By Marta A. Elders
(Presented at the 2016 Scientific Symposium)
The purpose of this paper is to examine our understanding of the brain in light of the revelatory information presented in The Urantia Book. We will continue our study by beginning with a brief description of the cosmological context as revealed in The Urantia Book in which evolution occurs. We will then consider the significance of this process, the intricate beauty of this plan, and the structure provided by high-order beings, while simultaneously exploring what we, as evolutionary beings, have discovered. We will discuss the mechanics of the brain, examine the relationship between the brain and the mind, and explore how the brain, through consciousness, becomes a conduit to spirit. We will conclude with a brief overview of the research that supports a relationship between spirituality and our living brain.
From The Urantia Book we know that we are citizens of a small planet, Urantia (Earth) located in Nebadon (our local universe) which is located in Orvonton (our superuniverse/the Milky Way galaxy). We are supervised and guarded by our local universe Creator Son, Michael of Nebadon and his partner, the local universe Creative Mother Spirit. They have accepted the responsibility of administering our local universe and through an evolutionary creative process, bringing it to a state of perfection which will at the same time be a contribution to our God of time and space. Quite an undertaking. Just imagine the kind of preparation required! The enormity of the plan. What kind of strategy must be planned? How will it be initiated and maintained? The Urantia Book provides some insight into these questions by revealing the mechanism planned by the Life Carriers: The existence and evolution of the human brain.
Evolution is a divine project, masterfully constructed, initiated and promoted, through which perfection is realized in time and space. Evolution is essentially a linear process that must absolutely begin at the beginning and respond to initial planetary needs while being flexible enough to grow and transform over time in ways that are useful in the journey toward perfection. This creative ideal must be realized in time and space. This process must adapt to the demands of the realms of matter, mind and spirit.
We are informed that 987 billion years ago an inspecting force organizer reported that conditions were favorable for an initial materialization process in this area of Orvonton. Then, after receiving the proper permit, 900 billion years ago the process of inauguration and organization of energy began.
875 billion years ago, the Power Directors arrived in this superuniverse to prepare the material environment for the Creator Son to undertake his time-space adventure with his partner, the universe presence of the Infinite Spirit. They energetically prepared the stage upon which the Creator Son would make real his time-space potential in partnership with this universal presence of the Infinite Spirit, our local universe Mother Spirit. This is what a Mighty Messenger tells us:
The Creator Sons are preceded in universe organization by the power directors and other beings originating in the Third Source and Center. From the energies of space, thus previously organized, Michael, your Creator Son, established the inhabited realms of the universe of Nebadon and ever since has been painstakingly devoted to their administration. From pre-existent energy these divine Sons materialize visible matter, project living creatures, and with the co-operation of the universe presence of the Infinite Spirit, create a diverse retinue of spirit personalities. (UB 32:2.1)
The first creative act of Michael and the universal presence of the Infinite Spirit brought into existence the Bright and Morning Star, Gabriel. He serves our local universe as its chief executive. Following his appearance, a multitude of diverse creatures and personalities were brought into existence. Among the first arrivals were the Life Carriers, the Melchizedek Father, and the Melchizedek order. Since the purpose of this study is to compare aspects of divine purpose as revealed in The Urantia Book with our current neuropsychological understanding of the brain, we will concentrate on those beings whose task it is to plan, develop, and instigate life, particularly in relation to the brain and mind.
In preparation for the initiation of life on a material sphere, the Life Carriers have wisely tested and selected dynamic techniques, providing a mechanism to promote evolution. Because we happen to be a decimal planet, new possibilities can be tested and implemented during the evolutionary process, in addition to these early preparations.
The Life Carriers, under the supervision of Father Melchizedek, were responsible for the design and development of a living instrument through which the mind connects with the material realm. This relationship between mind and matter evolves in such a way that the human mind develops, personality is bestowed, consciousness arises, free-will choices are made, and contact with spirit becomes possible. And what instrument did they design? A brain, a living brain. One Melchizedek comments (UB 49:5.13): The brain and nervous system constitute the only uniform characteristic of mortals. As he goes on to describe the various organizations of this mechanism (one-brain, two-brain, and three-brain types), the reality that all mortals utilize this mechanism, this living brain, in their planetary journey to God is powerful. It is clear that this evolutionary system is designed to serve the evolution of life on a planet from its earliest stages to those of light and life; from matter to spirit via the mind.
Marta A. Elders
Biographie Professionnelle. Marta Elders a une license de psychologie et pratique en cabinet privé à Norwalk, CT, États-Unis, où elle travaille avec des adultes et des couples. Elle a obtenu sa licence de psychologue conseil au Teacher’s College de l’ Université de Columbia, NY en 1989. Après sa licence elle a suivi plusieurs spécialisations: « La mort et le mourant » (Teresa Rando), EMDR (Traumas complexes, troubles psychologiques, Désensibilisation et Reprocessement des mouvements oculaires, Francine Shapiro), IPNB (Neurobiologie Interpersonnelle avec Daniel Siegel), Neurofeedback (NeurOptimal de Sue et Val Brown à Zengar), Enquête Appreciative et Trauma (Bessel Van Der Kolk, Don Kalsched). Elle a également complété le Leadership Training dans BodySoul Rhythms, un travail intégré basé sur Jung alliant rêves, travail vocal, mouvement corporel et compréhension archétype sous la direction de Marion Woodman, Mary Hamilton et Anne Skinner.
Biographie personnelle.
Marta étudie Le Livre d’Urantia depuis plus de 40 ans. Elle vit actuellement à Rowayton, CT USA avec son mari David. Elle a deux fils adultes mariés et cinq petits-enfants très spéciaux. À l’heure actuelle, elle est fiduciaire associée de la Fondation Urantia et de l’UBIS (Urantia Book Internet School) dans laquelle elle facilite également des cours UBIS. Elle a présenté plusieurs conférences et a organisé des ateliers et des retraites. Sa passion est le travail sur l’âme.
Les citations suivantes du Livre d’Urantia fournissent quelques aperçus de ces arrangements :
Les Porteurs de Vie et tous leurs associés collaborent avec les Melchizédeks dans ces laboratoires, en faisant des efforts pour modifier, et peut-être améliorer, la vie à implanter sur les planètes décimales de Nébadon. La vie qui évolue aujourd’hui sur Urantia fut préparée et partiellement élaborée sur ce monde même, car Urantia est une planète décimale, un monde expérimental de vie.
(Et, puisque la vie intellectuelle se développe en partant de la vie physique et en s’appuyant sur elle, c’est ainsi que les vingtquatre ordres fondamentaux d’organisation psychique viennent à l’existence.)
