God Sits in the Right Brain

The riddles to brain circuitry and its connection to spirituality are being unraveled by science. Brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor has given such threads a great big pull.

The human brain neatly and naturally cleaves into two halves. The two sections communicate with each other, but each processes information differently and independently. The right side is about the present moment, images and the five senses. The left is practical, projecting future outcomes based on data and experiences.

Taylor, a neuroanatomist, made an astounding observation.

The "we" of existence, and its compassionate universal connectedness, resides in the right-brain hemisphere. The analytical, independent "I am" of daily living exists in the left. A conscious choice can be made as to which side influences our approach to life.

Taylor reached this conclusion after an intensely spiritual event during her own brain hemorrhage in December 1996.

Her February 2008 video speech was featured on "Ted Talks" and her book, "A Stroke of Insight," is based on her experiences.

During her stroke, she lost all left-brain functioning: motor coordination and the abilities to see, speak and think clearly. Her powers of linear thought, organization, past recall and how to map out a plan went missing. All left-brain chatter ceased.

More interestingly, her left hemisphere shut down her sense of being a solid, separate identity, a person apart from others. Gone was her awareness of "I am." But her brain's right section, which processes messages through energy and sensory awareness, remained fully functional. Taylor described her experience within the right-brain realm as "Nirvana." "And at first I was shocked to find myself inside of a silent mind. But then I was immediately captivated by the magnificence of energy around me. And because I could no longer identify the boundaries of my body, I felt enormous and expansive. I felt at one with all the energy that was, and it was beautiful there," said the 37-year-old brain scientist during her speech.

It was a stunning observation, even as she also realized she might be dying.

But she survived. A golf-ball-sized blood clot was removed from the left side of her brain and full recovery took eight years.

This is her lesson. The human brain truly holds the dual power of "we" and "me." Each is a separate consciousness. On the right is the life force power of universal connectedness. On the left is individual identity, singular and separate.

Every person has a choice between developing a life attuned to a higher purpose and to each other; or a life focused solely on personal needs.

"I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be," Taylor said. "And I thought that was an idea worth spreading." The spiritual realm contained within the right brain is a very real place, according to Taylor's conclusions.

So how do we enter? A life-threatening brain disorder is not the only door. Devotional practices such as meditation, yoga, prayer, group worship, chanting or fasting are spiritual paths. Communing with nature works for many. For me, the divine language speaks through sunshine and the green shoots of spring. The redheaded woodpecker's knock is a signal to pay attention.

My right brain connects with the divine even as my supervisory left brain chides me with well-meaning reminders: "Don't forget to pick up milk. Prepare for that meeting tonight. You're under deadline! Why in the world are you out walking around?" But the skies, the woodsy smells and the call of chickadees refreshes my soul and God touches me with a sense of belonging to "all that is." I do return more kindly disposed toward the world at large.

Taylor lent an insightful meaning into a spiritual phrase I've heard all my life, "sitting at the right hand of God." Who knew that right-hand place was inside our head the whole time?

Contact Suzette Standring: suzmar@comcast.net. She is the author of "The Art of Column Writing" and teaches writing workshops. Visit www.readsuzette.com.

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