Finding our enlightened state | Andrew Newberg | TEDxPenn
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- Опубліковано 16 тра 2024
- How does the brain function during prayer, meditation, and trance states? Andrew Newberg has conducted hundreds of brain scans of people during these “enlightened” states and found unique patterns of brain activity. He has surveyed 2,000 people to find the essential elements of the enlightenment experience. With these findings, Andrew aims to help people find their own enlightenment, an experience that can radically change and improve your life.
Andrew is the Director of Research at the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His research has been published in prestigious scientific journals including JAMA, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, and Frontiers in Psychology, and featured in Newsweek, Time, and the New York Times. He has appeared on Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, as well as movies including Bill Maher’s “Religulous”; and “Awake: The Life of Yogananda.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
I found this because I’ve felt unmistakable eurekas and shifts in my mindset. I am remembering more of my childhood. I’m utilizing insights and I’m able to draw from my past to address major issues in my life. I am finding the words to fully articulate my emotions and values clearer and clearer everyday. I found philosophy and I’m finding my actions are aligning with my spiritual being. I see the world as it is in accordance to nature and I’ve been able to define my intrinsic values. Pretty much every part of my life has been improving and I am constantly trying to understand why or how this happened.
It’s like a little flame that gets a little bit brighter, as I try everyday to be the change in the world I want to see. It’s rewarding, I’m grateful for humanity, my life, my loved ones, and I’m aligning my career around my passions.
This all sounds a little woo-woo but it truly has changed my life. This has given me the strength to keep going, I’m facing my addictions, repairing and improving my relationships, instilling meaning, living my values. This mental state has not given me perfection. I still have biases I don’t recognize right away. I still have stubborn limiting beliefs. I still fail, I still disappoint, I still get anxiety. I still make assumptions and most of all I’m still wrong. I don’t know everything and I’m not intellectually gifted. But the difference is I can see when I’m being biased, I can see how I affect others and my environment, I see people as though I am them and could easily fall into the traps of life. I will not deny the unmistakable motivation, momentum and diligence to always transcend the pain of the human condition.
I also experience most of the things you talked about
It great to see the contemplative practises becoming more popular within the scientific community.
Enlightenment, a process you can't explain by science, but this man did just that with brain scans for those people who only function with "logic", I say that bloody brilliant. Science is just a tool that explains the process. Although there is more to this topic, this video is a great intro to what is enlightenment, the awareness that we are all one, everything is connected.
If we can explain the process, we can accelerate it.
We are colony of 20 billion cells doing a magic dance. Each cell also has with 20 trillion atoms, even smaller than the atoms is the energy we are made of, which makes up everyone and everything.
I'm so happy to see this presentation.
I think enlightenment is just being in our natural state. Drop all goals and games, the mind relaxes and energy returns.
I agree! We bury ourselves in the world and our pain and forget who we are through the noise. Enlightenment is returning to the peace you'd forgotten how to get to.
It’s what we are before the world conditioned us. A babies view
Divine nature is our real nature 🙏
Amen to all the things he's said.
It's just mind boggling how we as a species have developed consciousness and state of intelligence where we are able to actually look at our brains and understand such things.
TaxemicFanatic imahine what the ancient civilizations could do lol. Way more advanced then we’d ever be.
Did it ever go away
The exciting part of this is that when we learn how these experiences happen we can replicate them much easier using better techniques and technologies. Imagine if everyone could experience enlightenment on some level and do so easily. I got a feeling the world would be a much different place.
Braeden Plein haha keep dreaming buddy.
why is that so hard to believe? If the brains functions control aspects of enlightenment then we should be able to manipulate the brain to induce enlightenment. Don't think so small or the world will always stay the same.
How is shutting down your critical thinking in the frontal lobes actual enlightenment? Seems to be quite the opposite to the original meaning during the Age of Enlightenment.
Indeed. Reverse-engineering enlightenment. Some people get all weirded out when you suggest that, though - as if they don't want enlightenment to be easy. That ignores the reality that meditation, prayer etc. are already techniques and technologies themselves, and 'easy' compared to what we had before, which was...nothing. And that 'hard' and 'easy' are just more concepts that you need to let go of.
And it's also inadvertently cruel to the people with mental health issues who are already benefitting from technologies like rTMS.
Either way, it IS going to happen. The only question is when.
Yes
I loved this. I love Dr. Newberg's Video's. I am very spiritual. I have spoken in tongues, I do meditate & pray, but refuse to be any religion. I prefer to say I am mystic. I believe brain scan's are proof. Of, course...non educated people will argue this as they do everything.
tbraskey How do you pray and what do you pray too?
