What dimensions shape the human experience of God?
The duality of the human experience upholds that an individual’s awareness of the external world is both distinct and identical to that of their fellow human beings. In terms of tangible experiences, it is safe to say that almost every person in existence understands the set of phenomena that is distinct to life on earth, such as the ability to feel the sun’s heat, quench one’s thirst, or embrace a loved one. The tangible world also creates unique and differentiable experiences that arise from small variances in characteristics or location, which can greatly alter a person’s life story from that of their peers. Not all of us have traveled to the moon, not all of us have lived through extreme poverty, and at least half of us never have or will undergo the process of childbirth. Despite these differences in the physical, the tools by which each of us digest and processes stimuli is one and the same, rendering us one collective consciousness living out different lives but in the same fabric of reality. When analyzing this concept of similar and dissimilar human experiences from the spiritual angle, this duality presents itself again as an individual’s struggle to internalize both the collective idea of divinity as well as their own personal relationship with the divine. To be human is to believe in something bigger than oneself, whether that be in family, commitment to altruism, or earnest worship of God. There are many factors which shape a human being’s spiritual trajectory; Some believe this process may be innate and begin upon genetic conception of life, while others have argued that the elevation of this consciousness is a product of evolution. Though it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of human spirituality, experience of the divine can generally be explained as a function of neurology, genetics, pharmacology, evolution, and affect.
The brain is the medium through which perception materializes. When an external stimuli evokes the senses, information is transmitted to the brain through a cascade of neurotransmitters, which are then translated from electrochemical signals into the language that becomes our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Millions of years of evolution have shaped the human brain into one of the most versatile information processing systems that exists today, as it is capable of massive amounts of parallel computation and abstract reasoning. Because of the brain’s unique ability to analyze complex information, recognize patterns, and store these computations in memory, we often make judgments about unfamiliar things by applying what we have previously learned to make sense of the unknown. As a result of this, how we see the world on a daily basis is not a reflection of the actual world itself, but rather a reflection of the information we’ve absorbed, the biases we hold, and the familiarity filter that we project onto our surroundings. As Anil Seth describes in his TED talk about the nature of existence, “we’re all hallucinating all the time; when we agree about our hallucinations, we call it “reality””. Similarly, when we disagree about our hallucinations, we often call it “insanity” or “irrationality”. Acceptance of the like-minded and rejection of the non believer is commonplace within most religious communities, which for any doctrine has no basis of correctness as religion is all conjecture. It is clear that neurologically, every individual is capable of having different divine experiences that have more to do with personal brain chemistry rather than the objective validity of the experiences themselves. This idea is coined “neurotheology”, or the study of neural correlates of religious or spiritual beliefs. In the 1998 film Pi, the protagonist’s mental illness tinkers with his worldview and causes him to be intensely devoted to the idea that the universe is pure math, deeming math this almost godlike entity. In the novel Lying Awake by Mark Salzman, nun Sister John has encounters with God as a result of a brain tumor, which after she gets removed does not produce the same intense hallucinations. As variable as experiences with the divine can be, one thing these individuals may have in common is an increase in activity within the frontal and temporal lobes, specifically in the prefrontal cortex where researcher Andrew Newberg speculates most divine experiences are processed.
In a similar vein to neurotheology, is the genetic basis of mysticism. Human predisposition to religion is most definitely a tug of war between nature and nurture — how much of our beliefs can be attributed to societal and cultural indoctrination, and how much of our beliefs are hardwired into our biology? Dean Hamer, the chief of gene structure at the National Cancer Institute, says that the overwhelming inclination for humanity to be spiritual is not a coincidence, but that “spiritual belief may offer an evolutionary advantage by providing humans with a sense of purpose and the courage and will to overcome hardship and loss”. Decoding the genetic makeup of our species has never been easy, and it is extremely difficult to try and identify every single one of the specific genes that produce a certain behavior or outcome in a subject. We can still narrow down certain behaviors as a function of complex genetic interactions, and attribute these behaviors to differences in genetic variation. Hamer uses Cloninger’s scale to measure religiosity within an individual, through the elements of self forgetfulness, transpersonal identification, and mysticism. Self forgetfulness is the tendency for one to become fully absorbed in an activity, and think of oneself less. Transpersonal identification is the tendency for one to feel deeply connected to the universe, or feel as if they are a part of something larger. Mysticism is the ability for one to be inexplicably moved by something external to oneself, as well as firmly being able to accept the existence of the unknown. Cloniger argues that these traits are the most consistent within those who are inclined to be spiritual and religious, deeming them a potential phenotype of the genetic makeup that shapes our religious predispositions. Heritability is another genetic component of religiosity, in that spiritual tendencies may be a heritable trait that can be passed from generation to generation. A classical twin study conducted by researchers Lindon Eaves and Nicholas Martin revealed that religiosity is correlated twice as strongly in identical twins that in fraternal twins. Although it is tough to uncover every single gene that is responsible for religiosity, Hamer discovered that the VMAT2 Variant C gene was associated with high spirituality scores, through its ability to increase monoamine protein packaging. VMAT2 codes for the production of transport vehicles to package and carry monoamines such as dopamine and norepinephrine to the brain, which are crucial for positive mood regulation and feelings of optimism. As a result, humans with the VMAT2 gene have brains which are more adept at producing feelings of wellbeing through increased monoamine transport, which then translates to an evolutionary advantage through willingness to procreate and a strong desire to live.
