The Material Nature of Spirituality Essay examples -- Spirit Spiritual

The Material Nature of Spirituality It was observed from the 'time to think' experiments done in Biology 103 lab, that thinking is material. Thinking was associated with material changes and activities in the brain and the connected nervous system. This promulgates the brain=behavior notion. According to this notion, all aspects of human behavior and experiences are functions of a material structure, the brain. Who one is, is determined by his or her brain. Nevertheless, many people continue to believe in a 'higher power' that guides and controls human action and behavior. In a sense, religion and spirituality was developed to understand and explore questions about 'who we are' and 'what is the purpose of life'. Whether one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, religious thinking and belief attempt to ground human experiences and thoughts in the spiritual and ethereal. Religious experiences are considered 'otherworldly' and not material. Heightened spiritual behavior through prayer, meditation or yoga is considered to lead to a state of 'transcendence', 'inner peace' or a 'nearness to God' depending on which faith you follow. Hence, the notion of spirituality and religion is based on an ethereal component. However could the ethereal and spiritual be embodied by a material structure, the brain? Recent scientific research has provided observations, which suggest spirituality, and religious experience has a biological basis. Scientific observations suggest there are specific physiological aspects to spiritual behavior like meditation, prayer, and yoga. Many people nowadays follow transcendental meditation, prayer, and yoga to enhance their spiritual and physical well being. These spiritual pra... ...rch/tm_charts/1Phys.html 3) The Effects of Meditation on the Brain Activity , http://members.aol.com/InstSSM/parietal.HTML 4) Searching for the God within,, a past Newsweek article. http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/brynmawr_main?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http%3A%2F%2Fweb4.infotrac.galegroup.com%2Fitw%2Finfomark%2F678%2F198%2F19025812w4%2Fpurl%3Drc1_EAIM_0_A69411041%26dyn%3D12!xrn_10_0_A69411041%3Fsw_aep%3Dbrynmawr_main&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no 5) The Humanizing Brain: Where Religion and Neuroscience Meet, http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/brynmawr_main?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http%3A%2F%2Fweb4.infotrac.galegroup.com%2Fitw%2Finfomark%2F678%2F198%2F19025812w4%2Fpurl%3Drc1_EAIM_0_A53739125%26dyn%3D19!xrn_5_0_A53739125%3Fsw_aep%3Dbrynmawr_main&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no