As far back as anyone can recall, religious practices have demonstrated a similar pattern throughout human life. Buddhist monks' recitation, Catholic veneration of the Eucharist, Sufi dervishes' whirling dance, and Muslim community congregational praying are just a few examples of the ways they are diverse and worldwide. Their possibilities have been traditionally outlined by religion and theology. But there has now come a new science which is raising an entirely different question: what occurs in the human brain when such rituals are performed? And the replies being returned are indicating that the "sacred" experience is not metaphysical, but biological. Spiritual ritual, therefore, is a good technology—maybe an ancient one—of voluntarily altering consciousness, establishing social connection, and experiencing a sense of genuine attachment to something larger than ourselves.
The prehistory of a ritual in the brain usually involves repetition. Repetitive mechanised recitation of a rosary, staccato beat of a shamanic ritual, or repetitive redundant movement of a Hindu puja alike: whatever it is, the repetition acts directly, quantifiably on the brain. Neurologically, repetition of sound and gesture can deactivate one region called the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN is the "back chatter" of the mind—it's active when we daydream, worry about what's going to happen, or ruminate on our past. It's also very much connected to our sense of bounded, separated self, the "ego." When rhythmic ritual calms this network, interior commentating of the self begins to break down. The result is one of self-transcendence, limits between self and outer world dissolving. This is the neuroscience of experiencing "oneness" with the universe or God so commonly reported by mystics and meditators throughout spiritual traditions.
Neurochemistry supports this shift in brain activity. The intense focus, emotional stimulation, and physical effort of ritual trigger the release of powerful chemicals within the brain reward system. The neurotransmitter dopamine, reward, pleasure, and motivation, is released in very stimulating rituals, which give the feeling of happiness and consciousness of the divine. Even more profoundly, rituals can cause the release of endorphins, body opioids. These medications are pain-relievers and create a feeling of euphoria and calmness. That is why people who perform ultra-ceremonies—like fire-walking or day-long prayer vigils—can induce ecstasy and numbness, detached from physical pain and mental distress. Ritual, then, is a natural high.
Second, the brain is an excellent prediction machine, and ritual is a scripted template that fulfils this hardwired need for order. Neurologically, it's expensive to your metabolism and anxiety-provoking to be living in a chaotic world. The brain must be occupied with conjuring up threats and consequences. This kind of ritual, involving words and body language in a set order, is an entirely predictable micro-world. When your expectations are reliably confirmed—when step B always follows step A—the brain receives a reward signal. This creates a feeling of relaxation, mastery, and a sense deep within the brain. It is the opposite of fear. In a chaotic world, the ritual constructs an island of flawless structure, and the brain responds with a feeling of rightness and relaxation, explainable immediately as the presence of higher order.
The social function of ritual also taps into our brain wiring. Group ritual, in which a group is employed to sing, chant, or dance, impacts social bonding. When coordinating their action, brains begin to entrain. There has been a study that, in concerted action, group members are able to have synchronised brain waves. That "neural synchrony" triggers empathy and self-other blurring. It is facilitated by oxytocin, the "bonding hormone" or "love drug." Oxytocin is released during positive social interaction, and ritual group gatherings are a potent stimulus. It gives rise to the feeling of almsgiving, trust, and a sense of nearness. It is the mystery that binds human beings together in a congregation to which they are bound, a "congregation" not only one that is in the faith, but united in the experience of being of the same, biologically. It not only metaphorically binds them; it actually physiologically binds them too.
The Theory of Mind network allows the brain to decode other human minds and is responsible for giving other humans the right beliefs, intentions, and desires. It is used during some types of prayer or ritual communication with God. While praying to God, the brain activity can be almost identical to when they are talking with a friend or parent. The brain is simply taking its default equipment for social cognition and projecting it onto the divine, describing God as a mind-container, thinking creature. This creates the religious as personal, intimate, and real. The ritual itself is constructed into conversation, and the sacredness is experienced as tangible as another human presence in the room.
Not all ritual experience is so nice, however. All but a handful of rituals are concerned with dominating influences, inducing controlled awe or shock. Abrupt sound, abrupt light, or inexplicable events during the progress of a ritual could trigger an efflux of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that accelerates attention and makes memory firmer. This fixes the ritual in the consciousness of the experiencer in a tight and strong peak experience. This intensity is part of the cause of the event's meaning and power as experienced, affirming the believer's belief and loyalty.
Appreciate the neuroscience of ritual and not one that defiles its spiritual value, but finds the marvellous machinery that underlies the experience. It proves that the human mind is wired for transcendence. The sense of peace, harmony, joy, and belonging that individuals seek in churches, mosques, and temples is no fantasy; it is the actual, quantifiable result of a very intricate neurological process. Rituals are the entrance to the process—the precise series of movements that always activate this holy software in the brain hardware. Eventually, this science closes an ancient gap.
It is that religion and reason are not contraries, but two different languages for a deep human potential. "Sacred" is not "out there," somewhere in a far-off heaven. It is a potential state of our own nervous system, which can be opened by procedures human beings have discovered and developed over millennia. Ritual is the key, the brain the lock. When they stand shoulder to shoulder, gates of perception open, and for a moment, the self dissolves in the sense of boundless oneness, giving us a glimpse of the holy that has been inside us all along.
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