Psychology and Spirituality

On a Quest to Understand Consciousness

Psychology and spirituality, prima facie, appear as two diverging fields. The concepts formed in psychology are based on empirical observations and reasoning and the concept of Ultimate Reality does not fit into its framework. On the contrary, in spirituality the concepts do not seem to have underpinning of reasoning and empirical observations, the observations are internal, subjective experiences or mystical experiences. The concept of Ultimate Reality is central to spirituality. Despite so many basic differences in psychology and spirituality what binds them together and what is that strong bond which has been carrying two disciplines together and has become even stronger in modern times after the comeback of spirituality in the West. This bond is of ‘mind and consciousness’. Both exist in reality and both occupy supreme position in psychology and spirituality. Within the domain of mind, there is also a concept of ‘the self’, which is also of central importance in psychology and spirituality and that determines the behaviour of a person. The concept of ‘the self’ is much older than the history of psychology. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the discipline of psychology was non-existent and its concepts such as mind, consciousness, the self, human behavior and ethics were discussed in a branch of philosophy. But as  new concepts and new experimental methods began to develop in Natural Sciences, the empiricism of science outweighed the rationalism of philosophy and with the efforts of 3 W’s; Wilhelm Wundt, William James and Watson, Psychology came into existence, just 150 years ago! Psychology treats ‘consciousness’ as a literary term and the ‘self-consciousness’ is a personality trait in which a person is excessively conscious of her / his looks, appearance or manners, which when escalated can become a psychological problem. In a positive context, a person can be self-conscious of his weaknesses and try to overcome it by improving himself and in turn achieves boosted self-confidence. Further, details of ‘self-consciousness’ can be found in any text books of psychology.

Apart from the psychological usage of ‘self-consciousness’. There is a philosophical and spiritual usage of ‘self-consciousness’. It is the awareness that one exists as an individual being. From ‘self-consciousness’ derives a concept ‘the self’. It is a congregation of one’s life-experiences, learning, values, thinking and everything that is stored in the subconscious mind and it determines the behaviour of a person. I have specifically underlined the meaning of ‘the self’ because many other religious and spiritual interpretations exist in literature. Since psychology has emerged from a branch of philosophy, it is imperative to discuss thoughts of western philosophers on ‘mind, consciousness and the self’. The most ancient concept of the ‘the self’ can be found in the aphorism ‘know thyself’ that is inscribed in the forecourt of the temple of Apollo at Delphi Greece. The interpretation of this aphorism attributed to Socrates is as follows: ‘We should examine our life, as the unexamined life is not worth living’. Persian scholar and physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna) suggested that self-awareness (consciousness) is not sensory in nature, a view different from psychology and neuroscience, which treat consciousness as related to the sensory system of the body only. He devised a thought experiment to prove it. ‘A person floating in air and cut off from all sensory organs can still be aware of his self-existence’. Italian scholar, thinker and theologian Thomas Aquinas stated that ‘ for self-awareness, only the presence (existence) of mind is required and no sensory organs are needed’. Great mathematician and philosopher Rene’ Descartes said ‘I think and therefore I am’.

In Hinduism the concepts of ‘the self, mind and consciousness’ have been existing since prehistoric times. One of the most significant messages of Bhagwad Gita (the most read Hindu scripture worldwide) it that ‘self-knowledge’ (Atma-Gyan i.e. knowledge of ‘the self’) alone eradicates misery; self-knowledge alone is the means to highest bless and that self-knowledge alone can lead to perfection in life. According to Advait Vedanta, the mind is an internal sense organ (in Sanskrit Antarindriya) which senses the presence and content of thoughts in a similar way it senses signals from five sense organs. Every normal person can communicate to the external world and knows what thoughts are running in the mind. It sounds paradoxical that modern psychology does not recognise the mind as a sensory organ. As a scientist my analysis is as follows: The thought is a phenomenon in mind, which is of subjective nature. It is not possible empirically to measure a thought i.e. to read a thought within specified accuracy, although its presence can be detected by its physiological effects. On the other hand, functions of five sensory organs can be verified empirically. For example, if N number observers are observing a flower, then all the N number of observers will describe the flower in the same way within considerable accuracy. This is not true in case of a thought because the thought is observed by a single person who also describes it. His description cannot be verified. This is not a true empirical method of observation in natural science. In spite of the fact that mind exists in reality and thought process is a natural phenomenon, the functioning of mind is not subject of study in natural sciences and still a philosophical issue.

