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Spiritual Development & The Brain

Eric Thompson

Published by: iAwake Technologies, LLC www.ProfoundMeditationProgram.com www.iAwakeBlog.com www.i-Awake.net

Copyright 2010-2011 Eric Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

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Contents
Introduction 1. Spiritual Development Defined - 5 2. The Neural Correlates of the Ego - 8 3. Ego Development, Neural Integration and the Resolution of Opposites - 11 4. Hemispheric Dialectics and the Stages of Development 17 5. The Neural Substrates of Obfuscation 32 6. The Neurological Origins of the Personal Unconscious 35 7. The Way Out 37 References - 44

Introduction
In the interest of better understanding how the brain mediates (rather than causes) spiritual development, this book explores neural processes and their relationship to personal growth. How do different levels of spiritual development affect the brain and vice versa? What brain processes are involved in the inhibition of spiritual development, which facilitate awakening? intention answering and spiritual The in these processes

questions is to open up a greater context in which we can allow a deeper source to come forth, and with it a larger sense of purpose, meaning and integration. After first defining spiritual development, this book introduces developmental psychologist Susanne Cook-Greuters model of ego development, and uses this model as a means of investigating the neural correlates of each stage of development. It is theorized that a dialectical, or argumentative, process between right and left modes of perception comprises a vital part

of the developmental process, and that this process determines in large measure the level of motivation at which the limbic system operates within the brain at any given stage. Throughout this book I use the term modes of perception. This term refers not to lateralization (which mistakenly assumes that one hemisphere is more active in certain perceptual tasks than the other), but instead to the scientifically validated notion that specific areas in the left and right hemispheres play important roles in facilitating certain modes of perception. Left modes of perception are here defined as modes in which left hemispheric processes tend to play more of a key role than right hemispheric processes. Right modes of perception, likewise, denote modes in which right hemispheric processes tend to play a key role in perception. The neural processes by which the transpersonal domain of spiritual experience is obfuscated are also theorized, as are those which facilitate both gradual and sudden awakenings. Finally, it is suggested that right hemispheric modes of present-moment awareness, in the highest stages of development, transcend and include left hemispheric modes of discursive thought.

CHAPTER 1:

Spiritual Development Defined

Spiritual development can be defined in at least four ways, all of which will be collectively inferred when using the term throughout this book. In general, spiritual development refers to: 1. The higher reaches of human development, wherein individuals awaken to inherent transpersonal values (Fuller, 2008, p. 127). 2. Ones general view and experience of God or the universe. 3. The degree to which one feels empathically connected to ones experienced self, society and the world, and therefore the degree to which one is able to express care and compassion 4. The degree to which one is limited to identification with the body and the discursive and conceptual mind as the loci of the self.

The developmental models used in this investigation, drawn from both Eastern and Western sources, tend to agree that developmentin its full expressionemerges initially as a fusion state, then moves first toward higher levels of autonomy and individuality, and finally toward greater and more complex levels of social integration. Social integration is here defined as the extent to which ones overall life vision, aspiration and expression takes into account the greater systemic influences of the world and cosmos, so that, as much as is possible, the totality of existence is taken into account in relationship to ones actions and pursuits. The general direction of movement in these models is such that personal identification evolves from the gross to the subtle, and still further to the very subtle (Wilber, 2000, p. 6). This direction expresses a progressive movement away from fundamental narcissism toward naked, conscious awareness as the ground of being.

Susanne Cook-Greuters developmental model is a good starting point for this investigation, as it meets the Western emphasis on third-person, scientific validation by way of having been empirically verified in at least 5,000 cross-cultural subjects (Cook-Greuter, 2006).

CHAPTER 2:

The Neural Correlates of the Ego

Cook-Greuters based developmental ego as model theory (2004), on the of Jane

extensively

Loevinger, envisions the human potentially an arc progressing at through beginning

primary identification with the body, followed by identification with the mind at various levels (e.g., emotionally and conceptually), consciousness ultimate context, and eventual as in identification with pure

which the content of mind, body and cosmos are fully contained. Her approach to defining and examining the ego revolves around three functions: being, thinking and doing (Coo k-Greuter, 2004).