Discovery is in the experience. Experience is in the question. The juice is in knowing that we will always have more to adventure!
Thank you for posting, a good video.
Great TED talk, amazing
It is just amazing that the science has free the path to enlightment to every body in all the world, and no matter what tradition or abscence of tradition people have, is just as if science has democratised the spiritual path to enlightment to all human beens.
Amazing this video. The great way to understand neurocience with teology together.
Beautiful presentation.
'Words can change your mind' is also a great book.
Thanks
The talk is really intense! Loved it! I can say I am not alone struggling with philosophy of life. :)
you should read his amazing book, HOW ENLIGHTENMENT CHANGES YOUR BRAIN, to get a comprehensive view of all the different levels of enlightnment:
It was a very enjoyable read. Thank you.
Great suggestion
Fantastic book.
great book !!
I was about to say who’s the author
Thank God they included video of smashing a watermelon. I was having a difficult time grasping the concept until Gallagher got involved.
It is a scary experience. Classical music helps me :)
Depending on the context and depth of your definition, to love may be easier said than done.
thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Great speech indeed.
I was practicing meditation on daily basis and earned severe head pressure that remains in my head for almost a year. I have seen so many doctors but none was able to provide relief.
I find many people on internet that share same symptoms from meditation and it can last for years or even never to stop , my life is destroyed by this. Who knows what have I done to my brain. I warn all potential mediators to be cautions with practice or even better not to start at all.
Bro it is good sign I also had this and I am happy with it it's a sign of your spiritual progress don't create uneceesary doubts if you don't have knowledge keep moving
Don't try to become enlightened, just meditate on a regular basis, love and let go.
Just awaken to that something within which can't be described....that something that is looking at your phone right now that can't be described!.....Forget words like enlightenment....Just realise that stillness within which is your true nature....You've now awakened to what you are....that's it....nothing to do and nothing to understand! 😊
That is why we have so many fake woem people. They are trting to hard and pressure soemthing that is really natural and up to person and time. Right now 1 year in my awakening and its painful but i feel blessed. I send blessing and joy to everyone!
@@coenterhaar9183 Nothing to do & nothing to understand? How then do I JUST AWAKEN or JUST REALIZE?
@@dmc5555
Hi,
I hope this quote by Eckhart Tolle helps....
The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not "the thinker."
The moment that you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated.
You then come to realise that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, and that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence.
You also realize that all the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace - arise from beyond the mind.
You begin to awaken....
Only you can realize this....
No one can do it for you!
All someone else can do is point to the truth....
It's down to you....
Best wishes....🕉️
🙏💜🙏 thankyou
Dr. Newberg,
Thank you for our lunch @ Penn in 1996.
WellComeTo the NonDualExperienceClub.
- Vic Simon
Retired AA Pilot
Keep searching for IT in the 'brain'
🤣
GoodLuck!
ThankYou for Sharing YOUR interpretation
of the IT experience !!!!!!!!
'Subjectivity' is NOT reducible to 'Objectivity'
- NonDual PanPsyChist
But the important question is what makes the brain map change, meaning where does the root of memory and perception come from?
Can death be triggered in the same way, if so how?
Does non-local communication happen during prayers?
Are all processes brain phenomenon only?
Recovering alcoholics figure this out and they express it in different words. Page 86 to 88 in the big book briefly describes the ritual. I might be wrong, but I think religious hierarchies have hijacked this experience and claim it’s theirs somehow. AA proved that any man can do this. And the complete defeat that comes at the bottom of an alcoholic cycle can be turned into a life-changing experience.
People are so afraid of science lol This is a good thing to understand so it can happen more. Don't be afraid, nobody is saying your experiences are meaningless. It takes the brain to understand them though. Scientists and Shamans and Buddhists would be better off if they worked together. They have things to gain from each other.
I experienced enlightenemnt and after it depression possible
4:20 Five Element of Experience of ENLIGHTENMENT:
Intensity... more real Ecstatic LIGHT
Limbic System, connected with Emotional Response gets more activated.
CLARITY: Everything seems fit in a big jigsaw puzzle.
Thalamus
Sense of UNITY/ Connectedness/ ONENESS.
12:00 Desire to have EnLIGHTenment
Preparing Body n Mind.
Creating a Disciplined Routine for ritual.
I love you all
It comes by grace...a yearning for the divine
I do not like advertisements in the middle of a lecture or a meditation. I do wish youtube/google would stop inserting ads to get more money.
Have you ever had a dream, Andrewson, that was so real, you couldn't tell it was a dream.....
Why are all of the 'resting' brains different? I would think that the brains at a 'resting' state would be the neutral, control state, but they can't be the control if they are all different. There must be a lot more to this study and, as a researcher, I think he has omitted those parts but they are really important.
