Thursday01 Feb 03:10 PM
Are Mirror Neurons Evidence Of Nondual Reality?
The Edge has a new essay by noted neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran on the neurology of self-awareness. As students of yoga, the question of the self (Self) remains at the heart of our practices.
Ramachandran is a brilliant scientist and theorist who can shed some light on the neurology behind this investigation (although Ramana Maharshi suggests that we look towards the heart to root out the ego). Ramachandran is obviously much smarter than I am, but to my backseat Souljerky self, it seems simpler to explain the action of mirror neurons through a single, nondual consciousness (pre-conscious but hard-wired) rather than via some complex epiphenomenon of evolution where models-within-models of other minds literally split our brains in half.
But don't let me spoil your reading. It's an excellent essay. And it's +1 for those of us who see ourselves as the world around us.
I turn now to the main concern of this essay —the nature of self. When you think of your own self, what comes into mind? You have sense of "introspecting" on your own thoughts and feelings and of " watching" yourself going about your business —as if you were looking at yourself from another persons vantage point. How does this happen?
THE NEUROLOGY OF SELF-AWARENESS By V.S. Ramachandran
I call these "empathy neurons" or "Dalai Lama neurons" for they are, dissolving the barrier between self and others. Notice that in saying this one isn't being metaphorical; the neuron in question simply doesn't know the difference between it and others.
THE NEUROLOGY OF SELF-AWARENESS By V.S. Ramachandran
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Sat 03 Feb 2007 at 10:38AM
Nisgardatta said scientists won't be able to truly study the mind until they understand what the mind is. This seems a step in that general direction. Fascinating. Thanks for the links!
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