Clipping #64: Spiritual Brains?

Andrew Newberg, MD with co-author thinks we might be born to believe.[1] Neuroscientist, Mario Beauregard with co-author thinks there might be a connection between the spiritual brain and the soul.[2]

Newberg: “The human brain is really a believing machine, and every experience we have affects the depth and quality of those beliefs.” Viewed through the lens of neuroscience, I believe, therefore I am.” A belief is like a map in our brains that seems meaningful-real-true. It begins with information coming in through our senses and culminates in our consciousness. “Ultimately, the system of beliefs that any person will come to embrace is the one that brings the most comfort and makes the most sense.”

Beauregard: “When spiritual experiences transform lives, the most reasonable explanation and the one that best accounts for all the evidence, is that the people who have such experiences have actually contacted a reality outside themselves, a reality that has brought them closer to the real nature of the universe.”

If our brains are inclined to believe and our belief systems are maps that guide our decisions, and if the belief systems we embrace bring comfort and make sense; and if there is evidence that those that have transformative spiritual experiences have made contact with a reality outside themselves — — can we assume that we are equipped to relate to an Ultimate Reality we can call God?

Irving Stubbs — www.alignmentnetwork.org

I invite you to visit the website alignmentnetwork.org where dialog is at the heart of a new and engaging pathway for spiritual discovery.

[1] Andrew Newberg and Mark Wildman, Born to Believe, Free Press

[2] Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary, The Spiritual Brain, Harper One