Being refers to the egos immediate experience, level of awareness, perceptual selectivity and emotional intelligence (Cook-Greuter, 2004). The neural correlates of this ego aspect (in a right-handed person) are theorized in this essay to be the same neural processes found in previous studies to mediate affect and awareness, as well as their optimal integration: the left prefrontal cortex, middle prefrontal areas (Siegel, 2007, p. 42), right hemisphere (Pinel, 2003, p. 444), anterior cingulate cortex (Newberg, 2009, p. 126) and the amygdale (Pinel, 2003, p. 443).

Thinking includes

cognitive

structures

which

facilitate

worldview, narrative interpretations of experience, logic, conceptual thinking and discursive knowledge (Cook-Greuter, 2004). This ego aspect (in a right-handed person) is most likely correlated with neural development in the frontal cortex, especially the prefrontal lobes (Waller, 2007, p. 90) and the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex (Siegel, 2007, p. 45). As such, thinking represents the cognitive framework that organizes all meaning-making and interpretation.

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Doing is the operative aspect of the ego, the sense of overarching purpose and need which inform motivation and action (Cook-Greuter, 2004). The primary neural correlates of this ego function are postulated in this essay to be the limbic system (Waller, 2007, p. 48), the dopamine-cingulate cortex feedback system (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 37-8), and the bliss chemical system, which includes endogenous opioids, oxytocin and norepinephrine (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 38). And because this function is associated with motivation, it is implicitly included in Maslows hierarchy of needs (Fuller, 2008. p. 132).

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CHAPTER 3:

Ego Development, Neural Integration and the Resolution of Opposites

A ego compelling functions with pattern are their neural perception mode emerges when these three matched proposedS mode + thinking/left

correlates: being/right

perception= doing/limbic -neurochemical motivation (L-N-M) system activation (see Figure 1). In other words, the degree of neural integration within the evolutionarily recent neocortex influences and tempers the evolutionarily primitive L-N-M system, and therefore behavior, to the same degree. More specifically, this neural integration refers to the degree to which right modes of direct experience and left modes of interpreting those experiences are harmoniously consolidated. The resulting motivation reflects the level of global neural integration (or lack thereof) within the brain. Levels of egoand, consequently, spiritualdevelopment reflect correlating levels of

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neural and is

integration the

(Siegel, 2007, p. 40), therefore in degree to which one harmonious with relationship

oneself and others (Siegel, 2007, p. 39). In essence, this a

pattern

reflects

dialectical relationship between the right and left cerebral hemispheres and their correlated ego functions (being and thinking, respectively), so that the predominant motivation (i.e., the doing ego function) of each level of ego development represents a resolution of opposites which were unresolved at the previous level of development. As the present stage of development gives rise to a new value system, the new value systems apparent oppositesarising from previously unconscious, conditioned beliefsemerge in order to be recognized, gently confronted and consciously resolved (Hawkins, 2006b, p. 337). As the opposites specific to a level of ego development are resolved, identification decreases with that level and increases with the next, higher level (Hawkins, 2006b, p. 337). This book also theorizes that the L-N-M system then reflects the resolution of those previous opposites via a more complex motivational structure inherent to the new level of development. At this new stage, a new value system and its

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more subtle set of opposites then arise, with each successive stage exhibiting progressively deeper and more elusive sets of opposites, until eventually all opposites are transcended and dissolved.

Because each level of development represents a distinct and somewhat stable value system, each of which acts as a subtle ordering structure to help guide neural Allen, requires functioning 2007), (Schwartz & McIntosh its (2007) own

theorizes that each set of values discomfort-producing antithesis to act as an impetus for incurring movement to the next, more complex level of meaning-making (p. 35).

