Neurotheology

NEUROTHEOLOGY: BIOLOGY OF BELIEF

Faith Circuit: Frontal Lobes (concentration) > Limbic System (feelings) > Parietal (transcendence).

http://neurotheology.50megs.com 

Neurotheology, also known as biotheology, is the study of the neural basis of spirituality. Neurotheology deals with the neurological, psychobiological and evolutionary root of subjective experiences traditionally categorized as spiritual. Aldous Huxley introduced the term neurotheology in his utopian novel Island. It was adopted in the last decade for a new scientific discipline. The term is also sometimes used in a less scientific context or philosophical context. Keywords include 'deity', soul, Self, neurophysiological bases, meditation, self-transcendence, spirituality, mysticism, EM and acoustic brain manipulation technology, resonance phenomena, neurotransmitters.

Neurotheology covers spiritual experiences of phenomena which are the basis of beliefs, built from four key interconnected components: perceptions, emotions, cognitions, and social interactions.

• The perception that space/time orientation ceases; "spaced out"
• NDE; ego death
• Fear, alienation and self-consciousness dissolve
• Nature mysic experiences or spiritual awe; bliss
• Creativity and connection with Source
• Ego submits to will of Self
• DNA memory coiling back to the dawn of life
• Sense of immortality and interspecies symbiosis
• Oneness with the universe
• Ecstatic trance; self-transcendence; psychophysical rapture
• Sudden enlightenment, stabilizing over time
• Altered States of Consciousness; temporal lobe visions
• Pure Awareness; Illumination
• Increase of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine DMT levels in the 1000 Petalled Lotus or Pineal Gland.

Any attempt to marry a materialistic approach like neuroscience to spirituality naturally attracts much criticism. Some of the criticism is philosophical, dealing with the (perceived) irreconcilability between reductionistic science and spirituality. Some crit is more methodological, dealing with the issues of studying an experience as subjective as spirituality on demand. Just because the demystifying research is problematical or the unveiling of the workings of the mind is psychologically disturbing for some doesn't mean we shouldn't study it.