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Spiritual Development & The Brain

Eric Thompson

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© Copyright 2010-2011 Eric Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

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Contents

Introduction

1. Spiritual Development Defined - 5

2. The Neural Correlates of the Ego - 8

3. Ego Development, Neural Integration and the Resolution of

Opposites - 11

4. Hemispheric Dialectics and the Stages of Development – 17

5. The Neural Substrates of Obfuscation – 32

6. The Neurological Origins of the Personal Unconscious – 35

7. The Way Out – 37

References - 44

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Introduction

In the interest of better understanding how the

brain mediates (rather than causes) spiritual development, this

book explores neural processes and their relationship to

personal growth. How do different levels of spiritual

development affect the brain and vice versa? What brain

processes are involved

in the inhibition of

spiritual

development, and

which processes

facilitate spiritual

awakening? The

intention in

answering these

questions is to open

up a greater context in

which we can allow a

deeper source to come forth, and with it a larger sense of

purpose, meaning and integration.

After first defining spiritual development, this book introduces

developmental psychologist Susanne Cook-Greuter’s model of

ego development, and uses this model as a means of

investigating the neural correlates of each stage of development.

It is theorized that a dialectical, or argumentative, process

between right and left modes of perception comprises a vital part

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of the developmental process, and that this process determines

in large measure the level of motivation at which the limbic

system operates within the brain at any given stage.

Throughout this book I use the term “modes of perception.” This

term refers not to lateralization (which mistakenly assumes that

one hemisphere is more active in certain perceptual tasks than

the other), but instead to the scientifically validated notion that

specific areas in the left and right hemispheres play important

roles in facilitating certain modes of perception. Left modes of

perception are here defined as modes in which left hemispheric

processes tend to play more of a key role than right hemispheric

processes. Right modes of perception, likewise, denote modes in

which right hemispheric processes tend to play a key role in

perception.

The neural processes by which the transpersonal domain of

spiritual experience is obfuscated are also theorized, as are those

which facilitate both gradual and sudden awakenings. Finally, it

is suggested that right hemispheric modes of present-moment

awareness, in the highest stages of development, transcend and

include left hemispheric modes of discursive thought.

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CHAPTER 1:

Spiritual DevelopmentDefined

Spiritual development can be defined in at least four ways, all of

which will be collectively inferred when using the term

throughout this book. In general, spiritual development refers

to:

1. The higher reaches of human development, wherein

individuals awaken to inherent transpersonal values

(Fuller, 2008, p. 127).

2. One’s general view and experience of God or the

universe.

3. The degree to which one feels empathically connected

to one’s experienced self, society and the world, and

therefore the degree to which one is able to express care

and compassion

4. The degree to which one is limited to identification

with the body and the discursive and conceptual mind as

the loci of the self.

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The developmental models used in this investigation, drawn

from both Eastern and Western sources, tend to agree that

development—in its full expression—emerges initially as a fusion

state, then moves first toward higher levels of autonomy and

individuality, and finally toward greater and more complex

levels of social integration.

Social integration is here defined as the extent to which one’s

overall life vision, aspiration and expression takes into account

the greater systemic influences of the world and cosmos, so that,

as much as is

possible, the totality

of existence is taken

into account in

relationship to one’s

actions and pursuits.

The general direction

of movement in these

models is such that

personal

identification evolves from the gross to the subtle, and still

further to the very subtle (Wilber, 2000, p. 6). This direction

expresses a progressive movement away from fundamental

narcissism toward naked, conscious awareness as the ground of

being.

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Susanne Cook-Greuter’s developmental model is a good starting

point for this investigation, as it meets the Western emphasis on

third-person, scientific validation by way of having been

empirically verified in at least 5,000 cross-cultural subjects

(Cook-Greuter, 2006).

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CHAPTER 2:

The Neural Correlatesof the Ego

Cook-Greuter’s model (2004),

based extensively on the

developmental theory of Jane

Loevinger, envisions the human

ego as potentially progressing

through an arc beginning at

primary identification with the

body, followed by identification

with the mind at various levels (e.g., emotionally and

conceptually), and eventual identification with pure

consciousness as

ultimate context, in

which the content of

mind, body and cosmos

are fully contained. Her

approach to defining and

examining the ego

revolves around three

functions: being,

thinking and doing (Coo

k-Greuter, 2004).