For the last three decades, neuroscience is playing the role of an objective science to study a subjective phenomenon, the mind and consciousness in a hope to get a treatment for mental disorders which appear to be consciousness related, such as schizophrenia, with help of brain imaging techniques such as functional MRI and PET scan. Neuroscientists are trying to understand consciousness in terms of neural activities induced by a train of Action Potentials, triggered by a stimulus through computer computation and modelling. Even if some valid pattern of neural activity is recorded and its relation with stimulus is also established through some algorithm, how it can provide any clue about consciousness is a big question. Scientists do not even know the causal property of consciousness: Is it a ‘cause’ or is it an ‘effect’. Though a large number of papers on research on consciousness is being published in scientific journals and many dedicated research institutes for study of consciousness have come into existence, scientists are very far from understanding consciousness. Some scientists are sceptical while others who are optimistic say it may take another 100 years to understand consciousness.

According to me, if a scientist is exploring the nature of consciousness, he should have a first-hand experience of it, after all it is so easily accessible. We, all are, in very close touch with consciousness even then scientists are relying heavily on technologies such as fMRI, PET scan etc. Most of neuroscientists are materialistic who believe that the consciousness emanates from matter and their entire approach rests on this proposition. Whereas the great scientists who were also spiritual have the opposite views. According to Max Planck, originator of quantum theory and founder of Modern Physics: I regard consciousness as fundamental, I regard matter as a derivative of consciousness …… Eugene Wigner, who laid the foundation for the theory of symmetry in quantum mechanics stated: It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum theory in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness. An American neurosurgeon who experienced the Near Death Experience  asserted that consciousness is non material. Thinker E.F. Schumacher writes in his book  Guide To The Perplexed for the materialistic scientists: There is a need for such scientists to take recourse to seeking self-knowledge of the inner world. In this scenario, spirituality can play a decisive role because consciousness is the central theme there. The experiences of spiritual practitioners and neuroscientific experiments on these practitioners can reveal a great deal of information about consciousness. By spiritual practitioner, I mean those mediators who have attained the extreme meditative states such as Samadhi or those who have fully awaken their Kundalini because these meditators have full control on consciousness and they can play with it. Also, these meditators can maintain a meditative state for sufficiently long time required for experimentation. This idea prompted me to pursue  spirituality  very  seriously and in fact, the views of Max Planck and Eugene Wigner about consciousness have greatly influenced and inspired my spiritual journey. Now, I find that ‘Mind and Body’ is a great laboratory to study consciousness. I remember, during the school day I used to attend Satsangs with my father and Guruji used to say: Whatever you are searching in the outer world is present in the inner world and there is a need to open the inner eye. At that time, I could not understand the hidden meaning of this piece of preaching but now I am able to understand the hidden meaning  and also experience the truth of it.                                                                                                                 

MY PERSPECTIVES OF SPIRITUALITY 

In the beginning, I found spirituality very perplexing because many of its concepts I found irrational, unrelated and even contradictory with each other and out of tune with science. Soon, I realised that spirituality is an umbrella term which encompasses various activities and concepts and it might be the reason why spirituality could never be defined uniquely. I treat spirituality as having many dimensions so that it could be studied systematically without perplexing any one. These dimensions are as follows:

  1. Religious Dimension
  2. Tantric Dimension
  3. Intellectual Dimension
  4. Personality Dimension
  5. Philosophical Dimension
  6. And the latest, Adhyaatmic Dimension

The ontological description of spirituality is very useful for a beginner for understanding and creating interest in the subject. I will be discussing these dimensions of spirituality in detail later in my posts in this blog, at present I am giving only a brief account of each dimension.