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Philosopher Georg Hegels (1979) basic premise, in fact, was that the tension arising out of such conflict potentially gives rise to ever higher expressions of life (p. 231-2). Evidence in the field of nonlinear thermodynamics has revealed that far-from-equilibrium states comprise a vital part of the context out of which more heterogeneous forms of life can emerge (Prigogine, 1984, p. 140). It has also been theorized that, in much the same way that higher states of equilibrium act as attractors toward which order is directed out of chaos (Prigogine, 1984, p. 121-2), highermore harmoniousstages of development likewise act as attractors toward which turbulent expressions of consciousness evolve (Howard, 2005, p. 448). In this manner, each higher stage of development serves as an attractor which draws or evolves a resolution out of the midst of subjective and neurological conflict. Consciousness itself can be seen as the ultimate attractor with which the mind progressively aligns (Combs, 2002, p. 8), with each stage of alignment representing positions along an evolutionary learning curve (Hawkins, 2001, p. 307-17). The resulting synthesis of each stage of resolution may imply the growing influence of right modes of perception (in a right-handed person), since the right mode of perception is believed to be predominantly involved in focused attention

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(Nataraja, 2008, p. 96). Such attention is required for attending to any conflictwithout the interference of left mode analysisand eventually dissolving it via nonverbal, holistic awareness and discernment of the greater context in which the seeming conflict arises (Nataraja, 2008, p. 96). Re-contextualization is the primary route through which such resolution emerges (Hawkins, 2006-a, p. 207), possibly mediated by the cross-modal wiring that has been postulated to exist within the right hemisphere, otherwise lacking in the left hemisphere (Siegel, 2007, p. 45). An increase in right mode dominance has also been linked to the emergence of spiritual endeavor (Hawkins, 2005, p. 62-3), religious experience (Mathew, 2002, p. 11), intuition, present-moment awareness and optimism (Taylor, 2006, p. 18, 146), all of which involve varying degrees of mindfulness. Mindful attention, then, can be seen as an escape from the egocentric pull of ingrained left-mode interpretation and a gateway into right mode, present-moment, holistic awareness (Nataraja, 2008, p. 96).

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It has been asserted by various theorists that as many as 66 percent (Fehmi, 2007, p. 131) to 92 percent (Taylor, 2006, p. 28) of humanity operates predominantly in left modes of expression. Cook-Greuter estimates that 85 percent of the world population resides in the conventional levels of development (Cook-Greuter, 2004), which, along with other evidence, would seem to indicate a predominance of left mode meaning-making at those levels. Subsequent sections of this essay will present a more succinct picture of how the alternating dominance of left and right modes of perception relates to spiritual development; but for now, it is sufficient to theorize that neural integration between the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex in fact embodies the dialectical process comprising spiritual development.

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CHAPTER 4:

Hemispheric Dialectics and the Stages of Development

Reflecting the left-right, alternating and dialectical neurological process previously theorized, Cook-Greuters successive stages of development progress along the arc, alternating between individualism and integration (2004). Neurologically speaking, this alternating cycle correlates with left and right modes of expression, respectively. Additionally, this alternation represents a continual cycling between the yang (masculine individualism) and yin (feminine communal orientation) of Taoist philosophy.

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The arc of this developmental schemaon the macro levelis such that the first half of the arc represents a primarily knowledge-oriented, linguistically constructed basis for meaning-making, and the second half of the arc represents a gradual increase in intuitive, nonverbal, wisdom-oriented expressions of life (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Right modes of operation have also been associated with the capacity for nonlinear, nondual forms of knowledge (Hawkins, 2008, p. 79). As this book theorizes, the modes of meaning along the first half of the arc exemplify increasing left modes of interpretation, and those of the second half represent right modes of being and direct experience (see Figure 2). The first half of the arc experiences life in a dualistic manner, whereas the latter half of the arc epitomizes the progression of more receptive, nondual ways of knowing and being. More specifically, the first two or three years of life are dominated by right brain processes (Geschwind & Galaburda, 1987;Godwin, 2004, p. 112). As such, this essay asserts that the arc of development begins with right mode dominance, increasing in left mode dominance at the top of the arc, and moving back to right mode integration near the end of the arc, so that left modes of rational thought become situated within the greater context of right modes of supra-rational being (see Figure 3).