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Being refers to the ego’s immediate experience, level of

awareness, perceptual selectivity and emotional intelligence

(Cook-Greuter, 2004). The neural correlates of this ego aspect

(in a right-handed person) are theorized in this essay to be the

same neural processes found in previous studies to mediate

affect and awareness, as well as their optimal integration: the left

prefrontal cortex, middle prefrontal areas (Siegel, 2007, p. 42),

right hemisphere (Pinel, 2003, p. 444), anterior cingulate cortex

(Newberg, 2009, p. 126) and the amygdale (Pinel, 2003, p. 443).

Thinking includes cognitive structures which facilitate

worldview, narrative interpretations of experience, logic,

conceptual thinking and discursive knowledge (Cook-Greuter,

2004). This ego aspect (in a right-handed person) is most likely

correlated with neural development in the frontal cortex,

especially the prefrontal lobes (Waller, 2007, p. 90) and the left

hemisphere of the cerebral cortex (Siegel, 2007, p. 45). As

such, thinking represents the cognitive framework that

organizes all meaning-making and interpretation.

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Doing is the operative aspect of the ego, the sense of overarching

purpose and need which inform motivation and action

(Cook-Greuter, 2004). The primary neural correlates of this ego

function are postulated in this essay to be the limbic system

(Waller, 2007, p. 48), the dopamine-cingulate cortex feedback

system (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 37-8), and the bliss

chemical system, which includes endogenous opioids, oxytocin

and norepinephrine (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 38). And

because this function is associated with motivation, it is

implicitly included in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Fuller, 2008.

p. 132).

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CHAPTER 3:

Ego Development,Neural Integration andthe Resolution ofOpposites

A compelling pattern

emerges when these three

ego functions are

matched with their

proposedS neural

correlates: being/right

mode perception

+ thinking/left mode

perception= doing/limbic

-neurochemical

motivation (L-N-M) system activation (see Figure 1). In other

words, the degree of neural integration within the evolutionarily

recent neocortex influences and tempers the evolutionarily

primitive L-N-M system, and therefore behavior, to the same

degree. More specifically, this neural integration refers to the

degree to which right modes of direct experience and left modes

of interpreting those experiences are harmoniously consolidated.

The resulting motivation reflects the level of global neural

integration (or lack thereof) within the brain. Levels of ego–and,

consequently, spiritual—development reflect correlating levels of

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neural integration

(Siegel, 2007, p. 40),

and therefore the

degree to which one

is in harmonious

relationship with

oneself and others

(Siegel, 2007, p. 39).

In essence, this

pattern reflects a

dialectical

relationship between the right and left cerebral hemispheres and

their correlated ego functions (being and thinking, respectively),

so that the predominant motivation (i.e., the doing ego function)

of each level of ego development represents a resolution of

opposites which were unresolved at the previous level of

development. As the present stage of development gives rise to a

new value system, the new value system’s apparent

opposites—arising from previously unconscious, conditioned

beliefs—emerge in order to be recognized, gently confronted and

consciously resolved (Hawkins, 2006b, p. 337). As the opposites

specific to a level of ego development are resolved, identification

decreases with that level and increases with the next, higher level

(Hawkins, 2006b, p. 337).

This book also theorizes that the L-N-M system then reflects the

resolution of those previous opposites via a more complex

motivational structure inherent to the new level of

development. At this new stage, a new value system and its

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more subtle set of opposites then arise, with each successive

stage exhibiting progressively deeper and more elusive sets of

opposites, until eventually all opposites are transcended and

dissolved.

Because each level of development represents a distinct and

somewhat stable value system, each of which acts as a subtle

ordering structure to help guide

neural functioning (Schwartz &

Allen, 2007), McIntosh (2007)

theorizes that each set of values

requires its own

discomfort-producing antithesis to

act as an impetus for incurring

movement to the next, more complex

level of meaning-making (p. 35).

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Philosopher Georg Hegel’s (1979) basic premise, in fact, was that

the tension arising out of such conflict potentially gives rise to

ever higher expressions of life (p. 231-2).

