As you read on my last Mini-Sermon post – I didn’t pray again for 50 years*. During those decades I studied or was exposed to the tenants of many faiths and beliefs: Buddhist, Greek Orthodox, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Baptist and even atheist.
I discovered two things: First, the bedrock of all religions is love, compassion, unity and the interconnectedness of all beings. Second, no matter what belief I studied something was amiss to me. It just didn’t make sense (if belief could ever make rational sense) how each could claim to be the only truth, the true spiritual path.
So scientific research became my focus and bolstered my belief in the interconnectedness of all humans (and animals). With newer and newer technology the science continues to be even more fascinating and compelling. Here’s just a small sample**:
- Mirror Neurons – These are a type of brain cell that respond equally when we perform an action and when we witness someone else perform the same action. This neural mechanism is involuntary and automatic and with it we don’t have to think about what other people are doing or feeling, we simply know. When I see you smiling, my mirror neurons for smiling fire up, too, initiating a cascade of neural activity that evokes the feeling we typically associate with a smile.
- Touch – When you hug another person, brains release oxytocin and causes secretions of endorphins.You don’t have to be in love, have sex, or give birth to get a boost of oxytocin (although these experiences certainly do that). Cuddling, hugging, making eye contact, and even shaking hands gets oxytocin, the bonding hormone, flowing
- Epigenetics – Scientists have long-known that parents pass genetic traits down to their children, current research suggests that life experiences like famine, trauma, stress can also produce chemical effects in DNA which shorten life-spans, appear as anxiety, depression and fear, inherited through generations and generations down the line.
- Neural synchrony – Singing in groups triggers the communal release of serotonin and oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and synchronizes our heart beats. When we pet an animal our blood pressure lowers and even more astounding their blood pressure lowers too. Studies of 3-month-old infants and their mothers have determined their heartbeats synchronize to mere milliseconds.
The electrical neuronal activity of two people involved in an act of communication “synchronize” in order to allow for a “connection” between both subjects. The rhythms of the brainwaves corresponding to the speaker and the listener adjust according to the physical properties of the sound of the verbal messages expressed in a conversation. This creates a connection between the two brains, which begin to work together towards a common goal: communication.
Scientists can find out if two people are having a conversation solely by analyzing their brain waves.
There is more research but just these four areas alone reinforce my belief in the interconnectedness of all beings. Next . . . our inter-glactic connection on Mini Sermon, Part III.
The HeART of Spirituality 