02-19-2015, 08:43 PM
I get what you are saying Mike.
LSD is an interesting side road here, as it demonstrates that chemical influences in the brain can trigger the sense of greater or higher spiritual awareness. Things like fasting, isolation, meditative trance induced states can also produce changes in the brain chemistry and wave forms to bring about the experiences that we relate to the label of 'spiritual experience'.
These have been studied by science and things like chemical changes and brain wave changes do take place in the brain through the sheer intent of a trained individual. One can 'think' ones own brain into odd patterns and change the chemistry to produce effects which are not the common everyday experience of being awake.
The mental hospitals are full of individuals who think they have a much closer walk to 'God' they are typically schizophrenics, but other well known mental illnesses produce religious delusions and hallucinations in patients.
Why am I stressing Religious Delusions? Because that is a very broad range of experiences.
"(I also had them frequently as a child, but am not epileptic… but bare with me.)"
Now I'm going to be mean and point out that childhood epilepsy is a very common thing and most grow out of it around or directly after puberty. I can pretty much assure you any neurologist would quickly label your childhood experiences as childhood epilepsy and dismiss you.
Of course this isn't to say that this may not be a connection with the Divine (God/Allah/Father Spirit - whatever you call it). I am going to say there is a direct correlation between brain function and spiritual connections, and typically when the brain is functioning outside of nominal parameters these experiences take place.
Being something more becomes a matter of faith. Science has yet to say exactly why it is the schizophrenic has such a 'faith based' experience and expression of the illness. Science has yet to fully satisfy the spiritual connection that LSD provides. They know something is going on chemically but what exactly - they don't know. They also don't know the primary causes of epilepsy. They can see it happening in EEG's, yet they cannot find an organic or physical cause in most cases.
So yes, it is possible that human beings come equipped with 'other' brain function which allows for connection with the spiritual realm. Perhaps we all have epilepsy to one degree or another, just some of us have it a lot more and it becomes a problem. Perhaps we are all schizophrenics, just some of us get stuck in that mode and can't escape.
I think it boils down to ones faith on the matter.
I lack faith - always the crises of faith in this one. But then God and I have been at odds since the foundation of the world.
LSD is an interesting side road here, as it demonstrates that chemical influences in the brain can trigger the sense of greater or higher spiritual awareness. Things like fasting, isolation, meditative trance induced states can also produce changes in the brain chemistry and wave forms to bring about the experiences that we relate to the label of 'spiritual experience'.
These have been studied by science and things like chemical changes and brain wave changes do take place in the brain through the sheer intent of a trained individual. One can 'think' ones own brain into odd patterns and change the chemistry to produce effects which are not the common everyday experience of being awake.
The mental hospitals are full of individuals who think they have a much closer walk to 'God' they are typically schizophrenics, but other well known mental illnesses produce religious delusions and hallucinations in patients.
Why am I stressing Religious Delusions? Because that is a very broad range of experiences.
"(I also had them frequently as a child, but am not epileptic… but bare with me.)"
Now I'm going to be mean and point out that childhood epilepsy is a very common thing and most grow out of it around or directly after puberty. I can pretty much assure you any neurologist would quickly label your childhood experiences as childhood epilepsy and dismiss you.
Of course this isn't to say that this may not be a connection with the Divine (God/Allah/Father Spirit - whatever you call it). I am going to say there is a direct correlation between brain function and spiritual connections, and typically when the brain is functioning outside of nominal parameters these experiences take place.
Being something more becomes a matter of faith. Science has yet to say exactly why it is the schizophrenic has such a 'faith based' experience and expression of the illness. Science has yet to fully satisfy the spiritual connection that LSD provides. They know something is going on chemically but what exactly - they don't know. They also don't know the primary causes of epilepsy. They can see it happening in EEG's, yet they cannot find an organic or physical cause in most cases.
So yes, it is possible that human beings come equipped with 'other' brain function which allows for connection with the spiritual realm. Perhaps we all have epilepsy to one degree or another, just some of us have it a lot more and it becomes a problem. Perhaps we are all schizophrenics, just some of us get stuck in that mode and can't escape.
I think it boils down to ones faith on the matter.
I lack faith - always the crises of faith in this one. But then God and I have been at odds since the foundation of the world.