This contemplative process depends upon the simultaneous nurturing of psychological health, open-heartedness, and caring action. There are two main hemispheres of the brain, the left and the right, and each specializes in different tasks. The Sufi Way is contemporary expression of a perennial spiritual path.
Tavener was especially drawn to the mysticism of Eastern Orthodoxy, and this spiritual change also brought about a change in his music. Meditation produced a reduction in activity levels of the posterior superior parietal lobe which is known for keeping the body orientated within space.
“This suggests that in some people, left-hemisphere dominance is less well established, enabling them to switch easily between these two modes of perception” Mystical experiences are not always as simple as switching from left to right though. A more bizarre mystical experience though, is one that is experienced by people who spontaneously switch to right brain consciousness. Often times people say that their awareness expands and they lose their sense of “self” during these experiences. It is said that there is a neurological basis for everything that we do and experience. These regions can be “turned off” by a decrease in blood flow.Multiple brain circuits, which are neuron-to-neuron connections, must be inhibited in order to feel that “time, fear and self-consciousness have dissolved…” Rituals can focus the mind to blocks out sensory perceptions, including those that are used to figure out the boundaries of the self.There are several regions that must be interrupted for these experiences to take place:This region specific dampening is not the only way to produce mystical experiences.
Yet its awesome majesty can be experienced within the intimate mystery of music itself.The Breath of the Merciful is understood as the cosmic dynamic that vitalizes the many in the One.
In studying mysticism, “neuroscience confirms what philosophers have long hypothesized: that reality is constructed by our brains, that what we see is only what our brains are capable of seeing.” Information is continually streaming into our brains from our senses about outside sources. Music, according to Sufi teaching, is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the whole universe—and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. This intense focus blocks out other stimuli, which in turn dampens the function of certain areas of the brain and heightens other areas that deal with emotion. Learn more about mysticism in this article. Drumming, dancing, and incantations all focus attention to a single source of sensory stimuli, which seems to be the key to mysticism. He states that, “The mystical qualities in music are greater than in any other art.” (ibid:247) Although his discussion of mysticism and music is more of a philosophical nature, some indicators of what he see as mysticism in music can be deduced from his statements. There are other regions that control where the conscious self ends and the rest of the world begins. It is the ever-present 'Breathing' that makes it possible for this infinite universe of duality to come into being while never being other than the nondual essence of the One. In one sense this inhalation occurs every moment as the entire cosmos passes away to make room for the new.
Dr. Michael Blain at the University Of Illinois Medical Center described his mystical experience as the “relaxing of the dualistic mind, and an intense feeling of love. In Dr. Ramachandran’s experiments, he found that the limbic system mediates emotion through a back-and-forth connection with the frontal-lobe. I felt a deep profound sense of connection to everything, recognizing that there never was a true separation at all.”To clearly understand the topic of relaxing the dualistic mind, it helps to first understand that people have a conscious self and an unconscious self.This concept of the “self” outside of or away from the outside world is an idea that has been developed and debated since Descartes.
In his book, Intrigued by this experiment, Ramachandran went on to apply the results in his own work with epileptic seizure patients. Yes it may linger a moment or two in memory as its fleeting presence touches the fleeting presence of the sounds that follow, but silence precedes it and silence finishes it. If this connection is intensified by increased frontal-lobe activity, then a person’s emotions are also intensified, similar to what is experienced in mysticism.The power of the ritual comes into play in the heightening of emotions. Music, according to Sufi teaching, is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the whole universe—and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. Instead, the brain creates order from the chaos.The different hemispheres of the brain are responsible for the cohesive perception formed within the mind.
Tavener was especially drawn to the mysticism of Eastern Orthodoxy, and this spiritual change also brought about a change in his music. Meditation produced a reduction in activity levels of the posterior superior parietal lobe which is known for keeping the body orientated within space.
“This suggests that in some people, left-hemisphere dominance is less well established, enabling them to switch easily between these two modes of perception” Mystical experiences are not always as simple as switching from left to right though. A more bizarre mystical experience though, is one that is experienced by people who spontaneously switch to right brain consciousness. Often times people say that their awareness expands and they lose their sense of “self” during these experiences. It is said that there is a neurological basis for everything that we do and experience. These regions can be “turned off” by a decrease in blood flow.Multiple brain circuits, which are neuron-to-neuron connections, must be inhibited in order to feel that “time, fear and self-consciousness have dissolved…” Rituals can focus the mind to blocks out sensory perceptions, including those that are used to figure out the boundaries of the self.There are several regions that must be interrupted for these experiences to take place:This region specific dampening is not the only way to produce mystical experiences.
Yet its awesome majesty can be experienced within the intimate mystery of music itself.The Breath of the Merciful is understood as the cosmic dynamic that vitalizes the many in the One.
In studying mysticism, “neuroscience confirms what philosophers have long hypothesized: that reality is constructed by our brains, that what we see is only what our brains are capable of seeing.” Information is continually streaming into our brains from our senses about outside sources. Music, according to Sufi teaching, is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the whole universe—and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. This intense focus blocks out other stimuli, which in turn dampens the function of certain areas of the brain and heightens other areas that deal with emotion. Learn more about mysticism in this article. Drumming, dancing, and incantations all focus attention to a single source of sensory stimuli, which seems to be the key to mysticism. He states that, “The mystical qualities in music are greater than in any other art.” (ibid:247) Although his discussion of mysticism and music is more of a philosophical nature, some indicators of what he see as mysticism in music can be deduced from his statements. There are other regions that control where the conscious self ends and the rest of the world begins. It is the ever-present 'Breathing' that makes it possible for this infinite universe of duality to come into being while never being other than the nondual essence of the One. In one sense this inhalation occurs every moment as the entire cosmos passes away to make room for the new.
Dr. Michael Blain at the University Of Illinois Medical Center described his mystical experience as the “relaxing of the dualistic mind, and an intense feeling of love. In Dr. Ramachandran’s experiments, he found that the limbic system mediates emotion through a back-and-forth connection with the frontal-lobe. I felt a deep profound sense of connection to everything, recognizing that there never was a true separation at all.”To clearly understand the topic of relaxing the dualistic mind, it helps to first understand that people have a conscious self and an unconscious self.This concept of the “self” outside of or away from the outside world is an idea that has been developed and debated since Descartes.
In his book, Intrigued by this experiment, Ramachandran went on to apply the results in his own work with epileptic seizure patients. Yes it may linger a moment or two in memory as its fleeting presence touches the fleeting presence of the sounds that follow, but silence precedes it and silence finishes it. If this connection is intensified by increased frontal-lobe activity, then a person’s emotions are also intensified, similar to what is experienced in mysticism.The power of the ritual comes into play in the heightening of emotions. Music, according to Sufi teaching, is really a small expression of the overwhelming and perfect harmony of the whole universe—and that is the secret of its amazing power to move us. Instead, the brain creates order from the chaos.The different hemispheres of the brain are responsible for the cohesive perception formed within the mind.