Ken Wilber Stops His Brain Waves

You already knew that Ken has no heart, now we find out that he has no brain, either!

That's right, Ken can stop his brainwaves on demand. Actually—and in a more serious vein—this is the famous EEG machine recording where Ken enters various meditative states, one of which is a type of "thoughtless," "image-less," or "formless" state, whose correlate is that his brainwaves come to an almost complete stop, as clearly recorded on this portable electroencephalograph (EEG) machine. (This video is discussed in One Taste, April 10 entry.)

We asked Ken to do a short 10-minute commentary on these various meditative states and the corresponding brain-wave patterns that are shown on the EEG machine in the video. Ken enters four meditative states (nirvikalpa closed eyes, nirvikalpa open eyes, sahaj, and mantra-savikalpa), each of which has a very distinctive brain-wave pattern. In his commentary, Ken emphasizes that the patterns shown on this machine may or may not be typical, but they do emphasize that profound consciousness states can be evoked at will, and these show immediate correlation in brain-wave patterns.

If nothing else, seeing somebody's brainwaves flatline in about 4 seconds is a sight not easily forgotten! It also explains why we once heard Ken's girlfriend say, upon delivering news that she thought might not be happily received, "Now, um, honey, make your brain waves go to zero...."

More seriously, as Ken often says, "If you want to know God, you've got to get your brain out of the way first. It's just one big stupid filter...."

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[jef108]

look ma, no brain!

[colourfulwithaU]

"If you want to know God, you've got to get your brain out of the way first."

Truer words have never been spoken.

[jef108]

who cares? God is beyond religion and atheism.

[jef108]

thát depends on the time of day I fear...

[Lukasz Salvinorus]

You are so intelligent...

[Tomasilix]

But what is that's behind these brainwaves? When his mind is completely calm, he's totally conscious, he can control his body whenever he wants. Where can you see the waves of his consciousnes? Is this consciousness the soul?

[AXharoth]

it is isnt not 

[AXharoth]

try asmr but idk what is theta xD

[Benny Kaergaard]

I don't think so

[TheQneb]

Thats like my brain on school

[Taylor Crow]

Lol both and neither if you think about it.

[appleh8terguy]

i cant tell if thats an athiest comment or a religious comment