In this episode I host part 6 of an ongoing conversation between Shinzen Young, meditation teacher and neuroscience research consultant, Chelsey Fasano, a Columbia University neuroscience student, and Dr Jay Sanguinetti, Assistant Director for the Center for Consciousness Studies and Research Professor at the University of New Mexico.
In this episode we take a deep dive into the dopaminergic reward system, including current thinking on its function and role, and its interaction with meditation practice and Buddhist notions of craving and suffering. We also discuss what to do after enlightenment, and speculate about the Fibonacci sequence as a universal constant.
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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep103-dopamine-meditation-fibonacci-feat-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-dr-jay-sanguinetti/
Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
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Topics Include:
00:00 - Intro
00:44 - International attention and Sir Roger Penrose
02:38 - What is the reward system and how does it function?
06:45 - The punishment system
09:50 - Social media and the basal ganglia
11:09 - Meditation’s effects on the basal ganglia
14:50 - SART and the work of Dr David Vago
19:37 - Meditation and resting tonic dopamine levels
22:24 - Knytl & Opitz on meditation and negative reinforcement
25:14 - What is resting tonic dopamine?
27:04 - Leigh Brasington and Haggerty’s jhana study
30:19 - Is the Haggerty study fatally flawed?
32:21 - More to pleasure than dopamine
33:05 - The different jhana systems of Buddhism
35:36- Jay suggests a jhana study at his lab
37:26 - Integration of ecstatic experience across traditions
43:13 - Integrating the the top-down Self with the basal ganglia
45:47 - After enlightenment, what to do?
49:10 - Shinzen on measuring the endorphin rush
53:14 - Endorphins, Dopamine, and craving
55:48 - Hard and soft jhana, wet and dry vipassana
01:01:02 - Jay on in-brain competition and behaviour change
01:04:51 - Outcomes from Shinzen’s life of practice
01:07:54 - The Fibonacci sequence as the universal constant
01:21:01 - Craving, conflict, and suffering
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Previous episodes in this series:
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep72-shinzen-young-and-chelsey-fasano-tantra-neuroscience-and-true-enlightenment/
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep76-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-2-the-science-of-enlightenment/
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep81-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-3-orgasm-epilepsy-mystical-experience/
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep86-bliss-enlightenment-fristonian-physics-feat-chelsey-fasano-shinzen-young-dr-jay-sanguinetti/
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep94-the-enlightenment-button-feat-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-dr-jay-sanguinetti/
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To find out more about Shinzen, visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep37-shinzen-young-pandemic-edition-guru-viking-podcast/
- www.shinzen.org
To find out more about Chelsey, visit:
- www.chelseyfasano.com
To find our more about Dr Sanguinetti, visit:
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep102-dr-jay-sanguinetti-cults-science-the-dalai-lama/
- https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/
For more interviews, videos, and more visit:
- www.guruviking.com
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James
