Throughout the book I have mentioned the ego death, mushroom intoxication, and other vague references to being under the influences of the Amanita muscaria mushroom. Recent research has come to my attention in the form of a TED Talk: My Stroke of Insight, by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who describes the experience she had while having a stroke. The experience she describes is very similar to the mushroom experience; however, Dr. Taylor is a neurologist who studies how the brain works.
The following is drawn from her talk and my own ideas. Dr. Taylor's ideas are italicized.
The brain is divided into two hemispheres, and despite their symmetrical appearance the two hemispheres are very different from one another. The right side of the brain works like a computer parallel processor, allowing the brain to simultaneously process stimuli of differing quality. Whereas the left side of the brain works more like a computer serial processor, attending to and processing one item at a time. Therefore, each half of the brain has its own personality.
The right hemisphere is the part of the brain that processes images in the present moment. It learns through kinesthetic movement and experience. The right side of the brain is the side that feels a human connection, and oneness with the universe. The right side sees the bigger picture.
The left side of the brain is the calculating part of the brain that deals with past and future. It deals with language. The left part of the brain is the one that separates the individual from the oneness and wholeness the right brain perceives. It does this by creating the “I Am” identity of the person who experiences the sensations. The left hemisphere sees the individual as separate from the environment.
Even though the brain has two hemispheres, it does not mean they are equal in terms of use. Due to the omnipresence of language, the left hemisphere of the brain plays a leading role in processing sensory information. The brain is inundated with language. Civilization with all its language forces the brain to internalize the exterior world using words as labels to categorize the environment. Then language is used to communicate these categories and labels to others, sometimes orally other times written. The brain learns to rely on language;language becomes just as tangible to the mind as the environment. Maybe even more so.
Language even undermines right brain functions in western cultures. In the arts, for example, language precedes the art. In music, notes and music theory are taught before students ever get to experience touching an instrument. Therefore, they are not taught music, but rather the language of music. The same could be said of many artistic disciplines; language precedes the art, rendering an artistic composition into just a linguistic expression internalized by the left side of the brain. Therefore, no new thoughts are expressed, and people are trained to express themselves into readily available patterns, such as chord progressions and song structure. The same way that the music is taught, is the same way that public education teaches children. All they are taught to do is produce expected answers; it does not teach them how to think, but what to think.
The brain is also a pattern seeker, it seeks out patterns and tries to identify and categorize what it senses. And since the brain has had so much exposure to language, it learns to look for language to make sense of things; however, as the brain learns to rely on language, so do we. It becomes a way of thinking; we are forced to think in terms of language (internal dialogue). The problem is, all this is taking place in the left hemisphere of the brain, the side that can only process one idea at a time; and its always following rules.
The first word humans learn is also the first law; no, thou shall not. All the laws and rules based on language become hardwired into the brain; literally, neurons form neural networks, which become byways of the central nervous system. Problem is, they bypass the convoluted routes of actually thinking and using the brain, and instead guided by the No Exit, No Littering, and No Right Turn signs. The left-brain creates the individual; and places boundaries on the individual based on these linguistic negative patterns. The brain does not look for what you are permitted to do, but what you cannot do.
Eden was a walled garden where Adam and Eve were placed to work. Eden is the left hemisphere of the brain, the place ruled by the “I am”, language, and rules. Heaven is the right hemisphere, a place without language, time, or rules. How did Adam and Eve get to heaven? They ate the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; and it opened their eyes and made them god-like. Why would the Lord deny Adam and Eve this experience?
Egypt was an empire where Moses was placed to work. He escaped to the wilderness, where he discovered the god of his ancestors. His god gave him the identity of “I Am”, and the power to plunder the Egyptian empire. Rome was the empire where Jesus existed. He was baptized the heavens opened up, a spirit descended upon him, and a voice says, this is my son, with whom I am pleased.
The brain is also a pattern seeker, it seeks out patterns and tries to identify and categorize what it senses. And since the brain has had so much exposure to language, it learns to look for language to make sense of things; however, as the brain learns to rely on language, so do we. It becomes a way of thinking; we are forced to think in terms of language (internal dialogue). The problem is, all this is taking place in the left hemisphere of the brain, the side that can only process one idea at a time; and its always following rules.
The first word humans learn is also the first law; no, thou shall not. All the laws and rules based on language become hardwired into the brain; literally, neurons form neural networks, which become byways of the central nervous system. Problem is, they bypass the convoluted routes of actually thinking and using the brain, and instead guided by the No Exit, No Littering, and No Right Turn signs. The left-brain creates the individual; and places boundaries on the individual based on these linguistic negative patterns. The brain does not look for what you are permitted to do, but what you cannot do.
Eden was a walled garden where Adam and Eve were placed to work. Eden is the left hemisphere of the brain, the place ruled by the “I am”, language, and rules. Heaven is the right hemisphere, a place without language, time, or rules. How did Adam and Eve get to heaven? They ate the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; and it opened their eyes and made them god-like. Why would the Lord deny Adam and Eve this experience?
Egypt was an empire where Moses was placed to work. He escaped to the wilderness, where he discovered the god of his ancestors. His god gave him the identity of “I Am”, and the power to plunder the Egyptian empire. Rome was the empire where Jesus existed. He was baptized the heavens opened up, a spirit descended upon him, and a voice says, this is my son, with whom I am pleased.
If these experiences were put together to form a collective idea, the fruit of knowledge opens your eyes, making you god-like. You also discover yourself, as separate from the world, and god is happy about the experience.
When Jesus says that the Pharisees and Sadducees have taken the keys away, he is talking about the Amanita muscaria mushroom. The mushrooms are the keys that open the door out of Eden and into Heaven. You eat the mushrooms and go on a trip to Heaven. The mushrooms shut down the left hemisphere of the brain and activate the right side to turn on; hence, having visions. This causes the disassociation of linguistic patterns—interrupting the flow of space and time. When you come back from this trip to the right side of your brain, the left hemisphere reorganizes its labels and categories based on the experience. You are essentially reborn to a new consciousness based on your organization of linguistic patterns or language. As a result, new sensory information is redirected along new neural networks created while under the effects of the mushroom. This basically creates new thought patterns, which generate new ideas. These new ideas are expressed in a re-born person's use of language. The experience redefines the world. The linguistic matrix is reordered so that it creates a more accurate reflection of the environment.
When Jesus says that the Pharisees and Sadducees have taken the keys away, he is talking about the Amanita muscaria mushroom. The mushrooms are the keys that open the door out of Eden and into Heaven. You eat the mushrooms and go on a trip to Heaven. The mushrooms shut down the left hemisphere of the brain and activate the right side to turn on; hence, having visions. This causes the disassociation of linguistic patterns—interrupting the flow of space and time. When you come back from this trip to the right side of your brain, the left hemisphere reorganizes its labels and categories based on the experience. You are essentially reborn to a new consciousness based on your organization of linguistic patterns or language. As a result, new sensory information is redirected along new neural networks created while under the effects of the mushroom. This basically creates new thought patterns, which generate new ideas. These new ideas are expressed in a re-born person's use of language. The experience redefines the world. The linguistic matrix is reordered so that it creates a more accurate reflection of the environment.
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