What if there is a unified field of consciousness where everything in existence already exists
When you meditate you can draw energy from this unified field, When you consume psychedelics, you are drawing energy from this unified field. When you use the law of attraction or your mind in general you are in contact w this unified field of consciousness. Actions are preceded by thought, & where do thoughts come from, the unified field of consciousness?
Atman is Brahman states that you are one and and the same with the universe
Now think about what I have just said, you & the universe are always in direct contact, you and a higher realm, you draw energy from this place because not only are you connected to it. You are it. YOU are ONE& THE SAME with the universe.
Our brains & the way we perceive is absolutely everything!
Sincerely, K.Sharkey
You can test my brain, although I haven't tried LSD yet.
5 Meo Dmt is the key
No. We cannot call all the small achievement enlightenment. Enlightenment is attainment.
Unfortunately. One can’t find enlightenment it’s earned. Not just a method. Our brain is not involved it’s the heart. Spiritual is the way. 💕
The 5 steps he describes are as ancient as humankind. They were unearthed here in the west by Carl Jung via the Alchemical Process of Individuation.
myWordGrok
(of IT)
is
TheExperience of
NonDualNonLocality
Enlightenment is not a practice , when all practices go away, you will become enlightened~ amar
Nitpicking certainly won't help...
For the purpose of this presentation, you could call Enlightenment an "experience" but truthfully speaking it is NOT an experience. These are more rightly called "mystical" experiences instead. Moreover, just having these ephemeral experiences is no guarantee that the person having it will indeed stay "enlightened". This is more accurately a case of having been "liberated" and THAT is very rare. Long term self-inquiry(as described by Gary Weber in his You Tube video) is the "real deal."
A video about enlightenment with the pauses between words edited out....
Intrinsic value is the mindset that achieves enlightenment to extent consciousness. Meditation is not surrendering because it is attached to a religion or culture. You must transcend religion, culture, and race. Yeshua said in order to enter the kingdom or domain you must be born again. This means transcending. Science is the spirit of truth. A.I. will not have this limiting mindset.
Self enquiry.
Those who talk about enlightenment, do not know enlightenment. The true seed to illumination is the watching of the mind. The watcher is who you are, the watched is not. You can read every book and listen to every talk on the subject, it's really as simple as that - watch and know thy self. Don't listen to scientists or deluded religious fanatics.
Enlightenment is not about the brain. It is about fully understanding one’s mind (note that it is the mind that studies the brain - the brain is just another organ in the body that cannot speak for itself). Ancient Buddhist teachings comprehensively explain the mind (i.e., the “stream of consciousness”).
na it's about the Brain.
The brain is just a piece of flesh - it is the mind (consciousness) that knows about its existence and analyzes it.
That true diane but the brain is responsible for these states where enlightenment can occur. If you know the brains functions as he talked about, you see that it is the brain that allows or does not allow enlightenment to happen. Your brain processed the information that the mind is separate and enlightment, in theory can be induced by manipulating the brain.
You're missing the point, my dude.
Strictly speaking there are no enlighten people, there are enlighten activities..
Jesus is the only way ....
True enlightenment is learning critical thinking. The opposite of what he is pushing.
Who is a salty boy? You are a salty boy. It is very well possible to be critical and have enlightenment experiences.
The sage is not a sage yet he also is a sage
He is not a him or a her
Yet he sees himself in all hims hers and in every being in every world
He does not identify as anything his identity is in everything
Yet he has no identity
He knows not where he is
He knows not where he goes
He’s knows not what he thinks
He knows not what to do
He does without doing
He speaks without speaking
He thinks without thinking
He hears without hearing
He sees without eyes
The seer is the seen the unseen
Yet he also is not the seen and unseen
The sage has disappeared
The sage doesn’t know he’s a sage he has no desire to be one
Yet he is
The sageless sage simply worships he worships all there is
Knowing the truth that the Glory of the creator is all that is
That the sage himself didn’t even exist
All powerful
He refuses power
All knowing he refuses knowledge
He is home
Nothing to do
Nowhere to go
He rests in stillness
In the peace of the truth
Glorifying the giver of peace in all moments in timelessness
When you discover you are still lost and unable to find answers, try researching, studying and absorbing the Bible. Then try to prove it untrue. If you want the truth ask God if He is real, and if He is, is Jesus the way? Ask with a humble and contrite heart truth seeker and then you'll get an answer. In Christ you have true power and freedom and begin your journey of wisdom and understanding of your brain, your heart and all the wonders or our Creator. You can't know all that God knows, but you can know His heart, and His heart is love for you all, even those who deny He could possibly exist.