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The schema is such that both the beginning and ending of the arc appear to be very similar, since both levels of development involve a predominance of right mode operation. However, in keeping with Wilbers (2000) notion of the pre/trans fallacy (p. 245), this essay agrees that the beginning right mode is one of fusion rather than holistic integration. As Godwin (2004) has shown, the nonverbal functioning of the right brain at this stage has no means of labeling and distinguishing between various objects, states and experiences (p. 112), and therefore has no means of recognizing novelty and uniqueness. As a result, all experience is fused together as a heap rather than an integrated whole (Wilber, 2000, p. 280). This book further theorizes that, as left modes become increasingly available, they eventually dominate perception, resulting in the growing experience of differentiation and separation. With further development, then, a reemergence of

20

right modes of experience brings with it an awakening to the direct experience of connection, unity and freedom. The phenomenological difference between the so-called end and beginning stages is that, with the end stage, left modes of differentiation, while being situated within the larger context of right mode perception, allow for a simultaneous recognition of the uniqueness of all beingsas well as the underlying unity out of which they emerge, with the latter recognition comprising ones deepest sense of reality.

Remarkably, Cook-Greuters model fits very well with the Vedic psychology of the three gunasthe three the qualities gunas of to nature: tamas, rajas and sattva. Applying

Cook-Greuters model, the arc clearly begins at tamasthe operating principle of ignorance and inertia (Ghose, 2001, p. 417)and reaches an apex at rajasthe energizing principle of desire and action (Ghose, 2001, p. 414), with all the stages falling

21

between these two qualities representing various combinations of the two influences. Near the end of the arc rests sattva, the principle of harmony and equilibrium (Ghose, 2001, p. 415). The consecutive stages arising between rajas and sattva represent increasing levels of peace and happiness. And, of course, beyond the three gunas is moksha, utter release from primary identification with the mind and body as the loci of the self (see Figure 4). PRECONVENTIONAL STAGES Presocial Symbiotic Beginnings

As the name suggests, this stage implies that all individuals are uniformly embedded in the world when they arrive, undifferentiated from the surrounding world (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Basic survival needs represent the greatest priority at these stages, and therefore correlate mainly with the physiological level of Maslows needs hierarchy (Ewen, 2003, p. 220).

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Because brain plasticityand its capacity to be molded by experienceis so dynamic at this stage, development at this point can have lasting effects throughout the lifespan. Stage 1: Impulsive Here, the sense of self is rudimentary, and others are seen primarily as a means for getting needs met. As such, others are judged to be good or bad by whether or not they meet impulsive these elementary, needs. Primary identification, at this stage, is with the body, and the primary motivation is the seeking of pleasure and the avoidance of pain (Cook-Greuter, 2004). The predominant brain structures in play include the right hemisphere (Siegel, 2007, p. 45) and limbic system (Joseph, 1982; Waller, 2007, p. 35), between which at this time extensive neural circuitry already exists (Tucker, 1981, 1992).

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Additionally, because pleasure seeking and the avoidance of pain are strong motivations at this stage, it is reasonable to say that the neuromodulators and neuropeptides associated with pleasure seeking and the avoidance of pain are also in play. These include dopamine, endogenous opioids, oxytocin, norepinephrine and cortisol (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 36-7). Of all these structures, the amygdale, situated on either side of the limbic system deep within the center of the brain, are easily the most active. And because they share a fast track to the thalamus (Goleman, 1995, p. 18), they mediate the perception of negative information within the brain much faster than positive information (Jiang & He, 2006; Vaish, Grossmann, & Woodward, 2008; Yang, Zald, & Blake, 2007). Based on additional evidence for prevalent limbic influence on the personality (Baumeister, et al, 2001; Peeters & Czapinski, 1990), Waller theorizes that this negativity bias generates negative emotional experiences in response to unmet emotional needs, which then leave their indelible imprint upon the limbic system (Waller, 2007, p.80).

