...you've got there!

There's a strong argument to be made that our brain is just one of our "mind-centers" with others being located in the heart and GI system. Even our language speaks of "a feeling in my gut" and "I know in my heart."

There is also the school of thought that says the mind is not in the body at all but that the brain merely acts as a focusing device for it much like a radio focuses the unseen energies around us.

As for PD putting us on a higher plain, I do think it makes us wiser in that it forces us to confront our own mortality early on and makes us realize just what is important.