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krcqimpro1
India
329 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 07:46:11 AM
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Hi everybody,
Most of us must have heard that the average human uses, throughout his lifetime, less than 5 % of his brain's capacity, while "geniuses" are said to use a little more, perhaps upto 10%. Then why has God given us so much more.There is hardly any other part of our body that we don't use almost fully during our lifetimes. What is the reason for this gross underuse of our brain?
When a mere mortal designs an automobile, he ensures that every part has a specific purpose (functional or aesthetic), and each part is used almost optimally, at least sometime. How is it then that God, who is the Ultimate Designer, has so grossly over-designed our brain?
Would anyone(Kirtanan, Gumpy, Christie,or anybody else) like to comment?
Krish |
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Holy
796 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 08:12:08 AM
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| I think you alredy know =) |
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Clear White Light
USA
229 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 11:57:26 AM
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| Personally I think this idea that many people have that we only use 5% of our brains is rather unbased on factual evidence. I think it's more appropriate to say that we only UNDERSTAND what 5% (or whatever percentage..) of our brains is used for. That doesn't necessarily mean that the rest isn't being used at all. |
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 12:28:06 PM
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The general idea i think is that we use our whole brain all the time, it's just that most of the activity occurs in the waking conscious state perhaps making that 5% figure. But the 10% brain usage thing is a myth - neuroscience has proved it.
Now, in the ordinary waking state we aren't conscious of what is going on in the subconscious. There is certainly lots of activity going on there. And, if you think about, since the subconscious mind controls the body's autonomic functions it could be said that getting in touch with it through meditation brings us closer to God.
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 5:45:40 PM
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The brain is a lot like a computer. Is it good for your computer to use 100% of its resources? No it's bad.
Spare resources = more potential for dynamic surges in usage. |
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Kirtanman
USA
1651 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2009 : 9:19:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by krcqimpro1
Hi everybody,
Most of us must have heard that the average human uses, throughout his lifetime, less than 5 % of his brain's capacity, while "geniuses" are said to use a little more, perhaps upto 10%. Then why has God given us so much more.There is hardly any other part of our body that we don't use almost fully during our lifetimes. What is the reason for this gross underuse of our brain?
When a mere mortal designs an automobile, he ensures that every part has a specific purpose (functional or aesthetic), and each part is used almost optimally, at least sometime. How is it then that God, who is the Ultimate Designer, has so grossly over-designed our brain?
Would anyone(Kirtanan, Gumpy, Christie,or anybody else) like to comment?
Krish
Hi Krish,
Good question; Gumpi provided an excellent general answer, as has everyone who has commented so far.
In a nutshell, the "we use only 10% of the brain" is false, especially in the way most people understand it.
Here's a fairly recent article from (respected general science publication in the U.S.) Scientific American that outlines how the myth of "we use only 10% of our brains" got started, and how it was perpetuated ... and why it's false.
However, if we were to say "the average person has access to only 10% or less of the full range of consciousness that is available to them" ... that would be a much more accurate statement; in fact, it's probably less than 10%, if it can even be quantified.
Unawakened consciousness costs a *lot*.
It's really quite amazing, and even a little meditation / yoga practice can go a long way toward helping anyone see the truth of this, in their own experience.
As the constrictions of a lifetime of conditioned conceptuality ease, it's like awareness can breathe.
Basically, the inner silence developed in meditation opens into thoughtless awareness in day to day life .... which simply feels like a relaxed openness ... and which allows the light of pure intuition which always arises from our true nature (original, unagitated awareness) to shine directly into consciousness ... as opposed to being blocked by the cloud cover of conceptual thinking; the limitation conditioning of the past through which the present is filtered, distorted and negated, so that the conditioned past can be continually re-lived.
When one lives from and as the awakened light of original awareness, as Adyashanti says:
"I know what I need to know, when I need to know it."
Rather than saying "we use only ten percent of our brains" .... it's more accurate to say "we block ninety percent of the power of original creative awareness and intuition with the conceptual conditioning held in long-term, subconscious memory, which reactively arises from memory to block the light of reality, in the present".
Fortunately, they've invented a cure:
Meditation and yoga practices, including inquiry.
That's basically what the process/science of yoga is:
It's the science of relaxing the constriction/cover of conceptual conditioning and opening to original awareness ... which is the "100% Use" of Life, Consciousness and Love, Now.
It's the "journey" from the dream of constriction lived in and from thoughts of the past (memory) and thoughts of the future (imagination).
That's why Maya is connected so closely with time; and why the fiercest forms of the goddess in the yogic models are all forms of Kali ... time.
When time is no longer created by the dream of partiality now, awareness-presence shines ... and there is no block to "100% use" of consciousness ... which is everything each and all of us ever are, now.
You can almost sense it via imagining a dial .... when it's dialed all the way shut, there's complete constriction; utter loss in the dream of perceiving self as partial, mortal, alone ... subject to the whims of thought and emotion generated by the reactive conceptual conditioning of the body-mind thought of as "me".
When it's dialed all the way open, now (hint, hint ) ... time gives way to presence, thinking gives way to awareness, dreaming gives way to living unbound.
I hope this is helpful.
Wholeheartedly,
Kirtanman
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krcqimpro1
India
329 Posts |
Posted - Nov 14 2009 : 07:28:06 AM
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A related question is : what is the purpose(s) for which God created mankind? And if he has created man for a specific purpose(s), how did He intend we should achieve it(them)?
Krish |
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Brain Capacity & its use
