How Understanding Neuroscience Can Improve Our Lives

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning in again this week. I'm

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your host, Elise Cortes. Journey
from Dallas, Texas, which is home

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base for me. This program is
all about helping people more meaningfully and productively

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connect with their work and equipping organizations
to do the same for their employees.

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So I bring on guest who have
a particular perspective or experience that I think

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expands the conversation. I often draw
on the meaning of work research I've been

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doing myself over the last fifteen years, as well as my insulting experience.

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We were on the show last week
with doctor Bob Nelson of Nelson Motivation,

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and we were talking about how the
importance of recognizing employees and what that does

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for retention, engagement, and performance, great conversation. The man has many

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books out there and he is considered
an authority on the topic. This week,

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we have the player's pleasure of being
with Abejite Nascar, who is a

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renowned neuroscientist, best selling author and
speaker, and who has become a humanitarian

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sensation all over the world with his
vast legacy of scientific and philosophical literature.

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He has written thirty one books on
the human mind that cover a wide range

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of topics including religion, relationship,
parenting, education, discrimination, and various

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other issues of the society. We'll
be talking today a bit about the actual

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field and of course how it relates
to the world of work and our relationships.

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Abijit comes to us today via Skype
from India. Abjit, welcome to

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Working on Purpose. Thank you,
Aliss, pleasure to be here. I

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am so happy to know that we
connected via LinkedIn. I believe there was

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I can't remember which one of us
reach out to who, but it was

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thanks to LinkedIn that we know each
other. Began a conversation and thought it

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would be really interesting to have you
come on the show and talk about your

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field. Neuroscience is something that people
talk a lot about today. It shows

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up all over the media. But
I got to confess, I don't know

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that I could really accurately describe what
is it? What is this neuroscience field

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all about. When we talk about
neuroscience, we often see it as a

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kind of technical field that actually studies
the nervous system that the basic perception,

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but actually is much wider than that. Basically, today neuroscience gives us insight

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into our own cells to understand our
selves. So basically, we can understand

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the human mind by studying the human
brain. That is, studying how the

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neurons in the brain and the entire
nervosystem interact with each other, and that

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creates our entire perception of the world
and our entire internal raalm that is the

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mind, which is created through the
and we can understand all of that through

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this field which we today called neuroscience. M that was just delicious. Now

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I know that you began your working
life I believe in computer engineering, and

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then you started on a path towards
this field of neuroscience, and I think

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psychology and philosophy as well. I
have to understand in terms of context,

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what made you decide to depart from
computer science to study neuroscience. It was

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not a direct leap from computer science
and neuroscience. It was, in fact

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a leap from computer science to hopelessness, to becoming a monk, and then

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becoming scienists, that is, coming
into neuroscience reperious fields of biology, and

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eventually I found my calling into which
we today call neuroscience. To be honest,

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much earlier I wasn't even a one
of the field which we call neuroscience.

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It was like any other lay person, so I just knew the term,

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that's it. But then one day
I saw on TV an episode on

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another scientist, Michael Persinga and who
happens to be a good friend of mine.

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Now. So she is one of
the pioneers in the field of especially

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the psychology of religiousness, and so
his works influenced me to a great deal.

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In fact, he is the one
who actually lured me into eunoscience later

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on, and then I studied began
studying psychology and neuroscience altogether. You strike

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me, obviously, and one of
the reasons again I was drawn to you

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is that you're really quite a I
would prolific person. I mean, in

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terms of you written thirty one books
already and you're on your thirty second one.

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And I asked you in our preliminary
conversation, I just had to ask

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how old you are, and you
told me you're twenty six years old.

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So the next thing I have to
ask you is where does all this motivation

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to produce what you're producing come from? I really I have no idea.

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It's just something within that keeps flowing, and once it flows, it just

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comes out in a form of writing. Even often cases when I read my

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own work, sometimes after some time
I have to put my own efforts as

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a reader to actually understand what I
really meant in those words. So I

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think there is something inside. I
have no clue what that could be.

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I can explain it in terms of
neuroscience, of course, but he's just

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in there. And I believe that
every single person have a certain kind of

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uniqueness within them, and that once
a person recognizes that, that could be

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brought into huge productivity and that can
make great progress for the person as well

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as a society. This is beautiful
because that's exactly what I wanted to do

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next. Here. Opposite is if
you can now given that we've now given

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the listeners a context of how productive
and prolific you are in the fact that

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you've gone through the j that you've
done, that you've gone through to get

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where you are as a neuroscientist.
Now, if you can help us understand

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what you're doing in this field,
the writing, the research shows up in

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terms of these various books and works
that you do. Layer that back or

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connect that back to neuroscience. What's
happening from the advantage point that you're producing

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as you are. So the really
what we are trying to understand here is

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how neuroscience is associated is connected to
daily living. In fact, that's exactly

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what I wanted to do in my
work, to present neuroscience to the world

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in a way that would actually help
them live better. I'm no glu and

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all that, so I don't tell
them how to live and all that,

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but I can give them some kind
of insight which I study myself and gather

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all the day from my research.
So, when we are talking about the

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human mind, what is the mind? That is the most interesting question here.

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There are tons of philosophers and spiritualists
would come with anti attitude and to

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all our sciences that we cannot actually
understand the mind the mind, something is

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just received by the brain. But
the factor remains fact, not a fiction.

