NEUROTHEOLOGY
by Iona Miller
http://neurotheology.50megs.com/
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Neurotheology
NEUROTHEOLOGY
GOD IN THE BRAIN
Neurotheology, also known as biotheology, is the study of the neural basis of spirituality. Neurotheology deals with the neurological, psychobiological and evolutionary root of subjective experiences traditionally categorized as spiritual. Aldous Huxley introduced the term neurotheology in his utopian novel Island. It was adopted in the last decade for a new scientific discipline. The term is also sometimes used in a less scientific context or philosophical context. Keywords include 'deity', soul, Self, neurophysiological bases, meditation, self-transcendence, spirituality, mysticism, EM and acoustic brain manipulation technology, resonance phenomena, neurotransmitters.
Neurotheology covers spiritual experiences of phenomena which are the basis of beliefs, built from four key interconnected components: perceptions, emotions, cognitions, and social interactions.
The Spectrum of BioRapture
However, the methods of scientific investigation can be applied to the taxonomy or spectrum of consciousness without dismissing the phenomena studied. The fact that certain experiences, such as the disappearance of space/time orientation, can be correlated with cessation or activation of certain brain regions doesn't invalidate their human values.
The mind tends to interpret these psychophysical events and processes in terms of pre-programmed cultural beliefs and sociocultual memes. Many of these attributions to our experience are trendy imaginal wormholes: Near death experience, astral projection, nonlocal healing. Neurosomatic rapture is preparation for the next step in our evolution - transhumanism.
Once you know the brain neurology and the resonant nature of the mindbody connection, you can make up your own mind about this complex interaction which doesn't come out of nowhere. It is our evolutionary legacy; we are the product of our environment and precisely tuned to it. The holistic nature of the body reflects the Nature of the Cosmos; our nature is not separate from Nature. There is great value in discipline, practice, and service which exercises the full spectrum of our human potential.
Ecstasy & Bliss Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with God, but experiencing oneself in the process of “becoming” god. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but as the same essence as All.
Of course, we can never fully complete that process. No one can fully embody God, but we can move toward it. The succession of conscious states is toward higher integration, not toward lower dissociation. The process of integration in growth toward positive values has the complementary virtues of being obvious in fact and transcendental in implications. It means we evolve from reactive creatures into an integrated part of the spiritual dimension.
The God Spot: Where in the Brain Can We Find God? Spirituality is inherent in mankind's nature. Shamanism, the prehistoric spirituality is over 50,000 years old. Neurotheology is the marriage of brain science and theology, which systematically studies the relationship of God and the universe. Religion is the expression of theological attitudes and actions. Tradition says God created the heavens and earth, and God created man in his own image.
But did God create man and the brain, or does the brain create God? Measurements of electrical activity in the brains of test subjects indicated a specific neural center in the temporal lobe that flared up at times when the subjects thought about God. Revelation is the act of God manifesting, disclosing himself, or communicating truth to the mind. These subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism. Perhaps God hid mankind’s spirituality where we would least expect it and be least likely to look -- within ourselves.
When stimulated the God Spot creates hallucinations that are interpreted as mystical or spiritual experiences. This temporal lobe 'spot' is stimulated during meditation and prayer and is affected by electromagnetic fields and epilepsy. The resulting hallucinations may be the cause of mystical, spiritual and paranormal experiences as they can give feelings such as a presence in the room or an out of body experience. The transcendental feeling of being one with the universe results from decreased activity in the brain's parietal lobe, which helps regulate the sense of self and physical orientation. The amygdala and hippocampus are involved in the experience of visions, profound experiences, memory, and meditation.
Meditation increases activity in the front part of the brain and decreases activity in the area of the brain that orients our bodies in space. This increased frontal activity is found not only during meditation, but also during any attention-focusing task. Explanations of these influences come from personal beliefs; a visit from an angel or lost loved one, an extraterrestrial encounter, a higher plane of consciousness or a visit from God.
The religious element of our nature is just as universal as the rational or social one. Could altering brain chemistry by playing some visual and pleasure circuits, while quieting those governing self-image, cognition, orientation, and time sequencing give rise to a transcendental bliss, a god-experience? Can they give rise to the electrochemical supercharge described as kundalini, the serpent power that rises up the spine in self-transcendence or illumination? How can we journey along the continuum from pleasure to enthusiasm, to joy, ecstasy and enlightenment?
However, this human study of the phenomenology of the God-experience doesn’t reductively negate the possibly of a divine creative force. Rather, this transdisciplinarian science simply seeks to describe the mechanisms involved in that process. It explores how the divine is translated into the human realm, from the archetypal to the material world. It combines aspects of religion, psychology, and neurology. This new paradigm synthesizes the truths of both science and religion -- giving birth to “neuroshamanism.”
EVOLUTION OF BELIEF PARADIGMS
Stage 1: Archaic: Survival, the Ground Zero of Existence. Self-preservation, isolation; antisocial. Paranoid or idiosyncratic beliefs.
Stage 2: Tribal: Truster/Trickster. Social; love, belonging. Self-sacrifice vs. selfishness. Transgression; taboo. Ethnocentric magical and superstitious beliefs.
Stage 3: Egocentric: Power; Esteem; Autonomy, heroic. Unscrupulous Competition/Hero. Shame vs. honor. Exploitation vs. Respect. Mythic beliefs.
Stage4: Moral/Patriotic. Rules; Initiative. Shame and guilt vs. conformity and conventionality; purpose, virtue. Systematized truths. Emotional, nostalgic beliefs.
Stage 5: Materialist. Reasoning; mental analysis. Rational beliefs, truth; goodness; consumerism, greed. Head vs. heart. Progressive if rewarded, compulsive, workaholic. Perspective. Rational beliefs.
Stage 6: Wise Empath. Service, rapport, intimacy, empathy. Politically correct.. Inner wisdom, meaning. Self-actualization. Intuitive, mystical beliefs.
Stage 7: Distancer/Self. Paradoxical; individuated, reclusive; universalist. Deconstruction and Synthesis, gestalt, the big picture. Integral, synergetic beliefs.
Stage 8: Global Village. Complex Dynamic Beliefs. Post-Metaphysical Integrative Spirituality. “Express Self Now, but not at the expense of Others or the World, so that Life May Continue.” (Graves) Integrative Sustainable beliefs.
"The artist is the man in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of his actions and of new knowledge in his own time. He is the man of integral awareness."- Marshall McLuhan, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA: The Extensions of Man, Ch. 7 (Challenge and Collapse), pp.70-1, 1964, SIGNET BOOKS, New York
MEDITATION The task of meditation is essentially letting the body fall as deeply asleep as possible while the mind remains focused. In fact, if it were not for the opposite function’s presence, even in the mystical state, we would fall asleep. The REM or dream state is similar: there is extreme cerebral excitation, even though muscular activity is inhibited. Hemispheric synchronization producing long, slow alpha and theta brainwaves with high amplitude is another factor. The deeper the meditation, the slower and stronger the waves.
The energy “rush” of meditation comes when either the arousal or quiescent state “spills over” into stimulating its complementary system. When both parts of the autonomic nervous system go online simultaneously, the limbic system goes wild with emotion, absorption and oceanic bliss. This is reflected in the gender based, male-female imagery of the kundalini serpent power and the yin and yang of the Tao.
When both systems go into maximal discharge, this neurochemical flux is subjectively perceived as Absolute Unity of Being, boundlessness, timelessness, and sacredness. Our relationship to humans, earth, and cosmos is one of a relationship to the Other. Our first formative influence is the experience of empathy. And empathy needs a face. If we find that face in our personal experience of God, who shall say nay? Beyond that lies only the yawning infinity of the Void.
Neurotheology covers spiritual experiences of phenomena which are the basis of beliefs, built from four key interconnected components: perceptions, emotions, cognitions, and social interactions.
- The perception that space/time orientation ceases; "spaced out"
- NDE; ego death
- Fear, alienation and self-consciousness dissolve
- Nature mysic experiences or spiritual awe; bliss
- Creativity and connection with Source
- Ego submits to will of Self
- DNA memory coiling back to the dawn of life
- Sense of immortality and interspecies symbiosis
- Oneness with the universe
- Ecstatic trance; self-transcendence; psychophysical rapture
- Sudden enlightenment, stabilizing over time
- Altered States of Consciousness; temporal lobe visions
- Pure Awareness; Illumination
- Increase of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine DMT levels in the 1000 Petalled Lotus or Pineal Gland.
The Spectrum of BioRapture
However, the methods of scientific investigation can be applied to the taxonomy or spectrum of consciousness without dismissing the phenomena studied. The fact that certain experiences, such as the disappearance of space/time orientation, can be correlated with cessation or activation of certain brain regions doesn't invalidate their human values.
The mind tends to interpret these psychophysical events and processes in terms of pre-programmed cultural beliefs and sociocultual memes. Many of these attributions to our experience are trendy imaginal wormholes: Near death experience, astral projection, nonlocal healing. Neurosomatic rapture is preparation for the next step in our evolution - transhumanism.
Once you know the brain neurology and the resonant nature of the mindbody connection, you can make up your own mind about this complex interaction which doesn't come out of nowhere. It is our evolutionary legacy; we are the product of our environment and precisely tuned to it. The holistic nature of the body reflects the Nature of the Cosmos; our nature is not separate from Nature. There is great value in discipline, practice, and service which exercises the full spectrum of our human potential.
Ecstasy & Bliss Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with God, but experiencing oneself in the process of “becoming” god. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but as the same essence as All.
Of course, we can never fully complete that process. No one can fully embody God, but we can move toward it. The succession of conscious states is toward higher integration, not toward lower dissociation. The process of integration in growth toward positive values has the complementary virtues of being obvious in fact and transcendental in implications. It means we evolve from reactive creatures into an integrated part of the spiritual dimension.
The God Spot: Where in the Brain Can We Find God? Spirituality is inherent in mankind's nature. Shamanism, the prehistoric spirituality is over 50,000 years old. Neurotheology is the marriage of brain science and theology, which systematically studies the relationship of God and the universe. Religion is the expression of theological attitudes and actions. Tradition says God created the heavens and earth, and God created man in his own image.
But did God create man and the brain, or does the brain create God? Measurements of electrical activity in the brains of test subjects indicated a specific neural center in the temporal lobe that flared up at times when the subjects thought about God. Revelation is the act of God manifesting, disclosing himself, or communicating truth to the mind. These subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism. Perhaps God hid mankind’s spirituality where we would least expect it and be least likely to look -- within ourselves.
When stimulated the God Spot creates hallucinations that are interpreted as mystical or spiritual experiences. This temporal lobe 'spot' is stimulated during meditation and prayer and is affected by electromagnetic fields and epilepsy. The resulting hallucinations may be the cause of mystical, spiritual and paranormal experiences as they can give feelings such as a presence in the room or an out of body experience. The transcendental feeling of being one with the universe results from decreased activity in the brain's parietal lobe, which helps regulate the sense of self and physical orientation. The amygdala and hippocampus are involved in the experience of visions, profound experiences, memory, and meditation.
Meditation increases activity in the front part of the brain and decreases activity in the area of the brain that orients our bodies in space. This increased frontal activity is found not only during meditation, but also during any attention-focusing task. Explanations of these influences come from personal beliefs; a visit from an angel or lost loved one, an extraterrestrial encounter, a higher plane of consciousness or a visit from God.
The religious element of our nature is just as universal as the rational or social one. Could altering brain chemistry by playing some visual and pleasure circuits, while quieting those governing self-image, cognition, orientation, and time sequencing give rise to a transcendental bliss, a god-experience? Can they give rise to the electrochemical supercharge described as kundalini, the serpent power that rises up the spine in self-transcendence or illumination? How can we journey along the continuum from pleasure to enthusiasm, to joy, ecstasy and enlightenment?
However, this human study of the phenomenology of the God-experience doesn’t reductively negate the possibly of a divine creative force. Rather, this transdisciplinarian science simply seeks to describe the mechanisms involved in that process. It explores how the divine is translated into the human realm, from the archetypal to the material world. It combines aspects of religion, psychology, and neurology. This new paradigm synthesizes the truths of both science and religion -- giving birth to “neuroshamanism.”
EVOLUTION OF BELIEF PARADIGMS
Stage 1: Archaic: Survival, the Ground Zero of Existence. Self-preservation, isolation; antisocial. Paranoid or idiosyncratic beliefs.
Stage 2: Tribal: Truster/Trickster. Social; love, belonging. Self-sacrifice vs. selfishness. Transgression; taboo. Ethnocentric magical and superstitious beliefs.
Stage 3: Egocentric: Power; Esteem; Autonomy, heroic. Unscrupulous Competition/Hero. Shame vs. honor. Exploitation vs. Respect. Mythic beliefs.
Stage4: Moral/Patriotic. Rules; Initiative. Shame and guilt vs. conformity and conventionality; purpose, virtue. Systematized truths. Emotional, nostalgic beliefs.
Stage 5: Materialist. Reasoning; mental analysis. Rational beliefs, truth; goodness; consumerism, greed. Head vs. heart. Progressive if rewarded, compulsive, workaholic. Perspective. Rational beliefs.
Stage 6: Wise Empath. Service, rapport, intimacy, empathy. Politically correct.. Inner wisdom, meaning. Self-actualization. Intuitive, mystical beliefs.
Stage 7: Distancer/Self. Paradoxical; individuated, reclusive; universalist. Deconstruction and Synthesis, gestalt, the big picture. Integral, synergetic beliefs.
Stage 8: Global Village. Complex Dynamic Beliefs. Post-Metaphysical Integrative Spirituality. “Express Self Now, but not at the expense of Others or the World, so that Life May Continue.” (Graves) Integrative Sustainable beliefs.
"The artist is the man in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of his actions and of new knowledge in his own time. He is the man of integral awareness."- Marshall McLuhan, UNDERSTANDING MEDIA: The Extensions of Man, Ch. 7 (Challenge and Collapse), pp.70-1, 1964, SIGNET BOOKS, New York
MEDITATION The task of meditation is essentially letting the body fall as deeply asleep as possible while the mind remains focused. In fact, if it were not for the opposite function’s presence, even in the mystical state, we would fall asleep. The REM or dream state is similar: there is extreme cerebral excitation, even though muscular activity is inhibited. Hemispheric synchronization producing long, slow alpha and theta brainwaves with high amplitude is another factor. The deeper the meditation, the slower and stronger the waves.
The energy “rush” of meditation comes when either the arousal or quiescent state “spills over” into stimulating its complementary system. When both parts of the autonomic nervous system go online simultaneously, the limbic system goes wild with emotion, absorption and oceanic bliss. This is reflected in the gender based, male-female imagery of the kundalini serpent power and the yin and yang of the Tao.
When both systems go into maximal discharge, this neurochemical flux is subjectively perceived as Absolute Unity of Being, boundlessness, timelessness, and sacredness. Our relationship to humans, earth, and cosmos is one of a relationship to the Other. Our first formative influence is the experience of empathy. And empathy needs a face. If we find that face in our personal experience of God, who shall say nay? Beyond that lies only the yawning infinity of the Void.
Worldview
EVOLUTION OF BELIEF PARADIGMS
The sophistication of our beliefs about the way ourselves and the world works has evolved over time. But not everyone lives in the Present, with a belief system that is consistent with our current rational knowledge. Beliefs are influenced by emotional and psychosocial pressures.
Many people are firmly invested in the spiritual practices of by-gone eras, for good or not so good. Regardless, time and technology march on, impacting our psychophysical organism with challenges never faced by humanity before. The future-oriented are already living there. As has been pointed out: "The future is already here; it just isn't evenly distributed." To truly live mindfully in the Now, which is all we ever actually have, is to live at your Cosmic Zero Point http://myzeropoint.50megs.com
For thousands of years, tribes were so well adapted to their environments, they had little need to evolve. Their worldviews and reality differed, but not so overwhelmingly as for repressed cognitive dissonance to drive them to higher-numbered stages
Belief systems are like reality wormholes into the past. Part of us can live in the 14th, 17th, or 19th century, depending on eclectic spiritual ideas we have embraced or gotten stuck in. The same individual, such as a religious scientist, can embrace conflicting beliefs from different centuries. Compartmentalization is the only way to deny this cognitive dissonance.
Self-regulatory techniques can be adopted without this psychological baggage, with or without maintaining the spiritual or religious context. Somewhere on the planet, humans are living in every niche of the evolutionary belief spectrum. Which existential experience you perceive depends on the filters of your options (environment), beliefs and values.
Each stage represents a limited understanding and repressions until its liabilities force us into the next stage. Alternating stages are self-expressive and social. First new traits and states are emergent; then they stabilize. Our archetypal experiences can be regressions or expressions of our present highest state of development or emergent, then stabilized intuitions of still higher states. Each stage is a worldview with its own needs, belief style and existential ground. Each is its own trance state, a lens through which the world is perceived with certain distortions. Each can be a trap of complacency as we enjoy its rewards.
Stage 1: Archaic: Survival, the Ground Zero of Existence. Self-preservation, isolation; antisocial. Paranoid or idiosyncratic beliefs.
Stage 2: Tribal: Truster/Trickster. Social; love, belonging. Self-sacrifice vs. selfishness. Transgression; taboo. Ethnocentric magical and superstitious beliefs.
Stage 3: Egocentric: Power; Esteem; Autonomy, heroic. Unscrupulous Competition/Hero. Shame vs. honor. Exploitation vs. Respect. Mythic beliefs.
Stage 4: Moral/Patriotic. Rules; Initiative. Shame and guilt vs. conformity and conventionality; purpose, virtue. Systematized truths. Emotional, nostalgic beliefs.
Stage 5: Materialist. Reasoning; mental analysis. Rational beliefs, truth; goodness; consumerism, greed. Head vs. heart. Progressive if rewarded, compulsive, workaholic. Perspective. Rational beliefs.
Stage 6: Wise Empath. Service, rapport, intimacy, empathy. Politically correct.. Inner wisdom, meaning. Self-actualization. Intuitive, mystical beliefs.
Stage 7: Distancer/Self. Paradoxical; individuated, reclusive; universalist. Deconstruction and Synthesis, gestalt, the big picture. Integral, synergetic beliefs.
Stage 8: Global Village. Complex Dynamic Beliefs. Post-Metaphysical Integrative Spirituality. “Express Self Now, but not at the expense of Others or the World, so that Life May Continue.” Integrative Sustainable beliefs.
The sophistication of our beliefs about the way ourselves and the world works has evolved over time. But not everyone lives in the Present, with a belief system that is consistent with our current rational knowledge. Beliefs are influenced by emotional and psychosocial pressures.
Many people are firmly invested in the spiritual practices of by-gone eras, for good or not so good. Regardless, time and technology march on, impacting our psychophysical organism with challenges never faced by humanity before. The future-oriented are already living there. As has been pointed out: "The future is already here; it just isn't evenly distributed." To truly live mindfully in the Now, which is all we ever actually have, is to live at your Cosmic Zero Point http://myzeropoint.50megs.com
For thousands of years, tribes were so well adapted to their environments, they had little need to evolve. Their worldviews and reality differed, but not so overwhelmingly as for repressed cognitive dissonance to drive them to higher-numbered stages
Belief systems are like reality wormholes into the past. Part of us can live in the 14th, 17th, or 19th century, depending on eclectic spiritual ideas we have embraced or gotten stuck in. The same individual, such as a religious scientist, can embrace conflicting beliefs from different centuries. Compartmentalization is the only way to deny this cognitive dissonance.
Self-regulatory techniques can be adopted without this psychological baggage, with or without maintaining the spiritual or religious context. Somewhere on the planet, humans are living in every niche of the evolutionary belief spectrum. Which existential experience you perceive depends on the filters of your options (environment), beliefs and values.
Each stage represents a limited understanding and repressions until its liabilities force us into the next stage. Alternating stages are self-expressive and social. First new traits and states are emergent; then they stabilize. Our archetypal experiences can be regressions or expressions of our present highest state of development or emergent, then stabilized intuitions of still higher states. Each stage is a worldview with its own needs, belief style and existential ground. Each is its own trance state, a lens through which the world is perceived with certain distortions. Each can be a trap of complacency as we enjoy its rewards.
Stage 1: Archaic: Survival, the Ground Zero of Existence. Self-preservation, isolation; antisocial. Paranoid or idiosyncratic beliefs.
Stage 2: Tribal: Truster/Trickster. Social; love, belonging. Self-sacrifice vs. selfishness. Transgression; taboo. Ethnocentric magical and superstitious beliefs.
Stage 3: Egocentric: Power; Esteem; Autonomy, heroic. Unscrupulous Competition/Hero. Shame vs. honor. Exploitation vs. Respect. Mythic beliefs.
Stage 4: Moral/Patriotic. Rules; Initiative. Shame and guilt vs. conformity and conventionality; purpose, virtue. Systematized truths. Emotional, nostalgic beliefs.
Stage 5: Materialist. Reasoning; mental analysis. Rational beliefs, truth; goodness; consumerism, greed. Head vs. heart. Progressive if rewarded, compulsive, workaholic. Perspective. Rational beliefs.
Stage 6: Wise Empath. Service, rapport, intimacy, empathy. Politically correct.. Inner wisdom, meaning. Self-actualization. Intuitive, mystical beliefs.
Stage 7: Distancer/Self. Paradoxical; individuated, reclusive; universalist. Deconstruction and Synthesis, gestalt, the big picture. Integral, synergetic beliefs.
Stage 8: Global Village. Complex Dynamic Beliefs. Post-Metaphysical Integrative Spirituality. “Express Self Now, but not at the expense of Others or the World, so that Life May Continue.” Integrative Sustainable beliefs.
Fear & Loathing in the Temporal Lobes
EPILEPSY AND SPIRITUALITY
“Fear and Loathing in the Temporal Lobes”
Iona Miller, 9/2003, http://ionatopia.50megs.com
Abstract: The origins of individuality can be found in neurological correlates and even in pathologies. Abnormalities in the temporal lobes (TLE) caused by genetics, injury, or infections can lead to amplification of spiritual characteristics in the personality. Temporal lobe seizures mimic or perhaps even embody certain essentially religious experiences. This tendency may be reinforced by a kindling process potentiating pathways to the amygdala and other parts of the brain. Emotional tone and multisensory content of these experiences is dependent on which lobe and portion of the temporal lobes become unstable and subject to seizures, clincal or sub-clinical. The phenomena which appear pathologically in TLE can also appear in the general population, and are often even encouraged by the practice of meditation. The union of brain science and theology is called neurotheology which studies all related religious and spiritual phenomena and their neurological roots.
Introduction
The origins of individuality can be found in neurological correlates. We all have a cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus (gateway to memory and integration of outer and inner reality), amygdala (mediates motivation, affect and and meaning), and limbic system (emotional center).
However, there are variations in their dynamics from individual to individual for a variety of psychophysical reasons. A tangle of genetic, neuroendocrinal, and neurochemical roots, as well as psychological or physical traumatic experiences, underlie many behavioral anomalies.
The brain regulates the functioning of the body through the release of hormones, and those hormones, in turn, regulate the functioning of the brain. Thus, clusters of neurons carry on complex operations, which influence organs and glands throughout the body, as information moves from one end of a neuron to another and across plastic synaptic junctions.
Populations of neurons interact through excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Individual distinctions can be seen in stress responses by inhibition and long-term potentiation of neural networks.
Behavioral biology plays an important role in individual behavior. Our biology challenges us on many levels from survival and adaptation to cherished beliefs and deepest fears. We cannot predict our inner world any more than we can predict the world around us.
Complex cultural settings determine how much of a problem manifestations of these anomalies are for each person. Disorders that were once called witchcraft, demonic possession or thought divine now have medical or neuropsychiatric names with biological explanations.
The biological continuum describes all individuals but provides no clear definition of what is “normal.” Often it is difficult to determine where “normal” stops and “abnormal” begins. This is particularly the case when sub-clinical, non-epileptic (NES) or mini-seizures affect the temporal lobe of the brain.
Among the most electrically unstable portions of the brain, the temporal lobes are quite sensitive to extremely low magnetic frequencies (Persinger). There is a continuum of temporal lobe lability or sensitivity, and even normal individuals have sub-clinical microseizures frequently, particularly during REM or dreams. The full-blown effects of such electrical storms are seen in petit mal and grand mal seizures of epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures propagate across the brain through a process called “kindling.” Nerve signals are amplified exponentially, resulting in a chaotic electrical storm that can entrain more than one brain area. For example, in temporal lobe epilepsy, spreading includes the temporal lobe, underlying limbic structures and hippocampus; all of them fire in an overexcited manner, especially if serotonin levels are low.
Epilepsy is triggered by different parts of the brain. Behavioral changes immediately preceding an epileptic seizure indicate what portion of the brain is the focus of the seizure. Electrical lability, or seizures in the temporal lobes do not usually cause physical convulsions, unless they propagate to the motor regions.
The temporal lobes host many structures and functions including memory, orientation of self in space and time, interpretations of meaning and emotional significance, organization of audio and visual patterns, smell, and language. Local discharges can be potentiated by specific memory recall or extremely low biofrequency magnetic fields penetrating brain tissue.
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is accompanied by classic personality changes. Though some researchers disagree, attributed characteristics include the following: loss of humor; intense affect; moodswings (peaks or highs, depressions, distortions, aggression); suggestibility; existential anxiety; neophobia; hypergraphia; an intense active interest in dreams, religion and philosophy; reports of psi experiences. Supreme faith is placed in the validity of subjective experience. They accept logical incongruities, displaying a rigid core of private beliefs.
This later spiritual interest can be rooted in subjective experiences of a variety of phenomena kindled by electrical instabilities in the brain. They include, but are not limited to depersonalization, time distortion, anxiety or panic, floating or falling sensations, peripheral imagery, a sense of presence either sacred or malefic, apparitions, downloading of memory sequences and false memory confabulations or fantasies, voices and visionary experiences ranging from heavenly to hellish, and a panoply of psychophysical manifestations.
With TLE, unusual experiences are assigned special personal meaning. We all like to believe we are unique individuals unlike anyone who has ever existed. Our self-images are conditioned by our multisensory interpretations of our experiences and feedback from others as well as our existential situation. The limbic system, which determines how actively we engage our environment, is conditioned by early developmental history as well as other factors.
The amygdala, or “emotional sentinel”, is “calibrated” through early subjective perceptions of what it is like to be in the world, whether it is safe and cozy, or toxic and threatening (Goleman). Such conditioning could begin in the womb where the fetus is subject to both the emotional and biochemical reactions and indulgences of the mother. If the womb is toxic the fetus perceives this in a multisensory way that may condition self-image.
Fear Factor
We all have fears, but some of us experience periods of time when we feel overwhelmed by either vague or specific fears and anxieties. The autonomic system is regulated by emotions as well as thoughts, not to mention the fight/flight responses of sympathetic arousal.
Among all the upsetting notions humans can experience, perhaps the fear of death is at the top of the list. Our mortality is a difficult prospect to contemplate; yet the evidence clearly surrounds us. Death always stands at the ready or rides piggyback with us, ready to be our advisor, whispering in our ear, making its presence known. Even denial cannot keep the natural foreboding at bay.
Confrontations with death aroused superstitious and spiritual feelings in our ancient ancestors that led from increasingly elaborate burial procedures, to shamanic practices to assuage unknown powers, and eventually to the growth of the world’s major religions with their notions of finer planes of existence and the varieties of afterlife.
Coupled with powerful experiential episodes, such as mystic transport with and without shamanic plants, near-death experiences and grave illness, strong beliefs arose within the heart of humanity. They were shared with others becoming fixed ideas, philosophies and organized religions. Historically, perhaps more wars have been fought over competing ideologies than over territory.
Fear of death or powerful subjective experiences can also lead to idiosyncratic spiritual ideas and practices. Again neural networks come into play as the bases of memory, pain, coping, and creativity.
The focus sharpens when one loses self-esteem and self-identity through loss of confidence and “control” in the performance of the body or perceptions of the mind. Both come powerfully into play in epilepsy. This can create a strong sense of conviction, destiny, fate or even mission, which will be aggressively defended.
Is it possible to identify epilepsy as a true cause of sudden religious conversion, such as Saul of Tarsus becoming Paul on the road to Damascus, or the deep convictions of Muhammad who wrote the Koran after the onset of his seizures, or the voices and divine visions of Moses, Ezekiel, St. Teresa of Avila, Swedenborg, Kierkegaard, even Joseph Smith? Black Elk had seizures before his grand “buffalo” vision.
Could a simple head injury, infection or mutation in a single gene, for example, lead to such a fundamental shift or revelation in worldview? TLE is a mixed blessing at best, perhaps at the core of many noted artists and religious figures. TLE shapes the personality, the self-concept. Vast depolarizng waves cascade across the brain. As well as intense periods of creativity and euphoria there may be periods of panic or fear for no reason, even confusion, hallucinations, and rage.
The temporal lobe plays a key role in emotional stability. It interprets and integrates input to give it meaning, in the deeply emotional rather than intellectual sense. Of course not every unusual experience, religious impulse, or bright idea comes from faulty electrical action and cascading seizures, or they would would lose all meaning.
Rapture of the Neurological Deep
How do we get from existential anxieties about death to intensely personal spiritual experience? Many of our spiritual notions come from the reports of the dying, or those with near-death experiences (NDEs). When the brain begins to shut down certain typical experiences appear as each of the major areas of the brain crash and billions of functional neurons heave their last gasp (McKinney).
Deeply embedded neurons in the brainstem are among the last to go. Unless the brain is physically destroyed, dying is a process. It doesn’t instantly collapse, but degrades in a somewhat predictable manner with associated characteristic phenomena.
Meanwhile, there is a regression toward the oceanic feelings of life in the womb as the process of birth gets played in reverse and we return to eternity. We journey back through earlier forms of consciousness, in a dreamy haze once the frontal lobes cease their rationalizing and abstractions.
As in dreams there are irregular bursts of neural static and discharge (Hobson) that affect the visual, affective, motor, orientation, time, and memory areas. There is no more chronological sequencing of events. Our experience of dying is synthesized holistically from the confabulation of all these elements. We may be unconscious and yet still somewhat aware with scintillating electrical surges creating their last faltering messages as they fail.
We dissociate from the body. As in deep meditation, attention is withdrawn from the extremities and external senses. We return to a simpler mode of being, the undifferentiated mind, where time seems endless, if it exists at all. As oxygen levels drop, and opiate-like endorphins are dumped into the system, the sense of peace and contentment may rise along with our spirits. Phantasmogorical images flood our awareness.
Between the dissociation from the body and the last glimpse of light, we may experience a culturally conditioned transcendence. Some might say the soul leaves the body as it journeys into the Light. Bright white light may be the melding of all colors of the visual spectrum once the visual cortex is disinhibited.
Perhaps as many as 1/3 of those coming close to death report a characeristic group of experiences. Bruce Greyson, in a paper in Varieties of Anomalous Experience (Cardena et al), lists the common elements of adult near-death experiences and aftereffects:
Ineffability
Hearing oneself pronounced dead
Feelings of peace and quiet
Hearing unusual noises
Seeing a dark tunnel
Being “out of the body”
Meeting “spiritual beings”
Experiencing a bright light as a “being of light”
Panoramic life review
Experiencing a realm in which all knowledge exists
Experiencing cities of light
Experiencing a realm of bewildered spirits
Experiencing a “supernatural rescue”
Sensing a border or limit
Coming back “into the body”
Frustration relating experiences to others
Subtle “broadening and deepening” of life
Elimination of fear of death
Corroboration of events witnessed while “out of the body”
The reports of those with near-death experiences moving through a tunnel toward the light, accompanied by ancestors, deceased friends and their cultural divinities are now well known (Ring; Moody; Sabom). A minority experience emotional problems requiring psychosocial rehabilitation following NDEs, including anger and depression at having been “returned” perhaps unwillingly, broken relationships, disrupted career, alienation, post-traumatic stress disorder, “social death” (Greyson).
Gradual death is often gentle, creating its own palliative. Heavens and hells are fully immersive virtual reality constructions of our dying neural networks. But when the brain comes close to an irreversible coma on the journey towards death, the great endarkening comes before any great enlightenment. Hence many with NDEs do not report seeing the Light and may even focus on their experiences as being intensely negative in content and tone.
Unable to calm their disoriented mind, their dismal experience is largely one of panic, pain, and terror. This may be the result of toxins in the blood including carbon dioxide buildup. If we die a sudden violent death, we may miss heaven, but mercifully we will never know that.
The whole process may be greatly compounded by the release of powerful endogenous hallucinogenic DMT from the pineal gland (Strassman). In highly stressful situations, such as birth, sexual ecstasy, extreme physical distress, childbirth, near-death and death, the normal inhibitions against the production and circulation of this potent mind-bending “spirit molecule” are over-ridden. Massive DMT dumps may also create intense visions of blinding white light, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, and powerful presence.
A neurobiological model proposed by Saavedra-Aguilar and Gomez-Jeria suggests temporal-lobe dysfunction, hypoxia, psychophysical stress, and neurotransmitter changes combine to induce epileptiform discharges in the hippocampus and amygdala. They contribute to life review and and complex visual hallucinations.
When the visual cortex begins to crash (Blackmore), there is a cascade of distorted imagery, then a shift down the color spectrum toward primeval redness and impenetrable black. Maybe there is still a dull glow or scintillating pinpoints of light, like stars in some inner universe.
As the reticular activating system dies there may be a final burst of distant light, somehow familiar from the very dawn of our existence. As our last cells die, the mind is finally unwound. We have closed the circle of life and entered the Great Beyond.
TLTs and the Spiritual Personality
Are some people predisposed to psychism, mystical visions, or religious zeal? What lies at the root of the personality driven to pursue the spiritual quest, often characterized as a “seeker”? How does one come by an intensely personal, even idiosyncratic relationship with either gods or demons, aliens or nature spirits? Are we hardwired for religious beliefs?
