[PDF] The Spiritual Doorway In The Brain eBook

Author : Kevin Nelson
Publisher : Penguin Group
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 39,41 MB
Release : 2012-02-28
Category : Science
ISBN : 0452297583

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"Bold, provocative, and highly readable." -V. S. Ramachandran, M.D., author of Phantoms in the Brain What are near-death experiences, out-of-body sensations, and spiritual ecstasy? And what do they have in common? Perhaps no one is more qualified to answer these questions than renowned neurobiologist Dr. Kevin Nelson. Drawing on his more than three decades of groundbreaking research into the "borderlands of consciousness," Dr. Nelson offers an unprecedented journey into the site of spiritual experience: the brain. Filled with amazing firsthand accounts as varied as a patient seeing the devil battling with his guardian angel to a man watching the universe synchronize around a pinball machine, The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain is an eloquent examination of our brains' spiritual "hardwiring" that will enthrall believers and skeptics alike.

Author : Kevin Nelson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 227 pages
File Size : 10,84 MB
Release : 2011-03-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 1847378323

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Why do people have near-death experiences? Are there physical explanations for those out-of-body sensations and tunnels of light? And what about moments of spiritual ecstasy? If Buddha had been in an MRI machine and not under the Bodhi tree when he attained enlightenment, what would we have seen on the monitor? In THE GOD IMPULSE, Kevin Nelson, a neurologist with three decades' experience examining the biology behind human spirituality, deconstructs the spiritual self, uncovering its origin in the most primitive areas of our brain. Through his revolutionary studies on near-death experience, Nelson has discovered that spiritual experience is an incidental product of several different neurological processes acting independently. When we feel close to God or sense the presence of departed relatives, we may believe that we are standing at the border of this world and the next as individual, autonomous, rational creatures-touching God. The reality is far different: our brain function resembles a Cubist painting by Picasso or Braque, and the experiences we regard as the height of our humanity are in fact produced by primal reflexes. THE GOD IMPULSE takes us on a journey into what Nelson calls the borderlands of consciousness. The book offers the first comprehensive, empirically-tested, peer-reviewed examination of the reasons we are capable of near-death experience, out-of-body experience, and the mystical states produced by hallucinogenic drugs

Author : Rick Hanson
Publisher : ReadHowYouWant.com
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 30,48 MB
Release : 2011-07-13
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1459624157

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Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Gandhi, and the Buddha all had brains built essentially like anyone else's, yet they were able to harness their thoughts and shape their patterns of thinking in ways that changed history. With new breakthroughs in modern neuroscience and the wisdom of thousands of years of contemplative practice, it is possible for us to shape our own thoughts in a similar way for greater happiness, love, compassion, and wisdom. Buddha's Brain joins the forces of modern neuroscience with ancient contemplative teachings to show readers how they can work toward greater emotional well-being, healthier relationships, more effective actions, and deepened religious and spiritual understanding. This book will explain how the core elements of both psychological well-being and religious or spiritual life-virtue, mindfulness, and wisdom--are based in the core functions of the brain: regulating, learning, and valuing. Readers will also learn practical ways to apply this information, as the book offers many exercises they can do to tap the unused potential of the brain and rewire it over time for greater peace and well-being.

Author : Mario Beauregard
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 615 pages
File Size : 28,14 MB
Release : 2009-03-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0061752754

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“A very important book, clearly explaining non-materialist neuroscience in simple terms appropriate for the lay reader.” — Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD, Research Psychiatrist, UCLA, author of The Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain “The Spiritual Brain is a wonderful and important book...a necessary read for both the scientist and the religious person.” — Andrew Newberg, M.D. Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania.and co-author of Why We Believe What We Believe. “A refreshing antidote to the arguments offered by some scientists who insist that their minds, and yours, are meaningless illusions.” — Dean Radin, PhD, Senior Scientist, Institute of Noetic Sciences and author of The Conscious Universe and Entangled Minds “A sweeping critique of the trend to explain away religious experience as a brain artifact, pathology, or evolutionary quirk.” — Publishers Weekly In clear, readable prose, avoiding highly technical language, neuroscientist Beauregard argues merely physical explanations for religious experience are insufficient. Recommended.” — Library Journal Lends scientific credence to the existence of a higher or universal consciousness. — Booklist (starred review) Drawing on Beauregard’s own research into religious experiences, a researched case for the nonmaterial—and ultimately spiritual—nature of man. — World Magazine Beauregard uses evidence to show that the self or soul is not simply locked inside the skull. — Philadelphia Inquirer I heartily advocate the purchase of this book — Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary have produced a provocatively titled book covering an equally provocative topic. — Christian's Scholar Review

Author : Patricia Pearson
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 18,30 MB
Release : 2014-05-13
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 1476757089

