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consciousness
May 2009 
A Stroke of Enlightenment
~C4Chaos
(Crossposted from www.c4chaos.com)
Just finished watching this fascinating video of Jill Bolte Taylor's presentation on TED. Jill narrated her passion for neuroscience which was fueled by her brother's mental illness and by her own "mystical" (although she didn't use that word her description fits well with mystical literature) experience brought about by a stroke. By her description the right hemisphere of the brain correlates with mystical experiences (i.e. awareness of the energy field, loss of boundary and sense of self) while the left hemisphere correlates with conceptual (linear) thinking (also called the monkey mind in Zen literature).
This gets me thinking:
-- Is meditation one of the most effective practices that somehow
suppress an area in the left hemisphere making the right hemisphere
more active? Or is meditation only incidental while the actual
"mystical" process is more a product of serendipitous physiological
event? For example, a stroke in Jill's case, a physiological calamity in the case of U.G. Krishnamurti, a physiological response to suicidal tendency during a psychological crisis in the case of Eckhart Tolle; Christian literature calls this "surrendering" to God's "Grace."
-- Can advances in neuroscience recreate mystical experiences at
will via non-invasive techniques (i.e. temporarily simulating a
hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of the brain) so that we could study the
ubiquitous cross-cultural experiences documented in mystical
literature? Imagine the scientific insights we could discover when
reality is witnessed in the domain of "lala land."
It's interesting to note that even if we could plug our brain into
the Matrix of this "lala land" by the time we snap out of it we still
have to interpret our experience based on our world view. In Jill's
case, she interpreted her experience with her scientific world view
instead of ascribing to spirituality and New Age mumbo jumbo. She
sticks with science for the most part even she sounds like a hippie
talking about life force and universal energy.
With the promise of neurotechnology, we don't have to delude
ourselves
in practicing decades of meditation (and other dogmatic spiritual
practices) in order to get a glimpse of the "mystical" experiences
spoken about by sages, spiritual teachers, athletes, artists, and some
lucky few who had been favored by serendipity.
One reason I find AQAL very interesting (i.e. Wilber-Combs Lattice in particular) is that it's an excellent attempt to map out the neurological and psychological domains of consciousness without collapsing one in favor of the other. This map is a good starting point for neuroscientists who are serious in studying "lala land."
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I thought this was sweet. She really did sound like a hippie for a bit there, but it was so awesome, because you could tell that she was speaking from experience, really compelling experience, and she connected emotionally to it. I was inspired by her presentation and by her emotional honesty and by her story, the way she hung in there, and brought back this wisdom to us, which she was equipped to glean because of her background. That’s so amazing, I only hope I can show similar courage. The idea of projecting good vibes by hooking into our peace-and-love circuitry struck me as very real somehow, when told this way, whereas hearing other people say the same words sometimes makes me laugh involuntarily and shake my head in wonder at the silliness of it all.
I love your idea about simulating her type of experience. Then it really will come down to interpretations and the ways such technology is used. I would hate to see people get addicted to nirvana, and come back with nothing to say about it.
Wow, wow & wow… this brought out so many emotions in me…. from remembering the acid trips of yesteryear …… all the way through to experiencing what it felt like to being with my dogs last moments as the euthinasia drugs engulfed her mind & body… and watching her eyes…… this brought that whole moment of what i was feeling and experienced as her EYES seemed to be describing to me in great detail what her thoughts were & i was at one with her giving her comfort & assurances - communicating with her in that way i had not thought of in a few years until watching this video - its what it felt like … not even sure i should be saying this here…. but this was sooooooooo moving and i wondered if this was some of what my dog experienced those last few moments as she slipped away. When i left the vets office without her, as i processed it all… i had wondered if i had placed my perceptions onto my dogs experience, but hearing this speech - it brought that communication moment of whatever it was i had experienced with my dog right back…. Did i read into it myself of what i thought, or did i experience that oneness of what she was communicating?
there is definetly some type of shift that occurs in the brain first to open up someone to experience the world as Oneness. For me I was in a place where the mind shut down… ie I was cornered in that I could not physically, mentally, spiritually get beyond this wall that was trapping me. Life was stopping me (the story was one of no job, family to feed along with depression and an intensive spiritual search) So I snapped first then rested … then It happened a “real” shift opening up a new level of reality.
I have been facinated by how this shift occurs, weather it can be tought or just needs to be experienced. I have tried to bring others to this through speaking and sometimes it works but often for only a while, others that are ripe shift very easily.
Most of the folk I speak with who have shifted into this knowingness of Oneness have done so through a mental breakthrough.
IF anyone has any more articles on this shift and the how and why etc… it comes to be please email me. Until then I will just be writing some poems to attempt to describe this experience.
Mike