TCF 02.11.24 | Why Your Brain Isn’t Experiencing Anything

As we usher in another week of progress and introspection at the Chopra Foundation, I am delighted to share our latest insights and developments with you.

Dr. Chopra has penned a thought-provoking piece, "Why Your Brain Isn’t Experiencing Anything." This article challenges the conventional equation of Brain=Mind and delves into the profound mysteries of consciousness—a subject that sits at the heart of our Foundation's work. Dr. Chopra invites us to consider a radical perspective: Consciousness is not a mere byproduct of brain chemistry; it is as fundamental to the universe as gravity. This paradigm-shifting view has far-reaching implications for understanding the self and the fabric of reality.

The digital landscape is rapidly evolving, and at the forefront is Apple's latest offering, the Apple Vision Pro. In my latest exposition, “Mindscapes Unleashed: Navigating the Therapeutic Potential of VR”, I explore the intersection of augmented and virtual reality with mental health therapies. The potential of these technologies to embody calmness through VR can significantly reduce anxiety, suggesting an exciting new direction for non-invasive therapeutic techniques.

We extend an invitation to join Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar for a transformative six-part webinar series on "Practical Vedanta for Daily Living." Drawing from the eternal wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, this masterclass offers life lessons in peace, purpose, and longevity that resonate with contemporary scientific understanding and the spiritual journey toward self-realization.

We also eagerly announce the upcoming Sages & Scientists 2024 on Sept. 14-15, ‘24, at Harvard-Sanders Theatre (Cambridge, MA), inviting our community to engage in these enriching experiences. This newsletter is not just a summary of our endeavors but an invitation to join us in this transformative journey, embodying the principles of love, compassion, and conscious living for a healthier, more fulfilled life.

Warm regards,

Poonacha Machaiah - CEO

The Chopra Foundation

www.choprafoundation.org

Why Your Brain Isn’t Experiencing Anything

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

Even as we pass through a golden age for brain science, only the future will determine whether the whole field is based on an unproven assumption, namely, that once you understand the brain, you understand the mind. At best, the notion that Brain=Mind is touch and go. When you try to figure out where thoughts, feelings, and sensations come from, you find yourself in a strange domain filled with mirrors, illusions, and a shaky grasp of reality. The mind is harder to hunt down than the mythical unicorn because, with the mind, the hunter and the hunted are the same.

This frustrating obstacle has led to speculation that swings between two extremes: At one extreme, occupied by strict materialists, consciousness is pure illusion created by brain chemistry. At the other extreme, occupied by anyone who doesn’t really want an explanation, consciousness is a given that defies exploration, much as water is a given to a fish.

Must the riddle of the mind remain a riddle? For answers, relying on Brain=Mind is a dead end, even though that’s the position adopted wholesale by neuroscience. The complexity of the human nervous system is fascinating, but the mind doesn’t need the brain in order to exist. Consciousness preceded all living things by being fundamental in creation.

Over the past decade or so, the notion that consciousness is innate in the universe, as built-in as gravity, has gained in stature. Some leading cosmologists are circling back to the insights of quantum pioneers like Max Planck and Erwin Schr?dinger. Planck declared that it was impossible to “get behind consciousness,” meaning that consciousness can’t be explained by referring to anything more primal. Schr?dinger held that consciousness cannot be subdivided; there is only one consciousness, even though it appears to be subdivided into billions of individual minds. To use an honored analogy from the Vedanta tradition in India, pure gold can be made into countless objects, but in essence, they are all gold.

Quantum physics is a two-edged sword, however, when it comes to explaining the mind. Its principles have been used to justify a conscious universe or not, depending on the perspective of the thinker who is wielding the theory. The predominant aim is always to rescue the materialist (now generally called physicalist) viewpoint. A sharp break is all but impossible even among far-seeing physicists and neuroscientists.

On the sidelines, the physicalist view is steadily eroding even without the thorny issue of consciousness to contend with. It is agreed among quantum theorists that subatomic particles are essentially mathematical constructs, with no fixed properties that resemble tangible objects. So how did rocks, clouds, mountains, and trees get their physical properties? How do we get from mathematics, which has no physical properties, to the hardness of granite and the sweetness of strawberries?

