[Advaita-l] The nature of spiritual realisation

[S. Sriram]

From: "Jaldhar H. Vyas" <jaldhar at braincells.com>
>
> > I came across a view from a religious person that stated spiritual
> > realisation is due to a brain event, specifically situated in the right
>
> Advaita Vedanta is not idealistic in the philosophical sense.  I.e. the
> phenomena of the visible universe is not "all in your head."  There is
> actual "stuff" but it's true nature is misunderstood due to Maya.  There
> is one level of reality and it is corporeal as well as spiritual.  The
> error is in considering them to be seperate.  (Advaita == not-two)
>

Prof VS Ramachandran, a neurologist at UC San Diego, in his research
outlined that , the Temporal lobe, which when excited by electrical storms
typically
caused by epilepsy, results in the individual having a "religious
experience"
where they "now understand the cosmos" and feel as one with it.
This has been characterized in press reports as "The God Zone"

Such individuals "write a prodiguous amount of philosophical and other
religious tomes", "see cosmic significance in everyday events", etc.

Although this research is intersting and his book "Phantoms in the brain"
is a fascinating read and the professor himself notes that the findings
help to teach the lesson of "maya", there is nothing to contradict say
a  non-advaitic view i.e. that this is a material reflection of God's true
plan
for the mode of interaction of the immaterial soul with the matter of
existence.

What would be an interesting field of research is to find out whether the
various Hindu rituals i.e. sandhyavandanam, sattvic consumption etc.
in effect create pathways to the temporal lobe and whether using external
stimuli to enhance/jumpstart the process is effective.

Thanks
S. Sriram