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Posted by rat on 11/6/2009, 7:51 am, in reply to "The Door to Apophatic Mysticism"
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--Previous Message--
: The Door to Apophatic Mysticism
:
: Greetings rat,
:
: What seemed to be a timely coincidence was
: the Explorer series “Inside LSD” that aired
: 11-3-09.
: One of the things it pointed to was how our
: brains react when under the influence of
: psychedelic drugs that seem to parallel the
: apophatic mystic mind.
:
: So, here is my two bit analysis on the
: connectedness of, brain that’s tripping on
: psychedelic drugs and brain that’s tripping
: on apophatic mysticism.
:
: In order for the brain to perceive and then
: interpolate an experience with apophatic
: mystic reality some fundamental changes must
: occur. A sense of, “oceanic boundlessness”
: is a genuine term of art in
: neuropharmacology. One Nature article
: described it as measuring “derealization and
: depersonalization associated with positive
: mood ranging from heightened feelings to
: exaltation and alterations in the sense of
: time.”
: This oceanic boundlessness seems to come
: from the feeling of, loss of self, reduced
: fear and anxiety while experiencing life
: without our usual filters. With this new
: sense of reality zile seems possible. But
: does it need to come from a philosophical
: approach, or from a physical change in brain
: function?
:
: So the question is, rat, how do you open the
: door to Apophatic Mysticism?
:
: in peace,
: gar
:
Hi gar
I open it by attempting to learn the how-to of getting out of the way of its spontaneous opening/unfolding. I do this by what I think is changing the dynamics of the brain’s functioning, and the psychology of reconceptualizing the world around me. Needless to say, this is rather complex to explain. Is there one aspect you would like me to try to describe?
Here is something from my book that might be relevant:
Is spirituality simply a stunning example of the placebo effect?
In recent years there is increased medical research focused on the so-called placebo effect. There have been numerous examples of subjects in experiments whose intense pain has been relieved by sugar pills. Others have had remarkable improvement after being given a placebo for disabling depression.
And perhaps nature also has a built-in placebo dynamic by which a person can relieve most or all of his deepest anxieties and fears about his existence, by being told that just by affirming that he possesses the ability to overcome these worries, (with or without religious belief), the ability will become actual. Perhaps the placebo effect underlies the resulting mystical ecstasy; and the physical experience of ecstasy might be due to a release of dopamine in the brain.
The human psyche has the apparent ability to decide that it does not have to worry about any material event; this is called “deliverance.” If the decision is made with the right finesse, it does indeed result in an undauntable sense of deliverance, accompanied by a benign attitude toward all other beings.
As you may have guessed, the question of whether or not spiritual ecstasy is merely a placebo is of no consequence to the pragmatic apophatic mystic. She does not care why she has fallen in love with everything.
71
"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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