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These imprints are theorized to act as attractors (a term used in nonlinear dynamics to denote systemic patterns toward which physical systems tend to evolve), around which the chaotic energy of the limbic system forms, thereby deeply embedding those negative experiences into the L-N-M systems neural circuitry (Godwin, 2004, p. 112; Schore, 2003, p. 4). Waller (2007) further theorizes that, because the limbic system is almost fully wired by age five (p. 35), many years before the higher order cognitive processes of the frontal and prefrontal lobes come online, and because limbic generated emotion has been shown to be involved in all intentional behavior (Freeman, 2000), these imprints play a large role in motivation throughout life (Waller, 2007, p. 50), though the emergence of greater awareness in later developmentafforded by the increasing influence of the frontal lobescan facilitate the release of such limitations, paving the way for deeper, more authentic levels of motivation. At this stage, both the degree to which the primary caregiver is resonantly attuned to the childs inner state and the degree to

25

which the child feels felt by the caregiver, set the foundationor the lack thereoffor the kind of neural integration that can facilitate healthy development (Siegel, 2007, p. 39). With the immediacy of the impulses at this stage, the more sublime needs of aesthetics and spiritual meaning are not yet perceived (Ewen, 2003, p. 220). Stage 2: The Opportunist (Self-Protective) A defining characteristic of this self-protective stage of development is that the ego is still largely inexperienced at peering deeply into its true motivations (Cook-Greuter, 2004). From this perspective the ego experiences most interpersonal encounters as potential win-lose situations, where only one party can come away truly satisfied from the encounter. As a consequence of this fear-based, dualistic view, the ego views most situations in terms of its own desires and needs, and very little awareness of the other is possible (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Because socially-oriented prefrontal activity is not yet

predominant at this stage, the L-N-M and endocrine gland systems are leading the show (Waller, 2007, p. 35), which means that self-serving opportunism, backed by the energy of rajas, is the order of the day. While this stage exhibits a new awareness of others as having their own desires, it is also the beginning of seeing the world as separate from oneself. At this juncture, the parietal lobes, which together mediate the experience of a self/other boundary separated by space (Nataraja, 2008, p. 85), are mediating the first emergence of social awareness.

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CONVENTIONAL STAGES

Cook-Greuter estimates that 80 percent of the global adult population falls within the range of the conventional stages of development, the majority of which tend to shift from the Expert stage to the Conscientious stage (Cook-Greuter, 2004). At this point, the next three need-levels of Maslows hierarchy begin to surface: safety, belonging and esteem (Ewen, 2003, p. 220-2). Stage 3: The Diplomat

(Conformist) The need for and social approval here,

acceptance becomes

apparent

along with a tendency toward the shunning of anyone who does not belong to ones family, nation. social group or with Correlating

both safety

needs and

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belonging needs in Maslows hierarchy, the Diplomat introjects cultural expectations and conforms to them, in order to optimize safety and belongingness at the expense of authentic autonomy and self-expression (Cook-Greuter, 2004). The abilities to look at oneself and prefer socially desirable behavior imply the emergence of activity in both the prefrontal lobes, which mediate introspection (Goldberg, et al, 2006), as well as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is involved in social behavior (Pujol, et al, 2002), though these activations are still inchoate. Stage 4: The Expert (Self-Conscious) Introspection more becomes here,

pronounced

though still to only an elementary degree. The left hemisphere now begins to mediate higher levels of both rationality and individuality, bringing with it a need to distinguish oneself from family members. Abstract concepts start to appear, along with judgments about whether or not others meet personal standards. Maslows esteem needs begin to come into play here, as the ego can now start to declare the needs it once repressed (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

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Stage 5: The Achiever (Conscientious) As the full ego-equivalent of Maslows esteem-needs level of motivation, the Achiever stage of development sets goals, makes plans, expects results, and prefers as friends those who hold similar values. Rationalitymediated, no doubt, by increased prefrontal and left modes of functioningis considered to be the highest form of expression here, and most of reality is seen in terms of linear causality, with a this causing a that. With a strong belief in scientific objectivity, the Achiever stage views empirical science as the ultimate path to truth (Cook-Greuter, 2004). POSTCONVENTIONAL STAGES With the emergence of the postconventional stages, the ego is now becoming progressively able to integrate multiple perspectives into a systemic frame of reference, in which the self is experienced as a part of a bigger whole (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Therefore, these stages represent the spectrum of development ranging from the very to beginning his of later Maslows self-actualization stage

postulated self-transcendence stage, mediated in large part by the increasing integration of right modes of holistic and direct experience.

