Page 42 - Spring2013

Investigators the situation. If our mental states are too brittle, of consciousness needs enough flexibility that

have however, we may act violently without warning, we are able to manipulate it as each thought ap-
giving neither ourselves nor those around us any proaches, choosing either to let it pass through or
estimated opportunity to recognize what is happening and to hold on to it. This net also needs enough stabil-
that up to intervene. Alternatively, too much methylation ity, however, to hold onto beneficial thoughts for

73 percent of could make our minds like a bowl of liquid clay: as long as they are needed. Without flexibility,
easy to make a mess with, but difficult to shape we hold onto everything that comes our way
vegetarians into something beautiful or useful. indiscriminately. Without stability, we cannot
and 90 In the second analogy, we could consider our hold onto anything at all. With a proper balance,
percent of consciousness like a net through which thousands we become masters of our thoughts rather than
of thoughts fly every day. These thoughts could their captives.
vegans are be about basic biological drives and needs like Evidence from genetic studies supports the

deficient in food, sex, and sleep; they could be about the role of methylation in maintaining this balance.
vitamin B . multitude of things we need to get done; or they Some of us have a high or low rate of methylat-
12 could be thoughts that motivate us, whether to ing dopamine for genetic reasons. In those who
do good things or to do things that would get us methylate dopamine at a low rate, unpleasant
into trouble. To achieve mental health, our net pictures cause a dramatic stimulation of activ-

FIGURE 4: Optimal mental health requires a balance of mental stability and flexibility, which in turn requires a level of
methylation that is “just right.” Too much methylation will contribute to too much flexibility, making us too easily distracted
and unable to hold onto beneficial thoughts and mental states (A). Not enough methylation will contribute to too much
stability, making us unable to tolerate healthy amounts of change, and making our mental states “brittle,” which means that
any given mental state will take a lot of energy to break and the transitions will never be smooth (B). A balanced level of
methylation will contribute to the appropriate balance between mental stability and mental flexibility, which will support
vibrant and robust mental health (C).
42 Wise Traditions SPRING 2013 SPRING 2013 Wise Traditions