Topic Mark II

After a bit of further research, I've decided to narrow down my topic a bit. I realized that doing a comparative project on meditation in Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism is a bit ambitious; there's just too much to learn about all three religions before I can truly understand how meditation fits into the bigger picture. I'd rather go more in-depth into the neuroscience piece than only skim the surface of all four aspects. Because of this, I'm changing my topic to be solely focused on buddhist meditation. Buddhism seems to be the religion that puts the most emphasis on meditation out of the three; meditation in Taoism and Hinduism seems to be more of a footnote in the broader spiritual practices and rituals, whereas in Buddhism, it's central. This also makes sense with the neuroscience aspect because the focus of the studies on meditation I have read has been meditative practices in Buddhist monks, not Taoist or Hindu spiritual leaders.
My goal for the upcoming day or so is to figure out a bit more about what I'm going to be doing for my outside of class 'field trip'. I know I want to take a day and visit the Zen center, but I'd also like to see if I can maybe talk to a local meditation expert, to get their perspective on what meditation means to them, and how it has changed their view on the world. In addition, I'd like to see if I can wrangle an interview with a local professor of psych or neuroscience to find out a bit more about what the new studies on meditation mean for their field.

And it begins...

This is a blog to help track my research process and progress throughout the constructivist learning project. The topic I've decided to research is the role of meditation in different eastern religions, as well as a bit on the neuroscience aspect of learning. I got this idea when I stumbled across an article about Dr. Richard Davidson, a psychologist who studied the structure of the brain of buddhist monks compared to regular brain structure. He found that the brains of people who practice extensive meditation actually look different from the brains of people who do not. I found this to be very interesting, because it indicates not only that meditation not only has an actual, quantifiable effect on those who practice it, but also can be improved with practice.
Right now, I am in the research phase of this project. I plan to read the transcripts of some On Being podcasts (one which is an interview with Dr. Davidson, the other is an interview with a monk who participated in a simliar study and was later dubbed 'the happiest man alive'), watch a BBC documentary about meditation, read some scientific articles about Dr. Davidson's work, and browse some encyclopedias/databases/books that discuss the role of meditation in religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
Because we have already studied Buddhism in Comparative Religion, I already know quite a bit about the role of meditation in Buddhism, and have a vague idea of how it plays a role in Buddhism's predecessor, Hinduism, as well. However, I know next to nothing about Taoism, so that will be a big area of research for me.
I am also hoping to visit the Minnesota Zen Center before the project is complete to experience meditation first hand. In addition, I'm going to browse the U of M directories to see if there are any psych profs that have experience with these studies on meditation to see if I could maybe get an interview with them to find out their perspective on the issue.
For my final product, I'd like to produce a short claymation about both the neuroscience and the religious aspect of meditation.