In my recent note, “Being an Intellectual,” I wrote about Julian Jaynes and his notion of the bicameral brain. In his book, Jaynes postulates that the two hemispheres of our brains operate independently of one another and with different functions and capacities.

In particular, he locates the gods in our right hemispheres, those so-called higher beings that Jaynes says we project out upon reality, in the form of visions or voices. For him, these gods, both ancient and current, are just these visions and voices created by our right hemispheres, created so that they can talk to us in our left hemispheres and direct the course of our lives.

I’ve been thinking about Jaynes and his notion ever since I wrote about him. I have continued to reflect upon his notion and its ramifications. In fact, the thought just came to me that my right hemisphere (and probably everyone else’s) has a greater relationship with all the many levels of reality than does my left. It may not house the gods but it can see through time and at a distance. It doesn’t need words. It speaks primarily in images. It is the source of our dreams and our visions. It is the source of all that we now call magical or spiritual.

This higher consciousness that is located in our right hemispheres is a result of them being wired, so to speak, wired to be closer to and more connected to the larger consciousness of the Tao. In particular, the consciousness in our right hemispheres is identical with that larger part of ourselves that will continue to exist after the deaths of our bodies.

For most of us though, when we think of ourselves, of who we are, we think of our left hemispheres, teeming with all our thoughts and feelings that consume so much of our time and energy. Most of us identify with our left hemispheres and all that goes on within them. In fact, most of us still think that all of consciousness is limited to what goes on in our left hemispheres.

However, every once in a while a dream will come through, a hunch will catch our attention, a small still voice might be heard, all asking us to listen and perhaps to try a new way, a new path with heart. Even today, identified with and stuck in our left hemispheres as we are, we can still hear if we listen.

The right hemisphere is definitely the place to visit– at least for those of us who would have a Great Spirit to talk with – the place where we will always find a spiritually enlightening conversation. This place is where we will find the Master within us. This is where we will learn to live past our limited personal identities.