Guest guest Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Nowadays, we can hardly buy any piece of furniture, or even equipment that we don't have to assemble it ourselves. It's a good thing that our brains have plenty of practice at assembling. You might think your brain knows nothing about assembling, but that's not true, from the moment you wake up in the morning your brain is busy assembling your every moment experience, which it receives as disjointed nervous input. The moment you see a friend coming toward you, it seems recognition happens immediately and that it brings a warm glow of friendship. But let's examine the process bit by bit. Your eyes not only sent your friend image to your brain upside down, but they sent it to different centers to process its various components. Shape recognition goes one way, colors another, movement detection is done somewhere else. After the visual effects are done, the picture is just a picture and not yet your friend. Then, the photo lab sends the image to the amygdala ( an almond-shaped gland located at the anterior base of the temporal lobe.) In the amygdala the image is invested with emotional value and then, finally, it's sent to the frontal lobe to be recognized as Joyce. The amygdala no only invests Joyce's image with emotional value, but it does the same for any other sensory input. So when this small gland gets injured by accident or disease our emotional life stops. People suffering from this condition often describe it as feeling or being dead. The presence of mothers and wives no longer kindles feelings of love. Their homes, their possessions everything they formerly valued leaves them now cold. It reminds one of the U. G. Krishnamurti syndrome. This total detachment is, of course pathological, and not to be confused with the detachment brought about by liberation from a self image. Is our self-image there all the time or is it simple a memory that pops up like a road sign every few miles to remind us where we are going? When you, for example, are really enjoying a movie, where is your self-image? Maybe once in a while the thought flashes, "I really like this." But it seems to you, once the movie is over, you were there all the time witnessing every scene. The brain is very good at filling in gaps. We have a blind spot at the center of our eyes where the optic nerve connects to the retina, in this area there are no optic cones or rods, but we don't see a black hole at the center of our vision and it's because our brains fill in the blank. In the same manner our brains fill in those empty gaps in which our *self-images* aren't needed. Experience meditators see these gaps clearly. The self is nothing but a concept system. See that, and it loses its power. It's not accurate to say liberated people no longer have a self-image. It would be more accurate to say they have divested that self-image of any value, and stopped using it as a reference point. The brain still feels enjoyment and love, and negative emotions too, but it doesn't take possession of these feelings, and so, it doesn't make problems out of them. Handled in this impersonal manner, negative emotions don't last, and positive feelings tend to last longer without our futile efforts to own them. It would be fair to say that the creator of all emotions: the amygdala is our true heart. With it we feel love, and feel joy and sorrow. Without this small sun inside our brain the world would be a cold place indeed. And so, we see that Buddhism and Advaita were right after all, consciousness and its contents arise together and can't be separate. Maybe consciousness doesn't happen at a conscious center, but it is an orchestration of nervous input, a symphony played by a large ensemble. And the center of it all is not a center at all. Best wishes, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 on 6/12/03 4:44 AM, Pedsie2 at Pedsie2 wrote: > Nowadays, we can hardly buy any piece of furniture, or even equipment that we > don't have to assemble it ourselves. It's a good thing that our brains have > plenty of practice at assembling. You might think your brain knows nothing > about assembling, but that's not true, from the moment you wake up in the > morning > your brain is busy assembling your every moment experience, which it receives > as disjointed nervous input. > > The moment you see a friend coming toward you, it seems recognition happens > immediately and that it brings a warm glow of friendship. But let's examine > the > process bit by bit. Your eyes not only sent your friend > image to your brain upside down, but they sent it to different centers to > process its various components. Shape recognition goes one way, colors > another, > movement detection is done somewhere else. After the visual effects are done, > the picture is just a picture and not yet your friend. Then, the photo lab > sends the image to the amygdala ( an almond-shaped gland located at the > anterior > base of the temporal lobe.) In the amygdala the image is invested with > emotional value and then, finally, it's sent to the frontal lobe to be > recognized as > Joyce. > > The amygdala no only invests Joyce's image with emotional value, but it does > the same for any other sensory input. So when this small gland gets injured by > accident or disease our emotional life stops. People suffering from this > condition often describe it as feeling or being dead. The presence of mothers > and > wives no longer kindles feelings of love. Their homes, their possessions > everything they formerly valued leaves them now cold. It reminds one of the > U. G. > Krishnamurti syndrome. This total detachment is, of course pathological, and > not to be confused with the detachment brought about by liberation from a self > image. > > Is our self-image there all the time or is it simple a memory that pops up > like a road sign every few miles to remind us where we are going? When you, > for > example, are really enjoying a movie, where is your self-image? Maybe once in > a while the thought flashes, " I really like this. " But it seems to you, once > the movie is over, you were there all the time witnessing every scene. The > brain is very good at filling in gaps. We have a blind spot at the center of > our > eyes where the optic nerve connects to the retina, in this area there are no > optic cones or rods, but we don't see a black hole at the center of our vision > and it's because our brains fill in the blank. In the same manner our brains > fill in those empty gaps in which our *self-images* aren't needed. Experience > meditators see these gaps clearly. The self is nothing but a concept system. > See > that, and it loses its power. > > It's not accurate to say liberated people no longer have a self-image. It > would be more accurate to say they have divested that self-image of any value, > and stopped using it as a reference point. The brain still feels enjoyment and > love, and negative emotions too, but it doesn't take possession of these > feelings, and so, it doesn't make problems out of them. Handled in this > impersonal > manner, negative emotions don't last, and positive feelings tend to last > longer without our futile efforts to own them. > > It would be fair to say that the creator of all emotions: the amygdala is our > true heart. With it we feel love, and feel joy and sorrow. Without this small > sun inside our brain the world would be a cold place indeed. And so, we see > that Buddhism and Advaita were right after all, consciousness and its contents > arise together and can't be separate. Maybe consciousness doesn't happen at a > conscious center, but it is an orchestration of nervous input, a symphony > played by a large ensemble. And the center of it all is not a center at all. > > Best wishes, > > Pete > Thank you for this, Pete. Having read just a smidgen of UG, I also found him cold. It would seem that his disposition is the result of a disassociation with life as a reaction to his suffering, rather than any real intelligent wisdom born of true investigation. Or did he just fall on his gland? Interesting stuff, thanks. ))))Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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