La sphère numéro quatre et ses satellites tributaires sont consacrés à l’étude de l’évolution de la vie des créatures en général, et aux antécédents évolutionnaires de chaque niveau de vie en particulier. Il faut que le plasma vital originel d’un monde évolutionnaire contienne dans sa plénitude le potentiel nécessaire à toutes les variations de développement futures et à tous les changements et modifications évolutionnaires ultérieurs… dans et à travers tout ce long processus, court le fil des formules sages et intelligentes établies par les auteurs originaux du plan de vie planétaire et du développement des espèces. Les multiples sous-produits de l’évolution biologique sont tous essentiels pour que les formes supérieures de vie intelligente puissent fonctionner pleinement et définitivement,
Le monde numéro cinq s’occupe entièrement de la vie associée au mental. Chacun de ses satellites est consacré à l’étude d’une seule phase du mental de la créature relié à la vie de la créature. Le mental tel que les hommes le comprennent est un don des sept esprits-mentaux adjuvats, surimposé par les agents de l’Esprit Infini, aux niveaux du mental non enseignable ou machinal. Les modèles de vie réagissent diversement à ces adjuvats et aux divers ministères spirituels opérant dans les univers du temps et de l’espace. La capacité des créatures matérielles de réagir spirituellement dépend entièrement de leurs dotations mentales associées, qui à leur tour ont orienté le cours de l’évolution biologique de ces mêmes créatures mortelles.LU 36:2.15-18
Et, concernant la façon dont opèrera un circuit neural dans le domaine matériel, un Conseiller Divin déclare:
Les sensations voyagent vers l’intérieur sur les sentiers neuraux. Certaines sont retenues par les centres spinaux automatiques inférieurs qui réagissent. D’autres parviennent aux centres du cerveau inférieur, moins automatiques, mais éduqués par l’habitude. Enfin, les messages vitaux les plus importants court-circuitent ces centres subordonnés et sont immédiatement enregistrés dans les niveaux supérieurs de la conscience humaine.LU 7:3.4
Plus loin on nous informe que:
Désormais l’évolution suivra la croissance du cerveau et non la masse du corps; le développement du cerveau caractérisera chaque époque successive de l’évolution animale et du progrès planétaire.LU 60:2.14
Et alors que le cerveau croit, le mental se connectera au moyen des circuits mentaux des sept adjuvats :
Durant le long développement évolutionnaire de la vie planétaire, ces infatigables ministres du mental avaient sans cesse noté leur propre aptitude croissante à entrer en contact avec les facultés cérébrales des animaux, facultés qui s’amplifiaient à mesure que les créatures animales progressaient.
Au début, seull’esprit d’intuition pouvait agir sur le comportement instinctif et soumis aux réflexes de la vie animale élémentaire. Quand les types plus élevés se différencièrent, l’esprit de compréhension put attribuer à ces créatures la faculté d’associer spontanément des idées. Plus tard, nous vîmes opérer l’esprit de courage; les animaux en cours d’évolution acquirentréellement une forme rudimentaire de conscience protectrice. À la suite de l’apparition des groupes de mammifères, nous vîmes l’esprit de connaissance se manifester dans une mesure accrue. de cette triple activité créatrice, il se développe une capacité physique organique du mental des mécanismes matériels destinés à réagir intelligemment aux stimulus du milieu externe, et Puis l’évolution des mammifères supérieurs permit le fonctionnement de l’esprit de conseil, avec la croissance correspondante de l’instinct grégaire et les débuts d’un développement social primitif.LU 62:6.2-3
Imagine our joy one day—the twins were about ten years old—when the spirit of worship made its first contact with the mind of the female twin and shortly thereafter with the male. We knew that something closely akin to human mind was approaching culmination; and when, about a year later, they finally resolved, as a result of meditative thought and purposeful decision, to flee from home and journey north, then did the spirit of wisdom begin to function on Urantia and in these two now recognized human minds.
There was an immediate and new order of mobilization of the seven adjutant mind-spirits. We were alive with expectation; we realized that the long-waited-for hour was approaching; we knew we were upon the threshold of the realization of our protracted effort to evolve will creatures on Urantia. (UB 62:6.5-6)
So, in summary, a Life Bearer informs us:
BASIC evolutionary material life—premind life—is the formulation of the Master Physical Controllers and the life-impartation ministry of the Seven Master Spirits in conjunction with the active ministration of the ordained Life Carriers. As a result of the co-ordinate function of this threefold creativity there develops organismal physical capacity for mind—material mechanisms for intelligent reaction to external environmental stimuli and, later on, to internal stimuli, influences taking origin in the organismal mind itself. (UB 65:0.1)
The physical brain with its associated nervous system possesses innate capacity for response to mind ministry just as the developing mind of a personality possesses a certain innate capacity for spirit receptivity and therefore contains the potentials of spiritual progress and attainment. Intellectual, social, moral, and spiritual evolution are dependent on the mind ministry of the seven adjutant spirits and their superphysical associates. (UB 65:6.10)
Much of this takes place between the material and mental spheres until the mind manages to reach it.
The adjutants operate exclusively in the evolution of the experiencing mind up to the level of the sixth phase, the spirit of worship. At this level there occurs an inevitable overlap of ministries—the phenomenon of the higher descending to the lower to coordinate with it for later attainment of advanced levels of development. A still additional spiritual ministry accompanies the action of the seventh and final adjutant, the spirit of wisdom. (UB 65:7.7)
These revelations give us a working knowledge of how our physical brain is supposed to function in relation to the mental circuits of the universe and the spiritual ministry available: (Spirit of Truth, Holy Spirit and Thought Adjuster). So what have our scientists and neuroscientists discovered?
From this information in The Urantia Book one might conclude that the brain is the universal mechanism designed by the Life Carriers to enable spiritual reality to descend into physical reality and to evolve the experience of willing human creatures who are beginning the self-conscious upward journey. Significantly, all evolutionary potentials of brain development are built into the life plasma supplied to a planet by the Life Carriers.
More has been discovered and understood about the brain in the last twenty years than in all of previous history. D’Aquili and Newberg in “The Mystical Mind” define the brain as: “the substantive part underlying human thought, experience, and emotion…the organ of the body that allows us to think, feel, and receive input from the outside world.” (p. 21). Our neuroscientists have determined that the brain is made up of three components, the brain stem, the limbic system, and the cerebral cortex, which contains two hemispheres, the right and the left. It is the most complex organ in our body, weighing about three pounds (one and a half kilograms) and composed of about 100 billion neurons with about 1.1 trillion cells. Each neuron receives about 5,000 synapses of connections and receives signals from neurotransmitters that induce an axon to fire or not. The possible combinations of 100 billion neurons activating, or not, are 10 to the power of a million (compared to the number of atoms in the universe which is 10 to the power of 80.) Astonishing and incomprehensible.
Neurologists have recently realized that the brain is malleable, that it evolves over time and is capable of changing and adapting to various challenging situations. They refer to this as brain plasticity, a relatively new concept because in the past we thought of the brain as fixed, incapable of changing or growing. The previous understanding essentially said: You got what you were born with and there was nothing more to expect. However, this is not true. We now know that the brain continues to grow and change. Schwartz and Begley share an interesting example of the brain’s flexibility: If the left hemisphere is removed before the age of 4 or 5, a child can still learn to read and write, functions that were previously thought to be available only with a left hemisphere. (p. 99)
Regarding embryonic brain development we now understand that during the first 14 days after fertilization, a ball of cells folds in on itself and the outer surface cells begin to form a tube that will eventually become a spinal cord and brain. After three weeks, the embryo begins to produce neurons and at birth it is estimated that 100 billion nerve cells have been created and all six cortical layers are present. The spinal cord and brain stem are functional and almost fully formed. At birth, the somatosensory cortex is developed so that through sensory input it builds a “map” of the body - from head to toe. Soon after, the motor regions, the parietal lobe, temporal lobe and frontal lobe become activated.
