the vastness and panoramic quality of awareness that they report. The yogis’ awareness in the present moment—without getting stuck in the anticipation of the future or ruminating on the past—seems reflected in the strong “inverted V” response to pain, where yogis show little anticipatory response and very rapid recovery. The yogis also show neural evidence of effortless concentration: it takes only a flicker of the neural circuitry to place their attention on a chosen object, and little to no effort to hold it there. Finally, when generating compassion, the brains of yogis become more
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