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 Cortes. 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 Cortes. 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, joining
you from Dallas, Texas, which is

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

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

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

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think expands the conversation. I often
draw on the meeting of work research I've

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

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

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Nelson Motivation, and we were talking
about how the importance of recognizing employees and

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what that does for retention, engagement, and performance. Great conversation. The

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man has many books out there and
he is considered an authority on the topic.

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This week we have the player's pleasure
of being with Abujite Nascar, who

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

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a humanitarian sensation all over the world
with his vast legacy of scientific and philosophical

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literature. He has written thirty one
books on the human mind that cover a

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wide range of topics including religion,
relationship, parenting, education, discrimination,

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

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the actual field and of course how
it relates to the world of work and

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our relationships. Abujit comes to us
today via Skype from India. Abujit,

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welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank
you, Alice. It's a pleasure to

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be here. I am so happy
to know that we connected via LinkedIn.

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Believe there was I can't remember which
one of us reached out to who,

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but it was thanks to LinkedIn that
we know each other. Began a conversation

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and thought it would be really interesting
to have you come on the show and

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

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It shows up all over the media, But I got to confess,

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I don't know that I could really
accurately describe what is it? What is

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this neuroscience field all about. When
we talk about neuroscience, we often see

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it as a kind of technical field
that actually studies the nervous system that the

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basic perception, but actually it's much
wider than that. Basically, today neuroscience

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gives us insight into our own cells
to understand ourselves. So basically, we

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can understand the human mind by studying
the human brain. That is studying how

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the neurons in the brain and the
entire nervous system interact with each other,

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and that creates our entire perception of
the world and our entire internal realm,

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

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that through this field, which today
called neuroscience. That was just delicious.

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

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and then you started on a path
toward towards this field of neuroscience. And

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

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context, what made you decide to
depart from computer science to study neuroscience.

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

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in fact a lead from computer science
to hopelessness, to becoming a monk,

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and then becoming a scientist, that
is, coming into neuroscience through various fields

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of biology, and eventually I found
my calling into which we today call neuroscience.

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To be honest, much earlier I
wasn't even awan of the field which

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we call neuroscience. It was like
any other layperson. So I just knew

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the urem, that's it. But
then one day I saw on TV an

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episode on another scientist, Michael Persinger, and who happens to be a good

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friend of mine. Now, so
she is one of the pioneers in a

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field of you know, especially the
psychology of religiousness, and so his works

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influenced me to a great deal.
In fact, he is the one who

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actually lured me into science later on, and then I studied began studying psychology

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and neuroscience altogether. You strike me, obviously, and one of the reasons

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again I was drawn to you is
that you're really quite a I would prolific

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person. I mean in terms of
you've written thirty one books already and you're

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on your thirty second one. And
I asked you in our preliminary conversation,

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I just had to ask how old
you are, and you told me you're

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twenty six years old. So the
next thing I have to ask you is

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where does all this motivation to produce
what you're producing come from? I really

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I have no idea. It's just
something within that keeps flowing, and once

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it flows, it just comes out
in a form of writing. Even often

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cases when I read my own works, sometimes after some time I have to

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put my own efforts as a reader
to actually understand what I really meant in

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those words. So there is something
inside. I have no clue what that

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could be. I can explain it
in terms of neuroscience, of course,

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but it he's just in there.
And I believe that every single person have

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a certain kind of uniqueness within them, and that once a person recognizes that,

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that could be brought into huge productivity
and that can make great problems for

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the person as well as a society. This is beautiful because that's exactly what

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I wanted to do next here,
Abujita is if you can now given that

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we've now given the listeners a context
of how productive and prolific you are in

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the fact that you've gone through the
that you've done, that you've gone through

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to get where you are as a
neuroscientist. Now, if you can help

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us understand how what you're doing in
this field, the writing, the research

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shows up in terms of these various
books and works that you do. Help

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layer that back or connect that back
to neuroscience. What's happening from that advantage

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point that you're producing as you are. So the really what we are trying

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to understand here is how neuroscience is
associated or is connected to daily living.

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In fact, that's exactly what I
wanted to do in my work, to

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present neuroscience to the world in a
way that would actually help them live better.

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I'm no Golu and all that,
So I don't tell them how to

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live and all that, but I
can give them some kind of insight which

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I study myself and gather all the
day from my research. So, when

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we are talking about the human mind, what is the mind? That is

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the most interesting question here. There
are tons of philosophers and spiritualists would come

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just with a anti attitude and to
all our scientists that we cannot actually understand

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the mind. The mind, something
is just received by the brain. But

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the fact remains fact, not a
fiction. Fact remains that the brain creates

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the mind. So which we call
the mind is actually a collective expression of

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various in fact, all the faculties, all the mental faculties together, So

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those faculties together construct something which we
call mind. So it's the kind of

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illusion which we'll live in, actually, and when we try to understand every

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single part of it, every single
element of it inside our own internal ram

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iNTS that our own mind, then
we can actually start to have a real

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control over our own thoughts, our
own emotions, our own behaviors. And

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that's really the most significant part of
living better when we can understand ourselves,

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not in a metaphorical or meta physical
or mystical manners, but an actual practical,

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empirical manner, understanding ourselves in terms
of understanding the brain biology substrate,

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understand basically understanding the brain, understanding
our own reactions to different emotional triggers in

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a day, in a daily situation. Once we understand that we can actually

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practice and train our own mind how
to react in a certain situation, because

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once we do actually react in a
certain in a healthy manner, we would

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see that it brings out much more
benefit than in the other case when it

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would just go crazy because our emotions
just made us go completely lose control.

