Virtues, Aristotle said, are attained in part by finding the “right mean” between extremes; courage lies between impulsive risk-taking and cowardice, a tempered moderation between self-indulgence and ascetic denial.

In the realm of mind (as everywhere else), what you do determines what you get. In sum, “meditation” is not a single activity but a wide range of practices, all acting in their own particular ways in the mind and brain. Lost in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, “Which way should I go?” He replied, “That depends on where you want to get to.”

Distress circuitry connecting to the insula, including the amygdala, responds with particular strength—a pattern typical of anyone’s empathy with other people’s pain. The insula monitors the signals in our body and also activates autonomic responses like heart rate and breathing—as we empathize, our neural centers for pain and distress echo what we

Meta-awareness allows us to track our attention itself—noticing, for example, when our mind has wandered off from something we want to focus on. This ability to monitor the mind without getting swept away introduces a crucial choice point when we find our mind has wandered: we can bring our focus back to the task at hand. This simple mental skill u

Healthy states, in contrast, include even-mindedness, composure, ongoing mindfulness, and realistic confidence. Intriguingly, a subset of healthy states applies to both mind and body: buoyancy, flexibility, adaptability, and pliancy. The healthy states inhibit the unhealthy ones, and vice versa. The mark of progress along this path is whether our r

keep in mind that as with gaining skill in a given sport, finding a meditation practice that appeals to you and sticking with it will have the greatest benefits.

The ultimate source of peace, he said, is in the mind—which, far more than our circumstances, determines our happiness.33

The original aim, embraced in some circles to this day, focuses on a deep exploration of the mind toward a profound alteration of our very being.

“The first person to benefit from compassion is the one who feels it.”