Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 God and the Self
- 2 On the Self and the Divided Self
- 3 Mechanisms and Dynamics of Decentering
- 4 Neurology of the Self
- 5 Neurology of Religious Experiences
- 6 Neurochemistry of Religiosity
- 7 Self-Transformation as a Key Function of Performance of Religious Practices
- 8 Self-Transformation through Spirit Possession
- 9 God Concepts
- 10 Religious Language
- 11 Ritual
- 12 Life-Span Development of Religiosity and the Self
- 13 The Evolution of Self and Religion
- References
- Index
5 - Neurology of Religious Experiences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 God and the Self
- 2 On the Self and the Divided Self
- 3 Mechanisms and Dynamics of Decentering
- 4 Neurology of the Self
- 5 Neurology of Religious Experiences
- 6 Neurochemistry of Religiosity
- 7 Self-Transformation as a Key Function of Performance of Religious Practices
- 8 Self-Transformation through Spirit Possession
- 9 God Concepts
- 10 Religious Language
- 11 Ritual
- 12 Life-Span Development of Religiosity and the Self
- 13 The Evolution of Self and Religion
- References
- Index
Summary
Concerning the Gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the Godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs nor concerns itself nor has forethought for anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry: I move not without Thy knowledge!
– Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus. No. 38; The Harvard Classics (1909–1914)Introduction
God is interested in the individual Self. The religious individual assumes this fact and cries out with Ulysses and Socrates, “I move not without thy knowledge!” For some people like Ulysees, Socrates, and Epictetus, apparently, the Self is constituted by and lives in direct relationship to the god. For many people, then, Self and God are intimately connected at the cognitive and psychological levels. That level of experience, the relationship between Self and God, can be measured to some extent by looking at brain and cognitive mediation of religious experience.
When we examine the available data on brain mediation of religious experience, the most important issue we will be attempting to decide is if religious experience is associated with a consistent set of brain sites and activation patterns.
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- Information
- The Neuroscience of Religious Experience , pp. 80 - 130Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009