Neurological Obfuscation and the Way Out: The Narrow Gate of Meta-Awareness

The Structure and Neurophenomenology of Spiritual Development:

A Theory of Dialectical, Integrative and Holarchical Hemispheric Relationship 

Part 7

While numerous studies have produced substantial empirical evidence for the hypothesis that contemplative practice can significantly reduce the conditioned responses of the amygdale and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007; Greeson, et al, 2001; Jain, et al, 2007; Ramel, et al, 2004), contemplative traditions have for ages acted as the laboratories in which such practices have been developed. One such tradition, mystical Christianity, has much to say about how the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2, King James Version) can lead to a transformative dis-identification with the old man of the flesh and a new embodiment of the spirit (Romans 8:1, King James Version). The “old man,” as Waller (2007) sees it, is the limbic-generated, dialogical self (p. 83). Subsequently, he views deeper identification with conscious awareness as the substrate of experience—which he associates with increased prefrontal function—as the means of renewing the mind (pp. 90-91).

The Narrow Gate

Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14, New American Standard Bible). He is also recorded as having stated, “. . . the kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21, New International Version). Buddhist teaching in the Madhyamaka tradition likewise emphasizes the potential for enlightenment (which can be seen as the Buddhist equivalent of the kingdom of heaven) as being readily available (Lama, 1995, p. 29). Yet the conditioned mind remains oblivious to the liberating reality of its immediate proximity. 

This essay theorizes that the “wide gate” that leads to destruction is the culturally and neurologically conditioned mind, which is oblivious to the enlightened Buddha-nature. Inherent in this conditioning are top-down processes—global neuronal movements that entrain and therefore distort local processes involved in perception (Engel, Fries, & Singer, 2001; Haken and Stadler, 1990). Through this top-down process, certain neural networks create persuasive attractor patterns (Hoffman, 1992), some of which have been linked to various psychiatric disorders (Li & Spiegel, 1992).

 It is further theorized here that the narrow gate which leads to life is nothing other than the mindful and conscious awareness of the Buddha-nature—consciousness as presence—within; i.e., meta-awareness—the awareness of awareness. This gate, then, is narrow because it is mediated by both an enlightened intention and an exclusive neural circuit involving the middle prefrontal areas, which work to preclude the top-down neural processes involved in the expectations of attachment and aversion arising from the conditioned mind (Siegel, 2007, p. 82). Sometimes referred to as a bottom-up process (Siegel, 2007, p. 137), this narrow gate involves present-moment awareness, attentive not only of mental and bodily processes (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 441), but of conscious presence as well (Waller, 2007, p. 30). This anchoring of awareness in the present moment, as such, acts to override the conditioned mind.

This essay’s theory regarding the narrow gate is congruent with the attention-gate theory, which states that attention acts like a gate, recruiting neurological cooperation, thereby exerting mental influence over the brain (Davidson & Neville, 2004). Begley (2007) has documented an example of this gate-function of attention, offered by scientist Helen Neville: if an individual attentively reads a book while passively listening to music in the background, the visual areas of the brain will be activated and the areas associated with hearing will not. Conversely, if the music is listened to attentively while passively looking at a book, the areas associated with hearing will become active (p. 159).

By way of this gate-function, mindful awareness holds the capacity not only for overriding the top-down processes of the conditioned mind, but for recognizing the dialogical self for what it truly is—a phantom arising from neurological conditioning (Waller, 2007, p. 64). Waller (2007) has stated that prefrontal-mediated witnessing of--rather than identifying with—the voice of the dialogical self is the means by which attachment to the ego is diminished (p. 77). The cultivation and establishment of the narrow gate, therefore, down-regulates the amygdale and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007), so that the mosaic voice of the L-N-M system eventually subsides to varying degrees, opening the possibility for the reverberating circuits of meta-awareness to mediate the blissful realization of sat-chit-ananda, a yogic term for the experience of one’s true nature as being-consciousness-bliss (Ghose, 2001, p. 161).

Nataraja (2008) postulates this process as being neurologically mediated first by activity in the attention association area within the prefrontal lobes, the stabilization of which is followed by a decrease of activity in the right parietal lobe, resulting in an experience of spaciousness and wholeness (p. 85-87). This is believed to trigger a response in the autonomic nervous system, so that the parasympathetic nervous system comes online and mediates a sense of peace and blissfulness (p. 89).

When the activity of the right parietal lobe stabilizes, its activity eventually spills over into the left parietal lobe, helping to mediate the dissolution of the self/other boundary (p. 89). Once balanced, another autonomic response occurs, this time within the sympathetic nervous system, giving rise to the experience of clarity and insight (p. 89). During the simultaneous activation and balancing of the yin (parasympathetic) and yang (sympathetic) of the autonomic nervous system, both penetrating insight and blissful presence emerge into conscious experience (p. 95).  The more this neurophenomenological process is repeated (presumably within the later stages of development), the more identification with that stage of development loosens until such identification ceases altogether, at which time identification with the next stage begins (Wilber, 2000, p. 197).

