Question: what is a thought?
Answer: I am not an expert in how brain works. But thought is some kind of a process that happens in our brain. Exactly what is the process that causes thought, I do not know. It can be some kind of electro-chemical reaction or it can be some communication between neurons, which can be electro-chemical reaction or some other type of process. We are not here to find out what chemical or electro-chemical or what other process causes thought, but I will state that, like “I”, thought is some kind of a process that happens in brain. Similar to “I” when brain dies then thought also dies with death of the brain because thought can only exists as long as brain exists and functions. This is true for other emotions and feeling of “I” too. They go away once and for all, when brain dies.
Question: People describe out of body experiences? Don’t they exist?
Answer: Let us go slowly in to what you mean by out of body experience. Let us take an example of out of body experience. Suppose when you are sleeping then you get a dream that you are separate from your body and you are flying in the air.
Examine what is happening here. You have a thought that goes through your brain giving you the feeling that you are flying in air and you are separate from your body. But it is still a thought that is happening in your brain. Physically you are still there in the bed. Thought goes through your brain and makes you feel that you are flying.
The same thing happens when you are reading a book or watching a movie. When you are reading a book you feel that you are somewhere in the plot of the book. You are physically there. In a movie you feel that you are in a movie somewhere else. Physically you are still in your room or in a theater. The activity or processes which goes through your brain makes you feel that you are somewhere else but they are just some processes or thoughts going through the brain. You are still at the same place. They are just the thoughts going through your brain giving you the feeling of separateness.
Out of body experiences are nothing but thoughts telling you that you are separate from body and physically you are located somewhere else. The whole game is played in your brain. You are still in your bed if you are sleeping at that time.
Question: People talk about mystical, magical experiences. They also experience God and other different things. Don’t you think that they have any value?
Answer: Where does all these experiences happen? They are product of brain. Brain thinks and makes all those experiences. If a person is totally unconscious, he or she will not feel any of those experiences. The person should be totally unconscious under anesthesia. What this means is that our body is a machine. Like machine has different parts, our body has different parts. Brain is one of the part or organ of the body-machine. This body part brain creates all these experiences. That is all these out of body experiences, experience of seeing God, experience of some magical or mystical experiences, seeing angels etc. They are all product of the brain.
We are bored in our life. We are confused and we do not know what to do with our life. We generate all these things and believe in them so we have something to hang on to. All these experiences and all we talk about supernatural, magical and mystical things are useless. Brain is seeking something to hold on to. So it holds on to all these supernatural phenomena. Spirituality and all these magical beliefs are fairy tales. It has no value.
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