Lifting the Final Veil off Mysticism III

After having dealt with the questions of whether or not there is any infinite transcendent realm beyond our mundane material world, the idea of the holy, the convergence of science and mysticism, the cleansing property of skepticism, the Zen method and the desirability of viewing mysticism through the eye of an artist, Horgan asked if there is any other adequate method specially suited to evoking mystical awe without any adverse effects.

Horgan mentions the work of Lester Grinspoon and James Bakalar who suggested in Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered (1997) that the chief benefit of psychedelic drugs is that they help to enrich the "wonder of normality" by enhancing the emotional impact of sensory inputs from the world. Horgan however thinks on the contrary that instead of helping us, such drugs may in fact "blind" us to the "miraculousness" of the everyday world and of our consciousness.

Horgan also cites the example of Jean Houston, the leader of the human potential movement, who thought at first that LSDs, DMTs might along with song, dance, chants, guided imagery and role-playing in mythological contexts help human consciousness expand "beyond its present limitations and on towards capacities not yet realized and perhaps undreamed of" but later became critical of this via psychedelica because while psychedelics may promote a healthy spirituality, such effects seldom prove enduring. She says, "Some might say it is a shortcut to reality. But the fact is, it doesn't seem to sustain that reality." Then in the 1970s, she and Houston and her husband Robert Masters, originally an anthropologist, invented what they called The Altered States of Consciousness Induction Device (ASCID) consisting of a suspension harness which spins blindfolded subjects around in three dimensions. It worked so well that they stopped it because according to Houston, "People would get addicted to it and even refuse to explore their inner states without first taking a ride".

To me, the methods adopted by Houston seem to tie in very well with the findings of D'Aquili and Newberg (The Mystical Mind 1999) in their study of the state of consciousness of the mystics. They distinguish between two modes of meditation: the active and passive, roughly equivalent to the active and passive mode of Chinese chi-kung practice (or exercises in controlled breathing )(氣功). During such allegedly passive "mystical" episodes, the "normal" functioning of the spatial or orientation association areas (OAA) of their brain will be disrupted because the fluid in their inner ear will, through such violent spinning, give signals so confusing to the OAA that they will lose all sense of boundaries between the "self" with the outside world and the subjects will thus "feel as if" they were at one with it. In the case of the Buddhist monks, who practice controlled breathing during their meditation, part of their breathing routine consists of holding their breath for as long as possible both after breathing in and breathing out starting at the moment they cannot breathe in or breathe out any more. I know this because I have done so and found that if I persist in holding my breath for long enough, the "mystical feeling of being one with the universe" will arise. This is consistent with the temporary suspension in the supply of oxygen to the  OAA of those patients who lost consciousness during surgical operations and who may sometimes afterwards report having had "mystical experience"  during such periods of temporary "black out" of their consciousness in episodes of so-called near death experiences (NDEs).  

