Problem solving & Enlightenment

Ever had that moment where you’ve thought, “That’s it! I’ve got it! I understand now!” That is when the penny dropped and you had that Eureka moment. Well, the same can be said of enlightenment.

In Zen, there is something called Kensho, which is basically the moment when you experience ‘minor enlightenment,’ also known as the Eureka feeling. Everything just clicks into place. You understand.

So how do we achieve this? The best thing to do is:

1. Observe and consider the problem you face. Think of ways you could solve the problem.

2. Distract yourself with menial work, everyday tasks and above all do not focus on the problem.

3. Come back to the problem and consider new approaches to solving the problem.

Problem solving, and enlightenment, does not need intelligence, it just needs divergent thinking. To encourage divergent thinking, you need to

· embrace changes to routine, unexpected experiences

· meditate more.



When one experiences enlightenment, or Satori, (feeling awake, awakening, etc.) the process has been ongoing since the minor awakening, or Kensho. The process is the same as above, but enhanced. One is given a problem, they then solve it using the technique and when the person gives the solution, they are told, “Yes you are right/wrong, but don’t stop there.”



Now the science bit. When you have an insight, you experience what Zen thinkers call, sightless seeing. The Visual Cortex causes the brain to ‘blink’ switching off your sight momentarily thus sending alpha waves through your brain which causes gamma waves to erupt in the Anterior Superior Temporal Gyrus (ASTG) in the right hemisphere of the brain.

To encourage your brain to gain insight, you need to experience new things, change routines and meditate. If you do these things, you encourage improvisation, divergent thinking and creativity. This is because the Pre-Frontal Cortex needs to step back, turn itself down and enable the brains wiring, White Matter, to form new pathways, or dendrites. It is a slow process. When you relax the monitoring of your conscious self, the Pre-Frontal Cortex enables you to lower your inhibitions, be creative and improvisational. This is known as Transient Hyper-Frontality. People who are naturally lacking in inhibitions and impulsive tend to be good problem solvers, because they are Hypo-Frontal.

When we meditate, we ‘thicken’ areas of the brain called, Insulas. The Insula helps us process emotions, feel & anticipate pain, gives moral intuition, empathy, guilt, atonement, pride, lust, disgust; feel hunger, cravings, listen, feeling shunned in social settings, decision making, listening & giving an emotional response to music, and judging peoples’ facial expressions. Some professionals believe it is where the body and mind integrate. We also relax the Amygdala, which governs fear and anxiety.

So meditation encourages White Matter to grow and our sensory inputs to be lowered, as well as lowering our monitoring of the conscious self. This means that our brain can ‘think freely’ and enable a feeling of ‘temporary sleep’ in our Pre-Frontal Cortex, even though we are awake. This sensation could also describe a state known as ‘loss of self’ and interconnectedness.



When you consider all these things, the method of problem solving is the same as Satori, Kensho, awakening, & enlightenment. The sensations are the same. When the Eureka moment occurs, one’s eyes are open, as if for the first time. Zen thinkers have been trying to explain this for years, by using koans: a problem that seemingly has no answer, is given to a student, who contemplates and meditates over an answer. There are minor moments, like Kensho, and major revelations, like Satori/Enlightenment.

So when you wish to solve a problem, like how to ease the worlds’ suffering, think about it, leave it, then come back to it. If you wish to cultivate empathy, a listening ear and moral intuition, do the same. When you think about it, it’s kinda spiritual really!


Observe. Distract. Come back.