The Neuroscience of Wholeness

As previously mentioned, spiritual development is mediated in large part by progressive integration of right brain and left brain processes, especially when healthy right modes of being and awareness become predominant over left analytical modes (see Figure 5).  In keeping with Lao Tzu’s dictum to “[k]now the yang, but keep to the yin” (Towler & Cleare, 2005, p. 23), this neurological theory of development states that balance between the perceptual modes does not necessarily refer to equal measures of activity in each mode. Rather, in this view, right modes of being become increasingly dominant yet holistically integrated with left modes, so that right modes of awareness become the greater spiritual context in which left modes of analysis and interpretation are formed (see Figure 6), with the result being that rational modes of thought are transcended and included by supra-rational modes of mindful presence. 

In essence, the direction toward which this neurological process is aimed is the eventual transcendence of the brain and conditioned mind as the loci of the self, which comes with the liberating realization that one does not necessarily have to be the victim of one’s neurophysiology. At the same time, though the brain and phenomenal mind are transcended, they are also included as valuable tools for relating to others in the relative world, with the distinction that they are now realized to be ever-changing phenomena rather than the ground of being. As a consequence, not only are certain aspects of behavior now radically shifted, one’s personal narrative is, to quote Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, that of “a spiritual being having a human experience.”

References

Begley, S. (2007). Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves. New York: Ballantine Books.

Creswell, S., B. M. Way, N. I. Eisenberger, & M. D. Liberman. (2007). Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness during Affect Labeling. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 560-565.

Davidson, R., & Neville, H. (2004). Neuroplasticity: The Neuronal Substrates of Learning and Transformation. Mind and Life II. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the The Mind and Life Institute, Dharamsala, India.

Engel, A. K., Fries, P., Singer, W. (2001). Dynamic predictions: Oscillations and synchrony in top-down processing. Nature Neuroscience, 2, 704-716.

Ghose, A. (2001). A Greater Psychology: An Introduction to Sri Aurobindo’s Thought. New York: Putnam.

Greeson, J. M., Rosenzweig, S., Vogel, W. H., & Brainerd, G. C. (2001). Mindfulness meditation and stress physiology in students [Abstract]. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 158.

Haken, H., Stadler, M. (1990). Synergetics of Recognition. Berlin: Springer.

Hoffman, R. E. (1992). Attractor Neuro Networks and Psychotic Disorders. Psychiatric Annals, 22(3), 119-124.

Jain, S., Shapiro, Swanick, S. H., Roesch, S., Mills, P. J., Bell, I., et al. (2007). A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation versus relaxation training: effects on distress, positive states of mind, rumination, and distraction. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 33, 11-21.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Coming to Our Senses: Healing Ourselves and the World through Mindfulness. New York: Hyperion Press.

Lama, D. (1995). The World of Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview of Its Philosophy and Practice. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.

Li, E., & Spiegel, D. (1992). A Neuro Network Model of Associative Disorders. Psychiatric Annals, 22(3), 144-145.

Nataraja, S. (2008). The Blissful Brain: Neuroscience and proof of the power of meditation. London: Hachette.

Ramel, W., Goldin, P. R., Carmona, P. E., & McQuaid, J. R. (2004). The effects of mindfulness meditation on cognitive processes and affect in patients with past depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 38, 433-455.

Siegel, D. (2007). The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. New York: W. W. Norton.

Towler, S., & Cleare, J. (2005). Tales from the Tao: Inspirational Teachings from the Great Taoist Masters. London: Watkins.

Waller, M. (2007). Awakening: Exposing the Voice of the Mosaic Mind. Livermore, CA: WingSpan.

Wilber, K. (2000). Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy. Boston: Shambhala.

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Obfuscation and the Personal Unconscious: A Neurophenomenological Exploration

The Structure and Neurophenomenology of Spiritual Development:

A Theory of Dialectical, Integrative and Holarchical Hemispheric Relationship

Part 6

From an Eastern view, particularly one influenced by the Vedas, the personality arises as the result of identifying with both inherited karmic traits (genetic and psychological in nature) and environmental conditioning (Waller, 2007, p. 140), both of which deeply impact neural development (Mundkur, 2005; Sarnot & Menkes, 2000). In this view, when such conditioning is deeply identified with, it solidifies the experience of a self and personality.

In the early stages of development, then, the fledgling limbic system becomes imprinted with the experiences of both met and unmet emotional needs (Waller, 2007, p. 80), giving rise to reactive and goal-oriented motifs that are eventually and mistakenly identified as the self (Godwin, 2004, p. 122). From this perspective, they are nothing more than culturally conditioned neurological responses being animated by the life force (Sadleir, 2003, p. 12). Also known as prana (Krishna, 1997, p. 68), this life force is a somewhat superficial aspect of a deeper creative power, referred to in yogic traditions as the kundalini-shakti (Goswami, 2006, p. 237), which unconsciously animates bodily processes, giving rise to the mental and emotional content of the phenomenal mind (Muktananda, 1978, p. 48), with which an aspect of the underlying consciousness identifies.

