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Leonardo Vetra had looked up from the meditations with a paternal smile. "My daughter the skeptic. So you don't believe God speaks to man? Let me put it in your language." He took a model of the human brain down from a shelf and set it in front of her. "As you probably know, Vittoria, human beings use a very small percentage of their brain power. However, if you put them into emotionally charged situations-- like physical trauma, extreme joy or fear, deep meditation -- all of a sudden their neurons start firing like crazy, resulting in massively enhanced mental clarity."

"So what?" Vittoria said. "Just because you think clearly doesn't mean you talk to God."

"Aha!" Vetra exclaimed. "And yet remarkably solutions to seemingly impossible problems occur in these moments of clarity. It's what gurus call higher consciousness. Biologists call it altered states. Psychologist call it super-sentience." He paused. "And Christians call it answered prayer". Smiling broadly, he added, "Sometimes divine revelation simply means adjusting your brain to hear what your heart already knows."

.... Each of us is a God, Buddha had said. Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.

It was in that moment of clarity , as Vittoria plunged deeper into the earth, that she felt her mind open... her own wisdom surface. She sensed now without a doubt what the camerlengo's intentions were. Her awareness brought with a fear like nothing she had ever known.

One of my most favorite excerpts in the book, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I just finished reading it and I definitely think that it was one of the most wonderfully written books I have ever read. The plot, the setting, the characters complimented the way the story evolved. A chilling thriller that will take you out of your seat. It will make you doubt a lot of things that you believe in trust me. It's a wild chase towards the end until the surprising twist of events. Brown is truly a magnificent writer. I felt like I was possesed man when I first held his book until the final pages. I still long for the story to continue however, I know it should end with a fitting climax. It's something that will shock you totally from reading it. I am still in AWE.... he is a true genius! I can't even think how Brown wrote this. *applause* (isa na akong obssesed fan ni dan haha)