What in our brain makes us feel ੧ (Ik; oneness)? What in our brain makes us cry as we listen to ਸ਼ਬਦਾ (Shabads; hymns) or ਪਾਠ (Paath; prayer)? Why do we feel like an hour of ਸਿਮਰਨ (Simran) feels like two minutes?
This past year, I was blessed to conduct an independent research study for my school where I analyzed the neurological origins of different reactions and emotions that coincided with various spiritual experiences. The data for this project is extrapolated from a survey that discusses intense emotional sensations under spiritual or religious experiences such as deep meditation, and how those emotions and sensations can be located in the brain. I analyzed this by comparing the changes of blood flow between different brain scans of an individual before and after meditation. This study was not exclusive to just Sikhs, but to people in all religions. Ever since this study was conducted, I was able to understand what the brain does during ਸਿਮਰਨ or ਪਾਠ. In this explanation, you will see one brain image of an individual before meditation and after meditation. Each individual experiences a unique phenomena through their meditation, and we are able to analyze what in the brain changes to facilitate these emotions and reactions.
What Makes Us Feel ੧?
First, I will analyze what induces an individual under deep meditation to experience a sense of oneness. Here is a quote that I received in my survey from a 17 year old Agnostic Female in the United States:
"... I felt loved and connected to God in a way that I had never felt before. I felt cared for and looked after, and this was in a time that I really needed to experience that sort of comfort: that I was always going to be aided. Although I was crying, I felt enlightened and forgiven for all my mistakes, but I also felt the compulsion to do more for God with my life."
This next quote where the individual also feels a sense of oneness and interconnectedness comes from a 26 year old Christian Female in the United States:
"I find it comforting to feel that I am interconnected with everyone else, and that there is a figure watching over me and working for my well-being."
The next two figures demonstrate what occurs in the brain during this reaction.
The red areas seen in the brain scan indicate higher levels of blood-flow and thus higher levels of brain activity. The arrows in the image are pointing to the parietal lobe. This lobe is important for constructing our idea and sense of “self”. Before meditation, we see there is adequate blood flow in that region, meaning that we have activity in the part of the brain that constructs our sense of self. During meditation, there is a dramatic shift where there is significantly less blood-flow in the parietal lobe. Because there is less activity in that region, this individual loses the sense of “self” and instead the feeling of oneness and connectedness to something bigger, whether it is ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ (Waheguru), their community, or the universe, this permeates this person's experience.
One of the primary pillars of Sikhi is ੴ, which is the idea of oneness. According to these brain scans, the blood flow in the brain alters as we feel and experience ੧. Guru Nanak Dev Ji puts this idea into perspective in this ਪੰਕਥੀ.
ਏਕਾ ਮਾਈ ਜੁਗਤਿ ਵਿਆਈ ਤਿਨਿ ਚੇਲੇ ਪਰਵਾਣੁ ॥
Eka Maaee Jugat Viaaee Tin Chele Parvaan
The One Divine Mother conceived and gave birth to the three deities.
ਇਕੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੀ ਇਕੁ ਭੰਡਾਰੀ ਇਕੁ ਲਾਏ ਦੀਬਾਣੁ ॥
Ek Sansaar ek Bhandaaree Ek Laae deebaan
One, the Creator of the World; One, the Sustainer; and One the Destroyer.
ਜਿਵ ਤਿਸੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਵੈ ਚਲਾਵੈ ਜਿਵ ਹੋਵੈ ਫੁਰਮਾਣੁ ॥
Jiv Tis Bhaavai Tivai Chalaavai Jiv Hovai Furmaan
They make things happen according to the Pleasure of Their Will. Such is His Celestial Order.
ਓਹੁ ਵੇਖੈ ਓਨਾ ਨਦਰਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ਬਹੁਤਾ ਏਹੁ ਵਿਡਾਣੁ ॥
Ohu Vekhai Ohna Nadar Na Aavai Bahuta Ehu Vidaan
They watch over all, but none see Them. How wonderful this is!
ਆਦੇਸੁ ਤਿਸੈ ਆਦੇਸੁ ॥
Aadais Tisai Aadais
I bow to Them, I humbly Bow.
ਆਦਿ ਅਨੀਲੁ ਅਨਾਦਿ ਅਨਾਹਤਿ ਜੁਗੁ ਜੁਗੁ ਏਕੋ ਵੇਸੁ ॥੩੦॥
Aad Aneel Anaad Anaahat Jug Jug Eko Ves
The Primal One, the Pure Light, without beginning without end. Throughout all the ages, They are the One and the Same.
