This video of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, explaining her experience of having a stroke, rocked my world last week. Not only is she a great presenter (watch all the way til the end for some potent stuff), but her insight explains what happens to our brains during that ecstatic feeling that sometimes comes with meditation (or when you hang out with a flaky friend who also happens to be uncannily tuned in). Turns out that left brain (verbal, analytical) and right brain (sensual, process-oriented) stuff is pretty profound.
Taylor is a brain scientist from the Midwest which makes her insights even more profound---her training and cultural background make her a straight-shooter. She's not given to hyperbole; she looks for reasonable theories.
The talk was posted on TED: Ideas Worth Spreading in March, 2008.