In our last discussion, we examined the limited scope in which our perceptions are defined. Since we acknowledge that each person determines reality by his observations, a broader perspective is a good place to start to achieve a more balanced understanding of the world around us, and how we fit into it.

We can only accomplish this cognitive deep dive through dreaming, meditation, hypnotic, and drug induced states.During all of these activities, common physiologic events occur in the brain: common specific EGG pattern changes, functional MRI changes, neurotransmitter level and anatomic neurotransmission pathway changes.

The process of dreaming is as obscure and complex as the dreams themselves. Dreams occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, characterized by increased alpha wave EEG activity, and disinhibition of the Default Mode Network (DMN) circuit in the brain that contains the hippocampus, amygdala, and other neocortical areas by increased levels of DMT (Dimethyltryptamine).

The result is increased input from all sensory cortical areas, and altered synchrony between these areas and the rest of the cortex (seen in the functional MRI or fMRI) which causes vivid dreams.

The same things occur in meditative and hypnotic states, and after the consumption of 5HT2A receptor agonists, otherwise known as hallucinogens, psychedelics or entheogens. In fact, many other compounds (Tryptophan, polyphenols, SSRIs) cause the same effect indirectly, through increased production of DMT in the DMN, which broadens and alters perceptive input and interpretation.

Meditation has been used for centuries, and it has not only has been associated with healthy, adaptive physiologic responses, but it has also been associated through the ages with various parapyschological phenomena, like precognition, presentiment, remote viewing, telepathy, and even telekinesis. Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) devices not only show biofield auras around people, but increased “energy” in the spaces around them.

While we won’t debate the existence of parapsychological phenomena, we can all agree that we’ve experienced a few of them ourselves, i.e. dreams and “hunches” that were right, two people thinking of and saying the same thing at the same time, remote identical twin experiences, other synchronies, and shared group consciousness events such as increased “energy” during positive group experiences including prayer and other spiritual events.

Further data shows that it’s likely more powerful than just “in our heads.” In the TM-Sidhi program, a series of studies spanning decades, a sufficiently large group of participants practicing an advanced program of Transcendental Meditation is associated with decreased social violence in multiple geographic areas (Read more about the study here.)

Expanding the realities of our brain is the ultimate test of our perceptions. Taking a deeper dive is just the beginning to a new understanding of what your own brain is capable of.