therefore more likely to
have mystical experiences. Persinger’s early
results have been confirmed in a more recent
analysis of more than
400 additional subjects
[2].
For some, this research
provided the proof that
mystical experiences,
and even the experience of God, were the
result of aberrant neural circuitry, an artefact of brain function.
However, this view is
flawed. Our brains are
designed to receive
information about our
experiences, whether
that be the experience
of biting into an apple
or a mystical experience. Hypothetically,
if we were capable of
experimentally stimulating the specific areas
of the brain involved
in the perception of
an apple, the subject
would likely report that
they had experienced
an apple. The perceived
apple would not be
real; it would be, quite
rightly, an artefact of
brain function. Does
the replication
of
the
neural
impression of an
apple in
the laboratory
call into
question
whether
apples
actually exist in our
world? Similarly, the
observation that mystical experiences can
be artificially evoked
merely reveals that
the neural circuitry of
the human brain has
evolved to allow it to
process the full range
of experiences, including mystical experiences. Like a radio receives
and transmits music,
our brain receives information about all of our
experiences, includ7
ing mystical experiences, and, in doing
so, gives rise to our
conscious awareness
of these experiences.
This research therefore
merely suggests that
most of us possess the
innate neural circuitry,
or hard-wiring, allowing us to perceive and
make sense of mystical
experiences when they
occur.