The shamanic personality, which is characterized by an early mental and physical healing crisis, is typically considered to have “a foot in both worlds,” the ordinary and the Great Unknown. It is this quality that makes them able to “journey” to other worlds, the underworld, or the heights. Euphoria and ecstasies come coupled with anxiety and incapacitating terror.
The psychic quality opens them to dreamlike voices and visions, premonitions, ancestral and spectral images and communications, as well as an ability to pass into and return from the realm of the dead. Feelings of oneness with all life can nurture personalities that are charismatic and create instant and powerful rapport, even spontaneous trance states and healing in others. Shamans, nature mystics or medicine people were leaders within their tribal societies.
All these qualities are correlated with the sub-clinical and TLE syndrome. Can this possibly have given rise to the ancient notion that the “falling sickness” was a “divine” disorder, dictated by the gods? Some great leaders, such as Julius Caesar, were perceived as immortals; despite the infirmity; it did not diminish and may have increased their personal power. Rather than bipolar, was Joan of Arc experiencing non-epileptic seizures or left-lobe epilepsy?
Does their seeming fearlessness arise from the intimate knowledge of the eternal “otherside.” Memory works by tapping neural networks necessary to find the information. Temporal episodes, overlapping projections of networks, can simultaneously “download” unrelated memories creating seemingly new meaningful feeling-colored experiences. They correlate with “fugue states”, flashbacks, beatific states, oceanic consciousness, and cosmic insights.
Ramachandran attributes increased emotional intensity to the kindling or potentiating of the pathway between the temporal lobe and amygdala, heightening the significance of stimuli. What is deemed meaningful becomes extraordinarily meaningful. Images of religious images or words can even be preferred over those of a sexual nature.
Some parts of the brain can block input into others. When certain portions of the brain are inhibited, such as the cingulate gyrus and orientation center, out of body experiences create a sense of floating or transport. When the parietal lobe is blocked of sensory input sense of self and world merges. The hippocampus no longer provides a “reality check.” Loss of sense of time leads to atemporal reveries and ecstasies. When cascades spread across the brain, they can entrain the auditory, visual, olfactory, or taste centers.
Overdriving the frontal cortex with induced pain, concentration or steady, regular stimulation to the CNS enhances the effect leading to disinhibition. Personal crisis, oxygen deprivation, low blood sugar, repressed serotonin levels, or fatigue amplify the process. In neurological terms, sensitization is a term meaning a stimulus that did not have an effect on the ANS now does. The effects, either anomalous or from meditation, can be spontaneous or cumulative.
This, of course, also relates directly to stress-induced syndromes. Neuroelectrical activity cranked up beyond a certain threshold creates travelling and rotating waves that form complex interference patterns (Mandell). Physical and psychological stress can cause changes in the amount of hormones secreted, affecting general health and reproductive interest and ability. Conversely hormones affect the brain.
TICKLING THE GOD MODULE
We are wired to experience God. Different researchers have slightly different names for the religious syndrome. Ramachandran calls it “the God module.” Persinger calls it the “God experience”. Both researchers indicate waves of temporal lobe excitation with hemispheric coherence underlie spiritual experience and religious belief. “The Kingdom of heaven is within.”
It is reported Dostoevsky said his seizures gave him “feelings of magnificence, abundance, eternity.” Poe and Lewis Carrol brought their novel distorted perceptions into their writing to the delight of millions. Van Gogh was prolific, though tormented, unconnective, and codependent. Writers from Tennyson to Philip K. Dick have turned their infirmity to their advantage.
When they could easily moderate them with anticonvulsants, many individuals still choose to endure their symptoms rather than relinquish glimpses of the psychic fireworks it brings. Still, neuroscientists are the first to admit that God is not reduceable to a neuroelectrical flux. But stress, particularly loss of a loved one, definitely facilitates the God experience. Elevated stress hormones can trigger the temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus.
Persinger has tickled the temporal lobes of enough individuals to define the parameters of electromagnetic shifts on brain function. The recent medical use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to relieve a variety of psychological symptoms such as depression indicates that the mind may be an electromagnetic field.
Not all those with intense spiritual experiences have temporal lobe epilepsy. Meditators often sit for years before experiencing the slightest tingles or visions of light. But often once manifestations begin, they increase in frequency and tend to stabilize. They can come as sounds, smells, intense feeling, visonary landscapes or forms of living entities, or amorphous lights. These inner experiences feel as real or seem more real than external perception.
The study of how the brain creates god experiences is the province of the embryonic field of neurotheology. As the marriage of brain science with theology, it systematically describes the relationship between humans, God and the universe in neurological terms (Miller, 2003).
But just because we can say the brain declares, “Let there be God,” doesn’t mean a higher power does not exist. When God said, “Let there be Light,” perhaps it also meant the electrical impulses that vivify, provide meaning and enlighten our mundane existence. Visions cannot be judged solely on the neurological basis but must be judged for their own merit and validity. Not all visions are pathological, nor all visionaries or spiritual adepts epileptics.
Subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism and the religious impulse. The brain is hard-wired for mystical experiences, perhaps as an adaptation to soothe the stress incured in daily life. Peak experiences, raptures, epiphanies, even illumination are potentially available to everyone. Spontaneous transient electrical choas in the temporal lobes is perfectly normal, making the God experience an artifact of healthy function.
We can learn to make space, time and personality dissolve. Fear dissolves too as we kiss the feet of eternity. All we have to do is withdraw our attention from the senses and interrupt certain brain circuits. These experiences can also be induced neuromagnetically with new technologies, and non-invasively with “brainwave drivers” such as the frequency-following response or binaural beat technology (Monroe).
The god experience is a process in which one learns to embody spiritual being, infusing life with meaning. The soul soars, freed from the prison of ego, mind and body. It brings in its wake oceanic expansion, suspension of time, space and ego, sudden insight, childlike wonder, exaltation, gnosis, fusion.
Appendix & References Appendix A: The TLE Syndrome
TLE is often undiagnosed as subjects often forget a simple but crucial injury to the head, even in childhood, such as falling down stairs, car wrecks, swimming injuries, or a host of other everyday bumps and jolts. The soft temporal lobes are vulnerable to injury any time they bump against the hard skull.
Dr. Daniel Amen says temporal lobe functions include auditory processes, ventral visual stream, auditory input, visual object recognition and classification, long term storage of sensory input. It links with the amygdala which adds the emotional tone to sensory input and memories. The hippocampus helps us navigate and determine where we are in space.
Primary functions of the dominant side (usually the left) include perception of words and processing of language related sounds, sequential analysis, increased blood flow during speech perception, processing details, intermediate and long term memory, auditory learning and retrieval of words, visual and auditory processing, and complex memories.
So instabilities or damage to the left lobe create problems such as emotional instability, decreased verbal memory, difficulty categorizing words or pictures, failing to understand words in context, internally and externally driven aggression, dark or violent thoughts, sensitivity to slights and mild paranoia, auditory processing problems, and reading difficulties.
Non-dominant side (usually the right) temporal functions include perception of melodies, pitch and rhythm, social cues, reading facial expressions, and vocal intonation, visual learning, and increased blood flow during tonal memory. Problems include recall of shapes, faces, and tunes; inept social skills, trouble reading social cues and context; decreased attention to visual input; trouble processing music and visual imagery.
Problems in either or both lobes create troubles with memories, fears, confusion, anxiety, abnormal sensory perceptions, visual and auditory hallucinations, spaciness or amnesia, déjà vu and jamais vu, unusual abdominal pain or headaches, religious or moral preoccupation, excessive writing, overemphasis on trivia, and of course seizures.
Dr. Amen sums up the symptomology with ten defining points: 1). Disturbance of auditory sensation and perception; 2). Disturbance of selective attention of auditory and visual input; 3). Disorders of visual perception; 4). Impaired organization and categorization of verbal material; 5). Disturbance of language comprehension; 6). Decreased long term memory; 7). Altered personality and affective development; 8). Altered sexual behavior; 9). Inability to perceive or remember events; 10). Damage to the inferior aspect of the temporal lobe – decreased memory in proportion to tissue damaged.
APPENDIX B
Personal Philosophy Inventory (Makarec and Persinger, 1990)
(Sample items indicating complex partial epileptic temporal lobe signs.)
While sitting quietly, I have had uplifting sensations as if I were driving over a rolling road.
I often feel as if things are not real.
At least once, before falling down, I had an intense smell from childhood, apparently for no reason.
Once, in a crowded place, I suddenly could not recognize where I was.
I have had a vision.
People tell me I "blank out" sometimes when we're talking.
When relaxed or before falling asleep I sometimes feel pleasant vibrations moving through my body.
Sometimes in the very early morning hours I have meaningful experiences.
I have heard an inner voice call my name.
I use hunches more than simple learning to solve new problems.
Sometimes an event occurs that has special significance for me only.
I have had experiences where I felt as if I were somewhere else.
There have been brief times when I felt very close to a Universal Consciousness.
I have had dreams of floating or flying through the air.
At least once in my life I have felt the presence of another being.
(Sample items indicating Psi experiences or exotic beliefs)
I have been taken aboard a space ship.
I would like to time travel.
When I have a tough decision a sign will be given and I will know what to do.
If God told me to kill, I would do it in His name.
I think there is a good possibility that I have lived a previous life.
Telepathy is a real phenomenon.
An inner voice has told me where to find something and it was there.
Alien intelligence is probably responsible for UFOs.
I have felt as if I have left my body.
APPENDIX C
Subjective Experiences Questionnaire (Ruttan, Persinger and Koren, 1990) {exit survey}
( Sample items indicating targeted experiences test for vestibular, depersonalization, and imaginings.)
I felt dizzy or odd.
I felt the presence of someone or something near me.
There were tingling sensations.
I saw vivid images.
There were pleasant vibrations moving through my body.
I heard an inner voice call my name or speak to me.
I experienced anger.
I experienced sadness.
The experience did not come from my own mind.
I heard a ticking sound.
There were odd smells.
I experienced terror or fear.
There were odd tastes in my mouth.
I felt as if I were somewhere else.
I experienced thoughts from childhood.
The same idea kept occurring.
I felt as if I were spinning around.
There were images from dreams I've had.
The red light became brighter or darker.
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The current hypothesis is that Positron Emission Tomography can demonstrate which specific limbic structures are involved in the expression of these altered states on an approximately linear relationship between the continuum of emotionality and the continuum of involvement of cerebral structures ranging from cortical temporal lobe to hippocampal/amygdaloid structures to core basal limbic structures; in effect, the deeper the activation, the deeper the emotion. Retention of the null hypothesis would require either a) subjects who represent a normal population demonstrate no affective experiences on the SEQ as a result of the stimulus, or b) affective experiences are reported but limbic regions are not shown to be involved.
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE RESEARCH
http://www.stnews.org/News-787.htm
Having a near death experience can change a person’s entire life, including one’s brain, researchers have discovered.
Researcher Willoughby Britton, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona, studied the brain waves of people who have had positive, transformative near death experiences and found their brain patterns distinctive when compared with people who didn’t have a brush with death.
“It’s interesting to see why some people are transformed and why some people aren’t and whether studying people with positive near death experiences can help the people who have negative experiences,” Britton said. “It’s a profound personality overhaul.”
Britton compared the brainwaves of sleeping subjects and found a distinct spike in activity in the temporal lobe of people with near death experiences.
The brain’s temporal lobe has often been implicated in reports of near death experiences that closely mirror what epileptics feel during a seizure: feelings of peace and tranquility, encountering a bright light and increased sensitivity to smells and sounds.
The temporal lobe, Britton said, is considered “the God module, the part of the brain that connects with the transcendent.” Surprisingly, however, all of the activity that Britton recorded was from the left half of the brain not the right half, which is more often associated with visual and spatial creativity.
“One hundred percent of the activity came from the left side, which, in itself, is very unusual,” said Britton. “There’s no reason for someone to have an accident and just have one side of their brain affected.”
All those in Britton’s study who came close to dying scored higher on an evaluation of their ability to cope with stressful situations than their counterparts.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D06E4DE1E38F930A25757C0A9629C8B63
The scientists assumed that the near-death group would show patterns of brain activity similar to those seen in temporal lobe epileptics, who often describe undergoing spiritual out-of-body events during seizures. The abnormal activity, however, did not spring up in the right temporal lobe, as is sometimes the case with epilepsy. Instead, the activity appeared almost exclusively in the left temporal lobe.
Unexpectedly, the researchers also found that the participants, like many people who suffer depression, had abnormal sleep patterns. But unlike people with depression, who move unusually quickly into the rapid eye movement or REM phase of sleep, the subjects who reported near-death experiences took an unusually long time to move into REM.
PDF: Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobes by Willoughby Britton
http://matrix.aklab.psych.ubc.ca/uploads/Amelia_Neardeath_PS.pdf#search=%22temporal%20lobes%20willoughby%20britton%22
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 57, 1255-1262. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 1983
RELIGIOUS AND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES AS ARTIFACTS OF
TEMPORAL LOBE FUNCTION: A GENERAL HYPOTHESIS
Micheal A. Persinger
Laurentian University
Summary: Mystical and religious experiences are hypothesized to be evoked by transient, electrical microseizures within deep structures of the temporal lobe. Although experiential details are affected by context and reinforcement history, basic themes reflect the inclusion of different amygdaloid-hippocampal structures and adjacent cortices. Whereas the unusual electrical coherence allows access to infantile memories of parents, a source of god expectations, specific stimulation evokes out-of-body experiences, space-time distortions, intense meaningfulness, and dreamy scenes. The species-specific similarities in temporal lobe properties enhance the homogeneity of cross- cultural experiences. They exist along a continuum that ranges from “early morning highs” to recurrent bouts of conversion and dominating religiosity. Predisposing factors include any biochemical or genetic factors that produce temporal lobe lability. A variety of precipitating stimuli provoke these experiences, but personal (life) crises and death bed conditions are optimal. These temporal lobe microseizures can be learned as responses to existential trauma because stimulation is of powerful intrinsic reward regions and reduction of death anxiety occurs. The implications of these transients as potent modifiers of human behavior are considered.
The neuropsychological basis of religious experiences and God beliefs has avoided by behavioral scientists. Yet these experiences, in conjunction the confrontation and attenuation of death anxiety, constitute a major class of human behaviors whose frequency is rivaled only by sex and aggression. This paper briefly describes a general hypothesis that religious and mystical experiences are normal consequences of spontaneous biogenic stimulation of temporal lobe structures. The numbers, composition, and intensity of these experiences reflect a continuum of temporal lobe stability. Each human being may be located somewhere along this dimension.
The temporal lobe of the human brain is an optimal locus for the creation of religious experiences. Cortical and deep structures (primarily the amygdaloid and hippocampal complexes) are associated with the sense of “self” in relationship to time and space, the memory-dependent conception of their limits primary affective components of anticipation, especially of nociceptive events. Given copious inputs from languaging centers (Gloor, 1972), all of these experiences are influenced by suggestion and by the rich imagery-evoking sequences of metaphorical language. It is not surprising that anticipation of self-dissolution, death anxiety, would emerge within this context.
Deep telencephalic structures have acquired particular importance in human development. Experiences of self and the propensity for self-preservation have been elaborated upon the general amygdaloid role of hypothalamic modulation. The amygdala contains representations of motivational states and their affective (pleasure or reward versus pain or punishment) dimensions. Whereas crude (and wide spread) stimulation evokes fear (Weingarten, Cherlow, & Holmgren, 1977) and general anxiety (anticipation of negative stimuli), more subtle stimulation evokes intense meaningfulness and peak experiences; the latter are often in conjunction with altered body perceptions, such as out-of-body experiences (Jasper & Rasmussen, 1958) or convictions of cosmic communion.
Intricate and highly organized connections between deep structures and the overlying associative cortices allow complex memories and language to control the evocation of amygdaloid experiences. Consequently, they can be infused with the details of context and determined by the expectancy of the person. Plentiful opiate receptor sites in this portion of the amygdala and along the temporal pole (Pay, 1982) allow positive experiences to be influenced by a chemical dimension that ranges from synthetic substances (morphine derivatives) to the enkephalin physiology of life crises.
Considering the direct connections to the dorsomedial portions of the thalamus and orbital frontal lobes, time distortions (e.g., viewing eternity in a split second) would not be unexpected. Sudden amygdaloid stimulation and alteration of the sense of self in space-time could momentarily alter hippocampal function and change memory reference. The alteration may range from institution of memories that appear to be “old and real” to the conviction that something meaningful and intensely personal has happened (although the details are vague). A significant portion of them would be characterized by a long latency between the time of the experience and its report.
Three important physiological properties target the temporal lobe as the source of mystical/religious experiences. Post-stimulation electrical instability, an intrinsic feature of deep structures, allows the creation of transient neuronal firing patterns that do not necessarily represent concurrent sensory input. Instead, they could incorporate combinations of memory and fantasy, but still within the context of the moment. This region is well known for its capacity to generate learned seizures (kindling); antithetically, conditioned inhibition of seizure patterns, is also predictable and has been observed (Efron, 1957).
Second, these areas are prone to vascular anomalies such as transient vasospasms. They are now considered a primary cause of hallucinatory experiences (Altura & Altura, 1981). The recent evolutionary changes in the position of Ammon’s horn, including the formation of an extra gyrus to accommodate this development, has fostered vasospasmogenic potential due to the odd cytoarchitecture. This is enhanced by the conspicuous coronal asymmetry of the Sylvian fissures (LeMay, 1982) which contribute to unusual electrical discrepancies between the two hemispheres.
The plasticity of temporal lobe neuronal and glial populations are exceptional. Cellular membranes in this region are prone to both interneuronal and neuronal-glial fusion, an important predisposing factor to psychomotor epilepsy (Schwartzkroin, 1983); within less extreme conditions, it aids unusual mixtures of cell ensembles. They can be affected by vitamin B deficiencies, hormonal fluctuations, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and tumorogenesis, to which these structures are particularly sensitive (Breggin, 1979). Although postnatal neurogenesis has not been clearly demonstrated in man, this area displays environmental-dependent alterations in dendritic arborbization that are evident even by light microscopy (Buell & Coleman, 1979).
According to the hypothesis, the actual mystical or religious experience is evoked by a transient (a few seconds), very focal, electrical display within the temporal lobe. Such temporal lobe transients (TLTs) would be analogous to electrical microseizures without any obvious motor components; some facial expressions, such as ecstasy and occasional lacrimation would be noticeable. Lip smacking, facial distortions, automatisms, and vagal glossopharyngeal-mediated vocalization (speaking in tongues), followed by amnesia, would occur in more extreme conditions. Although most TLTs should be subcortical in origin, some would be represented within electroencephalic (EEG) profiles. They would be characterized by local, perhaps even lead- specific, transient, seizure-like signatures surrounded by normal activity.
EPILEPSY AND SPIRITUALITY
“Fear and Loathing in the Temporal Lobes”
Iona Miller, 9/2003, http://ionatopia.50megs.com
Abstract: The origins of individuality can be found in neurological correlates and even in pathologies. Abnormalities in the temporal lobes (TLE) caused by genetics, injury, or infections can lead to amplification of spiritual characteristics in the personality. Temporal lobe seizures mimic or perhaps even embody certain essentially religious experiences. This tendency may be reinforced by a kindling process potentiating pathways to the amygdala and other parts of the brain. Emotional tone and multisensory content of these experiences is dependent on which lobe and portion of the temporal lobes become unstable and subject to seizures, clincal or sub-clinical. The phenomena which appear pathologically in TLE can also appear in the general population, and are often even encouraged by the practice of meditation. The union of brain science and theology is called neurotheology which studies all related religious and spiritual phenomena and their neurological roots.
Introduction
The origins of individuality can be found in neurological correlates. We all have a cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus (gateway to memory and integration of outer and inner reality), amygdala (mediates motivation, affect and and meaning), and limbic system (emotional center).
However, there are variations in their dynamics from individual to individual for a variety of psychophysical reasons. A tangle of genetic, neuroendocrinal, and neurochemical roots, as well as psychological or physical traumatic experiences, underlie many behavioral anomalies.
The brain regulates the functioning of the body through the release of hormones, and those hormones, in turn, regulate the functioning of the brain. Thus, clusters of neurons carry on complex operations, which influence organs and glands throughout the body, as information moves from one end of a neuron to another and across plastic synaptic junctions.
Populations of neurons interact through excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters. Individual distinctions can be seen in stress responses by inhibition and long-term potentiation of neural networks.
Behavioral biology plays an important role in individual behavior. Our biology challenges us on many levels from survival and adaptation to cherished beliefs and deepest fears. We cannot predict our inner world any more than we can predict the world around us.
Complex cultural settings determine how much of a problem manifestations of these anomalies are for each person. Disorders that were once called witchcraft, demonic possession or thought divine now have medical or neuropsychiatric names with biological explanations.
The biological continuum describes all individuals but provides no clear definition of what is “normal.” Often it is difficult to determine where “normal” stops and “abnormal” begins. This is particularly the case when sub-clinical, non-epileptic (NES) or mini-seizures affect the temporal lobe of the brain.
Among the most electrically unstable portions of the brain, the temporal lobes are quite sensitive to extremely low magnetic frequencies (Persinger). There is a continuum of temporal lobe lability or sensitivity, and even normal individuals have sub-clinical microseizures frequently, particularly during REM or dreams. The full-blown effects of such electrical storms are seen in petit mal and grand mal seizures of epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures propagate across the brain through a process called “kindling.” Nerve signals are amplified exponentially, resulting in a chaotic electrical storm that can entrain more than one brain area. For example, in temporal lobe epilepsy, spreading includes the temporal lobe, underlying limbic structures and hippocampus; all of them fire in an overexcited manner, especially if serotonin levels are low.
Epilepsy is triggered by different parts of the brain. Behavioral changes immediately preceding an epileptic seizure indicate what portion of the brain is the focus of the seizure. Electrical lability, or seizures in the temporal lobes do not usually cause physical convulsions, unless they propagate to the motor regions.
The temporal lobes host many structures and functions including memory, orientation of self in space and time, interpretations of meaning and emotional significance, organization of audio and visual patterns, smell, and language. Local discharges can be potentiated by specific memory recall or extremely low biofrequency magnetic fields penetrating brain tissue.
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is accompanied by classic personality changes. Though some researchers disagree, attributed characteristics include the following: loss of humor; intense affect; moodswings (peaks or highs, depressions, distortions, aggression); suggestibility; existential anxiety; neophobia; hypergraphia; an intense active interest in dreams, religion and philosophy; reports of psi experiences. Supreme faith is placed in the validity of subjective experience. They accept logical incongruities, displaying a rigid core of private beliefs.
This later spiritual interest can be rooted in subjective experiences of a variety of phenomena kindled by electrical instabilities in the brain. They include, but are not limited to depersonalization, time distortion, anxiety or panic, floating or falling sensations, peripheral imagery, a sense of presence either sacred or malefic, apparitions, downloading of memory sequences and false memory confabulations or fantasies, voices and visionary experiences ranging from heavenly to hellish, and a panoply of psychophysical manifestations.
With TLE, unusual experiences are assigned special personal meaning. We all like to believe we are unique individuals unlike anyone who has ever existed. Our self-images are conditioned by our multisensory interpretations of our experiences and feedback from others as well as our existential situation. The limbic system, which determines how actively we engage our environment, is conditioned by early developmental history as well as other factors.
The amygdala, or “emotional sentinel”, is “calibrated” through early subjective perceptions of what it is like to be in the world, whether it is safe and cozy, or toxic and threatening (Goleman). Such conditioning could begin in the womb where the fetus is subject to both the emotional and biochemical reactions and indulgences of the mother. If the womb is toxic the fetus perceives this in a multisensory way that may condition self-image.
Fear Factor
We all have fears, but some of us experience periods of time when we feel overwhelmed by either vague or specific fears and anxieties. The autonomic system is regulated by emotions as well as thoughts, not to mention the fight/flight responses of sympathetic arousal.
Among all the upsetting notions humans can experience, perhaps the fear of death is at the top of the list. Our mortality is a difficult prospect to contemplate; yet the evidence clearly surrounds us. Death always stands at the ready or rides piggyback with us, ready to be our advisor, whispering in our ear, making its presence known. Even denial cannot keep the natural foreboding at bay.
Confrontations with death aroused superstitious and spiritual feelings in our ancient ancestors that led from increasingly elaborate burial procedures, to shamanic practices to assuage unknown powers, and eventually to the growth of the world’s major religions with their notions of finer planes of existence and the varieties of afterlife.
Coupled with powerful experiential episodes, such as mystic transport with and without shamanic plants, near-death experiences and grave illness, strong beliefs arose within the heart of humanity. They were shared with others becoming fixed ideas, philosophies and organized religions. Historically, perhaps more wars have been fought over competing ideologies than over territory.
Fear of death or powerful subjective experiences can also lead to idiosyncratic spiritual ideas and practices. Again neural networks come into play as the bases of memory, pain, coping, and creativity.
The focus sharpens when one loses self-esteem and self-identity through loss of confidence and “control” in the performance of the body or perceptions of the mind. Both come powerfully into play in epilepsy. This can create a strong sense of conviction, destiny, fate or even mission, which will be aggressively defended.
Is it possible to identify epilepsy as a true cause of sudden religious conversion, such as Saul of Tarsus becoming Paul on the road to Damascus, or the deep convictions of Muhammad who wrote the Koran after the onset of his seizures, or the voices and divine visions of Moses, Ezekiel, St. Teresa of Avila, Swedenborg, Kierkegaard, even Joseph Smith? Black Elk had seizures before his grand “buffalo” vision.
Could a simple head injury, infection or mutation in a single gene, for example, lead to such a fundamental shift or revelation in worldview? TLE is a mixed blessing at best, perhaps at the core of many noted artists and religious figures. TLE shapes the personality, the self-concept. Vast depolarizng waves cascade across the brain. As well as intense periods of creativity and euphoria there may be periods of panic or fear for no reason, even confusion, hallucinations, and rage.
The temporal lobe plays a key role in emotional stability. It interprets and integrates input to give it meaning, in the deeply emotional rather than intellectual sense. Of course not every unusual experience, religious impulse, or bright idea comes from faulty electrical action and cascading seizures, or they would would lose all meaning.
Rapture of the Neurological Deep
How do we get from existential anxieties about death to intensely personal spiritual experience? Many of our spiritual notions come from the reports of the dying, or those with near-death experiences (NDEs). When the brain begins to shut down certain typical experiences appear as each of the major areas of the brain crash and billions of functional neurons heave their last gasp (McKinney).
Deeply embedded neurons in the brainstem are among the last to go. Unless the brain is physically destroyed, dying is a process. It doesn’t instantly collapse, but degrades in a somewhat predictable manner with associated characteristic phenomena.
Meanwhile, there is a regression toward the oceanic feelings of life in the womb as the process of birth gets played in reverse and we return to eternity. We journey back through earlier forms of consciousness, in a dreamy haze once the frontal lobes cease their rationalizing and abstractions.
As in dreams there are irregular bursts of neural static and discharge (Hobson) that affect the visual, affective, motor, orientation, time, and memory areas. There is no more chronological sequencing of events. Our experience of dying is synthesized holistically from the confabulation of all these elements. We may be unconscious and yet still somewhat aware with scintillating electrical surges creating their last faltering messages as they fail.
We dissociate from the body. As in deep meditation, attention is withdrawn from the extremities and external senses. We return to a simpler mode of being, the undifferentiated mind, where time seems endless, if it exists at all. As oxygen levels drop, and opiate-like endorphins are dumped into the system, the sense of peace and contentment may rise along with our spirits. Phantasmogorical images flood our awareness.
Between the dissociation from the body and the last glimpse of light, we may experience a culturally conditioned transcendence. Some might say the soul leaves the body as it journeys into the Light. Bright white light may be the melding of all colors of the visual spectrum once the visual cortex is disinhibited.
Perhaps as many as 1/3 of those coming close to death report a characeristic group of experiences. Bruce Greyson, in a paper in Varieties of Anomalous Experience (Cardena et al), lists the common elements of adult near-death experiences and aftereffects:
Ineffability
Hearing oneself pronounced dead
Feelings of peace and quiet
Hearing unusual noises
Seeing a dark tunnel
Being “out of the body”
Meeting “spiritual beings”
Experiencing a bright light as a “being of light”
Panoramic life review
Experiencing a realm in which all knowledge exists
Experiencing cities of light
Experiencing a realm of bewildered spirits
Experiencing a “supernatural rescue”
Sensing a border or limit
Coming back “into the body”
Frustration relating experiences to others
Subtle “broadening and deepening” of life
Elimination of fear of death
Corroboration of events witnessed while “out of the body”
The reports of those with near-death experiences moving through a tunnel toward the light, accompanied by ancestors, deceased friends and their cultural divinities are now well known (Ring; Moody; Sabom). A minority experience emotional problems requiring psychosocial rehabilitation following NDEs, including anger and depression at having been “returned” perhaps unwillingly, broken relationships, disrupted career, alienation, post-traumatic stress disorder, “social death” (Greyson).
Gradual death is often gentle, creating its own palliative. Heavens and hells are fully immersive virtual reality constructions of our dying neural networks. But when the brain comes close to an irreversible coma on the journey towards death, the great endarkening comes before any great enlightenment. Hence many with NDEs do not report seeing the Light and may even focus on their experiences as being intensely negative in content and tone.
Unable to calm their disoriented mind, their dismal experience is largely one of panic, pain, and terror. This may be the result of toxins in the blood including carbon dioxide buildup. If we die a sudden violent death, we may miss heaven, but mercifully we will never know that.
The whole process may be greatly compounded by the release of powerful endogenous hallucinogenic DMT from the pineal gland (Strassman). In highly stressful situations, such as birth, sexual ecstasy, extreme physical distress, childbirth, near-death and death, the normal inhibitions against the production and circulation of this potent mind-bending “spirit molecule” are over-ridden. Massive DMT dumps may also create intense visions of blinding white light, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, and powerful presence.
A neurobiological model proposed by Saavedra-Aguilar and Gomez-Jeria suggests temporal-lobe dysfunction, hypoxia, psychophysical stress, and neurotransmitter changes combine to induce epileptiform discharges in the hippocampus and amygdala. They contribute to life review and and complex visual hallucinations.
When the visual cortex begins to crash (Blackmore), there is a cascade of distorted imagery, then a shift down the color spectrum toward primeval redness and impenetrable black. Maybe there is still a dull glow or scintillating pinpoints of light, like stars in some inner universe.
As the reticular activating system dies there may be a final burst of distant light, somehow familiar from the very dawn of our existence. As our last cells die, the mind is finally unwound. We have closed the circle of life and entered the Great Beyond.
TLTs and the Spiritual Personality
Are some people predisposed to psychism, mystical visions, or religious zeal? What lies at the root of the personality driven to pursue the spiritual quest, often characterized as a “seeker”? How does one come by an intensely personal, even idiosyncratic relationship with either gods or demons, aliens or nature spirits? Are we hardwired for religious beliefs?
The shamanic personality, which is characterized by an early mental and physical healing crisis, is typically considered to have “a foot in both worlds,” the ordinary and the Great Unknown. It is this quality that makes them able to “journey” to other worlds, the underworld, or the heights. Euphoria and ecstasies come coupled with anxiety and incapacitating terror.
The psychic quality opens them to dreamlike voices and visions, premonitions, ancestral and spectral images and communications, as well as an ability to pass into and return from the realm of the dead. Feelings of oneness with all life can nurture personalities that are charismatic and create instant and powerful rapport, even spontaneous trance states and healing in others. Shamans, nature mystics or medicine people were leaders within their tribal societies.
All these qualities are correlated with the sub-clinical and TLE syndrome. Can this possibly have given rise to the ancient notion that the “falling sickness” was a “divine” disorder, dictated by the gods? Some great leaders, such as Julius Caesar, were perceived as immortals; despite the infirmity; it did not diminish and may have increased their personal power. Rather than bipolar, was Joan of Arc experiencing non-epileptic seizures or left-lobe epilepsy?
Does their seeming fearlessness arise from the intimate knowledge of the eternal “otherside.” Memory works by tapping neural networks necessary to find the information. Temporal episodes, overlapping projections of networks, can simultaneously “download” unrelated memories creating seemingly new meaningful feeling-colored experiences. They correlate with “fugue states”, flashbacks, beatific states, oceanic consciousness, and cosmic insights.
Ramachandran attributes increased emotional intensity to the kindling or potentiating of the pathway between the temporal lobe and amygdala, heightening the significance of stimuli. What is deemed meaningful becomes extraordinarily meaningful. Images of religious images or words can even be preferred over those of a sexual nature.
Some parts of the brain can block input into others. When certain portions of the brain are inhibited, such as the cingulate gyrus and orientation center, out of body experiences create a sense of floating or transport. When the parietal lobe is blocked of sensory input sense of self and world merges. The hippocampus no longer provides a “reality check.” Loss of sense of time leads to atemporal reveries and ecstasies. When cascades spread across the brain, they can entrain the auditory, visual, olfactory, or taste centers.
Overdriving the frontal cortex with induced pain, concentration or steady, regular stimulation to the CNS enhances the effect leading to disinhibition. Personal crisis, oxygen deprivation, low blood sugar, repressed serotonin levels, or fatigue amplify the process. In neurological terms, sensitization is a term meaning a stimulus that did not have an effect on the ANS now does. The effects, either anomalous or from meditation, can be spontaneous or cumulative.
This, of course, also relates directly to stress-induced syndromes. Neuroelectrical activity cranked up beyond a certain threshold creates travelling and rotating waves that form complex interference patterns (Mandell). Physical and psychological stress can cause changes in the amount of hormones secreted, affecting general health and reproductive interest and ability. Conversely hormones affect the brain.
