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tamasaburo
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 01:45:14 AM
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This is a question that's been bouncing around my head for a while but which I've been unable to clearly and succinctly articulate to myself, as simple as it seems. I think I've finally hit on the core of it, though:
As Yogani says, the human nervous system is the seat and medium of all spiritual experience and the goal of yoga is "opening" the nervous system to such experiences. But, Yogani and many other teachers also say that the fruit of yoga is the realization that one is not just a physical body but a boundless empty space in which everything is unfolding.
But, if the nervous system is the seat and the medium for this experience then wouldn't it mean a nervous system is experiencing itself as not just a nervous system, that is, as existing beyond a physical nervous system such that even when that nervous system is destroyed, the one experiencing will not be?
How can this be? If a nervous system feels that it exists beyond its physical component as a nervous system, is it not just an illusion? That is, I certainly believe that everything in the universe is unfolding within the space of my neuronal firings, but it is much harder for me to believe that I will continue to exist any form after my nervous system has died and rotted away. Even if the experiences which the nervous system make possible, such as that of boundless space and the like are indeed beyond any physical component (and I suppose subjective experience always is), how can any experience (as we understand it?) continue without the physical component to give rise to it?
I know spiritual pursuits are full of such apparent contradictions and perhaps I'm being too "materialistic" or something, but I continue to wonder about this one so I just thought I'd ask for any ideas, reflections,or observations. Thanks. |
Edited by - tamasaburo on Jul 12 2010 01:48:33 AM |
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amoux
United Kingdom
266 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 05:08:02 AM
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Hi tamasaburo - in apparent duality, spiritual experiences are experienced through the medium of the physical neurophysiology, however the awareness of those experiences is not tied in any way to the physiology - the physical body is formlessness in form, which is paradoxical - but awareness is unbounded.
Or so it appears here 
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 07:42:53 AM
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| In Bhagvad Gita, Lord Krishna has said that the Samsara (The World) is like an upside down tree whose branches/leaves spread below but the roots spread upwards in the sky. |
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Jo-self
USA
225 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2010 : 10:33:44 AM
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Somewhere I read that the Buddha when asked a complex ultimate question replied that it does not help realization.
A very quick thought on the matter. There are two options that I see:
1. Spiritual achievement is a projection of an altered physiological functioning and nothing more. As examples, drug induced altered states, modern brain experiments that can induce OOBE and God spot phenomena. Based on this capability, ancient cultures exploited an esoteric religious dimension; elaborations of shamanistic origins. Just as martial arts exploited the physical body, the esoteric side exploited the inner chemistry (alchemy) to induce the magical view, the waking dream.
2. There is another "plane" in which mental-physical activity arises and reacts to. Obviously beyond ordinary vision and sound spectrum there is much going on. Example, animals have a far richer olfactory sensorium then we do. So, its possible that in a greater dynamic range, from the very large, cosmic, to very small, quantum, there are some strange things going on. The alleged stories of life separate from the physical body and ESP anecdotal evidence point to this.
Anyway, not being a philosopher, I couldn't do justice to the very long history both East and West that this has. From what little I have studied, there are no consistent explanations (at least to my satisfaction): one soul, no soul, illusion, Maya, .... blah blah. In the end its a Mystery.
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Edited by - Jo-self on Jul 12 2010 11:48:41 AM |
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Nervous system knows it's not really one?