During the first year of life, the sensorimotor cortex, thalamus, brainstem, and cerebellum are all developing. By eight or nine months, there is activity in the frontal lobe and other associated areas, so that there may be social interaction and cognitive activity. The frontal lobe is the locus of judgment, reason, attention, planning, language, and more. During the first two years of life, a child is primarily developing their right brain. With the development of language and the formation of explicit memory, the right brain becomes more active. The frontal lobe area continues to develop through the late teens and early twenties. Throughout this time, emotional regulation, organization, and planning are developing, revealing notable changes during the late teens.
Knowing that the brain only knows an experience as a neural activity, one cannot help but be amazed at the formation and functioning of the mind. Where does it come from? What is it? How does it operate? Where is it located? How does knowledge take place? Etc. Neurologists have begun to discern that the brain and the mind are brains that are constantly growing new connections and pruning old, unused networks. This growth/pruning process illuminates how environmental data can influence the young nervous system and ultimately establish circuits that will make the brain work. The brain wires itself. Experience and environment tend to provide clues.
diagram of a Synapse
As Jeffrey Schwartz comments in “The Mind and the Brain”:
“Plasticity must be a reaction to experience after all, the only thing the brain can know and record about a perception is the pattern of neural activity it induces. This neural representation of the event somehow induces physical changes in the brain at the level of the neurons and their synapses. These physical changes allow the representation of the event to be stored and recalled later… The physical changes are memory.” (p. 108)
There is a second wave of synaptic sprouting, the emergence of new synapses in the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes that occurs just before puberty, usually between the ages of 12 and 16, and continues into the early twenties. This “sprouting” tends to begin a little earlier in girls than in boys and impacts self-control, judgment, and the ability to understand and understand the different functions but are in a meaningful relationship. Dan Siegel, in “Mind Vision,” proposes a tripartite system of brain, mind and relationships suggesting that each component contributes to the growth of the other. This is an interesting concept in light of Schwartz and Begley’s comment that the life we live shapes the brain we develop. What we can begin to perceive here, and which is revealed in The Urantia Book, is the intricate wisdom and beauty that the Life Carriers have brought into the whole process of brain origin and development.
“The physical brain with its associated nervous system possesses innate capacity for response to mind ministry just as the developing mind of a personality possesses a certain innate capacity for spirit receptivity and therefore contains the potentials of spiritual progress and attainment. Intellectual, social, moral, and spiritual evolution are dependent on the mind ministry of the seven adjutant spirits and their superphysical associates.” (UB 65:6.10)
Evolutionary neuroscience has not been able to, and perhaps cannot, realize and appreciate how the mind functions and evolves on this planet. Nevertheless, our scientists perceive the compelling differences between the mind and the brain and the interactions between the two. One can imagine how informative and liberating it would be to know the circuit of intelligence ministry on our planet—the seven adjutant mind-spirits (intuition, understanding, courage, knowledge, counsel, worship, and wisdom).
Interestingly Schwartz and Begley in “The Mind and the Brain” comment:
“Fundamentally, the new physics, combined with emerging neuroscience, suggests that the natural world evolves through an interaction between two causal processes. The first includes the physical processes with which we are familiar—electric flow and the force of gravity. The second includes the contents of consciousness, including volition. The importance of this second process cannot be overstated because it allows human thoughts to make a difference in the evolution of physical events.” (pp. 19-20).
Schwartz goes on to state that there is emerging evidence that “matter alone is not sufficient to generate the mind…there is a ‘mental force’ that is not reducible to the material” (p. 52).
Our nervous system is composed of three main structures: the brainstem, the limbic system, and the cerebral cortex. These constructs reflect our development over the past million years. The brainstem (the reptilian brain) reveals our oldest survival strategies—the flight, escape, or freeze response. It is our most primitive component, it connects our autonomic nervous system (ANS), operates unconsciously, and assigns emotional valence to objects or contents.
Limbic system
The cerebral cortex
The limbic system (the mammalian brain) consists of the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and thalamus. This system lies below the cerebral cortex and on the brainstem. These structures are involved in our emotional reactions and motivations—anger, fear, curiosity, admiration, hatred, shame, love, rage, etc. The limbic system influences our short- and long-term memories and fear reactions. This group of structures has been vital to our survival. The amygdala sounds the alarm, the thalamus sends a wake-up signal to the brainstem, the hypothalamus (primary regulator of the endocrine system) prompts the pituitary gland to signal the adrenal gland to release stress hormones, and the hippocampus regulates the emotional response and forms the memory.
The third structure, the higher cerebral cortex (the human brain) is what truly differentiates us as humans. These two hemispheres are the source of our higher-level cognitive functions, sensory abilities, and motor control. The evolution of the neocortex coincides with the development of language, art, myth, and society.
The living brain as designed by the Life Carriers has not only contributed to our survival from the very earliest stages but also provided a vehicle for life experience, consciousness, the gift of personality and voluntary choice, and has also functioned as a support mechanism for mystical and spiritual experiences.
The Urantia Book reveals that the seven adjutant mind-spirits operate on the material mind level in three realms…one is the subhuman animal level which utilizes the first five adjutants, the second is the human intellect which employs all seven adjutants, and the third is the superhuman realm in which an individual operates on the top two adjutants, worship and wisdom. With respect to our neural system, it is plausible that in subhuman/animal functioning much of the primitive limbic and prefrontal system is utilized. Finally, the superhuman level is most likely a mental quality of the soul.
A Divine Counselor informs us:
In the inner experience of man, mind is joined to matter. Such material-linked minds cannot survive mortal death. The technique of survival is embraced in those adjustments of the human will and those transformations in the mortal mind whereby such a God-conscious intellect gradually becomes spirit taught and eventually spirit led. This evolution of the human mind from matter association to spirit union results in the transmutation of the potentially spirit phases of the mortal mind into the morontia realities of the immortal soul. Mortal mind subservient to matter is destined to become increasingly material and consequently to suffer eventual personality extinction; mind yielded to spirit is destined to become increasingly spiritual and ultimately to achieve oneness with the surviving and guiding divine spirit and in this way to attain survival and eternity of personality existence. (UB 1:3.7)
And a member of the Life Carriers corps adds:
The physiologic equipment and the anatomic structure of all new orders of life are in response to the action of physical law, but the subsequent endowment of mind is a bestowal of the adjutant mind-spirits in accordance with innate brain capacity. Mind, while not a physical evolution, is wholly dependent on the brain capacity afforded by purely physical and evolutionary developments. (UB 58:6.7)
We can therefore see that the mind depends on the mental capacity of the brain for its development while its evolution also depends on its capacity to be driven by the mind.
Hanson and Mendius in “The Buddha’s Brain” point out: When your mind changes, your brain changes too. (p. 5) implying that mental activity creates new neural structures. Clearly this could be a process of dysfunction as well as a process of functioning. LeDoux in “The Synaptic Self” infers that in the laying of these neural pathways, our synaptic self, our brain, becomes who we are and/or how we see and experience ourselves. As mentioned above, the life we lead and the thoughts we entertain shape the brain we develop which, in turn, impacts the human mind we construct and the accessibility of the seven adjutant mind-spirits. To a certain extent the brain and the human mind evolve reciprocally.
