Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/2624
45 www.hplusmagazine.com h+: You've written five books now about the science behind spiritual experience — how has your view of religion evolved along the way? ANDREW NEWBERG: I actually don't know if it's changed that much. I started out trying to answer some big questions about the nature of reality. I've certainly developed a deeper respect for the immense variety of spiritual experiences and for the nature of belief — but at the core I'm still trying to answer those questions. h+: What are those questions? AN: The most basic question is what is the fundamental nature of reality and how do we come to experience it. The problem is that we have a block between how we perceive the world and how the world really is. We're trapped by our brain, by our inability to get beyond our thinking and perception. Now, in my research, I've found people who have profound spiritual experiences often describe those as being beyond objectivity and subjectivity. A great many people describe mystical experiences as "more fundamentally real" than everything else they experience. Well, what does that mean? I think it means that in trying to answer this question we need to take into account both the science and the spirituality, that we can't just dismiss the latter because it makes us uncomfortable as scientists. And this has led to other questions — like why are there all these different religions? Which one is right, which is wrong? Do they have different effects? Do they all do the same thing? And what can any of this tell us about what is actually real? h+: In Why God Won't Go Away, you detail an explanation for what Aldous Huxley called the perennial philosophy — that feeling of unity or oneness with everything. How does that work? AN: During spiritual experience there's a lot going on in the brain and some of that takes place in the parietal lobes — the part of our brain that's responsible for creating our sense of self. This is the part of the brain that manages the distinction between self and the other. Certain meditative practices appear to block information to this area, which turns off our ability to make that distinction. Once we can no longer draw a line and say this is where the self ends and this is where the rest of the world begins, the brain concludes, it has to conclude, that at this moment you are one with everything. h+: In your new book, How God Changes Your Brain, you argue that religious fundamentalism can actually be good for you. How do you figure? AN: It really depends on the nature of the belief. Fundamentalism, per se, isn't bad or good. It all depends on the nature of one's beliefs. We've found that if one's beliefs are positive and loving and compassionate that can have a very profound effect on one's health and happiness. But the opposite is true. If you believe in a punishing god, or if that fundamentalism preaches hate and anger — then the effects are going to be bad. Anxiety levels will go up, a stress response can occur, and like any stressor, if that continues for long enough, it's going to impact health outcomes in a negative way. The real point is that what we believe has a very direct effect on the quality of our lives and we need to remember that. h+: In your new book you also talk about eight ways to train the brain for better living — what are those ways and what are the result AN: Some of our ideas aren't anything you wouldn't hear from a motivational speaker — like keep focused on positive concepts. It's better if you can try to focus on the feelings behind the words, but we've also found that the brain automatically makes connections between words like love and joy and compassion and the underlying emotion and this alone has positive benefit. We've found that some form of meditative/contemplative practice — anything that creates a state of