The Chinese philosopher Lao-tze believed that ''To the mind that is still, the universe surrenders.'' The trick was in getting the mind to be still, to silence that endless internal dialogue, to achieve a state of transcendent peace, a sense of being one with the universe. Acquiring the discipline to achieve nirvana could take years of training in meditation. Or . . . you could strap on Dr. Michael Persinger's electromagnetic helmet and be there in the flip of a switch.

Dr. Persinger reports that subjects who have donned his magnetic helmet, which surrounds the brain in a corona of electromagnetic impulses, have experienced their own private Hotel Californias, which could be heaven or hell. Some of Dr. Persinger's subjects reported the feeling that they they are in the presence of God. Others felt surrounded by demons and evil spirits. ''That's in the laboratory,'' says Dr. Persinger. ''Can you imagine what would happen if that happened late at night in a pew or mosque or synagogue?''

Welcome to the newest front line in the long running battle between science and religion. Researchers in brain behavior have often wondered if there is a physical component to religious or mystical experience. It is widely accepted that epileptic seizures and hallucinogenic drugs can sometimes trigger religious experiences. Scientists have been looking at which areas of the brain are most affected at those times.

Attention has focussed on the parietal lobe, which is located towards the back right-hand corner of the brain. Experimenters found that during meditation, activity in the parietal lobe drops sharply. The parietal lobe is the part of the brain that keeps our feet on the ground, so to speak, so a lessening of activity in that area of the brain would contribute to what neurologist James Austin describes as the ''an intense hyper-awareness, empty endless space that was blacker than black and soundless and vacant of any sense of my physical bodily self'' he gets when meditating.

The fact that religious experiences can be so easily reproduced in the lab has led some scientists to say that this proves once and for all that there is no God, that the feelings we have during moments of intense religious feeling are literally a product of our imagination. Others say they are merely trying to understand the nature of the religious experience. According to Andrew Newberg, who is the author of WHY GOD WON'T GO AWAY, ''The brain is predisposed to having those experiences and that is why so many people believe in God.'' We are indeed programmed to receive.

The question is who or what did the programming? It could be argued that if God created the universe then could he not also have preconfigured our brains to be receptive to the idea of the Divine. University of Kansas psychologist Daniel Batson makes a pretty good case when he argues that the brain is ''the hardware through which religion is experienced. To say the brain produces religion is like saying a piano produces music.''

So which came first, God or the brain? Do we believe in God because the brain makes us feel that way or did God make our brains in such a way as to provide a means by which a sense of the divine can be reinforced through these spiritual experiences?

Like most arguments involving something as subjective as religious or mystical experiences, we usually end up believing what we want to believe. To the folks who believe in God or at least in some higher power, these mystical journeys reinforce that belief. To those who doubt, the ease with which these feelings can be reproduced simply by tickling certain parts of the brain suggests that all religion is just the product of a few rogue synapses.

In this long running tug of war between science and religion, science currently is getting the better of it. Organized religion at any rate seems to be going through a period of great doctrinal uncertainty.

The original purpose of religion was to explain away the mysteries of the universe and to offer hope for a better life after death. Science has methodically worked its way through a great many of life's mysteries. For the first time in recorded history, mankind can truly begin to sense the incredible range of creation, from the evanescent world of subatomic particles to the billions of stars that populate our immense universe.

That leaves religion pretty much reduced to offering the promise of a better life after death, if we follow its articles of faith. For Christians in particular, faith in that promise is at the core of Christianity, and the wellspring of that faith is at the heart of the current debate over the role played by the brain in how we come by our spiritual experiences.

This struggle between science and religion is not a war between mankind and God. God is what God is. What's at issue here is mankind's image of God, an image that is still not much more sophisticated than the ancient rock paintings the reflect our earliest attempts at abstract thinking. Unless and until God chooses to reveal himself directly, we are limited to the tools we have, including the brains we were born with.

June 2, 2001

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