Newberg and  D'Aquili call such mystical states, states of "Absolute Unitary Being (AUB)." What happens during such times of "passive meditation" (sitting meditation) is that during such brief periods when the normally functioning OAA of the brain are "knocked out", there will be what Newberg and D'Aquili call " partial de-afferentation of the OAA" during "passive meditation". They explain: "This partial de-afferentation of the OAA consists of the blocking of the input from the verbal-conceptual association area (VCAA) as well as from specific sensory modalities. Thus there is the attempt not to pay attention to direct sensory input. Further dis-attention probably generates further de-afferentation of the right OAA from the sensory areas and from VCAA. It is only a partial de-afferentation at this point because the inhibitory effects slowly builds up during the meditation. Thus there is greater and greater inhibition of input or de-afferentation, as the meditation proceeds. This partial de-afferentation of the right OAA likely results in stimulation of the right hippocampus by means of the very rich interconnections between the OAA and the hippocampus. If, in addition, there is simultaneous direct stimulation of the right hippocampus from the right attention association area (AAA), then the right hippocampus ultimately stimulates the quiescent centres of the right amygdala. After the stimulation of the right amygdala reaches a certain threshold it will stimulate the quiescent part of the hypothalamus with a resultant stimulation of the peripheral quiescent system. This stimulation results in the subjective sensation first of relaxation, and eventually, of a more and more profound quiescence. Not only is it likely that the right AAA directly stimulates the right hippocampus, but, at every step along the way, stimulation may be reinforced by 'leapfrogging' around various structures via numerous neural projections that bypass certain structures going directly to others. Thus, the right hippocampus stimulates the amygdala, which in turn powerfully stimulates the quiescent parts of the hypothalamus; but the the right hippocampus also projects fibres directly to the quiescent parts of the hypothalamus, resulting in a marked recruitment of stimulation. So we should keep this double and even triple leapfrogging stimulation effect in mind as we run through our model's schematic pathway. " In short, "a reverberating circuit" is formed,"by impulses originating in the right AAA, going to the right OAA, to the right hippocampus, to the right amygdala, to the queiscent parts of the hypothalamus and then back to the right amygdala, to the right hippocampus, and back to the right AAA directly. Impulses go around and around in this circuit, recruiting greater neural activity. The system is accelerated by ever more impulse originating in the right ASS by continued 'willed' meditation, resulting in progressive increase in the intensity of neural discharge until a maximum level is reached in the quiescent system, which results in spillover and instantaneous maximal stimulation of the arousal systems...shown to occur in third-stage autonomic tuning. This maximal stimulation of both systems results in ecstatic and blissful feeling through intense stimulation of the quiescent structures in the hypothalamus. Likewise, there is an almost instantaneous maximal feedback stimulation from the hypothalamus to the right and left amygdalas, then to the right and left hippocampi and on to the right and left AAAs. Maximal stimulation of both AAAs is powerfully and mutually reinforced by stimulating impulses passing directly between the right and left AAAs, in both directions, via fibres passing through the inter-hemispheric connector tracts. The maximal stimulation of both AAAs should almost instantly result in total de-afferentation of both the left and right AAAs."  It is significant that the OAA is concerned with generating a sense of space and spatial co-ordinates in which to orient incoming stimuli. Is this why we read that some mystics feel a profound sense of peace during their mystical episodes? 

According to Newberg and D'Aquli, "The total de-afferentation of the OAA cannot result in unusual or unmodulated visions, sounds or tactile sensations because it has no memory banks with previously stored sensations. Rather, its total de-afferenation can only result in an absolute subjective sensation of pure space.  But space has no conventional meaning except as a matrix in which to relate to objects. We propose, therefore, that pure space arising from total de-afferentation of the right OAAA is subjectively experienced as absolute unity or wholeness. At the same time the right OAA is totally de-afferented, the left OAA is likewise totally de-afferented...the left OAA may be intimately involved with the maintenance of the self/other dichotomy or the self/world dichotomy. We propose that the total de-afferentation of the left OAA results in the obliteration of self/other dichotomy at precisely the same moment that the de-afferentation of the right OAA is associated with a sense of absolute transcendent wholeness. All the events from the moment of both the arousal and the quiescent system to the total de-afferentation of both the right and left OAAs may occur so rapidly as to be experienced by the subject as instantaneous. We believe that this results in the subject's attainment of rapturous transcendence and absolute wholeness that conveys such overwhelming power and strength that the subject has the sense of experiencing absolute reality. This is the state of AUB. Indeed, so ineffable is this state that for those who experience it, even the memory of it carries a sense of greater reality than the reality of our everyday world (as reported by a number of experiencers interviewed by us as well as reported in the world's mystical literature). The first part of the activation of the relevant system may take days, weeks, months or even years of regular disciplined meditation to develop (the time needed depending on the aptitude of the subject) but once activated, the rest of the process subsequent to the moment of spillover are automatic and occur almost instantaneously".

Newberg and d'Aquili also found one other feature of interest during the subject's mystical episodes. "Although both the right and left OAAs have had all input blocked, they still can send outputs to other parts of the brain...primarily to the hippocampi but also other limbic structure." They believe that "these impulses determine the steady state of the the limbic system during the period of the AUB. They either reinforce the initial ecstasy by ultimately reinforcing the arousal hypothalamic discharge or they switch balance from ecstasy to a deep and profound quiescence by allowing the quiescent hypothalamic structures to regain dominance." In the first case, "not only is AUB experienced initially as ecstasy, but the ecstasy is maintained throughout the remaining period of meditation".  In the second case,  "after the initial moments of ecstasy, AUB is experienced as a deep quiescent void or Nirvana". They suggest that the first case tends to be interpreted personally after the experience as "the immediate experience of or union with God" whereas in the second case, the AUB experience tends to be interpreted impersonally, as the peace and emptiness of the absolute ground of being. They suggest further that those meditators who practise the via negativa (passive meditation) tend to end up in the quiescent experience of the AUB but those who engage in the via positiva ( by intensely concentrating on an object or idea) tend to end up with the ecstatic experience of AUB ie. an arousal state.