Religious Dimension

Though spirituality has sprung from religion (by religion I mean institutionalised religions), the two are quite different from each other. There are two aspects of a religion. The first one deals with rituals, beliefs, prayer and services and the majority of followers believe in performing  rituals  with a hope that by performing  rituals  God will be pleased and offer his blessings. This is the most prevalent aspect of a religion. The second aspect deals with preachings and improving the quality of life by subsuming the preachings. This second aspect of religion is related with spirituality but rituals and beliefs greatly affect the spiritual practices. For example in India, many schools of meditation teach concentration by chanting the names of deities or mantras. In ISCON devotees meditate on ‘Hare Krishna’ Mantra. The consumption of alcohol and non-vegetarian food is strictly prohibited following a belief of the religion.

Tantric Dimension

This dimension of spirituality has its root in religion but the focus is on attaining so-called spiritual powers ( and not the peace of mind ) by using various bizarre techniques as support for meditation ( called Sadhana in this dimension ) such as Yantras (instruments), animal sacrifice, use of taboo substances such as alcohol, meat, cannabis, maithuna (ritual sexual union). People who are involved in this type of sadhana live an ascetic and very disciplined life. Aghori Babas of India also practice similar spiritual techniques. They use human skulls and human bones as yantra. They meditate on cremation grounds and smear cremation ashes on their body and allegedly consume human flesh of parts of the body left unburnt. I also include in this dimension paranormal activities such as calling the spirit of the dead person and claiming to be treating some psychological disorders by tantric techniques. This dimension of spirituality is really mystical and its techniques are esoteric. There is no rational and scientific explanation for its activities and concepts.

Intellectual Dimensions

The intellectual dimension is the most popular dimension of spirituality, which has developed into a billion dollar industry in America.  Spirituality is inherently experiential, but it is being presented as an intellectual discipline mainly through internet, where one can find tons of blogs on spirituality discussing mysticism, esoteric techniques, awakening, enlightenment, non-attachment and Samadhi state of meditation without having any experience. Bloggers use alluring text to impress and attract customers. They convince them about the large number of benefits of meditation. They are teaching various techniques of meditation with the aid of mobile Apps. But meditation is much more than the techniques of concentration.Meditation or the Dhyan is the seventh of eight mandatory components of Yog as described in sutra 2.29 of Patanjali  Yog Sutra. It is obvious that by practicing Dhyan directly and omitting the first six components, one cannot concentrate the mind by using any technique. Dhyan is not possible without a spiritual mindset which is missing from the practice of meditation and most people practicing Meditation do not understand spirituality. In short, Meditation is an incomplete practice and therefore it is not as effective as claimed.  Many brands of meditation with intellectual knowledge can be found in the market of spirituality. These  brands are so powerful that they have made their entry into clinics and big hospitals of America despite the fact that the American Medical Association has not accepted the claimed efficacy of this type of meditation and refused to recommend meditation for the treatment of mental disorders. As pointed out earlier, the commercial  form of meditation is a mere practice of concentration, a mental exercise and one should not expect the benefits or the results of an exercise as equivalent to that of a treatment. For example, physical exercise may lower the glucose level in blood but can not cure diabetes. A 2013 research by the scientists of John Hopkins University published in Journal of American Medical Association confirms this.

Personality Dimension

The personality dimension of spirituality is personal in nature. The seat of spirituality is in the mind of a person and not in literature. As I quoted earlier that most of the great philosophers and scientists whom I have read were inherently spiritual which implies that persons are born spiritual. Not all great thinkers might have sat for meditation. They need not to either because they are spiritual by nature, by their thoughts and by their behaviours. All spiritual persons have almost the same personality traits. They are cool, reserved, calm, relaxed, stable, sober, serious, conscientious, imaginative, forthright, experimenting, self-sufficient, self-disciplined, kind and full of perseverance. These traits serve as markers on the scale of spirituality and by studying these traits in a person, the extent of spirituality in that person can be assessed. If I am asked to rank the great thinkers on the scale of spirituality, then I would rank Max Planck on the top. Max Planck, father of modern physics and the founder of Quantum theory, was deeply spiritual and considered spirituality and science as the two sides of a coin. His thoughts were instrumental in my transformation from an atheist to what I am today. The potential and importance of spirituality in life and in science can be understood from some excerpts from his book titled Where is Science Going? According to a famous quote of Planck: There can never be any real opposition between religion and science, for one is the complement of others. Every serious and reflective person realises, I think, that the religious element in his nature must be recognised and cultivated if all powers of the human soul are to act together in perfect balance and harmony and indeed, it was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious soul.   He further writes his observation on the complementary relation between spirituality and science: The one does not exclude the other; rather they are complementary and mutually interacting. Man needs science as a tool of perception; he needs spirituality as a guide to action..

