Meditation

 My Experience with Meditation
 With my degree in biology, and now in possession of my first job, in Rockville, MD, I was repairing scientific equipment used in medical and biological research. My new boss asked one afternoon “Would you like to go rock climbing?” I had been enchanted with climbing since I was a kid and having grown up in Kansas had no opportunity. Now, living in the DC area there was opportunity!  YES! I replied. The following Saturday morning I found myself at Carderock, by the Potomac river, close to the David W. Taylor Naval Research facility, standing at the base of a vertical piece of rock, not that high, maybe forty feet.  We were doing what is called “top roping”, rigging a fixed point at the top of the cliff and running the rope through a fixed carabiner with both ends reaching the bottom. One end would be affixed to the climber via a harness and the other end would be held securely by the “belayer”, a trusted companion. This system insured there would be no falls further than the stretch in the rope and therefore no injuries. So – it is a very safe system of experiencing the adventure of climbing. I put on the harness, attached the belay line and commenced climbing!  I was beyond thrilled to finally be doing what I had dreamed of for so long. It was not a difficult climb but there were places where the hand and foot holds were skimpy indeed and whether you have a belay or not, being twenty feet in the air and not sure of your hands and feet elicits an automatic self-preservation response! I knew I was safe, I thought, but could not be absolutely certain. My knees began to think about shaking but didn't quite. It was a slow process, picking out good hand and foot holds, gradually making my way to the top. Finally – Success! I was standing at the top!
 I was elated! I looked down where I had started then I looked at the cliff and immediately concluded that it was an accomplishment for sure, BUT, the level of elation that I felt was in no way a reasonable recompense for this little bit of cliff face! There was a disconnect I felt; the numbers did not add up. There was a broken equation somewhere. I resolved to discover exactly what it was.
 That weekend I went to the local climbing store and bought all the requisite “stuff” and began my rock-climbing adventure, seeking to discern why two plus two equaled eight for me.
 The excessive elation of my climbs continued but as my skills and experience progressed the inequality of the equation began to diminish.  Thus, I noticed, as the climbing became more routine and automatic the elation was somewhat less, but the feeling of accomplishment remained. As I attempted more difficult climbs the elation would return, thus I was beginning to understand the effect, I thought, and how people became addicted to dangerous sports.

 Always in pursuit of enlightenment I was an avid reader, reading everything I could get my hands on related to spiritual understanding. When I started climbing I “coincidentally” came across a book by Carlos Castaneda, “The Teachings of Don Juan”. I found the book to be interesting but a little outside my comfort zone. However much of the book was fascinating and relevant. The most important part of the book for me, at that time, was Don Juan's teaching how to attain an altered state of consciousness through meditative techniques, one example he used was to “stare at a rock until it was not a rock”.  I began to practice that technique and was quite surprised that I was able to achieve a meditative level which elicited an emotional response quite similar, in many ways, to the feeling I experienced at the top of the first cliff I climbed!
 Putting two and two together was beginning to equal four!  I understood now, that as I was climbing the cliff, my focus on each individual piece of rock my fingers and feet were clinging to, which stood between safety and danger, was intense! Thus, my climb I realized now, was a series of very focused meditations from the start of the climb to the top.

 When I reached the top of my first cliff, I had no clue that I had just completed a series of intense meditations, nor did I comprehend that meditation was the “unmoved mover” behind my ecstatic state. This took place in the early 70's at which time there had not been a lot written in western literature concerning the value of meditation but now studies show the importance of achieving a meditative state in many endeavors. For example, wide receivers in football may describe their world defaulting to “slow motion” as they go airborne to receive a pass.  Mathematicians describe “being in the zone” during which they are unaware of the passing of an hour or more, both examples are actually, a meditative state, occurring as a result of intense focus.
 Armed with what I believed to be an understanding of what was taking place I continued to climb and meditate. They appeared to be complimentary.

Right Brain – Left Brain - I commenced my college education as a psychology major and although it was a brief sojourn before changing to biology, I continued to have a strong interest in the subject, reading a great many articles. One of which was a fascinating bit of research about an early attempt to treat epilepsy.
The two hemispheres of the brain are connected via a robust network, called the corpus callosum. For one reason or other physicians hoped that severing this connection might render an individual free from epileptic seizures.  Although this procedure did not appear to diminish seizure frequency or intensity, it provided an opportunity for further study of the brain. Why waste a perfectly good surgical failure, right?