I understand that in one of the Tibetan Tantric Buddhist traditions, there is a
type of practice which advocates that its practitoners get into an
ecstatic mystical state by engaging in ritualistic sexual intercourse. That way of getting into an ecstatic state is however not just confined to Tibet. In one of the Islamic mystic tradition, the Sufis also engage in ritual swirling around to get themselves into a state of AUB. These also involve disturbing the normal functioning of the mechanism in our inner ear for maintaining "normal" balance. They do so through mechanical means. There is an analogous way of getting into an AUB or mystical state through what Newberg and d'Aquili describe as the via positiva. The Chinese too, have two modes of doing chi kung(氣功) or breathing exercises respectively called tung kung or active practice (動功) and ching kung or passive practice(靜功) which are roughly equivalent to what the two neuroscientists call via positiva and via negativa. I already dealt with the via negativa. What happens if the meditators practice the via positiva? The neural pathways and the activations and the de-activation of the relevant parts of the brain systems are roughly the same after the point of hypothalamic spillover. What differs is what happens before that point. The practice starts by the meditator not clearing his mind but instead focusing his attention on to a mental image or an external physical object. Usually the image is a religious image carrying powerful emotional overtones e.g a cross, or an image of Christ or the Buddha etc. This would help to stimulate the limbic system. But the object need not be a religious object. It could be just any stone or even a chair. When he does that, the visual impulses pass from the right AAA of the willing or intending subject to the right OAA. In this case, the impulses are facilitatory, not inhibitory or de-afferenting as they were in the via negativa.  If the meditator's eyes are open and the image originates in the retina, it is passed back through the visual system to the primary visual area in the occipital lobe and then to the secondary visual association area (VAA) where it receives its most complex associations. The image is then fixed and attended to by the right OAA. If the subject wishes to recall an image from his memory, whether of an ordinary object or a  religious symbol, a past memory, this would be effected by the stimulatory impulses running from the right AAA directly to the right VAA. Then the right AAA stimulates the right OAA to fix the image and attend to it in a steady, highly focused manner. They say: " Continuous fixation on the presented by the right VAA begins to stimulate the right hippocampus, which in turn stimulate the right amygdala, which in turn stimulate the the arousal parts of the hypothalamus, generating a mildly pleasant sensation (although the initial rhythmic repetition may elicit a quiescent response). The impulses then pass back to the right amygdala and hippocampus, gathering intensity as they go along. This then feeds back to the right AAA, reinforcing the whole system with progressively intense concentration upon the object. Thus a reverberating loop is established, similar to that of the via negativa. The circuit then continues to reverberate and to augment in intensity until the stimulation of the arousal parts of the hypothalamus becomes maximal, creating a 'spillover' such that maximal stimulation of the quiescent parts of the hypothalamus occurs simultaneously with the on-going maximal stimulation of the arousal system. At this point, there would be maximal stimulation feedback through the limbic structures of the left and right AAA....this results in instantaneous maximal stimulation of the left AAA with immediate total deafferentation of the left OAA. In this case, the inhibitory impulses generated by the AAA must fight against a pre-existing and very strong, facilitatory or stimulating system that is generated by fixing and focusing upon an object. Since the meditating subject still intends to to focus in an ever more concentrated way on the object of meditation, this system continues to be reinforced even in the presence of ecstatic feelings generated within the limbic system and a progressively stronger assertion of the inhibitory de-afferenting system. Throughout the period when there is conflict between the facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms, there has been total instantaneous de-afferentation of the left OAA. Thus the self/other dichotomy has been obliterated during a fairly long period when the image still remains a focus of meditation.This, they suggest, is the time when the subjects feel absorbed into the object or describe themselves as becoming one with the the object. This period of meditation upon the object with the subject feels at one with the image, the symbol or event may be relatively long, depending on the intention of the subject. But sooner or later, in the face of the maximal arousal and quiescent discharge, either the meditator surrenders or possibly even against their will, the inhibitory influences take over and total de-afferentation of the right OAA occurs. Since the left OAA has already been totally de-afferented, the self/other dichotomy has been obliterated for some time. Thus the end point of the via positiva become the end point of the via negativa viz. maximal stimulation of the arousal and quiescent systems with total de-afferentation of ther ight and left OAAs, creating the experience of AUB.  