Evidence in the field of nonlinear thermodynamics has revealed

that far-from-equilibrium states comprise a vital part of the

context out of which more heterogeneous forms of life can

emerge (Prigogine, 1984, p. 140). It has also been theorized that,

in much the same way that higher states of equilibrium act as

attractors toward which order is directed out of chaos

(Prigogine, 1984, p. 121-2), higher—more harmonious—stages of

development likewise act as attractors toward which turbulent

expressions of consciousness evolve (Howard, 2005, p. 448). In

this manner, each higher stage of development serves as an

attractor which draws or evolves a resolution out of the midst of

subjective and neurological conflict. Consciousness itself can be

seen as the ultimate attractor with which the mind progressively

aligns (Combs, 2002, p. 8), with each stage of alignment

representing positions along an

evolutionary learning curve

(Hawkins, 2001, p. 307-17).

The resulting synthesis of each

stage of resolution may imply

the growing influence of right

modes of perception (in a

right-handed person), since the

right mode of perception is

believed to be predominantly

involved in focused attention

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(Nataraja, 2008, p. 96). Such attention is required for attending

to any conflict—without the interference of left mode

analysis—and eventually dissolving it via nonverbal, holistic

awareness and discernment of the greater context in which the

seeming conflict arises (Nataraja, 2008, p.

96). Re-contextualization is the primary route through which

such resolution emerges (Hawkins, 2006-a, p. 207), possibly

mediated by the cross-modal wiring that has been postulated to

exist within the right hemisphere, otherwise lacking in the left

hemisphere

(Siegel, 2007,

p. 45).

An increase in

right mode

dominance

has also been

linked to the

emergence of

spiritual

endeavor

(Hawkins,

2005, p. 62-3), religious experience (Mathew, 2002, p. 11),

intuition, present-moment awareness and optimism (Taylor,

2006, p. 18, 146), all of which involve varying degrees of

mindfulness. Mindful attention, then, can be seen as an escape

from the egocentric pull of ingrained left-mode interpretation

and a gateway into right mode, present-moment, holistic

awareness (Nataraja, 2008, p. 96).

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It has been asserted by various theorists that as many as 66

percent (Fehmi, 2007, p. 131) to 92 percent (Taylor, 2006, p. 28)

of humanity operates predominantly in left modes of expression.

Cook-Greuter estimates that 85 percent of the world population

resides in the conventional levels of development (Cook-Greuter,

2004), which, along with other evidence, would seem to indicate

a predominance of left mode meaning-making at those levels.

Subsequent sections of this essay will present a more succinct

picture of how the alternating dominance of left and right modes

of perception relates to spiritual development; but for now, it is

sufficient to theorize that neural integration between the left and

right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex in fact embodies the

dialectical process comprising spiritual development.

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CHAPTER 4:

Hemispheric Dialecticsand the Stages ofDevelopment

Reflecting the left-right, alternating and dialectical neurological

process previously theorized, Cook-Greuter’s successive stages of

development progress along the arc, alternating between

individualism and integration (2004). Neurologically speaking,

this alternating cycle correlates with left and right modes of

expression, respectively. Additionally, this alternation

represents a continual cycling between the yang (masculine

individualism) and yin (feminine communal orientation) of

Taoist philosophy.

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The arc of this developmental schema—on the macro level—is

such that the first half of the arc represents a primarily

knowledge-oriented, linguistically constructed basis for

meaning-making, and the second half of the arc represents a

gradual increase in intuitive, nonverbal, wisdom-oriented

expressions of life (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Right modes of

operation have also been associated with the capacity for

nonlinear, nondual forms of knowledge (Hawkins, 2008, p. 79).

As this book theorizes, the modes of meaning along the first half

of the arc exemplify increasing left modes of interpretation, and

those of the second half represent right modes of being and

direct experience (see Figure 2). The first half of the arc

experiences life in a dualistic manner, whereas the latter half of

the arc epitomizes the progression of more receptive, nondual

ways of knowing and being.

More specifically, the first two or three years of life are

dominated by right brain processes (Geschwind & Galaburda,

1987;Godwin, 2004, p. 112). As such, this essay asserts that the

arc of development begins with right mode dominance,

increasing in left mode dominance at the top of the arc, and

moving back to right mode integration near the end of the arc, so

that left modes of rational thought become situated within the

greater context of right modes of supra-rational being (see

Figure 3).

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The schema is such that both the beginning and ending of the arc

appear to be very similar, since both levels of development

involve a predominance of right mode operation. However, in

keeping with Wilber’s (2000) notion of the pre/trans fallacy (p.

