renuka
Well-known member
Personally I do not know how to define spirituality(that I leave it to Sravna to define it)..but I do know Biochemistry!
The topic I would like to discuss today is : Spirituality & Biochemistry that is Spirituality just an imbalance of Biochemicals? or is an imbalance of Biochemicals a pre requisite for so called "spiritual awakening".
You would very surprised or may be not surprised at all to know that many psychiatrist these days resort to "spiritual" psychotherapy as part of their sessions and workshops.
They prefer to treat Mind,Body and Soul as a whole and not just use medications alone.
Some docs ask depressed patients to identify with their spiritual side by asking them to "talk with God" becos God does not judge you.
But personally I do not know how much of these actually work cos why imagine talking to God and create an unreal atmosphere when one is already depressed?
Coming to Biochemistry..well in cases of moderately elevated Dopamine levels a person tends to become overly religious and even get "grandiose" with their notions.
Very high levels of Dopamine makes a person lose contact with reality.One starts to develop bizarre ideas,believe he/she has super/spiritual powers,able to read the mind of others,predict the future,change events etc.
When the high Dopamine levels are treated and brought back to normal all the signs and symptoms of spirituality disappears.
I would prefer to say that excess Dopamine makes you feel like an "angel/deva/demigod/saint"...but its all a Biochemical facade.
Now if we have an angel we do need the devil too!
The Devil...Low Serotonin...a very low serotonin makes you hit low into depression.
One feels hopeless and at times develop evil thoughts like harming self and others.The low serotonin mind starts to "terrorize" a person and memory of unpleasant events start to flood the brain. One might not want to even think of God and feel that everything in the world is hopeless.
At times a serotonin low might be even thought of as a possession from its symptoms.
Spiritual websites claim depression is nothing but a deep rest needed for the mind to kill the ego(ahamkara) and that is the actual suicide..the suicide of the ego but sadly many lose their lives believing so.
It seems to me that brain biochemistry makes us the "angel' or the 'devil'..so when we say we are religious/spiritual..how do we know if we are normal and its just not a play of neurotransmitters in our brain?
So Sravna...is Maya all about Biochemistry?
The topic I would like to discuss today is : Spirituality & Biochemistry that is Spirituality just an imbalance of Biochemicals? or is an imbalance of Biochemicals a pre requisite for so called "spiritual awakening".
You would very surprised or may be not surprised at all to know that many psychiatrist these days resort to "spiritual" psychotherapy as part of their sessions and workshops.
They prefer to treat Mind,Body and Soul as a whole and not just use medications alone.
Some docs ask depressed patients to identify with their spiritual side by asking them to "talk with God" becos God does not judge you.
But personally I do not know how much of these actually work cos why imagine talking to God and create an unreal atmosphere when one is already depressed?
Coming to Biochemistry..well in cases of moderately elevated Dopamine levels a person tends to become overly religious and even get "grandiose" with their notions.
Very high levels of Dopamine makes a person lose contact with reality.One starts to develop bizarre ideas,believe he/she has super/spiritual powers,able to read the mind of others,predict the future,change events etc.
When the high Dopamine levels are treated and brought back to normal all the signs and symptoms of spirituality disappears.
I would prefer to say that excess Dopamine makes you feel like an "angel/deva/demigod/saint"...but its all a Biochemical facade.
Now if we have an angel we do need the devil too!
The Devil...Low Serotonin...a very low serotonin makes you hit low into depression.
One feels hopeless and at times develop evil thoughts like harming self and others.The low serotonin mind starts to "terrorize" a person and memory of unpleasant events start to flood the brain. One might not want to even think of God and feel that everything in the world is hopeless.
At times a serotonin low might be even thought of as a possession from its symptoms.
Spiritual websites claim depression is nothing but a deep rest needed for the mind to kill the ego(ahamkara) and that is the actual suicide..the suicide of the ego but sadly many lose their lives believing so.
It seems to me that brain biochemistry makes us the "angel' or the 'devil'..so when we say we are religious/spiritual..how do we know if we are normal and its just not a play of neurotransmitters in our brain?
So Sravna...is Maya all about Biochemistry?
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