Thursday, February 3, 2011

CHANGING APPROACH

We all love epiphanies. True believers always interpret them as irrefutable evidence of the truth of their religion or philosophy. More flexible minds notice that epiphanies experienced by Buddhists will provide the internal experience that a Buddhist will expect and recognize. The same flexible minds notice that Chistians will experience epiphanies appropriate to their faith. An atheist may have the highly valued experience of the 'oneness of all'. However the atheist sees it as evidence of the inevitable oneness of nature and not as 'oness with God', or enlightenment itself.

The human nervous system obligingly provides the spiritual experiences one seeks. The materialist will interpret that as proof that spiritual experiences are no more than neural impulses. The faithful will simply interpret the neural correlates as no more than a byproduct of a genuine spiritual experience.

We will all have our own view and this is part of being human. We are all seekers and we will all interpret experiences to suit our beliefs and expectations. Our nervous systems will generously provide the imagery and interpretations appropriate to our beliefs.