© 2002 Sara Blackstock
© 2002 The Urantia Book Fellowship
(Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a workshop given by Sara Blackstock at the University of California at Santa Cruz during the Fellowship’s Summer Study Session 2001.)
Neurotheology is “…a discipline dedicated to understanding the complex relationship between spirituality and the brain,” “…a probe into the biology of religious experience,” “…a study of the neurobiology of religion and spirituality,” “…a look at the brain’s spirituality circuit” (Newberg, D’Aquili, and Rause, 2001). Over the past 20 years two major realms, each of which has been asking its own profound questions for years, have intertwined and raised new questions in both fields. This newly created relationship has pioneered the exploration in neurorheology, combining neurology—the study of the brain, and theology—the study of God, religion, and the relations between God, mankind, and the universe.
My desire for presenting this information is two-fold: (1) to suggest that readers of The Urantia Book keep their eyes open for further development in this relatively new field; and (2) to present parents with information on brain research that shows that their children are “preprogrammed” or “hard-wired” for the development of their spiritual intelligence, and what this might look like as they guide their “sons and daughters of God” into a deep connection with the divine.
The authors of two recent books on the brain and spirituality, Spiritual Intelligence (Zohar and Marshall, 2000) and Why God Won’t Go Away (Newberg, et al., 2001), established professionals from the worlds of nuclear medicine, brain physiology, psychiatry, and theology, present some of the following tantalizing questions: “Is religion merely a product of biology or has the human brain been mysteriously endowed with the unique capacity to reach and know God?” “What is spiritual intelligence and can a place in the brain be located where ‘spiritual’ subject matter creates energy?” Their hypothesis is that spiritual experience and human biology are intimately interwoven. Basically they are asking: Is our brain wired for God?
The Urantia Book has presented us with information on topics related to neurotheology—mind, psychic circles, human consciousness, the superconscious, and faith. We have an advantage because we accept the following concepts as being valid:
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. [UB 58:6.7]
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]
We are fortunate to avail ourselves of these concepts, some of which are revelatory, and others, which have been culled from the higher concepts of human knowledge. This background helps us weave not only a fabric of understanding about the world of the outer cosmos, but helps us to he discriminating about the “truths” imbedded in research and guides us into deeper experience with our own inner spirituality.
¶ The Research And Studies
¶ Meditating Tibetan Buddhist Monks and Praying Franciscan Nuns
With the MRI scans which were begun in the 1960s, neurobiologists have been able to look into almost every nook and cranny of our brains. When an area of the brain lights up on these scans, it means that more energy is being used in that area. The brain activity of eight individual Tibetan Buddhists deep in their meditation practice was represented on SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans wherein images show blood flow patterns in the brain cells through radioactive emissions.
In this experiment a kite string was the connecting link between the researchers and a meditating Buddhist. The author of this study sat on the other side of a door with the twine wrapped around his finger, and the meditator was to tug on the twine when his meditative state was approaching its transcendent peak. When the meditator was at this “peak moment of spiritual intensity,” he said he experienced his inner self as more real than the outside world; he felt that a deeper, simpler part of himself emerged, that “…this is his truest part of himself,” “the very essence of his being.” “There is a sense of timelessness and infinity,” “like I am part of everyone and everything in existence.”All eight Buddhists reported that they felt “actively blissful,” “profoundly calm yet highly alert and intensely aware” (Newberg, et al., 2001, pp. 2-3).
When the researchers felt the tug on the string, they injected a radioactive material into a long intravenous line that ran into the meditator’s room and into a vein in his left arm. They waited for him to finish his meditation and then quickly took him to a room in the hospital’s Nuclear Medicine Department, where a massive state-of-the-art SPELT camera awaited. Scanning inside the meditator’s head, the radioactive tracers carried by blood flow are located. The tracer locks into brain cells and remains there for hours. The scan images showed unusual activity in a small part of gray matter located near the top rear section of the brain. Unusual activity indicates more energy is being directed to an area.
