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This afternoon I plan to catch the 2:45 screening at The Quad of Free the Mind, the documentary by Phie Ambo released last year that explores research into how the human brain affects the physical body, and the difference meditation may make.
From the publicity, a note from the director:
We are entering a new era – a renaissance where everything gets turned upside down. In all fields, science makes new discoveries that constantly change our world view and leave nothing the way we first assumed. Our knowledge expands and gets more complex. Constantly, new fundamental questions are raised about who we are as human beings. The more questions asked, the more obvious it is to me how many things we still don’t understand. I find that very inspiring!
Free the Mind is the second part of my trilogy on the fundamental human questions. The first film Mechanical Love (2007) was about robot science. Characteristic for both films is their location in the field where science meets reality and where scientists use dashes and question marks instead of dots. In Free The Mind the central questions are: What is a thought, and how does it create a manifestation in the body?
Can we make a physical change of the brain only by the power of thoughts? My personal reason for choosing this subject was sudden panic attacks a couple of years ago. It was a very physical experience, and I felt as if the record in my mind was stuck and that it took a physical effort to get the pick up back in the groove. I found that meditation could be the push I needed, and I became interested in understanding how it was linked. It made me want to open up the skull and look into the brain and see what was really happening during meditation.
Free the Mind is the result of that study. The film is not an answer, but the beginning of an ongoing debate on what is the human being.
Phie Ambo,
May 2012
Maybe I will see you there.