It’s a classic example of “you can’t get there from here.” Physicalism isn’t applicable to the mind. Atoms and molecules can’t think, and the human brain consists of nothing but ordinary organic molecules that are shuffled around not very differently from heart or liver cells. This obviousness of this objection is so glaring, you wonder how it can be denied. Making the brain the source of the mind is like making the colors on Rembrandt’s palette the source of his genius.

The fallacy of physicalism runs much deeper even than this. Why is oxygen gaseous while iron is hard? A glance at the periodic chart of the elements reveals that an iron atom is larger than an oxygen atom, but this fact has nothing to do with hardness. Because they are the first two elements in the periodic chart, you might suppose that hydrogen and helium are gases, but the third element is lithium, a soft, silvery metal. That is unpredictable from the lithium atom, much less why it should be medically effective for bipolar disorder.

Examine the physical structure of brain cells as deeply as you want, and there is no hint at the fact that the brain produces a 3-D image of the world. Nor does a close examination of specific brain areas explain how we convert invisible photons, the quanta of light, into sight, the vibration of air into sound, and so on through all five senses.

What lies beyond physicalism and its almost total dominance in science? No one can predict, although a paradigm shift is inevitable, because of the objections just raised, and many more. We don’t even know what a thought is or have the ability to predict what our next thought will be. For now, here are some quotations from a thinker who looked to the mind’s farthest horizon and beyond. His name was Vasistha, a Vedic sage writing many centuries ago, but almost eerily anticipating the most far-seeing speculations in current cosmology.

• “The entire universe is forever the same as the consciousness that dwells in every atom, even as an ornament is non-different from gold.”
• “Cosmic consciousness alone exists now and ever; in it are no worlds, no created beings. That consciousness reflected in itself appears to be creation.”
• “This consciousness is not knowable: when it wishes to become the knowable, it is known as the universe.”
• “The world exists because consciousness is, and the world is the body of consciousness.”. <Link to article>

Can Your Brain Explain You?

https://amzn.to/48dWwjD

Mindscapes Unleashed: Navigating the Therapeutic Potential of VR

By Poonacha Machaiah | February 11, 2024

This month, Apple unveiled its latest innovation, the Apple Vision Pro, which stands at the confluence of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), heralding a new chapter in the evolution of mixed reality technologies. Unlike conventional mixed-reality headsets, the Apple Vision Pro introduces a paradigm shift by transforming how users interact with digital environments through a unique operating system. This system enables control and interaction with apps using just fingers and eyes, marking its distinction as a spatial computer. But beyond the buzz of futuristic home offices and immersive gaming experiences lies a potentially transformative application in healthcare/mental health therapy.

The transformative potential of VR in medical interventions is vast, and with the Apple Vision Pro, we’re inching closer to realizing its full scope. My conversations with Dr. Srini Pillay, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, brain researcher, co-founder, and Chief Medical Officer at Reulay, shed light on the promising innovation in this field.

Pilot trials have shown promising results, demonstrating that the act of embodying calmness can significantly reduce anxiety and emotional distress while enhancing focus. An exploratory pilot study has been published to look for any signal signifying that the VR experience would reduce anxiety and emotional distress and improve focus among healthcare providers (HCP). Research also suggests that VR can be leveraged to embody various states, such as calmness or entropy, with profound therapeutic benefits.

Traditional medical interventions predominantly rely on oral, intravenous, or surgical methods. However, therapy through visual engagement is a relatively untapped frontier. With its immersive capabilities, VR technology offers a unique avenue for ‘therapy by eye.’ This approach capitalizes on the brain’s visual, belief, simulation, and embodiment systems, providing a holistic therapeutic experience.

The brain’s capacity to embody metaphors presents another intriguing aspect of VR’s therapeutic potential. For instance, the act of breaking through a wall in a virtual environment can foster creativity, illustrating how physical actions within VR can influence mental states. Similarly, embodying calmness or entropy in VR can have tangible effects on one’s psychological well-being, akin to the profound changes induced by psychedelics.