The parts of the brain which “lit up,” showing an increased flow of energy, are the highest levels where the most sophisticated processing occurs, where information is integrated to basically create the “building blocks of consciousness.” (Newberg, et al., 2001, p. 25) In each of four lobes of the right hemisphere were found effects of meditation, response to religious words and concepts, processing of sacred images such as crosses or candles, prayer, religious emotions such as joy and awe. It appears the scientists may have found the physical counterpart of what The Urantia Book refers to as “the highest levels of human consciousness.” [UB 7:3.4]
Only two of these areas are discussed in this paper: (A) the orientation area and (B) the association area. The orientation area is discussed because the researchers believe this area is “…extremely important in the brain’s sense of mystical and religious experiences, which often involve altered perceptions of space and time, ego and self. Since the orientation area is instrumental in shaping these basic perceptions, it must somehow be an integral part of spiritual experience” (Newberg, et al., 2001, p. 29). The association area is discussed because of its connection with emotion and ritual.
¶ A. Orientation Area
Before meditation (normal state) a particular area of one of the lobes is a center of furious neurological activity which registers red and yellow. After meditation, this same area is bathed in dark blotches of cool greens and blues, indicating sharp reduction in activity levels. The meditators said they felt “at one with the Universe,” “the self is endless and interwoven with everyone and everything.” This is the description of peak meditative and spiritual and mystical moments. In the words of the Hindu Upanishads (Newberg, et al., 2001, pp. 6, 7):
As the rivers flowing east and west
Merge in the sea and become one with it,
Forgetting that they were ever separate rivers,
So do all creatures lose their separateness
When they merge at last…
Regarding the orientation area, meditation reduced the energy in the orientation area of the brain, blurring the lines between “self’ and ”other" or the rest of the world. The incoming flow of information had been reduced or even blocked by meditation. This gives the feeling of ONENESS with ALL, which seems to be one of the most desirable goals of the Buddhist monks…to lose oneself and mesh with the cosmic ocean, self-transcendence.
The same techniques as above were used with a group of Franciscan nuns engaged in prayer. Again the SPELT scans showed the same changes in the orientation area during the sisters’ most intense religious moments, except the nuns described their experience as a “tangible sense of the closeness of God and a mingling with Him” (Newberg, et al., 2001, p. 7).
As students of The Urantia Book, we might lodge a criticism of this research in light of what it says religion is not:
True religion is not…a fantastic and mystic experience of indescribable feelings of ecstasy which can be enjoyed only by the romantic devotees of mysticism. [UB 101:1.1]
The divine spirit makes contact with mortal man, not by feelings or emotions, but in the realm of the highest and most spiritualized thinking. It is your thoughts, not your feelings, that lead you Godward. [UB 101:1.3]
The contact of the mortal mind with its indwelling Adjuster, while often favored by devoted meditation, is more frequently facilitated by whole hearted and loving service in unselfish ministry to one’s fellow creatures. [UB 91:7.1]
This is not to say that the meditative state is undesirable; in fact, it may be beneficial to the physical, mental, and spiritual health of an individual to relieve the ego state of awareness for a time. Even though meditation is somewhat encouraged, especially as a “listening” practice, we are given this caution:
Under no circumstances should the trancelike state of visionary consciousness be cultivated as a religious experience. The characteristics of the mystical state are diffusion of consciousness with vivid islands of focal attention operating on a comparatively passive intellect. All of this gravitates consciousness toward the subconscious rather than in the direction of the zone of spiritual contact, the superconscious…The more healthful attitude of spiritual meditation is to be found in reflective worship and in the prayer of thanksgiving. [UB 100:5.8-10]
And at least one theologian agrees: C. Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek religion editor: “The chief mistake these neurotheologians make is to identify religion with specific experiences and feelings. Losing one’s self in prayer may feel good or uplifting, but these emotions have nothing to do with how well we communicate with God. In fact, many people pray best when feeling shame or sorrow, and the sense that God is absent is not less valid than the experience of divine presence.” He goes on to say that the neurotheologians confuse spirituality with religion. “But doing the will of God—or following the dharma—involves much more than prayer and meditation. To see Christ in the person of an AIDS victim or to really love one’s enemy does not necessitate a special alteration in the circuits of the brain” (Begley, 2001, p. 53).