245), this essay agrees that the beginning right mode is one of

fusion rather than holistic integration. As Godwin (2004) has

shown, the nonverbal functioning of the right brain at this stage

has no means of labeling and distinguishing between various

objects, states and experiences (p. 112), and therefore has no

means of recognizing novelty and uniqueness. As a result, all

experience is fused together as a heap rather than an integrated

whole (Wilber, 2000, p. 280).

This book further theorizes that, as left modes become

increasingly available, they eventually dominate perception,

resulting in the growing experience of differentiation and

separation. With further development, then, a reemergence of

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right modes of experience brings with it an awakening to the

direct experience of connection, unity and freedom. The

phenomenological difference between the so-called end and

beginning stages is that, with the end stage, left modes of

differentiation, while being situated within the larger context of

right mode perception, allow for a simultaneous recognition of

the uniqueness of all beingsas well as the underlying unity out of

which they emerge, with the latter recognition comprising one’s

deepest sense of reality.

Remarkably, Cook-Greuter’s model fits very well with the Vedic

psychology of the three gunas—the three qualities of

nature: tamas, rajas and sattva. Applying the gunas to

Cook-Greuter’s model, the arc clearly begins at tamas—the

operating principle of ignorance and inertia (Ghose, 2001, p.

417)—and reaches an apex at rajas—the energizing principle of

desire and action (Ghose, 2001, p. 414), with all the stages falling

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between these two qualities representing various combinations

of the two influences. Near the end of the arc rests sattva, the

principle of harmony and equilibrium (Ghose, 2001, p. 415). The

consecutive stages arising between rajas and sattva represent

increasing levels of peace and happiness. And, of course, beyond

the three gunas is moksha, utter release from primary

identification with the mind and body as the loci of the self (see

Figure 4).

PRECONVENTIONAL STAGES

Presocial Symbiotic Beginnings

As the name suggests, this stage implies that all individuals are

uniformly embedded in the world when they arrive,

undifferentiated from the surrounding world (Cook-Greuter,

2004). Basic survival needs represent the greatest priority at

these stages, and therefore correlate mainly with

the physiological level of Maslow’s needs hierarchy (Ewen,

2003, p. 220).

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Because brain plasticity—and its capacity to be molded by

experience—is so dynamic at this stage, development at this

point can have lasting effects throughout the lifespan.

Stage 1: Impulsive

Here, the sense of

self is rudimentary,

and others are seen

primarily as a

means for getting

needs met. As such,

others are judged to

be good or bad by

whether or not they

meet these

elementary,

impulsive needs.

Primary

identification, at

this stage, is with

the body, and the

primary motivation

is the seeking of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

(Cook-Greuter, 2004). The predominant brain structures in play

include the right hemisphere (Siegel, 2007, p. 45) and limbic

system (Joseph, 1982; Waller, 2007, p. 35), between which at

this time extensive neural circuitry already exists (Tucker, 1981,

1992).

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Additionally, because pleasure seeking and the avoidance of pain

are strong motivations at this stage, it is reasonable to say that

the neuromodulators and neuropeptides associated with

pleasure seeking and the avoidance of pain are also in play.

These include dopamine, endogenous opioids, oxytocin,

norepinephrine and cortisol (Hansen & Mendius, 2009, p. 36-7).

Of all these structures, the amygdale, situated on either side of

the limbic system deep within the center of the brain, are easily

the most active. And because they share a fast track to the

thalamus (Goleman, 1995, p. 18), they mediate the perception of

negative information within the brain much faster than positive

information (Jiang & He, 2006; Vaish, Grossmann, &

Woodward, 2008; Yang, Zald, & Blake, 2007). Based on

additional evidence for prevalent limbic influence on the

personality (Baumeister, et al, 2001; Peeters & Czapinski, 1990),

Waller theorizes that this negativity bias generates negative

emotional experiences in response to unmet emotional needs,

which then leave their indelible imprint upon the limbic system

(Waller, 2007, p.80).

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These

imprints are

theorized to

act as

attractors (a

term used in

nonlinear

dynamics to

denote

systemic

patterns

toward which physical systems tend to evolve), around which the

chaotic energy of the limbic system forms, thereby deeply

embedding those negative experiences into the L-N-M system’s

neural circuitry (Godwin, 2004, p. 112; Schore, 2003, p. 4).