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Factor remains that the brain creates the
mind. So which we call the

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mind is actually a collective expression of
various in fact, all the faculty,

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all the mental faculties together, So
those faculties together construct something which we call

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mind. So it's the kind of
illusion which we live in, actually,

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and when we try to understand every
single part of it, every single elements

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of it inside our own internal rammans
that our own mind, then we can

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actually start to have a real control
over our own thoughts, our own emotions,

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our own behaviors. And that's really
the most significant part of living better

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when we can understand ourselves, not
in a metaphorical or meta physical or mystical

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manner, but an actual, practical, empirical manner. Understanding ourselves in terms

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of understanding the brain biology substrate and
basically understanding the brain, understanding our own

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reactions to different emotional triggers in a
day, in a daily situation. Once

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we understand that, we can actually
practice and train our own mind how to

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react in a certain situation. Because
once we do actually react in a certain

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in a healthy manner, we would
see that it brings out much more benefit

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than in the other case, when
it would just go crazy because our emotions

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just made us go completely lose control. That is so by understanding ourselves,

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we can understand life better and give
our own lives true meaning, and that

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would also radiate a kind of joy
and cheer around us. I know some

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of that because of the work that
I do today in organizational transformation and performance

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breakthrough a jet. But if you
can help our listeners end me for that

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matter, how do we get access
to this understanding? How do we start

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to really begin to understand this?
In this case, we have to take

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a step by step manna, which
we let's just see give an example when

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we look at the difference between a
male and female brain. So when we

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are talking about a male and female
rain, that is in terms of even

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it's also significant in terms of relationships. That is, so it becomes pretty

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afferent to us neuroscientists, which may
not be so much easy to notice but

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the lay person. But it keeps
very much apparent to us that the female

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and male mind they are not exactly
similar. They feel differently, they think

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differently, they behave differently, yet
one expect the other to behave and think

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and feel in the exact same manner. But that's exactly what's not happening,

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because each of these two minds completely
function at least mostly function uniquely. For

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example, the female mind often access
various emotional networks of the brain to solve

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a kind of analytical problem, whereas, on the other hand, a male

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brain often uses most of the analytical
functioning of the brain to solve a certain

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situation. So in this case,
a male brain would be much less emotional

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or even would be unable neurologically unable
to notice the emotional significance of a certain

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situation. But on the other hand, a woman would be much easily.

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She can access that kind of information
emotional intelligence, we can call it that,

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what kind of emotional influence a certain
situation has, or not just herself

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but the people around in that situation. So then, of course, the

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next question I have to ask related
to that is, and let me give

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it some context here, I am
very, very interested in the concept of

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androgeny, and so I'm interested from
the vantage point especially as how people can

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develop over time, whereas men might
learn to become to have a greater access

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to their emotional intelligence and use that
in their relationships and work, and women

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might gain a greater access to being
more if you will analytical, however,

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you want to see you how you
said that before decisive? However, you

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might say that in order to approximate
more of the traditional or stereotypical male characteristics,

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and in so doing, it seems
to me that if both genders did

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that, they would each rise to
a higher level of maybe self actualization.

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I don't know what is your view
of that? Is it possible for us

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to learn that way? The difference
between us humans and most other animals is

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that we are highly plastic plastic as
an highly plastic in terms of our mental

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development, we can evolve to such
an extent that no other animal, nor

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other creature on this planet can.
We can develop capacities unimaginable by any other.

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So, yes, there are certain
stereotypical which we call actually archetypal characteristics

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and the male and female psychology.
It does not determine that the exact characteristic

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expressions of that person. If a
person truly desires to develop a certain kind

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of faculty in a certain in a
certain situation, then that person can through

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the process of neuroplasticity. So when
we are developing as a child, when

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we say that a baby's brain baby
is born, the the amount of neuron

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all the neurons are actually the same. The same quantity of neurons are.

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They're in a baby's brain as they
are in an adult brain, but they

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are not exactly connected to each other. That's what makes a difference. Until

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about two years of age, those
neurons get fully connected to each other.

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After that, the faculties, the
influence of the environment makes those Some of

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those connections grow stronger and some others
they just vanish from the brain. So

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this goes on not just in the
child brain, but this goes on throughout

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our lifetime. The specific skill that
we regardless of whether it is a male

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skill or a female skill, if
we practice a certain skill for a long

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enough, with enough passion and care, then our brain has the capacity to

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develop and STrenD them the connections required
to excel in that specific skill. So

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it is possible there is nothing completely
hard wired in the brain. Yes,

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there are certain instinctual characteristics which makes
us a man more likely to do something

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and a female a woman more likely
to do something else, but does not

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say that it is exactly going to
be that way. We have the plasticity

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that makes us capable of developing new
skills regardless of our agenda, our culture,

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our environment. Anything from that was
a delicious response, Thank you from

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a neuroscientific vantage point. Then a
visit I think about you know women that

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I've seen in the workplace who they
occur very much as you know, very

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strong, very decisive, and you
know they've people are afraid of them in

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many ways, right, and so
they have what would be associated with the

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stereotypical male stance. From a neuroscientific
vantage point, how do you explain that?

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Is that just genetic for them?
Did they learn that? Where do

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you suppose that came from? How
would you explain that phenomenon? Oftentimes,

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such a phenomenon is often a response, a kind of defense mechanism that grows

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in a woman through handling every single
month, the emotional storm that goes on

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in the female brain because of the
process which we commnstruation. So that is

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a hugely important phenomena mentional cycle,
and it gives us insight into understanding the

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female mind than any other phenomena,
and actually the chemical what how we perceive

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the world and how we behave everything
is actually determined by our internal state,

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and those states are influenced by our
internal chemical So, now imagine a female

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brain goes through this kind of storms
of different levels of chemicals, which,

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by the way, the male brain
does not experience to such an extent so

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many spikes, but the female brain
does. So over time, the female

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brain grows a kind of defense mechanism
to show a kind of strength that will

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just allow them to cope with the
internal storm that goes on inside them.

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So when they show that strength,
that begin to radiate in every single situation,

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including the workplace. So it does
not necessarily have to do with any

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kind of stereotypical behavior or genetic behavior. It's a kind of neurological capacity that

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grows in a woman as she starts
to deal with her own emotional strongs within.

