17 Dec 2025 · 0 min
Brian Johnson compares meditation to strength training for the brain. Developing samadhi, or one-pointed attention, works like building muscle at the gym. The practice trains you to choose conscious responses instead of reacting on autopilot.
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson More wisdom in less time this is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.
Strength training for your brain did you know that in Pali, the old school language of Buddha's day, the they don't even have a word for meditation? Nope. The closest they have is Bhavana, which literally means something like consciousness training and refers to the disciplined, rigorous training required to shape our minds in order to become better, more conscious, healthy, awesome human beings. I like to think of meditation or Bhavana as hitting the gym for our brains. When I find my mind wandering during my meditation, as it often likes to do as I bring my focus back to my breath, I imagine doing another another bicep curl or bench press for my mind. I'm getting a little stronger, a little stronger and a little more likely to have the strength to step into the gap between stimulus and response during my day to day life. Then I can more consistently choose an empowered response to any given situation and be the type of person I aspire to be. P.S. i love to imagine His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, his his consciousness looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger's body all yoked out and ripped in money. P.P.S. did you know that if His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has a really busy day scheduled, he'll meditate for two hours instead of one? That's hot in PPPs. Technically, meditation is more like samadhi training for our minds than strength training for our minds. Samadhi is an awesome word. It means one pointedness. As we develop our samadhi muscles, we cultivate control of our minds such that we can put our attention where we want, when we want. Fact is, without a great deal of samadhi, it's impossible to live consciously. So in Arnold voice Here's to pumping Samadhi iron, yo. That wasn't really much of an Arnold voice, but you get the idea. I picked up that goodness on Samadhi from John Cabot's Zins. Wherever you go, there you are. Great book on meditation.
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