hasunoha

Does enlightenment suppress the function of the left brain?

https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight/transcript?language=ja

In the video above, a brain scientist named Jill Bolt Taylor talks about her experience when one day the function of the left brain declined significantly due to a stroke in the left brain and she was forced to think with the right brain.

・I was completely disconnected from the talking voice of the brain that connects me to the outside world, and the inside of my head was wrapped in silence

・A wonderful feeling of losing the boundary between myself and the world and assimilating with energy

・A sense of peace and contentment, free from all kinds of stress

They say they felt these things even though they had a stroke and were on the verge of death.

When I heard this story, I thought that the right-brained experience story was very similar to what is called a sense of “enlightenment” regardless of religion.

So, if this is true, enlightenment is a state where the function of the left brain is suppressed, and I thought training to do so would be zazen meditation, but I'm not aware, so I don't know.

So I'd like to ask you, is this idea completely out of place from the perspective of an enlightenment professional monk?

4 Zen Responses

I don't know either the right brain or the left brain

I'm typing in letters right now, but I don't know if I'm using my right brain or my left brain at this time. I'm just reading the feel of a smartphone and the letters.
This is a fact, and I think it seems like they are integrated without putting any space between them.
No one even thinks it's enlightenment. It's probably like I'm completely left out.

Enlightenment probably doesn't require logic. It's about letting go of all your ways of thinking and just being true to the facts.
Zazen isn't training. Zazen itself can be called enlightenment. It's not something you can see when you train or hear when you train.

Don't think about difficult things and live for the facts. It's probably more important that they are united beyond thought. That's because people are born with enlightenment.

If your worries go away after that experience, you'll be enlightened

Although I am far from enlightenment.

It seems that once you realize it, your worries will go away (your number of worries will decrease).
Once all your worries are gone, you will have the same complete enlightenment as Buddha.

In other words, I don't think it's enlightenment unless anguish (cause of worry and suffering) goes away.

If your worries lessen after that experience, then maybe it's enlightenment.

There are many interpretations of enlightenment.
I think my enlightenment is understanding.
What do you know is that you know luck.
Good fortune means that it happens because of luck.
It means that everything in this world is caused by various relationships.
For example, the reason you are here now is due to the fact that you were born by your mother and father, that you were raised by breast milk, milk, and the food you were given, that you still receive the lives of other living creatures in the form of meals every day, that there is air and there is oxygen in it, and that the earth has gravitational pull, but there are many more relationships.
This is also a lucky one.
What should I do and what will happen?
It means I understand that.
For example, it means that you know what path and how to walk in order to get to the place you are aiming for.
It means that you know that kind of luck, and therefore, you know what to do now to achieve your goals.
I don't think that means I never think about anything.
It's not about quitting thinking and being freed from all kinds of stress; I think thinking and understanding frees you from all kinds of stress.
For reference only.

appending
That's right.
However, don't make a mistake in the direction you think.
I think about clarifying the relationship between stress, that is, the various causes of stress one by one.
Next, think about each cause one by one about how to eliminate those various causes.
Next, think about actions that should be taken to eliminate it.
Put into practice the last action you thought of.
This is the order in which the Buddha said and thought.
It's true if you take it for granted, but it's easy to lose sight of it when you're under stress, so be careful.

What is the cause of reincarnation

Uesuto-sama

This is Kawaguchi Hidetoshi. This is my humble answer to the question.

If you consider the functional roles of the left brain and right brain, it is certainly possible to infer that the left brain handles thought and logic, and since the right brain handles intuition and intuition, left brain function has stopped, eliminating unnecessary discrimination, prejudice, and judging things, it is possible to fall into the feeling that is in the question.

In Buddhism, it is certainly close to the state of infidelity or the state of infidelity in meditation and zazen.

However, if I were to say whether enlightenment is due to the work of only the right brain, then that should be denied.

In our case, there are places that deal with issues of consciousness (mind) and work that continue to exist regardless of brain function.

Buddhism teaches how to keep one's mind and work clean and in good condition.

Well, if it is only a problem of brain function that leads to enlightenment, it would be quick for everyone to have surgery so that they can survive even if their left brain is removed, but that doesn't solve the problem.

Or, when it comes to whether animals that have almost no thought or logic can be said to be enlightened, that also cannot be said.

By all means, I would be grateful if you could take a high level of interest in this due to your circumstances and continue studying Buddhism as the cause of our loss and suffering reincarnation.

Kawaguchi Hidetoshi Gassho