The hemispheres of our brains have differing duties. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. Also, we have learned that the left brain is the technical side while the right side belongs to the world of intuition (generally speaking). As an example, through brain scans it has been observed that when a pianist plays a piece of music, their left hemisphere plays the music while the right hemisphere is busy enjoying the music!
 In one experiment, a subject with the corpus callosum surgically severed was placed in a room with a patch over one eye. A person unknown to the subject was brought into the room and introduced. After a brief chat the person left the room. Now the subject had their eye patch moved to the opposite eye. When the person they had met earlier, returned to the room, the subject of the experiment had no inkling who they were! Uncovering the eye which was not covered during the introduction, resulted in an immediate recognition.
This interesting little experiment was very meaningful to me. There was, I concluded, clearly the potential for two distinct  aspects of our being. The left brain was more tied to the physical world while the right was more emotional and intuitive.

Edgar Cayce - Shortly after my taking up rock-climbing I discovered Edgar Cayce, who was the most prominent psychic in America during the first half of the 20th century. Edgar passed from this earth in 1945. It could be said that Edgar dedicated his life to helping people be healthy and understanding their relationship with their Creator. Edgar did not possess infinite wisdom in his normal waking state but had the ability to enter an altered state of consciousness in which he had access to an incredible library of information.  Edgar stated that the most important action one could take in order to become closer to their God was to meditate, the next was prayer. Edgar had this to say about meditation, “Meditation allows the mind to fulfill its NORMAL function.” He went on to say that the normal function of our brain was “To be in communion with God.”

Why is our brain not in constant communion with God? Every article or book I have read on meditation goes into some detail about how to quiet the “internal chatter.” What, exactly is this “chatter” and what is its origin? Well, it turns out that it originates in our left brain.  The left brain comes up with a plethora of topics and throws them in the air like a ball. The right brain, seeing the ball in the air feels obliged to participate in the game. Thus, it goes from moment to moment in our lives until there is an action which interrupts the left/right dialogue. There are several things which automatically interrupt the chatter momentarily. For example, when listening to tones, if both sides of the brain do not hear the same note the dialogue will stop until the irregularity gets sorted out. The late Bob Monroe, of the Monroe Institute used this method to facilitate “out of the body” experiences. Sacred Acoustics also incorporates the same technique in their meditations. A good joke, interrupts the left/right dialogue which I believe contributes to the humor and good feeling it evokes. There are many theories, I am sure, about what the function/purpose of this chatter is but it is clear to me that the left brain represents the ego which desires to dominate and prevent a return to our origin, while the right brain serves as our ‘telephone’ to the divine.

When I was in high school and during my first couple semesters in college as a psych major I heard over and over that we all needed a “strong ego.” I accepted this as a truism having no basis to argue one way or the other. However, my meditation exercises and reading began to indicate another position.  In much literature on meditation, internal chatter is equated to the ego. This would dictate that if one has a strong ego, meditation might be difficult to achieve. I believe this to be true.
 I have concluded that what I was taught as a young man, that we needed a strong ego, is questionable. I believe that a strong ego is detrimental to our lives and the lives of those around us.  I believe what we need is a close relationship to our God and according to Edgar Cayce that connection to God is achieved by shutting down the ego (meditating).
 Can this be true? Is it really so simple as: The right brain is our connection to God, while our left brain is our connection to the physical world/ego?  I think it is.

 Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist (really) woke up one morning with something terribly wrong. She came to realize later, she was having a stroke! It was not a “sudden onset” stroke but one that proceeded at what appeared to be, a measured pace. The stroke, as it happened, was on the left side of her brain and was of sufficient size that it was literally shutting down her left brain.  What, can you imagine, would be the result of shutting down the left brain? Would it leave you free to experience the glory of God?  Jill went on to write a book about her experience titled “A Stroke of Insight” Jill described some of what she felt as her left brain was shutting down,
 “In the absence of my left hemisphere's judgment, I was completely entranced by the feelings of tranquility, safety, blessedness, euphoria, and omniscience. A piece of me yearned to be released completely from the captivity of this physical form,”
 This couple of sentences, and much more in Jill's book, clearly illustrate that she was approaching a feeling that we all might expect to experience if and when we approached our own God or the mystical state of enlightenment.
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Savants - Dr Allan Snyder, currently the Director of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney, has studied savants and where their remarkable abilities in music, art mathematics, memory and more, originate.
 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beautiful-minds/201001/conversations-creativity-allan-snyder
 Dr Snyder has discovered that in every savant he has studied there was a defect in the left brain which resulted in the brain shifting much of its processing to the RIGHT side; the side that is in communion with the divine.  My question here is this:  Is it the elimination of the ‘ego’ portion of the brain, or the connection to the ‘divine’ that results in the incredible abilities, or perhaps a combination of the two.
 This brings up the question, “Why can we not all experience super-human abilities by simply shutting down our left brain?”  In fact, Dr Snyder is experimenting with this and has had some significant success in his efforts.  Dr Snyder states that in the future he feels a “thinking cap” will be in use to enhance our abilities in virtually all areas of humanity. He has not created super-humans at this point but his ability to shut down the left brain is in it’s infancy. Who knows?