Philosophical Dimension

Philosophical dimension deals with ethical aspects of spirituality and is very significant for the progress on the spiritual path. Starting with Socrates, Aristotle, Stoic philosopher Epictetus, Kant, Rene Descartes and Spinoza posited their ethical systems and resolved the questions of human morality by defining the concepts such as ‘good and evil’, ‘right and wrong’, ‘Virtue and Vice’, ‘justice and Crime’. This is now an independent branch of philosophy known as Moral Philosophy and is related to Moral Psychology. The significance of moral Psychology in spirituality lies in the fact that when the behaviour and thoughts are ‘right’ (Positive), the wandering of mind is less and it is easy to focus the attention and for more duration of time, because there are no worries about the consequences. In Hindu Philosophy the place of the ethical system is taken by Dharma (not to be mistaken for institutionalised religion). It is a Sanskrit word meaning performing duty righteously. Dharma is an inseparable part of Indian spirituality and not an intellectual discipline as in the West. In India, Dharma was an essential part of Vedic education system because ancient scholars (the Rishis) realised that spirituality and hence meditation was incomplete without the knowledge of Dharma. This could be the reason why meditation was in such an advanced stage at that time. There is no place of Dharma in contemporary meditation and it is the reason why today the meditation is lacking very far from the original form of meditation as described in ancient scriptures. I will elaborate on ‘Dharma’ in a separate post entitled: Hindu Dharma vs Hindu Religion.

Adhyaatmic Dimension of Spirituality

Adhyaatmic dimension of spirituality is the result of rigorous study of mind and consciousness with perspectives of psychology, physics neuroscience and Advait Vedanta through the practice of Yog. I am systematically advancing the on research on Yog with an objective of coalescing neuroscience, psychology and spirituality into a novel discipline.

To understand the Adhyaatmic dimension of spirituality it is necessary to know the real meaning of the word Adhyaatm. The word ‘Adhyaatmic’ should not be confused with ‘spiritual’. According to the English dictionary both words are equivalent to each other, but in fact this is not so. The Sanskrit word Adhyaatma is a composite word composed of two words ‘Adhya’ and ‘Atma’. The word ‘Adhya’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Adhyayan’ which is equivalent to the English word ‘study’ or ‘to study’. The word ‘Atma’ is translated into English as ‘the self’. Thus the meaning of ‘Adhyaatma’ is ‘to study the self’. In this way ‘Adhyaatm’ is a discipline under which one studies the self through Yog to find out if his thoughts and behaviour are according to Dharma or not. Adhyaatm is very near to science and not connected to any religion, hence secular in nature. On the contrary, the word spirituality is derived from ‘spirit,’ the soul and has its roots in religion and so it is not secular in nature and unlike Adhyaatm, it is poorly defined word. In this way the words ‘Adhyaatm’ and ‘Spirituality’ convey different  meanings and therefore they are not equivalent to each other. I consider the translation of ‘Adhyaatm’ as ‘Spirituality’ in English as a serious etymological mistake. Therefore, in order to preserve the meaning of Adhyaatm I will continue to use this Sanskrit word as it is in the English text. The use of Sanskrit words in the English language is inspired by the tradition of adopting Latin and Greek words in English text of science and it is a homage to ancient Hindu scriptures Vedas and Upnishads which are composed in Sanskrit and from where the present work is inspired. In fact, carefully studying the Vedic literature reveals that in ancient India Adhyaatm was a discipline in the education system and Indian scriptures, Veds and Upnishads were the ‘Text Books’ of the discipline Adhyaatm. The purpose of Adhyaatm was to study the thoughts and behaviour of ‘the self’ in order to identify ‘Mental Distortions’  (known as Vikaras in Sanskrit) and to rectify them through Yog. According to Vedanta, there are five Vikaras of mind which are main obstacles in spiritual and physical progress of human beings. These are: (1) Kama (the Lust), wish to get or getting things unethically, in wrong way, (2) Krodha (the Anger, irritation), (3) Lobha (the Greed),(4) Moha (the Attachment with worldly things; money, property etc.),(5) Ahankar (the Ego), I am only right. During Yog, it is not possible to concentrate without overcoming those vikaras. These five vikaras are components of a single word of Sanskrit ‘Agyaan’ the nescience, lack of knowledge which is the cause of stress, anxiety and human suffering. In short, Adhyaatm is a way to overcome our shortcomings, to work with our full potential, and to live a happy life. Adhyaatm conjugates well with Humanistic Psychology. It teaches how to execute in practice the concept of ‘becoming fully functional person’ posited by psychologist Carl Rogers and the concept of ‘Self-actualisation’ put forward by Abraham Maslow. Rogers and Maslow posited their concepts but could not explain how to execute their concepts and now Adhyaatmic dimension will complete this task. One of the founders of modern psychology Wilhelm Wundt introduced the concept of ‘introspection’ in psychology, which is also a concept in Adhyaatm.

