Physical basis of Thought and Consciousness
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Recently Swiss scientists have discovered that sending a very weak current to the back of the right side of the brain, triggered an out of body experience (OBE) for the patient. This OBE could be produced at will whenever a particular part of the brain was stimulated by an electric current. OBE is one of the major outcomes of Yoga and is mentioned in the vibhuti pad of Pantanjali yoga darshan. Naturally a yogi has to practice years of tapasya before he or she can achieve the OBE and sense of levitation. However technology seems to allow this pleasurable experience quite easily!
Scientists have also recently discovered that the human body has a natural weak electric field and its disruption causes disease. Thus drugs are being designed to help restore this field at various places in the body, though the exact nature of this field is still not understood. This is very similar to acupuncture practitioners’ claim that the disease is caused when the equilibrium of forces called Yin, Yang is disturbed, and by inserting small needles at various places in the body this equilibrium is restored. A similar thing is referred to in the Indian yogi scriptures as disturbance in "Sukshma Sharir" or ethereal body.
Out of body experience, levitation, ethereal body etc. have always been considered in the realm of spirituality in almost all societies. They have been considered as attributes of the self or consciousness and therefore have been described as different from matter. However the present scientific experiments have shown that consciousness is a product of physical matter. An accepted definition of consciousness states that it is a higher order thought. In fact thought, which is a product of physical brain must have a physical basis and must be governed by scientific laws. Presently we do not understand the laws of thought but to consider them beyond the realm of science is like an "ostrich head in sand" syndrome.
What is the nature of human thought? Thought can be considered as a hologram, which is produced when large number of neurons fire in the brain. For mundane thoughts (for example what is the color of the rose? please close the door, etc. etc.) this hologram exists in four-dimensional space-time. Since the energy of the mundane thought is not very high it dissipates very rapidly and cannot be transmitted to large distances. However the deep thought in which a major portion of 100 billion neurons are firing in a laser type fashion for a long time on a single idea, there is a possibility that this hologram exists in higher dimensional space-time. This deep thought is called Sanyam in Patanjali Yoga Darshan. The physics of this higher dimensional space-time is not fully understood but it is possible that the deep thought can go to great distances and can interact with matter in a spooky way. This has been the basis of clairvoyance, psychokinesis, etc. Besides this deep thought has the ability to extract knowledge and information from the higher dimensional knowledge space. All great discoveries in science and spiritual realm have come from people who were able to plug into knowledge space via very deep thought. The mind, which gets connected to the higher dimensional space, acts both as a powerful receiver and transmitter of thoughts. The ability to achieve this has been the hallmark of spiritual leaders and great thinkers in all societies.
Everything in the universe is interconnected. Hence a theory of human thought should be able to explain the interaction of human thought and matter and ultimately the nature of matter itself. It is quite possible that gravity and deep human thought may be related. Both are weak forces but are transmitted through great distances because they are geometric in nature and bend the corresponding space-time continuum accordingly. In Indian scriptures there are quite a number of accounts where the rishis left their body based upon the conjunction of planets. For example Bhishma Pitamah in Mahabharata stayed on the prickly arrow cot for about six months before he left his body by will at winter solstice. Similarly Swami Vivekanand studied the almanac thoroughly before deciding when to leave his body. They obviously understood the effect of gravity on human thought and memory (soul).
In the annals of human civilization, quantum jumps in our understanding and knowledge have taken place when a great thought has been produced by persons like Buddha, Christ, Kepler, Newton, Einstein etc. It is quite possible a similar quantum jump may take place when a relationship is discovered between human thought, consciousness and matter. It will explain two of the major mysteries of our times – consciousness and gravity.
Published as an editorial article in Times of India, November 18, 2002.
November, 2002