How might we apply this research material to the cosmic, yet daily, demanding task of spiritual parenting—parenting with the Spirit? Since The Urantia Book seems to somewhat discourage the attainment of “mystical” states, is there value to helping our children to “meditate” as a life skill, and if so, what might the benefits be? One of the most important skills for our children to learn is how to become positive problem solvers. Rodan feels that the “greatest of all methods of problem solving” he learned from the Master:
I refer to that which he so consistently practices, and which he has so faithfully taught you, the isolation of worshipful meditation. In this habit of Jesus’ going off so frequently by himself to commune with the Father in heaven is to be found the technique, not only of gathering strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living, but also of appropriating the energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature. [UB 160:1.10]
¶ B. Association Area
Deepak Chopra gives some insight in this area in a book called The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents —Guiding Your Children to Success and Fulfillment. For the purposes of training a child in meditation, Deepak suggests “young children can be nurtured in this practice gradually. From the time your children are the age of six or seven [but not before] begin to teach them that a few minutes of being alone and quiet every day is good.” “Inner silence is a delicate experience that cannot blossom until the nervous system has begun to mature.” And rather than insisting on specific meditation times, the adult might wait for “relaxed opportunities to invite the child to sit still with you…and breathe quietly with eyes closed.” “Inner silence promotes clarity of mind; it makes us value our inner world; it trains us to go inside to the source of peace and inspiration when we are faced with problems and challenges.”
In a different lobe of the right hemisphere the research demonstrated that this area lit up, that is, received energy and was stimulated through repetitive auditory stimuli. This area responds to ritual and ceremony and is heavily involved in emotional responses to religious symbols. As most who work with children know, they seem to enjoy ceremonies and thrive on colorful rituals. This may be something that the Urantia community might want to consider as we contemplate engaging our offspring in the truths of revelation. “Jesus taught the appeal to the emotions as the technique of arresting and focusing the intellectual attention. He designated the mind thus aroused and quickened as the gateway to the soul.” [UB 152:6.4]
In our neighborhood at home there are five children ages nine to fourteen. We recently began our first “Kid’s Urantia Study Group.” I was interested in what activities were meaningful to them, even though I was personally interested in beginning to read the Jesus papers with them. In a two-hour period of time, we lit candles, beat the drums, played other musical instruments, did a play, chanted in a circle, danced, ate, and drank tea. I felt blessed to have my desire respected to the extent that I was “allowed” my wish to read from the Jesus papers for 15 minutes. Next time I am going to carve out more time for this, but what interested me was the amount of time and variety of activities that involved the emotions that were chosen by the group of spiritually active and intelligent young people. And then they really seemed ready to “get mindal.”
So it would seem that short periods of quiet or meditation will provide the time and space for children to begin to form a habit of stopping the outside world in order to “go inside.” If we show them a way to find and explore their inner space, they will develop their own practice of “tuning into God.” They will feel at home in this quiet; they will experience being with God in this “temple”; they will know where to find this “safe haven” for the rest of their lives.
¶ The “G” Spot (God Spot) in the Brain, And The Third Intelligence—SQ
According to the authors of Spiritual Intelligence, there are three forms of brain neural organization. The first is a linear, logical, step by step, 2+2=4, serial thinking, the basis of our IQ (Intelligence Quotient upon which all of the educational tests are based.) The second form of neural organization is called associative thinking, upon which our emotional intelligence (EQ) is based. This is our pattern-recognizing, habit forming intelligence which “thinks” with both heart and body. This second kind of intelligence “rewires itself in dialogue with experience, trial and error” (Pert, 1997, p. 135).
The third form of brain neural organization is called unitive thinking or spiritual intelligence (SQ). This process is devoted to unifying and giving meaning to our experience, a neural process that literally binds our experiences together and can ask why, looking for the connections between things, bringing to the surface the assumptions we have been making about the meaning behind and within things, becoming more reflective, reaching beyond ourselves, taking responsibility, and becoming more self-aware, more honest, more courageous, insightful, and intuitive. This third kind of intelligence registers our hopes, visions, and values. Using this process we can move the goal posts and play with boundaries and change the rules. It provides a holistic view of life (Zohar and Marshall, 2000, p. 12).
Several studies support scientific evidence of spiritual intelligence. When Dr. Michael Persinger, a neuropsychologist, discovered in the early 1990s that he could artificially stimulate the temporal lobes with magnetic field activity, he went on to investigate many different kinds of temporal lobe activity with mystical experiences such as out-of-body experiences, UFO sightings, and “seeing God.” He induced this state in himself by fitting his head with a “transcranial magnetic stimulator, a device that beams a powerful and rapidly fluctuating magnetic field at selected small areas of brain tissue” (Zohar and Marshall, 2000, p. 92). He set the device to stimulate tissues in his temporal lobes, which are located just under the temples, and “He saw ‘God’ ” (Zohar and Marshall, 2000, p. 93).
