I read "Left in the Dark" and second the recommendation. It's quite an elegant hypothesis even if it doesn't seem to cover all of its bases, but it's a good jum

I read "Left in the Dark" and second the recommendation. It's quite an elegant hypothesis even if it doesn't seem to cover all of its bases, but it's a good jumping-off point for those interested in rationalizing phenomena related to consciousness. For example, the book's theory that the dormant (but incredibly powerful) right brain (or subconscious or what have you) is responsible for our immune systems neatly explains things like the placebo effect, faith healing, miraculous lucid dream healing, etc. If we assume that the Buddha's enlightenment was a total coming together of his mind, then all the seemingly supernatural abilities attributed to him, such as immunity to disease, start to make sense.