There are books I should read. Michael Talbot's "The Holographic Universe," anything by David Bohm, that one on the shelf at the library on consciousness, "Going Inside."
I am intrigued by the idea that the brain acts as a mechanism which filters out unwanted stimuli and enables us to maintain sanity. That consciousness is inherently "nonlocal," and the brain merely a receiver. In Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of a Yogi" there is the story of his guru, Sri Yukteswar, who acts as a "human radio" and picks up the thoughts of others at a distance. You have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy that book, things happen which rational Western man would be at great pains to explain, but it is truly a classic of spirituality.
There is a guy (or girl) using a bandsaw across the creek and it is 9:00 Saturday night. I think the worst, and worry they are in fact sawing up a human body. Who works at this time? Who blogs at this time?
The premise behind a Near-Death Experience or an Out of Body Experience is that the mind packs up and leaves and goes somewhere else for a while, then comes back to its home. Loads of researchers have written about these phenomena. I think Jung touched on it but I can't find his book in the detritus of my room. Kay Redfield Jamison - I recall a story of her consciousness leaving her body while ill.
So where is consciousness if the brain is just a receiver? Are we trapped in our bodies? I quite fancy going on a tour of the solar system. Care to join me?
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4 comments:
Hi Lach,
Lots of people think that the brain came first, and consciousness evolved from it -- I think that saints like Yogananda would say that consciousness came first; it created the brain. The body, then, is simply a "house."
But that is theoretical -- probably the only way to really know is to experience it!
I should have said: for us, that is theoretical, but the saints may be speaking from experience!
Nabha,
Well it makes sense to me that the brain is responsible for creating consciousness, but some scientists are shifting their focus to this "nonlocal" phenomenon - a rather more "Eastern" way of interpreting how consciousness works. I will definitely read that book I referred to - Going Inside - which propounds the "brain came first" argument, and write a post on it
That would be interesting. If the brain came first, there isn't much hope for us after death! So I suppose for that reason I hope it isn't true -- I wonder if there is evidence of consciousness existing without a brain, or of a brain without consciousness.
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