Spirit on the Brain

In answer to the lure and agitation of material sounds, the inner world calls then to the devotee, insistently, with alluring music: the [buzzing] sound of a honey bee, for example, emanating from the muladhara chakra, or coccyx center, when the energy is stimulated at that point to rise upward in the spine; Krishna’s flute, the sound emanating from the swadisthana chakra or sacral center; the sweet sound of a harp, emanating from the manipura chakra or lumbar center; the deep bell sound of the anahata chakra, or heart center; the soothing, expansive sound—like soft wind in the trees, or like distant thunder—emanating from the bishudda chakra or cervical center; and above all pranaba, the mighty sound of AUM [or the noise of rushing waters]…. (Swami Kriyananda, The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, p. 50)

Certain sounds are heard when the awakened kundalini rises up through the chakras: at muladhara one hears the chirping of a cricket…. (Tantra Cosmology)

And yet—

Tinnitus can be perceived in one or both ears or in the head. It is usually described as a ringing noise, but in some patients it takes the form of a high pitched whining, buzzing, hissing, humming, or whistling sound, or as ticking, clicking, roaring, “crickets” or “locusts,” tunes, songs, or beeping. It has also been described as a “whooshing” sound, as of wind or waves….

Tinnitus is not itself a disease but a symptom resulting from a range of underlying causes, including ear infections, foreign objects or wax in the ear, and injury from loud noises. Tinnitus … may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity. (Wikipedia)

Of course, unlike the claimed ability of clairvoyants to see other people’s auras, the subjective perception of the purported sounds of the various chakras cannot be put to any sort of double-blind test, to prove its (un)reality. (Yogananda’s disciples claimed that, on occasion, they could objectively hear the “buzzing bee” sound of his root chakra, which claim would have been easily testable. As it stands, though, all we have now is that claim, from a group of people who would truly say anything if it made their “Perfect Master” stand out from the crowd of other such frauds.)

One’s level of “serotonin activity” would be a product both of the amount of serotonin in the brain, and the number of receptors to which it can bind. So, a low quantity of either of those would produce a low level of serotonin activity.

Serotonin levels can vary rapidly, even just with one’s changing position in a dominance hierarchy, with high levels of serotonin correlating with positions of high status, and dropping when that status is lost. (Cf. David M. Buss, Evolutionary Psychology, p. 365.) The density of serotonin receptors, by contrast, is much more of a constant (notwithstanding that chronically high serotonin levels—e.g., as produced by the long-term use of prescription antidepressants—can cause such receptors to atrophy).

Further:

[Dr. Lars] Farde and his colleagues … used PET scans to determine the number of nerve receptors for serotonin located in three areas of subjects’ brains. These areas—the dorsal raphe nuclei of the brainstem, the hippocampus, and the neocortex—are usually rich in serotonin receptors. They then assessed whether there was any connection between subjects’ scores on the personality trait of self-transcendence and the number of serotonin receptors in their brains.

The investigators found that the number of serotonin receptors correlated significantly and inversely with subjects’ scores for self-transcendence—the higher the score on self-transcendence, the fewer the number of receptors in all brain areas scrutinized….

Thus, “the serotonin system may serve as a biological basis for spiritual experiences,” the researchers concluded. (Serotonin Receptors May Be Linked to Spirituality)

Plus, consider this:

Many indigenous and shamanistic religions of the Americas, Asia and other continents use entheogenic drugs to make contact with the divine as part of their religious rituals. Most commonly, these are used in shamanistic practice involving healing rituals.

Cannabis is been widely used in India by Hindu gurus and Middle Eastern sufis. Salvia Divinorum and psilocybin mushrooms (“Magic Mushrooms”) are used in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Ayahuasca is used ritually among Amazonian Indians. The “Fly Agaric” (Amanita Muscaria) mushroom has a long shamanistic use in Europe and Russia…. Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and other Mescaline containing cacti has a widespread use among Mexican and some North American Indians. (Wikipedia)

From Neil Bauman’s Ototoxic Drugs Exposed (p. 521-7), we learn that mescal buttons and peyote can cause auditory hallucinations; cannabis (marijuana) can produce both auditory hallucinations and tinnitus; yage (ayahuasca) may induce tinnitus; and fly agaric can cause coordination disorders and dizziness.

So, it could well be that the same low levels of serotonin activity which predispose one to having “spiritual experiences” in general also contribute to one’s hearing “inner sounds,” all the way up to the “noise of many waters” (i.e., Om) … particularly when those predispositions are aided by the use of “shamanic” drugs. (Mescaline, psilocybin, and the DMT-containing ayahuasca all make use of the serotonin system/receptors in creating their own effects. Cannabis, too, modulates serotonin levels.)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 6:04 am and is filed under Neurology, Tinnitus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.