Waller (2007) further theorizes that, because the limbic system

is almost fully wired by age five (p. 35), many years before the

higher order cognitive processes of the frontal and prefrontal

lobes come online, and because limbic generated emotion has

been shown to be involved in all intentional behavior (Freeman,

2000), these imprints play a large role in motivation throughout

life (Waller, 2007, p. 50), though the emergence of greater

awareness in later development—afforded by the increasing

influence of the frontal lobes—can facilitate the release of such

limitations, paving the way for deeper, more authentic levels of

motivation.

At this stage, both the degree to which the primary caregiver is

resonantly attuned to the child’s inner state and the degree to

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which the child feels felt by the caregiver, set the foundation—or

the lack thereof—for the kind of neural integration that can

facilitate healthy development (Siegel, 2007, p. 39). With the

immediacy of the impulses at this stage, the more sublime needs

of aesthetics and spiritual meaning are not yet perceived (Ewen,

2003, p. 220).

Stage 2: The Opportunist (Self-Protective)

A defining characteristic of this self-protective stage of

development is that the ego is still largely inexperienced at

peering deeply into its true motivations (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

From this perspective the ego experiences most interpersonal

encounters as potential win-lose situations, where only one party

can come away truly satisfied from the encounter. As a

consequence of this fear-based, dualistic view, the ego views

most situations in terms of its own desires and needs, and very

little awareness of the other is possible (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

Because socially-oriented prefrontal activity is not yet

predominant at this stage, the L-N-M and endocrine gland

systems are leading the show (Waller, 2007, p. 35), which means

that self-serving opportunism, backed by the energy of rajas, is

the order of the day. While this stage exhibits a new awareness of

others as having their own desires, it is also the beginning of

seeing the world as separate from oneself. At this juncture, the

parietal lobes, which together mediate the experience of a

self/other boundary separated by space (Nataraja, 2008, p. 85),

are mediating the first emergence of social awareness.

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CONVENTIONAL STAGES

Cook-Greuter estimates that 80 percent of the global adult

population falls within the range of the conventional stages of

development, the majority of which tend to shift from the Expert

stage to the Conscientious stage (Cook-Greuter, 2004). At this

point, the next three need-levels of Maslow’s hierarchy begin to

surface: safety, belonging and esteem (Ewen, 2003, p. 220-2).

Stage 3: The Diplomat

(Conformist)

The need for social

acceptance and approval

becomes apparent here,

along with a tendency toward

the shunning of anyone who

does not belong to one’s

family, social group or

nation. Correlating with

both safety needs and

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belonging needs in Maslow’s hierarchy, the Diplomat introjects

cultural expectations and conforms to them, in order to optimize

safety and belongingness at the expense of authentic autonomy

and self-expression (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

The abilities to look at oneself and prefer socially desirable

behavior imply the emergence of activity in both the prefrontal

lobes, which mediate introspection (Goldberg, et al, 2006), as

well as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is involved in

social behavior (Pujol, et al, 2002), though these activations are

still inchoate.

Stage 4: The Expert (Self-Conscious)

Introspection becomes

more pronounced here,

though still to only an

elementary degree. The left

hemisphere now begins to

mediate higher levels of

both rationality and

individuality, bringing with

it a need to distinguish

oneself from family members. Abstract concepts start to appear,

along with judgments about whether or not others meet personal

standards. Maslow’s esteem needs begin to come into play here,

as the ego can now start to declare the needs it once repressed

(Cook-Greuter, 2004).

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Stage 5: The Achiever (Conscientious)

As the full ego-equivalent of Maslow’s esteem-needs level of

motivation, the Achiever stage of development sets goals, makes

plans, expects results, and prefers as friends those who hold

similar values. Rationality—mediated, no doubt, by increased

prefrontal and left modes of functioning—is considered to be the

highest form of expression here, and most of reality is seen in

terms of linear causality, with a ‘this’ causing a ‘that.’ With a

strong belief in scientific objectivity, the Achiever stage views

empirical science as the ultimate path to truth (Cook-Greuter,

2004).

POSTCONVENTIONAL STAGES

With the emergence of the postconventional stages, the ego is

now becoming progressively able to integrate multiple

perspectives into a systemic frame of reference, in which the self

is experienced as a part of a bigger whole (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

Therefore, these stages represent the spectrum of development

ranging from the very beginning of

Maslow’s self-actualization stage to his later

postulated self-transcendence stage, mediated in large part by

the increasing integration of right modes of holistic and direct

experience.

