Medley

Leo Babauta – USA 

“A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.”

Chinese Proverb

 Focused reading is something that’s becoming a rarer and rarer animal these days. We have a hard time reading even a single blog post if it’s not a simple list or longer than a couple hundred words – we’ll skim, and then move on to the next post or email.

Our reading habits have changed because of the persistence and ubiquity of online distractions. We read shorter, faster, more frequently, but longer reading is dwindling. Focused reading is harder.

One effect is that we’re reading fewer books and longer articles, and more blogs and shorter articles. Another effect is that any research we need to do is filled with distractions – landmines when it comes to getting work done.

However, it’s not impossible to read or do research with focus. Just harder.

Study suggests ways to outsmart smart phones

Smartphones are an integral part of most people's lives, allowing us to stay connected and in-the-know at all times. The downside of that convenience is that many of us are also addicted to the constant pings, chimes, vibrations and other alerts from our devices, unable to ignore new emails, texts and images. In a new study published in NeuroRegulation, San Francisco State University Professor of Health Education Erik Peper and Associate Professor of Health Education Richard Harvey argue that overuse of smart phones is just like any other type of substance abuse.

Gains in the ability to sustain attention developed through intensive meditation training are maintained up to seven years later, according to a new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement. The study is based on the Shamatha Project, a major investigation of the cognitive, psychological and biological effects of meditation led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Center for Mind and Brain.

John White – USA 

[A Practical Guide to Death and Dying was originally published by QUEST books in 1980. This particular version was previously published in the Theosophical Digest, y1992 v4 i2-p90.]

...so few know the art of dying. For dying, like living, is an art and if only most of us mastered the art of dying as much as we seek to master the art of living, there would be many more happy deaths.

The fact of the matter, how-ever, is that the art of living is not different from the art of dying; in fact, the one flows into the other, and cannot be separated one from the other. He who has mastered the art of living has already mastered the art of dying; to such, death holds no terrors.

                                                                                    M.V. Kamath, Philosophy of Death and Dying

New research shows a quarter of girls (24%) and one in 10 boys (9%) are depressed at age 14.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and University College London analyzed information on more than 10,000 children born in 2000-01 who are taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.

At ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14, parents reported on their children's mental health. Then, when they reached 14, the children were themselves asked questions about their depressive symptoms.

Based on the 14-year-olds reporting of their emotional problems, 24 per cent of girls and 9 per cent of boys suffer from depression.

Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a new target for treating major depressive disorder, a disease that affects more than 16 million American adults. Their research shows that individuals with high levels of an enigmatic receptor called GPR158 may be more susceptible to depression following chronic stress.

“The next step in this process is to come up with a drug that can target this receptor”, says Kirill Martemyanov, PhD, co-chair of the TSRI Department of Neuroscience and senior author of the new study, published recently in the journal eLife.

The researchers say there is an urgent need for new drug targets in major depressive disorder. Current pharmacological treatments for depression can take a month to start working – and they don't work in all patients.

“We need to know what is happening in the brain so that we can develop more efficient therapies”, says Cesare Orlandi, PhD, senior research associate at TSRI and co-first author of the study.

The researchers zeroed in on GPR158 as a player in depression after discovering that the protein is elevated in people with major depressive disorder. To better understand GPR158's role, the scientists studied male and female mice with and without GPR158 receptors.

Tim Wyatt – England 

Around the world millions of self-avowed religious people from every single faith tirelessly carry out good works, promote love and offer assistance to the desperate and needy. But often there is a stark disconnect between the honourable actions of these individuals and the mind-set and behaviour of the religious traditions they embrace. 

The truth is that dead letter religions increasingly make people angry. As you will note from the tone of this deliberately polemic article, I count myself among the agitated and disillusioned. And I am not alone in questioning the dark side of religious practice.

Many people find themselves caught in that No Man’s Land between atheism and religious adherence. In the West especially increasing numbers of people are choosing an alternative spiritual pathway beyond the grip of religion.