Different meditation practices create different situations in the brain. Most meditation practices other than TM create a situation where the connection between the self-centers and the rest of teh brain becomes less, rather than more, during meditation practice.
http://www.amaye.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/med-connectivity-EEG-tomog.pdf http://www.amaye.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/med-connectivity-EEG-tomog.pdf In fact, the authors specifically suggest that this may be why many spiritual traditions talk in terms of destroying or reducing self: In experienced meditators (13 Tibetan Buddhists, 15 QiGong, 14 Sahaja Yoga, 14 Ananda Marga Yoga, 15 Zen), 19-channel EEG was recorded before, during and after that meditation exercise which their respective tradition regards as route to the most desirable meditative state ... Conventional coherence between the original head surface EEG time series very predominantly also showed reduced coherence during meditation. ... The globally reduced functional interdependence between brain regions in meditation suggests that interaction between the self process functions is minimized, and that constraints on the self process by other processes are minimized, thereby leading to the subjective experience of non-involvement, detachment and letting go, as well as of all-oneness and dissolution of ego borders during meditation. On the other hand, Fred Travis and Alaric Arenander have both talked to the above researchers, and they are now doing several studies specifically on TM. The first of them is to redo the above study but using experienced TMers instead of people experienced in other meditation practices. That should be published later this year, I think. Since TM researchers are excited about the study, I think it is safe to assume that TM has a different physical effect that the effect documented in the first study using non-TM. By the way, in case you haven't watched it, this video by Alaric Arenander (part of his promotion of his new EEG and TM course) gives a very good feel for what might be an explanation for GC and UC in terms of EEG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd_b-LS6SzQ&list=UU0iwNoV7Sptxi1qqWz_R9IA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd_b-LS6SzQ&list=UU0iwNoV7Sptxi1qqWz_R9IA In the first parts of teh video, first, you see alpha-1 EEG coherence during TM practice between 2 leads in the front, representative of increased EEG coherence in the self-centers. Later, you see EEG coherence bouncing up and down between two leads in the back, what Alaric calls "the world" [represented in the brain]. Then, you see EEG coherence bouncing up and down between two leads: front &back: left front & back: right, indicating that the integration between the front of the brain and back of the brain ("self" and "world" as Alaric puts it) is becoming more integrated. I'll go out on a limb and suggest that his is a signature of growing GC, when it appears outside of meditation: you are starting to perceive more and more subtle aspects of the world, simply because there is a quiet background upon which the world is "projected." In the last 5-6 minutes of the video, you see the before/after EEG coherence of someone who has been on the Invincible America course, doing TM and the TM-SIdhis 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 2 years or so. It is only the coherence in the frontal lobes that is shown, but unless Alaric tells me differently, I assume it applies to the other leads as well: not only is alpha-1 EEG *extremely* coherent during TM, but beta and gama are showing much higher EEG coherence than in the before picture. If this pattern holds for the other leads, you could say that all electrical activity in the brain is harmonic fluctuations of alpha-1 EEG, so that in a physical way, perception of reality IS "fluctuations of pure consciousness" and it is conceivable that Unity Consciousness is simply where this situation becomes so pronounced that the meditator becomes aware of it without having to look at an EEG trace: it is there own default way of looking at the world. L ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <sharelong60@...> wrote : turq, I agree with you about the use of hierarchy. But what about using the concept of fuller stages of development wrt humans? This might even be measurable scientifically. What others have called Self just might be a label for the situation in which most of the brain functioning in an optimally healthy way. On Friday, May 2, 2014 9:23 AM, TurquoiseBee <turquoiseb@...> wrote: From: "curtisdeltablues@..." <curtisdeltablues@...> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, May 2, 2014 3:30 AM Subject: Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Re-Facilitating a Future and the New TM Movement: R: According to Harris, by paying close attention to moment-to-moment conscious experience, it is possible to make our sense of "self" vanish and thereby uncover a new state of personal well-being. 'The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason' by SamHarris W.W. Norton & Company, 2004 p. 214 C: Excellent quote find Richard! What I believe distinguishes him from the Maharishi perspective is that he does not identify the silent aspect of the mind with a higher Self. This also corresponds with my own experience of using TM without the belief system. I cannot say that what I used to consider my Self, is the most important aspect of my identity. That move is an intellectual one supported by the belief system and triggered by the mahavakyas in Maharishi's system. Without that presumption it appears as just another aspect of a multifaceted identity cluster which may or may not be all illusion. I am fascinated by exploring this without the usual assumptions from the Vedic perspective. Excellent point, Curtis. One of the things I reject about almost all forms of spirituality I've encountered is that they're stuck in hierarchical thinking. One's sense of "self" is lower than one's sense of "Self." They build their whole philosophies around their assumption that the universe is hierarchical in nature. I honestly don't believe it is. I think it's relational. (For me to explain this, I'd have to trot out my rap about hierarchical vs. relational databases, and I doubt anyone wants to read through that again.) I'm a "hard social scientist" when it comes to which comes first -- the experience one is trying to interpret or find meaning in, or the belief system one uses to interpret it. IMO the belief system always comes first. It colors anything you experience. So if he's got suggestions for how one can avoid that trap, I'd love to hear them. Love your phrase "just another aspect of a multifaceted identity cluster which may or may not be all illusion." That's it. What TMers and New Agers call "Self" is Just Another Experience. Not higher, not lower, and possibly not even happening at all. :-) Just sitting and noticing. Another good phrase. Thanks for digging that up. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 5/1/2014 3:26 PM, curtisdeltablues@... mailto:curtisdeltablues@... wrote: > Any tips or insights, especially since you have a TM history and might > know the issues TMers might have would be welcome. > According to Harris, by paying close attention to moment-to-moment conscious experience, it is possible to make our sense of "self" vanish and thereby uncover a new state of personal well-being. 'The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason' by SamHarris W.W. Norton & Company, 2004 p. 214 --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com http://www.avast.com/