Stage 6: The Individualist

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Conscious

of

the

reality of relativism, this stageepitomized by postmodernismcan sometimes take relativism too far by claiming that all truth, in general, is relative, not realizing the self-contradicting nature of that statement. If indeed all truth is relative, then even that statement must be relative, thereby effectively canceling itself out. Awareness of interdependency begins to emerge at this stage, making the way for an inchoate comprehension self-actualization of are systems. present Occasional here, tastes and of peak

experiencesthough still somewhat sparsebecome more frequent as well (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Stage 7: The Strategist (Autonomous) Integrative systems-thinking becomes more prominent at this stage, accompanied by the capacity to recognize long-term systemic patterns. Because right modes of holistic awareness are now becoming the context in which left modes of rational theory are situated, the being-needs of Maslows self-actualization stage of motivation now begin to emerge (Fuller, 2008, p. 140). In addition, this stage has the capacity to face and accept many disparate aspects of the self, including the shadow (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

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Stage 8: The Magician (Construct-Aware) At this stage, language as a human construct becomes readily apparent, as does the self/other construct. Paradox can be comfortably contained, and an increasing ability to silently witness ones thoughts, feelings and mental phenomena has emerged. As such, habitual judgments are now consciously observed, with the recognition that they are largely results of an attempt to avoid the dissolution of a solid sense of self perceived to be the locus of identity (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Maslows being-cognition (Fuller, 2008, p. 138-40) is now in play, resulting in the egos capacity to benefit from nonrationalor supra-rationalsources of knowledge (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Stage 9: The Ironist (Unitive)A profound sense of belongingness and connection has now become the predominant mode of being. Regardless of their outer condition or appearance, others can now be deeply welcomed and identified with. Multiple perspectives are readily accepted, and being-needs represent the most prevalent level of motivation. Empathetic connection and

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acceptance

are,

at

this

stage,

common

experiences

(Cook-Greuter, 2004). Peak experiences have mostly subsided and are replaced by plateau experiences, a unitive form of experience wherein all of liferanging from despair to ecstasyis fully embraced and valued as precious (Krippner, 1972, p. 113).

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CHAPTER 5:

The Neural Substrates of Obfuscation

From an Eastern view, particularly one influenced by the Vedas, the personality arises as the result of identifying with both inherited karmic traits (genetic and psychological in nature) and environmental conditioning (Waller, 2007, p. 140), both of which deeply impact neural development (Mundkur, 2005; Sarnot & Menkes, 2000). In this view, when such conditioning is deeply identified with, it solidifies the experience of a solid self and personality.

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In early

the

stages of develop ment, then, the fledgling limbic system becomes imprinte d the experien ces of both met and unmet emotional needs (Waller, 2007, p. 80), giving rise to reactive and goal-oriented motifs that are eventually and mistakenly identified as the self (Godwin, 2004, p. 122). From this perspective, they are nothing more than culturally conditioned neurological responses being animated by the life force (Sadleir, 2003, p. 12). Also known as prana (Krishna, 1997, p. 68), this life force is a somewhat superficial aspect of a deeper creative power, referred to in 2006, yogic p. traditions 237), as the kundalini-shakti (Goswami, which with

unconsciously animates bodily processes, giving rise to the mental and emotional content of the phenomenal mind (Muktananda, 1978, p. 48), with which an aspect of the underlying consciousness identifies.

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The aforementioned limbic conditioning is theorized by Waller (2007) to give rise to a dialogical self, the ever-active and automatic self-talk activated by limbic attachments and aversions (p. 65). By consistently recruiting other brain areas into its employ, Waller speculates that this limbic-generated, dialogical self regularly hijacks the frontal lobes and thereby significantly biases perception (p. 50). Identification, in his view, is seen as taking place by way of the prefrontal function mistakenly identifying the dialogical self as the locus of the self, since the prefrontal lobes do not fully develop until long after the voice of the dialogical self has become active (p. 73). Waller further speculates that various complexes of limbic with attractorseach correlated beliefs,

biases, attachments and aversionseventually form sub-personalities (p. 140). The L-N-M system identity, viewed therefore, as is virtually

enfolding itself around ones true nature, obfuscating it. And because the developmental groundwork for thought and emotion have been laid in early development, the continued animation of thoughts and emotionsgenerated through unconscious energetic processes within existing neural networksgives rise to the conditioned mind (Sadleir, 2009, March 10).