In a discussion about the origins of human spirituality, it would be a shame to leave out the role that is played by pharmacological compounds such as psychedelics and entheogens. For thousands of years, ancient cultures have harnessed the psychosis inducing power of these drugs as part of sacramental rituals and ceremonies. An example of this is Ayahuasca, a plant based hallucinogenic brew which has been used among various groups indigenous to the Upper Amazon for several thousand years. The brew contains DMT, which is the strongest psychoactive compound known to man and is also called the “spirit molecule” for its ability to intensely distort reality and simulate near death experiences. Other entheogens such as Psilocybin, LSD, and Peyote produce similar feelings in the brain, but just not nearly as strong. People who have taken entheogens have often reported feelings of body and ego dissolution, feeling as if they are experiencing “pure consciousness”, and a deep sense of interconnectedness to the universe (similar to the trait of mysticism as discussed earlier). The neurological effects of these drugs has been a popular area of study, particularly for neurologists Robin Carhart-Harris and David Nutt who were curious to understand exactly how psychoactive substances restructure our brain to produce these emotions. They found that the neural correlates of the psychedelic experience were associated with a decrease in Default Mode Network activity, which is a brain region that seems to vary in activity levels depending on if we are engaged in a particular attention demanding task or if we are just awake and simply existing. The DMN is primarily responsible for our hallucinations of ego; It controls experience of self, or the “the ME network”. It is found that during the consumption of entheogenic drugs, the DMN is actually quieted. What this means is that in our normal state, there is a limited and regulated amount of communication between parts of the brain via the DMN that prioritizes immediate gratification and short term tasks in order to be productive. When the DMN is quieted, this leaves room for other parts of the brain to start communicating and forming connections, leading to an enhanced level of consciousness that we do not normally experience as the default. This manifests as the filter of life being lifted, man-made subjective concepts becoming foreign, and feelings of different true reality being presented.
Religion does not only provide individuals with a personal willpower, but it may also serve as a means to increase the fitness of a species. From an evolutionary standpoint, religion has been successful in promoting a sense of community, cooperation, and belongingness. Our legacy as humans is to be social creatures, who crave dependence and immortality through the marks we leave in our communities. Spirituality could have evolved as a way to unite individuals in pursuit of the common goal, that goal being the welfare of not only oneself but also those around. On the contrary, as mortal beings something that we are constantly reminded of is the fundamental state of impermanence that we exist in, as presented most clearly by death. The Terror Management Theory as proposed by Psychologist Jeff Greenberg suggests that perhaps we have evolved this devoted faith towards the mystical as a solution to cope with death. The idea of a peaceful afterlife or existence of a painless dimension can be powerful in inducing our willingness to live, as we have something to look forward to despite our inevitable exit from this world. This theory is intriguing in the sense that it is hard to picture a successful world in which religion and spirituality do not exist, let alone evolve as a by-product of TMT due to the answer seeking side of human nature. In the same line of understanding, the human capacity for emotion can also explain the evolutionary advantage that religion brings us. Emotion be one of the strongest driving forces for decision making and undoubtable belief in a cause. Sometimes, religion fills in the gaps we have emotionally, that could otherwise not be filled via logical explanations of the way things are. As social beings, collective effervescence may be the most impactful way in which we’ve evolved to be religious, as the energy that one feels from the power of belonging can feel ethereal and elating. We observe the lack of belonging as sister John’s loneliness in Lying Awake, when she feels many times throughout the book that she is isolated and disconnected from the world. Although her passionate faith in God does not necessarily help curb this issue, it gives her something to believe in and feel a part of, because of the strong emotions they evoke from her.
There are a multitude of factors that may shape an individual’s spiritual conscience. Religiosity as a pillar of the human condition is one of the most interesting and yet misunderstood concepts, possibly due to the friction of it’s duality. Religion and spirituality allow us to connect to one another, but it also poses a barrier to the complete understanding of another soul whose collective experiences we can not integrate into our own lives. Disputes in the name of religion may always have it’s grip on our society, but as individuals the least we can do to mitigate hostility is understand the multifaceted nature of a person’s religious inclinations, whether we agree with them or not. For hundreds of thousands of years the question has been posed of who we are and what our collective goal is. No single person has the answers, and no collective religion ever will have the answers. We all have our own intimate way of making sense of the chaos, which is what makes the human experience of the divine so sacred and beautiful.