TICKLING THE GOD MODULE
We are wired to experience God. Different researchers have slightly different names for the religious syndrome. Ramachandran calls it “the God module.” Persinger calls it the “God experience”. Both researchers indicate waves of temporal lobe excitation with hemispheric coherence underlie spiritual experience and religious belief. “The Kingdom of heaven is within.”
It is reported Dostoevsky said his seizures gave him “feelings of magnificence, abundance, eternity.” Poe and Lewis Carrol brought their novel distorted perceptions into their writing to the delight of millions. Van Gogh was prolific, though tormented, unconnective, and codependent. Writers from Tennyson to Philip K. Dick have turned their infirmity to their advantage.
When they could easily moderate them with anticonvulsants, many individuals still choose to endure their symptoms rather than relinquish glimpses of the psychic fireworks it brings. Still, neuroscientists are the first to admit that God is not reduceable to a neuroelectrical flux. But stress, particularly loss of a loved one, definitely facilitates the God experience. Elevated stress hormones can trigger the temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus.
Persinger has tickled the temporal lobes of enough individuals to define the parameters of electromagnetic shifts on brain function. The recent medical use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to relieve a variety of psychological symptoms such as depression indicates that the mind may be an electromagnetic field.
Not all those with intense spiritual experiences have temporal lobe epilepsy. Meditators often sit for years before experiencing the slightest tingles or visions of light. But often once manifestations begin, they increase in frequency and tend to stabilize. They can come as sounds, smells, intense feeling, visonary landscapes or forms of living entities, or amorphous lights. These inner experiences feel as real or seem more real than external perception.
The study of how the brain creates god experiences is the province of the embryonic field of neurotheology. As the marriage of brain science with theology, it systematically describes the relationship between humans, God and the universe in neurological terms (Miller, 2003).
But just because we can say the brain declares, “Let there be God,” doesn’t mean a higher power does not exist. When God said, “Let there be Light,” perhaps it also meant the electrical impulses that vivify, provide meaning and enlighten our mundane existence. Visions cannot be judged solely on the neurological basis but must be judged for their own merit and validity. Not all visions are pathological, nor all visionaries or spiritual adepts epileptics.
Subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism and the religious impulse. The brain is hard-wired for mystical experiences, perhaps as an adaptation to soothe the stress incured in daily life. Peak experiences, raptures, epiphanies, even illumination are potentially available to everyone. Spontaneous transient electrical choas in the temporal lobes is perfectly normal, making the God experience an artifact of healthy function.
We can learn to make space, time and personality dissolve. Fear dissolves too as we kiss the feet of eternity. All we have to do is withdraw our attention from the senses and interrupt certain brain circuits. These experiences can also be induced neuromagnetically with new technologies, and non-invasively with “brainwave drivers” such as the frequency-following response or binaural beat technology (Monroe).
The god experience is a process in which one learns to embody spiritual being, infusing life with meaning. The soul soars, freed from the prison of ego, mind and body. It brings in its wake oceanic expansion, suspension of time, space and ego, sudden insight, childlike wonder, exaltation, gnosis, fusion.
Appendix & References Appendix A: The TLE Syndrome
TLE is often undiagnosed as subjects often forget a simple but crucial injury to the head, even in childhood, such as falling down stairs, car wrecks, swimming injuries, or a host of other everyday bumps and jolts. The soft temporal lobes are vulnerable to injury any time they bump against the hard skull.
Dr. Daniel Amen says temporal lobe functions include auditory processes, ventral visual stream, auditory input, visual object recognition and classification, long term storage of sensory input. It links with the amygdala which adds the emotional tone to sensory input and memories. The hippocampus helps us navigate and determine where we are in space.
Primary functions of the dominant side (usually the left) include perception of words and processing of language related sounds, sequential analysis, increased blood flow during speech perception, processing details, intermediate and long term memory, auditory learning and retrieval of words, visual and auditory processing, and complex memories.
So instabilities or damage to the left lobe create problems such as emotional instability, decreased verbal memory, difficulty categorizing words or pictures, failing to understand words in context, internally and externally driven aggression, dark or violent thoughts, sensitivity to slights and mild paranoia, auditory processing problems, and reading difficulties.
Non-dominant side (usually the right) temporal functions include perception of melodies, pitch and rhythm, social cues, reading facial expressions, and vocal intonation, visual learning, and increased blood flow during tonal memory. Problems include recall of shapes, faces, and tunes; inept social skills, trouble reading social cues and context; decreased attention to visual input; trouble processing music and visual imagery.
Problems in either or both lobes create troubles with memories, fears, confusion, anxiety, abnormal sensory perceptions, visual and auditory hallucinations, spaciness or amnesia, déjà vu and jamais vu, unusual abdominal pain or headaches, religious or moral preoccupation, excessive writing, overemphasis on trivia, and of course seizures.
Dr. Amen sums up the symptomology with ten defining points: 1). Disturbance of auditory sensation and perception; 2). Disturbance of selective attention of auditory and visual input; 3). Disorders of visual perception; 4). Impaired organization and categorization of verbal material; 5). Disturbance of language comprehension; 6). Decreased long term memory; 7). Altered personality and affective development; 8). Altered sexual behavior; 9). Inability to perceive or remember events; 10). Damage to the inferior aspect of the temporal lobe – decreased memory in proportion to tissue damaged.
APPENDIX B
Personal Philosophy Inventory (Makarec and Persinger, 1990)
(Sample items indicating complex partial epileptic temporal lobe signs.)
While sitting quietly, I have had uplifting sensations as if I were driving over a rolling road.
I often feel as if things are not real.
At least once, before falling down, I had an intense smell from childhood, apparently for no reason.
Once, in a crowded place, I suddenly could not recognize where I was.
I have had a vision.
People tell me I "blank out" sometimes when we're talking.
When relaxed or before falling asleep I sometimes feel pleasant vibrations moving through my body.
Sometimes in the very early morning hours I have meaningful experiences.
I have heard an inner voice call my name.
I use hunches more than simple learning to solve new problems.
Sometimes an event occurs that has special significance for me only.
I have had experiences where I felt as if I were somewhere else.
There have been brief times when I felt very close to a Universal Consciousness.
I have had dreams of floating or flying through the air.
At least once in my life I have felt the presence of another being.
(Sample items indicating Psi experiences or exotic beliefs)
I have been taken aboard a space ship.
I would like to time travel.
When I have a tough decision a sign will be given and I will know what to do.
If God told me to kill, I would do it in His name.
I think there is a good possibility that I have lived a previous life.
Telepathy is a real phenomenon.
An inner voice has told me where to find something and it was there.
Alien intelligence is probably responsible for UFOs.
I have felt as if I have left my body.
APPENDIX C
Subjective Experiences Questionnaire (Ruttan, Persinger and Koren, 1990) {exit survey}
( Sample items indicating targeted experiences test for vestibular, depersonalization, and imaginings.)
I felt dizzy or odd.
I felt the presence of someone or something near me.
There were tingling sensations.
I saw vivid images.
There were pleasant vibrations moving through my body.
I heard an inner voice call my name or speak to me.
I experienced anger.
I experienced sadness.
The experience did not come from my own mind.
I heard a ticking sound.
There were odd smells.
I experienced terror or fear.
There were odd tastes in my mouth.
I felt as if I were somewhere else.
I experienced thoughts from childhood.
The same idea kept occurring.
I felt as if I were spinning around.
There were images from dreams I've had.
The red light became brighter or darker.
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The current hypothesis is that Positron Emission Tomography can demonstrate which specific limbic structures are involved in the expression of these altered states on an approximately linear relationship between the continuum of emotionality and the continuum of involvement of cerebral structures ranging from cortical temporal lobe to hippocampal/amygdaloid structures to core basal limbic structures; in effect, the deeper the activation, the deeper the emotion. Retention of the null hypothesis would require either a) subjects who represent a normal population demonstrate no affective experiences on the SEQ as a result of the stimulus, or b) affective experiences are reported but limbic regions are not shown to be involved.
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE RESEARCH
http://www.stnews.org/News-787.htm
Having a near death experience can change a person’s entire life, including one’s brain, researchers have discovered.
Researcher Willoughby Britton, a doctoral student at the University of Arizona, studied the brain waves of people who have had positive, transformative near death experiences and found their brain patterns distinctive when compared with people who didn’t have a brush with death.
“It’s interesting to see why some people are transformed and why some people aren’t and whether studying people with positive near death experiences can help the people who have negative experiences,” Britton said. “It’s a profound personality overhaul.”
Britton compared the brainwaves of sleeping subjects and found a distinct spike in activity in the temporal lobe of people with near death experiences.
The brain’s temporal lobe has often been implicated in reports of near death experiences that closely mirror what epileptics feel during a seizure: feelings of peace and tranquility, encountering a bright light and increased sensitivity to smells and sounds.
The temporal lobe, Britton said, is considered “the God module, the part of the brain that connects with the transcendent.” Surprisingly, however, all of the activity that Britton recorded was from the left half of the brain not the right half, which is more often associated with visual and spatial creativity.
“One hundred percent of the activity came from the left side, which, in itself, is very unusual,” said Britton. “There’s no reason for someone to have an accident and just have one side of their brain affected.”
All those in Britton’s study who came close to dying scored higher on an evaluation of their ability to cope with stressful situations than their counterparts.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9D06E4DE1E38F930A25757C0A9629C8B63
The scientists assumed that the near-death group would show patterns of brain activity similar to those seen in temporal lobe epileptics, who often describe undergoing spiritual out-of-body events during seizures. The abnormal activity, however, did not spring up in the right temporal lobe, as is sometimes the case with epilepsy. Instead, the activity appeared almost exclusively in the left temporal lobe.
Unexpectedly, the researchers also found that the participants, like many people who suffer depression, had abnormal sleep patterns. But unlike people with depression, who move unusually quickly into the rapid eye movement or REM phase of sleep, the subjects who reported near-death experiences took an unusually long time to move into REM.
PDF: Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobes by Willoughby Britton
http://matrix.aklab.psych.ubc.ca/uploads/Amelia_Neardeath_PS.pdf#search=%22temporal%20lobes%20willoughby%20britton%22
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 57, 1255-1262. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 1983
RELIGIOUS AND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCES AS ARTIFACTS OF
TEMPORAL LOBE FUNCTION: A GENERAL HYPOTHESIS
Micheal A. Persinger
Laurentian University
Summary: Mystical and religious experiences are hypothesized to be evoked by transient, electrical microseizures within deep structures of the temporal lobe. Although experiential details are affected by context and reinforcement history, basic themes reflect the inclusion of different amygdaloid-hippocampal structures and adjacent cortices. Whereas the unusual electrical coherence allows access to infantile memories of parents, a source of god expectations, specific stimulation evokes out-of-body experiences, space-time distortions, intense meaningfulness, and dreamy scenes. The species-specific similarities in temporal lobe properties enhance the homogeneity of cross- cultural experiences. They exist along a continuum that ranges from “early morning highs” to recurrent bouts of conversion and dominating religiosity. Predisposing factors include any biochemical or genetic factors that produce temporal lobe lability. A variety of precipitating stimuli provoke these experiences, but personal (life) crises and death bed conditions are optimal. These temporal lobe microseizures can be learned as responses to existential trauma because stimulation is of powerful intrinsic reward regions and reduction of death anxiety occurs. The implications of these transients as potent modifiers of human behavior are considered.
The neuropsychological basis of religious experiences and God beliefs has avoided by behavioral scientists. Yet these experiences, in conjunction the confrontation and attenuation of death anxiety, constitute a major class of human behaviors whose frequency is rivaled only by sex and aggression. This paper briefly describes a general hypothesis that religious and mystical experiences are normal consequences of spontaneous biogenic stimulation of temporal lobe structures. The numbers, composition, and intensity of these experiences reflect a continuum of temporal lobe stability. Each human being may be located somewhere along this dimension.
The temporal lobe of the human brain is an optimal locus for the creation of religious experiences. Cortical and deep structures (primarily the amygdaloid and hippocampal complexes) are associated with the sense of “self” in relationship to time and space, the memory-dependent conception of their limits primary affective components of anticipation, especially of nociceptive events. Given copious inputs from languaging centers (Gloor, 1972), all of these experiences are influenced by suggestion and by the rich imagery-evoking sequences of metaphorical language. It is not surprising that anticipation of self-dissolution, death anxiety, would emerge within this context.
Deep telencephalic structures have acquired particular importance in human development. Experiences of self and the propensity for self-preservation have been elaborated upon the general amygdaloid role of hypothalamic modulation. The amygdala contains representations of motivational states and their affective (pleasure or reward versus pain or punishment) dimensions. Whereas crude (and wide spread) stimulation evokes fear (Weingarten, Cherlow, & Holmgren, 1977) and general anxiety (anticipation of negative stimuli), more subtle stimulation evokes intense meaningfulness and peak experiences; the latter are often in conjunction with altered body perceptions, such as out-of-body experiences (Jasper & Rasmussen, 1958) or convictions of cosmic communion.
Intricate and highly organized connections between deep structures and the overlying associative cortices allow complex memories and language to control the evocation of amygdaloid experiences. Consequently, they can be infused with the details of context and determined by the expectancy of the person. Plentiful opiate receptor sites in this portion of the amygdala and along the temporal pole (Pay, 1982) allow positive experiences to be influenced by a chemical dimension that ranges from synthetic substances (morphine derivatives) to the enkephalin physiology of life crises.
Considering the direct connections to the dorsomedial portions of the thalamus and orbital frontal lobes, time distortions (e.g., viewing eternity in a split second) would not be unexpected. Sudden amygdaloid stimulation and alteration of the sense of self in space-time could momentarily alter hippocampal function and change memory reference. The alteration may range from institution of memories that appear to be “old and real” to the conviction that something meaningful and intensely personal has happened (although the details are vague). A significant portion of them would be characterized by a long latency between the time of the experience and its report.
Three important physiological properties target the temporal lobe as the source of mystical/religious experiences. Post-stimulation electrical instability, an intrinsic feature of deep structures, allows the creation of transient neuronal firing patterns that do not necessarily represent concurrent sensory input. Instead, they could incorporate combinations of memory and fantasy, but still within the context of the moment. This region is well known for its capacity to generate learned seizures (kindling); antithetically, conditioned inhibition of seizure patterns, is also predictable and has been observed (Efron, 1957).
Second, these areas are prone to vascular anomalies such as transient vasospasms. They are now considered a primary cause of hallucinatory experiences (Altura & Altura, 1981). The recent evolutionary changes in the position of Ammon’s horn, including the formation of an extra gyrus to accommodate this development, has fostered vasospasmogenic potential due to the odd cytoarchitecture. This is enhanced by the conspicuous coronal asymmetry of the Sylvian fissures (LeMay, 1982) which contribute to unusual electrical discrepancies between the two hemispheres.
The plasticity of temporal lobe neuronal and glial populations are exceptional. Cellular membranes in this region are prone to both interneuronal and neuronal-glial fusion, an important predisposing factor to psychomotor epilepsy (Schwartzkroin, 1983); within less extreme conditions, it aids unusual mixtures of cell ensembles. They can be affected by vitamin B deficiencies, hormonal fluctuations, hypoglycemia, hypoxia, and tumorogenesis, to which these structures are particularly sensitive (Breggin, 1979). Although postnatal neurogenesis has not been clearly demonstrated in man, this area displays environmental-dependent alterations in dendritic arborbization that are evident even by light microscopy (Buell & Coleman, 1979).
According to the hypothesis, the actual mystical or religious experience is evoked by a transient (a few seconds), very focal, electrical display within the temporal lobe. Such temporal lobe transients (TLTs) would be analogous to electrical microseizures without any obvious motor components; some facial expressions, such as ecstasy and occasional lacrimation would be noticeable. Lip smacking, facial distortions, automatisms, and vagal glossopharyngeal-mediated vocalization (speaking in tongues), followed by amnesia, would occur in more extreme conditions. Although most TLTs should be subcortical in origin, some would be represented within electroencephalic (EEG) profiles. They would be characterized by local, perhaps even lead- specific, transient, seizure-like signatures surrounded by normal activity.
HOW THE BRAIN ‘CREATES’ GOD
The Emerging Science of Neurotheology
Iona Miller, Asklepia Foundation, 2003, Delivered at COSCIOUSNESS TECHNOLOGIES II, Sisters, OR.
“The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the sower of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger . . . is as good as dead.” --Albert Einstein
The Great Unknown
Imagine one of our ancient ancestors, suddenly stricken by illness or a near-fatal accident. Hovering near the brink of death, an ordinary person suddenly finds him or herself locked in an immersive visionary experience of shadowy figures, muted voices and blinding luminescence.
The cosmos opens its enfolding arms and infinity spreads out in a timeless panoply that dissolves all fear, all separation from the Divine. Fear of death vanishes in a comforting flood of bliss, peace and dazzling light – the ultimate ‘holy’ connection. Overwhelming conviction arises that this is the more fundamental Reality. The welcoming gates of a personal heaven open.
Suddenly back in the body, returned to ordinary reality, one is left to interpret that transcendent experience to oneself and others. This near-death experience may not have resulted in physical demise, but it has led to the death of the old self -- the personal self -- and the rebirth, rapture, or resurrection of the soul or spirit. It brings a surge of emotions, conviction and even transformation in its wake. The soul has taken a journey from which one cannot return the same.
A descent into psychobiological hell can lead to a transcendent journey toward Heaven -- or perhaps the yawning abyss of the Void. Shamans, priests, prophets, mystics, and gurus arose to show the Way of navigating these nether regions, of finding healing, the eternal moment, a peaceful heart, and unity.
Our human progenitors had to directly confront existential issues of survival, adaptation, stress, mating, birth, loss, and death. They gradually developed stories about the basics of life – social, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual existence. They created myths, beliefs about creation and our creation to give meaning to life. They developed rituals, ceremonies, and practices to heal body and mind, mark life passages, and placate forces beyond their control. These accounted for their origins as well as voices, visions and experiences that seemed to come from the great Beyond.
The brain is hard-wired for mystical experiences to modify the threat of our hostile existential reality (Alper). Metaphysical explanations developed for the essentially unknowable, for sudden and irresistible seizures of ecstasy. Some of these accounts were more sophisticated than others depending on their cultural background, but all shared a common core by defining the mystery of the relationship between mankind and the Unknown. It might be called a peak experience, spirit possession, epiphany, religious rapture, nirvana, satori, shaktiput, clear light, or illumination. The difference is only one of degrees of absorption, of fulfillment.
The god-experience is a process, a subjective perception, rather than an objectively provable reality. Distractions cease, replaced by the direct impact of oceanic expansion, sudden insight, childlike wonder, ecstatic exaltation above bodily and personal existence, dissolution in a timeless moment, fusion, gnosis.
It is direct perception coupled with high emotion and deep realization of what appears to be ultimate truth. It rips away the veil of illusion, revealing the pure ground state of our existence without any emotional, mental, or belief filters. Left with only pure awareness, the natural mind is finally free of earthly trappings. Bathed in emotions of joy, assurance and salvation, Cosmos becomes a living presence. Immortality is sensed, so fear of death vanishes.
Many called that numinous mystery God. In some sense, religion is a reaction to what actually is. But to many, when it comes to their religion, those are fighting words – for theirs is the true way, the only way. Heaven on Earth cannot be achieved so long as those two realms are separated. God comes down to earth in our own psychophysiology, dwelling within us.
Programmed for God?
Neurotheology is the marriage of brain science and theology, which systematically studies the relationship of God and the universe. Religion is the expression of theological attitudes and actions. Tradition says God created the heavens and earth, and God created man in his own image.
But did God create man and the brain, or does the brain create God? Revelation is the act of God manifesting, disclosing himself, or communicating truth to the mind. These subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism. Perhaps God hid mankind’s spirituality where we would least expect it and be least likely to look – within ourselves.
The religious element of our nature is just as universal as the rational or social one. Could altering brain chemistry by playing some visual and pleasure circuits, while quieting those governing self-image, cognition, orientation, and time sequencing give rise to a transcendental bliss, a god-experience? Can they give rise to the electrochemical supercharge described as kundalini, the serpent power that rises up the spine in illumination? How can we journey along the continuum from pleasure to enthusiasm, to joy, ecstasy and enlightenment?
This is the question posed by both theistic and non-believing scientists alike, in an attempt to comprehend our spiritual urge. Religious division is still the global root of conflict in the modern world. Even within ourselves we can experience crises of personal faith, as our worldly outlook vies with our spiritual beliefs. Most religions or spiritual practices have a ‘salvivic” value – they “save” us from the banality of human limitation and limitless or meaningless suffering, lifting us up and often conferring a glimpse of the infinite, the Absolute.
In his 1962 utopian novel, Island, Aldous Huxley coined the term neurotheology to describe the territory where human “wetware” interfaces with the divine. Since then it has come to mean the emergent field that describes the neurological phenomena that underlie classical mystical experiences from all spiritual practices. It seems our nervous systems are “pre-programmed” to experience a variety of religious or spiritual experiences. We can journey within and explore our inner world, just as we can the outer world.
However, this human study of the phenomenology of the God-experience doesn’t reductively negate the possibly of a divine creative force. Rather, this transdisciplinarian science simply seeks to describe the mechanisms involved in that process. It explores how the divine is translated into the human realm, from the archetypal to the material world. It combines aspects of religion, psychology, and neurology. This new paradigm synthesizes the truths of both science and religion – giving birth to “neuroshamanism.”
Our “God-program” is the means through which humans have traditionally interpreted the meaning of major life passages such as stress, birth, identity, aging, death, and opening to a sense of infinity. It bears heavily on our image of our Self, our relationship with others, and our place in the cosmos and world. It is the source of our faith and the ground of our beliefs. Religious dogma has been created over eons to interpret or account for these dramatic personal encounters with spirit.
Taxonomies of religious experience have been created in anthropology, sociology, psychology, and religious studies. They form maps of the territory of spiritual experience from shamanism, to artistic expression and all forms of creativity including transcendent states of consciousness (Gowan; Tart; Grof; Wilber). But as mystics and scholars both admonish, “The map is not the territory.”
A spectrum or continuum of divine interplay is available as flow states induced through trance, creativity, and meditation. But knowing about them is not the same as direct experience of those states, purposefully induced or spontaneous. The former is a conceptualization, while the later is a grace, an epiphany. These states range from spirit possession to simple communion and nature-awe, to loss of self in awesome unitive cosmic consciousness.
The God Program
Belief and biology are entwined like mind and matter, like the twin serpents of the Caduceus, which represents enlightenment. Neurology, ritual and religion all join in what psychologist Carl Jung (pioneer of the collective unconscious) called a Mysterium Coniunctionis, or Royal Marriage with the divine. The soul becomes lost in the Self; all duality is erased.
We have a natural human capacity for spiritual experience, just as we have one for comprehension of language or mathematics. Transpersonal experience, myth, ritual, morals and ethics are undergird by a comprehensive religious ecology. The cognized environment is the stage of experience. Networks of neurophysiological structures orchestrate the play on the stage. Intricate electromagnetic and biochemical mechanisms underlie human ritual, myth, mysticism, and religious phenomena.
Whether God exists as an overarching cosmic entity or not, there are certain mechanisms in the brain which mankind has harnessed over thousands of years to facilitate the process of non-ordinary experience. They all manipulate the body’s nervous system either by over- or under-stimulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal. They lead us toward seeing, hearing, touching and feeling the Lord in an experiential, rather than conceptual way that culminates in fusion.
Biologically, heavenly states are dependent on the limbic system or emotional part of the brain, and hormonal secretions. Mystical states are not fantasies, delusions or intangible events – they are the end result of complex chemical and neurological processes. They begin with instinctive awe and indefinable thrills, floating sensations, and perhaps spiritual hunger.
Ego-death can occur when the hyperactive “I” submits or gives in to sensory overload, which overwhelms it. Hypoarousal leads to a characteristic silencing of the mind or emptying when the ego voluntarily submits to unification of subject and object, of “I” and Self. Cortical and subcortical activity become indistinguishably merged. There is no separate “I” left to perceive objective reality. Thus, dualism is paradoxically obliterated in the maximal excitation of both the hyper- and hypo-arousal systems.
Because they produce personal euphoria and creative inspiration, these initial states are common to poets, artists, and mystics. But mystics tell us these ecstasies may be nothing more than overloading of the emotional channels. Ecstasy is a desire for contact, a striving after union. Entering these regions in full consciousness indicates greater spiritual maturity. Stabilizing them at the personality level means the phase of emergence is over and enlightenment becomes a steady state. The neurological changes have become integrated and permanent.
The oldest shamanic techniques include fasting, drumming, trance dancing, inner journeys, and mind-altering plants. The relaxation techniques for transcendence include meditation, imagery, prayer, postures, and chanting. All of them work on the physiology to change the chemistry of the mind/body and induce oceanic ecstasies that are either all-consuming or ultimately serene.
Any constant, rhythmic stimulus to the central nervous system will induce a trance-state and accompanying “high.” Driving the system toward either polarity of arousal or quiescence leads to a paradoxical reversal into its opposite, much like sexual arousal leads to post-orgasmic afterglow. Similarly, at some point, meditation can release an intense rush of energy and emotion, partly through the limbic system.
One methodology produces sensory overload, while the other empties the sensory field by withdrawing attention from sensory signals. There may be sensory melding – a phenomenon called synesthesia – where one can “see” music, or “taste “colors.”
When the mind/body is either exhausted or emptied of external input, the mind is free to process the endless loops of its own manifestation, its own internal processes. Fear and shame give way to grace, a sense of Presence, perception of sanctity, response to realization of the divine. Time, space and the separate ego seem suspended or transcended in the experience of cosmic consciousness. All is One. Beyond the unity experience is the nondual experience of the Void.
If perceptual intake is restricted or expanded beyond certain limits, the normal state of consciousness gives way to altered states, each of which has certain characteristics. This universal experience has nine typical qualities: 1) unity, 2) transformation of space and time, 3) deeply felt positive mood, 4) sacredness, 5) objectivity and reality, 6) paradoxicality, 7) alleged ineffability, 8) transiency, and 9) persisting positive changes in subsequent behavior. A direct and unmediated encounter with the source level of reality is felt as Holy, Awful, Ultimate and Ineffable. (Gowan, 1976).
Re-creational Ego Death
The alchemists sought eternal life by consuming the panacea (cure all), universal medicine, the elixir vitae. Paracelsus, the medieval alchemist and physician, said, “He who enters the kingdom of God must first enter his mother and die.” If God is the father, Nature is our mother. Death always sits on our shoulder, patiently awaiting each of us in turn. And we are acutely aware of that fact, more so as we age or experience loss and infirmity. We are self-consciously aware that we exist, and that one day we will not.
We can react to our knowledge of our own mortality with denial, pragmatism, or unshakeable faith in an afterlife, or reincarnated life. Death will come inexorably in any event at our journey’s end. We cannot directly know the nature of that experience until we have gone through it. But even before physical death, the soul can die gradually to outward things; the self is release and transcended. When the senses and mind stop actively functioning, the body becomes like a corpse. Ego-death mirrors the process of the near-death experience (NDE).
NDE phases include 1) subjective feeling of being dead; 2) peace and well-being; 3) disembodiment; 4) visions of material objects and events. The transcendental phase includes, 5) tunnel or dark zone; 6) evaluation of one’s past life; 7) light; 8) access to a transcendental world, entering in light; 9) encounter with other beings; 10) return to life.
Those who have been close to death, or experienced an initiatory death of the ego come back to show and tell what that indescribable experience might be like. They report pain and panic subsides in detachment from the body, bliss and contentment. Then comes entering the darkness, seeing the light, and entering that light. The same is true for mystics when they become dead to the outside world. The body is profoundly affected as breathing, heart rate, and skin conductance change.
When it is not sudden, death is a process where oxygen levels drop, carbon dioxide builds up, and neural firing rate decreases. This sequence recounts the stages of brain death -- the shutting down of sensory systems, mental dissociation, large dumps of pain-killing and euphoria-inducing endorphins and dopamine into the brain, the shut down of the visual cortex as nerve cells continue to die, and coma. Darkness descends.
Though it is a universal journey, near-death reports incorporate scenery and characters that coincide with cultural programming. For example, Tibetan Buddhists never report seeing Jesus in the “tunnel” during a near-death experience. In fact, according to the Dalai Lama, they don’t even tend to have near-death experiences, or they perceive them in completely different terms. Still, there are certain cross-cultural correlations to the process of loosening the bonds of space, time, and the ego whether death is initiatory or literal in nature:
These stages include 1). a return to the womb or unborn primal state, which happens in the death process as the sensory and visual centers shut down and we are left in the dull red glow of our fetal stage. 2). Dissolution, dispersal, dismemberment, or fragmentation loosens our ties to the sense of self, as we move beyond our sorrow, helplessness, rigidities, fear, and pain back toward the primeval unification before our ego emerged. 3). Containment of a lesser thing (personality) by a greater (pleroma).
4). Rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative energy flow, as experiential contact with the psychedelic groundstate of being floods us with nourishing sensations of well-being. 5). Purification ordeal, as we struggle with any mental resistance, conflicts and remnants of earthly attachments; karmic purging. 6). Solution of problems as any conflicts resolve in the bliss of absorption; healing. 7). Melting or softening process, of final letting go and unification of subject and object; a spiritually healing immersion in the vast ocean of deep consciousness, (Miller, 1993).
Resurrection of the “dead” in the mystical sense thus takes on new meaning. Paradoxically, it describes both the transformation to heightened awareness, the soul becoming more and more absorbed in the contemplation of God, and also the return to ordinary awareness. Rapture, the “ascent to heaven”, also has the connotation of rising to spiritual heights in the mystic experience, which lifts or elevates one from normal states of awareness.
Mystical Circuitry
But what happens when the death process doesn’t follow through to its mortal conclusion or is merely simulated spontaneously or intentionally with meditation? The relationship between brain physiology and human behavior is notoriously difficult to understand and easy to misapply.
Obviously consciousness, subjectivity and human religious experience are not reducible merely to an explanation of neural pathways. We are accustomed to associating it with grace, mind-expansion, intuition, transcendence, ecstasy, metamorphosis and salvation.
It remains a mystery whether our hard-wiring creates the powerful God Experience, or our whether God creates our psychophysical wiring. Only soul-searching can provide any personally satisfying answer. It might seem sacrilege to some to conduct experiments in “measuring meat” to gauge spirituality. Still, this does not negate the beauty of the scientific search for truth through creativity and passion as genuine as any other artform.
Knowledge of which body parts are mobilized in this communion doesn’t detract from the experience, for the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. Neurotheology respects both science and spirit. It is a move toward holism, not merely a reductive analysis. Natural expansive experiences occur in a wide numbers of situations, but involve common elements:
1) The attention is gripped, and perception narrowed or focused through a single event or sensation; 2) which appears to be an experience of surpassing beauty or worth; 3) in which unrealized values or relationships are suddenly or instantly emphasized; 4) resulting in the emergence of great joy and an orgiastic experience of ecstasy; 5) in which individual barriers separating the self from others or nature are broken down; 6) resulting in a release of love, confidence, or power; and 7) some kind of change in the subsequent personality, behavior or artistic product after the rapture is over. (Gowan, 1976).
Can we pinpoint what regions of the brain turn off and on during religious, visionary or extraordinary states of consciousness? Yes; scientists are using dynamic brain imaging techniques such as SPECT and functional MRI to directly view the activation of brain circuitry. We can watch both blood flow and electrical activity in real time.
The roles of the amygdala, hippocampus, temporal lobes, parietal lobe, and pineal gland are fundamental to our sense of well-being, meaningfulness, expansion from personal identity and perception of inner Light. We can now directly see how the brain correlates both external and internal stimuli and our reactions to them. Rather than ancient rituals to placate the gods, our rituals are now scientific experimental protocols.
Brain scans of a large sampling of people lost in prayer or deep meditation reveal certain common neurological readings. These correlate with religious states ranging from transcendence, to visions, to enlightenment and feelings of awe. Attention or concentration in the frontal lobes is indicated by activation in this area of the brain during meditation. In meditative states, there is an attitudinal shift and detachment from thoughts other than perhaps love of God.
Sound and Vision
Our response to religious words is mediated at the juncture of three lobes (parietal, frontal, and temporal) and governs reaction to language. The “voice of God” probably emanates from electrical activity in the temporal lobes, which are important to speech perception. Inner speech is interpreted as originating outside the self, when Broca’s area switches on.
Stress can influence our ability to determine origin of a voice. It is part of our fight-flight response, which can mobilize even when we try to relax. Unstressing phenomena can range from panic reactions, heaving sighs, excessive heat to shivers and bristling of the skin, throat constriction, watery eyes, light flashes or waves before the eyes, sudden muscular contractions, tingling sensations, and electric shocks.
The right anterior cingulate turns on whether a stimulus originates in the environment or is an auditory hallucination. A wide variety of mystical sounds have been described ranging from the buzzing of bees, to the sounds of bells, stringed instruments, thunder, distant echoes, ocean waves, wind, and muffled talk in unknown languages.
The ability to construct internal representations of sensory stimuli underlies perception and cognition. Viewed objectively, these mindscapes are perfectly concrete manifestations but also have a subjective aspect when we become aware of them. Our consciousness is experienced through our perceptions. Any individual perception of the universe can occur as an internal or external experience.
We may experience varying forms of an I-Thou dialogue along the continuum of extremely hyper- or hypo-arousal states. Sacred images are generated in the lower temporal lobe, which also responds to ritualistic use of imagery and iconography. Empathy needs a face. Fear and awesomeness originate in the amygdala. Religious emotions originate in the middle temporal lobe, generating bliss, awe, joy and other feelings of well-being, as well as a sense of Presence.