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CHAPTER 6:

The Neurological Origins of the Personal Unconscious

Based on findings in attachment psychology and (Hofer, 1983; Scheflen, 1990) interpersonal neurobiology (Tomasello, Trevarthen, Schore postulates early 1993; 1993), (2003), that, in development,

the parents brain acts as a complimentary brain through which the infant brain downloads important survival programs (p. 13). As this downloading continues, the infant brain resonantly connects with the parents brain, thereby gaining the available circuitry by which it can organize toward greater levels of complexity (p. 41). The forming personality, therefore, is the product of this interpersonal downloading process (p. 3).

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Godwin (2004) theorizes that, because the right brain is predominant during this crucial process, left modes of operation are unavailable for labeling disturbing emotional experiences (p. 112), so that such experiences are unconsciously stored in the extensive circuitry already developed between the right hemisphere and the limbic system, making this system the neural correlate of the personal unconscious (p. 112). This theory might explain why the unconscious, in Jungs psychology, is so often associated with imagery (also associated with right hemispheric function) and limbic-generated affect (Miller, 2004, p. 25). The discovery that negative affect is most associated with right hemispheric activity (Davidson, 1992) may possibly be explained as the result of this right-originating personal unconscious. Therefore, the higher stages of development, wherein the personal unconscious is more readily acknowledged and integrated, may very well represent an integration of right modes of perception. While this postulated neural correlate of Jungs personal unconscious has been criticized by others, due to the fact that many unconscious processes involve much more than right hemispheric and limbic processes, this criticism fails to recognize that Jungs description of the personal unconscious includes almost exclusively processes involved with affect and imagery (Miller, 2004, p. 25), at the exclusion of other unconscious processes.

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CHAPTER 7:

The Way Out

While numerous studies have produced substantial empirical evidence for the hypothesis that contemplative practice can significantly reduce the conditioned responses of the amygdale and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007; Greeson, et al, 2001; Jain, et al, 2007; Ramel, et al, 2004), contemplative traditions have for ages acted as the laboratories in which such practices have been developed. One such tradition, mystical Christianity, has much to say about how the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2, King James Version) can lead to a transformative dis-identification with the old man of the flesh and a new embodiment of the spirit (Romans 8:1, King James Version). The old man, as Waller (2007) sees it, is the limbic-generated, dialogical self (p. 83). Subsequently, he views deeper identification with conscious awareness as the substrate of experiencewhich he associates with increased prefrontal functionas the means of renewing the mind (pp. 90-91). The Narrow Gate Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14, New American Standard Bible). He is also recorded as having stated, . . . the kingdom of heaven is within you (Luke

38

17:21, New International Version). Buddhist teaching in the Madhyamaka tradition likewise emphasizes potential the for

enlightenment (which can be seen as the Buddhist equivalent of the kingdom of heaven) as being readily available (Lama, 1995, p. 29).Yet the conditioned mind remains oblivious to the liberating reality of its immediate proximity. This book theorizes that the wide gate that leads to destruction is the culturally and neurologically conditioned mind, which is oblivious to the enlightened Buddha-nature. Inherent in this conditioning are top-down processesglobal neuronal movements that entrain and therefore distort local processes involved in perception (Engel, Fries, & Singer, 2001; Haken and Stadler, 1990). Through this top-down process, certain neural networks create persuasive attractor patterns (Hoffman, 1992), some of which have been linked to various psychiatric disorders (Li & Spiegel, 1992). It is further theorized here that the narrow gate which leads to life is nothing other than the mindful and conscious awareness of the Buddha-natureconsciousness as presencewithin; i.e., meta-awarenessthe awareness of awareness. This gate,

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then, is narrow because it is mediated by both an enlightened intention and an exclusive neural circuit involving the middle prefrontal areas, which work to preclude the top-down neural processes involved in the expectations of attachment and aversion arising from the conditioned mind (Siegel, 2007, p. 82). Sometimes referred to as a bottom-up process (Siegel, 2007, p. 137), this narrow gate involves present-moment awareness, attentive not only of mental and bodily processes (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 441), but of conscious presence as well (Waller, 2007, p. 30). This anchoring of awareness in the present moment, as such, acts to override the conditioned mind.

