Brain and Consciousness

1. Brain and Consciousness Cosmic Consciousness is Closer than You Think

2. Timeline: 7:45 – 9:00 Drfredtravis.com-> Presentations and Videos-> Power Points->Brain and Consciousness for lecture power points

3. Wholeness “It is only a matter of being it. We need not try to remember it. It is held on by itself, because the very mind is infused with it. This is cosmic consciousness. When the mind completely saturated with the state of pure Being comes back to live in the world of sensory perception, all things are experienced as before, but not as before. Now the full inner state of Being is lived.” Maharishi, 30 Years Around the Globe

4. Divide your paper into two columns. In the left column, describe your deepest experiences during TM practice.

6. Transcendental Consciousness Apneustic Breathing and Autonomic Measures 5 4 1 2 3

7. Now in the right column, write what you have noticed changing in your life since your started TM practice.

8. Are there any adjectives in both columns? • How is this happening?

9. Gita IV 38, commentary. “Now, for Transcendental Consciousness to become permanent and to co-exist with the waking state of consciousness, it is necessary that the two states of the nervous system corresponding to those two states of consciousness should co-exist. This is brought about by the mind gaining Transcendental Consciousness and the waking state of consciousness, passing from one to the other. This gradual and systematic culture of the physical nervous system creates a physiological situation in which the two states of consciousness exist together simultaneously.”

10. Four Months TM Practice Eyes Open TM Travis, 1991

11. Eight Years TM Practice Eyes Open TM Travis, 1991

12. One-Year Longitudinal study Before Learning TM TM practice Travis and Arenander (2006)

13. “The mind takes that direction not through practice. The practice is not needed to reach the goal. The practice is needed to drag the goal out of the transcendental area to the area of activity.“ Maharishi, Promise to the Family of Man

14. EEG research shows distinct EEG patterns during TM practice, which are seen more and more during sleeping, dreaming and waking with regular TM practice.

15. Interview: Sleep • Cont-TE: Inner Awareness during Sleep N1: When I go to bed at night, first layers of the body settle down. I notice when the body is asleep. Lots of dreams come and go or just fatigue leaves the body, and then 5-6 hours later the body wakes up again in gradual layers and being aware of the other side…hearing sounds and feeling the covers. First there’s no impulse to attend to it, then I wake up.

16. During Witnessing Sleep: Higher alpha1 activity with delta Mason, et al, Sleep, 1997.

17. What does enlightenment look like in activity? • Non-TM: 17 non-meditating subjects. • Short-term TM: 17 TM subjects reporting occasional experiences of the transcendent in activity (average 7 years TM practice). • Long-term TM: 17 TM subjects reporting continuous integration of the transcendent with waking and sleeping (average 24 years TMpractice).

18. Brain Functioning during Simple and Choice Reaction Time Tasks

19. 1st Task (Attention) In the first task, you'll see an * in the middle of the screen. Then you'll hear a tone. As soon as you hear the tone, press the space bar as fast as you can.

20. 2nd Task (Remain Balanced) In this task, you'll see a number in the middle of the screen; then a blank screen for 1.5 seconds; and then a second number. If the first number is greater, press the left button. If the second number is greater, press the right button.

21. Alpha Amplitude Coherence

22. Differences in Contingent Negative Variation (CNV)

24. p < .001 American University College Students (random assignment to groups) Brain Integration during tasks (3-monTM) Travis et al, 2009

25. World Class Athletes • N=33: Placing amongst top ten in Olympic Games, World Championships, or similar for at least three seasons (Most had gold medals). • N=33: Athletes performing on average level in Norway. Harung et al, in press

27. Top Level Managers • N=20: Excellence in management performance over many years and financial success • N=20: Middle level managers. Travis et al, in press

29. Classical Musicians • N=25: Professional Musicians • N=25: Amateur Musicians Travis et al, in press

31. Main Point Experiences of higher states is innate in the brain physiology—we only need to systematically develop those circuits through alternating the experience of pure consciousness and normal waking activity.

32. Group Exercise • Why might Cosmic Consciousness be associated with distinct styles of brain functioning.

34. Content Analysis of Pure Consciousness Experiences • 47 students wrote descriptions of their deepest experiences during Transcendental Meditation practice. • Absence of time, space and body sense. Travis and Pearson 2000

35. (Nidich et al, 2009)