Stage 6: The Individualist

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Conscious of the

reality of relativism,

this stage—epitomized

by

postmodernism—can

sometimes take

relativism too far by

claiming that all truth,

in general, is relative,

not realizing the

self-contradicting nature of that statement. If indeed all truth is

relative, then even that statement must be relative, thereby

effectively canceling itself out. Awareness of interdependency

begins to emerge at this stage, making the way for an inchoate

comprehension of systems. Occasional tastes of

self-actualization are present here, and peak

experiences—though still somewhat sparse—become more

frequent as well (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

Stage 7: The Strategist (Autonomous)

Integrative systems-thinking becomes more prominent at this

stage, accompanied by the capacity to recognize long-term

systemic patterns. Because right modes of holistic awareness are

now becoming the context in which left modes of rational theory

are situated, the being-needs of Maslow’s self-actualization stage

of motivation now begin to emerge (Fuller, 2008, p. 140). In

addition, this stage has the capacity to face and accept many

disparate aspects of the self, including the shadow

(Cook-Greuter, 2004).

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Stage 8: The Magician (Construct-Aware)

At this stage, language as a human construct becomes readily

apparent, as does the self/other construct. Paradox can be

comfortably contained, and an increasing ability to silently

witness one’s thoughts, feelings and mental phenomena has

emerged. As such, habitual judgments are now consciously

observed, with the recognition that they are largely results of an

attempt to avoid the dissolution of a solid sense of self perceived

to be the locus of identity (Cook-Greuter, 2004). Maslow’s

being-cognition (Fuller, 2008, p. 138-40) is now in play,

resulting in the ego’s capacity to benefit from nonrational—or

supra-rational—sources of knowledge (Cook-Greuter, 2004).

Stage 9: The Ironist (Unitive)A profound sense of belongingness

and connection has now become the predominant mode of

being. Regardless of their outer condition or appearance, others

can now be deeply welcomed and identified with. Multiple

perspectives are readily accepted, and being-needs represent the

most prevalent level of motivation. Empathetic connection and

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acceptance are, at this stage, common experiences

(Cook-Greuter, 2004). Peak experiences have mostly subsided

and are replaced by plateau experiences, a unitive form of

experience wherein all of life—ranging from despair to

ecstasy—is fully embraced and valued as precious (Krippner,

1972, p. 113).

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CHAPTER 5:

The Neural Substratesof Obfuscation

From an Eastern view, particularly one influenced by the Vedas,

the personality arises as the result of identifying with both

inherited karmic traits (genetic and psychological in nature) and

environmental conditioning (Waller, 2007, p. 140), both of

which deeply impact neural development (Mundkur, 2005;

Sarnot & Menkes, 2000). In this view, when such conditioning is

deeply identified with, it solidifies the experience of a solid self

and personality.

33

In the

early

stages of

develop

ment,

then, the

fledgling

limbic

system

becomes

imprinte

d with

the

experien

ces of

both met

and unmet emotional needs (Waller, 2007, p. 80), giving rise to

reactive and goal-oriented motifs that are eventually and

mistakenly identified as the self (Godwin, 2004, p. 122). From

this perspective, they are nothing more than culturally

conditioned neurological responses being animated by the life

force (Sadleir, 2003, p. 12). Also known as prana (Krishna, 1997,

p. 68), this life force is a somewhat superficial aspect of a deeper

creative power, referred to in yogic traditions as

the kundalini-shakti (Goswami, 2006, p. 237), which

unconsciously animates bodily processes, giving rise to the

mental and emotional content of the phenomenal mind

(Muktananda, 1978, p. 48), with which an aspect of the

underlying consciousness identifies.

34

The aforementioned limbic conditioning is theorized by Waller

(2007) to give rise to a dialogical self, the ever-active and

automatic self-talk activated by limbic attachments and

aversions (p. 65). By consistently recruiting other brain areas

into its employ, Waller speculates that this limbic-generated,

dialogical self regularly hijacks the frontal lobes and thereby

significantly biases perception (p. 50). Identification, in his view,

is seen as taking place by way of the prefrontal function

mistakenly identifying the dialogical self as the locus of the self,

since the prefrontal lobes do not fully develop until long after the

voice of the dialogical self

has become active (p. 73).

Waller further speculates

that various complexes of

limbic attractors—each

with correlated beliefs,

biases, attachments and

aversions—eventually

form sub-personalities (p.