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That is, so by understanding ourselves, we can understand life better and give

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our own lives true meaning, and
that would also radiate a kind of joy

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and cheer around us. I know
some of that because of the work that

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I do today in organizational transformation and
performance Breakthrough ABJET. But if you can

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help our listeners and me for that
matter, how do we get access to

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this understanding? How do we start
to really begin to understand this? In

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this case, we have to take
a step by step manner, which let's

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just see give an example when we
look at the difference between a male and

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female brain. So when we are
talking about male and female brain, that

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is in terms of even it's also
significant in terms of relationship. That is,

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so it becomes pretty apparent to us
neuroscientists, which may not be so

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much easy to notice but the lay
person, but to keep very much apparent

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to us that the female and male
mind they are not exactly similar. They

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feel differently, to think differently,
they behave differently, Yet one expect the

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other to behave and think and feel
in the exact same manner. But that's

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exactly what's not happening, because each
of these two minds completely function at least

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mostly functions uniquely. For example,
the female mind often access various emotional networks

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of the brain to solve a kind
of analytical problem, whereas, on the

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other hand, a male brain often
uses most of the analytical functioning of the

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brain to solve a certain situation.
So in this case, a male brain

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would be much less emotional or even
would be unable neurologically unable to notice the

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emotional significance of a certain situation.
But on the other hand, a woman

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would be much easily. She can
access that kind of information emotional intelligence,

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we can call it that, what
kind of emotional influence a certain situation has,

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or not just herself but the people
around in that situation. So then,

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of course, the next question I
have to ask related to that is,

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and let me give it some context
here, I am very very interested

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in the concept of androgeny, and
so I'm interested from the vantage point especially

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as how people can develop over time, whereas men might learn to become to

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have a greater access to their emotional
intelligence and use that in their relationships and

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work, and women might gain a
greater access to being more. If you

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will analytical, however, you want
to see how you said that before decisive,

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However, you might say that in
order to approximate more of the traditional

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or stereotypical male characteristics, and in
so doing, it seems to me that

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if both genders did that, they
would each rise to a higher level of

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maybe self actualization. I don't know
what is your view of that? Is

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it possible for us to learn that
way? The difference between us humans and

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most other animals is that we are
highly plastic plastic as an highly plastic in

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terms of our mental development, we
can evolve to such an extent that no

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other animal, nor the creature on
this planet can. We can develop capacities

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unimaginable by any other. So,
yes, there are certain stereotypical we can

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which we call actually archetypal characteristics in
the male and female psychology. It does

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not determine that the exact characteristic expressions
of that person. If a person truly

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desires to develop a certain kind of
faculty in a in a certain situation,

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then that person can through the process
of neuroplasticity. When we are developing as

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a child. When we say that
a baby's brain a baby is born,

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the the amount of neuron all the
neurals are actually the same, the same

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quantity of neurons that they're in a
baby's brain as they are in an adult

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brain, but they are not exactly
connected to each other. That's what makes

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the difference. Until about two years
of age, those neurons get fully connected

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to each other. After that,
the faculties, the influence of the environment

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makes those Some of those connections grow
stronger and some others they just vanish from

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the brain. So this goes on
not just in the child brain, but

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this goes on throughout our lifetime.
The specific skill that we regardless of whether

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it is a male skill or a
female skill, if we practice a certain

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skill for long enough, with enough
passion and care, then our brain has

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the capacity to develop and strengthen the
connections required to excel in that specific skill.

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

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Yes, there are certain instinctual characteristics
which makes us a man more likely to

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do something and a female a woman
more likely to do something else, but

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does not say that it is exactly
going to be that way. We have

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the plasticity that makes us capable of
developing new skills regardless of our gender,

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

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you, from a neuroscientific vantage point. Then a visit I think about you

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

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you know, very strong, very
decisive, and you know they've people are

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afraid of them in many ways,
right, and so they have what would

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be associated with a stereotypical male stance. From a neuroscientific vantage point, how

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do you explain that? Is that
just genetic for them? Did they learn

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that? Where do you suppose that
came from? How would you explain that

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phenomenon? Oftentimes, such a phenomenon
is often a response the kind of defense

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mechanism that grows in a woman through
handling every single month, the emotional storm

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that goes on in the female brain
because of the process which we call menstruation.

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So that is a hugely important phenomena
mental cycle to it gives us insight

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into understanding the female mind. Than
any other phenomena. And actually the chemical

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what we person, how we perceive
the world, and how we behave everything

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is actually determined by our internal state, and those states are influenced by our

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internal chemicals. So now imagine a
female brain goes through this kind of storms

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of different levels of chemicals, which, by the way, the male brain

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does not experience to such an extent
so many spikes, but the female brain

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does. So over time, the
female brain grows a kind of defense mechanism

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to show a kind of strength that
will just allow them to cope with the

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internal storm that goes on inside them. So when they show that strength,

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that begin to radiate in every single
situation, including the workplace. So it

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does not necessarily have to do with
any kind of stereotypical behavior or genetic behavior.

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It heats a kind of neurological capacity
that grows in a woman as she

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starts to deal with her own emotional
storms within. Wow, that is provocative.

