Excellent find Ruth, thanks for posting it. This is exactly what Sam Harris has been saying:
"You can accept the subjective reality [of transcendent experiences], without going the extra step and accepting that it was real outside of the internal theater of the mind," said Beyerstein. Since most people who did a lot of program DID have "transcendent" experiences the questions remains: "What does it mean." And I would add: "Is the explanation given by a pre-scientific society devoted to keeping people restricted into a rigid social structure really the best we can do today?" --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, ruthsimplicity <no_re...@...> wrote: > > http://home.comcast.net/~dchapman2146/pf_v3n3/NeuroWeird.htm > > "I am willing to grant that [transcendent experiences] feel real, but that > comes back to the question: 'Why does anything feel real?' said Beyerstein. > 'It is because your brain creates a model of what feels real.' > > Our brain combines all available information, including incoming sensory > input and previously stored memories, and creates an internal cognitive model > of reality. This model is usually based largely on external sensory > information, said Beyerstein, but occasionally it is built entirely from > input from inside the head. Regardless of what it is constructed from, it > will feel just as real, and under some circumstances it can feel more real > than real." >