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The first book by a respected journalist on Nearing Death Awareness—similar to Near-Death Experience—this “fascinating” (Kirkus Reviews) exploration brings “humor, sympathy, and keen critical intelligence to a topic that is all too often off-limits” (Ptolemy Tompkins, collaborator with Eben Alexander on Proof of Heaven). People everywhere carry with them extraordinary, deeply comforting experiences that arrived at the moment when they most needed relief: when they lost a loved one. These experiences can include clear messages from beyond, profound and vividly beautiful visions, mysterious connections and spiritual awareness, foreknowledge of a loved one’s passing—all of which evade explanation by science and logic. Most people keep these transcendent experiences secret for fear they will be discounted by hyperrational scrutiny. Yet these very common occurrences have the power to console, comfort, and even transform our understanding of life and death. Prompted by her family’s surprising, profound experiences around the death of her father and her sister, reporter Patricia Pearson sets out on an open-minded inquiry, a rare journalistic investigation of Nearing Death Awareness, which Anne Rice praises as “substantive, eloquent, and worthwhile.” Opening Heaven’s Door offers deeply affecting stories of messages from the dying and the dead in a fascinating work of investigative journalism, pointing to new scientific explanations that give these luminous moments the importance felt by those who experience them. Pearson also delves into out-of-body and near-death experiences, examining stories and research to make sense of these related but distinct categories. Challenging current assumptions about what we know and what we are still unable to explain, Opening Heaven’s Door will forever alter your perceptions of the nature of life and death.

Author : Kenneth Bragan
Publisher : Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency
Page : 70 pages
File Size : 16,71 MB
Release : 2016-07-12
Category : Medical
ISBN : 1681815893

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The current renewed interest in mystical experience, which stems in part from the neuroscience claim that there is a spiritual doorway in the brain, provides the grounds for placing the spiritual legacy of Thomas Merton in the context of natural spirituality, where it fits comfortably. His journals demonstrate clearly the important part that mystical experience (what he called God-experience) played in the amazing spiritual growth and personal transformation he underwent during his time as a Trappist monk. It is suggested here that as the door to the supernatural world closes, the door to natural spirituality is opening, and Thomas Merton’s legacy could provide great support for such change. If so, his importance as a mystic, teacher, and prophet could go on rising.

Author : David B. Yaden
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 35,60 MB
Release : 2022
Category : Experience (Religion)
ISBN : 019066567X

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"In the midst of life's many ordinary moments, some experiences feel extraordinary. They can mark inflection points in one's life, after which one is never quite the same. Most brief experiences capable of making a long-lasting impact involve obvious changes in one's outward circumstances, like a birth, a death, a marriage, or an illness. Yet some life-changing moments seem to come wholly from another source, appearing as mental states or altered states of consciousness either from deep within a person's mind or, perhaps, from a source beyond the self. These experiences have been called by different names over time: spiritual, religious, mystical, peak, or self-transcendent, and people around the world and throughout history have experienced them, up to and including the present day. The sacred texts of every major religion describe these moments, philosophers since the ancient Greeks have pondered them, and according to recent Gallup polls (2003), well over 30% of contemporary Americans have experienced them"--

Author : Daniel Punzak
Publisher : AuthorHouse
Page : 566 pages
File Size : 21,74 MB
Release : 2017-04-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1524652369

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Traditional Western religion explains that each human has a spiritual aspect called a soul. However, several passages in the Bible allude to humans having a soul and a spirit. Dan has explored this idea and found numerous modern psychological findings that support this notion. Shamanism and some Eastern religious concepts also support this idea. Diverse concepts such as creativity and mental illness can be explained by the idea that two spiritual forms are in each human.

Author : Kenneth Bragan
Publisher : Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency
Page : 42 pages
File Size : 47,64 MB
Release : 2019-08-12
Category :
ISBN : 1950015084

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Kenneth Bragan believes Christianity is approaching a time of change, one that is under pressure from changing world views. The religion is changing from a largely belief-based faith to one that is more experience-based. “I present Thomas Merton as an exemplar of the latter and Laurence Freeman as an advocate of meditative Christianity, which increases in importance as it receives support from developments in neuroscience. These new directions may well bring much needed renewal,” he states. The retired psychiatrist wrote New Directions Towards Christian Renewal because he feels that Christianity is no longer doing what it has the potential to do. “This latter mode, that of natural spirituality (standing in contradistinction to supernatural spirituality), is the very future of a Christianity that engages with exegesis and matters of faith without the myopia of literalism, instead allowing for the allegorical and poetic dimensions of scripture to rush forward unfettered by the limitations of historical inexactitudes taken as dogma. Kenneth Bragan brilliantly and persuasively sets forth this new paradigm with rigorous scholarship, biblical analysis, and the passion of the faithful. New Directions Towards Christian Renewal is a remarkable and inspiring work, a piece that is both radically insightful and undoubtedly trailblazing.” – Charles Asher, reviewer