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Wow, that is provocative. I
have never heard anything like that abviosually

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never, and we certainly, and
we certainly in the work that I do,

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we do talk about internal states and
we understand you quite a bit about

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how they manifest for us in our
everyday lives and our relationships and then understand

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that that's exactly what it is,
an internal state, not that that's who

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you are, it's your internal state. But this is the very first time

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I've ever heard anybody say anything like
that related to how a woman might show

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up and develop over time. Fascinating. So that's how we actually our internal

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state in fact determines who we are. But the point is, our internal

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state is not always stable or exactly
the same way always. It keeps evolving

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and every day, every single step
that we take in a kind of experience

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or wisdom or information that makes us
actually involved and somehow become a little bit

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of different person, evolved person than
we were a few seconds ago. I

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want to talk more about the internal
state, but let's take a quick break

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here. Avegite, I'm at Last
Corte as your host. Weve been on

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00:17:56.279 --> 00:18:00.240
the air with Aveagite Nascar, who
is a renowned neuros scientist, bestselling author

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00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.559
and speaker. He has several books
out and some of the more popular ones

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are called The Art of Neuroscience In
Everything and What Is Mind and Principia Humanitas.

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Stay with us. We'll be right
back after the break talking more about

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the internal state and how it actually
shows up for us. We'll be right

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back. It's your world. Motivates
Change, Succeed, Voice America Empowerment dot

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com. Alis Cortez is a speaker
and engagement and development catalyst. She designs

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and delivers professional development, leadership and
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to

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your organization. She will help ignite
meaningful development within your workforce that will increase

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employee engagement, performance and retention.
To learn more or to invite Elise to

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speak to your organization, please visit
her at www dot Elise Cortez dot com.

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She would welcome the opportunity to help
get your employees working on purpose.

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Purpose with Elise Cortez. To reach
our program today, please call in to

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to Elise A. L Se at
Elise Cortez dot com. Now back to

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Working on Purpose. Thanks for stating
with us, and welcome back to Working

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00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:00.960
on Purpose. If you're just joining, my guest is Avejite Nascar, who

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is a renowned neuroscientist, bestselling author
and speaker who has become a humanitarian sensation

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00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.920
all over the world with his vast
legacy of scientific and philosophical literature. He

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joins us today from Calcutta, India. So before the break, obviously we

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were talking about the internal state,
and I'd like to hear more about that.

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It's quite a fascinating thing, and
I think many of our listeners won't

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really quite be able to access this
just that because it might be a brand

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new concept for them. So to
say more about the internal state and how

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it does manifest in us. Basically, who we are is determined what our

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states within in that specific moment.
Oftentimes, in fact, all the time,

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all the conflicts in our both personal
and professional lives are often created because

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we want to fight our own internal
state. We want to some kind of

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thought or emotion comes up and we
want to say that this is not me,

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this is something else and telling us
to do something. But the problem

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that this is exactly a this is
exactly a part of us. We are

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a combination of all those states.
When we are angry at a certain moment,

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actually we are anger at that moment. We are the chemicals responding,

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and that's why we feel this emotion, this kind of illusion that we are

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actually feeling angry. But the point
is when we say that we are angry,

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that's the kind of memory that is
telling us we have been angry a

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few seconds ago. So at a
certain moment, we are the emotional or

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kind of cognitive response of our own
internal states, the response of our chemicals

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that goes on inside us. If
they are chemicals, happy hormones and dolphins

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don't mean then we say we are
happy. So those chemicals are there and

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they are creating this kind of illusion
in our mind that we are happy.

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When there are chemicals cordisolve, adrenaline, these are making us alert, which

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actually served a great purpose in the
wild to keep us alert and survive a

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kind of threat in front of predators. But today when they are they're inside

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us those levels of chemicals, and
we feel like we're angry. We are

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rachful, and at that moment,
so we are anger. So all those

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chemicals together make us who we are. They are not separate from us.

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Just moment to moment, those chemicals
just keep changing, and as they keep

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changing, we also keep changing our
personality. Often shifts and through everyday life

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as we go on go on,
through this kind of shift, we become

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a kind of evolved personality of our
own selves. So I want to be

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sure and get access to our listeners
to how they can apply this and use

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this in their own lives. And
so let's say, for example, my

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internal state includes feeling overwhelmed and out
of control and like I'm you know,

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I'm a a varying I'm in a
varying car heading down the freeway one hundred

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and fifty miles an hour, and
I have no way of being able to

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stop. How can I intervene in
those that internal state and get myself on

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a more healthy positive track else here, the thing that you're referring to,

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it requires the skill which we call
often self control, our self restraint.

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Which is the reaction or which is
the response the function of our brain frontal

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lodes, especially prefrontal coughtic, so
it is a kind of skill. The

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prefrontal cortext of our brain is actually
acting as the gateway to all of our

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emotions, both good and bad.
So when we have a healthier prefrontal cortex,

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we can have better control all our
emotions, both good and bad.

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So there are this kind of often
we experience a kind of extreme high that

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is extreme goodness, kind of jolly, and another times extreme s or extreme

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measuring. So what first step towards
that having self control is to actually at

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least try to recognize that whether a
kind of anger is really going to jeopardize

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in our jeopardize the kind of relationship
with our peers in the workplace or at

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home. And when we know that
we are angry, we have to take

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action. Tell the other person in
front, don't talk to me at this

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moment because I'm completely angry and I
say something that would just jeopardize our relationship.

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So the first step is to recognize
that when we are angry, when

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we are happy, and then we
can think that whether that will how that

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will actually influence with our on a
relationship that we have with another person.

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After that comes practicing the self control. Okay, okay, So one of

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the things that I've read in the
emotional intelligence literature is that the faster that

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we can give a name to our
emotions and we're quickly we can start to

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self regulate. What's your perspective on
that? I think that is completely nonsense.