Tomaino comments in “Awakening the Brain” saying, “that our consciousness grows with every revelation from another and every self-inspired inspiration.” Since the mind impacts the brain, it can be inferred that the hardware, the brain, is also changed. Growth appears to be a reciprocal process that takes place internally as well as externally.
We have talked about the mind, the brain and consciousness while possibly circling around a sense of the mystical or spiritual brain. What would that be in terms of neuroscience? D’Aquili and Newberg tell us that the brain underlies all experiences of living human beings. It is a “living transformer” necessary for the functioning of the mind.
A Lone Messenger tells us:
At death the functional identity associated with the human personality is disrupted through the cessation of vital motion. Human personality, while transcending its constituent parts, is dependent on them for functional identity. The stoppage of life destroys the physical brain patterns for mind endowment, and the disruption of mind terminates mortal consciousness. The consciousness of that creature cannot subsequently reappear until a cosmic situation has been arranged which will permit the same human personality again to function in relationship with living energy. (UB 112:5.14)
This suggests that this unique personal consciousness, as a facet of the mind, is also temporarily terminated when neural activity is interrupted. When the physical brain is destroyed, it is clear that there is no transformer for use by the human mind and consciousness is unavailable.
The brilliance of the design of our living brain is astonishing. We can observe how this living material structure through its own evolution has supported and continued the evolution of human life and the planet. It can easily be estimated, in light of the teachings available to us in The Urantia Book, that this design incorporates the ways in which humans, through the human mind, can open up and ultimately enter into spiritual states and mystical experience. How could this have been done?
What is needed? How does the brain participate? What triggers it? And where? How does the brain work with the mind? How does the mind use the brain? And what is our current understanding?
The Urantia Book implies that there must be an electrical trigger, i.e. vital pulsations for consciousness to be operative. We know from various studies using fMRI, PET and SPECT scans etc. that brain activity can be recorded and measured. We now know that different sections of the brain respond to different thoughts, feelings and perceptions and reflect them electrochemically. So where in the brain are mystical experiences picked up? What areas seem to be activated or deactivated during these experiences? What is the interaction of our belief systems? What about the myths that support our stories? What about the rituals we use to support our myths? How is each and everyone connected to our brain system? Again, although already mentioned it is worth remembering that:
“2. Brain-type series. The one physical uniformity of mortals is the brain and nervous system; nevertheless, there are three basic organizations of the brain mechanism: the one-, the two-, and the three-brained types. Urantians are of the two-brained type, somewhat more imaginative, adventurous, and philosophical than the one-brained mortals but somewhat less spiritual, ethical, and worshipful than the three-brained orders. These brain differences characterize even the prehuman animal existences.” (UB 49:5.13)
When we reflect on the reality of what “fires the wires,” we can appreciate the power of our belief system and the establishment of correlated neural pathways. Our belief system is supported by the myths we cherish and identify with. Andrew Newberg in his 2012 course on “The Spiritual Brain” describes the brain as a myth-making machine. He considers this characteristic to be one of the significant aspects of this living organ. And while we understand that myths are a product of the mind, we also realize that it is through neural firing in the brain that they can be sustained.
A Mighty Messenger tells us:
Partial, incomplete, and evolving intellects would be helpless in the master universe, would be unable to form the first rational thought pattern, were it not for the innate ability of all mind, high or low, to form a universe frame in which to think. If mind cannot fathom conclusions, if it cannot penetrate to true origins, then will such mind unfailingly postulate conclusions and invent origins that it may have a means of logical thought within the frame of these mind-created postulates. And while such universe frames for creature thought are indispensable to rational intellectual operations, they are, without exception, erroneous to a greater or lesser degree. (UB 115:1.1)
We can see how our human mind uses mythmaking to understand the world. It is how we make sense of (we think) who we are. It offers us possibilities and guidance for making decisions. Myths provide a sense of morality, ethics, right and wrong, origin and destiny. We create our own story and pass on previous stories that we find meaningful, inspiring, and supportive of who we want to be. Our religions are our myths of the day. They inform us, provide our belief systems, structure our way of life, and offer us a sense of purpose and destiny.
Our brain works with our mind to wire the underlying dynamics and support stories about the world. We have always constructed myths. We constructed them to explain the world and make sense of what we cannot understand. We created them to illuminate our journey. The powers of these stories connect us to the most essential parts of ourselves. Old myths and perhaps new ones (see Star Wars and Harry Potter) still embody psychological and spiritual truths that resonate with the psyches and minds of people today. We consider them classic because they continue to speak to us. Our mind will create a story that is coherent and meaningful even if it is not entirely true. These tales often focus on existential affairs polarized by irreconcilable opposites (i.e. life and death, gods and humans etc.). The myth reconciles these opposites and the business is disposed of. We are now “safe”. We understand. We have meaning.
A Melchizedek tells us:
The purpose of religion is not to satisfy curiosity about God but rather to afford intellectual constancy and philosophic security, to stabilize and enrich human living by blending the mortal with the divine, the partial with the perfect, man and God. It is through religious experience that man’s concepts of ideality are endowed with reality. (UB 101:10.5)
Myths, preserved and transmitted, provide order to the world. They are transmitted through legends, maintained and embellished through ritual. A ritual is often put in place to further reinforce the impact of the myth because a ritual involves the entire human body in the act. Thus the myth becomes embodied. This process lays neural pathways in order to both incorporate and maintain the structure of the myth. Rituals are visceral, emotional and cognitive. They concretize the myth through structured and patterned behaviors, both rhythmic and repetitive.
These actions bind the story and reinforce brain patterns. They synchronize emotional, perceptual, cognitive, and motor processes within the individual’s central nervous system (CNS), attaching him or her to the story along with many other participants. And while these protocols support the story, they make it more difficult for an individual to embrace newer, higher-order understanding once prior neural pathways have been established.
Ritual is designed to bring us closer to a higher being. The rhythm of the ritual can stimulate brain activity in the limbic system (hypothalamus and thalamus) and decrease activity in the parietal lobe. It is in the parietal lobe that we seem to have a sense of self that is separate from the world and others. Our sense of time and space is also reflected there. By entering into the ritual one can experience unity or connectedness, and also, paradoxically, intense arousal and/or relaxation. Again, one can appreciate the power and usefulness of developing ceremonies to maintain the belief system. Our beliefs shape our consciousness and awareness. The thoughts we think about, we tend to actualize into reality. These beliefs determine how we “see” things.
These are the glasses through which we look. They can be positive or negative and in both cases we tend to actualize them. A common way to understand this is to think that if you don’t believe it’s possible, it won’t happen. (Tomaino, p. 12). And, of course, there is the opposite effect in placebo terms so that if we believe it will happen, it is possible that it will happen. Rituals tend to intensify a situation, incorporating thoughts, feelings and sensations that were/are fundamental to primitive healing techniques.
