This week we will look at the brain. Any of us are able to drive an automobile without knowing the inner workings of the machine. But a professional race course driver is certainly familiar with engine design and dynamics. There are many popular misconceptions about the brain, and having some primary understandings of the brain will leave us better suited to talk about consciousness in light of our Teachings.

The first three videos in this week’s selections are short: 24 minutes total. They are a good introduction to basic brain structure and function that may be referred to at any time and will help prepare you for presentations in later weeks.  

Asap Science. 7 Myths About the Brain You Thought Were True, June 6, 2014.  3 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfgkAJmp9-A

Iain McGilchrist. The Divided Brain, October 2011. 12 minutes. https://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain

Armando Hasudungan. Brain Overview: Lobes, Diencephalo, Brain Stem, and Limbic System, September 19, 2012. 12 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRyp8EdRUiE

Nancy Kanwisher. A Neural Portrait of the Human Mind,  March 2014. 18 minutes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_kanwisher_the_brain_is_a_swiss_army_knife

Neil Burgess. How Your Brain Tells You Where You Are, November 2011. 9 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_burgess_how_your_brain_tells_you_where_you_are

Daniel Wolpert. The Real Reason for Brains, July 2011. 20 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_wolpert_the_real_reason_for_brains

Susan Herculano-Houzel. What Is So Special About the Human Brain?, June 2013. 14 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 7A >

For the present we are less intent to the Vision, and cannot yet open the eyes of our mind to behold the incorruptible and incomprehensible beauty of that Good; but then we shall see it, when we have nothing at all to say of it. For the knowledge of it is a Divine Silence, and the rest of all the senses; for neither can he that understands that, understand something else, nor he that sees that, see anything else, nor hear any other thing, nor in sum move the Body. For shining steadfastly upon and round the whole mind, it enlighteneth all the Soul; and loosing it from the bodily senses and motions, it draweth it from the body, and change it wholly into the Essence of God.

For it is possible for the Soul, O Son, to be deified while yet it lodgeth in the body of man, if it contemplate the beauty of the Good. ~Hermes

“In other words, the human brain/mind is not capable of really understanding the worlds of spirit and the beings that dwell their, especially God. Because of this, men have tried to create God, angels, and other spiritual being in their image rather than learning what they truly are.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

 One way to better understand consciousness is to study cognitive development in infants and children. Comparing these levels of development may indicate how cognition in the human species became more sophisticated over the course of thousands of years. 

Cognitive science also investigates how humans process thought compared to other animal species, such as dolphins, birds, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Many of these animals display a capacity for thinking in symbols, self-awareness, and the empathetic ability to assess the disposition of other creatures, or in a sense, “read their minds.” The ability to predict what another is thinking or feeling, because we can think or feel as they do, is sometimes referred to as “Theory of Mind.” Fifty years ago these traits were thought to be exclusive to humans.

There is, however, a conscious attribute which may be more present in humans and perhaps absent in any other species: metacognition. Metacognition is the ability to assess, oversee, and then reformulate the way we think. This skill enables us to redefine ourselves, giving us agency over the evolution of our consciousness.

Radiolab, Jules Davidoff, Guy Deutscher. Why Isn’t the Sky Blue? 22 minutes.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/211213-sky-isnt-blue/

Alison Gopnik. What Do Babies Think?, July 2011. 19 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think

Paul Bloom. What It Is Like to Be a Baby: The Development of Thought, September 2008. 49 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2oHYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″&HYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1CHYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″&HYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″index=5

Alise Shafer Ivey. Metaphor and Metacognition, July 3, 2012. 24 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymzIdDMDvM

Susan Savage-Rumbaugh. The Gentle Genius of Bonobos, February 2004. 18 minutes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write?language=en

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 6 >

I am drawn by the law of spiritual gravitation towards union with the Universal Soul and can no more escape return there than the mortal elements of man can escape their return to dust. Man sees glory by the reflected light of glory within him, he knows love by the love within himself. The sun is seen by the light of the sun and not by any light within man. Man sees the spirit by the light of the spirit, and not by the light within his mortal self. Only by the light of the spirit can the spirit of man be lit. … I am your own true self which should be forever cherished. By listening to my whispers, by letting your thoughts dwell on me and by knowing me, the whole glory of the greater spheres is opened unto you. ~The Kolbrin Bible GLN:17:10-11

“This section of the Kolbrin Bible may be confusing because of the change in voice. In most of the previous sections, it was fairly obvious that the speaker was God. In this section, the speaker is our own souls. Our souls are telling us what we need to do to awaken them and the vale of doing so.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

Two trees are growing in paradise. One bears animals, the other bears people. Adam ate from the tree that bore animals and became an animal and brought forth animals, and so Adam’s children worship animals. The tree whose fruit Adam ate is the tree of knowledge. So his sins increased. If he had eaten fruit from the tree of life, the one bearing people, the gods would worship men and women for in the beginning God created man and women. Now they create god. In the world humans make gods and worship their creations. It would be better if the gods worshiped them. ~The Gospel of Phillip

“Much of the Gospel of Phillip can be confusing, and seemingly contradictory, and this paragraph is no exception. Lets start with the two trees we have all heard of but few understand: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and The Tree of Life. Many don’t get that this is a very allegorical story, although I don’t know why. “

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

 In week 4 we look at the difference between consciousness and being consciously aware, from the perspective of researcher and skeptic Susan Blackmore. The second talk posits that the expression of consciousness requires a “local” in order for consciousness to reside; this would be in accord with Cosolargy’s teaching that we have to generate a Light body in order that 5-D Consciousness can have somewhere to reside.