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Here at least giving the name part. That is because often our brain

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is when we are exactly in that
situation, our brain is too confused to

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be honest, and we don't have
so much capacity in the first place to

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actually just give it a name or
term it, like we are kind of

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psychoanalyzing it in that situation. So
that is too much effort. If we

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had that effort, if we had
that capacity in the first place, we

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wouldn't be so much angry at that
moment or when we overwhelmed with that emotion.

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So the first step is that could
work for some people. So here

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we are saying that every single person
in terms of her his or her emotional

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realm, her internal stage, so
they are completely almost very much unique and

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something. Some methods or some tactics
that may work for one person may not

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work for another person. So it
really depends on that person. That's how

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is that person going to cope with
that situation, Whether naming a certain kind

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of emotion is really helping him or
her or it is too much effort.

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The easiest alternative would be simply to
recognize that and for that moment. For

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example, if a woman is going
through a kind of during that stage of

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PMS, the best way is to
first let her partner at home know that

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it's PMS, so that he knows
this goes on. So whatever she says

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is going to take it as the
response of that kind of emotional storm or

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chemical storm that goes on in fact
sort and that applies to every single situation

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of life. We simply need to
recognize it. Then the brain automatically develops

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the kind of tactics that is most
suitable for that person. Well, what

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if it's not really healthy? If
it could be suitable for that person,

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because if maybe their constitution but it
isn't really appropriate, it's not going to

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yield them good positive results. It
really when we are talking about appropriate,

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what we mean by appropriate because oftentimes
we also bring in all kinds of stereotypes.

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So yes, when we are actually
in a kind of in a certain

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situation, we while going to develop
a kind of tactic. That is,

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if that situation, say in a
kind of workplace, if that workplace is

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really important to us, then the
brain is going to find a way that

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is the power of the neurons,
it can connect to each other in a

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way that is suitable not just for
that person. When we're talking about a

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person, a person is not really
a person. A person is a combination

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of emotions and behaviors and thoughts of
that individual as well as as well as

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those are the people around them individual. So when a person is developing,

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the person's brain is developing tactics to
cope with the situation. It's not just

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going to be suitable for that person. Who's going to be suitable in that

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situation, because that's what the brain
is trying to do. M Okay,

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well, let's maybe move on to
if we can this might be related.

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Perhaps maybe you can, you can
give us the thread, but I'm interested

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in your perspective and what you know
about meditation and mindfulness. That is the

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best best way to actually develop the
self control we are talking about. Yea,

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when we are talking about meditation,
see how often we just bring in

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all kinds of again, tactics and
methods and this and that, which is

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just feeling that term with all kinds
is nonsense. And when we say nonsense,

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we are no way in condemning those
methods. They have their own influence

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in life. But let's just say
meditation is simply a kind of way a

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method that Actually, that does not
necessarily have to be a traditional method.

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It could be anybody's favorite method,
playing guitar or doing a painting or writing

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anything, not just about sitting and
breathing, so that that's not the only

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meditation. Meditation is what brings us
into the state of mindfulness, when we

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become most aware of our inner state, and that does not happen so easily.

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It takes time and over time,
as we keep on practicing a certain

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kind of meditation, that makes our
brain, especially the prefrontal cothics, the

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entire frontal lode in fact, healthier. And when we are our frontal lobes

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are healthier, we have better emotional
intelligence and comnence kills, our entire analytical

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departments in the mind just gets the
complete renovation. It looks like the way

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you said that average that was so
health Okay, So let's talk a little

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bit about some of those meditation practices. How Let's say that I'm brand new

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to meditation, and for the most
part I am. How would you what

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would you recommend as a means of
beginning to practice. I would recommend first,

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I would ask you that what is
the thing that you love to do?

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First of all, if a person
actually developed a profession out of his

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or her passion, then I really
doubt that that person is going to actually

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require a kind of meditation to develop
that kind of control over his or her

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internal status or awareness of that.
But when we're talking about meditation, we

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are really talking about a person has
a profession, and then this is person

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has all kinds of issues and confusions
and doubt and even stress and anxiety.

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So we need to get rid of
all that stress and anxiety. So that's

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why we are practicing meditation. So
the first thing that comes to mind,

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what is the thing that you love
to do. Do you love get or

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practicing guitar that is not just listening
something actively engaging in practicing guitar or doing

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00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:13.079
some painting or something else. Let's
just say another person comes in and say,

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hey, I just started practicing this
kind of a personal meditation. It's

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great. You know, it's just
giving me this kind of extreme neophobia and

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makes me better aware of my inner
states. Then another person says, well,

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probably it will work for me too, and then he starts practicing it

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00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:35.319
and after a few days it just
doesn't work from me. So this is

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really depends from person to person,
a person has to try out different things,

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00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:43.079
or at least first if that person
is aware that what he or she

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00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:47.920
really likes to doing and just practicing
that on a daily basis, on a

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00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:55.079
regular basis, and that makes them
develop a kind of neurological connections that actually

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gives them better grip over there internal
realm. It sounds to me when you

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00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:07.559
describe that up a sheet, that
what you're saying, and I'm asking for

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00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:13.160
clarification here, that you are able
to develop a certain delay to listen to

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yourself. That's exactly what we are
talking about, listening to ourselves without trying

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00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:23.400
to get rid of thoughts, without
trying to get rid of certain emotions.