While we can appreciate the evolutionary contributions of beliefs and rituals and the bridge they provide, it is also important for us to maintain awareness of their limitations. As one Melchizedek reminds us:
Belief is always limiting and binding; faith is expanding and releasing. Belief fixates, faith liberates. But living religious faith is more than the association of noble beliefs; it is more than an exalted system of philosophy; it is a living experience concerned with spiritual meanings, divine ideals, and supreme values; it is God-knowing and man-serving. Beliefs may become group possessions, but faith must be personal. Theologic beliefs can be suggested to a group, but faith can rise up only in the heart of the individual religionist. (UB 101:8.2)
Many people have reported having spiritual and mystical experiences as a result of various rituals be it drumming, fasting, singing, prayer, meditation, dancing, etc. If we accept that the brain has neurologically supported many of our experiences, one may wonder if, how and where it might allow these altered states to continue.
Mystical experiences have several self-reported characteristics. They tend to unite, they are “felt” as real, there is a sense of reality. Many say the experience is indescribable, ineffable. This may seem paradoxical. The experience is outside of time and space. In the introduction to “The Mystical Mind” D’Aquili and Newberg (p. 15) reaffirm Frederick Streng’s six types of religious/mystical experiences. One is the luminous experience of the sacred. Another possibility is the transformative experience of reorientation. A third possibility suggests a newfound courage in the face of suffering and death. Another is a moral experience of obligation. The fifth type is an experience of order and creativity in the world—everything makes sense. The sixth type is a mystical experience of unity. A mystical experience is seen as the process by which an individual might enter the realm of God or ultimate reality.
Neurotheology, theology conceived from a neuropsychological perspective, is a study of the relationship between the brain and spirituality, which was proposed by Andrew Newberg. Through this approach, he explores how the mind/brain operates in regard to an individual’s relationship with God or an ultimate reality. His theory hypothesizes that our brains incorporate a neurological mechanism that can support self-transcendence and open up the spiritual realm to us. He says that with neurotheology one can begin to “understand the need for humans to structure myths, understand the brain mechanisms involved in this structure, understand the need for rituals and how these are generated by the brain, how they embody myth and its personal and social effects. Neurotheology can explain the need for ascetic practices and affect it and the nature and consequences of meditation.” (1999, p.12).
Newberg proposes that we cannot understand religion without understanding the mind and brain and that we are unable to understand the mind and brain without understanding religion. Furthermore, he refers to the mind as mystical, implying that it leads to a unified understanding of both science and religion.
A Melchizedek reveals:
Even the discoveries of science are not truly real in the consciousness of human experience until they are unraveled and correlated, until their relevant facts actually become meaning through encircuitment in the thought streams of mind. Mortal man views even his physical environment from the mind level, from the perspective of its psychological registry. It is not, therefore, strange that man should place a highly unified interpretation upon the universe and then seek to identify this energy unity of his science with the spirit unity of his religious experience. Mind is unity; mortal consciousness lives on the mind level and perceives the universal realities through the eyes of the mind endowment. The mind perspective will not yield the existential unity of the source of reality, the First Source and Center, but it can and sometime will portray to man the experiential synthesis of energy, mind, and spirit in and as the Supreme Being. But mind can never succeed in this unification of the diversity of reality unless such mind is firmly aware of material things, intellectual meanings, and spiritual values; only in the harmony of the triunity of functional reality is there unity, and only in unity is there the personality satisfaction of the realization of cosmic constancy and consistency. (UB 102:2.5)
Newberg comments in “Why God Won’t Go Away” (pp. 145-146)
“…the mind remembers the mystical experience with the same degree of clarity and sense of reality that it accords to memories of ‘real’ past events. The same cannot be said of hallucinations, illusions or dreams. We believe that this sense of reality strongly suggests that the accounts of the mystics are not indications of a confused mind but are the proper, predictable neurological result of a stable, coherent mind that wants to place itself on a higher spiritual plane.”
Much of the research regarding mystical and spiritual experiences comes from self-reports. With the advent of neuroimaging techniques researchers have more sophisticated instruments with which to study these religious, spiritual, mystical experiences (RSMEs). What is similar and what is different? How is it that the brain “allows” us to be spiritual? Is there a way for us to examine these experiences neurologically? What happens in the brain during, or following, a religious/mystical experience? Where is there a significant trigger? And what happens in the brain during reported “quiet” states? What brain activity can be noted during prayer? During deep meditation? Is what we find consistent over time and between participants?
Meditators have reported that during meditation they experience focused attention with feelings of excitement or bliss. Simultaneously, there is a decline in the sense of self, which is accompanied by a sense of the absence of space and time. Occasionally, there is an eruption of ecstasy: an experience of oneness. Those who have cultivated an active prayer life report similar sensations. Prayer might differ slightly in that it might be more conversational, verbal, and traditionally defined, in which case there might be additional brain activity.
In 1993, there was a study at the University of Pennsylvania where cloistered Franciscan nuns who were practicing concentrated prayer were examined with a single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanner. The scientific data supported the self-reports and did reveal increased blood flow in the prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobes, and inferior frontal lobes. However, because this sample was small and the SPECT scan images can be blurry, the preferred neuroimaging technique now is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
A significant advantage of fMRI is that it does not use radiation and multiple images and states can be obtained. fMRI measures blood flow through the brain. A major disadvantage is that you have to be in the machine, which proved to be a challenge for the nuns in the study. One major study looked at 15 Carmelite nuns and found that when they reported a mystical experience, there was activity in the frontal cortex, right temporal cortex, right parietal lobe, right caudate nucleus, left insula, right caudate nucleus, and brain stem.
In another study, beginning meditators and experienced meditators were scanned while they looked at positive, negative, and neutral images in attentive and distracted states of consciousness. With the experienced meditators they found decreasing activity in the frontal cingulate cortex in all emotional areas. For the beginners there was decreasing activity in the left amygdala during emotional processing.
We know from several studies that meditation changes the brain and that long-term mindfulness practices lead to emotional stability. Meditation has been found to lead to the cultivation of the emotions of empathy and compassion in response to emotional stimuli. Additional changes in the brain that were linked to meditation and prayer practices resulted in lower heart rates, lower blood pressure, increased serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, and decreased cortisol and norepinephrine. These practices affected emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components.
There is evidence that various neurotransmitters, in particular, aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate are involved in religious and spiritual experiences. Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance scans (MRI) have highlighted their activity during reported meditative states. The results reveal an increase in dopamine and GABA discharge during yoga meditations, providing a sense of calm and relaxation. GABA is the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter and can “shut down” certain areas of the brain, resulting in a more focused state. On the other hand, glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that may enhance feelings of euphoria.
Research has confirmed the health benefits of meditation. There is less anxiety, improved impulse control, and a greater sense of comfort. Meditation and contemplative practices have a dramatic, lasting effect on functioning during and after meditation. And the result is a transformation mediated by the brain.
What about other so-called “altered states of consciousness”? They can be the result of a drug-induced state such as LSD. They can be the result of illness such as delusions carried by a psychotic individual or sometimes temporal lobe epilepsy which some have considered to be the cause of the so-called mystical experiences. Are they ERSPs? Or is it an attempt to make sense of a brain malfunction? When it is an altered mystical state, the individual’s articulations usually connect to a sense of meaning and ultimate reality. If it is a drug-induced state, it is usually described as abnormal and dysfunctional. One wonders what happens to the brain during these moments. On a scientific basis, if there is seizure activity, one could conclude that the state is the result of a brain malfunction and that the experience is neither real nor spiritual. On the other hand, if we explore it as a religiously based experience, we could conclude that the crisis opened the individual to a truly mystical experience. Joan of Arc and Saint Teresa of Avila fall into this category.
