The thought process is a continuous activity. The
development of specific neuronal networks may be responsible for the
conditioning that occurs. Speaking Tree George Gurdjieff used to say that character
is like a buffer. (Getty Images) Belief systems, behavioural traits and even
temperament are all effects of conditioning. There has also been speculation of
whether there exists in the brain a God centre. A researcher revealed that when
a person was subjected to pain stimulus before and after being shown the
picture of a deity he had faith in, his tolerance to pain was significantly
better than it was before seeing the picture. So was the increase in tolerance
the result of conditioning? Such a premise would imply that a similar outcome
were possible if the patient was shown the picture of a mountain, if he had
been conditioned to believe that mountains are objects of devotion. Does it
mean that whichever deity one believes in, the final locus of God in the brain
remains the same? Then theoretically, if this God centre were to be stimulated,
one could experience calm, bliss, even ecstasy. Would this imply that all
spiritually advanced souls have, over a period of time, been able to devise an
intrinsic mechanism to stimulate the God centre? Are all spiritually advanced
masters just those who, by repeated practice, develop the God centre further so
that it can be stimulated at will? That would reduce realisation to a mere
neurochemical phenomenon. It would then have some tangible parameters for
either localisation or verification. Meditation could be just a process that
converts all eccentric thought processes into a concentric pattern with the God
centre as the epicentre. All thoughts pertaining to mundane activities may be
eccentric in nature. These eccentric patterns would be a deterrent to
stimulating the God centre. Most explanations given by realised masters seem to
defy all logic, which is the domain of the dominant hemisphere. The
non-dominant hemisphere is concerned with intuitive and non-analytical
networks. So maybe, the God centre resides in the non-dominant hemisphere and
realisation could effect a state of awareness that transcends the baseline
neuronal activity of just being conscious. The advent of functional imaging
techniques like the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) may assist in the
verification of such hypotheses. Probably, realisation could then be imaged and
anatomically localised. Happiness is most often cause-based, a consequence of perceptive
modalities giving a positive feedback via established neuronal circuits.
Familiarity, sensory gratification, and above all a very tangible cause-effect
relationship permeates this sense of joy. But, if happiness could be devoid of
a cause, it may explain the detachment that most masters talk about. Happiness
would then be independent of a cause and also stimulation of specific neural
paths. It could become the background electrochemical activity, where any
external object is not recognised as a separate entity and analysed and
assigned relative values of joy or pain. This Advaita or Oneness could be
identified as the baseline firing of zeta neurons in a specified locus in the
non-dominant hemisphere. It would create a perception shift. It could also
deconstruct the "i" entity as having a discrete identity; the
equivalent of dissolution of ego. There would be no subjective element to any
sensory stimulus. Which is why many masters seem to revert to a child-like
innocence. Maybe, then godhood would be a neurochemical alteration in the
milieu of the neuronal networks, resulting in a perceptive variance. And
spiritual progress could be monitored by an imaging modality.
The writer is a consultant neurosurgeon and may be
contacted at
http://drdeepak-ranade.blogspot.com/
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