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I have never heard anything like that
avicually never, and we certainly,

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and we certainly in the work that
I do, we do talk about internal

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states and we understand, you know, quite a bit about how they manifest

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for us in our everyday lives and
our relationships and then understand that that's exactly

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

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it's your internal state. But this
is the very first time I've ever heard

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anybody say anything like that related to
how a woman might show up and develop

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over time. Fascinating. So that's
how we actually our internal state in fact

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determines who we are. But the
point is, our internal state is not

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always stable or exactly the same way
always. It keeps evolving and every day,

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every single step that we take in
a kind of experience or wisdom or

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information that makes us actually involved and
somehow become a little bit of different person,

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evolved person than we were a few
seconds ago. I want to talk

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more about the internal state, but
let's take a quick break here. Abujit,

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I'm Alice Cortez, your host.
We've been on the air with Abujete

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00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.839
Nascar, who is a renowned near
scientist, best selling author and speaker.

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He has several books out and some
of the more popular ones are called The

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00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:11.319
Art of Neuroscience In Everything and What
Is Mind? And Principia who munnet Us.

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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. Motivate, Change, Succeed. Voice America Empowerment

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00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:42.279
dot com. Alis Cortez is a
speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She

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

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

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

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

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

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Do you desire to have the happiest, healthiest, most abundant life possible,

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health and healing. Listen for Surviving
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powerless over your own life? Does
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four pm Eastern on Voice America Empowerment. Success starts here Voice America Empowerment dot

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Com. It's your world. This
is Working on Purpose with Elise Cortes.

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To reach our program today, please
call in to one triple eight three four

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send an email to Eleise A. L

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i Se at Elisecortes dot com.
Now back to Working on Purpose. Thanks

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00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.519
for staying with us, and welcome
back to Working on Purpose. If you're

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00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.279
just joining us, my guest is
Abajite Nascar, who is a renowned neuroscientist,

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best selling author and speaker who has
become a humanitarian sensation all over the

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world with his vast legacy of scientific
and philosophical literature. He joins us today

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from Calcutta, India. So before
the break, obviously we were talking about

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the internal state, and I'd like
to hear more about that. It's quite

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a fascinating thing and I think many
of our listeners won't really quite be able

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to access this just because it might
be a brand new concept for them,

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So to say more about the internal
state and how it does manifest in us.

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Basically, who we are is determined
what our states within in that specific

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moment. Oftentimes, in fact,
all the time. All the conflicts in

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our both personal and professional lives are
often created because we want to fight our

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own internal state. We want to
some kind of thought or emotion comes up

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and we want to say that this
is not me, this is something else

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and telling us to do something.
But the problem that this is exactly,

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this is exactly a part of us. We are a combination of all those

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states. When we are angry at
a certain moment, actually we are anger

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at that moment, we are the
chemicals responding, and that's why we feel

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this emotion, this kind of illusion
that we are actually feeling angry. But

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the point is when we say that
we are angry, that's the kind of

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memory that is telling us we have
been angry a few seconds becose, So

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at a certain moment, we are
the emotional or kind of cognitive response of

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our own internal stage, the response
of our chemicals that goes on inside us.

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If they are chemicals happy hormones and
dolphins dopamine, then we say we

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are happy. So those chemicals are
there and they are creating this kind of

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illusion in our mind that we are
happy. When there are chemicals cards of

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adrenaline, these are making us alert, which actually served a great purpose in

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the wild to keep us alert and
survive a kind of threat in front of

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predators. But today when they're there
inside us, those levels of chemicals and

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we feel like we're angry, we
are rageful and at that moment, so

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we are anger. So all those
chemicals together make us who we are.

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They are not separate from us.
Just moment to moment, those chemicals just

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keep changing, and as they keep
changing, we also keep changing our personality

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often shifts and through every day life. As we go on going through this

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kind of shift, we become a
kind of evolved personality of our own self.

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So I want to be sure and
you get access to our listeners to

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how they can apply this and use
this in their own lives. And so

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let's say, for example, my
internal state includes feeling overwhelmed and out of

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control and like I'm you know,
I'm a vering. I'm in a varying

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car heading down the freeway one hundred
and fifty miles an hour, and I

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have no way of being able to
stop. How can I intervene in those

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that internal state and get myself on
a more healthy, positive track else here

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the thing that you're referring to,
it requires the skill which we call often

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self control or self frustraint. Which
is the reaction or which is the response?

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The function of our brain frontal lobes
are especially prefrontal casting, so it

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is the kind of skill. The
prefrontal contex of our brain is actually acting

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as the gateway to all our emotions, both good and bad. So when

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we have a healthier prefrontal context,
we can have better control over our emotions,

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both good and bad. So there
are this kind of often we experience

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the kind of extreme high that is
extreme goodness, of kind of jolly and

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another times extreme sorrow, extreme measuring. So first step towards that having self

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control is to actually at least try
to recognize that whether a kind of anger

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is really going to jeopardize in our
jeopardize the kind of relationship with our peers

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in the workplace or at home.
And when we know that we are angry,

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we have to take action. Tell
the other person in front, don't

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talk to me at this moment because
I'm completely angry. Am I say something

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that would just jeopardize our relationship?
So the first step is to recognize that

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when we are angry, when we
are happy, and then we can think

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that whether that will how that will
actually influence with our on a relationship that

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we have with another person. After
that comes practicing the self control. Okay,

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okay. So one of the things
that I've read in the emotional intelligence

