Fear, In Evolution, Has A Special Prominence:

As A Freshman In College, I Was Having A Lot Of Trouble Adjusting. I Took A Meditation Class To Handle Anxiety. It Really Helped. Then As A Grad Student At Harvard, I Was Awarded A Pre-doctoral Traveling Fellowship To India, Where My Focus Was On The Ancient Systems Of Psychology And Meditation Practices Of Asia.

There Are A Host Of Surprises Among Longer-term Meditators, Like A Boost In The Immune System From A Day Of Practice, Which Is Not Seen In Beginners, And A Rapid Recovery From Stress Or Pain. At The "olympic Level" We Find There Is No Anticipatory Anxiety When The Stress Of Pain Is Certain To Come, And No Lingering Aftereffects - Unlike The Stress Reactions In Ordinary Folk.

Feelings Are Self-justifying, With A Set Of Perceptions And "proofs" All Their Own.

True Compassion Means Not Only Feeling Another's Pain But Also Being Moved To Help Relieve It.

The Human Brain Is By No Means Fully Formed At Birth. It Continues To Shape Itself Through Life, With The Most Intense Growth Occurring During Childhood.