To Newberg and d'Aquili, how the relevant mystic experiences are "described" and "interpreted" are usually related to the relevant cultural and religious traditions of the meditators but no matter how they describe or interpret them, the actual experience of AUB is necessarily the same from a neuro-physiological and philosophical perspective as an infinite, unified and totally undifferentiated state. To the authors, lesser mystical states such as hyperlucid visions, trances, and sense of religious awe are slightly different because the full neuro-physiological substrate of the AUB does not occur eg. no total de-afferentation of both OAA or there only slight changes in the activity of the limbic system. But it is difficult to study such lesser mystical state because the subjects may not be able to describe them adequately due to their linguistic ability and this is precisely why they are often described as "ineffable". This is because, Newberg and d'Aquili say, unlike most human "higher cortical" experiences, language elements are not integral to mystical states. "Neuro-physiologically, it seems that the language centers are generally bypassed in the generation of mystical experiences. Thus language elements are at best peripheral to the core experiences. Because of this linguistic difficulty, the authors think that the only totally reliable method of differentiation is by their underlying neurophysiology. In lesser mystical states either there is a lack of total de-afferentation of all relevant parts or the relevant de-afferentations of the two limbs of the system do not occur at the same time, resulting in some degree of multiplicity of elements within the unitary matrix. 

After this rather lengthy and technical digression into the neuro-physiology of the mystic experience, it' s perhaps time to return to Horgan's conclusions. Horgan reports that some spiritual seekers have used mementos moris eg. a human skull to keep themselves mindful of death and some Buddhist even encourage their disciples to sit next to or on top of a rotting corpse, perhaps to desensitize them to death. "Dwelling on death, the abyss, nothingness, may convince you that it is the only abiding reality and that all finite, time-bound phenomena, including our own mortal selves are ephemeral and hence in some sense unreal". To Horgan, this may be one of the greatest dangers of the mystical experience: that we will be left with a permanent sense of de-realization and de-personalization either by dwelling too much on the spiritual or by losing all interest in this life or both. In the words of Ken Wilbur, this is "to snap out of the movie of life." Horgan observes, "The mystic sees our existence against the backdrop of infinity and eternity. This perspective may not translate into compassion and empathy for others. Far from it. To the mystic, human suffering and death may appear laughably trivial." To him, we should learn from the horrors of death how wonderful it is and how grateful we should be to find ourselves still alive. He advises us, very sensibly, to see right  or "really see" and to look at everything in perspective: "Just as believers in a beneficent deity should be haunted by the problem of natural evil, so gnostics, atheists, pessimists, and nihilists should be haunted by the problem of friendship, love, beauty, truth, humor, compassion, fun".

Next, Horgan dwells on a theme which seems important to him: the importance with which some mystics view oneness or unity. To some of the mystics, awe, wonder are just side effects of mystical awareness. William James singled out oneness as the dominant theme in the writings of all the mystics defined by him as "the overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute." He says in The Varieties of Religious Experience , "In Hinduism, in Neoplatonism, in Sufism, in Christian mysticism, in Whitmanism, we find the same recurring note, so there is about mystical utterances an eternal unanimity which ought to make a critic stop and think." Horgan quotes Diana Alstad and Joel Kramer, two veteran American alternative spiritual teachers who had taught yoga, male-female relationship since the early 1970s. In their Guru Papers (93), they say that they were disillusioned with Buddhism, Hinduism and other mystical traditions. Though they admitted that mystical visions may "alter one's relationship to daily life and also profoundly change the way one approaches death and dying", once we start to translate our vision into ideologies, such as the oneness doctrine, trouble starts. To them, the oneness doctrine is appealing to many Americans because it seems less authoritarian and more abstract than "patriarchal Western theologies". They think that by exalting self-abnegation and renunciation of the world as supreme virtues, Hinduism and Buddhism also appear to offer an antidote to excessive selfishness. However, to them, oneness has within it " a hidden duality" that leads to hierarchical social division. "These supposedly enlightened gurus and avatars often insist that others will achieve enlightenment only through total surrender to them...The very nature of any  structure that makes one person different and superior to others...breeds authoritarianism." Hindu ashrams, Buddhist monasteries and other organizations founded on the oneness principle are usually authoritarian and patriarchal. This is a good observation. To Horgan, seen in this light, some mystical rhetoric appears "not paradoxical, but Orwellian: Only through submission will we find true liberation. All are one but some are more one than others.". The oneness principle seems to suggest that life is a problem that can be solved, a riddle that can be answered, a cul-de-sac from which one can and should escape. He agrees with Smith that "enlightenment--defined as supernatural wisdom, grace and moral perfection--is best viewed as an ideal unattainable by mere mortals".  If we were to judge it by its fruits, as James advises, this principle does not fare well. "Belief in the myth of total enlightenment too often turns spiritual teachers into narcissistic monsters and their students into mindless slaves". Ken Wilbur told Horgan, "Even the most apparently enlightened masters have feet of clay--all, no exceptions"  Here he echoes what I have often told my friends. Horgan says caustically, " Mystical achievement, I suspect, is as closely related with moral maturity as scientific or artistic achievement is. In other words, not at all.".

