February: Week 2
A short talk from Michael to bridge us from Week 1 to Week 2:
Neuroscientific underpinnings of nonviolence
Last week, we explored quantum reality/theory and the challenge it poses to a worldview built on separation. This week, we turn closer to home (the brain) and ask:
What does neuroscience suggest about who we are, how empathy works, and why nonviolence is both possible and demanding?
Neuroscience does not tell us what we should do. But it helps illuminate how deeply relational we are, how empathy functions in the body, and how easily fear and dehumanization narrow our perception.
This week’s materials explore nonviolence as both a biological capacity and a trained discipline.
As you study this week’s material, reflect:
If empathy is a human capacity that requires cultivation, what practices help you keep your heart open without burning out — especially in the face of conflict, injustice, or deep disagreement?
Dr. Marco Iacoboni in conversation with the Dalai Lama: “Are we wired for empathy?”
This conversation explores the neuroscience of empathy, including mirror neurons and embodied understanding, alongside contemplative perspectives on training the mind toward compassion. Together, they highlight empathy as a biological capacity that requires cultivation through practice. But first, what even are “mirror neurons”? Review that here at Wikipedia. And/or this short Q and A with Dr. Iacoboni in UCLA magazine
***You will need to turn up your volume all of the way but once you do the audio track is excellent.
2. Martin Luther King Jr., 1957 Sermon, “Love Your Enemy.”
Read the text here or listen to it at the video below.
In this sermon, King outlines nonviolence as a disciplined practice rooted in empathy, dignity, and the refusal to dehumanize others. His moral framework anticipates many insights later described by neuroscience, without relying on scientific language.