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literature is that the faster that we
can give a name to our emotions and

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where quickly we can we can start
to self regulate. What's your perspective on

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that? I think that is completely
nonsense. Here at least giving the name

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part. That is because often our
brain is when we are exactly in that

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situation, our brain is too confused
to be honest, and we don't have

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so much capacity in the first place
to actually just give it a name or

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term it. Like we are kind
of psychoanalyzing it in that situation, So

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that is too much effort. If
we had that effort, if we have

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that capacity in the first place,
we wouldn't be so much angry at that

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moment or when we are overwhelmed with
that emotion. So the first step is

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that could work for some people.
So here we are saying that every single

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person in terms of her his or
her emotional realm, her internal state,

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so they're completely almost very much unique
and something. Some methods or some tactics

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that may work for one person may
not work for another person. So it

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really depends on that person that how
is that person going to cope with that

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situation, Whether naming a certain kind
of emotion is really helping him or her

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or it is too much effort.
The easiest alternative would be simply to recognize

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that and for that moment. For
example, if a woman is going to

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a kind of during that stage of
PMS. The best way is to first

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let her partner at home know that
it he's PMS, so that he knows

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this goes on. So whatever she
says is going to take it as a

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response of that kind of emotional storm
or chemical storm that goes on insact and

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that applies to every single situation of
life. We simply need to recognize it.

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Then the brain automatically develops the kind
of tactics that is most suitable for

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that person. Well, what if
it's not really healthy. If it could

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be suitable for that person because of
maybe their constitution, but it isn't really

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appropriate, it's not going to yield
them good positive results. It really when

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we are talking about appropriate, what
we mean by appropriate because oftentimes we also

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bring in all kinds of stereotypes.
So yes, when we are actually in

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a certain situation, we are going
to develop a kind of tactic. That

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

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

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way that is the power of the
neurons, it can connect to each other

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in a way that is suitable not
just for that person. When we are

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talking about a person. A person
is not really a person. A person

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is a combination of emotions and behaviors
and thoughts of that individual as well as

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as well as those are the people
around them individual. So when a person

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is developing, the person's brain is
developing tactics to cope with the situation.

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It's not just going to be suitable
for that person is going to be suitable

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in that situation because that's what the
brain is trying to do. 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 a 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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base best way to actually develop the
self control we are talking about fument control.

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Yeah. Yeah, when we are
talking about meditation, see often we

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just bring in all kinds of again, tactics and methods and this and that,

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

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say nonsense, we have no way
in condemning those methods. They have their

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

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we a 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

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writing anything not just about sitting and
breathing. So that's not the only meditation.

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

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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 topics, the

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entire frontal lobe in fact, healthier. And when we are our frontal loves

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are healthier, we have better emotional
intelligence and cognal skills. Our entire analytical

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departments in the mind just gets a
complete renovation. I like the way you

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said that average. That was so
elf good. Okay, so let's talk

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

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brand new to meditation, and for
the most part I am. What would

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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 or

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her passion. Then I really doubt
that that person is going to actually require

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

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states or awareness of that. But
when we're talking about meditation, we are

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really talking about a person has a
profession, and then this person has all

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kinds of issues and confusions and doubts
and even stress and anxiety. So we

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need to get rid of all that
stress and anxiety. And so that's why

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

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

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

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00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:13.119
some painting or something else. Let's
just say another person comes in and say,

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00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:16.880
hey, I just started practicing kind
of a personal meditation. It's great,

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00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:21.759
you know, it's just giving me
this kind of extreme eophobia and makes

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me better aware of my interstates.
Then another person says, well, probably

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00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:30.440
it will work for me too,
and then he starts practicing it and after

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00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.400
a few days it just doesn't work
for me. This is really depends from

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00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:39.680
person to person. A person has
to try out different things or at least

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00:32:39.720 --> 00:32:44.119
first, if that person is aware
that what he or she's really likes to

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doing and just practicing that on a
daily basis, on a regular basis,

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00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:58.000
and that makes them develop a kind
of neurological connections that actually gives them better

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00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:05.400
grip over there internal realm. It
sounds to me when you describe that up

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00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:07.640
a sheep, that what you're saying, and I'm asking for clarification here,

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that you are able to develop a
certain ability to listen to yourself. That's

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exactly what we are talking about,
listening to ourselves without trying to get rid

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of thoughts, without trying to get
rid of certain emotions, because that's all

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the most of the traditions are doing. They just want you to just keep

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silence your mind, as if it's
kind of magic. It's not magic.

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It doesn't happen like that. You
cannot get rid of your thoughts because you

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are your thoughts. So it's a
kind of swimming in the ocean or when

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you're there, just like waves in
the ocean, and when you're swimming in

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00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:47.759
it, you're going to be in
that way. Then you're just going to

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swim through the waves. But when
the ocean is calm, You're going to

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be calm in that ocean as well. So likewise, when there are thoughts

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coming into the brain and they are
our cells, so we will be that

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thought, be a calm within.
So we developed this kind of awareness that

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00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:10.079
makes us come. But it doesn't
come so easily. It just happens automatically.

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Thoughts come and go. We just
don't need to resist them or say

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00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:19.840
no to them. Just be aware
of them. Okay, let's just come.

