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Thread: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

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    Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    Namaskāra to all,

    I continue in my reading of the Mandala of Indic Studies web site hosted by Rajivji Malhotra's Infinity Foundation web site. This article has a bullet section that JUMPED out at me.

    http://www.infinityfoundation.com/ma...a_frameset.htm


    Introduction

    Alex Comfort summarized in l979 the problems of objectivity and subjectivity in science the way Shankara did in Indian tradition so many centuries earlier:

    1. What we call "nature" consists of "arrays" on which human mentation imposes structure.
    2. Phenomena, which are our only contact with these arrays, are exactly what their name implies, namely "appearings" in which structure has been imposed.
    3. In some instances what appears to be phenomena --time is an example-- may turn out to be wholly structures, namely consequences of a particular manner of intuitivistic data-processing.
    4. What we call the "I" or self is the shadow of a delay mechanism in the brain between its "oceanic" state of world perception and its "substitution", namely the selective reading of the same event through linguistic structures.


    Point four is what I'm wondering about - Please, someone, explain what that means. This means that "what I experience or perceive" gets filtered through the "inner voice" we hear within the amygdala? Really?? REALLY??? Are you serious?? O. M. Gosh!! This reveals the two states of perception that I've always had! I don't know this, as I did not grow up like hearing children, but it seems to be that people normally hear a voice within as they experience things, whereas I do not. I have to consciously make myself get the "inner voice" started. It also seems to be saying that the perception is also filtered by the language structures in one's language. I experience things directly, and my older cousin noticed that in my interactions with the world around me during the deaf years.

    Praṇāma

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    Re: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    Vannakkam DA: I'm sorry I have no answer for you. I just wanted to tell you I laughed out loud when I read #4. I have absolutely no idea what the chap was trying to say. It just looks ridiculously gobbledygook to me. If the intent was to try to look smarter than everyone else, he did it.

    Aum Namasivaya

  3. #3

    Re: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    Namaste Eastern Mind,

    You have to read the entire article at least or the series of articles that precede that one to understand the jargon he's using. What he is talking about is the five different areas of the brain (in fact, he says that we have five different brains, not just one, and they do different things and interact with each other). He is saying from research that the left side of the brain does not perceive the world directly, only through the right side.

    Praṇāma

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    Re: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    Vannakkam: My Guru taught 5 states of mind ... conscious, subconscious, subsuperconscious, superconscious, and sub-subconscious. (In much simpler language) But I seriously doubt if there are any parallels. I do hope that you find greater understanding there though, since you're interested in it.

    Differences between left and right hemisphere have been around a long time though, and I would suspect it has to do with ida and pingala currents too.

    Aum Namasivaya

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    Re: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    My daughter is majoring in neurobiology at U.C. Berkeley. I am curious to run this by her to see what she thinks. I will let you know.

  6. #6

    Re: Neurobiology and Yoga by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD

    Namaskāra Eastern Mind and ShivaFan,

    I suspect that while the halves of the brain have been known, the five brains within the one brain have not been known for very long in western science.

    Please do run this by your daughter the entire article, as I would like to see her response to this.

    Praṇāma

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