Theos-Talk Archives (December 2006 Message tt00170)

This is not unlike what Krishnamurti said.
Cass

The Dark Night of the Soul and Brainscience                                                                                                      Written by Christian Opitz                                      A Scientific Commentary on the transformational Process  induced by Deeksha. 
  In 1977, Ilya Prigogine was awarded the Nobel prize  in theoretical chemistry for his discovery of dissipative  structures. Prigogine described how every natural system  grows in a non – linear way: the organizing structure  of a system is at some point no longer useful and has  to disintegrate before the new structure can emerge.  A prime example of this principle is the transformation  of a caterpillar into a butterfly. A caterpillar does  not really become a butterfly in the cocoon. Rather,  it turns into a chaotic molecular mesh. Out of this  chaos, the structure of the butterfly spontaneously  emerges.  
  Mystics have always been aware of this principle. The  dissolution of the current sense of self and God before  one can experience the true self and God is a common  theme in the spiritual teachings of the ages. The medieval  Christian mystic Meister Eckhart expressed this knowing  in his famous prayer: “Lord free me from you so  that I can truly find you.” Christian mystics  called this passage of losing oneself before finding  absolute truth the Dark Night of the Soul. The term  Dark Night does not necessarily refer to a horrible  experience, rather the word Dark implies that one does  not see anymore where one is going or how to get there.  While every person and every deeksha is unique, this  process seems to be a very common one for those how  have received deeksha. From a scientific point of view,  the deeksha is a uniquely effective means of not only  inducing the Dark Night experience but more importantly  to actually make it fruitful. Many people experience  some
 kind of crisis and loss of identity in their spiritual  journey, but until now very few have emerged out of  such experiences into full enlightenment. In my opinion,  the deeksha process is the first ever means to make  this transition possible for all of humanity. There  are two primary factors that make the deeksha process  far more effective than anything else to guide people  through the Dark Night into full enlightenment:  
  The activation of the quiescence and arousal  system.
 Sri Kalki says that everything fully experienced turns  into joy. There are two basic systems of awareness in  the brain, the quiescence and the arousal system. When  someone can experience something with a fully functional  quiescence system, which means total awareness, the  arousal system becomes activated and joy is experienced.  Thus Sri Kalki’s statement is fully supported  by neuroscientific insight. This also matches the Taoist  teaching that at their end points, yin and yang transform  into each other. However, the normal human brain does  not have a functional quiescence system and therefore  we tend to recoil from so much of our experiences in  life because they do not become joyful. When the parietal  lobes are chronically over-active, as I described in  a recent article, the quiescence system of the brain  is severely handicapped. Likewise, with the chronic  under-activity in the frontal lobes, the arousal system  of the brain is equally under-active. This
 leads to  a biological urge to never fully experience anything,  thus preventing the transformation of any experience  into joy. Without fully experiencing the inner sense  of disorientation and chaos in the Dark Night phase,  one cannot pass through it fully. The caterpillar does  not resist its own dissolution and can therefore emerge  as the butterfly out of its own destruction. Human consciousness  however does resist these experiences as long as the  brain is functioning the way that has been normal for  human beings until now. Biological urges are simply  stronger than conscious intentions. Imagine someone  told you that you get fully enlightened if you just  don’t sleep for six months – there goes  your enlightenment. No matter how dedicated you are,  the biological urge to sleep will be stronger. Therefore  spiritual practices that are performed while the brain  is stuck in the limited patterns of an under-active  quiescence–arousal system can only give temporary 
 states of enhanced awareness and joy, but for most people  this cannot lead to a dissolution of the old sense of  self and the emergence of enlightenment. If our brain  is biologically wired to the pattern of not experiencing  with full awareness, the best intentions to change this  are quite powerless. However, a direct attunement to  the original design of the brain can effortlessly activate  the natural functioning of the quiescence–arousal  system. This is what the deekshas seem to cause very  effectively. Then one can naturally surrender to whatever  one’s experience is, because there is a biological  base for such surrender. To illustrate the difference  in effectiveness between intention–based change  and a biological change via direct attunement, let’s  take a look at strength. Strength is a neurological  function, not a quality of muscles. The factor that  limits a person’s physical strength is neurological  inhibitions. That’s why a person during an epileptic 