This books theory regarding the narrow gate is congruent with the attention-gate theory, which states that attention acts like a gate, recruiting neurological cooperation, thereby exerting mental influence over the brain (Davidson & Neville, 2004). Begley (2007) has documented an example of this gate-function

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of attention, offered by scientist Helen Neville: if an individual attentively reads a book while passively listening to music in the background, the visual areas of the brain will be activated and the areas associated with hearing will not. Conversely, if the music is listened to attentively while passively looking at a book, the areas associated with hearing will become active (p. 159). By way of this gate-function, mindful awareness holds the capacity not only for overriding the top-down processes of the conditioned mind, but for recognizing the dialogical self for what it truly isa phantom arising from neurological conditioning (Waller, 2007, p. 64). Waller (2007) has stated that prefrontal-mediated witnessing of--rather than identifying withthe voice of the dialogical self is the means by which attachment to the ego is diminished (p. 77). The cultivation and establishment of the narrow gate, therefore, down-regulates the amygdale and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007), so that the mosaic voice of the L-N-M system eventually subsides to varying degrees, opening the possibility for the reverberating circuits of meta-awareness to mediate the blissful realization of sat-chit-ananda, a yogic term for the experience of ones true nature as being-consciousness-bliss (Ghose, 2001, p. 161). Nataraja (2008) postulates this process as being neurologically mediated first by activity in the attention association area within the prefrontal lobes, the stabilization of which is followed by a decrease of activity in the right parietal lobe, resulting in an experience of spaciousness and wholeness (p. 85-87). This is believed to trigger a response in the autonomic nervous system,

41

so that the parasympathetic nervous system comes online and mediates a sense of peace and blissfulness (p. 89).

When the activity of the right parietal lobe stabilizes, its activity eventually spills over into the left parietal lobe, helping to mediate the dissolution of the self/other boundary (p. 89). Once balanced, another autonomic response occurs, this time within the sympathetic nervous system, giving rise to the experience of clarity and insight (p. 89). During the simultaneous activation and balancing of (sympathetic) of the yin (parasympathetic) the autonomic nervous and yang both system,

penetrating insight and blissful presence emerge into conscious experience (p. 95). The more this neurophenomenological process is repeated (presumably within the later stages of development), the more identification with that stage of development loosens until such identification ceases altogether,

42

at which time identification with the next stage begins (Wilber, 2000, p. 197). The Neuroscience of Wholeness As previously mentioned, spiritual development is mediated in large part by progressive integration of right brain and left brain processes, especially when healthy right modes of being and awareness become predominant over left analytical modes (see Figure 5). In keeping with Lao Tzus dictum to [k]now the yang, but keep to the yin (Towler & Cleare, 2005, p. 23), this neurological theory of development states that balance between the perceptual modes does not necessarily refer to equal measures of activity in each mode. Rather, in this view, right modes of being become increasingly dominant yet holistically integrated with left modes, so that right modes of awareness become the greater spiritual context in which left modes of analysis and interpretation are formed (see Figure 6), with the result being that rational modes of thought are transcended and included by supra-rational modes of mindful presence. In essence, the direction toward which this neurological process is aimed is the eventual transcendence of the brain and conditioned mind as the loci of the self, which comes with the liberating realization that one does not necessarily have to be the victim of ones neurophysiology. At the same time, though the brain and phenomenal mind are transcended, they are also included as valuable tools for relating to others in the relative world, with the distinction that they are now realized to be ever-changing phenomena rather than the ground of being. As a consequence, not only are certain aspects of behavior now

43

radically shifted, ones personal narrative is, to quote Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, that of a spiritual being having a human experience.

44 References

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