AMA: Spiritual experiences in temporal lobe epilepsy, the effects of alcohol & cannabis, creativity

[@downtownjb100]

I've had one seizure in my 40 years. I was about 30 and doing some breathwork. Fire breaths, deep breaths, and breath holds. During a breath hold, the seizure began. I become conscious, somewhat above my body, observing it flail about. I was in complete observation. No opinion about what was happening. Eventually the thought arose, "I better get a hold on this". It felt like I was putting my arms through sleeves. Slowly regaining control. My dog was excited and at my feet. I reached to pet him and a huge ball of energy, as wide as my body, rose from my pelvis into my chest. It was pure love and joy. Very powerful and physical. It was a great experience.

[@Hannah-vc7uj]

I have been on my spiritual journey for some time I have had what I feel to of been a spirtual experience. So in my sleep I had what I can onlg describe is a full jerking seizure but I'm aware its happening never had one before but I can feel my body moving I can see something dark a force or spirit over me and a powerful pulling i could feel the pull and i could see dark coming out of me it was not scary I surrendered to the process and as u relaxed the body jerks stopped but this pull of dark coming out continued. Very strange but amazing

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

I’ve had epilepsy since being a teenager which results in grand mal seizures. I have had something similar to OBE going into the seizure, but never anything like the mystical experiences I had with psychedelics. There is a need to be able to surrender to what is inevitably going to happen, because otherwise the fear of it will be pure torture. You know you are in for some excruciating pain, and that feeling of having your brain overloaded and then “switched off” is terrifying - but there is very little you can do about it, so you have to learn to accept it.

[@DrJamesCooke]

Thanks for sharing Rob, is the "aura" something that happens every time?

[@AdeptusPsychonautica]

​ @Dr. James Cooke pretty much but sometimes you only recognise it in hindsight. I would compare it in this way to a manic episode (not literally) in that you don't always know you are "in it" when you are in it - but afterwards it is obvious. When it first happened in my teens then the floaty OBE-esque experience was novel, until it turned into my first seizure, and than after that it usually has a negative association with it. Still even though the early symptoms are quite obvious (momentary blackouts, OBE stuff, twitching) it really can creep up on me and I won't notice until "the main event" is about to start.

[@zXJulianXz]

What I realised, during a period of deep mystical / seizure related activity, is that it's not really who we are or what we are made of that matters (after all, we are just star dust, as are the trees, our pets, the rocks, and the entirety of substance), but rather the way we move, how we dance with those things, how energy is transferred between things. During this time I realised that there is another dimension to life and existence which is rather more like a constant, swirling pool of liquid. The edies, ripples, whorls, and waves are the impressions we leave when we meet someone, or behave with goodness, or badness, help or hinder, persevere or give up. These are the places that matter. We are distinct entities. We all have our own shape, desires, needs, egos, but we are also just the same, a body of water, a sea, in which nothing else matters than how our energies momentarily emboss it's surface. In a way, it is this fleeting quality of energies ripples on the ocean of the universe which give it so much significance, beauty, and power. I am not diagnosed with TLE, though I suspect I have it. But also, the world is much richer for this brain damage as it were. There is a war between two halves. One says, 'embrace it, you have beauty to impart, to experience, to dance with, the likes of which many can only dream of', but another side, rational and reproachful says, 'you are ill, you are in danger of losing yourself'. Both halves are right. Neither side is more compelling. I don't know what to do, though your description gives some comfort, to know that I am not alone in this.

[@ShannonMcCarthy]

Hi Dr. Cook! Thank you for this. I have temporal lobe epilepsy and am interested in mysticism and the brain. So am glad you made this video! Temporal lobe seizures are, in general, not mystical experiences. Those with ecstatic seizures are a small subset of TLE patients. However, compared with the general population, people with TLE exhibit a greater fascination with things of ultimate concern. I think you will like this paper: "Ecstatic Epileptic Seizure: A Glimpse Into the Multiple Roles of the Insula". It offers a lovely hypothesis for the ecstatic seizure: that the risk assessment network (which includes self-narrative!) is in arrest, and that salience dominates. Hope that's helpful. Thank you for your work!

