We are a physical brain. This is virtually certain. But even without the supernatural, mysteries abound within our cranium.
Here's an article from New Scientist (January 25, 2014) called "Fits of Rapture." The title page said:
Why do bliss and ecstasy sometimes accompany epileptic seizures? The answer might shed light on religious awakenings, joy, and the sense of self, says Anil Ananthaswamy.
I'll share some excerpts, along with the whole piece in a continuation to this post.
As Picard cajoled her patients to speak up about their ecstatic seizures, she found that their sensations could be characterised using three broad categories of feelings (Epilepsy & Behaviour, vol 16, p 539). The first was heightened self-awareness. For example, a 53-year-old female teacher told Picard: "During the seizure it is as if I were very, very conscious, more aware, and the sensations, everything seems bigger, overwhelming me."
The second was a sense of physical well-being. A 37-year-old man described it as "a sensation of velvet, as if I were sheltered from anything negative". The third was intense positive emotions, best articulated by a 64-year-old woman: "The immense joy that fills me is above physical sensations. It is a feeling of total presence, an absolute integration of myself, a feeling of unbelievable harmony of my whole body and myself with life, with the world, with the 'All'," she said.
…It is uncanny how these feelings of serenity, heightened awareness and a slowing of time also underpin apparent religious experiences. Have mystics over the ages been having ecstatic seizures? Picard's patients could see why some might attribute religious meaning to their seizures. "Some of my patients told me that although they are agnostic, they could understand that after such a seizure you can have faith, belief, because it has some spiritual meaning," she says.
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