Truth vs Falsehood (12 page)
The capacity to recognize and comprehend truth is concordant with the levels of consciousness as reflected not only in the evolution of brain anatomy but, more importantly, also by changes in the physiology of the human brain and its prevalent patterns of processing information. These, in turn, depend on underlying, unseen energy fields. In humans, critical and profound changes occur in the brain’s physiology and patterns of processing information at consciousness level 200. These can be summarized as follows:
Below Consciousness Level 200
The left brain (in right-handed people) is dominant in information processing (the right brain in left-handed people). Input is directly processed via the relay centers (thalamus) to the emotional/instinctual centers (the amygdala) via a fast track, and only belatedly from the precentral area of the forebrain via a slower track. Thus, emotional response occurs before intelligence and cognition have a chance to modify the response.
Memory of an event is stored in the hippocampus region of the brain as learning and for recall. This left-brain process is akin in function to the animal brain in that it is directed towards personal survival, and thus, in the human, it subserves the ego. From this orientation, ‘others’, including family or tribal (pack) members, are seen primarily as objects or means to personal survival. Also of great importance is that the information supplied by the delayed input of intelligence from the prefrontal cortex is not only slower to reach the response center, but when it does, it has already become subordinated to the previously elicited emotional response (Genova, 2003). Thus, the intellect becomes primarily a tool of animal drives and self-serving goals. Subsequent responses are therefore primitive, survival oriented, and routinely through the fight-or-flight patterns with their neurohormonal consequences, such as the release of cortisone or adrenaline, which, in turn, stress the physiology of the acupuncture and immune systems.
This left-brain, self-centered response system is accompanied by the transitory weakening of the body’s musculature and a negative or weak kinesiological (muscle test) response. The body’s energy system, however, quickly recovers and restores the acupuncture balance so that the overall energy system is again poised for the next stimulus response cycle. The stress-reaction patterns were described by Hans Selye (1956, 1974) as follows:
1. Alarm reaction.
2. Stage of resistance.
3. Stage of exhaustion and physiological impairment (catabolic).
Left-brain dominance is also reflected by limited or even nonexistent spiritual awareness since it is programmed for animal survival. The memories of this sequence of events are stored in the brain’s region of the hippocampus; thus, later recall will reawaken memory of the sequence as it was contextualized by the ego’s primitive survival goals and techniques. Memories are therefore negatively emotionalized and stored, along with fear, anxiety, anger, resentment, or pleasure of gain.
Above Consciousness Level 200
The right brain in right-handed people (the left brain in left-handed people) becomes dominant above consciousness level 200. Input is fast-tracked via the relay center to the prefrontal cortex and hence to the emotional center. (As we shall see later, this occurs even more rapidly through the prefrontal region of the etheric brain.) Perception is therefore modified by intelligence, and the overall meaning of the event is contextualized according to the prevailing level of consciousness. Generally, recall is that of a more benign event than would have been recorded by a strictly left-brain response. With right-brain spiritualized brain processing and physiology, the neurohormonal response is anabolic, which releases endorphins and balances the acupuncture system. There is also the release of oxytocin and vasopressin to the amygdala (emotional center), which relates to maternal instincts, paternal behavior, pair bonding, and social capacity via the ‘social brain’ (Moran, 2004) of mammals.
At the same time, the muscle test response is strong and positive. The propensity to process information via the healthier pathways is influenced by early life training and exposure to classical music, aesthetics, and religious affiliation, all of which affect neuronal patterning and connections (see
Chapter 9
).
Similar findings have been reported by Professor Roy Mathews of Duke University. In his book,
True Path
, brain research shows that the nondominant brain hemisphere is stimulated by art, nature, music, spirituality, and aesthetics, resulting in increased altruism, inner calm, and higher levels of consciousness. Further research on Tibetan Buddhist monks demonstrated the brain’s ‘neuroplasticity’ and changes of physiology as a result of meditation (Begley, 2004).
These major and significant differences can be summarized in chart form as follows:
BRAIN FUNCTION AND PHYSIOLOGY
INSERT latest version of chart 23 from PowerPoint slide:
Importance:
Spiritual endeavor and intention change the brain function and the body’s physiology and establish a specific area for spiritual information in the right-brain prefrontal cortex and its concordant etheric (energy) brain.
While these basic differences in brain physiology that occur above and below the important consciousness level of 200 are decisive, even more significant change occurs at that level because above level 200, a unique energy field emerges for the first time in evolution. It is concordant operationally with the physical right brain but is specific to spiritual awareness and consciousness. For want of better terminology, this specific energy field has been labeled the ‘etheric brain’ to denote that it is purely energetic and not protoplasmic or anatomical in nature. This etheric brain, or spiritual energy body, registers higher energy frequencies to which protoplasm is unable to respond. This is similar to the physical world, where more delicate instruments are required to discern higher-frequency energy fields beyond the capacities of the senses (e.g., the ear cannot hear radio waves themselves nor can the eye see actual television transmission signals, and the computer chip exceeds the response capacity of the old radio vacuum tube).
The reality of an energy body that exists independently of the physical brain has been recognized in all cultures throughout history. Although designated by different terminology, the intuited existence of such a basic reality has been consistent. All cultures have known that the physicality of animals, as well as humans, is energized by a more basic primary energy source that takes over the body at or just prior to birth and then leaves it at the time of physical death (e.g., the ‘Soul’, the ‘Ka’ of ancient Egypt, etc.). This energy body is a product of the evolution of consciousness and not of physical origin. In the animal kingdom, each species has an attractor-field-dominated group energy field—a group consciousness—in which the group memory is stored and is the locus of the process of evolution (i.e., ‘animal spirits’).