Beyond Space and Time
Einstein had a virtually mystical understanding of the nature of space and time, which he expressed in The N.Y. Times, March 29, 1972:
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘Universe.’ A part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires, and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
A triple “prison” for the mystic, space, time, and personality define and specify the normal state of consciousness. Mystic ecstasy offers a glimpse of spiritual freedom, and escape from the prison of selfhood. Remaining as motionless as possible facilitates this effect. When the parietal lobes quiet down, a person first feels detachment from the tyranny of the perceptions, then an expansive oneness with the universe of cosmic unity.
Time distortion starts the personal escape from time, sign of an attempt to escape from the cocoon. Then the inner marriage between the personal and non-personal aspects of the psyche is consummated. Psychic conflicts are transcended, leaving a whole, complete being.
When the orientation area is deprived of neuronal input by gating from the hippocampus, sense of self expands. With no preferred position or direction in space, the local self dissolves in omnidirectional expansion. If one remains motionless, there is no external reference signal to orient in 3-space and no reason for this portion of the brain to activate. Continued meditation can over-drive certain other brain areas and seemingly transport us to another universe.
For a mystical experience to occur, perceptions narrow and brain regions that orient us in space and mark the distinction between self and world must go quiet. We give up the past and give up the future – we give up our defenses. All feelings cease as the self merges with the numinous element. The mind becomes tranquil, withdraws itself from all sides, becoming firmly established in the supreme Reality.
In order to feel that time, fear, and self-consciousness have dissolved, certain brain circuits must be interrupted. This includes damping activity in the fear-registering amygdala, which monitors the environment for threats. Parietal-lobe circuits that give us a sense of physical orientation and a distinction between self and world must quiet down.
The orientation area requires sensory input to do its calculations. Intense meditation blocks the brain from forming a distinction between self and world. Frontal and temporal-lobe circuits, which mark time and generate self-awareness, must disengage. When this happens, self-awareness briefly drops out and we feel like our boundaries dissolve.
The most immediate experience is that of always having been and being forever. The three illusions – space, time and personality – are obliterated in cosmic consciousness, as the soul completes its journey to its spiritual home. Human consciousness is eliminated, having been reabsorbed into the primordial essence. All becomes All without differentiation.
NeuroMagnetics
A Canadian neuropsychologist, Michael Persinger (1987) has spent years exploring the relationship of spiritual phenomena and electromagnetics with many subjects. Low intensity magnetic fields orchestrate communication between lobes of the brain, faster than biolelectrical or biochemical processes of neurons. He has developed a device, called the Octopus to test his theories.
“Underlying Persinger’s work is the conviction that anomalous electromagnetic fluctuations – produced by solar flares, seismic activity, radio and microwave transmissions, electrical devices, and other external sources or originating in the brain itself – can trigger disturbances resembling epileptic seizures. These ‘microseizures,’ he propses, generate a wide range of altered states, including religious and mystical visions, out-of-body experiences, and even alien-abduction episodes.”
“Persinger conjectures that our sense of self is ordinarily mediated by the brain’s lef hemisphere – more specifically by the left temporal lobe. When the brain is disrupted – by a head injury, epileptic seizure, stroke, drugs, psychological trauma, or external electromagnetic pulses – our left-brain may detect activity in the right hemisphere as another self, or what Persinger calls a ‘sensed presence.’ Depending on our circumstances and background, we may perceive the sensed presence as extraterrestrials, ghosts, angels, fairies, muses, demons, or God Almighty.” (Horgan)
This technoshaman with his electronic art uses solenoids in a helmet for input; a computer controls the fluctuating fields. He sends vast depolarizing waves across millions of cells, releasing all types of memories and fantasies mixed and mashed together. Long-term memory is seated in the surface of the bottom of the temporal lobes in the para hippocampal cortex, closely connected to the hippocampus. Though an atheist, he stops just short of saying the god-experience is just an electrical seizure. However, his research goal is to use his devise to trigger transcendental experiences in nonreligious people face with the fear of death. He admits there is scientific evidence that those with spiritual beliefs are better adapted and statistically healthier.
Persinger can artificially produce a wide range of anomalous experiences by driving the brain with his EM helmet and technology. He identifies the temporal lobes as the biological basis of the god-experience. Bombarding the brain with certain frequencies in certain regions produces different results. As impulses move through the temporal lobe and deep into the brain, they interfere and interact with the complex electrical patterns and neural fields.
Aimed at the amygdala, Persinger’s device produces sexual arousal. Focused on the hippocampus it produces an opiate effect without adverse side effects, other than irritation upon withdrawal. Targeting the right hemisphere temporal lobe creates a sense of a negative presence, while stimulating the left hemisphere creates a benevolent presence.
Sensed presence becomes more common until the day arrives when God’s presence is something a person feels at all times. In mystical experience language fails. Since we can’t experiences two senses of self, one is projected as other, the Beloved, either romantic or spiritual. Thus there is truth in saying that the beloved is God, and that when we love God we are loving ourselves. I and Thou are One. The other becomes the Self.
Electrical activity in the amygdala, hippocampus and temporal can ‘spill over’ into nearby structures. If it ignites the visual area, intense visions emerge. Kindling the olfactory regions leads to unique scents. Somatosensory stimulation leads to buzzing, energetic, or tingling sensations or perceptions of being lifted or floating. Language center activation produces voices, music, or noise. Long-term memory in the lower part of the temporal lobes yields interactive virtual realities, waking dreams. The thalamus is implicated in aura vision; the reticular activating system in life reviews.
New patterns spread through the limbic system, producing sensation ranging from subtle to profound. Usually there is seamless integration of past, present and future. But in déjà vu, there is too much communication between short-term and long-term memories. Then the present can feel like the past. Present perceptions are shunted through areas that process memories, and we feel we are re-living a moment stored in long-term memory. The opposite happens in jamais vu, when nothing we experience seems to have anything to do with the past. Time distortion is another experiential phenomenon stimulated with the electromagnetic gear.
The impulses can induce anything from sleep to “alien abductions”, including a profound sense of presence or the uncanny, auditory and visionary experiences, or a sense of deep meaning. He notes these experiences are tempered by the person’s learning history. God concepts are determined by verbal conditioning; perceptions are constructions. Imagery ranges from vivid landscapes to forms of living things. Sounds, smells, scenes or intense feelings all reflect areas of electrical instability.
The Biology of the Inner Light
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. No wonder it is called illumination, and it can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Imagine suggesting the body makes it own psychedelic drug! This is just what psychiatrist Rick Strassman contends in DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2001). He asserts it is an active agent in a variety of altered states, including mystical experience. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation may awaken normally latent synthetic pathways.
Meditation may modulate pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain, as we have described above. To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT. DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak.
He suggests the mysterious pineal gland is implicated in the natural production of this mystic molecule, as metaphysical teachers have long claimed. The pineal has been called the spirit gland and may be the biological basis of spiritual experience. The only solitary, or unpaired gland in the brain may initiate and support a variety of altered states of consciousness.
The pineal is known to contain high levels of the enzymes and building-blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
The pineal sits, well-protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes.
Endogenous DMT is described as the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina.
DMT production is particularly stimulated, according to Strassman in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality—these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel or minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies . . .The pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation.” (Strassman).
Become Your Own Technoshaman
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, a form of entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim .
Conclusions
Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with God, but experiencing oneself in the process of “becoming” god. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but as the same essence as All.
Of course, we can never fully complete that process. No one can fully embody God, but we can move toward it. The succession of conscious states is toward higher integration, not toward lower dissociation. The process of integration in growth toward positive values has the complementary virtues of being obvious in fact and transcendental in implications. It means we evolve from reactive creatures into an integrated part of the spiritual dimension.
As sociologist Eliade described, “The ideal of yoga . . . is to live in an eternal present, outside of time. The man, liberated in his life, no longer possesses a personal consciousness . . .but a witnessing consciousness, which is pure lucidity and spontaneity.” Meditation is essentially emulation of creation and practice for a lucid passing at death into the Eternal Now.
We are all capable of transcendent awareness. What we believe in becomes real in an existential sense. Paradoxically, pure consciousness both generates and is generated by the processes of the brain. Becoming soul journeyers, we can explore self and multiple worlds, transformation, and social flow.
We can all become technoshamans, using the process of altering our consciousness through spiritual technologies. Even “lesser” mystical experiences have significant implications for religion and theology. It is the nature of the mystical mind to have such experiences and they have altered religion. So, a thorough understanding of how the mind/body functions to generate them is extremely useful.
Paradoxical physiological mechanisms operate in the body under most conditions to chemically prevent the attainment of higher states of arousal on either end of the spectrum. But it is possible, with repeated exposure to the paradoxical situation to function effectively at higher levels of conjoined sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal. The brain can be “re-wired” to connect more and more areas together as links in the spiritual chain, which leads to so-called enlightenment. The brain seems to hunger for ecstasies to enhance characteristics of our normal way of being, creativity, problem-solving, spirituality, and so on.
The task of meditation is essentially letting the body fall as deeply asleep as possible while the mind remains focused. In fact, if it were not for the opposite function’s presence, even in the mystical state, we would fall asleep. The REM or dream state is similar: there is extreme cerebral excitation, even though muscular activity is inhibited. Hemispheric synchronization producing long, slow alpha and theta brainwaves with high amplitude is another factor. The deeper the meditation, the slower and stronger the waves.
The energy “rush” of meditation comes when either the arousal or quiescent state “spills over” into stimulating its complementary system. When both parts of the autonomic nervous system go online simultaneously, the limbic system goes wild with emotion, absorption and oceanic bliss. This is reflected in the gender based, male-female imagery of the kundalini serpent power and the yin and yang of the Tao.
When both systems go into maximal discharge, this neurochemical flux is subjectively perceived as Absolute Unity of Being, boundlessness, timelessness, and sacredness. Our relationship to humans, earth, and cosmos is one of a relationship to the Other. Our first formative influence is the experience of empathy. And empathy needs a face. If we find that face in our personal experience of God, who shall say nay? Beyond that lies only the yawning infinity of the Void.
REFERENCES
Alper, Matthew ( ). The God Part of the Brain.
Andresen, Jensine (Editor). Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience.
D’Aquili, Eugene and Newberg, Andrew ( ). The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience.
Giovannoli, Joseph et al. The Biology of Belief: How Our Biology Biases Our Beliefs and Perceptions.
Gowan, John Curtis (1975). Trance, Art, and Creativity. Buffalo, New York: Creative Education Foundation.
Grof, Stanislav (1988). The Adventure of Self-Discovery. Albany, New York: SUNY Press.
Horgan, John (2003). Rational Mysticism. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Joseph, Rhawn, et al (2003). Neurotheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, and Religious Experience.
Krippner, Stanley, Etzel Cardena, Stephen Jay Lynn [Eds.] (2000). Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence. American Psychological Assn., Washington D.C.
McKinney, Laurence O. (1994). Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the21st Century. American Instit. For Mindfulness.
Milkman, Harvey and Sunderwirth, Stanley (1987). Craving for Ecstasy: Consciousness and Chemistry of Escape. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Miller, Iona (1993). “Chaos as the universal solvent.” Chaosophy ’93. Wilderville: Asklepia Press.
Miller, Iona (2001). “Neurotheology 101”
Newberg, Andrew and D’Aquili, Eugene (2001). Why God Won’t Go Away. New York: Ballantine Books.
Persinger, Michael A. (1987). Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs. New York: Praeger.
Ramachandra, Vilayanur (1998). Phantoms in the Brain.
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park St. Press.
Tart, Charles. Altered States of Consciousness.
Wilber, Ken (2000). Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy. Boston: Shambhala. SPIRITUALITY AND THE BRAIN http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/
Essays in Neurotheology
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/neurotheology.htm
Enlightenment
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/enlightenment.htm
Enlightenment is a rare experience, and so are visions of God. The experience of God has been produced in the laboratories of Laurentian University's neurosciences program, and is the subject of a book by the program's director, Dr. M.A. Persinger. The book's conclusion, that the 'God-experience" reflects specific neural activity, is quite a radical notion for the western world.
The Spiritual Personality
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/traits.htm
The personalities of people who are involved with spiritual practices like prayer, meditation and ceremony are shaped by the altered-state experiences their spirituality creates. The part of the brain that manages our states of consciousness, the temporal lobes, is a little busier in these people than most, producing personality traits that appear over and over among spiritually oriented people.
The Neurology of Romantic Love. In many ways, romantic love looks similar to devotional religious feelings, and its disappointments look very much like 'The Dark Night of the Soul'. Neuroscience for the hopeless romantic.
Stimulating My Brain As a Spiritual Path Here's Todd Murphy's story, more or less. When its finished, you'll find that I accept many of the things that psychics, gurus, and religions teach, but in very different forms.
Archetypes We might be more likely to see the archetypes in others than in ourselves. Evolution may have provided us with some hard-wiring that allows us to see them in others, giving us an almost instinctive feeling for how to relate with different types of people.
Articles on other websites
"The God Spot"
"The God Helmet"
"Your Brain on God"
"God on the Brain" (BBC)
"Ghosts in a machine"
Interview - webmaster
EVOLUTIONARY NEUROTHEOLOGY
AND THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE VERSION)*
EVOLUTIONARY NEUROTHEOLOGY
AND THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE VERSION)* Bruce MacLennan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
My goal is to outline an evolutionary neuropsychological foundation for spiritual and religious experiences. Central to this account are concepts from archetypal psychology, which, on the one hand, explain the structure of common religious experiences, but, on the other, are grounded in ethology and evolutionary biology. From this it follows that certain religious phenomena are objective, in that they are empirical, stable, and public. As a consequence, certain theological claims can be objectively confirmed or refuted. However, it would be a mistake to assume that this approach reduces religious experiences to the "merely psychological" or considers them inessential epiphenomena in a materialist universe. On the contrary, I will show that it demonstrates the compatibility and even inevitability of transcendental religious experience—and its crucial importance—to biological beings such as ourselves. (Along the way I will advance some concrete hypotheses about the possible role of specific brain systems in religious experience.)
ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/maclennan/EvolutionaryNeurotheology-long.pdf
ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/maclennan/EvolutionaryNeurotheology-long.pdf
The Emerging Science of Neurotheology
Iona Miller, Asklepia Foundation, 2003, Delivered at COSCIOUSNESS TECHNOLOGIES II, Sisters, OR.
“The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mystical. It is the sower of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger . . . is as good as dead.” --Albert Einstein
The Great Unknown
Imagine one of our ancient ancestors, suddenly stricken by illness or a near-fatal accident. Hovering near the brink of death, an ordinary person suddenly finds him or herself locked in an immersive visionary experience of shadowy figures, muted voices and blinding luminescence.
The cosmos opens its enfolding arms and infinity spreads out in a timeless panoply that dissolves all fear, all separation from the Divine. Fear of death vanishes in a comforting flood of bliss, peace and dazzling light – the ultimate ‘holy’ connection. Overwhelming conviction arises that this is the more fundamental Reality. The welcoming gates of a personal heaven open.
Suddenly back in the body, returned to ordinary reality, one is left to interpret that transcendent experience to oneself and others. This near-death experience may not have resulted in physical demise, but it has led to the death of the old self -- the personal self -- and the rebirth, rapture, or resurrection of the soul or spirit. It brings a surge of emotions, conviction and even transformation in its wake. The soul has taken a journey from which one cannot return the same.
A descent into psychobiological hell can lead to a transcendent journey toward Heaven -- or perhaps the yawning abyss of the Void. Shamans, priests, prophets, mystics, and gurus arose to show the Way of navigating these nether regions, of finding healing, the eternal moment, a peaceful heart, and unity.
Our human progenitors had to directly confront existential issues of survival, adaptation, stress, mating, birth, loss, and death. They gradually developed stories about the basics of life – social, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual existence. They created myths, beliefs about creation and our creation to give meaning to life. They developed rituals, ceremonies, and practices to heal body and mind, mark life passages, and placate forces beyond their control. These accounted for their origins as well as voices, visions and experiences that seemed to come from the great Beyond.
The brain is hard-wired for mystical experiences to modify the threat of our hostile existential reality (Alper). Metaphysical explanations developed for the essentially unknowable, for sudden and irresistible seizures of ecstasy. Some of these accounts were more sophisticated than others depending on their cultural background, but all shared a common core by defining the mystery of the relationship between mankind and the Unknown. It might be called a peak experience, spirit possession, epiphany, religious rapture, nirvana, satori, shaktiput, clear light, or illumination. The difference is only one of degrees of absorption, of fulfillment.
The god-experience is a process, a subjective perception, rather than an objectively provable reality. Distractions cease, replaced by the direct impact of oceanic expansion, sudden insight, childlike wonder, ecstatic exaltation above bodily and personal existence, dissolution in a timeless moment, fusion, gnosis.
It is direct perception coupled with high emotion and deep realization of what appears to be ultimate truth. It rips away the veil of illusion, revealing the pure ground state of our existence without any emotional, mental, or belief filters. Left with only pure awareness, the natural mind is finally free of earthly trappings. Bathed in emotions of joy, assurance and salvation, Cosmos becomes a living presence. Immortality is sensed, so fear of death vanishes.
Many called that numinous mystery God. In some sense, religion is a reaction to what actually is. But to many, when it comes to their religion, those are fighting words – for theirs is the true way, the only way. Heaven on Earth cannot be achieved so long as those two realms are separated. God comes down to earth in our own psychophysiology, dwelling within us.
Programmed for God?
Neurotheology is the marriage of brain science and theology, which systematically studies the relationship of God and the universe. Religion is the expression of theological attitudes and actions. Tradition says God created the heavens and earth, and God created man in his own image.
But did God create man and the brain, or does the brain create God? Revelation is the act of God manifesting, disclosing himself, or communicating truth to the mind. These subjective experiences are the basis of mysticism. Perhaps God hid mankind’s spirituality where we would least expect it and be least likely to look – within ourselves.
The religious element of our nature is just as universal as the rational or social one. Could altering brain chemistry by playing some visual and pleasure circuits, while quieting those governing self-image, cognition, orientation, and time sequencing give rise to a transcendental bliss, a god-experience? Can they give rise to the electrochemical supercharge described as kundalini, the serpent power that rises up the spine in illumination? How can we journey along the continuum from pleasure to enthusiasm, to joy, ecstasy and enlightenment?
This is the question posed by both theistic and non-believing scientists alike, in an attempt to comprehend our spiritual urge. Religious division is still the global root of conflict in the modern world. Even within ourselves we can experience crises of personal faith, as our worldly outlook vies with our spiritual beliefs. Most religions or spiritual practices have a ‘salvivic” value – they “save” us from the banality of human limitation and limitless or meaningless suffering, lifting us up and often conferring a glimpse of the infinite, the Absolute.
In his 1962 utopian novel, Island, Aldous Huxley coined the term neurotheology to describe the territory where human “wetware” interfaces with the divine. Since then it has come to mean the emergent field that describes the neurological phenomena that underlie classical mystical experiences from all spiritual practices. It seems our nervous systems are “pre-programmed” to experience a variety of religious or spiritual experiences. We can journey within and explore our inner world, just as we can the outer world.
However, this human study of the phenomenology of the God-experience doesn’t reductively negate the possibly of a divine creative force. Rather, this transdisciplinarian science simply seeks to describe the mechanisms involved in that process. It explores how the divine is translated into the human realm, from the archetypal to the material world. It combines aspects of religion, psychology, and neurology. This new paradigm synthesizes the truths of both science and religion – giving birth to “neuroshamanism.”
Our “God-program” is the means through which humans have traditionally interpreted the meaning of major life passages such as stress, birth, identity, aging, death, and opening to a sense of infinity. It bears heavily on our image of our Self, our relationship with others, and our place in the cosmos and world. It is the source of our faith and the ground of our beliefs. Religious dogma has been created over eons to interpret or account for these dramatic personal encounters with spirit.
Taxonomies of religious experience have been created in anthropology, sociology, psychology, and religious studies. They form maps of the territory of spiritual experience from shamanism, to artistic expression and all forms of creativity including transcendent states of consciousness (Gowan; Tart; Grof; Wilber). But as mystics and scholars both admonish, “The map is not the territory.”
A spectrum or continuum of divine interplay is available as flow states induced through trance, creativity, and meditation. But knowing about them is not the same as direct experience of those states, purposefully induced or spontaneous. The former is a conceptualization, while the later is a grace, an epiphany. These states range from spirit possession to simple communion and nature-awe, to loss of self in awesome unitive cosmic consciousness.
The God Program
Belief and biology are entwined like mind and matter, like the twin serpents of the Caduceus, which represents enlightenment. Neurology, ritual and religion all join in what psychologist Carl Jung (pioneer of the collective unconscious) called a Mysterium Coniunctionis, or Royal Marriage with the divine. The soul becomes lost in the Self; all duality is erased.
We have a natural human capacity for spiritual experience, just as we have one for comprehension of language or mathematics. Transpersonal experience, myth, ritual, morals and ethics are undergird by a comprehensive religious ecology. The cognized environment is the stage of experience. Networks of neurophysiological structures orchestrate the play on the stage. Intricate electromagnetic and biochemical mechanisms underlie human ritual, myth, mysticism, and religious phenomena.
Whether God exists as an overarching cosmic entity or not, there are certain mechanisms in the brain which mankind has harnessed over thousands of years to facilitate the process of non-ordinary experience. They all manipulate the body’s nervous system either by over- or under-stimulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal. They lead us toward seeing, hearing, touching and feeling the Lord in an experiential, rather than conceptual way that culminates in fusion.
Biologically, heavenly states are dependent on the limbic system or emotional part of the brain, and hormonal secretions. Mystical states are not fantasies, delusions or intangible events – they are the end result of complex chemical and neurological processes. They begin with instinctive awe and indefinable thrills, floating sensations, and perhaps spiritual hunger.
Ego-death can occur when the hyperactive “I” submits or gives in to sensory overload, which overwhelms it. Hypoarousal leads to a characteristic silencing of the mind or emptying when the ego voluntarily submits to unification of subject and object, of “I” and Self. Cortical and subcortical activity become indistinguishably merged. There is no separate “I” left to perceive objective reality. Thus, dualism is paradoxically obliterated in the maximal excitation of both the hyper- and hypo-arousal systems.
Because they produce personal euphoria and creative inspiration, these initial states are common to poets, artists, and mystics. But mystics tell us these ecstasies may be nothing more than overloading of the emotional channels. Ecstasy is a desire for contact, a striving after union. Entering these regions in full consciousness indicates greater spiritual maturity. Stabilizing them at the personality level means the phase of emergence is over and enlightenment becomes a steady state. The neurological changes have become integrated and permanent.
The oldest shamanic techniques include fasting, drumming, trance dancing, inner journeys, and mind-altering plants. The relaxation techniques for transcendence include meditation, imagery, prayer, postures, and chanting. All of them work on the physiology to change the chemistry of the mind/body and induce oceanic ecstasies that are either all-consuming or ultimately serene.
Any constant, rhythmic stimulus to the central nervous system will induce a trance-state and accompanying “high.” Driving the system toward either polarity of arousal or quiescence leads to a paradoxical reversal into its opposite, much like sexual arousal leads to post-orgasmic afterglow. Similarly, at some point, meditation can release an intense rush of energy and emotion, partly through the limbic system.
One methodology produces sensory overload, while the other empties the sensory field by withdrawing attention from sensory signals. There may be sensory melding – a phenomenon called synesthesia – where one can “see” music, or “taste “colors.”
When the mind/body is either exhausted or emptied of external input, the mind is free to process the endless loops of its own manifestation, its own internal processes. Fear and shame give way to grace, a sense of Presence, perception of sanctity, response to realization of the divine. Time, space and the separate ego seem suspended or transcended in the experience of cosmic consciousness. All is One. Beyond the unity experience is the nondual experience of the Void.
If perceptual intake is restricted or expanded beyond certain limits, the normal state of consciousness gives way to altered states, each of which has certain characteristics. This universal experience has nine typical qualities: 1) unity, 2) transformation of space and time, 3) deeply felt positive mood, 4) sacredness, 5) objectivity and reality, 6) paradoxicality, 7) alleged ineffability, 8) transiency, and 9) persisting positive changes in subsequent behavior. A direct and unmediated encounter with the source level of reality is felt as Holy, Awful, Ultimate and Ineffable. (Gowan, 1976).
Re-creational Ego Death
The alchemists sought eternal life by consuming the panacea (cure all), universal medicine, the elixir vitae. Paracelsus, the medieval alchemist and physician, said, “He who enters the kingdom of God must first enter his mother and die.” If God is the father, Nature is our mother. Death always sits on our shoulder, patiently awaiting each of us in turn. And we are acutely aware of that fact, more so as we age or experience loss and infirmity. We are self-consciously aware that we exist, and that one day we will not.
We can react to our knowledge of our own mortality with denial, pragmatism, or unshakeable faith in an afterlife, or reincarnated life. Death will come inexorably in any event at our journey’s end. We cannot directly know the nature of that experience until we have gone through it. But even before physical death, the soul can die gradually to outward things; the self is release and transcended. When the senses and mind stop actively functioning, the body becomes like a corpse. Ego-death mirrors the process of the near-death experience (NDE).
NDE phases include 1) subjective feeling of being dead; 2) peace and well-being; 3) disembodiment; 4) visions of material objects and events. The transcendental phase includes, 5) tunnel or dark zone; 6) evaluation of one’s past life; 7) light; 8) access to a transcendental world, entering in light; 9) encounter with other beings; 10) return to life.
Those who have been close to death, or experienced an initiatory death of the ego come back to show and tell what that indescribable experience might be like. They report pain and panic subsides in detachment from the body, bliss and contentment. Then comes entering the darkness, seeing the light, and entering that light. The same is true for mystics when they become dead to the outside world. The body is profoundly affected as breathing, heart rate, and skin conductance change.
When it is not sudden, death is a process where oxygen levels drop, carbon dioxide builds up, and neural firing rate decreases. This sequence recounts the stages of brain death -- the shutting down of sensory systems, mental dissociation, large dumps of pain-killing and euphoria-inducing endorphins and dopamine into the brain, the shut down of the visual cortex as nerve cells continue to die, and coma. Darkness descends.
Though it is a universal journey, near-death reports incorporate scenery and characters that coincide with cultural programming. For example, Tibetan Buddhists never report seeing Jesus in the “tunnel” during a near-death experience. In fact, according to the Dalai Lama, they don’t even tend to have near-death experiences, or they perceive them in completely different terms. Still, there are certain cross-cultural correlations to the process of loosening the bonds of space, time, and the ego whether death is initiatory or literal in nature:
These stages include 1). a return to the womb or unborn primal state, which happens in the death process as the sensory and visual centers shut down and we are left in the dull red glow of our fetal stage. 2). Dissolution, dispersal, dismemberment, or fragmentation loosens our ties to the sense of self, as we move beyond our sorrow, helplessness, rigidities, fear, and pain back toward the primeval unification before our ego emerged. 3). Containment of a lesser thing (personality) by a greater (pleroma).
4). Rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative energy flow, as experiential contact with the psychedelic groundstate of being floods us with nourishing sensations of well-being. 5). Purification ordeal, as we struggle with any mental resistance, conflicts and remnants of earthly attachments; karmic purging. 6). Solution of problems as any conflicts resolve in the bliss of absorption; healing. 7). Melting or softening process, of final letting go and unification of subject and object; a spiritually healing immersion in the vast ocean of deep consciousness, (Miller, 1993).
Resurrection of the “dead” in the mystical sense thus takes on new meaning. Paradoxically, it describes both the transformation to heightened awareness, the soul becoming more and more absorbed in the contemplation of God, and also the return to ordinary awareness. Rapture, the “ascent to heaven”, also has the connotation of rising to spiritual heights in the mystic experience, which lifts or elevates one from normal states of awareness.
Mystical Circuitry
But what happens when the death process doesn’t follow through to its mortal conclusion or is merely simulated spontaneously or intentionally with meditation? The relationship between brain physiology and human behavior is notoriously difficult to understand and easy to misapply.
Obviously consciousness, subjectivity and human religious experience are not reducible merely to an explanation of neural pathways. We are accustomed to associating it with grace, mind-expansion, intuition, transcendence, ecstasy, metamorphosis and salvation.
It remains a mystery whether our hard-wiring creates the powerful God Experience, or our whether God creates our psychophysical wiring. Only soul-searching can provide any personally satisfying answer. It might seem sacrilege to some to conduct experiments in “measuring meat” to gauge spirituality. Still, this does not negate the beauty of the scientific search for truth through creativity and passion as genuine as any other artform.
Knowledge of which body parts are mobilized in this communion doesn’t detract from the experience, for the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. Neurotheology respects both science and spirit. It is a move toward holism, not merely a reductive analysis. Natural expansive experiences occur in a wide numbers of situations, but involve common elements:
1) The attention is gripped, and perception narrowed or focused through a single event or sensation; 2) which appears to be an experience of surpassing beauty or worth; 3) in which unrealized values or relationships are suddenly or instantly emphasized; 4) resulting in the emergence of great joy and an orgiastic experience of ecstasy; 5) in which individual barriers separating the self from others or nature are broken down; 6) resulting in a release of love, confidence, or power; and 7) some kind of change in the subsequent personality, behavior or artistic product after the rapture is over. (Gowan, 1976).
Can we pinpoint what regions of the brain turn off and on during religious, visionary or extraordinary states of consciousness? Yes; scientists are using dynamic brain imaging techniques such as SPECT and functional MRI to directly view the activation of brain circuitry. We can watch both blood flow and electrical activity in real time.
The roles of the amygdala, hippocampus, temporal lobes, parietal lobe, and pineal gland are fundamental to our sense of well-being, meaningfulness, expansion from personal identity and perception of inner Light. We can now directly see how the brain correlates both external and internal stimuli and our reactions to them. Rather than ancient rituals to placate the gods, our rituals are now scientific experimental protocols.
Brain scans of a large sampling of people lost in prayer or deep meditation reveal certain common neurological readings. These correlate with religious states ranging from transcendence, to visions, to enlightenment and feelings of awe. Attention or concentration in the frontal lobes is indicated by activation in this area of the brain during meditation. In meditative states, there is an attitudinal shift and detachment from thoughts other than perhaps love of God.
Sound and Vision
Our response to religious words is mediated at the juncture of three lobes (parietal, frontal, and temporal) and governs reaction to language. The “voice of God” probably emanates from electrical activity in the temporal lobes, which are important to speech perception. Inner speech is interpreted as originating outside the self, when Broca’s area switches on.
Stress can influence our ability to determine origin of a voice. It is part of our fight-flight response, which can mobilize even when we try to relax. Unstressing phenomena can range from panic reactions, heaving sighs, excessive heat to shivers and bristling of the skin, throat constriction, watery eyes, light flashes or waves before the eyes, sudden muscular contractions, tingling sensations, and electric shocks.
The right anterior cingulate turns on whether a stimulus originates in the environment or is an auditory hallucination. A wide variety of mystical sounds have been described ranging from the buzzing of bees, to the sounds of bells, stringed instruments, thunder, distant echoes, ocean waves, wind, and muffled talk in unknown languages.
The ability to construct internal representations of sensory stimuli underlies perception and cognition. Viewed objectively, these mindscapes are perfectly concrete manifestations but also have a subjective aspect when we become aware of them. Our consciousness is experienced through our perceptions. Any individual perception of the universe can occur as an internal or external experience.
We may experience varying forms of an I-Thou dialogue along the continuum of extremely hyper- or hypo-arousal states. Sacred images are generated in the lower temporal lobe, which also responds to ritualistic use of imagery and iconography. Empathy needs a face. Fear and awesomeness originate in the amygdala. Religious emotions originate in the middle temporal lobe, generating bliss, awe, joy and other feelings of well-being, as well as a sense of Presence.
Beyond Space and Time
Einstein had a virtually mystical understanding of the nature of space and time, which he expressed in The N.Y. Times, March 29, 1972:
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us ‘Universe.’ A part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires, and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.”
A triple “prison” for the mystic, space, time, and personality define and specify the normal state of consciousness. Mystic ecstasy offers a glimpse of spiritual freedom, and escape from the prison of selfhood. Remaining as motionless as possible facilitates this effect. When the parietal lobes quiet down, a person first feels detachment from the tyranny of the perceptions, then an expansive oneness with the universe of cosmic unity.
Time distortion starts the personal escape from time, sign of an attempt to escape from the cocoon. Then the inner marriage between the personal and non-personal aspects of the psyche is consummated. Psychic conflicts are transcended, leaving a whole, complete being.
When the orientation area is deprived of neuronal input by gating from the hippocampus, sense of self expands. With no preferred position or direction in space, the local self dissolves in omnidirectional expansion. If one remains motionless, there is no external reference signal to orient in 3-space and no reason for this portion of the brain to activate. Continued meditation can over-drive certain other brain areas and seemingly transport us to another universe.
For a mystical experience to occur, perceptions narrow and brain regions that orient us in space and mark the distinction between self and world must go quiet. We give up the past and give up the future – we give up our defenses. All feelings cease as the self merges with the numinous element. The mind becomes tranquil, withdraws itself from all sides, becoming firmly established in the supreme Reality.
In order to feel that time, fear, and self-consciousness have dissolved, certain brain circuits must be interrupted. This includes damping activity in the fear-registering amygdala, which monitors the environment for threats. Parietal-lobe circuits that give us a sense of physical orientation and a distinction between self and world must quiet down.
The orientation area requires sensory input to do its calculations. Intense meditation blocks the brain from forming a distinction between self and world. Frontal and temporal-lobe circuits, which mark time and generate self-awareness, must disengage. When this happens, self-awareness briefly drops out and we feel like our boundaries dissolve.