And how do we understand near-death experiences (NDEs)? Since they frequently occur at death, does this imply that the mind, consciousness, or self continue? It would be interesting to explore the similar or different brain activities that occur during the different “Stages of Faith” described by James Fowler. Hopefully, future research will examine these experiences as well as other challenges. Our ability to shed light on mystical states from a neurophysiological understanding will be an important step in understanding how the human brain relates to religious experiences.
It is encouraging to realize how our neurological understanding of the brain and brain systems is moving toward what is revealed in The Urantia Book. Many scientists who have witnessed the evolutionary process now recognize the reality of both brain and mind and their separation. Several scientists have postulated a significant interaction and relationship between these two realities. Although they do not possess the revelatory information concerning the seven adjutant mind-spirits nor can they envision the ability of the spirit to reach us through the mind and guide us to God, they note how the mind develops the brain and how increasing access to and use of certain parts of the brain can “grow the mind.” They now accept the plasticity of the brain and the possibilities for continued growth. Neuroscientists perceive how religion, myth, ritual, meditation, prayer, etc. impact the neurological system in such a way that man is able to survive, move forward, and function in a meaningful way. Researchers are mapping the areas of the brain that are triggered during these various states (meditation, prayer, ritual, etc.) to try to understand how the brain, as a living transformer, participates in this process. Many investigators have noted that for many people, ERSMs provide a sense of reality that stays with the individual and in some cases changes their entire life.
Obviously, these spiritual experiences are complex, involving multiple areas of the brain, and generate more questions and more research opportunities. Scientists wonder whether those who have these experiences are contacting a reality outside of themselves or not, and if so, which brain structures are most active in these circumstances. Does the brain provide insight into the real nature of the universe? Does the brain provide a window onto God? Or, from our vantage point, does the brain support mental circuits by providing access to the spiritual? And some wonder, “Why do humans have a spiritual brain?”
Here, a caveat - for while The Urantia Book acknowledges the usefulness of myth and ritual in our evolutionary religions, it also speaks of the limitations of belief, ritual and myth in our spiritual growth. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to ask, “Why do we have a brain through which spirit can reach out to us, contact the material mind and give birth to our spiritual path?” And what “parts” of the brain seem to be most active in this process? Why do we seem to be hardwired to believe, to create, to grow, and to speculate and/or find God or spiritual reality? Fascinating questions and perhaps avenues for further research.
Even from a higher perspective we can appreciate the commitment and understanding demonstrated by our human associates along this evolutionary path. Interestingly they find their way through the mind to ultimately realize the interrelationships between the realms of matter, mind and spirit using the living transformer, the brain.
We are truly blessed to have the information in The Urantia Book at our disposal. We know that evolution is a divine plan executed, supervised and promoted by beings of a higher order. We know that the process is purposeful. We are witnessing its actualization in time and space. We know that it is a journey to God. What is fascinating is how, billions of years ago, the Life Carriers in their laboratories were able to develop a life plasma and a living organ through which all of this could happen in time. It is astounding to contemplate the fact that this primitive life plasma, designed, created and implanted on our planet, contained the potential for the emergence of the brain and neural system from the very beginning. And that it will continue to serve the universal purpose until we are at least anchored in light and life. The human brain and nervous system is the only physical uniformity in the universe of Nebadon. Truly astounding.
We know that:
Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves. (UB 111:1.3)
And that: the material mind needs a living mechanism, the brain, to function.
We also know that:
Material evolution has provided you a life machine, your body; the Father himself has endowed you with the purest spirit reality known in the universe, your Thought Adjuster. But into your hands, subject to your own decisions, has been given mind, and it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness. (UB 111:1.4)
And furthermore: this process is supported, maintained and promoted by our brain in conjunction with our consciousness.
It is truly our own choice. We can consciously, in our own material mind, using our vital brain, reach into the spirit and choose God. It is incredible.
ACTH: Adrenocorticotropic or adrenocorticotropic hormone. Directs the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol into the body when it is stressed.
Broca’s area: Area of the left frontal cortex responsible for language, spoken and written, understanding and processing.
Wernicke’s area: Linked to speech. Involved in understanding written and spoken language.
Motor Area: The motor cortex of the brain. Part of the brain involved in planning, controlling, and executing voluntary movements. Primarily located in the frontal lobe in the dorsal gyrus.
Sensory area: Area of the cerebral cortex that receives data from sensory neurons in peripheral areas.
Soul: The soul of man is an experiential acquisition. As a mortal creature chooses to “do the will of the Father in heaven,” the indwelling spirit becomes the father of a new reality in human experience. The mortal, material mind is the mother of this same emerging reality. The substance of this new reality is neither material nor spiritual—it is morontia. It is the emerging, immortal soul destined to survive physical death and begin the Paradise ascension. (UB 0:5.10)
Amygdala: Watchdog of the brain. Barometer of fear. Lights up when things happen that are emotionally significant, positive or negative. Just behind the hypothalamus. Mediates emotion. Main alarm bell.
Neural axis: Way of conceiving the evolution of the brain. From the brainstem, through the diencephalon and the limbic system to the cortex.
Medulla oblongata (myelencephalon): Part of the brainstem. Regulates blood pressure and breathing. Controls the muscles of the neck and face. Involved in taste, hearing and maintaining balance. Direct extension of the spinal cord.
Spiritual Brain: That part of the brain that research has indicated is most active during “religious” and/or “mystical” experiences.
Cerebellum: Receives somatosensory data from the spinal cord, motor information from the cerebral cortex, and balance data from the vestibular organs of the inner ear. Involved in posture and coordination of head and eye movements. Has been linked to language and cognitive functions. It is an area of adult neurogenesis.
Corpus Callosum Convolution: Part of the limbic system that helps regulate and control emotions and pain. Impacts the body’s reaction to offensive experiences. Reactive to fear and learning to avoid all negative consequences. Associates pleasant sights and smells with pleasant memories. Located above the corpus callosum.
Coherence: Integration of various properties, values and/or relationships. A meaningful process, a narrative and the result of the integration of the two hemispheres.
Corps Callosum: Connects the two hemispheres. Only limited information passes through it. The general activity of one hemisphere is transferred to the other hemisphere. These are not complex thoughts but rather simplistic representations or nuances of thoughts or perceptions.
Cerebral cortex: Anatomically divided into four lobes of functionally distinct regions. It is organized into layers and the layers organize the input and output of data. Area of higher level cognitive functions and sensory and motor control. Neocortex.
Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC): Surrounds the corpus callosum. Role in decision making. Helps retain attention and integrate feeling and thought.
Cingulate Cortex: Located in the center of the frontal lobes. Controls the ability to fix attention on a particular point of interest and maintains attention long enough for the individual to accomplish what he or she wanted to do. Emotional regulator. Cortical regulator and operative executive officer.
Cortex: the outer layer. Includes the prefrontal, cingulate, and insular cortices. Involved in abstract reasoning, conceptualizations, values, planning, executive functions, impulse control, sensory functions, sensations, motor strip, perceptions, vision (occipital), temporal, language, and memory, etc.