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Because there's all the most of the
traditions are doing. They just want you

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to just keep silence your mind,
as if it's kind of magic. It's

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not magic. It doesn't happen like
that. You cannot get rid of your

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thoughts because you are your thoughts.
So it's a kind of swimming in the

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ocean or when you are there,
just like waves in the ocean, and

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00:33:45.319 --> 00:33:47.079
when you're swimming in it, you're
going to be in that waves. Then

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00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:51.039
you're just going to swim through the
waves. But when the ocean is calm,

401
00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:53.119
you're going to be calm in that
ocean as well. So likewise,

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when there are thoughts coming into the
brain and they are our spell, so

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we will be that thought, but
we are calm with them. So we

404
00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:07.159
developed the kind of awareness that makes
us calm. But it doesn't come so

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00:34:07.280 --> 00:34:12.920
easily. It just happens automatically.
Thoughts come and go. We just don't

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need to resist them or say no
to them. Just be aware of them.

407
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Okay, let's just come bring in
all the thoughts and emotions that come.

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00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:27.519
Just don't serve them. Tea.
That is it almost sounds like you're

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saying that if you're calm enough and
mindful enough and you can start to notice

410
00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:37.239
your thoughts, your feelings, your
emotions, that you could almost let them

411
00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:42.440
exist for you as almost I'm saying
the word almost independently. In other words,

412
00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:45.639
you can notice them and say,
oh, that's interesting, I'm feeling

413
00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:50.920
upset right now, I feel anxious
right now. That's interesting, and let

414
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:55.079
it be without it overtaking you.
Is that where you're headed with this right

415
00:34:55.199 --> 00:35:01.840
exactly? So just being aware of
them without judging them, without psychoanalyzing them.

416
00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.320
Just let them come as they come
and go, and just be aware

417
00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:09.960
of them and see them as we
are at this specific moment, M and

418
00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:15.199
that that I can see that that
would give power to well, I would

419
00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:17.800
well, it would give power to
the it seems like the individual it seems

420
00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:27.280
and maybe allow you allow you to
redirect where you want to where instead where

421
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.880
you want to go. When we
first try to actually be aware with our

422
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:36.000
own emotions and thoughts, that gives
them a kind of relief. First ourselves,

423
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:39.519
okay, we are we get acquainted
with our own emotional internal states,

424
00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:45.159
and that's really the first step to
get acquainted with all the thoughts and emotions

425
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:47.920
that comes within us, a rise
within us. And when we get acquainted

426
00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:52.159
with them, then afterwards the kind
of control that we're talking about, but

427
00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:57.320
that comes later on. Okay,
all right, great, well, thank

428
00:35:57.360 --> 00:36:00.159
you for that. That helped me
better understand a visit. It's time for

429
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:01.599
a short break. I'm Elise Cortez, your host. We've been in the

430
00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:06.840
air with Abeje Nascar, who is
a renowned neuroscientist, bestselling author and speaker

431
00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:09.559
who has become a humanitarian sensation all
over the world. With his vast legacy

432
00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:15.360
of scientific and philosophical literature. Some
of his popular books include the Art of

433
00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:19.679
Neuroscience and Everything and What Is Mind. We've been talking a bit about how

434
00:36:19.719 --> 00:36:22.800
meditation and mindfulness can be used in
her everyday lives and work. After the

435
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:25.800
break, we're going to talk about
some spiritual and religious practices in relation to

436
00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:40.920
his work. Stay with us,
we'll be right back. It's your world.

437
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:51.239
Motivate, change, succeed. Voice
America Empowerment dot com. Elise Cortez

438
00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:55.760
is a speaker and engagement and development
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

439
00:36:55.920 --> 00:37:00.400
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her ex ritis to your organization.

440
00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:06.679
She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

441
00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:09.760
performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite a lease to speak to

442
00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:15.199
your organization, please visit her at
www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She

443
00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:22.119
would welcome the opportunity to help get
your employees working on purpose. Many of

444
00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:24.960
us define our lives by what has
already happened. It's a past, tense

445
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.400
series of events. Do you long
for something else? You don't have to

446
00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:34.079
live solely in this reality. Tune
in or to Win Within with hosts Strom.

447
00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:37.199
Thomasin Strom and his guests are here
to introduce you to your true self.

448
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:42.000
It's time to emerge from your box
and take a beautiful journey of self

449
00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:45.840
love and discovery. You'll find yourself
exactly where you need to be to Win

450
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:51.239
Within. Airs live every Thursday of
four pm Eastern time one pm Pacific time

451
00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:57.400
on Voice America Empowerment. What makes
someone successful in their field? On Transformational

452
00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:02.199
Energy Leadership, Doctor Matthew Allen Wools
speaks to amazing guests who share their ideas,

453
00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:07.119
advice, tips and tricks as to
what defines success for them. The

454
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:13.159
result is positive transformation for you.
You'll learn that personal energy is the key

455
00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:15.719
to make it work, and you'll
hear through actual examples, how to bring

456
00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:21.760
that positive transformation to life. Listen
live every Friday at eleven am Eastern time,

457
00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:28.679
eightym Pacific time on Voice America Empowerment. Friend us on Facebook to keep

458
00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:40.639
up with what's empowering the world Voice
America Empowerment. This is working on Purpose

459
00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:45.880
with Elise Cortez. To reach our
program today, please call in to one

460
00:38:45.960 --> 00:38:51.119
triple eight three four six nine one
four one again that's one triple eight three

461
00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:54.599
four six nine one four one.
You may also send an email to Elise

462
00:38:55.000 --> 00:39:01.960
ali se at Elise Cortez dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose.

