Table of Contents:
  • Author's note
  • Part 1: Religion and the human brain
  • 1: Who cares about God?
  • Prelude to a neurological and spiritual revolution
  • 2: Do you even need God when you pray?
  • Meditation, memory, and the aging brain
  • 3: What does God do to your brain?
  • Neural varieties of spiritual practice
  • Part 2: Neural evolution and God
  • 4: What does God feel like?
  • Varieties of spiritual experience
  • 5: What does God look like?
  • Imagination, creativity, and the visual representation of spirituality
  • 6: Does God have a heart?
  • Compassion, mysticism, and the spiritual personalities of the brain
  • 7: What happens when God gets mad?
  • Anger, fear, and the fundamentalist in our brain
  • Part 3: Transforming Your Inner Reality
  • 8: Exercising your brain
  • Eight ways to enhance your physical, mental, and spiritual health
  • 9: Finding serenity
  • Meditation, intention, relaxation, and awareness
  • 10: Compassionate communication
  • Dialogue, intimacy, and conflict transformation
  • Epilogue: Is God real?
  • Personal reflection
  • Appendix A: Compassionate communication
  • CDs, workshops, and online research
  • Appendix B: How to participate in our research studies
  • Appendix C: Meditation and mindfulness
  • Books, CDs, and resources
  • Acknowledgments
  • Endnotes.