Via GBF /// "The Buddha & Neuroscience" with Eve Decker

Our latest dharma talk is now available on the GBF website, podcast and YouTube channel.

The Buddha & Neuroscience – Eve Decker | Gay Buddhist Fellowship

______________

When seen with clarity, the dharma sheds light on nearly every aspect of our daily lives. 

In this highly engaging talk, Eve Decker explores in plain language how Buddhist teachings can help us deal with our daily struggles. By highlighting the intersection of Buddhist wisdom and neuroscience, she shows how ancient teachings align with modern psychological frameworks.

Eve emphasizes that the Buddha was, in many ways, a master psychologist—offering insights into suffering, habit formation, and emotional regulation that contemporary science continues to affirm. Eve draws on the work of Dr. Rick Hanson and Dr. Daniel Siegel to illustrate how mindfulness and compassion practices can rewire the brain, and she highlights how Buddhist teachings on awareness, intention, and ethical living are echoed in therapeutic models like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Polyvagal Theory.

Eve also breaks down several key concepts that bridge Dharma and psychology:

1. Neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to change through repeated practice, supporting the Buddhist emphasis on intentional cultivation.
2. Negativity bias – our tendency to focus on threats, which mindfulness helps balance by training attention toward wholesome states.
3. Self-directed neuroplasticity – consciously reinforcing positive traits like gratitude and kindness, a core aim of both Dharma and CBT.
4. Internal Family Systems (IFS) – recognizing and compassionately working with different “parts” of ourselves, much like Buddhist teachings on non-self and multiplicity of mind.
5. Polyvagal Theory – understanding how safety and connection regulate our nervous system, aligning with the Buddhist emphasis on compassion and relational presence.
6. The role of repetition – how consistent practice strengthens beneficial traits, whether through meditation or therapeutic exercises.

Throughout the talk, Eve reminds us that transformation is possible—not through force, but through gentle, repeated attention. With warmth and clarity, she shows how both science and spirituality point toward the same truth: we can train the mind toward freedom.

--
Enjoy 850+ free recorded dharma talks at https://gaybuddhist.org/podcast/