463
00:39:05.559 --> 00:39:07.559
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to Working on Purpose if you're

464
00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:12.800
just joining us. My guest is
Apagite Nascar, who is a renowned neuroscientist,

465
00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:15.400
bestselling author and speaker who has become
a humanitarian sensation all over the world

466
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:20.679
with his vast legacy of scientific and
philosophical literature. He joins us today from

467
00:39:20.679 --> 00:39:24.719
Calcutta, India. So before the
break, we were finishing up our conversation

468
00:39:24.760 --> 00:39:30.039
about meditation and mindfulness, and over
our break, while we were coming in,

469
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:31.239
I was asking you if there was
anything else you wanted to say,

470
00:39:31.320 --> 00:39:35.920
and of course you said, well, there's a natural next step thread to

471
00:39:36.119 --> 00:39:40.400
spiritual and religious practice, which is
this segment's topic. So help us understand

472
00:39:40.400 --> 00:39:47.199
the threat the thread is that it
reflects a kind of correlation or rather connection

473
00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:55.239
between meditation and spiritual or religious practices. Oftentimes, when we talk about mindfulness

474
00:39:55.280 --> 00:40:00.440
or meditation, we see it as
a kind of Eastern process, a kind

475
00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:07.000
of Eastern traditional philosophy. Now that
but the point is when we really go

476
00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:14.360
into the root of the word meditate, which simply means to be conscious of

477
00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:20.360
something, to think of something at
that specific moment, and that could also

478
00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:27.079
be a kind of religious or spiritual
practice. In fact, all those things

479
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:34.039
that we call prayers prayers are also
a form of meditation in the traditional Eastern

480
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:37.599
way. There are this kind of
a kind of point of objectivity that we

481
00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:44.039
bring in inside our mind, that
we put it something a kind of way

482
00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:50.800
use as chanting or process of breathing, and in case of prayers, that

483
00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:58.079
just gets replaced with our own personal
deity. It could be Christ anything else,

484
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:04.039
anybody else, but that kind of
point of objectivity that our mind constructs

485
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:10.599
to receive all the benefits from our
own neurons that create They grow stronger through

486
00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:16.000
those practices, and when they grow
stronger, we develop kind of self control.

487
00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:24.760
Also, our coping mechanism and daily
situations get stronger. That's so encouraging,

488
00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:31.079
And of course there's always the notion
of practice in anything, theon practice.

489
00:41:31.159 --> 00:41:36.199
Is there more we can do to
develop this process? The first thing

490
00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:39.880
is to be non judgmental, of
course, which means when we said and

491
00:41:40.440 --> 00:41:45.519
a few minutes ago that we need
to just see our own thoughts and emotions

492
00:41:45.559 --> 00:41:50.400
and all that and kind of just
being in the flow, being in the

493
00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:53.920
process, in a state of flow, not condemning them, not judging them.

494
00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:59.840
So the first step is just being
that flow and recognizing them. Because

495
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:06.159
when we try to conclude or condemn
a certain kind of emotion or thought within

496
00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:10.840
us that it's coming in and start
judging, judging our own internal corsol levels

497
00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:15.760
and adrenal levels so against us chemicals
they go up. That again puts the

498
00:42:15.840 --> 00:42:19.320
kind of negative impact on our brain. So that is the kind of impact

499
00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:22.159
that we are trying to ignore in
the first place, or get rid of

500
00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:24.519
in the first place, to get
rid of all the negativity. So in

501
00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:29.199
this case, what we're seeing,
really, all the negativities that we really

502
00:42:29.239 --> 00:42:32.599
experience in our life are actually the
creation of our own minds from too much

503
00:42:32.679 --> 00:42:37.960
conclusions, from too much judgment of
our own selves and of others. When

504
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:43.400
we just get rid of all that
judgment and conclusions and just see or listen

505
00:42:43.519 --> 00:42:47.880
to ourselves as well as to another
person without concluding, then we can really

506
00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:53.719
develop a real connection both with ourselves
and the people around us. So now

507
00:42:53.719 --> 00:42:59.360
we're getting interest for me very interestingly
philosophical. When you say that, then

508
00:42:59.400 --> 00:43:04.400
obviously comes to my mind, is
the real ability to experience peace and love

509
00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:08.000
for other people? Is that where
we're headed? That is? Really?

510
00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:16.480
Is there anything else? That's my
question? Because there isn't that the ultimate

511
00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:22.800
goal of humanity to find peace within
ourselves in whatever work we are in,

512
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:25.880
or whatever profession we are in,
our whatever relationship we are in. Because

513
00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:30.239
there is no peace, than what's
the point of it all? When there

514
00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:37.079
is peace, that again automatically influences
all our productivity, But that peace has

515
00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:43.000
to come from with them. When
we practice a kind of meditation or say

516
00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:46.599
prayer, which feel a kind of
peace, a kind of which we call

517
00:43:46.760 --> 00:43:52.960
divine peace, that coming down from
kind of higher realm. But again,

518
00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:57.719
that kingdom of heaven which we call
our it has been called for our traditions,

519
00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:01.039
that kingdom of heaven is actually within
us. So it's actually we are

520
00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:07.119
creating our own paradise, within our
own mind, and that paradise radiates all

521
00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:13.639
the peace that we can have as
well as the world can have. That

522
00:44:13.800 --> 00:44:21.039
is profound, so profound, I
wonder to what extent obviously obviously you've been

523
00:44:21.039 --> 00:44:24.320
you've been studying neuroscience and other related
fields for many, many years, and

524
00:44:24.360 --> 00:44:30.440
you write about it prolifically. I
am very interested, having myself visited and

525
00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:32.679
done some work in India, and
of course I live in the United States

526
00:44:32.679 --> 00:44:39.119
today, I am I think I'm
aware that there is quite a difference between

527
00:44:39.639 --> 00:44:44.119
the mindset that I encountered in India
and the mindset that I know that seems

528
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:49.280
to exist in the United States.
To what extent do you think your your

529
00:44:49.519 --> 00:44:54.320
interpretation and your work with a neuroscience
is influenced by your being in India.