- Guru Nanak Dev Ji; Ank 7
This ਸ਼ਬਦ is recited during Japji Sahib and reminds us of how there is no such thing as duality in reality. I like to use a metaphor to put this idea into perspective. It is like we are all fingers on one hand. The fingers may collide with one another, they may argue with one another, or start a fight, but the fingers on the hand forget that they are connected and stem from the same palm. The fingers and the palm consist of the same chemistry and substance, but the fingers on the hand don’t realize it. We are all mere extension of ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, and these brain scans reveal just how powerful the feeling, experience, and the reality ੧ is. Guru Ji reminds us that our goal in this life should be to realize that we are all connected and come from the same ਕਰਤਾਰ (Kartaar; creator).
What Makes Us Cry?
This next emotion goes hand-in-hand with the feeling of Intensity. Typically, when we are in intense or overwhelming situations, it may induce an individual to relieve emotion by crying. Here is a quote from a 17 year old Agnostic Female in the United States.
“One of the church camps I went to in 8th grade was pretty intense for me. That was when my belief/faith was the highest in my life. There was this one sermon that was so intense that I started crying, and I decided to be baptized, which was a mistake that I deeply regret (since the way I felt was mostly a product of my surroundings, and I lost faith again in a couple of months). During that experience, I cried and started sweating.”
The limbic system in our brain helps us formulate the emotional responses of different experiences, like reproduction, caring for the young, etc. In the following figures, we can see two brain scans, the one on the left is the brain scan of an individual at rest and the right is when the individual is meditating and feels a level of intensity.
Image From Finding Our Enlightened State, Newberg 2017
The arrow in the image points to the limbic system in the brain. In the brain scan before meditation, there is adequate blood-flow in the limbic system. However, during meditation, the limbic system lights up with blood-flow which increases the intensity of this experience. This level of intensity, induces individuals to start weeping as we sing ਸਿਮਰਨ (Simran; reciting or practicing Naam) or listen to ਕੀਰਤਨ (Kirtan; musical hymns).
What Makes An Hour of ਸਿਮਰਨ Feel Like 2 Minutes?
The last physical response to intense experiences during prayer and meditation is the change in time. This response is from a 19 year old male following Orthodox Christianity in the United States.
"I’ve had times when time seemingly changes around me, when two hours of prayer feels like a minute..."
Studies have shown that dopamine has a strong influence in our judgement of time. According to Sofia Soares, Bassam V. Atallah, and Joseph J Paton in a study where they measure dopamine levels and how that may control the judgement of time,
“ We measured and manipulated the activity of dopamine neurons as mice judged the duration of time intervals. We found that pharmacogenetic suppression of dopamine neurons decreased behavioral sensitivity to time and that dopamine neurons encoded information about trial-to-trial variability in time estimates. Last, we found that transient activation or inhibition of dopamine neurons was sufficient to slow down or speed up time estimation, respectively. Dopamine neuron activity thus reflects and can directly control the judgment of time.”
Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger, that is released within our neurons and it plays a large role in pleasure when it is released in our body. Ultimately, as there is more dopamine, time seems to slow down, and as there is less dopamine, time seems to speed up in our judgement. Conducting any sort of meditation or religious and spiritual practice has proven to increase our dopamine levels and change our judgement of the time around us.
After researching how our brain activity alters as we engage in different practices, I have finally been able to understand why some of us feel the way we feel when we are under the influence of ਨਾਮ (naam), and how our brain triggers these feelings. Our brain could be the barrier or the avenue for us to experience ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ, and scientifically, we are slowly trying to understand this phenomena and discover new ways of interpretation in neuroscience.
About the Author
Tavleen Kaur
Tavleen Kaur is a freshman at The University of Texas at Dallas as a Pre-Medical Student studying Neuroscience. As a teacher in her Sikhya School at the Sikh Dharamsal Gurudwara, and as an avid camp counselor at Camp Sikh Virsa, she joined SikhTeens in order to relate Sikhi to other teenagers, just as she has experienced. Along with her passion to discuss various topics with her sangat, she enjoys reading, drawing, and improving her wardrobe. She aspires to be a doctor in the near future while inspiring others to improve themselves in their Sikhi.