Mystical Brain

Philosophical, theological, and scientific questions are raised in this fascinating National Film Board of Canada-produced documentary from director Isabella Raynauld, which follows the efforts of North American neurobiologists investigating how the brain reacts during prayer and meditation. In one study, two researchers at the University of Montreal persuade several contemplative Carmelite nuns to undergo scientific tests to try to localize and measure the impact of the mystical experience on their brains. A similar project (although with different techniques) follows a team at the University of Wisconsin working with Buddhist monks, including a translator for the Dalai Lama. Both scientists and subjects feel that the research does not endanger the spiritual experience but rather may aid in our understanding of it—a point driven home in a conference featuring the Dalai Lama, a Cistercian monk, and scientists. Meanwhile, another university researcher is shown here experimenting with a device known as the “God helmet,” which aims to replicate the physiological effects of religious belief on the brain without what the researcher calls the potentially destructive impulses associated with doctrine and dogma. A single documentary obviously can't resolve fundamental questions about the nature of the soul and the Cartesian mind-body dichotomy, but this one does offer a fascinating look at such profound matters without ever becoming either heavy-handed or dismissive. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)