TIME時代週刊：靜坐風行美國

TIME雜誌  Vol. 162 No. 5 August 4, 2003

時代雜誌封面故事報導，美國各地的學校、醫院、律師事務所、政府機構、公司行號和監獄開靜坐班的越來越多，簡直到了「很難躲避靜坐」的地步。 

八月四日這一期的時代指出，機場裏面祈禱教堂、網路亭旁邊，會有「標誌清楚」的靜坐室。西點軍校開設了靜坐的課程，哈佛法學季刊2002年春季號曾經討論靜坐，湖人隊教練傑克遜(Phil Jackson)在換衣間裡和隊員們討論的話題也不離靜坐。 

報導說，愛荷華州美田市 (Fairfield)馬哈瑞喜大學 ( Maharishi U.)大中小學系統，科羅拉多州落磯山裏面的香巴拉 (Shambala)中心，和紐約州卡茨吉爾區(Catskills)的旅社，到處可見靜坐或閉關訓練，後者本來稱為「波希特帶」 (Borscht Belt)，現在改稱為「佛法帶」。 

而參與靜坐的名人也越來越多，包括高迪霍恩(Goldie Hawn)、香耐兒吐溫(Shania Twain)、希哲葛藍姆(Heather Graham)、李查吉爾(Richard Gere)和高爾(Al Gore)──如果你還把這位差點當上美國總統的前副總統算做名人的話，報導說。 

時代說，美國人對靜坐產生興趣，有醫學的原因，也有文化上的原因。它說，越來越多醫師推薦靜坐，當作防止、延緩或至少能夠控制長期性疾病如心臟病、愛滋病、癌症和不孕症等等病痛的方法。憂鬱症、過動兒症(hyperactivity)和注意力短缺症(attention-deficit disorder (ADD))等心理疾病也可運用靜坐平衡過來。 

醫師們融合東方神祕主義和西方科學，並不是為了迎合時尚，認為這玩意兒很「酷」，而是因為科學研究開始顯示靜坐確實有效，特別是針對壓力引起的症狀。 

報導引述「毀滅性的情緒」(Destructive Emotions)一書的作者柯爾曼(Daniel Coleman)說，過去三十年來，有關靜坐的研究已經告訴我們，靜坐作為抗壓或降壓的解方十分有效，新的研究更令人振奮：靜坐可以訓練我們的心靈，改變我們的腦部結構。「毀滅性的情緒」記錄達賴喇嘛和腦神經學家之間的對話。 

報導說，最精密的顯像技術，說明了靜坐的確可以「重新調整」腦部，例如，可以改變讓血液升溫的「交通堵塞點」，疏通腦部的血液循環。再說，和動手術比起來，坐在墊子上便宜多了，報導指出。 

美國人向來有簡化高深學問的本領，靜坐被他們「去除神祕性」，並且「街頭化」之後，濃縮為佛教哲學裏面的一點：每天安靜做十分鐘到四十分鐘，專注於呼吸或一個字或一個形象，你就可以訓練自己，把精神集中於當下這一刻，忘卻過去與未來，完全接受超現實，從而超越它。 

報導說，打坐進入「深境」，不但身體會產生微妙變化，腦部亦然。創立「身心醫學中心」的哈佛醫學教授本森(Herbert Benson)在一九六七年就測出，人在靜坐的時候，消耗的氧氣比平時少17%，每分鐘心跳數目減少3次，Theta腦波會增加。Theta腦波在四到八赫之間，是入睡前出現的腦波。靜坐者不會真正睡著，卻能保持警覺。 

本森後來出了一本暢銷書，叫做「放鬆療法」(TheRelaxation Response)，該書說，靜坐者會迴避「對抗或逃避」的反應模式，此一模式是由緊張所導致，靜坐者能夠達到更沉靜、更快樂的境界。他說，他只是把數千年來人類一直在使用的降壓技巧，從現代生物學的觀點提出解釋。此一學說，經過幾位教授的確證，包括威斯康新大學的戴維森(Richard Davidson)。戴維森說，經過靜坐訓練，腦部反應從「對抗或逃避」轉為「接受現實」，反而更能增進一個人的滿足感。 

報導說，研究顯示，靜坐不但能夠降低血壓，還能強化免疫系統，百分之六十美國人看醫師都是因為「壓力引起」的症狀，這種研究實不足奇，靜坐有時候還能夠取代「威而剛」的效用，也不足奇。報導總結道，靜坐的「實用」性既然受到科學的佐證，難怪時代說一千萬美國成年人「經常」打坐──比十年前多了一倍，打坐成為美國主流社會的風尚。

TIME 封面故事 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601030804,00.html

封面故事內容 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005349,00.html

Your Mind Your Body

TIME, Edition: U.S. Vol. 161 No. 3 Monday, Jan. 20, 2003

If you close your eyes and think about it for a while, as philosophers have
done for centuries, the world of the mind seems very different from the one
inhabited by our bodies.  The psychic space inside our heads is infinite and
ethereal; it seems obvious that it must be made of different stuff than all
the other organs.

Cut into the body, and blood pours forth.  But slice into the brain, and
thoughts and emotions don't spill out onto the operating table. Love and
anger can't be collected in a test tube to be weighed and measured.

Rene Descartes, the great 17th century French mathematician and
philosopher, enshrined this metaphysical divide in what came to be known
in Western philosophy as mind-body dualism.  

Many Eastern mystical traditions, contemplating the same inner space,
have come to the opposite conclusion.  They teach that the mind and body 
belong to an indivisible continuum.

In the past, doctors and scientists have tended to dismiss that view as
bunk, but the more they learn about the inner workings of the mind, the
more they realize that in this regard at least, the mystics are right and
Descartes was dead wrong.

Mind and body, psychologists and neurologists now agree, aren't that
different. The brain is just another organ, albeit more intricate than the
rest. The thoughts and emotions that seem to color our reality are the
result of complex electrochemical interactions within and between nerve
cells.

The disembodied voices of schizophrenia and the feelings of worthlessness
and self-hatred that accompany depression, although they seem to be
based on reality, are no more than distortions in brain electrochemistry.

Researchers are learning how these distortions arise, how to lessen their
severity and, in some cases, how to correct them.

Scientists are also learning something else. Not only is the mind like the
rest of the body, but the well-being of one is intimately intertwined with
that of the other. This makes sense because they share the same
systems--nervous, circulatory, endocrine and immune. What happens in
the pancreas or liver can directly affect brain function.

Disorders of the brain, conversely, can send out biochemical shock waves
that disturb the rest of the body. The pages that follow, our annual special
report on health, take you to the cutting edge of mind-body research,
where scientists, having left Descartes's great mistake far behind, are
exploring how the brain works, how it malfunctions, and what can be done
when it goes awry.

--By Michael D. Lemonick