brain and Enlightenment - 'Self' - HALLUCINATION ?

[Guest guest]

If we accept that meditation is conducive to

enlightenment, and that the moments when

meditation appears " in daily life " are moments

when negative states are wholly absent, then

we get a new definition of enlightenment.

 

THE COMPLETE ABSENCE OF ALL UNPLEASANT SUBJECTIVE STATES.

 

This is why it takes such unrelenting efforts.

Fear, for example, is a powerful adaptive ally.

Each thing that enters our perception is 'scanned'

to see if it's a threat or not. A threat to our

social status, self-esteem, livlihood, authority,

or even our lives, when we have to.

 

Becoming enlightened would mean not doing this

any longer. To stop 'scanning for danger' will mean

changing the bunches of pathways ( " matrices of neurons " )

that support the human sense of self, because both 'you'

and 'your fear' share crucial brain parts.

 

......

 

The spectrum of human 'types' is very wide, and if there

are those whose negativity is special enough that they

need to be locked away, then there will also be those whose

positivity will be equally special.

 

.....

 

The absence of negativity as a definition for enlightenment

is consistent with most Hindu and Buddhist teachings,

......

 

One clue for looking at the enlightened state in

terms of the brain is that it can happen gradually or

suddenly. The Zen Buddhist tradition even goes so far

as to categorize enlightenment in these very terms.

 

.......

 

GRADUAL ENLIGHTENMENT IS EASILY EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF

MORE ORDINARY NEURAL MECHANISMS. The consistent

practice conditions the individual to suppress negativity,

so that more positive (and adaptive) emotional and

cognitive responses can appear. Over time, changes on

the smallest levels of brain activity (such as synaptogenesis,

kindling, synaptic dropout, etc.) alters the sense of self

that relies on our thoughts and feelings.

 

 

Change the brain parts where 'self' happens gradually,

and you will slowly change the sense of self.

Change them quickly, and 'you' will, too .

 

.....

 

It might be a good idea to look at what the phrase

'sense of self' means.

 

The sense of self, whatever else it is, is disturbed in

'disorders of self'. These are the ones where a person's

identity is lost in their symptoms. Schizophrenia and

dissociation are just two examples. These are now

being found to involve specific disturbances in the limbic system.

 

 

Further, there is a characteristic EEG SIGNATURE

that occurs in waking and in dreams, states in

which the SELF IS COHERENT ENOUGH TO PROCESS

PRESENT EXPERIENCE INTO MEMORIES. IT'S CALLED

THE 40 HZ COMPONENT, AND IT INVOLVES THE LIMBIC

SYSTEM, TOO.

 

 

Another limbic set of phenomena is hallucinations. Limbic

stimulation has elicited hallucinations in scores of studies,

using a variety of stimulation techniques. The limbic system

is heavily intergrown with the surface of the temporal lobes,

and there are even maps of the temporal lobes, showing

what areas are most likely to yield which kinds of hallucinations.

 

So, following the rule of science that the simplest

explanation is probably the closest to the truth,

two things about the sense of self stand out.

 

One is that the sense of self is partly made up of language.

Although it's different for each person, we maintain a

constant stream of inner dialog, talking to ourselves.

 

......

 

THE SECOND SIMPLE THING ABOUT THE SENSE OF SELF IS

THAT IT MAY BE AN HALLUCINATION. THE BRAIN PARTS

THAT SUPPORT IT ARE ALSO THE ONES BEHIND HALLUCINATIONS.

 

 

And, in looking for the human 'self,' science is coming up

empty-handed. Cognitive science understands quite a

lot about the modalities in which it operates, but not

much about what holds them together.

 

There is some understanding about the brain's activity

keeping consciousness 'bound' together, but the mechanism

that makes us feel we are real to ourselves is still

something of a mystery.

 

What we can talk about this area is the sense of self.

We experience ourselves as real the same way we

experience anything else. Through our senses.

 

But which sense do we use to perceive our " self " ?

 

 

The answer I suggest is that there is a sense,

that uses all the neural substrates of the other

senses as it's organs, and that has no 'percept'.

INSTEAD, IT ONLY HALLUCINATES. AND

IT HAS ONLY ONE HALLUCINATION. THE SELF.

Or rather, the selves. We have two of them,

one on each side of the brain.

 

The one on the left (where the language centers are)

is the most active, so our experience of ourselves is

shaped by words. Our own inner dialog and the words

we hear from others. The one on the right, the

silent 'self' is constantly overwhelmed by the verbal 'self'.

It remains subordinate.

 

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