The most immediate experience is that of always having been and being forever. The three illusions – space, time and personality – are obliterated in cosmic consciousness, as the soul completes its journey to its spiritual home. Human consciousness is eliminated, having been reabsorbed into the primordial essence. All becomes All without differentiation.
NeuroMagnetics
A Canadian neuropsychologist, Michael Persinger (1987) has spent years exploring the relationship of spiritual phenomena and electromagnetics with many subjects. Low intensity magnetic fields orchestrate communication between lobes of the brain, faster than biolelectrical or biochemical processes of neurons. He has developed a device, called the Octopus to test his theories.
“Underlying Persinger’s work is the conviction that anomalous electromagnetic fluctuations – produced by solar flares, seismic activity, radio and microwave transmissions, electrical devices, and other external sources or originating in the brain itself – can trigger disturbances resembling epileptic seizures. These ‘microseizures,’ he propses, generate a wide range of altered states, including religious and mystical visions, out-of-body experiences, and even alien-abduction episodes.”
“Persinger conjectures that our sense of self is ordinarily mediated by the brain’s lef hemisphere – more specifically by the left temporal lobe. When the brain is disrupted – by a head injury, epileptic seizure, stroke, drugs, psychological trauma, or external electromagnetic pulses – our left-brain may detect activity in the right hemisphere as another self, or what Persinger calls a ‘sensed presence.’ Depending on our circumstances and background, we may perceive the sensed presence as extraterrestrials, ghosts, angels, fairies, muses, demons, or God Almighty.” (Horgan)
This technoshaman with his electronic art uses solenoids in a helmet for input; a computer controls the fluctuating fields. He sends vast depolarizing waves across millions of cells, releasing all types of memories and fantasies mixed and mashed together. Long-term memory is seated in the surface of the bottom of the temporal lobes in the para hippocampal cortex, closely connected to the hippocampus. Though an atheist, he stops just short of saying the god-experience is just an electrical seizure. However, his research goal is to use his devise to trigger transcendental experiences in nonreligious people face with the fear of death. He admits there is scientific evidence that those with spiritual beliefs are better adapted and statistically healthier.
Persinger can artificially produce a wide range of anomalous experiences by driving the brain with his EM helmet and technology. He identifies the temporal lobes as the biological basis of the god-experience. Bombarding the brain with certain frequencies in certain regions produces different results. As impulses move through the temporal lobe and deep into the brain, they interfere and interact with the complex electrical patterns and neural fields.
Aimed at the amygdala, Persinger’s device produces sexual arousal. Focused on the hippocampus it produces an opiate effect without adverse side effects, other than irritation upon withdrawal. Targeting the right hemisphere temporal lobe creates a sense of a negative presence, while stimulating the left hemisphere creates a benevolent presence.
Sensed presence becomes more common until the day arrives when God’s presence is something a person feels at all times. In mystical experience language fails. Since we can’t experiences two senses of self, one is projected as other, the Beloved, either romantic or spiritual. Thus there is truth in saying that the beloved is God, and that when we love God we are loving ourselves. I and Thou are One. The other becomes the Self.
Electrical activity in the amygdala, hippocampus and temporal can ‘spill over’ into nearby structures. If it ignites the visual area, intense visions emerge. Kindling the olfactory regions leads to unique scents. Somatosensory stimulation leads to buzzing, energetic, or tingling sensations or perceptions of being lifted or floating. Language center activation produces voices, music, or noise. Long-term memory in the lower part of the temporal lobes yields interactive virtual realities, waking dreams. The thalamus is implicated in aura vision; the reticular activating system in life reviews.
New patterns spread through the limbic system, producing sensation ranging from subtle to profound. Usually there is seamless integration of past, present and future. But in déjà vu, there is too much communication between short-term and long-term memories. Then the present can feel like the past. Present perceptions are shunted through areas that process memories, and we feel we are re-living a moment stored in long-term memory. The opposite happens in jamais vu, when nothing we experience seems to have anything to do with the past. Time distortion is another experiential phenomenon stimulated with the electromagnetic gear.
The impulses can induce anything from sleep to “alien abductions”, including a profound sense of presence or the uncanny, auditory and visionary experiences, or a sense of deep meaning. He notes these experiences are tempered by the person’s learning history. God concepts are determined by verbal conditioning; perceptions are constructions. Imagery ranges from vivid landscapes to forms of living things. Sounds, smells, scenes or intense feelings all reflect areas of electrical instability.
The Biology of the Inner Light
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. No wonder it is called illumination, and it can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Imagine suggesting the body makes it own psychedelic drug! This is just what psychiatrist Rick Strassman contends in DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2001). He asserts it is an active agent in a variety of altered states, including mystical experience. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation may awaken normally latent synthetic pathways.
Meditation may modulate pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain, as we have described above. To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT. DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak.
He suggests the mysterious pineal gland is implicated in the natural production of this mystic molecule, as metaphysical teachers have long claimed. The pineal has been called the spirit gland and may be the biological basis of spiritual experience. The only solitary, or unpaired gland in the brain may initiate and support a variety of altered states of consciousness.
The pineal is known to contain high levels of the enzymes and building-blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
The pineal sits, well-protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes.
Endogenous DMT is described as the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina.
DMT production is particularly stimulated, according to Strassman in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality—these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel or minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies . . .The pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation.” (Strassman).
Become Your Own Technoshaman
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, a form of entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim .
Conclusions
Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with God, but experiencing oneself in the process of “becoming” god. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but as the same essence as All.
Of course, we can never fully complete that process. No one can fully embody God, but we can move toward it. The succession of conscious states is toward higher integration, not toward lower dissociation. The process of integration in growth toward positive values has the complementary virtues of being obvious in fact and transcendental in implications. It means we evolve from reactive creatures into an integrated part of the spiritual dimension.
As sociologist Eliade described, “The ideal of yoga . . . is to live in an eternal present, outside of time. The man, liberated in his life, no longer possesses a personal consciousness . . .but a witnessing consciousness, which is pure lucidity and spontaneity.” Meditation is essentially emulation of creation and practice for a lucid passing at death into the Eternal Now.
We are all capable of transcendent awareness. What we believe in becomes real in an existential sense. Paradoxically, pure consciousness both generates and is generated by the processes of the brain. Becoming soul journeyers, we can explore self and multiple worlds, transformation, and social flow.
We can all become technoshamans, using the process of altering our consciousness through spiritual technologies. Even “lesser” mystical experiences have significant implications for religion and theology. It is the nature of the mystical mind to have such experiences and they have altered religion. So, a thorough understanding of how the mind/body functions to generate them is extremely useful.
Paradoxical physiological mechanisms operate in the body under most conditions to chemically prevent the attainment of higher states of arousal on either end of the spectrum. But it is possible, with repeated exposure to the paradoxical situation to function effectively at higher levels of conjoined sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal. The brain can be “re-wired” to connect more and more areas together as links in the spiritual chain, which leads to so-called enlightenment. The brain seems to hunger for ecstasies to enhance characteristics of our normal way of being, creativity, problem-solving, spirituality, and so on.
The task of meditation is essentially letting the body fall as deeply asleep as possible while the mind remains focused. In fact, if it were not for the opposite function’s presence, even in the mystical state, we would fall asleep. The REM or dream state is similar: there is extreme cerebral excitation, even though muscular activity is inhibited. Hemispheric synchronization producing long, slow alpha and theta brainwaves with high amplitude is another factor. The deeper the meditation, the slower and stronger the waves.
The energy “rush” of meditation comes when either the arousal or quiescent state “spills over” into stimulating its complementary system. When both parts of the autonomic nervous system go online simultaneously, the limbic system goes wild with emotion, absorption and oceanic bliss. This is reflected in the gender based, male-female imagery of the kundalini serpent power and the yin and yang of the Tao.
When both systems go into maximal discharge, this neurochemical flux is subjectively perceived as Absolute Unity of Being, boundlessness, timelessness, and sacredness. Our relationship to humans, earth, and cosmos is one of a relationship to the Other. Our first formative influence is the experience of empathy. And empathy needs a face. If we find that face in our personal experience of God, who shall say nay? Beyond that lies only the yawning infinity of the Void.
REFERENCES
Alper, Matthew ( ). The God Part of the Brain.
Andresen, Jensine (Editor). Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience.
D’Aquili, Eugene and Newberg, Andrew ( ). The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience.
Giovannoli, Joseph et al. The Biology of Belief: How Our Biology Biases Our Beliefs and Perceptions.
Gowan, John Curtis (1975). Trance, Art, and Creativity. Buffalo, New York: Creative Education Foundation.
Grof, Stanislav (1988). The Adventure of Self-Discovery. Albany, New York: SUNY Press.
Horgan, John (2003). Rational Mysticism. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Joseph, Rhawn, et al (2003). Neurotheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, and Religious Experience.
Krippner, Stanley, Etzel Cardena, Stephen Jay Lynn [Eds.] (2000). Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence. American Psychological Assn., Washington D.C.
McKinney, Laurence O. (1994). Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the21st Century. American Instit. For Mindfulness.
Milkman, Harvey and Sunderwirth, Stanley (1987). Craving for Ecstasy: Consciousness and Chemistry of Escape. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books.
Miller, Iona (1993). “Chaos as the universal solvent.” Chaosophy ’93. Wilderville: Asklepia Press.
Miller, Iona (2001). “Neurotheology 101”
Newberg, Andrew and D’Aquili, Eugene (2001). Why God Won’t Go Away. New York: Ballantine Books.
Persinger, Michael A. (1987). Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs. New York: Praeger.
Ramachandra, Vilayanur (1998). Phantoms in the Brain.
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park St. Press.
Tart, Charles. Altered States of Consciousness.
Wilber, Ken (2000). Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy. Boston: Shambhala. SPIRITUALITY AND THE BRAIN http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/
Essays in Neurotheology
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/neurotheology.htm
Enlightenment
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/enlightenment.htm
Enlightenment is a rare experience, and so are visions of God. The experience of God has been produced in the laboratories of Laurentian University's neurosciences program, and is the subject of a book by the program's director, Dr. M.A. Persinger. The book's conclusion, that the 'God-experience" reflects specific neural activity, is quite a radical notion for the western world.
The Spiritual Personality
http://www.innerworlds.50megs.com/traits.htm
The personalities of people who are involved with spiritual practices like prayer, meditation and ceremony are shaped by the altered-state experiences their spirituality creates. The part of the brain that manages our states of consciousness, the temporal lobes, is a little busier in these people than most, producing personality traits that appear over and over among spiritually oriented people.
The Neurology of Romantic Love. In many ways, romantic love looks similar to devotional religious feelings, and its disappointments look very much like 'The Dark Night of the Soul'. Neuroscience for the hopeless romantic.
Stimulating My Brain As a Spiritual Path Here's Todd Murphy's story, more or less. When its finished, you'll find that I accept many of the things that psychics, gurus, and religions teach, but in very different forms.
Archetypes We might be more likely to see the archetypes in others than in ourselves. Evolution may have provided us with some hard-wiring that allows us to see them in others, giving us an almost instinctive feeling for how to relate with different types of people.
Articles on other websites
"The God Spot"
"The God Helmet"
"Your Brain on God"
"God on the Brain" (BBC)
"Ghosts in a machine"
Interview - webmaster
EVOLUTIONARY NEUROTHEOLOGY
AND THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE VERSION)*
EVOLUTIONARY NEUROTHEOLOGY
AND THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE VERSION)* Bruce MacLennan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
My goal is to outline an evolutionary neuropsychological foundation for spiritual and religious experiences. Central to this account are concepts from archetypal psychology, which, on the one hand, explain the structure of common religious experiences, but, on the other, are grounded in ethology and evolutionary biology. From this it follows that certain religious phenomena are objective, in that they are empirical, stable, and public. As a consequence, certain theological claims can be objectively confirmed or refuted. However, it would be a mistake to assume that this approach reduces religious experiences to the "merely psychological" or considers them inessential epiphenomena in a materialist universe. On the contrary, I will show that it demonstrates the compatibility and even inevitability of transcendental religious experience—and its crucial importance—to biological beings such as ourselves. (Along the way I will advance some concrete hypotheses about the possible role of specific brain systems in religious experience.)
ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/maclennan/EvolutionaryNeurotheology-long.pdf
ftp://cs.utk.edu/pub/maclennan/EvolutionaryNeurotheology-long.pdf
Brain Synch & Resonance Creating anew through the power of the memory and imagination.
Brainwave synchronization is the ability of the brain to synchronize with external stimuli such as visual and/or audio. Brainwave synchronization is also referred to by scientists as Frequency-Following Effect, Photonic Stimulation, Photonic Driving, and Visual and/or Brainwave Synchronization. Brainwave synchronization is very effective for changing from one brain wave state to a targeted brainwave state.
Neurohacking means any method of interfering with the structure and/or function of neurons, or neural pathways, for self-improvement, treatment of problems, or exploration. Methods used include meditation, drugs/pharmaceuticals, psychological techniques and technology.
ARE YOU A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH?
Where are the boundaries of conscious experience and self, and why do these boundaries exist? What is beyond this mystic veil? How do boundaries, roles and pathology develop in interaction with parents, caregivers and others? In what ways are they conditioned by prevailing systems of belief, philosophy, sociocultural history, and environment?
How is adult experience and sense of self altered by physical, psychological, social or spiritual development? How does subjective experience relate to intersubjectivity? How do changes in conscious experience affect one's sense of self, for example through meditation, mysticism, or in pathological states?
NLP
When Staying Safe means Staying Stuck your solution IS the problem, it is time for change. We create an internal map of reality so we can feel safe in our family and environment as children, but it is the viewpoint of a child which becomes outmoded or obsolete. Beliefs can come from the inside or outside. We filter sensory input and focus on certain details and delete others, uconsciously, missing the big picture that can challenge and foster our growth.
What is, IS as much as we may try to spin-doctor, edit or deny it. The old self must "die" for the new self to emerge from the pain and fear. We can focus on this natural filtering process and decide how to focus and what to delete to serve ourselves best. Make and apply the details to the Big Picture by chunking information (hierarchies of detail) consciously in your complex internal map of reality to make what you want.
BEGIN WITH YOUR BELIEFS
Values control and organize our beliefs associated with those values. They tell us what's important and help us create operational rules for our lives. Some are empowering and some are disempowering. Values determine what we spend our time on by creating what's important to motivating us to spend time on certain things.
How we evaluate that can lead to conflicting values. They arouse emotion. When you are totally motivated what feelings do you have? Notice how important it is and find its value. If something isn't on your list of values, you won't be motivated. If there is conflict, sometimes you do one thing while other times you do something totally opposite. You spend more time on the most important values whether they contribute or stand in your way of taking action.
Value hierarchies are created in youth (uncritical, unfiltered imprinting up to age 7; modelling and hero worship at ages 7-14; chosen socialization from society at large, 14-21) but the conflicts can be resolved by focusing on their order of importance. Safety is the biggest criteria for value choices. Parents, peers, media, church, local culture are effects. So are historical events and cultural differences.
The part of you that creates a sense of safety also resists positive change, consciously and unconsciously. Part of us wants to remain the same despite our conscious desires. There is a price to pay for changes because it involves moving through the fear and pain to create the results we want.
VIEW IT AND DO IT
Our way of storing, categorizing, and retrieving information can be changed. Outgrown maps disrupt the creative process through which we realize our values and beliefs. Changing beliefs, cognitively and behaviorally, is quite possible with a few simple techniques, such as being the Watcher, overwriting old patterns and behaviors. Focus on what you want, not what you don't want.
You can create the life you want as long as you aren't attached to the outcome. Your feelings don't need to be egotistically attached to or identified with the results. It doesn't affect your peace and happiness at the core level, though emotions still arise and fall away.
We all have an internal map of reality and our beliefs generate our reality. Our main agenda is to be right about our beliefs. Values are the source and desire for motivation. Motivation comes from values; sense of safety comes from beliefs. If you create a 1 minute movie internally about what you WANT it is more effective than obsessing on what you don't want. It is even more effective when you are in a meditative state.
SELF-REGULATION: ALPHA AND THETA MEDITATION
If we care for our bodies and minds, they care for us in return. Meditation helps us recalibrate our entire system by taking a time out from the daily grind to refresh ourselves with the blessings of Source, our sacred treasure. Poetry, prayer and meditation open new realms of genuine giving and receiving. This creative power feeds, sustains and revitalizes our special qualities of spirituality; Love, Communion, Vision, Freedom, Expression, Humility, Integrity, Honour and Peace.
1. The first step is relaxation or surrendering of the body and mind so that the mind is uncluttered by unrelated and disturbing thoughts. If thoughts come let them float away like clouds without attaching to them. Let go of disturbances and psychophysical stress. Notice the vibrancy of silence.
2. The second is concentration on a limited area of mental focus to control and direct the mind towards the chosen "object" of concentration. You can focus on a figure, an object, the concept of love or the energy in your heart center, mindfulness, compassion, emptiness or whatever you like. Hold your mind to thatpoint of focus, bringing it back if it wanders to various other unrelated thoughts like daily life, needs, desires, the future and the past. Empty your mind and pass through the Mystic Veil.
3. The third stage transcends all symbols. There is eventual transcendence of the mind, thoughts and all identification with the body and personality. We pass through the Mystic Veil, entering into a state of super-mental union with infinite Oneness. Relax into that receptive mode of being. This is our source of energy, security, self-worth, freedom, strength and peace that helps us cope and deal with our daily lives. We have so much to gain by dedicating at least 20 minutes a day. We obtain greater clarity, health, harmony, happiness, intuition, understanding, creativity and problem solving ability.
These three aspects, RELAXATION, CONCENTRATION and TRANSCENDENCE are the basis of most meditation techniques.
Holosynch Audio Technology
EEG frequencies include Gamma (higher than 30Hz); Beta (14-30Hz); Alpha (7.5-13Hz); Theta (3.5-7.5Hz); and Delta (less than 4Hz). They are linked to behaviors, subjective feeling states, physiological correlates, etc. Improved neuroregulation in the basic functions is related to their underlying rhythmic mechanisms.
Alpha and Theta are conducive to deep relaxation and release from critical thinking; it frees the imaginative, emotional mind. HOLOSYNCH automatically assures your brain is in Alpha or Theta without years of practice. Self-help imaging during Holosynch meditation amplifies your self-help results immensely.
The brain responds to inputs at certain frequencies. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause the vibrations of another object to oscillate at the same rate. External rhythms, such as an audio CD, can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener.
HOLOSYNCH CDs are mindtools that creates wave form patterns or certain frequencies that resonate with the mind's neural signals. We can control our mind patterns and enter different states of being (mental relaxation, study, etc.). When the mind is entrained with a sound or vibration that reflects the thought patterns it responds to certain frequencies behaving as a resonator.
Binaural beats are continuous tones of subtlety different frequencies, which are delivered to each ear independently in stereo via headphones. If the left channel's pitch is 100 cycles per second and the right channel's pitch is 108 cycles per second, the difference between the two equals 8 cycles per second. When these sounds are combined they produce a pulsing tone that waxes and wanes in a "wah-wah" rhythm. The brain resonate with this differential.
Binaural beats are not an external sound; rather they are subsonic frequencies heard within the brain itself. These frequencies are created as both hemispheres work simultaneously to hear sounds that are pitched differed by key mathematical intervals (window frequencies). The brainwaves respond to these oscillating tones by following them (entrainment) and both hemispheres begin to work together. Communication between the two sides of the brain is associated with flashes of creativity, insight and wisdom.
Like sound waves, the brain has its own set of vibrations it uses to communicate with itself and the rest of the body. Rhythmicity manages the entire range of activation and arousal in your bioelectrical field. One role advocated for rhythmic activity is that of time binding, harnessing brain electrical activity. Brainwaves indicate the arousal dimension, and arousal mediates a number of conditions. Changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal "tunes" the nervous system.
Underarousal leads toward Unipolar or Reactive Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder, chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal is linked with anxiety disorders, sleep onset problems, nightmares, hypervigilance, bipolar, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain and spasticity.
A combination of under- and overarousal causes anxiety and depression, as well as ADHD. If we are used to chaos, we will create trauma/drama in our lives to self-stimulate whether the result is positive or negative. We need to get our needs for excitement and novelty met in positive ways, so we don't "act out" or "act in".
Instabilities in certain rhythms can be correlated with tics, obsessive-compulsive disorder, aggressive behavior, rage, bruxism, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, migraines, narcolepsy, epilepsy, sleep apnea, vertigo, tinnitus, anorexia/bulimia, suicidal ideation and behavior, PMS, multiple chemical sensitivities, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and explosive behavior.
Alpha
In Alpha, we begin to access the wealth of creativity that lies just below our conscious awareness - it is the gateway, the entry point that leads into deeper states of consciousness. Alpha waves aid relaxation and overall mental coordination, calmness, alertness, inner awareness, mind/body integration and learning. Alpha is ideal for imaging positive changes in your beliefs and behavior. Focus on what you WANT, not what you don't want.
Theta
Theta waves mean 'slow" activity connected often with creativity, intuition, daydreaming or recalling emotions and sensations. Focus is internal in this state between waking and sleep. Under stress it may manifest as distraction, lack of focus. The senses are withdrawn from the external world and focused on the inner one. Children under 7 are in Theta most of the time, so have difficulty distinguishing the real from imaginary. It is the twilight state we normally only experience fleetingly as we awaken or drift off to sleep. We are in a waking dream, vivid imagery flashes before the mind's eye and we are receptive to information beyond our normal conscious awareness. Theta has also been identified as the gateway to learning and memory. Theta meditation increases creativity, enhances learning, reduces stress and awakens intuition and other extrasensory perception skills.
DMT, DOPAMINE and THE NATURAL HIGH The Biology of the Inner Light
Meditation evokes pineal DMT release through EM vibrations. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions. Meditation modulates pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that coordinates other brain centers with both chemicals and electromagnetism. Resonance is induced in the pineal gland using electric, magnetic, or sound energy, resynchronizing both hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a chain of synergetic harmony that releases DMT, an endogenous psychedelic. The pineal contains high levels of enzymes and building-blocks for DMT, which may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production with other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines which magnify and prolong DMT effects. DMT is the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. DMT production is particularly stimulated in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or awareness may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects, causing multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. When our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises the pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation and release.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute http://monroeinstitute.org , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute http://centerpointe.com is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim http://alpha-stim.com.
Brainwave synchronization is the ability of the brain to synchronize with external stimuli such as visual and/or audio. Brainwave synchronization is also referred to by scientists as Frequency-Following Effect, Photonic Stimulation, Photonic Driving, and Visual and/or Brainwave Synchronization. Brainwave synchronization is very effective for changing from one brain wave state to a targeted brainwave state.
Neurohacking means any method of interfering with the structure and/or function of neurons, or neural pathways, for self-improvement, treatment of problems, or exploration. Methods used include meditation, drugs/pharmaceuticals, psychological techniques and technology.
ARE YOU A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH?
Where are the boundaries of conscious experience and self, and why do these boundaries exist? What is beyond this mystic veil? How do boundaries, roles and pathology develop in interaction with parents, caregivers and others? In what ways are they conditioned by prevailing systems of belief, philosophy, sociocultural history, and environment?
How is adult experience and sense of self altered by physical, psychological, social or spiritual development? How does subjective experience relate to intersubjectivity? How do changes in conscious experience affect one's sense of self, for example through meditation, mysticism, or in pathological states?
NLP
When Staying Safe means Staying Stuck your solution IS the problem, it is time for change. We create an internal map of reality so we can feel safe in our family and environment as children, but it is the viewpoint of a child which becomes outmoded or obsolete. Beliefs can come from the inside or outside. We filter sensory input and focus on certain details and delete others, uconsciously, missing the big picture that can challenge and foster our growth.
What is, IS as much as we may try to spin-doctor, edit or deny it. The old self must "die" for the new self to emerge from the pain and fear. We can focus on this natural filtering process and decide how to focus and what to delete to serve ourselves best. Make and apply the details to the Big Picture by chunking information (hierarchies of detail) consciously in your complex internal map of reality to make what you want.
BEGIN WITH YOUR BELIEFS
Values control and organize our beliefs associated with those values. They tell us what's important and help us create operational rules for our lives. Some are empowering and some are disempowering. Values determine what we spend our time on by creating what's important to motivating us to spend time on certain things.
How we evaluate that can lead to conflicting values. They arouse emotion. When you are totally motivated what feelings do you have? Notice how important it is and find its value. If something isn't on your list of values, you won't be motivated. If there is conflict, sometimes you do one thing while other times you do something totally opposite. You spend more time on the most important values whether they contribute or stand in your way of taking action.
Value hierarchies are created in youth (uncritical, unfiltered imprinting up to age 7; modelling and hero worship at ages 7-14; chosen socialization from society at large, 14-21) but the conflicts can be resolved by focusing on their order of importance. Safety is the biggest criteria for value choices. Parents, peers, media, church, local culture are effects. So are historical events and cultural differences.
The part of you that creates a sense of safety also resists positive change, consciously and unconsciously. Part of us wants to remain the same despite our conscious desires. There is a price to pay for changes because it involves moving through the fear and pain to create the results we want.
VIEW IT AND DO IT
Our way of storing, categorizing, and retrieving information can be changed. Outgrown maps disrupt the creative process through which we realize our values and beliefs. Changing beliefs, cognitively and behaviorally, is quite possible with a few simple techniques, such as being the Watcher, overwriting old patterns and behaviors. Focus on what you want, not what you don't want.
You can create the life you want as long as you aren't attached to the outcome. Your feelings don't need to be egotistically attached to or identified with the results. It doesn't affect your peace and happiness at the core level, though emotions still arise and fall away.
We all have an internal map of reality and our beliefs generate our reality. Our main agenda is to be right about our beliefs. Values are the source and desire for motivation. Motivation comes from values; sense of safety comes from beliefs. If you create a 1 minute movie internally about what you WANT it is more effective than obsessing on what you don't want. It is even more effective when you are in a meditative state.
SELF-REGULATION: ALPHA AND THETA MEDITATION
If we care for our bodies and minds, they care for us in return. Meditation helps us recalibrate our entire system by taking a time out from the daily grind to refresh ourselves with the blessings of Source, our sacred treasure. Poetry, prayer and meditation open new realms of genuine giving and receiving. This creative power feeds, sustains and revitalizes our special qualities of spirituality; Love, Communion, Vision, Freedom, Expression, Humility, Integrity, Honour and Peace.
1. The first step is relaxation or surrendering of the body and mind so that the mind is uncluttered by unrelated and disturbing thoughts. If thoughts come let them float away like clouds without attaching to them. Let go of disturbances and psychophysical stress. Notice the vibrancy of silence.
2. The second is concentration on a limited area of mental focus to control and direct the mind towards the chosen "object" of concentration. You can focus on a figure, an object, the concept of love or the energy in your heart center, mindfulness, compassion, emptiness or whatever you like. Hold your mind to thatpoint of focus, bringing it back if it wanders to various other unrelated thoughts like daily life, needs, desires, the future and the past. Empty your mind and pass through the Mystic Veil.
3. The third stage transcends all symbols. There is eventual transcendence of the mind, thoughts and all identification with the body and personality. We pass through the Mystic Veil, entering into a state of super-mental union with infinite Oneness. Relax into that receptive mode of being. This is our source of energy, security, self-worth, freedom, strength and peace that helps us cope and deal with our daily lives. We have so much to gain by dedicating at least 20 minutes a day. We obtain greater clarity, health, harmony, happiness, intuition, understanding, creativity and problem solving ability.
These three aspects, RELAXATION, CONCENTRATION and TRANSCENDENCE are the basis of most meditation techniques.
Holosynch Audio Technology
EEG frequencies include Gamma (higher than 30Hz); Beta (14-30Hz); Alpha (7.5-13Hz); Theta (3.5-7.5Hz); and Delta (less than 4Hz). They are linked to behaviors, subjective feeling states, physiological correlates, etc. Improved neuroregulation in the basic functions is related to their underlying rhythmic mechanisms.
Alpha and Theta are conducive to deep relaxation and release from critical thinking; it frees the imaginative, emotional mind. HOLOSYNCH automatically assures your brain is in Alpha or Theta without years of practice. Self-help imaging during Holosynch meditation amplifies your self-help results immensely.
The brain responds to inputs at certain frequencies. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause the vibrations of another object to oscillate at the same rate. External rhythms, such as an audio CD, can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener.
HOLOSYNCH CDs are mindtools that creates wave form patterns or certain frequencies that resonate with the mind's neural signals. We can control our mind patterns and enter different states of being (mental relaxation, study, etc.). When the mind is entrained with a sound or vibration that reflects the thought patterns it responds to certain frequencies behaving as a resonator.
Binaural beats are continuous tones of subtlety different frequencies, which are delivered to each ear independently in stereo via headphones. If the left channel's pitch is 100 cycles per second and the right channel's pitch is 108 cycles per second, the difference between the two equals 8 cycles per second. When these sounds are combined they produce a pulsing tone that waxes and wanes in a "wah-wah" rhythm. The brain resonate with this differential.
Binaural beats are not an external sound; rather they are subsonic frequencies heard within the brain itself. These frequencies are created as both hemispheres work simultaneously to hear sounds that are pitched differed by key mathematical intervals (window frequencies). The brainwaves respond to these oscillating tones by following them (entrainment) and both hemispheres begin to work together. Communication between the two sides of the brain is associated with flashes of creativity, insight and wisdom.
Like sound waves, the brain has its own set of vibrations it uses to communicate with itself and the rest of the body. Rhythmicity manages the entire range of activation and arousal in your bioelectrical field. One role advocated for rhythmic activity is that of time binding, harnessing brain electrical activity. Brainwaves indicate the arousal dimension, and arousal mediates a number of conditions. Changes in sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal "tunes" the nervous system.
Underarousal leads toward Unipolar or Reactive Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder, chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal is linked with anxiety disorders, sleep onset problems, nightmares, hypervigilance, bipolar, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain and spasticity.
A combination of under- and overarousal causes anxiety and depression, as well as ADHD. If we are used to chaos, we will create trauma/drama in our lives to self-stimulate whether the result is positive or negative. We need to get our needs for excitement and novelty met in positive ways, so we don't "act out" or "act in".
Instabilities in certain rhythms can be correlated with tics, obsessive-compulsive disorder, aggressive behavior, rage, bruxism, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, migraines, narcolepsy, epilepsy, sleep apnea, vertigo, tinnitus, anorexia/bulimia, suicidal ideation and behavior, PMS, multiple chemical sensitivities, diabetes, hypoglycemia, and explosive behavior.
Alpha
In Alpha, we begin to access the wealth of creativity that lies just below our conscious awareness - it is the gateway, the entry point that leads into deeper states of consciousness. Alpha waves aid relaxation and overall mental coordination, calmness, alertness, inner awareness, mind/body integration and learning. Alpha is ideal for imaging positive changes in your beliefs and behavior. Focus on what you WANT, not what you don't want.
Theta
Theta waves mean 'slow" activity connected often with creativity, intuition, daydreaming or recalling emotions and sensations. Focus is internal in this state between waking and sleep. Under stress it may manifest as distraction, lack of focus. The senses are withdrawn from the external world and focused on the inner one. Children under 7 are in Theta most of the time, so have difficulty distinguishing the real from imaginary. It is the twilight state we normally only experience fleetingly as we awaken or drift off to sleep. We are in a waking dream, vivid imagery flashes before the mind's eye and we are receptive to information beyond our normal conscious awareness. Theta has also been identified as the gateway to learning and memory. Theta meditation increases creativity, enhances learning, reduces stress and awakens intuition and other extrasensory perception skills.
DMT, DOPAMINE and THE NATURAL HIGH The Biology of the Inner Light
Meditation evokes pineal DMT release through EM vibrations. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions. Meditation modulates pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that coordinates other brain centers with both chemicals and electromagnetism. Resonance is induced in the pineal gland using electric, magnetic, or sound energy, resynchronizing both hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a chain of synergetic harmony that releases DMT, an endogenous psychedelic. The pineal contains high levels of enzymes and building-blocks for DMT, which may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production with other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines which magnify and prolong DMT effects. DMT is the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. DMT production is particularly stimulated in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or awareness may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects, causing multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. When our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises the pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation and release.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute http://monroeinstitute.org , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute http://centerpointe.com is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim http://alpha-stim.com.
CHAOS AS THE UNIVERSAL SOLVENT
by Iona Miller, 1993
ABSTRACT: There is a generic process in nature and consciousness which dissolves and regenerates all forms. The essence of this transformative, morphological process is chaotic--purposeful yet inherently unpredictable holistic repatterning. The Great Work of the art of alchemy is the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, a symbol of wholeness and integration. The liquid form of the Stone, called the Universal Solvent, dissolves all old forms like a rushing stream, and is the self-organizing matrix for the rebirth of new forms. It is thus a metaphor or model for the dynamic process of transformation, ego death and re-creation.The alchemical operation SOLUTIO, called "the root of alchemy," corresponds with the element water. It implies a flowing state of consciousness, "liquification" of consciousness, a return to the womb for rebirth, a baptism or healing immersion in the vast ocean of deep consciousness. It facilitates feedback via creative regression: de-structuring, or destratification by immersion in the flow of psychic imagery through identification with more and more primal forms or patterns--a psychedelic, expanded state. Chaos Theory provides a metaphorical language for describing the flowing dynamics of the chaotic process of psychological transformation."All substances are part of my own consciousness.
This consciousness is vacuous, unborn, and unceasing."