530
00:44:54.559 --> 00:45:01.800
I don't think my environment has influenced
me in the kind of mindset except showing

531
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:09.760
me all the misery that humanity could
ever experience. Right, exactly, the

532
00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:16.519
stuff we do to ourselves is unbelievable. So help us give us a little

533
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:20.079
I like so much to do this
for my listeners. And by the way,

534
00:45:20.079 --> 00:45:22.679
we do have listeners from across the
entire globe, which is a privilege

535
00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:28.960
for me that I very much appreciate. Help us give them another level of

536
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:34.320
access here. Then how can they
begin to cultivate this these spiritual religious practices

537
00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:38.239
in themselves so that they can enjoy
more peace and love. The first thing

538
00:45:38.400 --> 00:45:42.679
I would like to suggest as a
friend and a brother, not as a

539
00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:50.119
guru or a feature, is that
stop judging yourself based on the standards created

540
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:55.360
by tradition. Often when we talk
about traditions, we take in all of

541
00:45:55.400 --> 00:46:00.199
the things that those traditions give us
our being into our culture as an they're

542
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:05.039
all productive, all progressive, But
actually the point is they're not talked.

543
00:46:05.679 --> 00:46:09.440
And if we are to evolve and
progress, really we have to be able

544
00:46:09.559 --> 00:46:15.559
to recognize what's good in ourselves,
what's good in our own traditions, our

545
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:21.920
own cultures all over the world,
is in every single culture, and recognizing

546
00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:24.000
the good ones as well as the
bad ones, and being able to say

547
00:46:24.079 --> 00:46:29.119
that this specific one is not working
for us, or it cannot be a

548
00:46:29.199 --> 00:46:34.840
part of a kind of civilized,
conscientious society. So first being aware of

549
00:46:34.880 --> 00:46:39.679
it and don't and then suddenly not
starting to just revolting against it in our

550
00:46:39.760 --> 00:46:44.840
violence, man, a violence is
not solved anything. The real revolution needs

551
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:47.960
to come from within. That is
being aware of all the goodness as well

552
00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:53.159
as the bad, then starting to
take real actions to strengthen that goodness,

553
00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:59.079
both within the traditions because and also
within ourselves. But when we actually start

554
00:46:59.159 --> 00:47:05.079
taking actions to strengthen the goodness and
all the positivelopment with ourselves, that automatically

555
00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:09.719
starts to reflect within our own environment, and when that goes on for long

556
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:15.239
enough, it becomes a kind of
tradition for the future generation. Okay,

557
00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:16.760
let's take it to the individual level
here for just a moment. I want

558
00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:22.440
to see if I've got this right
and I'm getting this into my being as

559
00:47:22.440 --> 00:47:27.039
you're talking about it. So for
me, I don't subscribe any particular faith.

560
00:47:27.280 --> 00:47:30.719
I consider myself to be a spiritual
person, but I don't attach myself

561
00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:34.239
to any faith. But there's a
part of the way that I intentionally walk

562
00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:38.519
through the day my life that informs
my sense of self and I think my

563
00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:45.000
spirituality and my sense of peace,
and that is that for me. Obviously,

564
00:47:45.320 --> 00:47:52.199
I look for ways that I can
recognize and honor people throughout the course

565
00:47:52.199 --> 00:47:55.559
of my day. So I will
oftentimes see someone when I'm in airport and

566
00:47:55.599 --> 00:48:00.920
I'm not able to resist saying you're
beful, you just look great today,

567
00:48:01.320 --> 00:48:07.400
And it's amazing to me how much
that takes the person back usually and it's

568
00:48:07.400 --> 00:48:09.079
a good thing for them. I'm
not saying it because I want anything from

569
00:48:09.119 --> 00:48:14.039
them. It's usually because I can't
help myself, but it does have in

570
00:48:14.159 --> 00:48:21.480
so expressing that it gives me something
bigger in return. Are we talking about

571
00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:25.159
the same thing at all? Yes? Correct, That is in fact the

572
00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:30.840
real religion or real spirituality that we
talk about, and that in fact is

573
00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:37.079
going to become the real, real
faculty for all over the world of the

574
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:42.920
future generation. Because even we can
hold on to a certain fate, or

575
00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:45.800
we can even say that we are
I'm a Hindu, I'm a Christian,

576
00:48:45.880 --> 00:48:49.760
I'm a Jew, I'm a Muslim, that is not the problem. The

577
00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:54.079
problem is really when we put a
certain label within on ourselves, we automatically,

578
00:48:54.639 --> 00:48:59.800
or is more likely that we start
to foster a kind of implicit bio

579
00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:05.920
against people from different labels. But
again, when we are actually not recognizing

580
00:49:05.960 --> 00:49:10.519
to any label and simply spiritual,
that is having the kind of conscience of

581
00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:17.320
recognizing of all the goodness of anything
positive that any religion, any practice,

582
00:49:17.400 --> 00:49:23.000
any method has to offer, and
just commanding them for all the positive that

583
00:49:23.079 --> 00:49:28.639
it has done or that person has
done. And that is really real spirituality,

584
00:49:28.719 --> 00:49:34.119
real religion, and that spirituality brings
in real peace and real productivity and

585
00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:37.360
to take it one step further.
Just again, I'm using myself as an

586
00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:42.320
example here. It occurs for me
when I'm in this when I walk in

587
00:49:42.360 --> 00:49:45.599
this space and I dance in this
space, that I become bigger, more

588
00:49:45.719 --> 00:49:51.000
richer, and fuller and feel like
I can start to access a higher level

589
00:49:51.119 --> 00:49:58.599
of consciousness when I live in those
states, that specific state that you're talking

590
00:49:58.639 --> 00:50:02.159
about, that is the state that
is the kingdom of heaven. Whether you

591
00:50:02.199 --> 00:50:06.880
are not judgmental of anybody, what
if you are not putting a label off

592
00:50:06.920 --> 00:50:10.599
anybody, or even a label on
our own selves or judging our own selves,