Left Cerebral Hemisphere Cortex (Neocortex): Receives information from the right side of the body and directs activity to the right side. Analytical and mathematical processes. Temporal sequence. Rhythmic aspects. Language center (written and oral) This is the dominant hemisphere because of language. Processes in series. Linear. Facts. Stored details, categories, associations. Simple. Separate functioning. “I am me”. Literal. Makes sense.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): Attention area that activates during concentration. The attention area also inhibits brain activity through the hypothalamus. Higher brain function. Part of the executive system involved in planning, reasoning, judgment, and social behavior. Associated with cognition and personality. Sets goals, directs actions, and structures emotions.
Somato-sensory cortex: Receives sensory information from the spinal cord, brainstem, and thalamus. Integrates this information and produces a “homunculus tract” similar to that formed by the primary motor cortex.
Cortisol: Released in response to stress. Steroid hormone produced in the adrenal cortex. Tends to suppress the immune system and reduces bone formation.
Belief: Defined biologically and psychologically as any memory, perception, cognition, or emotion that an individual consciously or unconsciously accepts as true.
Dendrites: Branches of neurons that propagate electrochemical stimulation to other cells in order to transmit information.
Diencephalon: Part of the prosencephalon which contains the thalamus and the hypothalamus as well as the epithalamus and the subthalamus.
DMT: Dimethyltryptamine: Naturally occurring. Leads to hallucinations, visions, and euphoria. Often referred to as the “mind molecule” opamine: Neurotransmitter involved in cognition, motivation, pleasure, and movement.
PSI Effect: Telepathic and psychokinetic phenomena.
Temporal lobe epilepsy: A neurological condition in which unprovoked seizures occur in the temporal lobe of the brain often accompanied by sensory changes. Some have attributed “religious experiences” to temporal lobe epilepsies.
Epinephrine (adrenaline): Significant in the fight or flight response. Increases blood flow to muscles and prepares for flight or fight and also increases heart rate.
Epiphenomenalism: Attitude regarding the mind/brain. Believes that the mind is a real phenomenon but that it cannot have any effect on the physical world.
Epiphenomenon: Secondary phenomenon which takes place at the same time and in parallel with a primary phenomenon.
Adjutant Mind-Spirits: 7 Adjutant Mind-Spirits. Sevenfold mental outpouring of the Mother Spirit of the universe upon living creatures. Referred to as the spirits of wisdom, worship, counsel, knowledge, courage, understanding and intuition.
Local Universe Mother Spirit: (Divine Minister). Partner of Michael of Nebadon, our Creator Son, she provides the mental ministry of the seven adjutant mind-spirits.
Holy Spirit: Gift of the creative Mother Spirit to man. Becomes available when man begins to operate at the level of the two higher adjutants (worship and wisdom). Provides spiritual reason, the intelligence of the soul. It is a supermental gift.
Stages of Faith: Developmental theory proposed by James Fowler suggesting that as the brain believes, spirituality appears to emerge in seven stages 0.6 beginning in childhood with undifferentiated faith and culminating in a universalizing faith often with a sense of union with God, deeply reflective and revealing personal strength.
Evolution: A divine design to make perfection real from imperfection in time and space.
Near Death Experience (NDE): Often transformative experiences in which an individual encounters a being of “light” believed to be “from the other side.” This usually occurs when someone is close to death (accident, cardiac arrest, etc.) and is given the opportunity to return to “this side.” Individuals who experience this frequently find themselves with a profound sense of peace, quiet, reassurance, and a significant reduction in fear.
Functionalism: Attitude regarding the mind. Denies that the mind is anything other than brain states. The mind is only a by-product of brain activity.
GABA: Gamma-aminobutyric acid. Inhibitory neurotransmitter. Decreases activity in the next neuron.
Basal ganglia: Directs usual activities. And maintains reward pathways. Stimulated by dopamine and also in search of stimulation.
Adrenal gland: releases stress hormones, epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol.
Gyrus: Fold in the brain.
Glutamate: Neurotransmitter. Stimulates or excites increased activity in the next neuron.
Right Hemisphere: Connects to the left side of the body. Non-dominant hemisphere. Abstract thought distinct from language. Non-verbal body awareness. Visual spatial perception. Perception, expression and modulation of most aspects of emotionality, parallel processing. Holistic thinking. Sensory gestalt (smells, taste, sight, etc.). Connected. Whole. Present. We are one. Capacity for empathy. Autobiographical memory.
Hippocampus: Located in the temporal lobe. Involved in the construction of memory, especially long-term memory. Functions in spatial navigation. In balance with the amygdala. Resembles a seahorse.
Hypothalamus: Primary instinctive states. Regulates physiological and behavioral actions. Governs the intensity of emotional behavior. Also controls many autonomic functions—body temperature, sexual activity, blood pressure, etc. Controls the pituitary gland and prompts it to signal activation of the adrenal glands.
Hypoxia: Reduced oxygen and system deprived of enough oxygen
Insula: Lower part of the cerebral cortex. “Holds” body states that impact conscious experience. It is abnormally activated in the neuroimaging of a traumatized individual. It senses internal body states and is located in the internal area of the temporal lobe. Involved in the perception of danger.
Dualistic Interactionism: Attitude regarding the mind/brain. Consciousness and other aspects of the mind that can take place independently of the brain.
fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Measures blood flow. Multiple images. Brain images change using radio waves in magnetic fields.
Frontal lobe: Planning of future actions. Control of movement.
Occipital lobe: Located in the cerebral cortex. Involved in vision. Dorsal and ventral cores in the occipital lobe process where the object is located (dorsal or parietal) and depending on what the object is (ventral to temporal).
Parietal lobe: Area of attention — involved in the self — the other, as in spatial — temporal orientation. Somatic sensation. Formation of body image. Linking the body image to extra-personal space. Somatosensory cortex. Motor cortex. Coordinates movements in reaction to objects around us. Awareness of attention to our external world. Cartography. Representation of numbers.
Temporal Lobe: Many smaller structures are contained within the temporal lobe. These substructures are responsible for face and object recognition, memory acquisition, emotional reactions, and language comprehension. Significant in terms of learning, memory, and emotion.
Agnostic materialism: attitude regarding the mind/brain. The mind has its exclusive source in the matter of the brain.
Emergent Materialism: Attitude regarding the mind/brain. Believes that the mind emanates from the brain in ways that cannot be predicted or reduced to a brain process.
Melchizedeks: High order of filiation. They assist the Life Carriers by stimulating projects for the implantation of life on the decimal planets (Urantia)
Implicit Memory: Meaning extracted but not felt as a memory. No connection in terms of facts, more a general sense of knowing. Often established very early in life before the left brain is fully formed.
Explicit memory: factual, autobiographical, and easily articulated.
Mind: The thinking, perceiving and feeling mechanism of the human organism. The total of conscious and unconscious experience. The intelligence associated with emotional life rising to the level of spirit through worship and wisdom. (UB 0:5.8)
Cosmic Mind: Mind of the Seven Master Spirits conditioned by time.
Human Mind: personal mind. A gift from the local universe Mother Spirit through the use of her seven adjutant mind-spirits which is used and individualized by the human.
