不是这种冥想方式。 另外，这种方式的冥想会令人常处于积极情绪的包围当中。先前的研究表明，左前额叶（ left prefrontal cortex ）的高兴奋度往往意味着良好的心理状况。而无论是平常时的、或怀着悲悯心冥想时的经验丰富者的脑中；还是没有冥想经验的志愿者在接受一定时间训练后的大脑，均表现出了这一特征。 冥冥之意 科学家们一边忙着以冥想为对象做实验，得出新的结果，借此加深对其的理解；一边忙着为冥想做结论、下定义，提供在对实验结果进行解释时可依托的理论和观点，为接下来的实验指明方向。理论和实验是科学的左右脚，左脚跨上一步，右脚就会被带着向前迈出；右脚超到前面，左脚又要及时赶上，左一步，右一步，科学愈行愈远。 上世纪 90 年代，基于对近千名冥想者的主观经验的综合分析，冥想被赋予了一个标志性特征：对外部感观世界的关注和高度的注意。差不多同时，一份对人脑意识活动的创见将意识分为了两个主要方面：感官意识与动作意识。前者是由外部世界传入的信息所触发的意识活动；后者是内在的，自主控制的能够引发某种动作的意识活动。冥想与意识的新观点两厢一结合，促生了对人在冥想时意识活动变化的见解：这应该是一个感官意识增强的过程。同时由于显而易见的，冥想时多处于静止状态下，这个过程应该伴随着动作意识的减弱。 此外，随着自上世纪后十年兴起的意识研究热潮的不断向前翻涌，一些与对自我的感知，即自我意识有关的大脑皮层区域相继被确认。在意识研究中，自我意识开始成为意识的一个重要方面。而根据目前神经科学领域对意识的分析，意识的不同方面处在对大脑资源的竞争关系下，一方增强，另一方就要减弱。再加上西方学者对来自于宗教如佛家的，与某种冥想境界相关的一些解释如忘我的字面化的理解，顺理成章的，对于冥想，就又有了一个新的诠释：感官意识的增强，伴随以自我意识的减弱。 总之，冥想被视作了一种内生意识活动减少，同时敏于外部信息输入的精神状态。基于此认识的对冥想的一个典型描述是：深度休息而又完全警觉。 应该说这是一种局限于具体冥想方式，只符合部分情况的论断。参考对冥想这一古老行为的古老理解，能够给我们带来一些启发。在各家冥想过程中，一开始往往会有专注于呼吸，或经文、咒语的诵念等将注意集中于某一点的前导期，但当进入到最为精深的冥想层次时，无论是瑜伽，还是佛家、道家，都强调不将注意落于任何一处。这不落于任何一处当然也包括了不特别注意于外部的感观世界。 弗洛伊德在他的精神分析理论中提到了一种最佳的精神注意状态，其基本特征之一是：向意识领域所发生的一切施以平均的，平等的，公平的注意。这一说法与不将注意落于一处异曲同工，而冥想根本所要达到的，也就是一种最佳的精神状态。 再结合近来的脑成像研究结果，冥想程度越深，对外部输入信息的反应越小，即感官意识是减弱的。同时由内而发的各种意识活动，包括所谓的动作意识、自我意识也是在减弱的。那么，这样看来，冥想，至少是深层次的冥想意味着意识活动的全面衰减。 是否确实如此，还需要用更多的实验来加以验证，或是修正，或是推翻。 2003 年 9 月，一个为期两天的名为探查大脑的科学研讨会在麻省理工学院举行。会中的主角是神经科学家与佛学家，以及他们都感兴趣的有关认知、精神方面的话题。科学家们开始意识到仅仅想着把电极放到冥想者身上是不够的，保持敬意地与他们进行交流，从他们的讲述、教授中获取有价值的信息也很重要，如欲以科学的方法真正弄清楚冥想这一行为的内涵和实质，这样做是必须的。 为了达到这个目的，或者，我们也不妨试试另外一种方法。 《新发现》2008年12月刊 参考文献： 1. 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