[@TLEawareness]

I haven’t watched the video yet but I plan on watching it. I have TLE in the left temporal lobe. But my auras start all over the place and wind up in the left temporal lobe. Usually I get Jamais vu and the feeling that I’m some place I shouldn’t be and there is someone or something that doesn’t want me there. It’s worse than any nightmare I’ve had as a child. Maybe it’s because I know I’m awake and then slowly I can feel my reality collapsing. BUT a couple of times I’ve had an ecstatic seizure. It felt like I was going to learn the meaning of the universe and why I’m here. Almost omnipotence. Then I black out and forget 99% of the experience. From what I’ve read it’s electrical activity in the insula that brings on the ecstatic auras.

[@adamfreeman407]

I think I have epilepsy? I know that’s a bold statement but I am currently going through EEG ECG and MRI scans for it. The only way I can explain what I go through is like a dejavu feeling and it completely takes up my whole mind. It’s all I can focus on in that moment, then I get ridiculously hot to the point my head was actually steaming in the cold workshop the other day just after having one. I then drip profusely with sweat for about a minute and then go freezing cold, to the point I sometimes shiver. All while this crazy sense of dejavu is happening. Does anyone else experience this or have they heard of anything like this?

[@click_my_profile224]

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[@tantyhazelana955]

Me ..that how I feel before I have a vision and after I fell cold ...

[@tantyhazelana955]

Am on seizure medication but still have vision

[@daniellecook9667]

Hello, I have focal siezures. This is going to. Sound wild. I have no Memory of the siezures. However I do tell my husband what's happening during them. I talk to people and describe them to my husband. I even took bread and honey to make them food I told my Husband they were coming tomorrow and I wanted to cook for them. I wish I could remember. They give me help with things I need to work on for personal growth. My husband said Sometimes it freaks him out. I will ask him where those people went and if they were coming back. I could go on but you get the idea I hope. It's been quite the journey. I'm on Lamictal which helps a lot. I still have siezures but not as frequently. Maybe I'm not alone I don't know? Good luck to all. Peace n love!

[@mobill93]

I have 2 different epilepsy. 1 is the tle's we are talking about and the other is Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy the 2 are not supposed to even go together my neurologist said ...but when i have a tle ot feels like an over powering sense of dejavu that ive been there done that and im seeing and hearing it all again . i get super hot so flushed i guess and its hard to talk during ?? Sometimes i know im going to have one that day bcs of the ora i feel ..any thoughts anyone

[@444jm]

Awesome, thanks James. Who is the scientist you mentioned regarding dissipative structures and being creative in order to survive?

[@DrJamesCooke]

Thanks for the great questions! Ilya Prigogine

[@digiaddz5652]

I recently had a seizure where I was one with the universe. I still feel very disconnected.

[@christopherwoods6777]

I've had epilepsy since I was 12 (after brain surgery). I've had some bad seizures all my life. However, I don't remember having anything like an OBE or even psychic abilities. In fact, when I wake up I can't tell if it's been a minute, a year, or a decade when I come out of one. Things just go black and then I wake up at some point. I think this means I don't have any spiritual connection to a higher level of consciousness and certainly don't have any special powers.

[@allisonroehm4663]

You definitely have a spiritual connection Christopher Woods and a high level of consciousness for enduring everything you've been through. I have it too and it effects my memory but not quite like that so I feel for you. Ever seen momento? This video is a little far fetched and I see the spiritual and scientific aspects of both these a partial seizures where u just kinda space out for a min. I hope this gives you hope 🙏 we're not just faulty wiring their something deeper here and this video is about I believe in the right Temporal lobe epilepsy because of imagery specifically Because the left is about speech and hearing. I've researched enough and I personally believe something is going but this can cause disassociation because of such outlandish thoughts tho is fascinating describing it to anyone they think I'm nuts and I do sound nuts

[@VennThuria]

Regarding the first question, I think people experience what Socrates described as his Daemon -- not the real god, but a higher and personal being with divine power. Anthony Peake talks alot about all this in his similarly titled book "The Daemon".