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Brain states and the experience of wholeness
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States of consciousness underlie much of what you experience in life every day, including what you’re experiencing at this very moment. As you are reading these words, your brain is more than likely operating in the beta brainwave pattern, oscillating at roughly 13 to 18 cycles per second (or Hz). Eastern spiritual traditions refer to this state as waking consciousness. This state of consciousness is often our mode of relating to the physical world, and is often regarded as the “normal,” “only,” or “optimal” state to be in by much of society. However, our brains are constantly producing varying brainwave patterns, each associated with a particular state of consciousness, and some of these are better at facilitating positive change than is the beta pattern alone.
As we dream, for example, our predominant brainwave pattern is in the theta range (with periodic spikes in the beta and gamma bandwidths), bringing with it an inner experience of subtle phenomena, weightlessness, a certain degree of transcendence of time and space, and certainly a sense of visionary experience. What makes the various meditative disciplines so valuable is that they offer us dependable and scientifically proven avenues for inducing such states of consciousness while being fully awake. Such state-training in the theta and alpha brainwave bandwidths (4 to 12 Hz) has been proven to markedly improve accelerated learning, cognitive performance, long-term recall, and emotional well-being, among many other reported benefits.
When we reach deep, dreamless sleep, our brains are predominantly producing a delta brainwave pattern. During this vitally important period of sleep, we experience a complete lack of bodily awareness and formless expanse, which in turn provides the context in which deep healing and recuperation can take place. Again, it is possible for us to experience such states even while we are wide awake, and training in the capacity to do so produces many benefits. Some of these benefits include profound states of meditation, increased thresholds for stress, dramatic increases in empathy and joy, and the gradual dissolution of various dysfunctional behaviors.
The deep hemispheric synchronization that results from such prolonged training can unify our everyday lives, so that we can experience greater levels of wholeness and fulfillment. The result of such spiritual practice is an inner experience reported by seasoned meditators of peace and equanimity. Some research has suggested that lateralization, the phenomenon in which one brain hemisphere dominates the other, is predominant in most of humanity. In fact, Dr. Les Fehmi, one of the early pioneers of biofeedback training, believes that roughly two-thirds of the world’s population are predominantly left-brained.
British psychologist C. Maxwell Cade, however, discovered that exceptional individuals—yogis, monks, visionary artists and thinkers, and highly self-actualized people—exhibited a high degree of hemispheric synchronization, evidenced by a unique brainwave signature referred to by Cade as the awakened mind brainwave pattern. This pattern showed a significant harmony between the delta, theta, alpha, and beta brainwave patterns. Cade believed this harmonic balance represented an open communication between the conscious mind, the personal unconscious, and even the collective unconscious.
Interestingly, the basic description of the peak experience, the conceptual experience postulated by humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow to be essential to becoming self-actualized, is also expressed in terms of the experience of wholeness, interconnectedness and an ecstatic state of euphoria. In light of brain research, then, we can see that consistent training in these peak experiences can in turn accelerate the process of self-actualization and, therefore, human development and evolution.
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