In 1997 neurologist V. S. Ramachandran and his team at the University of California found in the human brain a “God Spot,” which is an isolated bunch of neuronal networks in the temporal lobes. On scans taken with positron emission topography of these neural areas, this area lights up when research subjects are exposed to religious symbols or spiritual topics. The researchers called this area “the built-in spiritual center” located in the temporal lobes (Zohar and Marshall, 2000, p. 11). Interestingly, for years research on the lighting up of the temporal lobes has been done in connection with epileptics, who can have mystical visions during the seizures, and with people who take LSD.
Based on these studies and many more, the researchers concluded that we are hard-wired for God, that there is a part of the brain that not only seems to induce so-called spiritual experiences, but that lights up in the presences of religious symbolism and responds to questions and discussions of religious and spiritual nature. Stated in their words: “The ‘God spot’ does not prove the existence of God, but it does show that the brain has evolved to ask ‘ultimate questions,’ to have and to use a sensitivity to wider meaning and value” (Zohar and Marshall, 2000, p. 12).
There are many paths this article could follow to further explore these studies. For now I simply want to encourage teachers and parents to assume that not only do children need the intellectual parts of their brains stimulated and trained, which is what most of the literature deals with, and the educational systems are geared for, but we shotild also provide for the stimulation, guidance, training, habits, and skills that use the parts of the brain discussed in both of the above-mentioned studies: the SQ—Spiritual Intelligence. Most alert parents and educators are aware that there is more than just one kind of intelligence; there has been research reporting the importance of EQ—Emotional Intelligence. Now let us seriously consider the studies provided by these neuro-scientists. There are parts of the brain that need stimulation and exposure to spiritual realities and to ways of accessing and experiencing these realities. We would never think of ignoring our children’s potential for reading, writing, or math. Remember, development of many parts of the brain, and the accompanying skills and habits, are age specific. Children are ready for developmentally appropriate spiritual stimulation with the coming of the Thought Adjuster.
We can ask how and where the Holy Spirit circuit connects with our minds, and what we can provide in the environment to provide for the richest soil for the reception of the Thought Adjuster. Does the Spirit of Truth “light up our temporal lobes,” but maybe on a very subtle level? What part do decisions play in helping to develop the child’s SQ—spiritual intelligence? All of these circuits begin to operate when a child makes his or her first moral decision, and the Thought Adjuster is sent from the Paradise Father to indwell the child. As the child makes intellectual decisions, moral choices, and develops spiritually, the Adjuster “…is increasingly enabled to register his picturizations of destiny with augmenting vividness and conviction upon the evolving consciousness.…” [110:6.5]
These realities do not need studies with string and magnets to prove them. Anne Underwood, who wrote the excellent review on “God and the Brain” in the May, 2001 Newsweek, says it so well: “For all the tentative successes that scientists are scoring in their search for the biological bases of religious, spiritual, and mystical experience, one mystery will surely lie forever beyond their grasp. They may trace a sense of transcendence to this bulge in our gray matter. And they may trace a feeling of the divine to that bulge. But it is likely that they will never resolve the greatest question of all—namely, whether our brain wiring creates God, or whether God created our brain wiring. Which you believe is in the end, a matter of faith” (Begley, 2001, pp. 50-58).
Having worked with children most of her life, Sara Blackstock is the director of a large day care center; and her work for the Urantia movement has revolved around her interest in families and children. She has a grown son who was brought up with The Urantia Book, and she is devoted to kindling the spark of God in children and youth.
¶ References
- Article obtained from The Fellowship site
¶ Bibliography
- Begley, S. (2001). God & the Brain—How We’re Wired for Spirituality. Newsweek: May 7.
- Chopra, D. (1997). The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents. New York: Crown Pub.
- Newberg, A., D’Aquili. E., & Rouse. V. (2001). Why God Won’t Go Away. New York: Ballantine Books.
- Perr, C.B. (1997). Molecules of Emotion - The Science behind Mind-Body Medicine. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Urantia Foundation (1955). The Urantia Book. Chicago.
- Zohar, D. & Marshall, I. (2000). Sq Connecting with Our Spiritual Intelligence. Bloomsbury.
The cosmic-mind-endowed, Adjuster-indwelt, personal creature posseses innate recognition-realization of energy reality, mind reality, and spirit reality. [16:9.1]