Adhyaatmic dimension of spirituality is a vast and multidisciplinary field encompassing psychology, neuroscience, technology, physics, electronic, philosophy of Advait Vedanta and understanding of religions. There is a complete theory of Adhyaatmic dimension of spirituality which can be referred to as Adhyaatmic Vigyan but I have chosen a simple name, Yog Science. There will be measurable parameters to monitor the progress of process of Yog and the theory of Yog also defines a parameter, a quotient and a mathematical expression which defines and quantifies the progress of Yog. Approximate value of this quotient can be measured experimentally by a device, specifically developed for this purpose. The device records the breathing pattern during the Yog and generates an output which is called EBG (Electro Breathing Graph) which is similar to ECG used for Cardiac investigation. A software analyses EBG and can assess the long term progress in Yog during a specified period of time. The device will be known as breathograph and it will be mandatory for all who opt to learn the Yog and for this reason the device is made very cost effective, costing less than an ordinary smartphone. The mental state of the meditator recorded in EBG will be stored in the memory of a smartphone and can be used later for comparison to assess the progress in Yog. This entire theoretical, experimental and technological development is an effort to present Yog as a discipline for academic learning and providing an alternative system to ancient and an ultimate tradition of teaching the Yog by Guru-Shishya Parampara which is not feasible in the present context.

Adhyaatmic discipline is not only about the scientific transformation of Yog it will also scrutinize earlier concepts and aspects of spirituality on a rational and scientific scale, in order to put forth a true, clear and easily understandable picture of spirituality. Unfortunately, there had been a tradition according to which earlier philosophers, spiritual gurus and religious authorities have intentionally presented spirituality a field of esoteric techniques, shrouded in secrecy; they made explanation of its concepts mind boggling and presented the path of spirituality an extremely difficult to follow and that it was meant for the privileged ones only, to prove themselves and present themselves as possessing supreme knowledge and supernatural powers. The scriptures in India on spirituality too are composed in the forms of verses with multiple meanings. There  has  never been any sincere and serious efforts for teaching Yog in a simplified manner for an attempt to make humanity free of stress, anxiety and suffering and to foster love among human beings. Unfortunately, all self-proclaimed spiritual gurus of India who popularised and exported meditation to the West, only cultivated their personality in the name of meditation and piled up wealth. They only preached meditation(yog). Meditation should not be a thing for preaching, it should be a thing for teaching:  This has been my sole motto and an inspiration force behind developing the science of Yog. Along with developing Adhyaatmic discipline, I am also constructing a Brain Mind model to explain psychological and transcendental functions of mind. During the construction of this model, I found psychology and spirituality converging into a path, which may lead to understanding and explaining Consciousness.

