In my view, meditation, Buddhism, Taoism, yoga, Guirdjieff, Joseph Campbell’s hero journey, the many different types of psychotherapy — the whole pursuit of “enlightenment” in general — can all be seen as addressing the central issue of the integration of left-right-brain functioning.

The right side develops early and is the realm of imagery, holistic thinking, nonverbal language, autobiographical memory, and a host of other processes. Our left brain develops later in life and is responsible for logic, spoken and written language, linearity, lists, and literal thinking. If the linkage between the sides is blocked, one side may d