Broader Definition of 'Mind'

Hopping along my personal, eccentric bunny trail, in quest of insight about my life, I encountered this:

In Biology of
Kundalini, pg. 58--





“… about 60-65% of all the cells in the heart are neural
cells which are precisely the same as in the brain, functioning in precisely
the same way, monitoring and maintaining control of the entire mind/brain/body physical
process as well as direct, unmediated connections between the head and the
emotional, cognitive structures of the brain. Secondly, the heart is the major
endocrine glandular structure of the body,
which Roget found to be producing the hormones that profoundly affect
the operations of body, brain, and mind. Thirdly, the heart produces 2 ½ watts of electrical energy at each pulsation,
creating an electromagnetic field identical to the electromagnetic field around
the earth. The electromagnetic field of the heart surrounds the body at a
distance of 12-25 feet outward and encompasses power waves such as radio and
light waves which comprise the principal source of information upon which the
body and brain build our neural conception and perception of the world
itself.” Joseph Chilton Pearce www.ratical.org/many_worlds/JCP98.html

Does this signify to anyone else?

To me it signals that it's quite possible that many experiences which modern materialists deny a priori-- which may be called "psychic" experiences or siddhis of various kinds-- are totally natural, normal potentials of human body minds, rather than imaginary delusions. Among many other things it could signify!

On a similar note, it's always been fascinating to me that the neuroanatomy of breathing lies at a crossroads where many different neural and other systems meet, including the conscious volitional systems and the para- and unconscious autonomic systems (like thermal regulation, heartbeat, immune response). Meaning that suffusing the sensations of breathing with pure attention, there will naturally arise a sense that volitional consciousness is happening naturally as well as the reverse, that previously autonomic functions will come within the scope of intention. Fascinating and paradoxical!

So what does this information signify to YOU, Kate?

I guess the place where I've got my attention pointed is the confluence between my own experience and how I've tried to express it, the Old Wisdom, and current state-of-the-art Science are meeting and seeming to talk the same sense, if different languages.

So the stuff about the 'brain in the gut' I put up a long while back-- yeah, I can personally confirm.

Same with the toroid energy field around the heart; once, when I was REALLY focussed on my meditation practice, I felt it pretty lucidly. What I said at the time was, 'I feel like I'm turning inside-out around the heart. Like when you make a ball out of a pair of socks.' [Maybe only those of you with similar laundry-folding practices will get the reference.]