Susan Blackmore. Brain, Mind, and Consciousness.  Delivered to the Skeptics Society, 2005;uploaded to YouTube Jan. 26, 2011: 56 minutes. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdMA8RVu1sk

Antonio Damasio. The Quest to Understand Consciousness. TED talk,Mar. 2011: 19 minutes. Available at https://www.ted.com/talks/antonio_damasio_the_quest_to_understand_consciousness

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 5 >

Those who love the pleasures of this present life pass from evil thoughts to actual sins. Since they lack discrimination, they turn almost all their sinful thoughts into wicked words or unholy deeds. Those, on the other hand, who are trying to pursue the ascetic life, struggle first against evil thoughts and malicious words. So when the demons find such people cheerfully abusing others, indulging in idle and inept talk, laughing at the wrong time, uncontrollably angry or desiring vain and empty glory, they join forces to attack them. Using love of praise in particular as a pretext for their evil schemes, the demons slip into the soul – as through a window at night – and despoil it. So those who wish to live in virtue should not hanker after praise, be involved with too many people, … or abuse others (however much they deserve it), or talk excessively, … ~The Philokalia

“Many people think that it is perfectly acceptable to dream of doing things they know are wrong, as long as they don’t actually do them. Spiritual teachers know better. The quote gives one reason why: When you keep thinking about such things, you soon start talking about them to others. And, as you talk about them more, they soon start to sound reasonable and you start doing them. And it you don’t, someone you have talked to about them does.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

 In this third week we will introduce you to the field of cognitive linguistics, which is the study of how language affects thought. Language is essentially the assigning of symbols to real objects or concepts, then storing and processing those symbols for future symbolic expression in order to convey a tangibility of more-absent or inconspicuous objects or concepts. This system of symbols wields a profound effect on any conscious index.

In Cosolargy, Information Factors within the solar Logos, or The Language of the Sun, give rise to a fifth-dimensional Consciousness. Even though the following presentations are secular, they suggest a strong bond between language and consciousness.

CLICK ON TITLES TO WATCH:

Jill Bolte Taylor. A World Without Words. Radiolab: 12 minutes.

Elizabeth Spelke, Susan Schaller, Charles Fernybough. Words That Changed the World. Radiolab: 29 minutes.

Jeffrey Mishlove and Stephen Pinker. Language and Consciousness, Part 1 (complete).Thinking Allowed, Oct. 8, 2012: 27 minutes.

Lera Boroditsky. Beyond the Physics: How Language Helps Us Construe and Construct, Jul. 25, 2012: 1 hour 2 minutes. 

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 4 >

The first key to working with energy information is being able to recognize the feeling of a surfacing or incoming flow. Is there something to know or not? You can use your increasing sensitivity to tune in to the subtle states of your body to find out. Do you feel relaxed, open, spacious, and at peace? There may be nothing you need to know right now. Or do you feel antsy, slightly distracted, or mildly pressured? This is often the sigh of an insight knocking on your door, asking to come in. An incoming flow of energy information can feel like a subtle tactile impression, like something pushing on you gently. It’s also common to have an incoming activate one of your other senses. You might hear a voice, a knock, or a tinkling sound; feel hot, cold, or buzzy; see a glow of a ghostly image. . . . ~Penney Peirce

“It is really very amazing if you think about it that we ignore energy as much as we do. Sure, we pay attention to electricity and heat energy when it comes to powering our toys or heating or cooking, but in so many other parts of our lives, we ignore it completely. Scientists, while they certainly have accomplished a lot in the past few centuries, are largely responsible for this. Since they ignore it, most of the rest of us ignore it.”

< Read the entire article online on Harold’s blog at spiritsun.net. >

contributed by Harold Boulette

 This is the second of the twelve-part series. The panel in this video includes a philosopher, medical doctor, psychologist, and a neuroscientist—a good mix for the topic at hand. A little background: Materialists posit that consciousness only reside in the brain; Dualists maintain that consciousness is the interaction of an ephemeral qualia (subjective, conscious experiences) interacting with the brain; Emergentists view consciousness as information organizing to a point at which there is enough interaction to form a conscious experience; and Panpsychism,  which takes the position that consciousness is a universal component of existence or a force, sort of like gravity, inertia, and or quantum expressions.  In this panel talk, the fellow on the far right in the colorful short-sleeve shirt is Cristof Koch. He had a twenty-year professional and father-son-type relationship with Francis Crick, the codiscoverer of DNA. These two men worked together for two decades investigating the nature of consciousness.

CLICK ON  TITLE TO WATCH:

  The Whispering Mind: The Enduring Conundrum of Consciousness;panel discussion, Jan. 24, 2014: 1 hour 26 minutes.

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 3 >