Neuroplasticity refers to the potential the brain has to reorganize itself by creating new neural pathways to adapt to changing needs. Or, according to my therapist, the more I practiced certain behaviors, the more my neural connections were changed and made to include all elements of the experience (sensory info, movement, cognitive patterns) — both positive and negative. This is sometimes summarized with the axiom, *cells that fire together wire together*.
Please bear with me for one more sentence! Patterns of neurons that are used repeatedly to perform any function become connected in a way that makes the function easier to repeat and, conversely, harder to alter.
This concept helps explain why so many of my childhood behaviors such as rocking back and forth, feeling hopeless, and overreacting to pain stimuli have been so difficult to change. It also sheds light on how my wife's MS lesions on her spine disrupted her brain's ability to "wire together," resulting in her having to learn how to walk again.
Nichiren understood these challenges when he revealed the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. I know from fifty years of practice that this underlies and positively affects my senses, subconscious and karma. A very powerful unifying force indeed!
Applying my prayers along with constructive therapeutic treatments has resulted in more productive cells firing together in a way that has made new desired functions easier for me to repeat. Ergo...no more rocking when I chant, less worrying, and fewer dramatic reactions when old injuries flame up. And MBO's sincere practice and medical advances have resulted in eight years without any serious MS flare-ups.
Nichiren wrote, "Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other." Our recent experiences have been wonderful examples of how our continued practice of Nichiren Buddhism has enabled us to find the right solutions for us and to get the most out of them.
