Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work

by Steven Kotler

But Newberg persisted, becoming the first person to use advanced brain imaging technology to examine mystical experiences. For research subjects, he chose Franciscan nuns and Tibetan Buddhists. During moments of intense prayer, the nuns report unio mystica, or oneness with God’s love. Peak meditation, meanwhile, brings the Buddhists into “absolute unitary being” or, as they say, “oneness with the universe.” By using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to take pictures of their brains during these sublime moments, Newberg tested those claims. The scans showed significant deactivation in the right parietal lobe, a key component in the brain’s navigation system. This part of the brain helps us move through space by judging angles and distances. But, to make these judgments, this region must first decide where our own body ends and the rest of the world begins, essentially drawing a boundary line between self and other.