The aforementioned limbic conditioning is theorized by Waller (2007) to give rise to a dialogical self, the ever-active and automatic self-talk activated by limbic attachments and aversions (p. 65). By consistently recruiting other brain areas into its employ, Waller speculates that this limbic-generated, dialogical self regularly hijacks the frontal lobes and thereby significantly biases perception (p. 50). Identification, in his view, is seen as taking place by way of the prefrontal function mistakenly identifying the dialogical self as the locus of the self, since the prefrontal lobes do not fully develop until long after the voice of the dialogical self has become active (p. 73).

Waller further speculates that various complexes of limbic attractors—each with correlated beliefs, biases, attachments and aversions—eventually form sub-personalities (p. 140). The L-N-M system identity, therefore, is viewed as virtually enfolding itself around one’s true nature, obfuscating it. And because the developmental groundwork for thought and emotion have been laid in early development, the continued animation of thoughts and emotions—generated through unconscious energetic processes within  existing neural networks—gives rise to the conditioned mind (Sadleir, 2009, March 10).

The Neurological Origins of the Personal Unconscious

Based on findings in attachment psychology (Hofer, 1983; Scheflen, 1990) and interpersonal neurobiology (Tomasello, 1993; Trevarthen, 1993), Schore (2003), postulates that, in early development, the parent’s brain acts as a complimentary brain through which the infant brain downloads important survival programs (p. 13). As this downloading continues, the infant brain resonantly connects with the parent’s brain, thereby gaining the available circuitry by which it can organize toward greater levels of complexity (p. 41). The forming personality, therefore, is the product of this interpersonal downloading process (p. 3).

Godwin (2004) theorizes that, because the right brain is predominant during this crucial process, left modes of operation are unavailable for labeling disturbing emotional experiences (p. 112), so that such experiences are unconsciously stored in the extensive circuitry already developed between the right hemisphere and the limbic system, making this system the neural correlate of the personal unconscious (p. 112). This theory might explain why the unconscious, in Jung’s psychology, is so often associated with imagery (also associated with right hemispheric function) and limbic-generated affect (Miller, 2004, p. 25). The discovery that negative affect is most associated with right hemispheric activity (Davidson, 1992) may possibly be explained as the result of this right-originating personal unconscious.

Therefore, the higher stages of development, wherein the personal unconscious is more readily acknowledged and integrated, may very well represent an integration of right modes of perception. While this postulated neural correlate of Jung’s personal unconscious has been criticized by others due to the fact that many unconscious processes involve much more than right hemispheric and limbic processes, this criticism fails to recognize that Jung’s description of the personal unconscious includes almost exclusively processes involved with affect and imagery (Miller, 2004, p. 25), at the exclusion of other unconscious processes.

To be continued . . .

References

Godwin, R. (2004). One Cosmos under God: The Unification of Matter, Life, Mind and Spirit. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.

Goswami, A. (2006). The Visionary Window: A Quantum Physicist’s Guide to Enlightenment. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books.

Hofer, M. A. (1983). On the relationship between attachment and separation processes in infancy. In R. Plutchik and H. Kellerman (Eds), Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience, 2, (pp. 199-219). New York: Academic Press.

Krishna, G. (1997). Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man. Boston: Shambhala.

Miller, J. C. (2004). The Transcendent Function: Jung’s Model of Psychological Growth through Dialogue with the Unconscious. New York: State University of New York Press.

Muktananda, S. (1978). Play of Consciousness. Oakland, CA: S.Y.D.A. Foundation.

Mundkur, M. (2005). Neuroplasticity in Children. Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 72(10), 555-557. 

Sadleir, S. S. (2003). The Self Realization Course. Laguna Beach, CA: Self Awareness Institute.

Sarnot, H. B., & Menkes, J. H. (2000). Neuroembrylogy, Genetic Programming and Malformations of the Nervous System. In J. H. Menkes, H. B. Sarnot & B. L. Maria (Eds). Child Neurology. Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Scheflen, A. E. (1990). Levels of Schizophrenia. New York: Bruner/Mazel.

Schore, A. (2003). Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Tomasello, M. (1993). On the interpersonal origins of self-concept. In U. Neisser (Ed), The perceived self: Ecological and interpersonal sources of self-knowledge. Emory symposia in cognition, 5 (pp. 174–184). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Trevarthen, C. (1993). The self born in intersubjectivity: An infant communicating. In U. Neisser (Ed.), The Perceived Self: Ecological and Interpersonal Sources of Self-Knowledge, (pp. 121–173). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Waller, M. (2007). Awakening: Exposing the Voice of the Mosaic Mind. Livermore, CA: WingSpan.

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