140). The L-N-M system

identity, therefore, is

viewed as virtually

enfolding itself around one’s true nature, obfuscating it. And

because the developmental groundwork for thought and emotion

have been laid in early development, the continued animation of

thoughts and emotions—generated through unconscious

energetic processes within existing neural networks—gives rise

to the conditioned mind (Sadleir, 2009, March 10).

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CHAPTER 6:

The NeurologicalOrigins of the PersonalUnconscious

Based on findings in

attachment

psychology (Hofer,

1983; Scheflen, 1990)

and interpersonal

neurobiology

(Tomasello, 1993;

Trevarthen, 1993),

Schore (2003),

postulates that, in

early development,

the parent’s brain acts

as a complimentary

brain through which

the infant brain

downloads important survival programs (p. 13). As this

downloading continues, the infant brain resonantly connects

with the parent’s brain, thereby gaining the available circuitry by

which it can organize toward greater levels of complexity (p. 41).

The forming personality, therefore, is the product of this

interpersonal downloading process (p. 3).

36

Godwin (2004) theorizes that, because the right brain is

predominant during this crucial process, left modes of operation

are unavailable for labeling disturbing emotional experiences (p.

112), so that such experiences are unconsciously stored in the

extensive circuitry already developed between the right

hemisphere and the limbic system, making this system the

neural correlate of the personal unconscious (p. 112). This theory

might explain why the unconscious, in Jung’s psychology, is so

often associated with imagery (also associated with right

hemispheric function) and limbic-generated affect (Miller, 2004,

p. 25). The discovery that negative affect is most associated with

right hemispheric activity (Davidson, 1992) may possibly be

explained as the result of this right-originating personal

unconscious.

Therefore, the higher stages of development, wherein the

personal unconscious is more readily acknowledged and

integrated, may very well represent an integration of right modes

of perception. While this postulated neural correlate of Jung’s

personal unconscious has been criticized by others, due to the

fact that many unconscious processes involve much more than

right hemispheric and limbic processes, this criticism fails to

recognize that Jung’s description of the personal unconscious

includes almost exclusively processes involved with affect and

imagery (Miller, 2004, p. 25), at the exclusion of other

unconscious processes.

37

CHAPTER 7:

The Way Out

While numerous studies have produced substantial empirical

evidence for the hypothesis that contemplative practice can

significantly reduce the conditioned responses of the amygdale

and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007; Greeson, et al, 2001;

Jain, et al, 2007; Ramel, et al, 2004), contemplative traditions

have for ages acted as the laboratories in which such practices

have been developed. One such tradition, mystical Christianity,

has much to say about how the renewing of the mind (Romans

12:2, King James Version) can lead to a transformative

dis-identification with the old man of the flesh and a new

embodiment of the spirit (Romans 8:1, King James Version).

The “old man,” as Waller (2007) sees it, is the limbic-generated,

dialogical self (p. 83). Subsequently, he views deeper

identification with conscious awareness as the substrate of

experience—which he associates with increased prefrontal

function—as the means of renewing the mind (pp. 90-91).

The Narrow Gate

Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide

and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are

many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is

narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew

7:13-14, New American Standard Bible). He is also recorded as

having stated, “. . . the kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke

38

17:21, New

International

Version).

Buddhist teaching

in the

Madhyamaka

tradition likewise

emphasizes the

potential for

enlightenment

(which can be seen as the Buddhist equivalent of the kingdom of

heaven) as being readily available (Lama, 1995, p. 29).Yet the

conditioned mind remains oblivious to the liberating reality of

its immediate proximity.

This book theorizes that the “wide gate” that leads to destruction

is the culturally and neurologically conditioned mind, which is

oblivious to the enlightened Buddha-nature. Inherent in this

conditioning are top-down processes—global neuronal

movements that entrain and therefore distort local processes

involved in perception (Engel, Fries, & Singer, 2001; Haken and

Stadler, 1990). Through this top-down process, certain neural

networks create persuasive attractor patterns (Hoffman, 1992),

some of which have been linked to various psychiatric disorders

(Li & Spiegel, 1992).

It is further theorized here that the narrow gate which leads to

life is nothing other than the mindful and conscious awareness of

the Buddha-nature—consciousness as presence—within;

i.e., meta-awareness—the awareness of awareness. This gate,

39

then, is narrow because it is mediated by both an enlightened

intention and an exclusive neural circuit involving the middle

prefrontal areas, which work to preclude the top-down neural

processes involved in the expectations of attachment and

aversion arising from the conditioned mind (Siegel, 2007, p. 82).

