There are times when one just feels imprisoned. It happened to me late last year during a health scare. I had to get an MRI done. It was all good eventually, except for the process of the MRI. This one was for the brain—I had to wear a tight, helmet-like attachment that, to me, felt like an entrapment. For someone who is claustrophobic like me, this can be a scary experience. You are told not to move your hands or legs, and the MRI head coil is literally an inch from your face. Then, they roll you into the MRI machine, which has a bore diameter of about 24 inches. 

I went into this scan with a lot of trepidation and even jumped at the opportunity to have an attendant stand next to me during the scan. The scan lasts only 10 to 15 minutes, so why the fear, you may ask. It doesn’t sound logical—I get it, but when the amygdala comes into action, logic seems to quickly go out of the window.

I remained nervous as the first few minutes passed. I wanted to break my anxiety loop and started to realize that nothing was really wrong, other than the fears in my head. I was then reminded of the story of Wŏnhyo, a Korean Buddhist monk who attained enlightenment after an incident that occurred in the jungle. The story goes as follows:

About 1,500 years ago, while traveling with a companion to study Buddhism in China, Wŏnhyo was forced to seek shelter in a cave in a jungle during a stormy night. Thirsty in the dark, he fumbled around and found a bowl filled with water and drank it, finding it cool and refreshing. Satisfied, he went back to sleep. The next morning, to his horror, he discovered the cave was an old tomb, and the “bowl” he had drunk from was a human skull containing brackish rainwater. 

Repulsed by how the tomb and the water looked, he threw up almost immediately. But then he had a startling realization: the same water that had seemed clean and satisfying the previous night was now repulsive because it was found inside a skull and looked dirty. He realized that it was his mind, not the water itself, that determined the difference between truth and reality.

This epiphany led Wŏnhyo to understand that reality is shaped by the mind. He attained enlightenment, abandoned his plan to study in China, and returned to Korea. 

Wŏnhyo’s story illustrates the transformative power of the human mind and serves as an example of how our mind creates its own stories, leading us to either bliss or despair. 

As several minutes passed and I wasn’t out of the MRI machine as quickly as the technician had originally promised, I decided to use the insight to refocus my mind. Instead of going back into the anxiety loop, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and tried to dream up some pleasurable experiences. I focused my mind on daydreaming, instead of thinking about the current reality. And in a minute I was oblivious to the present and immersed in the pleasurable alternate reality, which I stayed in for several more minutes until the lights were back on and I was wheeled out of the machine.

In addition to the MRI results showing I had nothing to fear, I came back with clarity on how the same mind that causes fear and anxiety can be refocused on an imagined context to allow us to feel more safe and relaxed when we face such short term sources of anxiety. This may sound like fooling ourselves, but in reality, as the Greek philosopher Epictetus says, “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.” To reframe that view is a legitimate way of dealing with the pain without the suffering.

As we enter this new year, one way to find the courage to face both the good and the less-than-good things it has to offer is to know that you always have the power to reframe your situation, find comfort, and reduce your suffering, since fear and suffering mostly live inside our heads. Hopefully now you can check out any time you like even if you can never leave!

Recommended Reads

Two articles I found interesting: 

• Many of us grew up avoiding cholesterol in food out of fear that it leads to clogged arteries, but research is disputing this linkage. This article explores the complexity of atherosclerosis, challenging the simplistic view that dietary cholesterol is the primary cause of clogged arteries. Atherosclerosis, where fatty plaque builds up in the arteries, is a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes. While early studies linked atherosclerosis to high cholesterol, recent research shows that dietary cholesterol has minimal impact on blood LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels for most people. The body naturally regulates cholesterol absorption and production.
• In this BBC article, the author, Melissa Hogenboom, investigates how simple lifestyle changes, specifically mindfulness, can impact brain health by undergoing a six-week course designed to promote neuroplasticity. With the help of neuroscientist Thorsten Barnhofer, she practices mindfulness to improve focus and reduce stress. Her fMRI scans before and after the course reveal slight but measurable alterations, including a reduction in the size of her amygdala, linked to stress, and an increase in the cingulate cortex, associated with emotional control. This experiment highlights the potential of mindfulness to enhance cognitive function and promote mental well-being.

If you have time for longer reads:

Seeing What Others Don’t by Gary Klein

Gary Klein’s Seeing What Others Don’t delves into the cognitive mechanisms that lead to creative breakthroughs and insights, offering an in-depth look at the psychology behind “aha” moments. Klein, a renowned expert in decision-making and cognitive psychology, argues that insights are not random flashes of genius but rather the product of specific cognitive processes that can be understood and cultivated. He draws from real-world examples, ranging from battlefield decisions to medical diagnoses, to illustrate how experts use intuition and experience to make sense of complex situations.

South vs North: India’s Great Divide by Nilakantan RS

I am a highly biased South Indian and I have always felt the South has been outperforming the North. But data scientist Nilakantan RS’s South vs North: India’s Great Divide offers a thought-provoking analysis of the socio-political, cultural, and economic divides that separate India’s northern and southern regions. Through a comparative lens, Nilakantan explores the long-standing contrasts between these two regions, focusing on their differing political landscapes, development trajectories, and social structures. The book is an engaging read for anyone interested in understanding the nuances of India’s regional divides.

Do write in at gv@peakxv.com if my interests intersect with yours! Click here to read more articles on Peak XV’s blog. For more editions of Connecting the Dots, click here. I’m also on LinkedIn and Twitter.