I would like to comment on a recent Goanet post on meditation and the brain.
The reason scientists are studying meditation and spiritual experiences is
because they have been recognized as natural phenomena that are in need of
demystification by applying the rigorous method of science. Indeed, the lure
and excitement of this enterprise led me to begin my own career by
participating in this effort 26 years ago in Bangalore.
The accumulating evidence since then, with the benefit of much more advanced
techniques, a snippet of which was given in the CNN news report, clearly shows
that, like all other mental phenomena, these subjective practices and
experiences too emerge solely as a consequence of the activity of the brain,
irrespective of which religion or belief system to which they belong.
Furthermore, like the processes of learning and laying down of memories, the
brain activity underlying these natural mental phenomena in turn produces
short- and long-lasting changes in the circuitry and subsequent activity of the
brain.
Cheers,
Santosh
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