The Course in Miracles The course in miracles teaches that in the beginning, all souls were in harmonious communion with our Creator. Then – one of us, immediately followed by many more, (because we are all in truth a singularity) had the thought – I wonder what it would be like to be separated from our Creator. The result of this thought was an immediate movement of these souls into the void - on their own. A sequence of events followed that ultimately culminated in the life we experience today. The first effect was insane fear on the part of each separated soul because they were suddenly without the creator, alone in the void. In order to protect themselves they created the ego, whose purpose was to massage our fears into manageable lumps and tell us lies about how great our accomplishments were. All the while, surreptitiously gaining control. The servant became the master! The first souls out of “Pandora's Box” commenced to create the planets (the big bang). Many, who remained with our Creator witnessed what was happening and felt compelled to rescue the “lost” souls. Thus, they departed harmony, following the first out, creating suns to illuminate the void as they swept after. Those who remained behind called out to us “Do not follow the lost ones – there is no need, they will return. We would not listen and felt those remaining did not fully comprehend the importance of “correcting” what so clearly had gone wrong! As those intent on rescuing the lost souls were themselves leaving the presence of our creator, the same fear was encountered and the rescuers found themselves creating their own egos for protection. Thus began the war of the dark and the light. Or the battle of overcoming the ego.
Death, I call death the ultimate meditation. Death is fascinating for an infinite number of reasons. As a youth, while in high school I worked at the local hospital as an orderly. In this position, witnessing death was not an uncommon event.  My logic would dictate that death, when it came would be the culmination of a gradual cessation of all bodily functions (when not the result of trauma of course). I observed that this is Not necessarily true.

Cheyne Stokes respiration, commonly called the “dying gasp” When working as an orderly, I learned to recognize this pattern of breathing. It was a very clear and distinct pattern that indicated the patient was in the process of dying. I observed this phenomenon in about a dozen patients and found the physiological patterns to be virtually identical: A couple of short, significant intakes of air followed by a significant exhale, followed by death (today, the descriptions of Cheyne Stokes differ somewhat from my observations and I attribute this to the drugs administered to a patient in a hospital setting which upsets the normal physiological patterns.  My point here is that when we expect all the energy in a person to be depleted, as a person approaches death, the energy is found to make this final gesture, which is a couple significant brief strong intakes of air followed by a significant breathing out, followed by death. Since this out breath is universal I assign it some degree of significance. I feel the out breath facilitates the souls exit from the physical. I may well be the only person who believes this, but my personal experience supports this view.
I believe the out-breath serves us during our everyday lives as well. In meditation, one of the most common techniques is to observe the breath as we breathe in and out. I have come to believe that the “in-breath” serves the left brain and the “out-breath” serves the right. Here is what I have found.
 Most meditative techniques employing “following the breath” give equal billing, so to speak,  to both the in and out breaths. I believe that we must be on our guard during the in breath only.  The out breath is our pathway to the divine. This makes meditation easier because it cuts our “discipline” in half.  Be on guard for internal chatter on the in-breath --- then on the out-breath, free your soul to sail out to the divine without the impediment of a policeman!
 I attended an Eckhart Tolle event at the Omega Institue in New York and Eckhart described a meditative technique he termed “The Touching” It is simply observing how the in breath cools your nose slightly as the air enters. Paying attention to the cooling of the in breath occupies your left brain and serves to significantly reduce the chatter. Then, upon breathing out the mind is clear and still to connect to the divine. “Be still and know that I am God.”