407
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.360
Let's just bring in all the thoughts
and emotions that come. Just don't

408
00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:28.920
serve them. Tee that It almost
sounds like you're saying that if you're calm

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00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:32.079
enough and mindful enough, and you
can start to notice your thoughts, your

410
00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:37.800
feelings, your emotions, that you
could almost let them exist for you as

411
00:34:38.039 --> 00:34:43.119
almost I'm saying the word almost independently. In other words, you can notice

412
00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:46.039
them and say, oh, that's
interesting, I'm feeling upset right now,

413
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:52.159
I feel anxious right now. That's
interesting, and let it be without it

414
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:57.159
overtaking you. Is that where you're
headed with this, right exactly? So

415
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:02.599
just being aware of them without judging
them, without psychoanalyzing them, just let

416
00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:07.119
them come as they come and go
and just be aware of them and see

417
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:12.280
them as we are at this specific
moment, and that that I can see

418
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:15.719
that that would give power to well, I would read, well, it

419
00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:22.960
would give power to the it seems
like the individual it seems and maybe allow

420
00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:27.559
you allow you to redirect where you
want to work instead where I want to

421
00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:31.119
go. Yes, when we first
try to actually be aware with our own

422
00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:35.840
emotions and thoughts, that gives them
a kind of relief. First ourselves,

423
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:39.920
Okay, we get acquainted with our
own emotional and internal station, and that's

424
00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:45.679
really the first step to get acquainted
with all the thoughts and emotions that comes

425
00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:49.360
within us, a rise within us. And when we get acquainted with them,

426
00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:52.840
then afterwards the kind of self control
that we are talking about. That

427
00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:57.159
but that comes later on. Okay, all right, great, well,

428
00:35:57.159 --> 00:36:00.159
thank you for that. That helped
me better understand Abosjit. It's time for

429
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:01.800
a short break. I'm Alice Cortez
your host. We've got in the air

430
00:36:01.800 --> 00:36:06.920
with Abujit Nascar, who is a
renowned neuroscientist, bestselling author, and speaker

431
00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:09.679
who has become a humanitarian sensation all
over the world with his vast legacy of

432
00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:15.079
scientific and philosophical literature. Some of
his popular books include the Art of Neuroscience

433
00:36:15.079 --> 00:36:20.360
and Everything and What Is Mind We've
been talking a bit about how meditation and

434
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:23.079
mindfulness can be used in our everyday
lives and work. After the break,

435
00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:27.280
we're going to talk about some spiritual
and religious practices in relation to his work.

436
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:42.800
Stay with us, we'll be right
back. It's your world. Motivate,

437
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:51.559
change, succeed. Voice America Empowerment
dot com. Alice Cortez is a

438
00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:57.480
speaker and engagement and development catalyst.
She designs and delivers professional development, leadership

439
00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:01.000
and engagement workshops and can bring her
expert ertis to your organization. She will

440
00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:07.599
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce
that will increase employee engagement, performance and

441
00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:10.679
retention. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

442
00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:16.760
please visit her at www dot Elisecortes
dot com. She would welcome the opportunity

443
00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:22.320
to help get your employees working on
purpose. Many of us define our lives

444
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.920
by what has already happened. It's
a past, tense series of events.

445
00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:30.519
Do you long for something else?
You don't have to live solely in this

446
00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:35.400
reality. Tune in for to win
within with hosts Drom, thomasin Strom and

447
00:37:35.440 --> 00:37:37.960
his guests are here to introduce you
to your true self. It's time to

448
00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:43.159
emerge from your box and take a
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449
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You'll find yourself exactly where you need
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450
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Thursday at four pm Eastern time one
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451
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:59.320
What makes someone successful in their field? On Transformational Energy Leadership, Doctor Matthew

452
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Allan Woolves speaks to amazing guests who
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453
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tricks as to what defines success for
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454
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you. You'll learn that personal energy
is the key to make it work,

455
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.920
and you'll hear through actual examples,
how to bring that positive transformation to life.

456
00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:22.320
Listen live every Friday at eleven am
Eastern time, eight a m.

457
00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:28.960
Pacific time on Voice America Empowerment.
Friend us on Facebook to keep up with

458
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:40.880
what's empowering the world. Voice America
Empowerment. This is working on Purpose with

459
00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.320
Elise Cortes. To reach our program
today, please call in to one triple

460
00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:51.159
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four one again that's one triple eight three

461
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four six nine one four one.
You may also send an email to Aleise

462
00:38:55.039 --> 00:39:05.880
ali Se at elisecortes dot com.
Now back to working on Purpose. Thanks

463
00:39:05.880 --> 00:39:07.719
for staying with us, and welcome
back to working on Purpose if you're just

464
00:39:07.800 --> 00:39:12.800
joining us. My guest is Abujet
Nascar, who is a renowned neuroscientist,

465
00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:15.440
best selling author and speaker who has
become a humanitarian sensation all over the world

466
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:20.719
with his vast legacy of scientific and
philosophical literature. He joined us today from

467
00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:24.079
Calcutta, India, So Abaje.
Before the break, we were finishing up

468
00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:29.760
our conversation about meditation and mindfulness,
and over our break, while we were

469
00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:31.000
coming in, I was asking you
if there was anything else you wanted to

470
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:35.400
say, and of course you said, well, there's a natural next step

471
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:39.679
thread to spiritual and religious prejudices,
which is this segment's topic. So help

472
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:45.960
us understand the thread. The thread
is that it reflects a kind of correlation,

473
00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:53.719
or rather a connection between meditation and
spiritual or religious practices. Oftentimes,

474
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:58.559
when we talk about mindfulness or meditation, we see it as a kind of

475
00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:04.239
Eastern process, a kind of easternal
traditional philosophy. All that, but the

476
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:09.519
point is when we really go into
the root of the word meditate, which

477
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:16.639
simply means to be conscious of something, to think of something at that specific

478
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:23.559
moment, and that could also be
a kind of religious or spiritual practice.

