The Temperance Card, Dopamine, and Buddhist Philosophy

I recently listened to a series of talks about the neurotransmitter dopamine and the concept of dopamine fasting. Dopamine plays a role in pleasure and pain, motivation and apathy, attention and indifference. The brain seeks equilibrium which is why we humans can come to crave dopamine almost like an addiction … Buddhism teaches not to rejoice in pleasure or despair in suffering, but rather to accept all experiences from a place of equilibrium. The principles of balance and equilibrium are elegantly illustrated in Tarot’s Temperance card …