Becoming Trans-Instinctual (Part
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1 Our Human Instincts, the Cerebral Cortex, and the Heart Like the five senses—and the sixth sense of the human brain—animal instincts evolved over billions of years: first in the ocean, then on land. Key terms for instinct in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary are “impulse,” “capacity,” “largely inheritable,” “unalterable tendency,” “response to environmental stimuli,” lacking “reason,” and behavior coming from “below the conscious level.”1 This book agrees with these definitions, for the most part. But it also argues that human instincts are malleable to personal will, rather than being “unalterable.”2 One afternoon, for example, I heard boiling water spill from a pot. Calmly, I turned. My adopted aunt yelled at me to rush over. I walked toward the pot and turned off the electric stove. The fiftyish woman couldn’t understand why I hadn’t had a meltdown. I told her that I had chosen not to react hysterically. Not only that. I had chosen not to react that way beforehand. Had I chosen not to react instinctually after I had turned, then 1 Frederick C. Mish, John M. Morse, E. Ward Gilman, et al., Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1993), p. 606. 2 Ibid. Beyond Our Six Senses & Above Our Lower Instincts 164 Becoming Trans-instinctual/Galarza stopping a hysterical reaction would have been more difficult—albeit not impossible. Thus, human instincts are not an “unalterable tendency.”3 Part II of this book contends that human instincts involve behavior and thoughts. Part II will also use impulse, instinct, and tendency interchangeably, as these words boil down to the same thing. A point to remember is that human instincts are, by and large, humanly irrational reactions to externals. More often than not, our human instincts are unconscious in that they pop up beyond our conscious control. While lower animals live by biological instincts, however, we humans live by choice. Even if we live like lower animals, we are nonetheless choosing. We are choosing because, unlike lower animals, we have a cerebral cortex. The question is: Do we choose unconsciously—or even consciously—to give in to our animal impulses, or do we consciously choose to rise above our maladaptive instincts? Part II of this book defines adaptive as “leading to biological survival in a way that doesn’t significantly harm others or the environment.” It defines maladaptive as “nonconductive to long-term physical survival.” If a human activity leads to human survival at the expense of a critical mass of life or the environment, then that behavior begins to be maladaptive, according to this definition. Our thriving human population, for example, is maladaptive because, though more of us are surviving than ever before, our physical survival is threatening 90 percent of life on earth. Humans are expanding everywhere on this planet with no restraint. Fish varieties may be plentiful on restaurant menus. But if 90 percent of ocean life is on the verge of collapse due to overfishing and pollution, then wholesome human diets vis-à-vis fish—or whatever is being overstressed—are maladaptive for us in the long run.4 3 Ibid. 4 See Richard Heinberg, Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, (Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2004), p. 6. Beyond Our Six Senses & Above Our Lower Instincts 165 Becoming Trans-instinctual/Galarza The word civilized means that an individual and/or a society is civil, rational, and refined. A serial killer is not civilized because he lets his lower impulses drive his actions. Such a person never engages what Fred Travis, a neuroscientist, calls “the CEO of your brain.” This CEO is the prefrontal cortex, the part of the human brain in charge of “the judgement, the planning, the decision making …”5 At a lecture at the University of Washington, Travis added, “What happens under high stress is this part of the brain [the Frontal Executive System] is not connected in [emphasis mine].”6 One of the PowerPoint slides of Travis even spelled out, “Extreme Stress Leads to Functional Lesions.”7 This is why, even if violent criminals start to think, they will still not engage their damaged prefrontal cortexes. The implications of this are staggering because high stress, an epidemic that is affecting virtually everybody these days, leads to what Travis calls a “stimulus/response” mode of living.8 Consider the account of psychic John Holland. As Holland writes in Power of the Soul: Everything seemed to start off really well [Holland’s relationship with a boss of his], and I enjoyed the new job. However, after a few months, the relationship began to change as the respect he’d shown in those early months suddenly evaporated and was replaced by demands that were often barked across the room. My boss