The Irish Medical Times reports that Professor Billy O'Connor, a neuroscientist, is the new Professor of Physiology at the new Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) at the University of Limerick. The article about Professor O'Connor reports that "experiments on Tibetan Buddhist monks have shown a correlation between transcendental mental states and gamma waves."

I don't know about "transcendental" mental states, but gamma waves are brain waves associated with perception and consciousness.

Neuroscience tells us the brain is plastic, Professor O'Connor says.  It is constantly re-wiring itself. Your brain is a work in progress. "We have a constantly changing brain in a constantly changing world." So meditate away; it's good for your brain.

At Shambhala Sun, Karen Maezen Miller has some great advice for finding a teacher. Here are some highlights:

• "Teachers can be charming, entertaining and provocative, but if you choose based on anything other than the vigor and authenticity of their practice, you will surely be misled."

Most of us seek out teachers because we're looking for someone to give us something we think we don't have. Second-rate teachers and charlatans encourage their followers to think that way.  My first teacher, the late John Daido Loori, used to tell us he had nothing to give us. But Daido was a walking manifestation of vigorous practice. Daido was a great teacher.

• "Choose a teacher who has time for you and a practice center you can get to, or your spiritual life might be little more than intellectual tourism."

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I cringed a bit when I stumbled onto a religion forum discussing the proposition "Buddhism is compatible with any other religious belief: Why or why not?"  However, most of the responses are well informed, I thought. I especially liked this response (and the LOLcat signature line).

Several of the commenters emphasize the role of dogma in the Abrahamic religions and observe that Buddhism generally is "softer" about doctrines, letting people come to their own understanding of many issues. This is generally true, but I think it's important to remind ourselves why it is true.

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People standing outside Buddhism and looking in often comment that for an allegedly nontheistic religion it has a lot of gods. Which I suppose is true, but Buddhist "gods" aren't gods as most Westerners understand the word.

There's a book review in the Sri Lanka Sunday Times that discusses the distinction from a Theravadin perspective. The book is Gods in Buddhism - Origin, Function and Relevance by Professor M.M.J. Marasinghe. The most important point, I think, comes at the very end of the review. In most religions and cultures, "gods" are beings with special powers and abilities who can help or harm humans. Much of the function of religion amounts to pleasing or appeasing these beings in order to receive favor and blessings from them.

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