NOTE: I thank Sri H.S. Vora, my friend and colleague from earlier organisation Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore who is collaborating with me in the development of technology and software of Breathograph. I am also looking for a collaboration from the field of experimental neuroscience for advancing this work further.

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Hello

I am Ved Prakash Gupta, a retired scientist and now I am developing the science of Yog.

My Beginnings

I started my career in 1977 as a scientist in the reputed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. I studied Particle Physics and Quantum Electrodynamics in my post-graduation from Delhi University. During the studies I was very much fascinated by the wave-particle duality and I used to contemplate for hours to understand Physics behind this behavior. I realized that the Physics only explains the behavior of matter, it does not explain the nature of matter and how it evolved. I wished to pursue research in this direction but in a government owned organization you cannot choose the field of your interest as funds are provided for the sanctioned projects only.

Consequently, I became associated with a project named Indus-I which is a Particle Accelerator developed to work as a booster for Synchrotron Radiation Source, Indus- 1. I was heading a team responsible for developing very high power pulsed supplies for powering the electromagnets for injecting and extracting the electron beam at various input and output ports. I had to veer off from Physics to Electronics, but since Electronics is my second love after Physics, it was not difficult for me to carry out this work.

The work was challenging and I was enjoying it thoroughly and I was successfully heading towards completion of the project. Unfortunately, I became a victim of lobbying, internal tussle and ego of higher authorities. I had to work under extreme stressful conditions which continued for more than a year and because of this I was in the grip of extreme depression. I had to undergo psychiatric treatment and simultaneously I was learning relaxation techniques from a mentor, a clinical psychologist because my breathing had become fatally irregular.

I  practiced relaxation techniques, a kind of Meditation, religiously for 2 years but still I was not able to relax because I could not focus my attention as guided by my mentor. The discursive thoughts continued distracting my mind and my breathing problem escalated further. I discussed the problem with my mentor many times. He told me unless the thoughts subsided I couldn’t focus my attention and I took charge of getting a solution to the problem for which I began  reading books and literature.

At the same time, I came to know about the beginning of a new research field known as the Science of Consciousness by Francis Cricks, winner of the Nobel prize for the discovery of helical structure of DNA. The objective of this research was to explore empirically the nature of consciousness by using brain imaging techniques such as functional MRI and PET scan and for which a concept of Neural Correlates of Consciousness was introduced. On the basis of my experience during meditation I had realized that consciousness can be studied better by subjective experience rather than by any physical means. I was already thinking of switching from Engineering to Physics because of problems in my job at RRCAT.  When I found that the nature of Consciousness can be explored from the perspective of Physics through Meditation, I committed to pursue the new field wholeheartedly. 

The Journey

One day, I came across a book on positive thinking by Norman Vincent Peale in which the author explained that mind wandering occurs because the mind searches for the solutions  to problems you face in your environment and if an appropriate solution is provided to mind by auto-suggestion, it stops wandering. When I incorporated this idea of auto-suggestion with relaxation practice, it really worked. Within a month, I was feeling remarkable improvement in me. I stopped taking psychiatric medicines and my depression had cured to a large extent and I was feeling energetic as before.

Being a scientist, I did not follow any spiritual guru or online channels blindly and I explored the field of meditation first.  I found that there is no scientific approach in the practice of meditation and the channels and the spiritual gurus are making tall claims on the benefits of meditation.  These claims were false according to my earlier experiences.  There was a study on the claims of Meditation in universities like Howard and John Hopkins and the study did not endorse the claims.  I also found that meditation has developed into a market and nothing better can be expected.  Most spiritual gurus used Meditation as a medium to become popular and to attract crowds to their Ashrams.  The crowd, too, is least interested in learning meditation and they are more interested in seeking blessings from guru and Meditation is no more than a cult and one cannot go against the teachings of guru.

