The Transparent Mind and the Peaceful Self

A neurologist draws on personal journal observations and a review of neuroscience to explore the nature of self, self-consciousness, and the experience of a peaceful, transparent mind. The author argues that self-aware experience is singular, nonspecific, and multimodal, with deep roots in human development and evolution, which is guided by both external signals and internal self-organization. The sense of self has subjective and objective aspects, and understanding it better through an affective rather than cognitive approach is proposed. The article connects these ideas to descriptions of the Atman in Upanishads, Vedanta, Yoga, and Buddhism, suggesting that the wholeness of spontaneous peaceful being can be actualized.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This review article is about the spontaneous dawn of the transparent mind and the peaceful self. The article starts with my direct observations as documented in my recent journal entries. As a neurologist, I ask myself, “how can I understand and explain these experiences in terms of modern neuroscience?” We as human beings have been asking such fundamental questions for thousands of years. The often asked questions are: Who am I? What is self? What is I-Me-Mine? What is self-consciousness? What is reality? How can I be free and peaceful? I have tried to answer some of these questions based on my personal experience and the review of current neuroscience. Self-aware experience is singular, nonspecific, multimodal with deep roots in human life, self-development, and evolution. Human development depends on both exogenous signals and endogenous self-organization. It is nature-guided. The evolution of vertebrates including humans is complex and fascinating. Our sense of self has been described in terms of two aspects namely, the subjective and objective self. We are alive as embodied and embedded beings in nature. The wholeness of our spontaneous peaceful being is unique and hard to describe, but it can be joyously actualized. One can understand self better by the affective rather than the cognitive approach. The nuances of self-aware being, the Atman have been extensively described in Upanishads, Vedanta, Yoga, and Buddhism.