In contrast, in the human, the spiritual or etheric body is individual and is again the specific site of the patterns and vibrational field of the evolving levels of consciousness. Below consciousness level 200, the attractor fields of consciousness are primarily of an animal-group nature. Above level 200, the etheric brain emerges as a differentiated area of energy that supersedes the life of the physical body. It is more specialized than is the more general basic form of physical life energy itself.
The etheric brain thus becomes the nonphysical vehicle of an individualized spiritual content (i.e., karma). Below consciousness level 200, the individual is dominated by the collective field of consciousness of that level from which a uniquely personal, spiritualized etheric brain has yet to evolve. It only does so by the exercise of free choice, which can move the individual consciousness level above the critical point of 200. To break loose from the dominance of the collective field of consciousness may even require heroic efforts that often entail seemingly drastic decisions of will, such as are occasioned by precipitating circumstances and events. What appears to naïve perception as a cataclysmic event is the very opportunity utilizable by the will to transcend prior barriers because transcendence requires subordination of the goals of the animal ego-self and surrender to a higher principle, e.g., to risk one’s life to help others, to choose humility rather than pride, to forgive rather than hate, to accept surrender to a divinity by a decision of the personal will, or to surrender falsehood for truth or gain for selfless service.
The extremes to which circumstances seem to have to go to precipitate such a major change are often rather astonishing. The ego can be fiercely tenacious and drive one even to death’s door before it is willing to ‘let go’ (the classic ‘hitting bottom’), which is widely recognized as a crucial phenomenon. The recognition of the importance of this critical spiritual step has been one of the major contributions of the collective experience of members of recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous over the years. The recognition of this phenomenon first appeared in the medical psychiatric literature in its exposition by the psychiatrist Harry Tiebout in his classic papers on “Surrender” (Tiebout, 1949, 1951).
While the surrender of one’s will to God is a well-known premise of all true spiritual traditions and teachings, its application outside the fields of religion or spirituality has only recently been recognized in our society as crucial to the resolution of other individual or collective human problems.
The ‘Higher Self’ of the spirit has traditionally ‘taken advantage of’ circumstances that seemed catastrophic to the ego. To the spirit, great opportunities present themselves in seeming calamities, such as war, extremes of jeopardy, earthquakes, floods, fire, major family disruptions, or serious health conditions. In these momentous instances, choice has to be made in a split second to follow a spiritual principle or to follow the habitual dictates of the ego. This choice has even been facilitated by certain cultural traditions and ceremonies, such as occur in the military, the act of hari-kari, acts of heroism and unselfishness, sacrifice of one’s life for the safety of others, acts of kindness or forgiveness, pardon, admissions of responsibility instead of denial, and breakthroughs of honesty and self-sacrifice for love.
Over time, the form of this evolutionary step has been exhibited by women through the act of childbirth, which had a very high mortality rate. The woman was willing to sacrifice her life and face possible death in the interest of the furtherance of new life. If she survived that ordeal, she traditionally became self-sacrificial for the sake of children, family, or spouse. The pathway of subservience to authority in whatever form was traditional in a given culture became an established pathway to God. The church utilized the same mechanism in its requirement for subordination of the personal will to a higher principle.
In the military tradition, acts of heroism or bravery ultimately resulted in leaps of consciousness as a consequence of the spiritual choice of risking or surrendering one’s life to a higher cause, such as duty, obligation to comrades, and the service to one’s country. The same principle applied to other seemingly high-risk-taking behaviors, such as dueling or meeting fearsome challenges head on. In today’s world we see the same phenomenon, with young men rising to the challenge to sacrifice their lives for their country or a spiritual belief system. Volunteers do not need to be sought for suicidal missions. The eager volunteers of today’s world are comparable to the kamikaze pilots of World War II, in which the number of volunteers greatly exceeded the necessary requirement.
The critical transcendence of consciousness level 200 does not, of course, always entail or require such dramatic actions. It more commonly takes place quietly in such forms as the decision to forgive, the acceptance of moral responsibility instead of denial, and a more general surrender of one’s will to the will of God, to Love, or to Truth itself.
Another example of this critical transition is demonstrated by so-called conversion experiences that become critical turning points of life. Commonly, medical or other personal crises are the precipitating factors, and many survivors of heart attacks have recounted a similar major change in their overall view of life (Siegel, 1986). In recovery from addictions, the sudden shift from denial and resistance to a ‘sweetly reasonable’ attitude denotes the beginning of successful recovery (Bill W., founder of AA). With the ending of defiance and pride, recovery from many human calamities ensues. This ‘turnaround’ can be sudden or slowly incremental, and the resulting changes can be quite profound and exactly calibratable by consciousness research techniques.
When this critical level of consciousness has been crossed, the energy of life in the brain demonstrates a remarkable change, subsequent to which this spiritualized energy has been given specific recognition because of its unique qualities and properties. Although it has not been recognized specifically in the Western world, in older cultures (e.g., Chinese, Hindu), it has been traditionally termed ‘kundalini’ energy (Krishna, 1971). It is this unique energy that brings about the specific changes in the brain physiology and potentiates the emergence and development of the etheric (energy) brain itself. One profound consequence of the emergence of an etheric brain is its survival of a physical death and the accumulation of karmic patterns. While karmic evolutionary patterns develop below consciousness level 200, they do so in the collective field of consciousness that dominates the levels below 200. They actually do not become individualized as such until the consciousness level reaches 200 (calibrates as true).
Thus, we observe that at the time of birth, each individual already possesses a calibratable level of consciousness. While the form and functions of the body are presumed to be genetically determined by genes, chromosomes, and DNA, these are just the mechanisms of karmic inheritance. On the spiritual level, the karmic inheritances of the etheric brain are not subject to the linear laws of physicality because they exist in a different domain.