As an ironic comment on the idea of oneness, Horgan quotes James Austin's first koan,  "When all things return to the one, where is the one returned to?" To him, the return of all things to one is "arguably a route to oblivion: one thing equals to nothing". He thinks that the Indian sage Ramakrishna  was of the same opinion when the latter said, "I want to taste sugar; I don't want to be sugar.". He raises a number of questions about the practical logic of the idea of oneness: "Do we really want to live in a world in which there is no other, in which there are no selves but only a single Self? Is that heaven or a solipsistic hell?" Stanislav Grof informed Horgan that various theological doctrines suggest that God cannot bear to stay forever in a sate of absolute oneness and that is why He created this flawed and fractured world. "This seems to be the implication of the Kabbalist doctrine of tsimtsum which holds that creation occurs when God somehow withdraws from Himself; of Meister Eckhart's crytic comment that 'God waxes and wanes' and of Ken Wilbur's remark that not even God likes to eat dinner alone." He comes to a surprising conclusion: "If enlightenment is defined as a state of perfect, permanent unity with all things, then not even God is or can be totally enlightened."

Horgan also speculates on the desirability of a perfect union with God. He does so indirectly through a hypothetical scenario. He asked a psychedelic chemist Sasha Shulgin according to whose system for rating the effects of different drugs, the ultimate altered state is a plus 4, "a rare and precious transcendental state, a blissful peak experience in which one feels a connectedness with both the interior and exterior universes". To Shulgin, if a drug would consistently produce a plus four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of the human experiment. Horgan asked him, what would be the consequences for humanity of such a discovery? Shulgin replied: "Perpetual bliss. In eternal life with no negatives, no anger, no sadness, no competition. There would also be no motivation, no urge to change to anything and I am afraid, no creativity. The evolutionary pressure for survival no longer exists. I believe this would be the end of our species.".  His answer certainly bears thinking. I often told my daughter to be careful what she asks God for and warns her that it might be the case that the day God grants her wishes, she would consider it an absolute disaster. Perhaps, we should bear in mind the story of the golden touch of King Midas! Mystics are not exempted!

Having come to the end of the book, Horgan feels he only needs to address just one last issue: freewill. Susan Blackmore told him that free will is an illusion. But Horgan thinks that if free will is an illusion, it is one that we need or at least one that he needs, "even more than God".  He says, "I have no choice but to choose free will." He believes that our belief in free will has social value: "it provides us with the metaphysical justification for ethics and morality. It forces us to take responsibility for ourselves rather than entrust our fate to Jehweh or Allah or the Tao or the timewave. We must accept that things will get better and better only as a result of our efforts, not because we are fulfilling some preordained supernatural plan.". But he is not sure if free will truly exists. He ends the quest, as he  began it, "mystified" or " convictionally impaired" an expression he borrowed from Huston Smith.

Horgan concludes: I believe--I know--that our existence is infinitely improbable, a miracle transcending any possible explanation. But I have no idea whether this miracle is eternal or ephemeral. My view of mysticism dispenses with most of the other traditional consolations of spirituality. It does not promise us rebirth, or paranormal powers, or saintly moral wisdom, or immunity from suffering, or heaven or Buddhaverse or meaning or justice beyond what we create for ourselves. It does not give us the starring role in some divine drama. But it leaves us with a kind of consolation that is enough for me." That consolation is, I believe,  put in his Epilogue where he saw the beauty of Nature. He saw some frost. "Mystified, I stared at the pallid earth, and all of a sudden, I saw them, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, points of pure iridescence, sprinkled like fairy dust on the path lading back to our home."

Horgan is a hard headed rationalist. But he is a rationalist with with a healthy dose of skepticism, with plenty of common sense, with a heart, with imagination and with an eye for something which I think has eternal value: beauty!