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Consciousness and health
What is Real?
An exploration into the deeper workings of Real and Reality
www.namahjournal.com/doc/Actual/What-is-Real-vol-28-iss-1.html
Dorathea Thompson
Abstract
In this article, the author turns to cutting-edge scientific findings, ancient Buddhist principles and modern-day psychology in an attempt to find illuminating pathways to the question of what is real.
In order to address the broad questions of what is real, what is reality and what is truth, it appears meaningful to ask the following questions: how do we humans construct our reality; what is the process; where does it come from? To help us explore these questions, we will turn to modern-day science, ancient Buddhist metaphysics and current psychological principles.
Modern science
Modern science is blazing new ground in helping us understand how the human brain functions. Cutting-edge research on the therapeutic use of entheogens (1) is revealing previously unsubstantiated findings and promising applications as curative medicinal agents and facilitators for the expansion of consciousness. Entheogens is a term coined by a prominent group of ethno-botanists and mythologists in 1979 to differentiate it from psychedelics, which had taken on a negative connotation due to recreational misuse and 1960s counter-cultural associations.
Entheogens are psycho-active substances that have been used by indigenous people in sacred rituals and healing ceremonies for thousands of years. They include psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca and iboga, among others.
With the advancement of pharmacological synthesis of compounds and current studies on psychedelic-assisted therapies, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), have been added to the list of promising potentials, among others.
Research into the therapeutic uses of psychedelics was seriously underway in the 1950s and 60s at leading universities and pharmaceutical labs in the United States, Canada and Europe. All research was abruptly halted in the 1970s, when these substances were made illegal. This unprecedented freeze on research began a reversal in the 1990s, when institutions once again obtained approval to undertake research studies. We are currently experiencing what many consider a Psychedelic Renaissance, with impressive therapeutic findings.
In January 2012, the British researcher, Dr. Robin Cahart-Harris and a team of researchers captured brain-imaging slides of brain activity under the influence of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms (2).
An image often cited to illustrate these findings is presented below. This slide depicts difference in neuron pathways connectivity of the same brain, one under a placebo, or normal brain function and the other under the influence of psilocybin.
What we can observe and might infer from studying these two comparative MRI’s is that right below the layer of normal human consciousness, called our default mode network (DMN) as depicted in the placebo slide, lies a vast world of neural connections that can be facilitated when under the influence of an entheogen, as demonstrated by the MRI captured under the influence of psilocybin. Comparatively, normal brain connectivity appears vastly more limited. What this may suggests is that we humans are hugely constrained by our DMN and not accessing the global possibilities inherent in human brain functioning. This may lead us to ask a host of questions, and one among many is, does the often-quoted adage that we only actively use a small percentage of our brain hold some inferred validity?
We humans have developed a default mode network (DMN), an input sensory processing system through limited repeating patterns (3), seemingly as an evolutionary survival mechanism. Understandably, as hunters and gatherers, we could not survive being in a state of constant expansion, lest without singularity of focus, we would become our predators’ next meal. We have therefore, both consciously and unconsciously, selected, programmed and reinforced certain patterns of behaving, seeing, thinking, understanding and believing, while discarding many others. This mechanism has enhanced survival probability, keeping us in an ever-alert, fight-or-flight mode, but in simplifying alternatives, it may have also stifled human creative potentialities.
What is Real?
An exploration into the deeper workings of Real and Reality
www.namahjournal.com/doc/Actual/What-is-Real-vol-28-iss-1.html
Dorathea Thompson
Abstract
In this article, the author turns to cutting-edge scientific findings, ancient Buddhist principles and modern-day psychology in an attempt to find illuminating pathways to the question of what is real.
In order to address the broad questions of what is real, what is reality and what is truth, it appears meaningful to ask the following questions: how do we humans construct our reality; what is the process; where does it come from? To help us explore these questions, we will turn to modern-day science, ancient Buddhist metaphysics and current psychological principles.
Modern science
Modern science is blazing new ground in helping us understand how the human brain functions. Cutting-edge research on the therapeutic use of entheogens (1) is revealing previously unsubstantiated findings and promising applications as curative medicinal agents and facilitators for the expansion of consciousness. Entheogens is a term coined by a prominent group of ethno-botanists and mythologists in 1979 to differentiate it from psychedelics, which had taken on a negative connotation due to recreational misuse and 1960s counter-cultural associations.
Entheogens are psycho-active substances that have been used by indigenous people in sacred rituals and healing ceremonies for thousands of years. They include psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, ayahuasca and iboga, among others.
With the advancement of pharmacological synthesis of compounds and current studies on psychedelic-assisted therapies, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine), have been added to the list of promising potentials, among others.
Research into the therapeutic uses of psychedelics was seriously underway in the 1950s and 60s at leading universities and pharmaceutical labs in the United States, Canada and Europe. All research was abruptly halted in the 1970s, when these substances were made illegal. This unprecedented freeze on research began a reversal in the 1990s, when institutions once again obtained approval to undertake research studies. We are currently experiencing what many consider a Psychedelic Renaissance, with impressive therapeutic findings.
In January 2012, the British researcher, Dr. Robin Cahart-Harris and a team of researchers captured brain-imaging slides of brain activity under the influence of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms (2).
An image often cited to illustrate these findings is presented below. This slide depicts difference in neuron pathways connectivity of the same brain, one under a placebo, or normal brain function and the other under the influence of psilocybin.
What we can observe and might infer from studying these two comparative MRI’s is that right below the layer of normal human consciousness, called our default mode network (DMN) as depicted in the placebo slide, lies a vast world of neural connections that can be facilitated when under the influence of an entheogen, as demonstrated by the MRI captured under the influence of psilocybin. Comparatively, normal brain connectivity appears vastly more limited. What this may suggests is that we humans are hugely constrained by our DMN and not accessing the global possibilities inherent in human brain functioning. This may lead us to ask a host of questions, and one among many is, does the often-quoted adage that we only actively use a small percentage of our brain hold some inferred validity?
We humans have developed a default mode network (DMN), an input sensory processing system through limited repeating patterns (3), seemingly as an evolutionary survival mechanism. Understandably, as hunters and gatherers, we could not survive being in a state of constant expansion, lest without singularity of focus, we would become our predators’ next meal. We have therefore, both consciously and unconsciously, selected, programmed and reinforced certain patterns of behaving, seeing, thinking, understanding and believing, while discarding many others. This mechanism has enhanced survival probability, keeping us in an ever-alert, fight-or-flight mode, but in simplifying alternatives, it may have also stifled human creative potentialities.