F-VEP AND ALPHA-SUPPRESSED EEG-PHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF INNER-LIGHT PERCEPTION DURING ZEN MEDITATION

Abstract

This paper firstly reports the visual response to the inner light (a form of qi) and the outside stimulus during Zen meditation. It has been reported literally that inner light perception is the common experience for prayers or Zen-meditation practitioners. In this paper, we propose a method to quantify the EEG (electroencephalograph) and F-VEP (flash visual evoked potential) that characterize this experience. Based on wavelet analysis, we derived a set of parameters that effectively signify the alpha-suppressed EEG pattern. Furthermore, this paper presents our new results of analyzing the F-VEP data, mainly the peak amplitude. The observation of little variation in amplitude during Zen meditation reflects a more stable visual perceptive system during Zen meditation that is contrary to the visual response of the control subjects under eye-closed relaxation.