Peace and Tranquility Found in the Right Hemisphere of the Brain
The left hemisphere of the brain is analytical, judgmental, thinks sequentially, knows the concept of past and future, and likes to play out "what-if" scenarios in the mind. The right hemisphere is holistic, sees the big picture, and is not bound by time nor physical boundaries. The only moment that the right hemisphere knows about is the present moment. Read what Dr. Taylor has to say about the difference between the left and right hemisphere in the article linked here.
What happens if the left hemisphere way of thinking was disabled and the right hemisphere thinking dominate our thoughts. This was what happened to brain scientist Dr. Jill Taylor who had a stroke 1996 that disabled her left-hemisphere. She writes in her book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey: "I think the Buddhists would say I entered the mode of existence they call Nirvana. In the absence of my left hemisphere's analytical judgment, I was completely entranced by the feelings of tranquility, safety, blessedness, euphoria, and omniscience." [p.49]
She further writes on page 68: "I had spent a lifetime of 37 years being enthusiasticallyt committed to "do-do-doing" lots of stuff at a very fast pace. on this special day, I learned the meaning of simply "being". ... I shifted from the doing-consciousness of my left brain to the being-consciousness of my right brain brain."
The left hemisphere is also the ego center. So on the morning of her stroke, she also lost any ego she had. She had mentioned this in one of her interviews with Ophra as well as on page 71.
Although she has regained her left hemisphere and is fully recovered now, Dr. Taylor says that she can slip back into that peaceful right-brain tranquility at any time. On page 111 of her book she writes, "My stroke of insight would be: peace is only a thought away, and all we have to do to access it is silence the voice of our dominating left mind." She goes on to write on page 159 that "deep inneer peace is just a thought/feeling away." and that the "feeling of deep inner peace is neurological circuitry located in our right brain. This circuitry is constantly running and always available for us to hook into. The feeling of peace is something that happens in the present moment."