 seizure can have superhuman strength, because the neurological  inhibitions fall away. These inhibitions affect other  brain areas than the inhibitions that keep a person  from being naturally enlightened, but otherwise they  both are really the same process. The world record for  the bench press is 897 American pounds (lbs). This is  the result of an extremely talented athlete working  very hard with all his desire and intention to be super  strong. A gorilla shares 99% of the genetic makeup of  a human being, yet without any intention or training  or effort, the average gorilla has the strength that  equal a 4000 lbs bench press. All a gorilla does is  that he is attuned to his natural design. Gorillas don’t  try to be strong, they just are what they are. A human  being disconnected from the original design can never  match the natural strength that comes effortlessly to  a gorilla. Since the biochemical process of neurological  inhibition is the same, whether it’s the
 inhibition  of physical strength or of the quiescence–arousal  system, this example can show us why the deeksha as  a given attunement to our original brain design is so  much more powerful than intention–based efforts.  
  The activation and regeneration of the septum  pellucidum.
 In the 1950s, neuroscientists discovered that the activation  of the septum pellucidum, a brain center right in the  middle of the brain, can instantly heal chronic pain,  depression and anxiety, give a sense of deep peace and  above all of joy. However, due to the neurological over-activity  in the parietal lobes and the resulting lack of neurological  energy for the rest of the brain, the septum pellucidum  of almost everyone is chronically under-active. This  actually leads to a shrinking of the size of this important  brain center, which in turn makes joy and aliveness  less and less available to a person. This then activates  a person’s search for experiences that induce  joy, because joy is natural and we are biologically  wired to experience it. However, once the septum pellucidum  is shrunk, only extreme stimulation can activate it  to produce some joy. This is the real biological base  of addictions to drugs, over-stimulation of the senses  and all things of a
 rajasic or tamasic nature. The septum  pellucidum is the brain’s reward center and when  it is not functioning naturally, we experience reward  or joy mostly through unnatural means. Even in people  who live a very pure lifestyle, the experience of joy  is often dependent on conditions. One of the most common  descriptions of the enlightened state is that of unconditional  joy. In other words, a truly enlightened person has  a naturally functioning reward center, which is always  “on”, not just under certain circumstances.  A naturally functioning septum pellucidum makes the  experience of life rewarding, no matter what it is.  As Sri Kalki says, “everything fully experienced  turns into joy.” A healthy septum pellucidum allows  us to experience joy in everything, making everything  rewarding, including the experience of the Dark Night.  This makes it possible to actually go through such experiences  of inner chaos without a biological urge trying to direct  us away from
 them. For the last seven years, I have  invented and investigated methods for activating the  septum pellucidum. Looking at the brain changes in people  who undergo the deeksha process, I have come to the  conclusion that this is by far the most powerful means  to activate and regenerate the septum pellucidum available  today. This alone makes the deeksha process incredibly  effective as a means for total inner transformation.  
  Conclusion 
 From a scientific point of view, the deeksha process  is unsurpassed in its effectiveness and logic, because  it works according to the natural design of human beings.  The old way of trying to transform oneself against the  momentum of biological urges and programming that manifest  the experience of separation and suffering was never  based in natural principles and has therefore only worked  for few people. If enlightenment is our natural state,  as so many mystics have said, then only a natural process  will be effective in awakening humanity to it. Our search  for the solution to humanity’s suffering must  come from a different foundation than the reality of  suffering. Working against biological urges with intention–based  effort is part of the reality of suffering, not part  of its solution. Being given an attunement to our original  design through Divine Grace is the way of nature and  all other life forms already participate in this natural  way. I am currently
 conducting further research into  the effects of the deeksha process. This includes investigating  factors that could perhaps make the human brain more  receptive to the deeksha energy. It is an exciting new  horizon for science that might finally bring science  and spirituality together in a whole new way where both  complement and support each other for the sake of humanity.  
                                                                           
                            
       

 
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