Sometimes referred to as a bottom-up process (Siegel, 2007, p.

137), this narrow gate involves present-moment awareness,

attentive not only of mental and bodily processes (Kabat-Zinn,

2003, p. 441), but of conscious presence as well (Waller, 2007, p.

30). This anchoring of awareness in the present moment, as

such, acts to override the conditioned mind.

This book’s theory regarding the narrow gate is congruent with

the attention-gate theory, which states that attention acts like a

gate, recruiting neurological cooperation, thereby exerting

mental influence over the brain (Davidson & Neville, 2004).

Begley (2007) has documented an example of this gate-function

40

of attention, offered by scientist Helen Neville: if an individual

attentively reads a book while passively listening to music in the

background, the visual areas of the brain will be activated and

the areas associated with hearing will not. Conversely, if the

music is listened to attentively while passively looking at a book,

the areas associated with hearing will become active (p. 159).

By way of this gate-function, mindful awareness holds the

capacity not only for overriding the top-down processes of the

conditioned mind, but for recognizing the dialogical self for what

it truly is—a phantom arising from neurological conditioning

(Waller, 2007, p. 64). Waller (2007) has stated that

prefrontal-mediated witnessing of--rather than identifying

with—the voice of the dialogical self is the means by which

attachment to the ego is diminished (p. 77). The cultivation and

establishment of the narrow gate, therefore, down-regulates the

amygdale and limbic system (Creswell, et al, 2007), so that the

mosaic voice of the L-N-M system eventually subsides to varying

degrees, opening the possibility for the reverberating circuits of

meta-awareness to mediate the blissful realization

of sat-chit-ananda, a yogic term for the experience of one’s true

nature as being-consciousness-bliss (Ghose, 2001, p. 161).

Nataraja (2008) postulates this process as being neurologically

mediated first by activity in the attention association area within

the prefrontal lobes, the stabilization of which is followed by a

decrease of activity in the right parietal lobe, resulting in an

experience of spaciousness and wholeness (p. 85-87). This is

believed to trigger a response in the autonomic nervous system,

41

so that the parasympathetic nervous system comes online and

mediates a sense of peace and blissfulness (p. 89).

When the activity of the right parietal lobe stabilizes, its activity

eventually spills over into the left parietal lobe, helping to

mediate the dissolution of the self/other boundary (p. 89). Once

balanced, another autonomic response occurs, this time within

the sympathetic nervous system, giving rise to the experience of

clarity and insight (p. 89). During the simultaneous activation

and balancing of the yin (parasympathetic) and yang

(sympathetic) of the autonomic nervous system, both

penetrating insight and blissful presence emerge into conscious

experience (p. 95). The more this neurophenomenological

process is repeated (presumably within the later stages of

development), the more identification with that stage of

development loosens until such identification ceases altogether,

42

at which time identification with the next stage begins (Wilber,

2000, p. 197).

The Neuroscience of Wholeness

As previously mentioned, spiritual development is mediated in

large part by progressive integration of right brain and left brain

processes, especially when healthy right modes of being and

awareness become predominant over left analytical modes (see

Figure 5). In keeping with Lao Tzu’s dictum to “[k]now the

yang, but keep to the yin” (Towler & Cleare, 2005, p. 23), this

neurological theory of development states that balance between

the perceptual modes does not necessarily refer to equal

measures of activity in each mode. Rather, in this view, right

modes of being become increasingly dominant yet holistically

integrated with left modes, so that right modes of awareness

become the greater spiritual context in which left modes of

analysis and interpretation are formed (see Figure 6), with the

result being that rational modes of thought are transcended and

included by supra-rational modes of mindful presence.

In essence, the direction toward which this neurological process

is aimed is the eventual transcendence of the brain and

conditioned mind as the loci of the self, which comes with the

liberating realization that one does not necessarily have to be the

victim of one’s neurophysiology. At the same time, though the

brain and phenomenal mind are transcended, they are also

included as valuable tools for relating to others in the relative

world, with the distinction that they are now realized to be

ever-changing phenomena rather than the ground of being. As a

consequence, not only are certain aspects of behavior now

43

radically shifted, one’s personal narrative is, to quote Pierre

Teilhard de Chardin, that of “a spiritual being having a human

experience.”

44

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