479
00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:30.199
In fact, all those things that
we call prayers prayers are also a form

480
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:36.840
of meditation in the traditional Eastern way. There are this a kind of point

481
00:40:36.840 --> 00:40:42.480
of objectivity that we bring in inside
our mind, that we put it something

482
00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:49.039
a kind of way you use as
chanting or process of breathing, and in

483
00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:54.880
case of prayers, that just gets
replaced with our own personal deity. It

484
00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:01.039
could be Christ anything else, anybody
else, that kind of point of objectivity

485
00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:08.599
that our mind constructs to receive all
the benefits from our own neurons that create

486
00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:15.519
they grow stronger through those practices,
and when they grow stronger, we develop

487
00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:22.760
kind of self control. Also,
our coping mechanism in daily situations gets stronger.

488
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:30.239
H that's so encouraging, And of
course there's always the notion of practice

489
00:41:30.239 --> 00:41:34.519
in anything beyond practice, is there
more we can do to develop this process?

490
00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:38.679
The first thing is to be non
judgmental, of course, which means

491
00:41:38.679 --> 00:41:44.199
when we said in a few minutes
ago that we need to just see our

492
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:49.880
own thoughts and emotions and all that
and kind of just being in the flow,

493
00:41:49.960 --> 00:41:52.639
being in the process, in a
state of flow, not condemning them,

494
00:41:52.679 --> 00:41:58.039
not judging them. So the first
step is just being that flow and

495
00:41:58.119 --> 00:42:04.559
recognizing them. Because when we try
to conclude or condemn a certain kind of

496
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:09.480
emotion or thought within us that is
coming and start judging, judging our own

497
00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:14.559
internal causual levels and adrenaline level so
that against stress chemicals they go up.

498
00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:17.320
That again puts the kind of negative
impact on our brains. So that is

499
00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:21.400
the kind of impact that we are
trying to ignore in the first place,

500
00:42:21.519 --> 00:42:23.360
or get rid of in the first
place, to get rid of all the

501
00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:27.440
negativity. So in this case,
what we're seeing, really, all the

502
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:31.039
negativities that we really experience in our
life are actually the creation of our own

503
00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:36.639
mind from too much conclusions, from
too much judgment of our own selves and

504
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.880
of others. When we just get
rid of all of all that judgment and

505
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:45.639
conclusions and just see or listen to
ourselves as well as to another person without

506
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:52.159
concluding, then we can really develop
a real connection both with ourselves and the

507
00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:58.400
people around us. So now we're
getting for me very interestingly philosophical. When

508
00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:01.519
you say that, then obviously what
comes to my mind is the real ability

509
00:43:01.559 --> 00:43:07.199
to experience peace and love for other
people. Is that where we're headed?

510
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:12.840
That is? Really? Is there
anything else? That's my question? Because

511
00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:21.360
there isn't that the ultimate goal of
humanity to find peace within ourselves in whatever

512
00:43:22.039 --> 00:43:25.079
work we are in, or whatever
profession we are in, or whatever relationship

513
00:43:25.320 --> 00:43:29.239
we are in. Because there is
no peace, then what's the point of

514
00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:36.679
it all? When there is peace, that again automatically influences all our productivity.

515
00:43:37.039 --> 00:43:40.880
But that piece that's to come from
within when we practice a kind of

516
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:45.960
meditation or say prayer, which feel
a kind of piece, a kind of

517
00:43:45.960 --> 00:43:52.480
which we call divine piece that coming
down from kind of higher realm. But

518
00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:57.000
again, that kingdom of heaven which
we call our it has been called through

519
00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:00.400
our traditions, that kingdom of heaven
is actually within us. So it's actually

520
00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:07.199
we are creating our own paradise,
within our own mind, and that paradise

521
00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:12.239
radiates all the peace that we can
have as well as the world can have.

522
00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:19.800
That is profound, so profound,
I wonder to what extent. Obviously,

523
00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:24.199
obviously you've been studying neuroscience and other
related fields for many, many years,

524
00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:29.880
and you write about it prolifically.
I am very interested, having myself

525
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:32.079
visited and done some work in India, and of course I live in the

526
00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:38.159
United States today, I am I
think I'm aware that there is quite a

527
00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:43.719
difference between the mindset that I encountered
in India and the mindset that I know

528
00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:46.320
that seems to exist here in the
United States. To what extent do you

529
00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:53.320
think your interpretation and your work within
neuroscience is influenced by your being in India?