I began to explore this subject and found that the books of Swami Vivekanand on Yog, Bhagvadgita and Vedant can provide the true guidance.  I became convinced that the popular meditation techniques are not useful to develop the control over mind, that is, to develop the concentration of mind because it is not based on spirituality.  A complete control over mind can be attained by the practice of Yog developed by ancient Rishis of India and is described in the text “Patanjali Yog Sutra.”  I began decoding PYS and simultaneously started the practice of Yog according to eight limbs of Yog as described in PYS.  I also began studying Vedant and Bhagvadgita.  I contemplated what I studied.  After a long time I could find something as interesting and engrossing as Physics.  I was really learning new concepts and I was surprised to learn that in ancient India the Rishis were far ahead in exploring Nature than the modern scientists.

After practicing the Yog for a few months only, I found that not only the depression but all old diseases, such as the migraine, severe asthma and repeated infection, have begun to cure and the number of regular medicines which I was taking have begun to reduce.  This experience was dramatic and it was inspiring the scientist in me to explore scientifically the cause of this dramatic change.  My mental as well as physical health was improving as if I am undergoing some medical intervention.

In addition to all these improvements, I experienced and also observed carefully that during the practice of Yog my breathing rate is reduced by a noticeable amount.  I have read in a research paper on meditation published in America, according to which breathing slows down during the meditation.  My father was a spiritual person and he used to do meditation for a long time.  He was initiated by a Saint of Radhaswami philosophy, Sant Kirpal Singh Maharaj ji.  I got my first exposure to spirituality from my father.  He used to tell me the feats done by yogis in ancient India.  Once he told me that in ancient India yogis used to practice Yog in an underground pit covered with a thick layer of soil and used to spend days in the pit without oxygen. 

I became convinced that there is a strong relationship between the rate of breathing and the concentration of mind.  While studying philosophy, I came to know that there were discussions among philosophers on Mind-Body Relationship.  My favourite philosopher, Rene’ Descartes, was also a mathematician and a scientist who has written a book on meditation titled Meditations On First Philosophy.  He also introduced the system of Cartesian Coordinates in Mathematics.  Rene Descartes was first to propose the Mind-Body problem scientifically.  According to him, Mind can only be studied by its effects on the body and reduction in breathing rate during the concentration of mind was such an effect.          

I was overwhelmed to find that I have got a new and unique research field in which I will be able to study Yog with the help of devices and instruments.  So far the meditation and Yog was discussed on the basis of subjective experiences which cannot be recorded by the instruments. I began the development work to make devices and instruments to record the breathing pattern during the practice of Yog.

I employed my past experience in the field of electronics for developing sensors and the instrumentations for recording the breathing pattern which was necessary for assessment of progress in Yog Sadhana.  When I reached near attaining Samadhi, I experienced one more strong physiological effect which I have named WBC, short name for Whole Body Contraction.  When the concentration of mind increases, the muscles of the body begin to contract.  The contraction of muscles of the body makes the practice of Yog very gruelling in the advanced stage of Yog.  This contraction of muscles was found almost linear with concentration of mind.  Therefore, I developed devices and instrumentation to monitor the contraction of the muscles.  Now I have two parameters that are independently and directly related with concentration of mind and I call these parameters as the Yog parameters because these two parameters, namely Breathing Pattern and WBC are used to assess the progress in the practice of Yog.  My friend H.S. Vora who also retired from RRCAT developed the necessary software for recording the signal in a laptop.  The progress in the practice of Yog will be assessed by comparing the present signal with the previous signal. I am now developing a theory of mind that could establish a relationship between the Yog parameters and the concentration of mind. As I am progressing in the practice of Yog and attaining higher states of mind, known as Samadhis in PYS, I am developing a theory of mind to explain the various physiological effects in respect to the concentration of mind. For this I am studying Neuroscience, Physiology, Molecular Cell Biology. Spirituality is the basis of practice of Yog for which I am studying a commentary on Vedant written by Adi Shankaracharya Ji “ Brahma Sutra Bhasya ” and books of Swami Vivekanand Ji on Yog. I hope I will be able to develop a complete theory of mind by applying the philosophy 0f Advait Vedant to neuroscience.