Moreover, VR’s ability to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness opens up new possibilities for therapeutic applications. Research has linked practices like transcendental meditation with gene regulation associated with reduced inflammation and improved immunity and mindfulness meditation with increased telomere length. These findings suggest that VR could potentially influence genetic and inflammatory responses, offering innovative pathways for health and wellness.

However, enthusiasm must be tempered with caution. Data privacy, accessibility, and ethical concerns surrounding the manipulation of consciousness require careful consideration. Imagine a world where phobias are tackled through virtual exposure therapy, where anxiety melts away in calming VR landscapes, and personalized VR programs help manage chronic pain. The Vision Pro, with its advanced capabilities, could be the key to unlocking this future.

However, VR therapy cannot exist in a vacuum. Rigorous research, ethical development, and collaboration between tech creators, medical professionals, and patients are paramount. The path toward VR-driven mental health is just beginning, and the Apple Vision Pro is a significant marker. Let’s embark on this journey with open minds, cautious optimism, and an unwavering commitment to using technology for good. The future of mental healthcare could be remarkably bright, and the key might lie in the immersive worlds forged by VR.

As we stand at the cusp of this new era, the Apple Vision Pro embodies the promise of VR as a powerful tool for therapeutic intervention. Its advanced capabilities redefine the boundaries of mixed reality and open up a world of possibilities for harnessing VR to enhance human health and well-being. The journey ahead is fraught with challenges and opportunities, but with continued innovation and research, the future of VR as a therapeutic medium looks bright, promising transformative impacts on medical science and patient care. <Link to article>

Reflections from Bhagavad Gita: Life Lessons for Peace and Longevity

By Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, BAMS MD (Ayurveda)

The Bhagavad Gita is universally renowned for its consciousness-based spiritual wisdom, still relevant in the 21st century. The 700 concise verses in this scripture provide a framework to decode the science of self-realization, offering profound wisdom and guidance for leading a purposeful and fulfilling life.

Join Dr. Deepak Chopra and me in a six-part series of LIVE Webinars starting in January 2024. Embark on a transformative journey toward total well-being, guided by the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. We will share practical Vedanta tools for enlightened living.

Here are a few primary gleanings from the Bhagavad Gita that will be covered throughout the upcoming six-part webinar series: Practical Vedanta for Daily Living: A Consciousness-Based Perspective on Bhagavad Gita

1. Right Knowledge is the Ultimate Solution to All Our Problems in Life: Ignorance or Avidya is the root cause of all problems in life. Getting a glimpse of the true nature of Reality and not clinging to what is unreal is the first step toward Self-Realization.
2. Live What You Learn and Continue to Grow: The Gita encourages us to practice what we learn and make it a habit to follow a health-conscious (Sattvik) Diet & lifestyle. It describes four practices of Yoga for self-empowerment.
3. Detach from Illusion and Attach to the Divine: Replace the illusion of worldly desires and material possessions (Maya) with a natural affinity for the divinity that lies within each one of us. Whoever sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings hates none.
4. Every Act Can Be an Act of Prayer, Stay Busy: Action is always better than inaction. Transform every moment into a sacred practice by setting an intention behind your actions to experience contentment. Yoga is nothing but skill & love in action.
5. Selflessness Leads to Peace, Progress, and Prosperity: Experience profound peace through selfless giving, without expecting anything in return. Selfishness can cloud our judgment and wisdom. Selfless acts are not just noble but help us attain personal growth and fulfillment.
6. Concentrate on Your Work, Don’t Worry About the Results: The core cause of worry is the anticipation of the fruits of your labor. Focus on performing your actions selflessly and working in the present moment to free yourself from the bondage of desire.
7. Rise Above Fear and Doubt: Fear is a paralyzing emotion that inhibits growth and progress. It puts your mind, body, and soul into a fight-or-flight mode. Replace doubt with faith, trust, and self-awareness.
8. Anger, Attachment & Greed Make You Deceptive and Destructive: Anger clouds our judgment and hinders our ability to make rational decisions. The Bhagavad Gita provides practical tools such as meditation and physical activity with the intention, can help in anger management. Anger clouds our judgment, destabilizes intellect, and puts us on a destructive path.
9. Control & Regulate Your Sensory Desires: Excessive sensory indulgence weakens your mind and destabilizes your intellect. Meditation and self-reflection refine your patience, willpower, and discrimination.
10. Stability & Equanimity: Be steadfast in fleeting perceptions of your sensory experience. Joy & sorrow are mere expressions of the polarities of life. Practice equanimity and try to be a witness to change.

