cetus

@Leo GuraCan suffering be just as divine as love can be? Infinite divine suffering (when all ego is removed from it)

@Prabhaker During meditation some regions of the brain become less active and others more active. Here is a snapshot of some of the research on the subject I found yesterday. What you refer to here seems to be due to a decrease in the Default Mode Network (DMN) which corresponds to a decrease in size of the Amygdala, Could it be that meditation quiets it's activity? Or that 5meO-DMT shuts it down completely? All this really does deserve more research. *Of course none of this research has anything to do with the "spiritual" side of this but more as the ability to transcend the mind. Not too long ago, most of us thought that the brain we’re born with is static—that after a certain age, the neural circuitry cards we’re dealt are the only ones we can play long-term. Fast-forward a decade or two, and we’re beginning to see the opposite: the brain is designed to adapt constantly. World-renowned neuroscientist Richie Davidson at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with this colleagues, want us to know three things: 1) you can train your brain to change, 2) that the change is measurable, and 3) new ways of thinking can change it for the better. We can intentionally shape the direction of plasticity changes in our brain. By focusing on wholesome thoughts, for example, and directing our intentions in those ways, we can potentially influence the plasticity of our brains and shape them in ways that can be beneficial. That leads us to the inevitable conclusion that qualities like warm-heartedness and well-being should best be regarded as skills. Davidson adds that research on neuroplasticity gives neuroscientists a framework for tracking meditation research. And CIHM is beginning to see that “even short amounts of practice,” like 30 minutes of meditation per day, “can induce measurable changes in the brain” that can be tracked on a brain scanner. Based on recent research, I’ve chosen to share four ways your brain may change when you practice mindfulness: Increased Grey Matter/Cortical Thickness in the following key areas: • Anterior Cingulate Cortex: Increased grey matter changes were noted in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is a structure located behind the brain’s frontal lobe. It has been associated with such functions as self-regulatory processes, including the ability to monitor attention conflicts, and allow for more cognitive flexibility. • Prefrontal Cortex: Increased grey matter density was also found in areas of the prefrontal lobe, which are primarily responsible for executive functioning such as planning, problem solving, and emotion regulation. • Hippocampus: Increased cortical thickness in the hippocampus has also been noted. The hippocampus is the part of the limbic system that governs learning and memory, and is extraordinarily susceptible to stress and stress-related disorders like depression or PTSD. Decreased Amygdala Size: Studies have shown that the amygdala, known as our brain’s “fight or flight” center and the seat of our fearful and anxious emotions, decreases in brain cell volume after mindfulness practice. Diminished or enhanced functionality in certain networks/connections: Not only does the amygdala shrink post mindfulness practice, but the functional connections between the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex are weakened. This allows for less reactivity, and also paves the way for connections between areas associated with higher order brain functions to be strengthened (i.e. attention, concentration, etc.). Reduced activity in the Brain’s “Me” Center: Mindfulness practice has been implicated in the decreased activation and the stilling of our Default Mode Network (DMN), which is also sometimes referred to as our wandering “Monkey Minds.” The DMN is active when our minds are directionless as it goes from thought to thought, a response that is sometimes likened to rumination and not always adaptive with regards to overall happiness. The impact that mindfulness exerts on our brain is borne from routine: a slow, steady, and consistent reckoning of our realities, and the ability to take a step back, become more aware, more accepting, less judgmental, and less reactive. Just as playing the piano over and over again over time strengthens and supports brain networks involved with playing music, mindfulness over time can make the brain, and thus, us, more efficient regulators, with a penchant for pausing to respond to our worlds instead of mindlessly reacting. This post was originally published on mindful.org in August 2015. TOPICS: mindfulness research | Richie Davidson

@NTOgen O.K. I can see that. I think the spiral says intelligent order.

@Frogfucius Spirals are also found throughout the universe. From tiny atoms to galaxies that are millions of light years across. It does say something to us about the hidden structure of the cosmos. like there is a code to it. Not trying to sound too woo-woo or anything but it is there telling us something. What would that be?