593
00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:15.559
that is true liberation, and that
is true freedom. M Well,

594
00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:19.599
I find that, and I frequently
live in this space. I mean,

595
00:50:19.599 --> 00:50:21.960
obviously there are some days when it
doesn't occur for me that way, it

596
00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:24.239
doesn't work for me that way.
But how how it occurs for me,

597
00:50:24.280 --> 00:50:28.840
It gives me a Joe of dvive. It gives me a gives me access

598
00:50:28.880 --> 00:50:32.360
to what feels to me from what
little I know of this pure joy,

599
00:50:32.599 --> 00:50:40.400
just a gratitude for for existence and
just it's joyous, yes, And that

600
00:50:40.639 --> 00:50:45.679
is in fact the real what we
call again in the beginning of the show

601
00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:51.599
the self Control. When we actually
begin to experience this kind of state,

602
00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:55.599
then we no longer will require to
talk about self control because we live in

603
00:50:55.599 --> 00:51:02.360
a state where we are aware of
all our inner states and all the elements

604
00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:07.559
that the society or the environment has
to offer. Because when we are not

605
00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:13.119
judging, we are not wasting our
brain potential on total nonsense. Then we

606
00:51:13.199 --> 00:51:16.239
can put our focus on the things
that really matter in our life, that

607
00:51:16.400 --> 00:51:23.000
is the individual life and the life
of our society. And in fact,

608
00:51:23.039 --> 00:51:27.400
one of the things that I'm fascinated
with obviously it is really how to help

609
00:51:27.559 --> 00:51:34.119
organizations create an environment, a culture, and a learning system so that the

610
00:51:34.199 --> 00:51:37.719
humans can better interact with the technology
they're working with in order to work at

611
00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:43.719
a higher state, to be able
to enjoy living and existing on a higher

612
00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:46.519
state, contributing at a higher state. So that's how I'm also connecting what

613
00:51:46.559 --> 00:51:53.039
you're saying here. Yes, when
we're talking about different organizations, So what

614
00:51:53.320 --> 00:52:00.559
our really organization organizations is the collective
expression of people in the viduals, and

615
00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:06.400
those individuals may come from different backgrounds. Those backgrounds do not matter. But

616
00:52:06.480 --> 00:52:12.000
when we simply start to see the
organization as a whole as a collective expression

617
00:52:12.360 --> 00:52:16.719
of all the people. Then we
can start to empower those individuals, and

618
00:52:16.760 --> 00:52:22.360
we empower and we empower those individuals
there are inner states. We are actually

619
00:52:22.400 --> 00:52:29.039
empowering the organization because otherwise the organization
doesn't exist without the people inside. So

620
00:52:29.119 --> 00:52:35.000
the organization is as good as the
people within it. Agreed. Agreed.

621
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:38.199
Well, we're almost out of time
here, Obviosly, I like to give

622
00:52:38.199 --> 00:52:43.079
my guests the last words before we
close the show, So in about a

623
00:52:43.079 --> 00:52:46.559
minute, what would you like to
leave our listeners with today? First step,

624
00:52:47.239 --> 00:52:52.239
stop judging, because the society tells
you to stop looking at yourself through

625
00:52:52.239 --> 00:52:59.280
the eyes and the glasses of the
society. From now on, recognize who

626
00:52:59.320 --> 00:53:01.880
you really are. Don't listen to
me, don't listen to anybody else,

627
00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:09.360
question everything, and simply see yourself. What a profound way to finish agit,

628
00:53:09.519 --> 00:53:14.159
And I really again want to thank
you for being on my show,

629
00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:17.320
for sharing, for sharing your experience, your wisdom, for being so accessible,

630
00:53:17.880 --> 00:53:22.239
and for being such a gift.
It occurs for me as we've gone

631
00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:27.599
through this conversation that I feel even
more at peace. I feel and at

632
00:53:27.599 --> 00:53:30.800
the same time that I've gotten to
another higher level of consciousness thanks to you

633
00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:36.079
being in my path. So I
thank you for that gift. It was

634
00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:42.039
a pleasure. It's pleasure talking to
you and just talking discussing on things that

635
00:53:42.159 --> 00:53:45.159
really matter in today's world, because
when we start to see those things and

636
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:50.440
talk about it, then only we
can build a better world, a real

637
00:53:50.519 --> 00:53:53.159
world, not an imaginative the real
world. That's an effort that I want

638
00:53:53.199 --> 00:53:58.039
to be part of. So if
you want to learn more about Abajit Nascar

639
00:53:58.199 --> 00:54:00.960
in his various works, you can
visit at a couple of places. You

640
00:54:00.960 --> 00:54:06.000
can go to one of his websites, which is nascar ism dot WordPress dot

641
00:54:06.039 --> 00:54:13.360
com. So that's nas K A
R I s M dot WordPress dot com.

642
00:54:13.400 --> 00:54:16.159
The other way that you can learn
about him and access his work easily

643
00:54:16.320 --> 00:54:21.320
is on Amazon dot com. He's
got most of his works books are sitting

644
00:54:21.320 --> 00:54:23.039
out there. I've got several of
my collection now. So I encourage you

645
00:54:23.119 --> 00:54:25.599
to do that and I will look
forward to being with you on the air

646
00:54:25.639 --> 00:54:30.039
next week. Will we have yet
another great and delicious conversation about working on

647
00:54:30.079 --> 00:54:38.079
purpose see an we Hope you've enjoyed
this week's program, be sure to tune

648
00:54:38.079 --> 00:54:43.960
into working On Purpose, featuring your
host Alis Cortez, Every Wednesday at six

649
00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:49.320
pm Eastern time freepm Pacific time on
the Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

650
00:54:49.599 --> 00:54:51.599
find your life's purpose at work.