Default Mode Network

Recently I became aware of the concept of the Default Mind Network (DMN) first from a dharma talk given by our teacher Geoff Dawson and later reinforced by Norman Swann on ABC radio. I was unaware of the phenomenon before this, but the moment I heard it first described it resonated strongly within: ‘Yes, that’s exactly what often goes on in my mind!’

It appears that the DMN is a fairly recent discovery in brain science. In what previously had been considered the resting state of the brain, as opposed to an active state focussed on a specific task, DMN is actually an alternate state with its own characteristics. It also tends to be self-referential or preoccupied with our own ego.

A summary in the journal Psychology Today states that:
‘The DMN is especially active … when one engages in introspective activities such as daydreaming, contemplating the past or the future, or thinking about the perspective of another person…. You may start with daydreaming, but you start to ruminate over what happened the day before and what will happen in the days to come. You are anxious about past performance, and you are anxious about upcoming performance. The default mode network can hijack the mind to mull over worries.’[i]

We may recognise it as mind-wandering – perhaps as our ‘monkey mind’ at work. It turns out that we spend something like 50% of our waking life in DMN, which also compromises our happiness and can lead to clinical disorders.

 Unsurprisingly, lots of research shows that experienced meditators spend less time in DMN than non-meditators, as they tend to be more focussed on the present moment. That’s heartening, but what interests me is when I become aware of DMN activity in my own mind, e.g. while driving, thinking of a perceived slight from someone, washing the dishes, planning a future conversation, etc. In my case, DMN is often related to my core belief in my own inadequacy and often is peppered with mental phrases like, ‘Oh God’, ‘I can’t …’. ‘You idiot, Tom’, ‘What’s going on?’, ‘I just don’t know …’

So how do we work with our DMN mind state? I think one possibility relates to the Zen tradition of huatou (lit. ‘head of speech’ in Mandarin). It is a practice developed in 12^th century China, particularly for lay practitioners as a kind of antidote to the increasing intellectualism of kōan practice, and is designed to create doubt in the mind of the practitioner. While visiting a monastery in China, I noticed the presence of matching couplet calligraphy, the first of which read, ‘Pay attention to your huatou.’ And then, a famous huatou: ‘Who is the one invoking the Buddha?’