became more aggressive, and there were occasions when his temper got so bad that I didn’t know what to do or expect. These were the times when I kept my head down! I’m sure that this is an all-too-familiar story, but since I needed the job, I 5 Fred Travis spoke at the University of Washington. The November 7, 2005 lecture was titled, “Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain.” It was broadcast on University of Washington Television (UWTV) on October 21, 2006. Travis is director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. Beyond Our Six Senses & Above Our Lower Instincts 166 Becoming Trans-instinctual/Galarza stayed on, suffering in silence. Early one morning, I’d just returned to the office with my boss’s morning coffee. He yelled another command from his office about his upcoming travel plans, departing in his usual whirlwind, without even a thank-you.9 Hence, an uncivilized person is not just a serial killer like Colt Hawker (Michael Ironside) from the movie Visiting Hours (Canadian; 1982) but can also be an abusive boss, stepparent, or spouse. The many such people in this underworld shows that human civilization is far from civilized. As Michael Newton, a past- life regressionist, writes in Journey of Souls: I have been told that our spiritual masters constantly remind us that because the human brain does not have an innate moral sense of ethics, conscience is the soul’s responsibility.10 Put differently, conscience is a reflection not of the human brain, but rather, of the spiritual evolution—or lack of—of the spirit occupying a given human body. According to Fred Travis, meditation can, over time, heal damaged parts of the human brain. A dramatic example of this is a prison in Senegal, Africa that had a 96 percent recidivism rate. Cons in that prison were introduced to Transcendental Meditation, John Hagelin, a quantum physicist, said alongside Travis, and their recidivism rate went down to 6 percent.11 9 John Holland, Power of the Soul: Inside Wisdom for an Outside World, (Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc., 2007), pgs. 82-83. 10 Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life between Lives, Fifth Revised Edition, (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2001), p. 70. 11 John Hagelin, “Consciousness, Creativity and the Brain.” Beyond Our Six Senses & Above Our Lower Instincts 167 Becoming Trans-instinctual/Galarza Becoming trans-instinctual does not mean rejecting our animal tendencies. This is impossible. Rather, it means learning to downplay human instincts that are no longer adaptive—impulses like possessiveness, hierarchy, territoriality, greed, and violence. Only through will and practice will we be able to overcome the maladaptive parts of ourselves, for biological instincts are more powerful than dynamite. Also, downplaying does not mean suppressing. Instead, downplaying is acknowledging and even allowing ourselves to feel a lower impulse when it arises. Anger is an example. One can choose to get it out in a constructive way, as through weightlifting. If one is away from the gym, then one can choose not to lash out in rage. The last part of the previous sentence may sound like repression. But research has shown that indulging one’s anger, for example, often makes one more angry. On the other hand, acting out grief, as in crying, helps to get it out of one’s system. It all depends on context. Before we can learn about becoming trans-instinctual, we must first understand how the human brain, human body, and human heart have made human impulses possible. This chapter investigates: 1) The evolution of the human brain and the significance of this 2) Human intelligence as a multifaceted thing 3) Human instincts affecting different “types” of people in different ways 4) The human heart—not the human brain—being the general driver of our actions Beyond Our Six Senses & Above Our Lower Instincts 168 Becoming Trans-instinctual/Galarza The Evolution and Workings of the Brain Mentioned in Part I of this book, the human brain is an outgrowth—or rather, an upgrowth—of the nose. This is according to naturalist Diane Ackerman. In A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman argues that the olfactory bulbs of the nose grew upward to allow processing centers to develop. The processing of smell, the first physical sense, was all that mattered. In time, the emerging brain began to specialize in other areas. As Ackerman writes, “We think because we smelled.”12 In the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) series Cosmos (1980), Carl Sagan, the world-class astronomer, argues that the human brain evolved in “successive stages.” The brain stem came first. It regulates elementals like heartbeat, respiration, and digestion. The reptilian brain then emerged, with its tendencies for fear, short temper, rage, and snarling.