“Equanimity is neither apathy nor indifference: you are warmly engaged with the world but not troubled by it. Through its non-reactivity, it creates a great space for compassion, loving-kindness, and joy at the good fortune of others. For example, the Buddhist teacher Kamala Masters tells the story of taking a boat down the Ganges at dawn. On her left, the sun lit ancient towers and temples with an exquisite rosy glow. On her right, funeral pyres were burning, and the sounds of wailing rose up with the smoke. Beauty to the left and death to the right, with equanimity opening her heart wide enough to include both.”

– excerpt from Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson, PhD

I am halfway through Buddha’s Brain and love the practical advice for how to gradually rewire my brain to become a happier, kinder and calmer person.

The premise is deceptively simple; when your mind changes, your brain changes too.

Here’s another quote from the book, “…mental activity actually creates new neural structures…even fleeting thoughts and feelings can leave lasting marks on your brain.”

In other words, you ARE what you think.

Another quote, “What flows through your mind sculpts your brain.” (italics are mine). That word ‘sculpts’ really gets me. We literally lay down track by how we choose to respond and pretty soon we are no longer choosing our responses, they are simply following that known path.

If that path is a negative and anxious one? That becomes the hard-wired response to everything.

Given that? I’m convinced that I’m gaining the tools to build a new model-train set in my brain. Choo-Woo!

A final quote, “Taking in the good is not about putting a happy shiny face on everything, nor is it about turning away from the hard things in life. It’s about nourishing well-being, contentment, and peace inside that are refuges you can always come from and return to.”