Dr. Jay Kumar
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Only in the past decade have we truly been able to start mapping the human brain of people during deep meditation, prayer, intense spiritual experiences, and religious epiphanies. Neural scans of the brains of Carmelite nuns, Zen Buddhist masters, adept Indian Yogis, and indigenous shamans when in deep and profound states of transcendence all report similar findings. There exist specific areas in the brain that fire when we connect to the sacred and pray to the divine. The primary areas are the temporal and frontal lobes in the brain where this phenomenon occurs. Watch video While I don’t advocate that these areas of the brain are the cause of religious experiences, there does appear to be a correlation between these areas of the brain and heightened spiritual states of consciousness. Even more astounding is that the results indicate that when these exact same areas of the brain are intentionally triggered using a magnetic device for those who claim to be atheists, similar experiences of awe and reverence for something transcendent are felt. The findings imply the possibility that regardless if you’re a true religious believer, a secularist, or an atheist, the same neural mechanisms of the human brain are responsible for processing the sacred and the divine.
So what exactly accounts for the reason our brains are wired to fire during contemplation, prayer, and meditation? One possible explanation into the neurobiology of belief in the divine might be an evolutionary strategy for survival of the species. If you’re wondering how religious belief in a transcendent being might have been key for survival of our species, it likely has to do with a biological need we humans have to make sense of the world. Imagine our early human ancestors having to cope with the hardships of a brutal life of surviving constant threats to survival. In the same way that human emotions such hope, faith, and trust might have evolved within the human psyche to cope in times of calamity and constant uncertainty, our human brain might also have developed a neurobiological mechanism for humans to survive in times of strife and suffering. That evolutionary trait would have created a neural structure in the human brain, ultimately passing down to us modern humans.
Another way to examine the issue is that religion might have evolved in the same way that humans developed the need for language. Regardless of the human neurobiological necessity to believe in a higher power, it appears that every human brain is wired to experience the divine, even in atheists! In the same way that every human brain is wired to acquire and speak a human language, it’s possible that every human brain is equally capable and neurologically wired to experience the divine. You might even think of religion as a form of language, a sacred language that enables us to communicate with the aspects of life that cause us wonder, awe, and reverence for the sacred. Just as every healthy brain of a baby is capable of acquiring any language in the world, similarly every human brain has the ability to acquire a religion. In the same way that English really isn’t inherently better than French, Arabic, Mandarin, or Swahili to express human thoughts and to share conceptual knowledge, likewise no religion is inherently better equipped to experience the numinous and divine. When viewed in this light, it really begins to seem pointless for humans to squabble over which religion is inherently superior to another. In the same vein, it would appear illogical to argue that English is ultimately better equipped to express human thoughts and ideas than Hebrew, Swedish, or Japanese.
Even if you choose not to believe in a divine power or subscribe to a particular religion, there are equally many positive health benefits to cultivating a spiritual practice. Whether you choose to practice prayer, meditation, mindfulness, or silent contemplation in nature, your brain experiences the same neural effects, all of which have tremendously beneficial health benefits for the body. Numerous studies indicate that regular prayer or meditation reduces stress while promoting immune system function and greater levels of wellbeing. Even more remarkable is that belief in a benign rather than a punitive deity reduces anxiety and increases feelings of love and compassion for self and others. By far the most amazing news to come out of contemplative neuroscience is that regular prayer and meditation can literally rewire your brain to change your attitude towards life for the better.
Ultimately, the human need to experience faith and to commune with divine might have been a biological tool for survival among our early ancestors. It is likely this evolutionary reason why we observe that every human culture throughout history and every indigenous society observed around the world all have a form of religious worship. Just as the human species evolved areas in the brain for linguistic communication, neuroscience is equally suggesting that religious communication with the divine accounts for the universal human need to experience the sacred. While the ability to acquire a language is still a crucial and fundamental trait for human expression, it might just be that religion and faith are an equally necessary means for humans to engage with the sacred, the holy, and the divine elements of existence.
Dr. Jay Kumar
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"Does God Exist In the Brain?" In light of the recent selection of the new Pope, neuroscience research suggests that the human need to experience spirituality and to connect with a higher power is likely wired into the human brain...even in atheists! Learn more in this insightful and engaging podcast with Dr. Jay Kumar on the recent Doug Stephan Good Day Show Read more at http://ind.pn/g7BWU.
Dr. Jay Kumar
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In essence both spiritual thought and scientific theories aim to reveal the truth of existence. Spirituality and religion advance this truth in the non-physical realms of mystical experiences and human consciousness, while science focuses this truth on the physical, tangible word of substance. Therefore, both systems are valid in their own realm–science with the physical and spirituality with the non-physical. So rather than viewing science and spirituality as diametrically opposed beliefs, I choose to see them instead as two sides of the same coin.
In the past few decades it now appears that science and spirituality may be converging to present a new worldview that sees both the physical and non-physical universe as one interconnected field of consciousness and energy. In the words of Max Planck, the Nobel prize-winning founder of quantum physics, “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”
According to Planck and the recent theories in quantum physics, everything in the universe (including physical matter) is comprised of energy. Some neuroscientists conjecture that our brain may actually be a “frequency transmitter” or “energy receiver” that picks up and transmits energy from the matrix of creation. Think of your radio or TV; they don’t generate the signals themselves but merely are instruments that transmit the frequency of sound and sight. The same is possibly true for our human brain that might be ‘wired’ to receive and process energies and signals from the universal matrix of consciousness, i.e. what religion calls God and what science calls the quantum field.
So what if science and spirituality are both advancing the same message, but merely using different a language to signify the same thing? The meaning and purpose of life, in my opinion, is to explore the intimate connection we each have with this unifying field of energy. While science can offer us a rational, empirical model of this field of consciousness, spirituality provides us with the experiential means to connect with this sacred realm that permeates all existence.
Since this unifying filed of thought is literally everywhere, we each have the ability to tap into and commune with this transcendent matrix of consciousness at any moment. Meditation, prayer, intentionality, relaxed breathing, etc. are simply ways we “fine tune” the radio or TV station of our brain in order to transmit this signal of the sacred and divine that exists at the very fabric of existence.
Enjoy and AWAKE!
Dr. Jay Kumar
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"It is possible that there exist human emanations which are still unknown to us. Do you remember how electrical currents and ‘unseen waves’ were laughed at? The knowledge about man is still in its infancy.” Albert Einstein
Check out the latest podcast from "AWAKE with Dr. Jay Kumar!" as we explore the realms of human consciousness, reincarnation, and the soul from the perspectives of both science and spirituality. A really GREAT EPISODE!
Enjoy and AWAKE!Dr. Jay Kumar
Hear this week's radio show focusing on "Female Perspectives from the Eastern Spiritual Traditions". Guests, Marina Illich, PhD and Kulasundari Devi, MA, discuss how Tibetan Buddhism & Hindu Shakta Tantrism are paths to personal empowerment and to raising global consciousness, as they share their personal stories from time spent in Tibet and India.