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The God Mind
By gartenfische | March 14, 2008
As fog darkens the sky and obscures the sun,
or as a dirty mirror distorts an image,
so the unbridled ego blocks light.
-John of the Cross, in Ascent to Love
I was pondering how I’ve lived over-much in my head rather than in my body and heart, how I’ve been such a thinking person. Then I watched this amazing video which showed me that what I really mean is that my left brain has largely been in control throughout my life. I also realized that as I’ve been growing closer to God, meditating, practicing yoga, I’ve been becoming less a head (read left brain) person and more a heart (read right brain) person. (The video takes about eighteen minutes and you will not be sorry you watched it, believe me.)
As Jill Bolte Taylor makes clear in the video, when someone is in their right brain, they are connected to the whole, they are one with all and are present to the present. When we’re in our left brain, we’re ego centric—it’s all about me and what I can get for myself, how I can protect myself—it’s worrying, scheming and separation.
If we are thinking all the time about ourselves, always looking out for number one, we keep ourselves in our left brain. That’s why meditation is extremely useful, it helps break that hold. Those of us who grow up in left-brain centric societies especially need this practice, I think. (Perhaps the more difficult it is for us to meditate, the more we need it.)
It seems that all the great religions focus on diminishing the ego. This means, in the language of the video, that they are focused on getting us out of the left brain and into the right. But the words—right brain, left brain—aren’t what’s important. What is important is that we want to be what Taylor describes as right-brain oriented, but which can also be thought of as less ego-driven, more open, loving and peace-full. In touch with God and one another. And, as she says, we can choose. I think we can, and I think practices like meditation and mindfulness help us choose to get out of ego-mind and into God-mind.
In Ascent to Love: The Spiritual Teachings of St. John of the Cross, Burrows writes a lot about the ego. That’s because John had a lot to say about it—he made it absolutely clear that as long as the ego is in charge, we will not be God-centered. “In his writings John often speaks of refreshment of spirit, how freedom from the ego brings peace.” For Christians, how can we follow the one whose ego was subordinated to God’s will unless we assent to the same? Not my will, but yours, be done. And peace—yes, that is what we want.
I think of aboriginal cultures and their practices that, to all appearances, lead to Spirit-centered consciousness—the right brain that Taylor talks about. And the Sufis, meditators, and all people who follow spiritual practices that bring one to presence and mindfulness—practices that show us that we are one, in spite of (left brain) appearances. Practices that bring us to peace.
And then I think of our society and its worship of reason and intellect at the expense of Spirit, how it encourages and feeds what Taylor calls the left brain. As usual, it appears our society is on the wrong track (but is, of course, arrogantly certain it is on the right track). I am not saying that reason and intellect are unnecessary or bad—they keep our society running smoothly—but that we are completely out of balance. The God mind is subordinated to the ego-mind, and this is sad. No, more than sad, it is damaging for all of us, for the whole world.
If Taylor is right, then we who seek peace in the world must do all we can to get out of this left brain and into the right, where peace and oneness flourish. We are part of the problem if we do not make the effort, in whatever way works for us.
I believe that getting into our bodies can help us get out of the left brain. Linda, who teaches yoga and recently returned from India, wrote about how she notices that many American students are “disembodied.” Yes, we are separated from our bodies and our hearts. We are minds—specifically, left brain minds. I remember how hard it was for me to get into my body when I started taking more yoga classes a few years ago, how I felt disembodied. But unless we do yoga or tai chi or another centered body-practice, we won’t even know how divorced we are from our bodies. We need to become embodied again, and emhearted. We need wholeness and peace, and the left brain ain’t gonna get us there.
Please, watch the video. You may think you know all about left brain/right brain research, but this is an entirely new view, and from the perspective of a woman who had an intense and pure encounter with the right brain and learned first hand how utterly different its experience of the world is than the left’s.
Topics: contemplative living, God, life |
March 14th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
wow, thanks for the mention! and I love that picture for your post!
March 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I watched that video the other night, and realized how much I, like you, have lived in my brain. Jill Bolte Taylor said we could CHOOSE which part of our brain to be in. It seems to me that the choosing itself is a left-brain activity. Wish I knew more about how to move out of it. And I’ve been trying to do things recently that I’ve never done before — colour with coloured pencils; read poetry that makes me FEEL something, not just hear the words.
I hadn’t thought about meditation as being part of that. Thanks.
March 15th, 2008 at 7:25 am
I do not have the time now, but I will watch that video later today.
I love what you say about this and I think you know that I was wrote about head and heart going hand in hand recently.
The problem is that my head is bossy and so often my heart is meek.
And as you say- it is about integrating, being whole. Mike wrote about the body parts not being together very beautifully at mercyblog this week.
Peace to you my sister.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Kate, I love that we do always have a choice, that we can always start again. Good for you for taking steps—I think it’s very valuable. And yeah, meditation. It has had a profound impact on me, because it does loosen the hold of that over-thinking, over-analytical left brain. I feel I am much more able to make choices than in the past when I was its captive. Not that I’m all over it, but I’m better. The left brain’s stranglehold has at least been loosened!
Fran, Yes, we are in sync again! And I agree—I have a very bossy head, too. It disappoints me so often. Though I really have found that meditation helps with that. :)
Peace.
March 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I wholeheartedly believe what you wrote here, but I’m too Gawd-Awful Sick to watch an 18 minute video about something important. I’ll be back for it, though, when my head stops spinning.
I certainly could use some personal integration.
March 15th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Cunning, Sorry you’re sick. :(
It is a good watch, as long as you’re head’s not spinning.
March 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
G, stay tuned to my yoga blog….will be writing again about “body consciousness”….