Thus meditating, allow the mind to rest in the uncreated state. Like the pouring of water into water, the mind should be allowed its own easy mental posture in its natural, unmodified condition, clear and vibrant. --Leary, Metzner, Alpert; THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE
To summarize, I have spoken of seven major aspects of SOLUTIO symbolism: (1) return to the womb or primal state; (2) dissolution, dispersal, dismemberment; (3) containment of a lesser thing by a greater; (4) rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative energy flow; (5) purification ordeal; (6) solution of problems; and (7) melting or softening process. These different aspects overlap. Several or all of them may make up different facets of a single experience. Basically it is the ego's confrontation with the unconscious that brings about SOLUTIO. --Edward Edinger, ANATOMY OF THE PSYCHE
Tantra and alchemy spring from the same root -- the generic process of the liquification of consciousness, in which the old rigid self dissolves into the revivifying waters of the fountainhead of the divine source, and renews itself in this bath, and is reborn in renascent form. It means a process of ego dissolution and personality deconstruction, swimming upstream against the flow of the stream of consciousness to our Unborn roots, beyond our personalistic behaviors, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs about who "we" are.
Tantra is one elegant means of achieving cosmic consciousness, of communing with the mystic Source.In the alchemical operation of water, solutio, the body is joined with the soul and spirit. The skin-boundary dissolves into visceral as well as spiritual perception. Awareness of physical processes may be greatly amplified, appearing as impressions, intuitions, sensations, sounds, odors. The body is always speaking silently. Through this raw, physical expression, that which was solid becomes liquified, dissolved, deliteralized. The concrete image of the body "morphs" into the flow of pure energy, in a variation of Transubstantiation. It is the "rapture" of being siezed up into the heavenly realm.THE MEDICINE OF PHILOSOPHERS
Alchemy had one great prescription for the accomplishment of the Great Work: "Solve et Coagula"--reduce or dissolve all to its primary, most fundamental essence and embody that creative, holistic spirit. The ancient alchemists sought to transform "lead" into "gold." We repeat this process as modern alchemists when we seek the transformative medium which allows us to recognize our rigidities ("lead") and facilitates our healing and expression of our full creative potential ("gold"). That medium is the ever-flowing river of our consciousness.The organic, regenerative process of "re-creational ego death" is common to mysticism, experiential psychology, and psychedelic journeys. Spiritual exploration, or soul travel, is shared by all three modes of immersion in the universal stream of consciousness. They are all variations on the theme of the consciousness journey, and echo our shamanic roots, and the mythemes of eternal return and hero/heroine. Participants reach a deep, integral level, and direct experience of Higher Power, often merging with the Creation or the Creator.
All these modes facilitate psychedelic consciousness, though any given experience may vary in duration and depth. Their prescribed frequency varies: meditators are advised to "die daily;" in psychotherapy once a month may be enough for regenerative therapy; psychedelic use varies from single experiences, to monthly, to annually. Despite different modes of induction, all these experiences reflect the illusory nature of time, space, and ego as reality constructs. The primary nature of consciousness is revealed.The word psychedelic has its roots in the Greek psyche, soul, and delos, visible, evident. It is direct evidence of the soul, the pure manifestation of soul.
Stace (1960) identifies nine qualities of the psychedelic experience as follows: 1) unity of all things; 2) transformation of space and time; 3) deeply felt positive mood; 4) sacredness; 5) objectivity and reality; 6) paradoxicality; 7) alleged ineffability; 8) transiency, and 9) persisting positive changes in subsequent behavior.In the practice of mysticism there is identification with progressively more subtle "bodies" or vehicles of consciousness, culminating in a transform from a mental or causal body to a vehicle of pure Light. In experiential psychotherapy, transformation results from deepening within the flow of psychic imagery, progressively identifying with more primal forms, and ultimately with formlessness. In tantric and psychedelic experience, expansion of consciousness dissolves ego boundaries leading to morphological transformations and ecstatic communion.In alchemy, one sought not only to find or create the Stone, but also to apply it, or use it creatively in the everyday world. Now, we might speak of integrating or actualizing the results of our transformations in daily life.
Thus, self-actualization or self-realization implies the grounding of the spiritual fruits of inner exploration.The liquid form of the Philosopher's Stone was known as the UNIVERSAL SOLVENT. According to the alchemists, the operation of solutio (liquification) has a twofold effect: it causes old forms to disappear and new regenerate forms to emerge. To a rigid consciousness, the primal ocean of the unconscious is experienced as chaotic, violent, irrational processes of generation and destruction.Through "creative regression," the generic form of ego death, consciousness recycles, recursively bending back upon itself. The direction is a recapitulation of, a re-experiencing of sequences from earlier life, conception and birth experience, ancestral awareness, genetic and physiological recognitions, molecular and atomic perception, and quantum consciousness.
As consciousness explores and expands, ego dissolves. Pure consciousness, the fundamental luminosity, is the ground state of unborn form. The generic purpose of ego death is to liberate our embodied being, precipitating communion with and re-patterning by the Whole. When all forms finally dissolve into unconditioned consciousness, the ground state of the Nature Mind is revealed as the mystic Void, the womb of creation.When the constructed forms which hold personality together are voluntarily relinquished, consciousness "liquifies" and rapidly moves toward the unconditioned state. Though easy to say, it is sometimes difficult to achieve such liberation from the mental-conceptual activity of the nervous system. When we do, the quiescent nervous system is open and receptive to the conscious recognition of pure energy transforms with no interpretations.The Universal Solvent dissolves problems, heals, allows life to flow in new, creative patterns. These new patterns embody the evolutionary dynamic. According to chaos theory, free-flowing energy is capable of self-organization. In consciousness this means that the obstructions to free flowing energy must first be dissolved. Through re-creational ego death, consciousness dissolves into healing communion with the whole of existence, renewing itself, emerging with a new creative potential.The need for the periodic destruction of outmoded systems implies the value of recycling consciousness through death/rebirth experience.
The universal solvent is not ordinary water, but "philosophical" water, the water of life, aqua permanens, aqua mercurialis. It is also the panacea, "elixer vitae," "tincture," or universal medicine. To periodically dip into these healing waters has a tonic, rejuvenating effect which pervades all aspects of being, like a soothing balm.This divine water signifies the return of The Feminine, a reflective consciousness with inner awareness and archetypal spiritual perceptions. This Feminine Divinity is the Anima Mundi, or Soul of the World, the universal animating principle, the upwelling spring of the creative Imagination, the dynamic flow of imagery, pattern, and form. This dynamic has been known as Isis, Shakti, Maya, Shekinah, Sophia, Demeter/Persephone, Mary.In psychedelic mysticism, the animating principle is being referred to as Gaian Consciousness (Abraham, 1992), which we might view as a rebirth of ancient ecstatic, communal consciousness. It is the psychobiological basis of deep ecology, the flow of relationships. The return of chaos heralds the "greening of consciousness," the greening of the cultural wasteland.Hillman (1985) describes the anima not as a projection of, but rather the projector of psyche. We are contained within Her fantasy, not She within ours.
Grinnell (1973) describes the transformative process of solutio which facilitates the fluid, mobile basis of consciousness:For aqua permanens is a mode of the arcane substance; its symbol is water or sea-water, an all-pervading essence of anima mundi, the innermost and secret numinosum in man and the universe, that part of God which formed the quintessence and real substance of Physis, at once the highest supercelestial waters of wisdom and the spirit of life pervading inorganic matter.The arcane descriptors of this paradoxical liquid Stone are cryptic, couched in metaphor.
But what does it mean experientially and pragmatically? How does this chaotic transformative process engineer our consciousness? The divine water, as a liquid symbol of the Self, can be experienced in many ways. It has been described as innocuously as the "stream of consciousness," and as poetically as the "Heart of The River of Created Forms."Solutio implies the liquification of consciousness through the dissolution of rigidities which inhibit free flow. They include roles, game patterns, defense strategies, rigid attitudes and beliefs, interpretations, complexes, "old" myths, and "frozen" energy surrounding traumas which manifests as fear and pain.Fossilized or ossified energies create obstructions to free flow, like boulders in a stream produce turbulence. Destructuring transformative processes can dissolve them, increasing the sense of flow. This "liquified" consciousness is psychedelic, a nonordinary expanded awareness which dissolves fixations and habits, and loosens cramped attitudes.Mystic ecstasy, or the psychedelic state is mind-manifesting, consciousness expanding. It dissolves the identification of our consciousness with our histories, bodies, emotions, thoughts, and even beliefs. We are free to explore myriad forms, structures, and patterns, and/or become formless, resting in that unborn, unconditioned, unmodified healing state.We experience the essence of other forms of existence.
The Oneness of all life and existence is directly experienced through a variety of transformations ranging from plant and animal identifications to planetary and universal consciousness.Entering the turbulent flow of the stream of consciousness, we can ride its currents back to the Source, pure unconditioned cosmic consciousness. We can imbibe the life-giving qualities of this "water" through mind-expanding experiential contact with this deep consciousness.The transformative process is also reflected in our modern physical worldview as chaos theory, which we can view as a modern "myth," a new metaphor for the dynamics of consciousness. Chaos is ubiquitous in nature, pervading all dynamic processes, perturbing them unpredictably.
Chaos theory shows us that nature is continually unfolding new forms from the chaotic matrix of creation.Our dynamic consciousness is an essentially chaotic process. Chaos tracks a time evolution with sensitive dependence on initial conditions.
When we "return" experientially to the "initial conditions" of our existence, our whole being is holistically repatterned. Our historical limitations are superceded by the creative power of the eternal Now.We can allow chaos, as the universal solvent, to liquify consciousness and re-create ourselves. This presumes a therapeutic atmosphere, a "safe" set and setting, because each phase of the journey is an encounter with uncertainty.The journey into deep consciousness appears inherently chaotic because the state of uncertainty pervades each moment of transition. Underlying moments of transience there are momentary blanks in awareness--little voids--flickering microstates which repattern each phase. Whether the experience is one of loss of personal boundaries or direct perception of stark, raw reality, or visionary dreams, there is no predicting where the chaotic orbit of consciousness will roam next.To embrace chaos in our consciousness journeys, therefore means to cooperate and flow with the transformative process, opening ourselves to our deepest emergent potential. It's O.K. to let go periodically and temporarily become unstructured nothingness and open to holistic re-patterning.Chaos is self-organizing, self-iterating, and self-generating. It is an evolutionary force. The tendency of new forms emerging from chaos is toward a higher degree of adaptation, hence evolution (Kauffmann, 1991). This "recycling" of consciousness leads to a self-referential vortex.Chaotic systems revolve around nexus points, known as strange attractors, because of their unpredictable quality. Rather than being "point-like," they are more like vortices within vortices.
The Philosopher's Stone is like a psychic lodestone (or vortex). It acts like an inner magnet, ordering the contents of our consciousness around it (through feedback loops) in chaotic, yet meaningful fashion.The Philosopher's Stone may thus be seen as a "strange attractor" in the life of anyone engaged in the quest for transformation. It is an instinctual attraction toward processes which dissolve the ego and liquify consciousness, leading to transpersonal experience after symbolic death/rebirth. Freedom in the exploration of imagery comes from the creative capacity to experience loss.Experientially, it appears as being channeled into the swirling mass of interacting symbols, an overwhelming vortex of pure information. We are sucked inexorably into interaction with the self-symbol, sucked into ourselves, like flotsam is pulled into a whirlpool. This is the vortex of the system, the vortex of self, where all levels cross. It overwhelms or tangles the mental processes, the self-imaging processes that maintain the illusion of stable personality and individual boundaries.In solutio, the body is joined with the soul and spirit. The skin-boundary dissolves into visceral as well as spiritual perception. Awareness of physical processes may be greatly amplified, appearing as impressions, intuitions, sensations, sounds, odors. The body is always speaking silently. Through this raw, physical expression, that which was solid becomes liquified, dissolved, deliteralized. The concrete image of the body "morphs" into the flow of pure energy, in a variation of Transubstantiation. It is the "rapture" of being siezed up into the heavenly realm.The flow of dynamic energy from the deep Self reawakens and activates the body, and also that portion of the unconscious that the body carries. The body not only carries, but is the memory of the entire evolutionary cycle. Consciousness can access any portion of this material memory through creative regression. The body manifests kinesthetic, preverbal, and preconceptual memory of its direct experience. Immersion in the healing creative energy flow is like a spiritual baptism, which facilitates creative reformation of ordinary consciousness, and even the physical body.Solutio, as a state of consciousness, unites the powers of above and below, transpersonal and personal. It is the integration of the higher spiritual powers with personal experience that embodies the healing dynamic. This produces the paradoxical poison-panacea.
The dual nature of the universal medicine points to a consciousness state beyond both opposites.In Greek myth, Athena gave Asklepios, the divine healer, the blood of Medusa as the universal medicine. In its negative aspect it was toxic and produced death. The positive aspect brought healing; this mysterious potion is the "cure-all," the "solution." Divine water (sometimes symbolized as blood) is dangerous, poisonous, seductive, addictive, even deadly in its primeval, untransformed state--madness.In the science fiction novel, DUNE, the new messiah and the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood imbibe the psychoactive "water of life" with impunity. Moving past the fear and pain, they transcend time/space and commune with the continuum of all existence. What sets them apart from others, on whom the potion has a fatal effect, is their ability to withstand and convert its initial toxic effects into a religious ecstasy. They know how to navigate in that turbulent flow, during their consciousness journeys--"moving without travelling."
The alchemical solution to this problem of primordial, raw experience is to "cook" it into a reflective consciousness. Recycling itself, the ego cooperates in its own "re-creational death," connecting with the transpersonal forces of rebirth and renewal. The reborn personality is resurrected, restored to life through new meaning.The ego acknowledges the Self as its new center of gravity, and personality heals. Experiential connection to the living reality of the Self, the "waters of life" is the panacea, the magical elixer of life. Solutio (and its prime agent, chaos) arises spontaneously from the depths as irrational images, dreams and fantasies.In dreamhealing, the dream symbols are followed deeper and deeper down to the primal level where all structure dissolves into its original source. This journey into the depths, and subsequent emergence, is the basis of shamanic healing. As we journey in the autonomous consciousness stream, guided movement deeper into and beyond the fear and pain brings up the classical imagery of the solutio, as resistance subsides. There is no part of it that is not us. The transformative process dissolves blockages, obstructions or "frozen" consciousness which disturb and distort the free flow of energy.
1) RETURN TO THE WOMB OR PRIMAL STATE
The alchemist Paracelsus said, "He who enters the kingdom of God must first enter his mother and die." That death-like silence is also our mother, the virgin womb of the imagination.The dynamics of "creative regression" are common to mystical experience, psychedelic exploration, and therapeutic consciousness journeys. All lead to immersion in the flow of the stream of consciousness. Creative regression is a generic form of the myth of the eternal return, chronic recurrence, reiteration. In the dynamics of chaos theory we find this recursive motion in the concept of iteration--self-similarity--which produces the similarity in infinitely descending scales of fractal generation.Iteration is like a stretching and folding of the spacetime continuum. Experientially it manifests within us as a spiritualizing instinct, a recursive "bending back" of instinct toward that which is primordial and divine. Thus, whether induced through psychoactive substances, mystical transport, or experiential psychotherapy typical imagery recycles, recapitulates, or reiterates cascades of impressionistic transformations spanning the entire spectrum of archetypal experiences--morphological transformations.These include but are not limited to childhood, birth, embryonic development, ancestral, mythic, genetic, evolutionary, universal, and quantum consciousness. Access to the entire continuum of organic and inorganic evolution as well as the collective unconscious becomes available. That information most pertinent to the whole self emerges in the stream of consciousness as virtual experience. What is pertinent is what gets spontaneously "downloaded," and it repeats and reiterates the basic issues in yet another, eternally creative way. Stan Grof has catalogued an extensive taxonomy of these states, most notably in THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY (1988).Such experiences of cosmic consciousness constitute a "return to the Mother," the blissful fusion of primal union, at both personal and universal levels. The direction of this dynamic process is recursive, bending back through deep time, ontology, and phylogeny. It echoes the semantic roots of the words religion and yoga, which imply a "linking backward" in the bond between gods and man, a craving for ecstasy, and transcendence of the limitations of physical form (Milkman, 1987).
Jung called this dynamic an opus contra naturam, a work against nature. But chaos theory shows us it is actually quite organic, natural, and instinctual. In alchemy it was the Great Work. Consciousness turns back on itself, reiterating each level of organization, de-structuring each strata as it dives deeper toward the unconditioned, formless beginning, or "unborn" state. This primal state is amniotic bliss experienced as the Void, the cosmic womb.Images of the Great Mother system become reactivated, though not exactly in their original form. Imagery like fractals is self-similar, but not entirely identical. This creative regression is to the prepersonal domain, the preverbal, preconceptual domain, not the transpersonal spiritual domain (transverbal, transconceptual).Typically in the first few dreamhealing sessions, a person will enter a dream symbol doorway which leads back to a conception memory. They may or may not recognize it as such during the journey. But in content, the symbolism is very clear. The imagery is fundamental or primal, appearing as a dance of energy, matter, and consciousness--the body-ego's conscious experience.These images are close to the stuff of our creation -- the prima materia -- of our existence. We may experience it as free-floating: a paradox of chaos and a deep-felt sense of flowing and peace. The imagery here is psychedelic -- consciousness expanding -- an autonomous manifestation of imagination. The panoply of the ceaseless transformation of energy may overwhelm the senses, leading to a sense of total chaos. There is nothing to do but let go, surrender to it, merge with it, flow with it.The dancing energy waves and patterns are perceived as deep whorls, spinning spirals, black holes, infinite voids, gray clouds of nothingness. There is melding of the senses -- synesthesia -- such as "tasting" music, "seeing" sound, etc. Simple throbbing and other extremely primitive sensations may be experienced. Experience of this state produces a new acceptance of the original conditions of conception, and re-structuring of the primal self-image.We go into the primal chaos to begin the process of reformation from our pre-structural beginning. In essence, we re-enter the womb as we are initiated in the mysteries of the psyche. We re-conceive our primal self image, healed by communion with the creative Source.
2) DISSOLUTION, DISPERSAL, DISMEMBERMENT
The classic text of re-creational surrender or sacrifice of self is THE BARDO THODOL, or THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. It is explicitly for the living who undertake the death-like regression into the unconscious, as well as the dying. Because of their orientation toward consciousness journeys, THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE and THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD are useful translations or contemporizations of the transformational classic.The realm of death is the twilight zone between consciousness and matter. Here psychoid phenomena manifest through the mingling of these modes. Here mind/matter duality ceases, creating enchantment, uncanny synchronicities, time warps, psychic experience, revelation of the mind of matter, the Nature Mind.The moment of ego death is heralded by certain symptoms of transition. Resistance by the mind to this creative dissolution brings about physical symptoms which range from shaking and a sense of increasing pressure and anxiety, to paradoxical flashes of hot and cold, to extreme dizzyness and disorientation. As the classic psychedelic manual says, "The hard, dry, brittle husks of your ego are washing out; Washing out to the endless sea of creation." (Leary et al, 1964).
Distressing or disturbing symptoms symbolize the violence of the passage of consciousness from form to formlessness. Images of the body disintegrating or being blown to atoms (fear of exploding = fear of expanding) are characteristic psychedelic experiences. Perhaps the very elements of our bodies "remember" their formation in the crucible of some supernova. There may be identification with merciless destruction, the Dance of Shiva, the raging elements of nature, a variety of forms of explosive discharge. Here are visions of fires, floods, raging storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, turbulent lakes of magma.Consciousness "breaks up" into its elemental forms, manifesting as overwhelming imagery. This first phase of dissolution may be characterized by the futility of resistance, magnetic downward spirals, gravity wells, loss of morphological identity.
E.J. Gold describes the second stage of the voyage as one of being overwhelmed by illusions produced by conditioning. Yet the primal element of pure forms breaks through and the voyager recognizes "the basic component of consciousness which when combined produces what is called the element Water."In consciousness journeys, chaos functions as the universal solvent, that which dissolves all patterns and forms including the rigid, outmoded aspects of the self. In the dream journey, one might enter a spinning vortex and become dismembered by centrifugal force, torn limb from limb. We remain in this state of dis-integration until we re-member our essential self, embodying the wounded healer.That sense of disintegration comes as the ego gives up its "unified" linear perspective (bivalent) to the multiple consciousness or awareness (multi-valence) of the deep self. Fear makes it feel like fragmentation, but in truth there is nothing in that imagery that is not us. The death throes of the ego prepare it for rebirth, through communion with cosmic consciousness, a new incarnation of the spirit, death and resurrection.The nature of universal consciousness is oceanic. When the ego is in danger of "getting in over its head," it panics as if faced with drowning in the depths of this vast ocean of consciousness. It overwhelms the ego which cannot fathom this abyss.This aspect of solutio brings mythic images of the dying god, of violent death and sacrifice, and of the isolation of the hero. It means nothing less than the sacrifice of the old self. The dissolution phase may mean myths of the triumph of darkness; myths of floods and the return of chaos, of the defeat of the hero.In Gold's words, "Death comes to all forms; everything eventually is broken up by dissolution, so there's no point clinging to yet another biological form out of desire, longing for stability, or from fear and weakness."
3) CONTAINMENT OF A LESSER THING BY A GREATER
The ego "takes the plunge," it lets go and dissolves its old matrix, its old boundaries. When its boundaries melt, ego-consciousness dissolves into deep consciousness. The "wave merges with the ocean," and experiences its own deep transpersonal nature. It moves swiftly through the fear and pain, awakening to an infinitely wider reality of universal energy waves. In the ocean of creativity, "your own consciousness, shining, void and inseparable from the great body of radiance, has no birth, nor death." (Leary, 1964).Experience of the pure, unmodified state of consciousness transcends all opposites, and therefore consciousness journeys provide an experiential "container" for the reconciliation of paradox within a larger field of experience--a broader, transcendent perspective. The transformational process acts as a "container" (alchemical retort) of the contents of psyche. But these contents, reduced to their essence are "nothingness," simply dreams and imagination. Emptiness is the real Philosopher's Stone.By dissolving into non-relative consciousness, mood swings or identification with conflicting polar positions may be transcended by an enlarged state of consciousness which embraces and contains the entire continuum. Flow replaces polarity.Jung spoke of the transcendent function as a symbol-forming force continuously creating emergent imagery which facilitates whole-self realization. It is thus an evolutionary and adaptive force. Mindell (1985) speaks of the flow in alchemical terms:The alchemists called this flow the 'aqua permanens', or permanent water. Aqua permanens is the fluid process, the energy or life which was locked up in the tension of conflict which has now been freed through the flow between the opposites. Fluidity comes from conflict. Whereas before there was a boundary between conflicting opposites, between intent and reality, streaming energy now transforms therapy into natural science.Dreams, visions, or the stream of consciousness can be used therapeutically as an evolutionary force to guide people from a small sense of self and expand them toward a larger image. This expansion of the sense of self may require some adjustment. The illumination (awakening to larger Reality) may also come through a nature-mystic experience, intense sexual experience, E.S.P., a consciousness journey, or meditation. Enlightenment (even the "seed" of enlightenment) is an experience of awe, bliss, and infinite possibilities.The ego realizes it is not the center of the whole person, but only "manages" the personality. There are autonomous archetypal forces which inhabit the psyche with their own agendas, patterns, and goals. Our psyche is transpersonal; it has no boundaries. Our conscious awareness is only a manifestation of this larger consciousness. Within this larger consciousness, we are at home with a plurality of visions. The parts contain the whole (to a degree), enfolded or embedded like a fractal or hologram.Containment may take place symbolically in the therapeutic relationship. The consciousness guide, therapist, or shaman functions as a guide to the netherworld. The "wounded healer" has a numinous quality which provokes the projections of others. Shamans work within the belief systems of their subjects to expand their sense of what is possible. Those subjects' experiences generally reflect the style and beliefs of the shaman--the shaman's positive expectation of particularized results.Exposure to the infinitely broader worldview of a shamanic personality will automatically move a "smaller" personality into solutio, dissolution. This rapport or participation mystique is an unconscious, automatic process--a positive sort of psychic contagion. This unconscious dynamic may be responsible for the phenomenon of "contact high."
4) REBIRTH, REJUVENATION, IMMERSION IN THE CREATIVE ENERGY FLOW
Psychedelic, as well as mystical literature contains many examples of surrendering, letting go, accepting, merging, and joining the flow of the "Nature Mind," where all is consciousness--the audible life stream. This "Diamond Consciousness" is awareness of creative flux of the Void, the fluid unity of life. We flow within it, and it flows through us.The death-rebirth sequence typically opens a person to the transpersonal domain with its virtually infinite creativity. It reveals and unfolds our future potentials. In dreamhealing, chaotic consciousness is also creative consciousness. Terence McKenna reminds us that, "Riverine metaphors are endlessly applicable. They represent the flowing of forces over landscapes, the pressure of chaos on the imagination to create creatively. . .The key is surrender and dissolution of boundaries, dissolution of the ego."When we immerse ourselves in that creative energy, we find healing on many levels of our being. It may feel tingly or effervescent, or like streaming energy. Direct experience of this level brings a true sense of oneness with all that exists, the seamless fabric of existence. It opens us to re-patterning by the whole--a re-construction or re-patterning of personality through holistic change at the most fundamental level.Immersion in the oceanic experience of universal consciousness is a life-changing experience. It is experience of the web of life, the biological life flow, an ineffable current of bliss. Once we experience that larger world and self--the rhythmic pulse of all life--we are never the same again, so long as we remember.Communing with this energy, experiencing these states of consciousness, has been the practice of shamans since the dawn of man. Shamanic consciousness means the ability to enter and exit altered states at will. This power is connected to the liquid expression of life--the sap of life--the vegetable forms of the liquid Stone, and its identity with psychotropic plants. This notion reiterates that of the "greening of consciousness."Franklin Merrell-Wolff (1973) spoke of the distillate of his mystical experience as follows:"The Current is clearly a subtle, fluid-like substance which brings the sense of well-being already described. Along with It, a more than earthly Joy suffuses the whole nature. To myself, I called It a Nectar. Now, I recognize It under several names. It is also the 'Soma,' the 'Ambrosia of the Gods,' the 'Elixir of Life,' the 'Water of Life' of Jesus, and the 'Baptism of the Spirit' of St. Paul. It is more than related to Immortality; in fact, It is Identical with Immortality."When the ego is completely dissolved in this renewing bath, we experience timeless consciousness, and are reborn based on a new, healthier primal self-image. This rejuvenation comes from connecting with pristine consciousness, the eternal aspects or forces of nature. Even though we cannot conceive of it, we can experience the infinite, the eternal, the transcendent. Visions of Creation, Emanation, the upwelling Source, emerge.Spiritual reincarnation means bringing to life that which was formerly dead or unawakened, through connection with the original creative power. It is the theme of the Quest -- the greening of the Wasteland. The process of rebirth is the mythic enactment of "the one story" whose pattern is found in every narrative. Beneath the differences, the meaning -- having to do with the loss and recovery of identity -- does not change.This story of the loss and regaining of identity is the framework of most literature, from which comes the hero with a thousand faces. Some variation of the hero's adventures, death, disappearance, and marriage or resurrection are the focal points of most stories.The original sense of identity (romance and comedy), its loss (tragedy and irony), and its recovery in the regenerate world of romance and comedy is mirrored in the mythic quest. Myths of the birth of the hero, revival and resurrection, creation and defeat of the powers of darkness and death are perennial themes.The descent and subsequent ascent, going deep into the consciousness journey and emerging transformed, is a form of death/rebirth, a powerful archetypal theme which is initiatory in character.
5) PURIFICATION ORDEALAesculapian dreamhealing, uses many ritual forms of purification, such as diet, sweats, and baths. But the psychic purification is a process of shedding fears and pain which prevent us from flowing. Fear and pain are what keep us "stuck."Each initiation contains an ordeal within its enfolded nature. At least it feels like an ordeal to the old ego structure which must dissolve or die. The quantum leap of initiation, being seized from one state and moved to another, involves a sudden and profound change. It requires an adjustment. Also, life may present synchronistic challenges, outside the dreamhealing sessions.One dreamhealing participant was having a sweat. She was sent to look for an offering in the form of some wood to burn in the ritual. She finally returned with a huge gnarled log, which was quite representative of her twisted back (scoliosis). That wood really stank when it first was consigned to the fire--but as time went on, it burned pure and smelled extraordinarily sweet. She emerged with more mobility than she could remember every having and the healing persists.In yoga, we hear about clearing blocks at the various chakras through purification practices. Progressive stages of purification allow the energy of the serpent power to flow or rise ever-higher through the chakra system. Thus, the yogi realizes the true nature of self. Mindell (1982) has commented on this process in regards to flow and healing:In healing ceremonies, light, water, love, release of emotions, energy flow, circulation, harmony and crystal clear water are all descriptions of curative experiences. The water is a description of free flowing energy which cleans the body by unlocking egotism and its resulting cramps. . .The sap of plants flows in the body of the enlightened yogi. In India lack of flow in the imaginary veins and arteries which carry energy and blood is blamed for illness. Cleaning these conduits and reestablishing flow is all-important. . .there is a resistance at some point to the flow of energies. In fact, all disease is merely a restriction of the flow of life force in a particular area.Speaking more of the mental aspect of the process he uses water as an image of purification ordeal:Whenever a complex exists, consciousness rigidifies and tries to steer around the strong emotions connected with the core of the complex. Water therapy allows the complexes to speak, encourages the body to dance its own rhythm and lets the unpredictable come alive. A water experience is holistic and unifies the entire personality so that ego, Self, dreams, body, inner and outer come together in one human being.The more rigid the ego and the more powerful a governing complex, the more threatening the flow of the body or the psyche appears. A rigid and frightened personality becomes terrified, split off from nature, and cannot believe that a Self or a body consciousness exists that can organize behavior once ego rulership is given up. . .Water is medicine against the rigidification of intuition, physical mobility, and feelings.Another expression of purification ordeal occurs with psychedelics. It is a mental purge of gross karma which manifests as wrathful visions or second bardo nightmares. These visions, as well as the peaceful ones must simply be endured, despite awe and terror. They may be horrific visions of apocalypse and catastrophe--bloodthirsty hallucinations.They come as the ego struggles to maintain its boundaries, as the mind seeks to reconstruct the personality. But the experience of this hellish state of consciousness is not mandatory with every journey. Recognition of the greater Reality brings instantaneous liberation from this ordeal.Edinger (1973) uses Job from THE BIBLE as a classic example of an ego's confrontation with the awesome powers of the unconscious through its trials and travails. Job's encounter with the Self brings about a death/rebirth experience. Job feels like he is being punished, and insists on discovering the meaning of his experience.Job encounters Jahweh in dreams first, anticipating later conscious encounter. Job is shown the abysmal aspect of God and the depths of his own psyche with its monstrous aspects, much like the wrathful visions of THE BARDO THODOL. Finally, Job's questions are answered, not rationally, but through living experience, conscious realization of the autonomous archetypal psyche. The realization comes to birth only through the ordeal.All these struggles in the cycling of death/rebirth may be linked back through symbolic similarity to the individual birth ordeal. It is characteristic of chaotic systems that events originally separated by time and space can become enfolded closely together.
Events linked by the same state of consciousness are related; learning is state-related (Tart; Rossi). Our lessons and our ordeals are related to our states of consciousness. Thus personal and transpersonal experience of this eternal cycle of the generation of forms become fused and conditioned by the individual aspect of archetypal experience.
6) SOLUTION OF PROBLEMSThere is more than a linguistic link between the metaphor of a liquid solution, and the solution of a problem. The moment of "a-ha" comes frequently in process-oriented therapy, as direct realization brings fresh understanding through the "empty mind," or "beginner's mind."Solutions come through creativity. They may appear effortlessly. The relationship between healing and creativity is implicit--healing is the physical analog of creativity, like attitude changes and intuition are its emotional and mental analogs. Healing is a special case of creativity, or creative problem-solving.
During reverie states, the mind goes into chaotic patterns for problem-solving. The more difficult the problem, the more chaos. Dreamhealing facilitates entry into these healing states of consciousness.McAuliffe (198 ) reported in OMNI on the work of Paul Rapp detecting chaos in brain wave fluctuations:
After analyzing the EEGs of humans, Rapp has also come around to this friendlier view. "When we are healthy and alert, the interval between electrical waves is never rigidly fixed," he reports, "but always vacillates around a certain frequency range." Moreover, when we are mentally challenged, the interval between the electrical wave becomes even more variable--or chaotic. This suggests, in Rapp's opinion, that chaos "may actually be highly beneficial during problem solving.Clearly the greater the mental challenge, the more chaotic the activity of the subject's brain. . .What does all this mean? In Rapp's opinion, chaotic activity may be an asset in problem solving. "You want to be able to scan as wide a range of solutions as possible and avoid locking on to a suboptimal solution early on," he explains. "One way to do that is to have a certain amount of disorderliness, or turbulence, in your search."We can draw a direct analogy between the dreamhealing process and creative process. Dreamhealing begins with the pilgrimage, which expresses one's intent or commitment. The creative process begins with receptivity, which includes interest, preparation, and immersion in the subject matter.Next in dreamhealing comes the confession, or the identification of the problem, where you have missed the mark. Creativity also requires the ability to identify the problem, see the right questions, to use errors, to have detached devotion.The purification or cleansing of dreamhealing parallels the generalized sensitivity to problems that come during creativity, an attunement to the realization of what needs to be done.The offering is a sign of letting go, sacrifice of the old ego form, the commitment to healing. Creativity requires the surrender of time and self to the process of flow; fluency of thinking; flexibility; abandoning old ways of thought.The heart of the quest is dream incubation, a reverie which seeks connection with higher power. Creativity also requires incubation, reverie, serendipity, spontaneity, adaptation, tolerance for ambiguity, and originality. This permits uncommon responses and unconventional associations.Healing occurs in a moment of oneness, chaotic consciousness. In creativity it is paralleled by the moment of illumination, redefinition, invention, vision.Dreamhealing requires amplification, or work on dreams and validation. Elaboration is its counterpart, the use of two or more abilities for the construction of a more complex object or theory, plus verification.Re-entry implies actualization, renewal, grounding, maturing. Creatively it means real-time application, follow-through, product, utilization of the result. It implies choosing the post-session personality, as re-calibrated through the imprint of the whole. It means stabilizing that state of creative consciousness which emerged in the session.In all cases, guided or not, the creative or healing process follows approximately this model. The resources are contacted deep within and they well-up in sometimes unexpected ways from the deep Source.7) MELTING OR SOFTENING PROCESSMelting turns what was solid into a liquid. Variations on the theme include moistening and softening. Whether we look at modern consciousness journeys, ancient reports, or psychedelic experiences the metaphors are the same. Melting or softening is the result of incubation in dreamhealing, yoga, and alchemy.THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE offers such suggestions as "Let the feelings melt all over you," "Let your body merge with the warm flux," "Allow your own mind also to melt away very gradually." Feelings of the body melting or flowing as if wax are typical of the psychedelic experience, as boundaries dissolve.Leary et al note a state of consciousness where, "All the harsh, dry, brittle angularities of game life [are] melted. You drift off -- soft, rounded, moist, warm. Merged with all life. You may feel yourself floating out and down into a warm sea. Your individuality and autonomy of movement are moistly disappearing."