@harisankartj I experienced exactly what you referred to about 2 months ago. I was sitting in the woods and suddenly everything that was happening outside of me was now located in my head. When the birds would sing that was really cool b-c they were singing in my head and not in the trees. I also experience from time to time my awareness that normally feels as if located behind the eyes, was out in front of me and no longer at my body location. That is really freaky because it gives the sensation of being out of body to some degree. I'm not saying I could see from that location like remote viewing, but I could feel that awareness has hovering out there. When the two different views of perception merge into one, It feels like being in a ocean of awareness that is surrounding everything. Everything takes on more vibrancy and seems as if it's in hi definition. You can really feel the presents of existence just in it's original state free of all interpretation. *I just watched another Rupert Spira vid where he talks about reality happing on a screen. This is why I wonder sometimes, which is the true way of perceiving reality. If there is one true way. We are talking about 4 distinctly different ways of perceiving reality here. Inside my head. Outside with me as an observer looking out. Flat screen as an observer looking out. And total mergence where all boundaries fall away.

@Leo Gura @Don_Avocado Why does 5meo- dmt shift awareness? Would it be safe to say that it's works through the physical body chemically. The brain specifically. Some level of 5meo is found naturally accruing in the brain. Where I'm heading here is: "Do you think since you introduced high levels of 5meo to your body / mind in a positive way, that your body could recognize that natural chemical and produce more of it? http://www.dmtsite.com/5-meo-dmt/information/chemistry.html

@harisankartj Can you allow everything to merge as one field of awareness. No in me or out of me. Try an awareness exercise. Everything is happing in you. Everything is happening outside you. Go back and forth until the lines blur than vanish.

I really can't say exactly. I've looked at it from a spiritual perspective for a long time because of it's feel good quality's in answering the Big Questions that the minds asks mostly out of fear. But now I'm exploring it under a new light as possibly being the natural evolution of human development. Just the fact that we are questioning everything and expanding the mind beyond our self imposed limits is an evolutionary process of growth. For whatever reason we are rewiring the way our brain works. I think most of us would agree with that.

It would have to rationality that is all inclusive.

Yes, it is a remembrance. Not a new finding that so many search for. That is the spiritual part of what we refer to as awakening.

@Tancrede Pouyat So, what do you see that as being?

Yes I do but I'm not sure it's just about rationality. BTW- I just watched your vid. Very good except the part about emotional investment. That seems unnecessary. Intention -Yes. Intention without emotion attached. Emotion is wasted energy that could be put to better use.

Here's a funny thought. If there are advanced civilizations out in the universe watching us, they could be saying, "The good news is the humans are starting to evolve their brains. The bad news is they give credit for that to an idol named Spiritual Enlightenment"

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, but I'm looking at "enlightenment" from a none spiritual aspect. Maybe your "being reborn spiritually" is my idea of the human brain function evolving.

Is this what we are still doing today just packaging it differently?

I love the way that sounds. Very moving and all. But is it really like that? I'm starting to question everything.

This is exactly what I'm getting at. Is it some grand cosmic mystery? Or is it all just a glitch in in the human brain? * I know that's not as romantic sounding as the former is.

A cosmic game of hide and seek.

It's perfectly natural that all organisms thrive to exist. Why should the human be any different? But when that sense of survival is overwhelmingly killing off all the other organisms because of it's glitches, something needs to evolve. With greater awareness comes grater responsibility for more that just itself. The greater awareness of the entire universe means greater respect all of it.

Just off the cuff- From mind operating only from a sense of self --to mind operating as aspect of all that exists.

I'm starting to see is a major turning point in the evolution of the human brain/mind.

Now we're on the same page. This is exactly what I felt when I woke this morning.

@Prabhaker I'm looking at what exactly enlightenment means and what it's end result is. Not as a romantic idea of something to attain. But more in what actually is happening to someone who drops that sense of self. This seems to me to be a natural developmental stage of the workings of the brain =mind/self.

@Prabhaker Yes, I totally agree. I was putting my question into a general form just as your reply was coming in. Take a look at the question that I was summarizing. What do you think. Is enlightenment just the human brain in development? Fixing it's glitches?