530
00:44:54.599 --> 00:45:01.119
I don't think my environment has influenced
me in the kind of mindset accept

531
00:45:01.480 --> 00:45:09.679
showing me all the misery that humanity
could ever experience, right, exactly,

532
00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:16.239
the stuff we do to ourselves is
unbelievable. So help us give us a

533
00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:19.880
little I'd like so much to do
this for my listeners. And by the

534
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:22.159
way, we do have listeners from
across the entire globe, which is a

535
00:45:22.199 --> 00:45:28.880
privilege for me that I very much
appreciate. Help us give them another level

536
00:45:28.920 --> 00:45:32.840
of access here. Then, how
can they begin to cultivate these spiritual religious

537
00:45:32.840 --> 00:45:38.039
practices in themselves so that they can
enjoy more peace and love. The first

538
00:45:38.039 --> 00:45:42.639
thing I would like to suggest as
a friend and a brother, not as

539
00:45:42.679 --> 00:45:49.440
a guru or a treasure. Is
that stop judging yourself based on the standards

540
00:45:49.599 --> 00:45:54.679
created by traditions. Also, when
we talk about traditions, we take in

541
00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:59.840
all of the things that those traditions
give us our bring into our culture as

542
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.559
they are all productive, all progressive. But actually the point is they're not.

543
00:46:05.719 --> 00:46:08.920
And if we are to evolve and
progress, really we have to be

544
00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:15.400
able to recognize what's good in ourselves, what's good in our own traditions,

545
00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:21.119
our own cultures all over the world, is in every single culture, and

546
00:46:21.199 --> 00:46:23.719
recognizing the good ones as well as
the bad ones, and being able to

547
00:46:23.760 --> 00:46:29.159
say 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 --> 00:46:40.119
it and then suddenly not starting to
just revolting against it in a violence.

550
00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:45.280
Man, a violence is not solved
anything. The real revolution needs to come

551
00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:49.159
from within. That is, being
aware of all the goodness as well as

552
00:46:49.159 --> 00:46:53.440
the bad, then starting to take
real actions to strengthen that goodness, both

553
00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:59.480
within the traditions because and also within
ourselves. But when we actually start taking

554
00:46:59.480 --> 00:47:05.559
actions to strengthen the goodness and all
the positivelopments with ourselves that automatically starts to

555
00:47:05.639 --> 00:47:10.119
reflect within our own environment, and
when that goes on for long enough,

556
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:15.719
it becomes a kind of tradition for
the future generation. Okay, let's take

557
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:17.039
it to the individual level here for
just a moment. I want to see

558
00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:22.639
if I've got this right or if
I'm getting this into my being as you're

559
00:47:22.679 --> 00:47:27.039
talking about it. So for me, I don't subscribe to any particular faith.

560
00:47:27.320 --> 00:47:30.760
I consider myself to be a spiritual
person, but I don't attach myself

561
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:34.320
to any faith. But there's a
part of the way that I intentionally walk

562
00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:38.559
through the day my life that informs
my sense of self and I think my

563
00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:45.119
spirituality and my sense of peace,
and that is that for me abishly,

564
00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:52.280
I look for ways that I can
recognize and honor people throughout the course of

565
00:47:52.320 --> 00:47:57.719
my day. So I will oftentimes
see someone when I'm in the airport and

566
00:47:55.639 --> 00:48:00.639
I'm not able to resist saying,
utiful, you just look great today,

567
00:48:01.400 --> 00:48:06.320
and it's amazing to me how much
that takes the person back. Usually and

568
00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:08.920
it's a good thing for them.
I'm not saying it because I want anything

569
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:13.840
from them. It's usually because I
can't help myself, but it does have

570
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:21.239
in so expressing that it gives me
something bigger in return. Are we talking

571
00:48:21.280 --> 00:48:25.079
about the same thing at all?
Yes? Correct, that is in fact

572
00:48:25.159 --> 00:48:30.719
the real religion or real spirituality that
we talk about, and that in fact

573
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:37.519
is going to become the real faculty
for all over the world of the future

574
00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:43.119
generation. Because even we can hold
on to a certain faith, or we

575
00:48:43.159 --> 00:48:46.079
can even say that we are I'm
a Hindu, I'm a Christian, I'm

576
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:50.320
a Jew, I'm a Muslim,
that is not the problem. The problem

577
00:48:50.440 --> 00:48:54.119
is really when we put a certain
label within it on ourselves, we automatically

578
00:48:54.679 --> 00:49:00.400
or it is more likely that we
start to foster a kind of implicit bias

579
00:49:00.440 --> 00:49:05.960
against people from different labels. But
again, when we are actually not recognizing

580
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:10.599
to any label and simply spiritual,
that is having the kind of conscience of

581
00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:17.400
recognizing of all the goodness of anything
positive that any religion, any practice,

582
00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:23.000
any method has to offer, and
just commanding them for all the positive that

583
00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:28.679
it has done or that person has
done. And that is really real spirituality,

584
00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:32.239
real religion, and that spirituality brings
in real peace and real productivity.

585
00:49:34.079 --> 00:49:37.199
And to take it one step further, just again, I'm using myself as

586
00:49:37.239 --> 00:49:40.360
an example here. It occurs for
me when I'm in this when I want,

587
00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:44.920
when I walk in this space and
I dance in this space, that

588
00:49:45.199 --> 00:49:49.639
I become bigger, more richer,
and fuller and feel like I can start

589
00:49:49.679 --> 00:49:55.559
to access a higher level of consciousness
when I when I live in those states,

590
00:49:55.239 --> 00:50:00.440
that specific state that you're talking about, that is the state that is

591
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:05.320
the kingdom of heaven. Whether you
are not judgmental of anybody, whether you

592
00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:08.880
are not putting a label off anybody
or even a label on our own self

593
00:50:09.079 --> 00:50:14.079
or judging our own self, that
is true liberation, and that is true

594
00:50:14.119 --> 00:50:19.360
freedom. Well, I find that, and I frequently live in this space.