An older report is this passage from THE BOOK OF LAMBSPRING, a seventeenth century alchemy text:
The Father sweats, surrounding his Son,
And pours out his prayer to God,
To Whom all things are possible,
Who creates, and has created all things.
He prays that his Son may be led from his body,
And he be reborn as he was at first.
God grants his prayer, it is not ignored,
Telling the Father to lie down and go to sleep.
God sent down rain from heaven
Through the clear stars; in truth,
It was fruitful silver indeed.
The Father's Body is moistened and softened.
By the help and Grace of God, at the end,
We may obtain Thy gracious Gift!
The Father strongly sweats and glows,
While oil and True Tincture from him flows.
The feverish father sweats the tincture of the wise from his body.
The hidden fire causing the sweat is the antithesis of the moisture that it produces.
This heat is the warmth of incubation, which is equivalent to a "brooding" state of meditation. The aim of this meditation is self-incubation for transformation and resurrection.This liquefaction is a characteristic state of consciousness during psychedelic sessions. When the normal structures of awareness break down, consciousness transforms to a flowing or fluid state.Speaking of his fusion of non-linear dynamics, post-structuralism, and psychedelic experience, psychonaut Manuel DeLanda was interviewed by MONDO 2000 (Issue 8; Winter, 1992).
He reports on his experience in the language of chaos theory.
The metaphor they use is solid, liquid, gas. If the system is solid, too crystallized, its dynamics are completely uninteresting. If it's gaseous, it's also uninteresting--all you have to do is take averages of behavior and you know what's going on. Liquids have a lot more potential, with all kinds of attractors and bifurcations. Now what they're coming to believe is that the liquid state in nature--not just actual liquids, but liquidity in the abstract sense of being not too rigid or too loose--these liquid systems "poised on the edge of chaos" are natural computers....When you trip, you liquify structures in your brain, linguistic structures, intentional structures. They acquire a less viscous consistency, and your brain becomes a super-computer. You are able to think concepts you were not able to think before. Information rushes in your brain, which makes you feel like you're having a revelation. But of course no one is revealing anything to you. It's just self-organizing. It's happening by itself. ...free-flowing matter and energy are capable of self-organization.I don't think there are higher states of consciousness. You liquify yourself, and you go through phase transitions, and then it seems to you that you are in a higher state of consciousness. When I'm tripping, I'm thinking concepts I'm sure no one's ever thought before, and in a way it's like a higher state of consciousness, but it's not a plane that was waiting there for me to access it. It's something I'm building that moment by destratifying my brain.There might be an ethics here: how to live your life poised at the edge of chaos, how to allow self-organizing processes to take place in all the strata that bind you. In your life, you could create maps of attractors that bind your local destiny--those behaviors that are habitual and so on. And try to find those bifurcations that would allow you to jump, if not to complete freedom--that doesn't exist--but to another set of attractors less confining, less binding, less stratifying. Or learn to lead your life near a bifurcation without ever crossing it--the lesson of being poised on the edge of chaos.
In reducing all to pure water, the prima materia and the ultima materia become synonymous. That primal consciousness state, that creative and chaotic consciousness is the beginning of the operation of "water", and its ultimate realization.It becomes easy to see why the operation of water is the "root of alchemy." Through consciousness journeys which liquify our rigid notions of self and world, we re-create the adventures of the hero or heroine. The theme is the loss and recovery of identity.
The hero is deserted, betrayed or even killed, but then comes back to life again. They may be swallowed by a huge sea monster, or wander in a strange dark underworld and then fight their way out again. The shift is from abandonment and isolation, to struggle, to the triumph or marriage phase, (unitive consciousness).The myth of the defeated hero (rigid ego) brings images of the triumph of dark forces, myths of floods and the return of chaos. Then the stage is set for miraculous rebirth--The Son is born from the Father, as in THE BOOK OF LAMBSPRING passage. This process of rebirth is the universal medicine.
REFERENCES
Aaronson, Bernard S., "The Hypnotic Induction of the Void," Journal of the American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, Vol. 26: No. 1, p. 22-30; No. 2, p. 63-72; No. 3, p. 114-117; No. 4, p.129-133.Abraham, Ralph; McKenna, Terence; Sheldrake, Rupert; TRIALOGUES AT THE EDGE OF THE WEST; Bear and Co., Santa Fe, 1992.Davis, Erik, "DeLanda Destratified"; MONDO 2000, #8, Winter 1992, p. 45-48.Edinger, Edward F.; ANATOMY OF THE PSYCHE, Open Court; LaSalle, Illinois, 1985.Edinger, Edward F.; EGO AND ARCHETYPE, Penguin Books Inc., Baltimore, 1973.Evans-Wentz, W.Y.; THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD; Causeway Books, New York, 1973.Gold, E. J.; AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD; GatewaysGrinnell, Robert; ALCHEMY IN A MODERN WOMAN, Spring Publications, New York, 1973.Grof, Stanislav; THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY; SUNY Press, Albany, 1988.Hillman, James; ANIMA; Spring Publications, Dallas, 1985.Kauffman, Stuart A., "Antichaos and Adaptation"; SciAmer, August 1991, p.78-84.Leary, T., Metzner, R., Alpert, R.; THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE, University Books, New York, 1964.McAuliffe, Kathleen; "Get Smart: Controlling Chaos"; OMNIMerrell-Wolff, Franklin; PATHWAYS THROUGH TO SPACE; Warner Books, New York, 1973.Milkman, Harvey & Sunderwirth, Stanley; CRAVING FOR ECSTASY; D.C. Heath & Co., Lexington, Massachusetts, 1987.Miller, I. & Miller, R.A.; THE MODERN ALCHEMIST (formerly The Book of Lambspring); Phanes Press, Chicago; in press (available Spring 1994).Mindell, Arnold; DREAMBODY; Sigo Press, Boston, 1982.Mindell, Arnold; RIVER'S WAY; Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.Rossi, Ernest: THE PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF MIND-BODY HEALING, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York, 1986.Stace, W.D.; MYSTICISM AND PHILOSOPHY; Lippincott, New York, 1960.Swinney, Graywolf and Iona Miller; DREAMHEALING: CHAOS AND THE CREATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS PROCESS, Asklepia Press, 1992.Tart, Charles; STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS; E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1975.Washburn, Michael; THE EGO AND THE DYNAMIC GROUND; SUNY Press, New York, 1988.
by Iona Miller, 1993
ABSTRACT: There is a generic process in nature and consciousness which dissolves and regenerates all forms. The essence of this transformative, morphological process is chaotic--purposeful yet inherently unpredictable holistic repatterning. The Great Work of the art of alchemy is the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, a symbol of wholeness and integration. The liquid form of the Stone, called the Universal Solvent, dissolves all old forms like a rushing stream, and is the self-organizing matrix for the rebirth of new forms. It is thus a metaphor or model for the dynamic process of transformation, ego death and re-creation.The alchemical operation SOLUTIO, called "the root of alchemy," corresponds with the element water. It implies a flowing state of consciousness, "liquification" of consciousness, a return to the womb for rebirth, a baptism or healing immersion in the vast ocean of deep consciousness. It facilitates feedback via creative regression: de-structuring, or destratification by immersion in the flow of psychic imagery through identification with more and more primal forms or patterns--a psychedelic, expanded state. Chaos Theory provides a metaphorical language for describing the flowing dynamics of the chaotic process of psychological transformation."All substances are part of my own consciousness.
This consciousness is vacuous, unborn, and unceasing."
Thus meditating, allow the mind to rest in the uncreated state. Like the pouring of water into water, the mind should be allowed its own easy mental posture in its natural, unmodified condition, clear and vibrant. --Leary, Metzner, Alpert; THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE
To summarize, I have spoken of seven major aspects of SOLUTIO symbolism: (1) return to the womb or primal state; (2) dissolution, dispersal, dismemberment; (3) containment of a lesser thing by a greater; (4) rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative energy flow; (5) purification ordeal; (6) solution of problems; and (7) melting or softening process. These different aspects overlap. Several or all of them may make up different facets of a single experience. Basically it is the ego's confrontation with the unconscious that brings about SOLUTIO. --Edward Edinger, ANATOMY OF THE PSYCHE
Tantra and alchemy spring from the same root -- the generic process of the liquification of consciousness, in which the old rigid self dissolves into the revivifying waters of the fountainhead of the divine source, and renews itself in this bath, and is reborn in renascent form. It means a process of ego dissolution and personality deconstruction, swimming upstream against the flow of the stream of consciousness to our Unborn roots, beyond our personalistic behaviors, emotions, thoughts, and beliefs about who "we" are.
Tantra is one elegant means of achieving cosmic consciousness, of communing with the mystic Source.In the alchemical operation of water, solutio, the body is joined with the soul and spirit. The skin-boundary dissolves into visceral as well as spiritual perception. Awareness of physical processes may be greatly amplified, appearing as impressions, intuitions, sensations, sounds, odors. The body is always speaking silently. Through this raw, physical expression, that which was solid becomes liquified, dissolved, deliteralized. The concrete image of the body "morphs" into the flow of pure energy, in a variation of Transubstantiation. It is the "rapture" of being siezed up into the heavenly realm.THE MEDICINE OF PHILOSOPHERS
Alchemy had one great prescription for the accomplishment of the Great Work: "Solve et Coagula"--reduce or dissolve all to its primary, most fundamental essence and embody that creative, holistic spirit. The ancient alchemists sought to transform "lead" into "gold." We repeat this process as modern alchemists when we seek the transformative medium which allows us to recognize our rigidities ("lead") and facilitates our healing and expression of our full creative potential ("gold"). That medium is the ever-flowing river of our consciousness.The organic, regenerative process of "re-creational ego death" is common to mysticism, experiential psychology, and psychedelic journeys. Spiritual exploration, or soul travel, is shared by all three modes of immersion in the universal stream of consciousness. They are all variations on the theme of the consciousness journey, and echo our shamanic roots, and the mythemes of eternal return and hero/heroine. Participants reach a deep, integral level, and direct experience of Higher Power, often merging with the Creation or the Creator.
All these modes facilitate psychedelic consciousness, though any given experience may vary in duration and depth. Their prescribed frequency varies: meditators are advised to "die daily;" in psychotherapy once a month may be enough for regenerative therapy; psychedelic use varies from single experiences, to monthly, to annually. Despite different modes of induction, all these experiences reflect the illusory nature of time, space, and ego as reality constructs. The primary nature of consciousness is revealed.The word psychedelic has its roots in the Greek psyche, soul, and delos, visible, evident. It is direct evidence of the soul, the pure manifestation of soul.
Stace (1960) identifies nine qualities of the psychedelic experience as follows: 1) unity of all things; 2) transformation of space and time; 3) deeply felt positive mood; 4) sacredness; 5) objectivity and reality; 6) paradoxicality; 7) alleged ineffability; 8) transiency, and 9) persisting positive changes in subsequent behavior.In the practice of mysticism there is identification with progressively more subtle "bodies" or vehicles of consciousness, culminating in a transform from a mental or causal body to a vehicle of pure Light. In experiential psychotherapy, transformation results from deepening within the flow of psychic imagery, progressively identifying with more primal forms, and ultimately with formlessness. In tantric and psychedelic experience, expansion of consciousness dissolves ego boundaries leading to morphological transformations and ecstatic communion.In alchemy, one sought not only to find or create the Stone, but also to apply it, or use it creatively in the everyday world. Now, we might speak of integrating or actualizing the results of our transformations in daily life.
Thus, self-actualization or self-realization implies the grounding of the spiritual fruits of inner exploration.The liquid form of the Philosopher's Stone was known as the UNIVERSAL SOLVENT. According to the alchemists, the operation of solutio (liquification) has a twofold effect: it causes old forms to disappear and new regenerate forms to emerge. To a rigid consciousness, the primal ocean of the unconscious is experienced as chaotic, violent, irrational processes of generation and destruction.Through "creative regression," the generic form of ego death, consciousness recycles, recursively bending back upon itself. The direction is a recapitulation of, a re-experiencing of sequences from earlier life, conception and birth experience, ancestral awareness, genetic and physiological recognitions, molecular and atomic perception, and quantum consciousness.
As consciousness explores and expands, ego dissolves. Pure consciousness, the fundamental luminosity, is the ground state of unborn form. The generic purpose of ego death is to liberate our embodied being, precipitating communion with and re-patterning by the Whole. When all forms finally dissolve into unconditioned consciousness, the ground state of the Nature Mind is revealed as the mystic Void, the womb of creation.When the constructed forms which hold personality together are voluntarily relinquished, consciousness "liquifies" and rapidly moves toward the unconditioned state. Though easy to say, it is sometimes difficult to achieve such liberation from the mental-conceptual activity of the nervous system. When we do, the quiescent nervous system is open and receptive to the conscious recognition of pure energy transforms with no interpretations.The Universal Solvent dissolves problems, heals, allows life to flow in new, creative patterns. These new patterns embody the evolutionary dynamic. According to chaos theory, free-flowing energy is capable of self-organization. In consciousness this means that the obstructions to free flowing energy must first be dissolved. Through re-creational ego death, consciousness dissolves into healing communion with the whole of existence, renewing itself, emerging with a new creative potential.The need for the periodic destruction of outmoded systems implies the value of recycling consciousness through death/rebirth experience.
The universal solvent is not ordinary water, but "philosophical" water, the water of life, aqua permanens, aqua mercurialis. It is also the panacea, "elixer vitae," "tincture," or universal medicine. To periodically dip into these healing waters has a tonic, rejuvenating effect which pervades all aspects of being, like a soothing balm.This divine water signifies the return of The Feminine, a reflective consciousness with inner awareness and archetypal spiritual perceptions. This Feminine Divinity is the Anima Mundi, or Soul of the World, the universal animating principle, the upwelling spring of the creative Imagination, the dynamic flow of imagery, pattern, and form. This dynamic has been known as Isis, Shakti, Maya, Shekinah, Sophia, Demeter/Persephone, Mary.In psychedelic mysticism, the animating principle is being referred to as Gaian Consciousness (Abraham, 1992), which we might view as a rebirth of ancient ecstatic, communal consciousness. It is the psychobiological basis of deep ecology, the flow of relationships. The return of chaos heralds the "greening of consciousness," the greening of the cultural wasteland.Hillman (1985) describes the anima not as a projection of, but rather the projector of psyche. We are contained within Her fantasy, not She within ours.
Grinnell (1973) describes the transformative process of solutio which facilitates the fluid, mobile basis of consciousness:For aqua permanens is a mode of the arcane substance; its symbol is water or sea-water, an all-pervading essence of anima mundi, the innermost and secret numinosum in man and the universe, that part of God which formed the quintessence and real substance of Physis, at once the highest supercelestial waters of wisdom and the spirit of life pervading inorganic matter.The arcane descriptors of this paradoxical liquid Stone are cryptic, couched in metaphor.
But what does it mean experientially and pragmatically? How does this chaotic transformative process engineer our consciousness? The divine water, as a liquid symbol of the Self, can be experienced in many ways. It has been described as innocuously as the "stream of consciousness," and as poetically as the "Heart of The River of Created Forms."Solutio implies the liquification of consciousness through the dissolution of rigidities which inhibit free flow. They include roles, game patterns, defense strategies, rigid attitudes and beliefs, interpretations, complexes, "old" myths, and "frozen" energy surrounding traumas which manifests as fear and pain.Fossilized or ossified energies create obstructions to free flow, like boulders in a stream produce turbulence. Destructuring transformative processes can dissolve them, increasing the sense of flow. This "liquified" consciousness is psychedelic, a nonordinary expanded awareness which dissolves fixations and habits, and loosens cramped attitudes.Mystic ecstasy, or the psychedelic state is mind-manifesting, consciousness expanding. It dissolves the identification of our consciousness with our histories, bodies, emotions, thoughts, and even beliefs. We are free to explore myriad forms, structures, and patterns, and/or become formless, resting in that unborn, unconditioned, unmodified healing state.We experience the essence of other forms of existence.
The Oneness of all life and existence is directly experienced through a variety of transformations ranging from plant and animal identifications to planetary and universal consciousness.Entering the turbulent flow of the stream of consciousness, we can ride its currents back to the Source, pure unconditioned cosmic consciousness. We can imbibe the life-giving qualities of this "water" through mind-expanding experiential contact with this deep consciousness.The transformative process is also reflected in our modern physical worldview as chaos theory, which we can view as a modern "myth," a new metaphor for the dynamics of consciousness. Chaos is ubiquitous in nature, pervading all dynamic processes, perturbing them unpredictably.
Chaos theory shows us that nature is continually unfolding new forms from the chaotic matrix of creation.Our dynamic consciousness is an essentially chaotic process. Chaos tracks a time evolution with sensitive dependence on initial conditions.
When we "return" experientially to the "initial conditions" of our existence, our whole being is holistically repatterned. Our historical limitations are superceded by the creative power of the eternal Now.We can allow chaos, as the universal solvent, to liquify consciousness and re-create ourselves. This presumes a therapeutic atmosphere, a "safe" set and setting, because each phase of the journey is an encounter with uncertainty.The journey into deep consciousness appears inherently chaotic because the state of uncertainty pervades each moment of transition. Underlying moments of transience there are momentary blanks in awareness--little voids--flickering microstates which repattern each phase. Whether the experience is one of loss of personal boundaries or direct perception of stark, raw reality, or visionary dreams, there is no predicting where the chaotic orbit of consciousness will roam next.To embrace chaos in our consciousness journeys, therefore means to cooperate and flow with the transformative process, opening ourselves to our deepest emergent potential. It's O.K. to let go periodically and temporarily become unstructured nothingness and open to holistic re-patterning.Chaos is self-organizing, self-iterating, and self-generating. It is an evolutionary force. The tendency of new forms emerging from chaos is toward a higher degree of adaptation, hence evolution (Kauffmann, 1991). This "recycling" of consciousness leads to a self-referential vortex.Chaotic systems revolve around nexus points, known as strange attractors, because of their unpredictable quality. Rather than being "point-like," they are more like vortices within vortices.
The Philosopher's Stone is like a psychic lodestone (or vortex). It acts like an inner magnet, ordering the contents of our consciousness around it (through feedback loops) in chaotic, yet meaningful fashion.The Philosopher's Stone may thus be seen as a "strange attractor" in the life of anyone engaged in the quest for transformation. It is an instinctual attraction toward processes which dissolve the ego and liquify consciousness, leading to transpersonal experience after symbolic death/rebirth. Freedom in the exploration of imagery comes from the creative capacity to experience loss.Experientially, it appears as being channeled into the swirling mass of interacting symbols, an overwhelming vortex of pure information. We are sucked inexorably into interaction with the self-symbol, sucked into ourselves, like flotsam is pulled into a whirlpool. This is the vortex of the system, the vortex of self, where all levels cross. It overwhelms or tangles the mental processes, the self-imaging processes that maintain the illusion of stable personality and individual boundaries.In solutio, the body is joined with the soul and spirit. The skin-boundary dissolves into visceral as well as spiritual perception. Awareness of physical processes may be greatly amplified, appearing as impressions, intuitions, sensations, sounds, odors. The body is always speaking silently. Through this raw, physical expression, that which was solid becomes liquified, dissolved, deliteralized. The concrete image of the body "morphs" into the flow of pure energy, in a variation of Transubstantiation. It is the "rapture" of being siezed up into the heavenly realm.The flow of dynamic energy from the deep Self reawakens and activates the body, and also that portion of the unconscious that the body carries. The body not only carries, but is the memory of the entire evolutionary cycle. Consciousness can access any portion of this material memory through creative regression. The body manifests kinesthetic, preverbal, and preconceptual memory of its direct experience. Immersion in the healing creative energy flow is like a spiritual baptism, which facilitates creative reformation of ordinary consciousness, and even the physical body.Solutio, as a state of consciousness, unites the powers of above and below, transpersonal and personal. It is the integration of the higher spiritual powers with personal experience that embodies the healing dynamic. This produces the paradoxical poison-panacea.
The dual nature of the universal medicine points to a consciousness state beyond both opposites.In Greek myth, Athena gave Asklepios, the divine healer, the blood of Medusa as the universal medicine. In its negative aspect it was toxic and produced death. The positive aspect brought healing; this mysterious potion is the "cure-all," the "solution." Divine water (sometimes symbolized as blood) is dangerous, poisonous, seductive, addictive, even deadly in its primeval, untransformed state--madness.In the science fiction novel, DUNE, the new messiah and the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood imbibe the psychoactive "water of life" with impunity. Moving past the fear and pain, they transcend time/space and commune with the continuum of all existence. What sets them apart from others, on whom the potion has a fatal effect, is their ability to withstand and convert its initial toxic effects into a religious ecstasy. They know how to navigate in that turbulent flow, during their consciousness journeys--"moving without travelling."
The alchemical solution to this problem of primordial, raw experience is to "cook" it into a reflective consciousness. Recycling itself, the ego cooperates in its own "re-creational death," connecting with the transpersonal forces of rebirth and renewal. The reborn personality is resurrected, restored to life through new meaning.The ego acknowledges the Self as its new center of gravity, and personality heals. Experiential connection to the living reality of the Self, the "waters of life" is the panacea, the magical elixer of life. Solutio (and its prime agent, chaos) arises spontaneously from the depths as irrational images, dreams and fantasies.In dreamhealing, the dream symbols are followed deeper and deeper down to the primal level where all structure dissolves into its original source. This journey into the depths, and subsequent emergence, is the basis of shamanic healing. As we journey in the autonomous consciousness stream, guided movement deeper into and beyond the fear and pain brings up the classical imagery of the solutio, as resistance subsides. There is no part of it that is not us. The transformative process dissolves blockages, obstructions or "frozen" consciousness which disturb and distort the free flow of energy.
1) RETURN TO THE WOMB OR PRIMAL STATE
The alchemist Paracelsus said, "He who enters the kingdom of God must first enter his mother and die." That death-like silence is also our mother, the virgin womb of the imagination.The dynamics of "creative regression" are common to mystical experience, psychedelic exploration, and therapeutic consciousness journeys. All lead to immersion in the flow of the stream of consciousness. Creative regression is a generic form of the myth of the eternal return, chronic recurrence, reiteration. In the dynamics of chaos theory we find this recursive motion in the concept of iteration--self-similarity--which produces the similarity in infinitely descending scales of fractal generation.Iteration is like a stretching and folding of the spacetime continuum. Experientially it manifests within us as a spiritualizing instinct, a recursive "bending back" of instinct toward that which is primordial and divine. Thus, whether induced through psychoactive substances, mystical transport, or experiential psychotherapy typical imagery recycles, recapitulates, or reiterates cascades of impressionistic transformations spanning the entire spectrum of archetypal experiences--morphological transformations.These include but are not limited to childhood, birth, embryonic development, ancestral, mythic, genetic, evolutionary, universal, and quantum consciousness. Access to the entire continuum of organic and inorganic evolution as well as the collective unconscious becomes available. That information most pertinent to the whole self emerges in the stream of consciousness as virtual experience. What is pertinent is what gets spontaneously "downloaded," and it repeats and reiterates the basic issues in yet another, eternally creative way. Stan Grof has catalogued an extensive taxonomy of these states, most notably in THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY (1988).Such experiences of cosmic consciousness constitute a "return to the Mother," the blissful fusion of primal union, at both personal and universal levels. The direction of this dynamic process is recursive, bending back through deep time, ontology, and phylogeny. It echoes the semantic roots of the words religion and yoga, which imply a "linking backward" in the bond between gods and man, a craving for ecstasy, and transcendence of the limitations of physical form (Milkman, 1987).
Jung called this dynamic an opus contra naturam, a work against nature. But chaos theory shows us it is actually quite organic, natural, and instinctual. In alchemy it was the Great Work. Consciousness turns back on itself, reiterating each level of organization, de-structuring each strata as it dives deeper toward the unconditioned, formless beginning, or "unborn" state. This primal state is amniotic bliss experienced as the Void, the cosmic womb.Images of the Great Mother system become reactivated, though not exactly in their original form. Imagery like fractals is self-similar, but not entirely identical. This creative regression is to the prepersonal domain, the preverbal, preconceptual domain, not the transpersonal spiritual domain (transverbal, transconceptual).Typically in the first few dreamhealing sessions, a person will enter a dream symbol doorway which leads back to a conception memory. They may or may not recognize it as such during the journey. But in content, the symbolism is very clear. The imagery is fundamental or primal, appearing as a dance of energy, matter, and consciousness--the body-ego's conscious experience.These images are close to the stuff of our creation -- the prima materia -- of our existence. We may experience it as free-floating: a paradox of chaos and a deep-felt sense of flowing and peace. The imagery here is psychedelic -- consciousness expanding -- an autonomous manifestation of imagination. The panoply of the ceaseless transformation of energy may overwhelm the senses, leading to a sense of total chaos. There is nothing to do but let go, surrender to it, merge with it, flow with it.The dancing energy waves and patterns are perceived as deep whorls, spinning spirals, black holes, infinite voids, gray clouds of nothingness. There is melding of the senses -- synesthesia -- such as "tasting" music, "seeing" sound, etc. Simple throbbing and other extremely primitive sensations may be experienced. Experience of this state produces a new acceptance of the original conditions of conception, and re-structuring of the primal self-image.We go into the primal chaos to begin the process of reformation from our pre-structural beginning. In essence, we re-enter the womb as we are initiated in the mysteries of the psyche. We re-conceive our primal self image, healed by communion with the creative Source.
2) DISSOLUTION, DISPERSAL, DISMEMBERMENT
The classic text of re-creational surrender or sacrifice of self is THE BARDO THODOL, or THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. It is explicitly for the living who undertake the death-like regression into the unconscious, as well as the dying. Because of their orientation toward consciousness journeys, THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE and THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD are useful translations or contemporizations of the transformational classic.The realm of death is the twilight zone between consciousness and matter. Here psychoid phenomena manifest through the mingling of these modes. Here mind/matter duality ceases, creating enchantment, uncanny synchronicities, time warps, psychic experience, revelation of the mind of matter, the Nature Mind.The moment of ego death is heralded by certain symptoms of transition. Resistance by the mind to this creative dissolution brings about physical symptoms which range from shaking and a sense of increasing pressure and anxiety, to paradoxical flashes of hot and cold, to extreme dizzyness and disorientation. As the classic psychedelic manual says, "The hard, dry, brittle husks of your ego are washing out; Washing out to the endless sea of creation." (Leary et al, 1964).
Distressing or disturbing symptoms symbolize the violence of the passage of consciousness from form to formlessness. Images of the body disintegrating or being blown to atoms (fear of exploding = fear of expanding) are characteristic psychedelic experiences. Perhaps the very elements of our bodies "remember" their formation in the crucible of some supernova. There may be identification with merciless destruction, the Dance of Shiva, the raging elements of nature, a variety of forms of explosive discharge. Here are visions of fires, floods, raging storms, earthquakes, volcanoes, turbulent lakes of magma.Consciousness "breaks up" into its elemental forms, manifesting as overwhelming imagery. This first phase of dissolution may be characterized by the futility of resistance, magnetic downward spirals, gravity wells, loss of morphological identity.
E.J. Gold describes the second stage of the voyage as one of being overwhelmed by illusions produced by conditioning. Yet the primal element of pure forms breaks through and the voyager recognizes "the basic component of consciousness which when combined produces what is called the element Water."In consciousness journeys, chaos functions as the universal solvent, that which dissolves all patterns and forms including the rigid, outmoded aspects of the self. In the dream journey, one might enter a spinning vortex and become dismembered by centrifugal force, torn limb from limb. We remain in this state of dis-integration until we re-member our essential self, embodying the wounded healer.That sense of disintegration comes as the ego gives up its "unified" linear perspective (bivalent) to the multiple consciousness or awareness (multi-valence) of the deep self. Fear makes it feel like fragmentation, but in truth there is nothing in that imagery that is not us. The death throes of the ego prepare it for rebirth, through communion with cosmic consciousness, a new incarnation of the spirit, death and resurrection.The nature of universal consciousness is oceanic. When the ego is in danger of "getting in over its head," it panics as if faced with drowning in the depths of this vast ocean of consciousness. It overwhelms the ego which cannot fathom this abyss.This aspect of solutio brings mythic images of the dying god, of violent death and sacrifice, and of the isolation of the hero. It means nothing less than the sacrifice of the old self. The dissolution phase may mean myths of the triumph of darkness; myths of floods and the return of chaos, of the defeat of the hero.In Gold's words, "Death comes to all forms; everything eventually is broken up by dissolution, so there's no point clinging to yet another biological form out of desire, longing for stability, or from fear and weakness."
3) CONTAINMENT OF A LESSER THING BY A GREATER
The ego "takes the plunge," it lets go and dissolves its old matrix, its old boundaries. When its boundaries melt, ego-consciousness dissolves into deep consciousness. The "wave merges with the ocean," and experiences its own deep transpersonal nature. It moves swiftly through the fear and pain, awakening to an infinitely wider reality of universal energy waves. In the ocean of creativity, "your own consciousness, shining, void and inseparable from the great body of radiance, has no birth, nor death." (Leary, 1964).Experience of the pure, unmodified state of consciousness transcends all opposites, and therefore consciousness journeys provide an experiential "container" for the reconciliation of paradox within a larger field of experience--a broader, transcendent perspective. The transformational process acts as a "container" (alchemical retort) of the contents of psyche. But these contents, reduced to their essence are "nothingness," simply dreams and imagination. Emptiness is the real Philosopher's Stone.By dissolving into non-relative consciousness, mood swings or identification with conflicting polar positions may be transcended by an enlarged state of consciousness which embraces and contains the entire continuum. Flow replaces polarity.Jung spoke of the transcendent function as a symbol-forming force continuously creating emergent imagery which facilitates whole-self realization. It is thus an evolutionary and adaptive force. Mindell (1985) speaks of the flow in alchemical terms:The alchemists called this flow the 'aqua permanens', or permanent water. Aqua permanens is the fluid process, the energy or life which was locked up in the tension of conflict which has now been freed through the flow between the opposites. Fluidity comes from conflict. Whereas before there was a boundary between conflicting opposites, between intent and reality, streaming energy now transforms therapy into natural science.Dreams, visions, or the stream of consciousness can be used therapeutically as an evolutionary force to guide people from a small sense of self and expand them toward a larger image. This expansion of the sense of self may require some adjustment. The illumination (awakening to larger Reality) may also come through a nature-mystic experience, intense sexual experience, E.S.P., a consciousness journey, or meditation. Enlightenment (even the "seed" of enlightenment) is an experience of awe, bliss, and infinite possibilities.The ego realizes it is not the center of the whole person, but only "manages" the personality. There are autonomous archetypal forces which inhabit the psyche with their own agendas, patterns, and goals. Our psyche is transpersonal; it has no boundaries. Our conscious awareness is only a manifestation of this larger consciousness. Within this larger consciousness, we are at home with a plurality of visions. The parts contain the whole (to a degree), enfolded or embedded like a fractal or hologram.Containment may take place symbolically in the therapeutic relationship. The consciousness guide, therapist, or shaman functions as a guide to the netherworld. The "wounded healer" has a numinous quality which provokes the projections of others. Shamans work within the belief systems of their subjects to expand their sense of what is possible. Those subjects' experiences generally reflect the style and beliefs of the shaman--the shaman's positive expectation of particularized results.Exposure to the infinitely broader worldview of a shamanic personality will automatically move a "smaller" personality into solutio, dissolution. This rapport or participation mystique is an unconscious, automatic process--a positive sort of psychic contagion. This unconscious dynamic may be responsible for the phenomenon of "contact high."