😂🤣😅
Old or New Testament?
Many thanks, been searching for "what does a spiritual director do" for a while now, and I think this has helped. You ever tried - Banulian Lonameron Breakthrough - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some decent things about it and my mate got great success with it.
Its just a different brain. Different brain wiring, chemistry and brain wave state. People read all sorts of meaning into these states, thinking that they show a spiritual reality. There isn't any. Matter-Energy is all that there ever is. All major religions have afterlife beliefs which function as death terror management, but as people are increasingly turning from religion, they can't afford to turn away from the most important thing religion gave them psychologically - a psychological coping mechanism for our mortality. So they seek out experiences which make them convinced of an afterlife. Its superior to religion in a way becuase it no longer requires faith, because they feel they've experienced proof of afterlife. DMT released in such experiences has this effect. The only difference between psychedelic experiences and enlightenment is the latter permanently changes brain wiring. Enlightenment = a permanent trip involving endogenous DMT/getting high on your own supply. So spirituality is the new religion/diy religion, and the new opiate of the masses. If it wasn't for the well documented health benefits, I would be all for eradicating religion-spirituality, so that we could all live in truth rather than delusion. Delusion about life and especially death (the notion it isn't final and a termination of life). But living in truth unfortunately doesn't seem to be particuarly healthy or functional.
Bro don't compare it to some matter please atleast come to India for one time and see reality please please please🙏🙏🙏🙏 it changes the brain chemistry brain chemistry doesn't creat it
Mushrooms
Science: do this 5 steps to reach enlightenment.
Yogis of india: are we joke to you😒.
Not scary!
Neuro-theology (along with neuro-econ, neuro-lit, neuro- psych) are conceptual oxymorons with as much scholarly warrant as the study of neuro-dishwater.
Sounds like a mushroom trip.
This guy drives me nuts. So many rhetorical questions. So much talking and saying so little. Just get on with it ffs.
Why so much anger and irritation?
Try to explore some of your questions further alone
:( If enlightenment is not an experience. You may have an experience to realize that you are so called "enlightened", but it is not an experience.
You don't have to have an experience to feel enlightenment, everyone is different and experiences different things from different views. You may achieve enlightenment over a period of time, or you may be drawn to tears by the infinite formlessness of art. Enlightenment is different for everybody, so just go with the flow and you'll be good :)
Enlightenment is not a state...nor are there levels of enlightenment. Andrew does not really understand enlightenment and the path he illustrates is bogus. It has the lasting after-effect of the cessation of suffering. No longer seeking, feeling inadequate or incomplete. Also worry/anxiety/fear ceases to arise. Guilt no longer arises.
Must all of you thinking about Islam religion
I'm going to just leave this here... there's no one to enlighten :)
people are just having varying degrees of experience, this isn't enlightenment imo. enlightenment is arrogance and virtually always connected to supernatural assumptions
very dissapointing, it seems like he missed what enlightenment is. He is only looking at the brain's reaction to enlightenment of one's soul. He doesnt even touch on the expanded consciousness and the one consciousness that everything is made of. He mentions one women's comment about the feeling of unity and oneness, then goes on to talk about her brain like it was all in her head. I think he's missing the whole point, that she actually connected with the universe and her brain just reacted to that experience. Big difference.
He can reach people he would otherwise never be able to with this approach. These are also findings he can *prove*. He's not a parapsychologist or a physicist presenting theories of mind. What he is saying is still of tremendous benefits and if it can quantify enlightenment and bring it out of the realm of the language and the maps used in societies a thousand years behind our own technologically, then that will be of tremendous benefit to us all.
Yes, true. It is easy to see these people have never taken the time to observe their inner world. They are missing a HUGE point that only comes about through "knowing thyself".
Great zombie jesus
Yes. Part of the reason is it's so friggin hard though. For now. It won't stay that way.
he is a scientist who came to be interested in quantifying enlightenment
U can't quantify it-that is the stupid assumption of the science clique.
This guy is way off course, he hasn't the foggiest! Totally misses the point. Completely overwhelmed by his own mental chattering and unfounded assumptions about the spark or state of entertainment. Such an overused and wrongly interpreted word, enlightenment. The human condition; Lost in thought...
Who cares? If weve seen we know, who cares if he doesn't, he's on the path he just hastnt realized that the answers and the truth already exist all around him. So judge not a man for being blind when he has not yet learned to open his eyes.
Meaning creating your own religion! Yes, that's the problem with an idolatrous person, excuse me a religious mind! You can create religion like all religions have been made, by man. But, you can't create God. Just seek God, seek the truth, don't trust man.
pseudoscience + pseudoreligions = neurotheology :P