Altered Consciousness
Spiritual awakening experiences are often recognised as an altered form of consciousness. This begs the question: what is consciousness? Dr Anil Seth is a prominent researcher who seems to have a solid explanation for this question. Seth argues that consciousness is the byproduct of the brain acting as a predictive and error correction machine¹. Imagine the brain resting inside the dark container of the skull. It has no direct access to the outside world, so it relies upon the neuronal signals sent to it from all the bodily systems. The brain needs to find some way of understanding those signals and then needs to figure out what the best response is to those signals that optimise survival for the body. To do so, Dr Seth argues, it generates a predictive model of what sensory information it receives. It is constantly correcting itself through error detection after judging the consequence of its responses. Consciousness is our experience of this model that the brain has generated. Perhaps consciousness is altered during spiritual awakenings because, due to the changes in sensory processing from mindfulness, the brain develops an entirely new model of the world around us that we then perceive as enlightening.
Based on the work of neuroscientist Anil Seth, we can see how our brain hallucinates our reality. Our brain predicts what the scene or situation in our life should look, sound and feel to define a sense of self. The brain then generates a hallucination based on these predictions. We then experience the world as solid around us based on this hallucination. This hallucination exists at the centre of every minute of every day. Imagine the role that memory plays in this. Our memories, especially those relating to our personal stories, largely contribute to how we perceive our current situation. Even if, for example, we are wandering in the forest on a hike, our reality is still defined by our house, car, bills, jobs and the list goes on. Even though, at this moment, there is nothing but the situation in the forest. In the context of Dr Seth’s work, a very illusory hallucination is present because despite being in a forest, removed from our other issues, the context of our situation is still defined by concerns removed from the present experience. To become more present and aware of the state of our world and nature, we must be present and not consumed by issues that are not immediate. This allows us to focus and see the world for what it truly is. Perhaps this explains why researchers notice atrophy in the hippocampus, the brain area associated with memory recall, in those who have experienced spiritual awakenings². Memory recall is less critical if you are solely focused on the present. So, we must remain open and watch everything coming and going towards us and within with extreme accuracy to find out what is beyond that hallucination. To put this science into meditative practice, capture the moment in front of you. Realise that it is an utter miracle that it came to be. Let it unfold in front of you with great honour and respect. However, you must let it go completely. Don’t give it a second thought, nor any altered meaning.
If you start thinking about the moment that just passed, you are completely distracted from the source of consciousness and re-ignite the brain’s state of hallucination. You miss the next moment. Cease to be distracted by the whirlpools of the mind. Give up all distractions and find the source of consciousness itself. Ultimately, you merge with the witness consciousness, and become the observer, the perceiver of the mind.
For more information on the work of Dr Anil Seth, please see these videos:
To take this science one step further, we can explore the ideas presented by Dr Donald Hoffman. Like Dr Seth, Dr Hoffman highlights the flaw in thinking that our perceptions represent reality. In fact, Dr Hoffman argues that the mathematics of Darwin’s theory of evolution shows how the probability that we evolved our senses to detect reality is 0%. What we detect with our senses is not reality, but a helpful interface to increase evolutionary fitness. A useful analogy is to think about a computer interface: when you look at your computer screen, with all the browsers, texts, and files, you intuitively know that there is no actual file or text in your computer. The computer is simply comprised of circuit boards, transistors, etc. What we see on the screen has nothing to do with the reality of the computer, but is a helpful interface so that we can effectively interact with it. Dr Hoffman argues that the same is true for our bodily perceptions. This idea ties in nicely with the idea of spiritually awakening to the body being illusory. We all seek the truth and want to know what is real. Dr Hoffman argues that our senses will never tell us what is real. However, that does not necessarily mean it is impossible. Many spiritual and mindfulness-based practices involve the cessation of senses, and a form of presence beyond the senses. Perhaps this is why we find spiritual experiences so profoundly powerful and true. They are a way to perceive what is beyond the interface and feel the truth. Albert Einstein always considered that there was an overriding vast intelligence behind the world of appearances or arising of form.
Max Plank, a theoretical physicist and nobel prize winner in 1918 stated it so beautifully:
“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about the atoms this much: There is no matter as such! All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. . . . We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”
The scientific research exploring spiritual experiences is fascinating. They provide a neuroscientific lens to observe the changes within the brain that explain the phenomenology of said experiences. The study also sheds incredible light on the benefits of spirituality’s mental health and well-being.
To understand more of Dr Donald Hoffman’s theory, please see his TED talk:
The above insight into the illusory nature of mental projections and how the mind hallucinates reality can be explained in a spiritual context briefly in the words of Michael Singer:
Eckhart Tolle also discusses the illusory nature of the mind here, also known in Sanskrit as maya, the illusion (Timestamp 13.00 minutes to 20.00 minutes):
Take time this year to awaken consciousness and peer through the illusion, or maya, into what is true.
References
1. Seth AK. Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self. Trends Cogn Sci. 2013;17(11):565-573. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2013.09.007
2. Owen AD, Hayward RD, Koenig HG, Steffens DC, Payne ME. Religious Factors and Hippocampal Atrophy in Late Life. PLoS One. 2011;6(3):e17006. doi:10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0017006
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