Mesencephalon: Part of the brain stem.
Spinal cord: Base of the skull to the 1st lumbar vertebra. Receives sensory information from the skin, joints and muscles of the trunk and limbs. Contains motor neurons responsible for voluntary and reflexive movements.
Morontia: Term designating a vast intermediate level between the material and the spiritual. It can designate personal or impersonal realities, living or non-living energies. The warp of the morontia fabric is spiritual, its weft is material. (UB 0:5.12)
Clinical death: Vital signs cease, heart in ventricular fibrillation. No activity in the cortex of the brain (flat EEG). Brainstem activity terminated. CPR does not allow resuscitation.
Myth: A tale about primal history that often explains origin and destiny as well as the natural world and frequently involves supernatural beings. The tale, though widely believed, is essentially false and over time can be proven false. However, it often answers internal existential dilemmas.
Neuron: Cell that can be electrically stimulated in such a way that information is transmitted by electrical and chemical signals throughout neural networks and synapses.
Neurogenesis: The brain producing new cells, engaged with existing neural organization. Expands existing neural networks. May have specific triggers. BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor) when chemistry is activated by exercise. Intellectual stimulation. Cognitive skills. Social and emotional awareness both increase production of new neurons. Neuronal pruning — a decay due to lack of use (can be positive or negative).
Neuropeptides: Molecules that carry emotional information from the body to the limbic system. Discovered by Candice Pert. A way to experience emotion.
Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to adapt and change. The ability to learn and change. New neurons are able to connect and old neurons are able to connect in new ways. When an individual experiences changes in their thoughts, emotions or behaviors there is a physical change in the nervous system. The experience changes the structure of neurons in the brain. What “fires together wires together”. Possible training.
Neuropsychology: A branch of psychology that specializes in brain function and how experiences, abilities, behaviors, etc. relate to brain structures and information processing. Brain function is assessed by standard tests that objectively measure cognitive abilities, attention span and deficits, short- and long-term memory, language skills, etc.
Neurotheology: An approach to religious, spiritual and/or mystical experiences (RSMEs) that aspires to a neurological and evolutionary basis for spiritual experience.
Neurotransmitter: Chemicals in the brain that allow the transmission of information between nerve cells. Involved in synapses.
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline): Hormone and neurotransmitter released in the central nervous system (CNS). It mobilizes the brain and body for action. Promotes alertness, increases arousal, and focuses attention. Helps one feel alert and energetic.
Caudate cortex: One of the central gray nuclei. Is involved in voluntary movement and emotion.
Oxytocin: Neuropeptide hormone produced in the hypothalamus and which increases social bonding. Oxytocin is released at birth, during breastfeeding, in sexual orgasm and also in romantic relationships.
Personality: The personality of mortal man is neither body, mind, nor spirit; neither is it the soul. Personality is the only unchanging reality in the ever-changing experience of a creature; and it unifies all other associated factors of individuality. Personality is the unique endowment bestowed by the Universal Father upon the living and associated energies of matter, mind, and spirit, and which survives with the survival of the morontia soul. (UB 0:5.11)
Process Philosophy: Attitude regarding the mind/brain: The mind and brain are the manifestation of one reality which is in f PSI Effect: Telepathic and psycho kinetic phenomena which are in constant flux.
Pituitary: Part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that responds to stress. Stores and releases oxytocin.
Pontus: Deep in the brainstem. Ventral portion: Information on movement and sensation from the cerebral cortex to the cerebellum. Dorsal portion: Information on breathing, taste and sleep.
Life Carriers: Higher order personalities who initiate life on planets and assume responsibility for the first stages of biological evolution.
Mighty Messenger: Ascended mortal who functioned loyally during a rebellion.
QEEG Quantitative Electroencephalography: Electrical patterns on the surface of the scalp. Brain wave patterns. Color map.
VMAT2 receptor: Involved in the regulation of dopamine and serotonin. Sometimes called “the God gene”.
Response (reaction) to stress: Activates the HPSA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis).
Ritual: Ceremony or behavior performed in a repetitive manner that involves the senses with cognitive and emotional components. Tends to wire the brain in relationship to the myth supported by the ritual.
SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) Scans: Radioactive tracer injected during an activity or practice (e.g. prayer, meditation, or thought). The tracer attaches to the brain at that moment and reveals what is happening in the system at that precise moment. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Scans: Emissions from decaying radioactive isotopes.
Serotonin: Neurotransmitter. Feelings of well-being and happiness. Maintains “good mood”.
Substantia Nigra: Portion of the brain that produces dopamine.
Reticular Activating System (RAS): Stimulates other parts of the brain.
Figure 11.2 Organization of the nervous system. The viscera (located mostly in the anterior cavity) are served by visceral sensory neurofibers and by motor neurofibers of the autonomic nervous system. The limbs and body walls are served by motor neurofibers of the somatic nervous system and by somatic sensory neurofibers. The arrows indicate the direction of nerve impulses.
Limbic System: (amygdala, hippocampus and hypothalamus). Involved in emotions and motivation. Aspects of emotional expression. Assigns attraction or aversion to objects and experiences. Directs emotions to the outside world via behavior. Connected to the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) to solicit emotional responses. Example: Fear - limbic system links feeling of terror - adrenaline released into the arousal system - heart pounding, heightened alertness, knots in the stomach etc. the result is sensitization of the whole body.
Autonomic Nervous System: Basis of bodily function. Connects the brain to the rest of the body. Basic emotions—fear, joy, shame. Composed of the sympathetic (exciting) nervous system and the parasympathetic (calming) nervous system.
Central nervous system: consists of the spinal cord, medulla oblongata, midbrain, cerebellum, diencephalon, and cerebral hemispheres.
Enteric nervous system: Part of the autonomic nervous system that regulates the gastrointestinal system.
Parasympathetic Nervous System: Maintains homeostasis. Antithesis of sympathetic. Conserves bodies, resources and energy. Regulates physiological maintenance and vegetative functions – cell growth, digestion, relaxation and sleep. Calming system. Relaxation and satisfaction. Off button – it calms us down. Part of the autonomic nervous system.
Sympathetic Nervous System: Fight or flight response. Physiological basis of our adaptation strategies whether the stimulation is positive or negative. Sense of excitement. The “on” button, increased blood pressure, and heart rate. Part of the autonomic nervous system.
Thalamus: Relays information between the cortex and brainstem (and also to other cortical structures). Active in many processes including movement, attention, perception, timing, alertness, and consciousness. The distribution board for sensory information.
Attachment Theory: A theory that explains long- or short-term relationships based on the individual’s ability to develop trust in a caregiver and the self. Based on the work of John Bowlby and focused on an individual’s social and emotional development and the regulation of feelings.
Complexity Theory: Study of the behavior of dynamic systems, particularly those that are sensitive to initial conditions. A self-organizing process will move toward complexity and when it moves toward complexity it is at its most stable, flexible, and adaptive.
Brainstem: Helps maintain homeostasis by controlling autonomic functions. Coordinates with the motor cortex and contains the pons, medulla oblongata, and midbrain. Produces serotonin and dopamine.
Mystical Union (Unio Mystica): Mystical union with God or the Absolute. In love.
Valence: intrinsic attraction or repulsion, especially of emotions.
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