595
00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:21.639
I mean, obviously there are some
days when it doesn't occur for me

596
00:50:21.679 --> 00:50:24.079
that way, it doesn't work for
me that way. But how it occurs

597
00:50:24.079 --> 00:50:28.880
to me, it gives me.
It gives me a It gives me access

598
00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:32.400
to what feels to me from what
little I know of this pure joy,

599
00:50:32.719 --> 00:50:40.320
just a gratitude for existence and just
it's 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
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:55.480
then we no longer will require to
talk about self control because we live

603
00:50:55.519 --> 00:51:01.639
in a state where we are aware
of all our inner states and all the

604
00:51:01.840 --> 00:51:07.519
elements that society or the environment has
to offer. Because when we are not

605
00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:13.159
judging, we are not wasting our
brain potential on total nonsense. Then we

606
00:51:13.199 --> 00:51:16.280
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
00:51:23.079 --> 00:51:28.440
one of the things that I'm fascinated
with abshiet is really how to help organizations

609
00:51:29.280 --> 00:51:34.679
create an environment, a culture,
in a learning system so that the humans

610
00:51:34.719 --> 00:51:37.760
can better interact with the technology they're
working with in order to work at a

611
00:51:37.880 --> 00:51:43.960
higher state, to be able to
enjoy living and existing on a higher state,

612
00:51:44.039 --> 00:51:46.760
contributing at a higher state. So
that's how I'm also connecting what you're

613
00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:53.519
saying here. Yes, when we're
talking about different organizations, so what are

614
00:51:53.639 --> 00:52:00.920
really organizations Organizations is the collective expression
of people viduals, and those individuals may

615
00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:07.400
come from different backgrounds. Those backgrounds
do not matter. But when we simply

616
00:52:07.440 --> 00:52:12.880
start to see the organization as a
whole, as a connective expression of all

617
00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:17.400
the people, then we can start
to empower those individuals, and we empower

618
00:52:17.440 --> 00:52:22.719
and we empower those individuals their inner
states. We are actually empowering the organization

619
00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:30.599
because otherwise the organization doesn't exist without
the people inside. So the organization is

620
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:36.480
as good as the people within it. Agreed. Agreed. Well, we're

621
00:52:36.519 --> 00:52:38.719
almost out of time here, Abishi, I like to give my guests the

622
00:52:38.800 --> 00:52:43.519
last words before we close the show, So in about a minute, what

623
00:52:43.559 --> 00:52:49.079
would you like to leave our listeners
with today? First step, stop judging,

624
00:52:49.239 --> 00:52:52.920
because the society tells you to stop
looking at yourself through the eyes and

625
00:52:53.000 --> 00:53:00.000
the glasses of the society. From
now on, recognize who you really are.

626
00:53:00.280 --> 00:53:04.400
Don't listen to me, don't listen
to anybody else, question everything,

627
00:53:04.559 --> 00:53:09.920
and simply see yourself. What a
profound way to finish. Abusheit and I

628
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.719
really again want to thank you for
being on my show, for sharing,

629
00:53:15.119 --> 00:53:19.159
for sharing your experience, your wisdom, for being so accessible, and for

630
00:53:19.239 --> 00:53:23.280
being such a gift. It occurs
for me as we've gone through this conversation

631
00:53:23.440 --> 00:53:28.199
that I feel even more at peace. I feel and at the same time

632
00:53:28.239 --> 00:53:32.039
that I've gotten to another higher level
of consciousness thanks to you being in my

633
00:53:32.119 --> 00:53:36.599
path. So I thank you for
that gift. It was a pleasure.

634
00:53:36.599 --> 00:53:42.840
Ali's a pleasure talking to you and
just talking discussing on things that really match

635
00:53:42.920 --> 00:53:45.880
in today's world, because when we
start to see those things and talk about

636
00:53:45.920 --> 00:53:50.800
it, then only we can build
a better world, A real world,

637
00:53:50.800 --> 00:53:53.280
not an imaginator, a real world. That's an effort that I want to

638
00:53:53.320 --> 00:53:58.280
be part of. So if you
want to learn more about Abijit Nascar in

639
00:53:58.440 --> 00:54:00.320
his various works, you can visit
at a couple places. You can go

640
00:54:00.360 --> 00:54:06.519
to one of his websites, which
is nascarism dot WordPress dot com. So

641
00:54:06.599 --> 00:54:13.119
that's n A s K A r
I s M dot WordPress dot com.

642
00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:16.400
The other way that you can learn
about him and access his work easily is

643
00:54:16.440 --> 00:54:21.639
on Amazon dot com. He's got
most of his books are sitting out there.

644
00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:23.360
I've got several of my collection now, So I encourage you to do

645
00:54:23.400 --> 00:54:25.840
that and I will look forward to
being with you in the air. Next

646
00:54:25.840 --> 00:54:30.519
week we'll we have yet another great
and delicious conversation about Working on Purpose.

647
00:54:30.639 --> 00:54:38.079
Ce N. We hope you've enjoyed
this week's program. Be sure to tune

648
00:54:38.119 --> 00:54:44.320
into Working on Purpose featuring your host
Elis Cortes, every Wednesday at six pm

649
00:54:44.360 --> 00:54:49.400
Eastern time three pm Pacific time on
the Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

650
00:54:49.599 --> 00:55:00.239
find your life's purpose at work UM