The Bhagavad Gita is a poetic song of consciousness that validates current scientific research in this field. Embracing these lessons can guide us toward a life filled with purpose, growth, and inner joy. Link to Masterclass

Chopra Foundation Research

What Do We Mean by “Consciousness?” Part III - By Ryan Castle

While we have previously discussed the different concepts of consciousness and their relationship to interpreting reality, another idea links consciousness to the foundation of reality itself. This discussion delves into how the peculiarities of quantum mechanics, especially phenomena like the observer effect, waveform collapse, and Schr?dinger's cat, parallel and inform our understanding of consciousness. By examining these parallels, we aim to uncover how quantum theory and the study of consciousness together might offer a profound new interpretation of reality.

Quantum theory has shattered classical notions of an objective reality that exists independent of observation. The observer effect, a principle famously illustrated by the double-slit experiment, suggests that the act of observation can determine the state of a quantum system. Similarly, the concept of waveform collapse posits that a quantum particle exists in multiple states simultaneously until it is observed, at which point it 'chooses' a specific state. ?These phenomena challenge our traditional understanding of reality, suggesting that consciousness—our observation and awareness—plays a pivotal role in shaping the physical world.

Schr?dinger's cat, a thought experiment, brings the abstract concepts of quantum superposition and indeterminacy into a relatable scenario. It posits that a cat in a sealed box, subject to a quantum event that can kill it, exists in a state of being both alive and dead until observed. This paradox underscores the quantum theory's assertion that reality is not fixed but probabilistic and influenced by observation, drawing a curious parallel to how our perceptions and consciousness can shape our lived experiences. ?Link to the full article

ADEPT HIBERNATION-LIKE STATES II - By William C Bushell, PhD

In the previous installment of our Adept series, we began to consider the striking evidence for the possibility of adepts being able to enter hibernation-like states, also referred to in scientific biology, as well as popular culture, as “suspended animation” (see, eg, Nordeen & Martin 2019; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended_animation). Before returning to the developing of our fundamental scientific framework for analyzing such states, we should turn now to the consideration of historical, ethnographic, and other forms of documentary evidence for the dramatic claims of the voluntary burial practices of adept practitioners of forms of deep samadhi, such as bhugarbha samadhi (“underground burial deep trance”; see previous installment).

Below is a largely typical type of account of the burial and disinterment of one of these practitioners (a “faqueer” or fakir: an adept, usually Moslem, yogi) from the 19th century, written by a German doctor – dozens of such accounts were written by medical, judicial, and other officials of the European colonialist powers, German, French, Dutch, English, others (Honigberger 1852; also cited in Hewitt 1977):

“…the faqueer, in the presence of the Maharaja’s court, placed himself in a complete state of asphyxia, having all the appearance of death…[and] in that state he was wrapped in the linen on which he was sitting, the seal of Runjeet Sing was stamped thereon, and it was placed in a chest, on which the Maharajah put a strong lock. The chest was buried in a garden, outside of the city, belonging to the minister, barley was sown on the ground, and the space enclosed with a wall and surrounded by sentinels. On the fortieth day, which was the time fixed for his exhumation, a great number of the authorities of the [court]…and several Englishmen from the vicinity, one of them a medical man, went to the enclosure. The chest was brought up and opened, and the faqueer was found in the same position as they had left him, cold and stiff…[and then] they endeavored to bring him [back] to life, by applying warmth to the head, injecting air into his ears and mouth, and rubbing the whole of his body to promote circulation, &c….” Link to the full article