4) REBIRTH, REJUVENATION, IMMERSION IN THE CREATIVE ENERGY FLOW
Psychedelic, as well as mystical literature contains many examples of surrendering, letting go, accepting, merging, and joining the flow of the "Nature Mind," where all is consciousness--the audible life stream. This "Diamond Consciousness" is awareness of creative flux of the Void, the fluid unity of life. We flow within it, and it flows through us.The death-rebirth sequence typically opens a person to the transpersonal domain with its virtually infinite creativity. It reveals and unfolds our future potentials. In dreamhealing, chaotic consciousness is also creative consciousness. Terence McKenna reminds us that, "Riverine metaphors are endlessly applicable. They represent the flowing of forces over landscapes, the pressure of chaos on the imagination to create creatively. . .The key is surrender and dissolution of boundaries, dissolution of the ego."When we immerse ourselves in that creative energy, we find healing on many levels of our being. It may feel tingly or effervescent, or like streaming energy. Direct experience of this level brings a true sense of oneness with all that exists, the seamless fabric of existence. It opens us to re-patterning by the whole--a re-construction or re-patterning of personality through holistic change at the most fundamental level.Immersion in the oceanic experience of universal consciousness is a life-changing experience. It is experience of the web of life, the biological life flow, an ineffable current of bliss. Once we experience that larger world and self--the rhythmic pulse of all life--we are never the same again, so long as we remember.Communing with this energy, experiencing these states of consciousness, has been the practice of shamans since the dawn of man. Shamanic consciousness means the ability to enter and exit altered states at will. This power is connected to the liquid expression of life--the sap of life--the vegetable forms of the liquid Stone, and its identity with psychotropic plants. This notion reiterates that of the "greening of consciousness."Franklin Merrell-Wolff (1973) spoke of the distillate of his mystical experience as follows:"The Current is clearly a subtle, fluid-like substance which brings the sense of well-being already described. Along with It, a more than earthly Joy suffuses the whole nature. To myself, I called It a Nectar. Now, I recognize It under several names. It is also the 'Soma,' the 'Ambrosia of the Gods,' the 'Elixir of Life,' the 'Water of Life' of Jesus, and the 'Baptism of the Spirit' of St. Paul. It is more than related to Immortality; in fact, It is Identical with Immortality."When the ego is completely dissolved in this renewing bath, we experience timeless consciousness, and are reborn based on a new, healthier primal self-image. This rejuvenation comes from connecting with pristine consciousness, the eternal aspects or forces of nature. Even though we cannot conceive of it, we can experience the infinite, the eternal, the transcendent. Visions of Creation, Emanation, the upwelling Source, emerge.Spiritual reincarnation means bringing to life that which was formerly dead or unawakened, through connection with the original creative power. It is the theme of the Quest -- the greening of the Wasteland. The process of rebirth is the mythic enactment of "the one story" whose pattern is found in every narrative. Beneath the differences, the meaning -- having to do with the loss and recovery of identity -- does not change.This story of the loss and regaining of identity is the framework of most literature, from which comes the hero with a thousand faces. Some variation of the hero's adventures, death, disappearance, and marriage or resurrection are the focal points of most stories.The original sense of identity (romance and comedy), its loss (tragedy and irony), and its recovery in the regenerate world of romance and comedy is mirrored in the mythic quest. Myths of the birth of the hero, revival and resurrection, creation and defeat of the powers of darkness and death are perennial themes.The descent and subsequent ascent, going deep into the consciousness journey and emerging transformed, is a form of death/rebirth, a powerful archetypal theme which is initiatory in character.
5) PURIFICATION ORDEALAesculapian dreamhealing, uses many ritual forms of purification, such as diet, sweats, and baths. But the psychic purification is a process of shedding fears and pain which prevent us from flowing. Fear and pain are what keep us "stuck."Each initiation contains an ordeal within its enfolded nature. At least it feels like an ordeal to the old ego structure which must dissolve or die. The quantum leap of initiation, being seized from one state and moved to another, involves a sudden and profound change. It requires an adjustment. Also, life may present synchronistic challenges, outside the dreamhealing sessions.One dreamhealing participant was having a sweat. She was sent to look for an offering in the form of some wood to burn in the ritual. She finally returned with a huge gnarled log, which was quite representative of her twisted back (scoliosis). That wood really stank when it first was consigned to the fire--but as time went on, it burned pure and smelled extraordinarily sweet. She emerged with more mobility than she could remember every having and the healing persists.In yoga, we hear about clearing blocks at the various chakras through purification practices. Progressive stages of purification allow the energy of the serpent power to flow or rise ever-higher through the chakra system. Thus, the yogi realizes the true nature of self. Mindell (1982) has commented on this process in regards to flow and healing:In healing ceremonies, light, water, love, release of emotions, energy flow, circulation, harmony and crystal clear water are all descriptions of curative experiences. The water is a description of free flowing energy which cleans the body by unlocking egotism and its resulting cramps. . .The sap of plants flows in the body of the enlightened yogi. In India lack of flow in the imaginary veins and arteries which carry energy and blood is blamed for illness. Cleaning these conduits and reestablishing flow is all-important. . .there is a resistance at some point to the flow of energies. In fact, all disease is merely a restriction of the flow of life force in a particular area.Speaking more of the mental aspect of the process he uses water as an image of purification ordeal:Whenever a complex exists, consciousness rigidifies and tries to steer around the strong emotions connected with the core of the complex. Water therapy allows the complexes to speak, encourages the body to dance its own rhythm and lets the unpredictable come alive. A water experience is holistic and unifies the entire personality so that ego, Self, dreams, body, inner and outer come together in one human being.The more rigid the ego and the more powerful a governing complex, the more threatening the flow of the body or the psyche appears. A rigid and frightened personality becomes terrified, split off from nature, and cannot believe that a Self or a body consciousness exists that can organize behavior once ego rulership is given up. . .Water is medicine against the rigidification of intuition, physical mobility, and feelings.Another expression of purification ordeal occurs with psychedelics. It is a mental purge of gross karma which manifests as wrathful visions or second bardo nightmares. These visions, as well as the peaceful ones must simply be endured, despite awe and terror. They may be horrific visions of apocalypse and catastrophe--bloodthirsty hallucinations.They come as the ego struggles to maintain its boundaries, as the mind seeks to reconstruct the personality. But the experience of this hellish state of consciousness is not mandatory with every journey. Recognition of the greater Reality brings instantaneous liberation from this ordeal.Edinger (1973) uses Job from THE BIBLE as a classic example of an ego's confrontation with the awesome powers of the unconscious through its trials and travails. Job's encounter with the Self brings about a death/rebirth experience. Job feels like he is being punished, and insists on discovering the meaning of his experience.Job encounters Jahweh in dreams first, anticipating later conscious encounter. Job is shown the abysmal aspect of God and the depths of his own psyche with its monstrous aspects, much like the wrathful visions of THE BARDO THODOL. Finally, Job's questions are answered, not rationally, but through living experience, conscious realization of the autonomous archetypal psyche. The realization comes to birth only through the ordeal.All these struggles in the cycling of death/rebirth may be linked back through symbolic similarity to the individual birth ordeal. It is characteristic of chaotic systems that events originally separated by time and space can become enfolded closely together.
Events linked by the same state of consciousness are related; learning is state-related (Tart; Rossi). Our lessons and our ordeals are related to our states of consciousness. Thus personal and transpersonal experience of this eternal cycle of the generation of forms become fused and conditioned by the individual aspect of archetypal experience.
6) SOLUTION OF PROBLEMSThere is more than a linguistic link between the metaphor of a liquid solution, and the solution of a problem. The moment of "a-ha" comes frequently in process-oriented therapy, as direct realization brings fresh understanding through the "empty mind," or "beginner's mind."Solutions come through creativity. They may appear effortlessly. The relationship between healing and creativity is implicit--healing is the physical analog of creativity, like attitude changes and intuition are its emotional and mental analogs. Healing is a special case of creativity, or creative problem-solving.
During reverie states, the mind goes into chaotic patterns for problem-solving. The more difficult the problem, the more chaos. Dreamhealing facilitates entry into these healing states of consciousness.McAuliffe (198 ) reported in OMNI on the work of Paul Rapp detecting chaos in brain wave fluctuations:
After analyzing the EEGs of humans, Rapp has also come around to this friendlier view. "When we are healthy and alert, the interval between electrical waves is never rigidly fixed," he reports, "but always vacillates around a certain frequency range." Moreover, when we are mentally challenged, the interval between the electrical wave becomes even more variable--or chaotic. This suggests, in Rapp's opinion, that chaos "may actually be highly beneficial during problem solving.Clearly the greater the mental challenge, the more chaotic the activity of the subject's brain. . .What does all this mean? In Rapp's opinion, chaotic activity may be an asset in problem solving. "You want to be able to scan as wide a range of solutions as possible and avoid locking on to a suboptimal solution early on," he explains. "One way to do that is to have a certain amount of disorderliness, or turbulence, in your search."We can draw a direct analogy between the dreamhealing process and creative process. Dreamhealing begins with the pilgrimage, which expresses one's intent or commitment. The creative process begins with receptivity, which includes interest, preparation, and immersion in the subject matter.Next in dreamhealing comes the confession, or the identification of the problem, where you have missed the mark. Creativity also requires the ability to identify the problem, see the right questions, to use errors, to have detached devotion.The purification or cleansing of dreamhealing parallels the generalized sensitivity to problems that come during creativity, an attunement to the realization of what needs to be done.The offering is a sign of letting go, sacrifice of the old ego form, the commitment to healing. Creativity requires the surrender of time and self to the process of flow; fluency of thinking; flexibility; abandoning old ways of thought.The heart of the quest is dream incubation, a reverie which seeks connection with higher power. Creativity also requires incubation, reverie, serendipity, spontaneity, adaptation, tolerance for ambiguity, and originality. This permits uncommon responses and unconventional associations.Healing occurs in a moment of oneness, chaotic consciousness. In creativity it is paralleled by the moment of illumination, redefinition, invention, vision.Dreamhealing requires amplification, or work on dreams and validation. Elaboration is its counterpart, the use of two or more abilities for the construction of a more complex object or theory, plus verification.Re-entry implies actualization, renewal, grounding, maturing. Creatively it means real-time application, follow-through, product, utilization of the result. It implies choosing the post-session personality, as re-calibrated through the imprint of the whole. It means stabilizing that state of creative consciousness which emerged in the session.In all cases, guided or not, the creative or healing process follows approximately this model. The resources are contacted deep within and they well-up in sometimes unexpected ways from the deep Source.7) MELTING OR SOFTENING PROCESSMelting turns what was solid into a liquid. Variations on the theme include moistening and softening. Whether we look at modern consciousness journeys, ancient reports, or psychedelic experiences the metaphors are the same. Melting or softening is the result of incubation in dreamhealing, yoga, and alchemy.THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE offers such suggestions as "Let the feelings melt all over you," "Let your body merge with the warm flux," "Allow your own mind also to melt away very gradually." Feelings of the body melting or flowing as if wax are typical of the psychedelic experience, as boundaries dissolve.Leary et al note a state of consciousness where, "All the harsh, dry, brittle angularities of game life [are] melted. You drift off -- soft, rounded, moist, warm. Merged with all life. You may feel yourself floating out and down into a warm sea. Your individuality and autonomy of movement are moistly disappearing."
An older report is this passage from THE BOOK OF LAMBSPRING, a seventeenth century alchemy text:
The Father sweats, surrounding his Son,
And pours out his prayer to God,
To Whom all things are possible,
Who creates, and has created all things.
He prays that his Son may be led from his body,
And he be reborn as he was at first.
God grants his prayer, it is not ignored,
Telling the Father to lie down and go to sleep.
God sent down rain from heaven
Through the clear stars; in truth,
It was fruitful silver indeed.
The Father's Body is moistened and softened.
By the help and Grace of God, at the end,
We may obtain Thy gracious Gift!
The Father strongly sweats and glows,
While oil and True Tincture from him flows.
The feverish father sweats the tincture of the wise from his body.
The hidden fire causing the sweat is the antithesis of the moisture that it produces.
This heat is the warmth of incubation, which is equivalent to a "brooding" state of meditation. The aim of this meditation is self-incubation for transformation and resurrection.This liquefaction is a characteristic state of consciousness during psychedelic sessions. When the normal structures of awareness break down, consciousness transforms to a flowing or fluid state.Speaking of his fusion of non-linear dynamics, post-structuralism, and psychedelic experience, psychonaut Manuel DeLanda was interviewed by MONDO 2000 (Issue 8; Winter, 1992).
He reports on his experience in the language of chaos theory.
The metaphor they use is solid, liquid, gas. If the system is solid, too crystallized, its dynamics are completely uninteresting. If it's gaseous, it's also uninteresting--all you have to do is take averages of behavior and you know what's going on. Liquids have a lot more potential, with all kinds of attractors and bifurcations. Now what they're coming to believe is that the liquid state in nature--not just actual liquids, but liquidity in the abstract sense of being not too rigid or too loose--these liquid systems "poised on the edge of chaos" are natural computers....When you trip, you liquify structures in your brain, linguistic structures, intentional structures. They acquire a less viscous consistency, and your brain becomes a super-computer. You are able to think concepts you were not able to think before. Information rushes in your brain, which makes you feel like you're having a revelation. But of course no one is revealing anything to you. It's just self-organizing. It's happening by itself. ...free-flowing matter and energy are capable of self-organization.I don't think there are higher states of consciousness. You liquify yourself, and you go through phase transitions, and then it seems to you that you are in a higher state of consciousness. When I'm tripping, I'm thinking concepts I'm sure no one's ever thought before, and in a way it's like a higher state of consciousness, but it's not a plane that was waiting there for me to access it. It's something I'm building that moment by destratifying my brain.There might be an ethics here: how to live your life poised at the edge of chaos, how to allow self-organizing processes to take place in all the strata that bind you. In your life, you could create maps of attractors that bind your local destiny--those behaviors that are habitual and so on. And try to find those bifurcations that would allow you to jump, if not to complete freedom--that doesn't exist--but to another set of attractors less confining, less binding, less stratifying. Or learn to lead your life near a bifurcation without ever crossing it--the lesson of being poised on the edge of chaos.
In reducing all to pure water, the prima materia and the ultima materia become synonymous. That primal consciousness state, that creative and chaotic consciousness is the beginning of the operation of "water", and its ultimate realization.It becomes easy to see why the operation of water is the "root of alchemy." Through consciousness journeys which liquify our rigid notions of self and world, we re-create the adventures of the hero or heroine. The theme is the loss and recovery of identity.
The hero is deserted, betrayed or even killed, but then comes back to life again. They may be swallowed by a huge sea monster, or wander in a strange dark underworld and then fight their way out again. The shift is from abandonment and isolation, to struggle, to the triumph or marriage phase, (unitive consciousness).The myth of the defeated hero (rigid ego) brings images of the triumph of dark forces, myths of floods and the return of chaos. Then the stage is set for miraculous rebirth--The Son is born from the Father, as in THE BOOK OF LAMBSPRING passage. This process of rebirth is the universal medicine.
REFERENCES
Aaronson, Bernard S., "The Hypnotic Induction of the Void," Journal of the American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, Vol. 26: No. 1, p. 22-30; No. 2, p. 63-72; No. 3, p. 114-117; No. 4, p.129-133.Abraham, Ralph; McKenna, Terence; Sheldrake, Rupert; TRIALOGUES AT THE EDGE OF THE WEST; Bear and Co., Santa Fe, 1992.Davis, Erik, "DeLanda Destratified"; MONDO 2000, #8, Winter 1992, p. 45-48.Edinger, Edward F.; ANATOMY OF THE PSYCHE, Open Court; LaSalle, Illinois, 1985.Edinger, Edward F.; EGO AND ARCHETYPE, Penguin Books Inc., Baltimore, 1973.Evans-Wentz, W.Y.; THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD; Causeway Books, New York, 1973.Gold, E. J.; AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DEAD; GatewaysGrinnell, Robert; ALCHEMY IN A MODERN WOMAN, Spring Publications, New York, 1973.Grof, Stanislav; THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY; SUNY Press, Albany, 1988.Hillman, James; ANIMA; Spring Publications, Dallas, 1985.Kauffman, Stuart A., "Antichaos and Adaptation"; SciAmer, August 1991, p.78-84.Leary, T., Metzner, R., Alpert, R.; THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE, University Books, New York, 1964.McAuliffe, Kathleen; "Get Smart: Controlling Chaos"; OMNIMerrell-Wolff, Franklin; PATHWAYS THROUGH TO SPACE; Warner Books, New York, 1973.Milkman, Harvey & Sunderwirth, Stanley; CRAVING FOR ECSTASY; D.C. Heath & Co., Lexington, Massachusetts, 1987.Miller, I. & Miller, R.A.; THE MODERN ALCHEMIST (formerly The Book of Lambspring); Phanes Press, Chicago; in press (available Spring 1994).Mindell, Arnold; DREAMBODY; Sigo Press, Boston, 1982.Mindell, Arnold; RIVER'S WAY; Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.Rossi, Ernest: THE PSYCHOBIOLOGY OF MIND-BODY HEALING, W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., New York, 1986.Stace, W.D.; MYSTICISM AND PHILOSOPHY; Lippincott, New York, 1960.Swinney, Graywolf and Iona Miller; DREAMHEALING: CHAOS AND THE CREATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS PROCESS, Asklepia Press, 1992.Tart, Charles; STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS; E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1975.Washburn, Michael; THE EGO AND THE DYNAMIC GROUND; SUNY Press, New York, 1988.
Emotional Alchemy of our Ecstatic and Transcendent Natures
Arousal and Transcendence
Iona Miller
The mystical effects of Tantric Sex are the result of spiritual and sexual technologies which manipulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal in the psychosexual body. The interaction and paradoxical union of these two systems of arousal is implicated in tantric bliss states. One system, ergotrophic, energizes us; the other, trophotropic, tranquilizes us. The E-system is Yang, while the T-system is Yin. The orchestration of these systems during the sexual sacrament is the essence of tantra.Max-ing out your system physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually with Tantra can lead through ego death to cosmic consciousness.
Rather than falling in love, Tantra is rising in love. As in the case of trance-induced transcendence by overwhelming the senses, at tantric full-body orgasm there is a paradoxical switch from maximal arousal to a profound state of emptiness and deep calm which can be lengthened or deepened even further in post-coital meditation into a direct perception of the mystic Void.As a metaphor of this process, imagine the fabulously beautiful and infinitely detailed structure of the fractals produced by the Mandelbrot set. When this form is generated all numbers of the equation either fall into the black void at the center of the figure because they are decreasing; or if they are increasing they wind up as part of the infinitely dynamic fractal set that forms the beautiful filigree around the voids.
Our consciousness does much the same kind of processing in the flow state of psychosexual expression. When aroused we expand our sense of self even to the cosmic scale even as our focus narrows (cosmic consciousness). After orgasm, our focus is free to expand infinitely while our sense of the body and our personal orientation can virtually vanish (the mystic Void).
Tantra works within the natural cycle of ergotropic and trophotropic processes, governed by the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. They mediate cycles of arousal and calm, and are therefore implicated in a variety of mystical experiences and also disorders which display states of hyperarousal and hypoarousal. They are mediated by the neurotransmiters noradrenalin and serotonin. The interhemispheric balancing mediates the harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brainmind. They mediate fight-flight responses, and pain-pleasure cycles. They can be chemically related to cycles of inflation, desire, acting out, guilt, remorse, high wellbeing, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. At their extremes, meditative and exalted states reflect as psychological and physiological paradox.Emotional Alchemy of Arousal and TranscendenceWe exist within a complex network of cycle within cycles. One of the fundamental cycles of our human lives centers around hyper- and hypoarousal.
The activated state of ergotropic arousal is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system; while the trophotropic arousal is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system. They are related to CRP (Consciousness Restructuring Process) Journeys as the source of the psychophysical imagery of the hallucination-perception-transcendence continuum.The Ergotropic System has to do with those mechanisms which belong physiologically to bodily work and the relevant dynamics of activation and general excitation. It moves our muscular and skeletal systems. Its potentiation can be mimicked by stimulation of the posterior and medial hypothalamus. This augments sympathetic discharges, increases cardiac rate, causes pupillary dilation, and inhibits gastrointestinal motor and secretory functions. Other effects on the body include dysynchrony of brain wave patterns, increased skeletal muscle tone. It is related to the elevation of certain hormones including noradrenalin, adrenaline, and adreno-cortical responsiveness. There is also a rise in blood sugar and shortening of time required for coagulation of blood. In Chinese systems, this arousal syndrome is considered YANG, in nature.
The Trophotropic System relates to physiological mechanisms of recuperation, protective mechanisms, unloading, restitution of achievement capacity, normalization, and healing. Its effects originate in the anterior or lateral hypothalamus, including pre-optic and supra-optic areas and the septum. It augments visceral responses, parasympathetic discharges, including reduction in cardiac rate, blood pressure, and sweat secretion. The pupil of the eye constricts, and there is an increase in gastrointestinal motor and secretory function with a fall in blood sugar.Brain waves become characteristically synchronized with production of alpha and theta patterns. There is loss of skeletal muscle tone, a blocking of the shivering response and increased secretion of insulin. The t-system is associated with the neurotransmitter, serotonin. Its behavioral effects include inactivity, drowsiness, and sleep. They are associated with meditative states. In Chinese systems, this tranquil state is considered YIN, in nature.Normally, the E-system activates during arousal or in situations of apprehension or danger, while the T-system manifests when danger or anxiety are minimal.
We can use a mnemonic to help us remember: the E-system is energized, exalted, or enflamed; while the T-system is tranquil, transformative, and transcendent.Stimulation of the E-system leads us into the external environment, and is associated with warming. Conversely, stimulation of the T-system leads us into the internal environment, an is associated with cooling. Both system are mediated through a balancing process which takes place in the hypothalamus, so that an “ET” balance is present in “normal” situations. The interplay of both processes keeps our organism in homeostasis. Stimulation of one system over the other creates specific physiological and psychological or behavioral effects.Highly Sensitive PeopleAs many as 20% of the population are highly sensitive people (HSPs), who are generally high-strung, and frequently feel overwhelmed by experiences that others seem to shrug off.
Only recently have such works as The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You (Elaine Aron; Broadway, 1996) given these individuals not only a jolt of recognition, but a positive spin on their condition.Aron’s book was a godsend for those who have been told since childhood how high-strung, nervous, timid, overly sensitive or fearful they were. Here was a mental health professional describing high sensitivity as a normal state shared by 15 to 20 percent of the population and framing it positively rather than as a flaw.
According to Aron, highly sensitive people typically share a number of characteristics: They are highly aroused by new or prolonged stimulation; strongly reactive to external stimuli such as noise and light; intolerant of pain, hunger, thirst caffeine, and medication; susceptible to stress-related and psychosomatic illnesses and deeply affected by other people’s moods and emotions. They are also highly intuitive; able to concentrate deeply (but do best without distractions); right-brained and less linear than non-HSPs; highly conscientious; especially good at tasks requiring vigilance, accuracy, and speed; and excellent at spotting and avoiding errors.“Sensitivity is an inherited trait,” Aron says, “that tends to be a disadvantage only at high levels of stimulation.”
Everything is magnified for HSPs. What is moderately arousing for most people, she explains, is highly arousing for the highly sensitive. And what is highly arousing for others is off the charts for HSPs, who reach a shutdown point once they attain a certain arousal level.Aron’s research has convinced her there are genetic and biological bases for extreme sensitivity. The brains of HSPs, she says differ from those of other individuals. Studies have shown that they have more activity--and blood flow-- in the right hemisphere of the brain, which indicates that they are internally focused rather than outwardly oriented. The balance between two opposing systems of the brain may account for heightened sensitivity.One system, the “behavioral activation system” is hooked up to sections of the brain that propel people into new situations, making them curious and eager for external rewards.
Another system, the “behavioral inhibition system,” compares present situations to past ones before proceeding and alerts the body to be cautious in risky situations. Aron believes that when the behavioral inhibition system in a person’s brain is the stronger of the two system, sensitivity results.Most important to Aron (a Jungian psychologist) is her finding that HSPs are inclined to be anxious, depressed, or shy only when they have suffered troubled childhoods, or trauma, or a series of traumas later in life. The strong “inhibition system: causes real inhibition only when personal history makes an HSP feel there are good reasons to be inhibited. Thirty percent of HSPs are actually extroverts.HSPs process information differently, “more deeply,” than others. Because they’re especially good at navigating through information, they’re predisposed to work well with information technology, which gives them an advantage in our present society. HSPs also have uncommonly sensitive nervous systems and a more reactive immune system. HSPs are 30 percent more likely to have allergies.
They often have decreased serotonin levels, which may result from the stress of repeated overarousal, although the jury’s still out on that one. And contrary to what our cultural assumptions may suggest, the HSP trait does not favor one gender. Just as many men as women are highly sensitive.HSP’s high degree of sensitivity and awareness of subtle clues contributes to their intuitive abilities. “You just know” how things got to be the way they are and how they are going to turn out,”
Aron says. “It can be wrong, of course, just as you eyes and ears can be wrong, but intuition is right often enough that HSPs tend to be visionaries, highly intuitive artists, or inventors, as well as more conscientious, cautious, and wise people.”Aron believes that, historically HSPs have had an important function in Indo-European cultures, which traditionally have spread their influence through aggressive domination under the guidance of strong, militaristic leaders. “The most long-lasting happy Indo-European cultures have always used two classes to govern themselves--the warrior kings and the priestly advisers,” she says. “HSPs tend to fill that adviser role. They are the writers, historians, philosophers, judges, artists, researchers, theologians, therapists, teachers, and plain conscientious citizens. What they bring to any of these roles is a tendency to think about all the possible effects of an idea.”
But don’t let the word adviser mislead you: HSPs are not always confined to waiting in the wings. Abraham Lincoln, Jimmie Carter, Ingmar Bergman, and Steven Spielberg are a few of the figures Aron thinks fit the profile of highly sensitive people. Still, few people are necessarily anxious to be identified as HSPs.Because society often doesn’t understand or appreciate the trait, many of the highly sensitive shy away from being labeled that way. In fact, HSP traits are much more accepted in some cultures than in others. For example, a study comparing Chinese and Canadian elementary schoolchildren found that sensitive, quiet children in China were among the most popular of their peers. In Canada, they were among the least popular.Aron’s interest in HSPs began with her awareness of her own “difference.” “I always thought there was something the matter with me,” she recalls. When she felt that she was overreacting to a medical procedure a decade ago, she consulted a therapist who suggested she might be “highly sensitive.”
Aron, at the time a psychologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz became intrigued by the notion that certain people might have higher levels of sensitivity than others and decided to do some research. She found that sensitivity was studied under different names.
Consciousness, Creativity and E/T-systems
The E-system function is analogous to the psychosexual energy known as Kundalini. Its content is perceived sensually. The T-system arousal, on the other hand, is sought through purely mental effort, with transcendence of sensory perception, yet there is still imagery which appears in sensory metaphors.Exalted and Meditative States [scan]To reach a ‘bliss’ state (or experience of Self) at either end of the spectrum, requires remaining trophotropically relaxed while ergotropically alert. One moves away from “normal” perception either along the “left-handed path” towards hallucinatory states, or along the “right-handed path” of meditation.
Activation of the T-system brings desirousness, mania, ecstasy; while that of the T-system yields satiety, relaxation, serenity, calm. This expressed in the colloquialism “cool, calm, and collected” vs. “hot-blooded, spitfire, burnout.”Consider the metaphors of healing and cooling (or crystallizing) in the transformative process of alchemy. In alchemy, the passive (‘Virgin) tames the active (‘Unicorn’).By withdrawing attention from the body and senses, awareness becomes purely mental, focused at the eye center (Pineal). All one’s psychic energy remains in the cortex with no sub-cortical information to interpret. The only ‘input’ or stimulation is endogenous. None leaks off down the spine.Alchemists, philosophers, and psychologists have urged us to balance these systems to achieve a harmonious lifestyle, free of the negative effects of burn-out and excessive stress.
Jung quoted the 17th century alchemist, Gerhard Dorn in this regard:“Learn therefore, O Mind, to practice sympathetic love in regard to thine own body, by retraining its vain appetites, that it may be apt with thee in all things. To this end I shall labour, that it may drink with from the fountain of strength, and, when the two are made one, that ye find peace in their union. Draw nigh, O Body, to this fountain, that with thy Mind thou mayest drink to satiety and thirst no more after vanities. O wondrous efficacy of this fount, which maketh one of two, and peace between enemies! The fount of love can make mind out of spirit and soul, but this maketh one man of mind and body.”
Psychologist Roland Fischer (1967) developed a map of inner space and states of consciousness based on the dynamics of the ergo- and trophotropic systems. He postulated that all knowledge is innate, being an interpretation by the cerebral cortex of sub-cortical information. He contends that each level of arousal contains certain types of information which one can “know” only at that level. This is similar to other theories of state-related learning and memory (Tart, 1975; Rossi, 1986).
Fischer also postulated that at extreme levels of hyper- or hypoarousal there is a paradoxical shift from one physiological system to the other, automatically. He declared boldly that the extremes in either direction create mystic experiences of the Self, which are interpreted as bliss whether as an experience of the Plenum of cosmic consciousness (hyper-arousal) or the Void (hypo-arousal).Fischer summarized his theories by creating a map, a Cartography of Meditative and Exalted States. Increased states of arousal are graphed to the left of center (which indicates “normal awareness”, while increasing tranquility is mapped to the right. Movement of an individual’s consciousness to the Left brings increasing motor excitation, while that to the right brings almost total lack of sensory input.
In Fischer’s own words:“What I propose is that normality, creativity, schizophrenia, and mystical states, though seemingly disparate, actually lie on a continuum. Furthermore, they represent increasing levels of arousal and a gradual withdrawal from the synchronized physical-sensory-cerebral spacetime of the normal state. Specifically, there is a retreat first to sensory-cerebral spacetime and, ultimately, to cerebral spacetime only. T
he gradual withdrawal from physical spacetime is an expression of the dissolution of ego boundaries, that is, the fusion of object and subject, and it implies that an existence solely in spacetime is an oceanic experience, the most intense mirroring of the ego in its own meaning.”
In summary, we can see that for any individual perception of the universe (as Self or mind) can occur as an internal or external experience. It is our rich internal experiences that have puzzled researchers in consciousness as the so-called “hard problem” of consciousness. At the extreme parameter in either direction, we experience an encounter with the Absolute. Along the continuum, we may experience varying forms of an I-Thou dialogue uniting reaching either extremely hyper- or hypo-arousal states.Hyperarousal, or mania, may result from psychoactive drugs, or a bipolar or schizophrenic episode. It results, sometimes in “ego-death” when the “I” becomes so freaked-out it submits or gives in to the sensory overload which overwhelms it. Hypoarousal leads to a characteristic state of silence or emptying when the ego voluntarily submits to unification of subject and object, of “I” and Self. In either case, cortical and subcortical activity become indistinguishably merged; there is no separate “I” left to perceive an objective reality.
Thus, dualism is obliterated.Paradoxical physiological mechanisms operate in the body under most conditions to chemically prevent the attainment of higher states of arousal on either end of the spectrum. They function somewhat like the switchover from arousal to repose which occurs at the point of orgasm. But it is possible, with repeated exposure, (such as through Tantra), to the paradoxical situation to function effectively at higher levels of arousal.In fact, there is always a complementary component of the opposite arousal system functioning even in the mystical state. If there were no ergotropic arousal in meditation, for example, we would fall asleep. Thus in some sense, our task becomes falling asleep as much as we can while remaining awake. REM sleep, or the dream state, is another example of physiological paradox where there is extreme cerebral excitation coupled with little muscular activity.We can characterize the physiological condition of an experience of the Self as remaining trophotropically relaxed while ergotropically alert.
The mystic achieves his goal when he learns to short-circuit the homeostatic mechanism of negative feedback. The negative feedback system perpetuates the experience of duality between the “I” and Self.Further correspondence of the E and T systems shows them to be linked with the emotions of love and lust (T-system) and anger or rage (E-system). They are also instrumental in our adaptation to cold (E-system) and adaptation to heat (T-system). These are apparent even in infants in feeding (T) and frustration (E) cycles. In the adult, these are superseded in importance by the sex act, or sublimated forms of creativity.
Thus, the physiological reactions of orgasm and “eureka” are analogous. In foreplay or the incubation of inspiration the parasympathetic system predominates. But at the moment of climax or “eureka” there is a dramatic switchover to the sympathetic system. After the act there a return to the recuperative T-system.This insight may lead you to some interesting contemplation on why Tantric yogis arouse sexual tensions for the purpose of transmuting them to spiritual purposes, for acts of internal creativity.
According to this model, the T-system is responsible for the accumulation of energies or tensions, while the E-system functions for the release of these energies. Thus the dynamics of creativity and orgasm precipitate the release of tensions, which might be sublimated to mystical awareness.
“However, extreme states of arousal and paradoxical ergotropic-trophotropic manifestations also provide the dynamic for mystical awareness and exalted states of consciousness. We have characterized the method of samadhi as remaining ergotropically conscious while trophotropically falling (more deeply than) asleep. Ecstasy involves remaining physically relaxed while becoming mentally hyperaroused. Cosmic consciousness is similarly a state of being trophotropically tuned to the absolute while ergotropically tuned to the relative,” (Lansky).
Fischer, on the other hand, describes mystical rapture in biocybernetic terms: “there is no data content from without, and therefore, no rate of data processing; only the content of the ecstatic experience of the mystic at the height of his rapture is a reflecting of himself in his own ‘program.’
The withdrawal from physical spacetime to cerebral spacetime is what is known as an experience of the causal plane, or mental dimension. Its integration into daily life requires the ability to make a meaningful interpretation of our own nervous system activity. A model or consciousness map helps us delineate one person’s mystical experience from another’s “bad trip.”Toward this end, of creating an inner road map, we can combine Fishcer’s model with the hierarchy of experiential states created by John Curtis Gowan.
Gowan’s model includes three modes of functioning: 1) Trance (ego absent); 2) Art (imagery state); 3) Creativity (ego fully present or transcended). Gowan’s periodic risers to spiritual awareness fit very neatly over Fischer’s cartography to give us an even more detailed series of descriptors of ergotropic and trophotropic functioning.[Insert jpeg]
Thus, we see that the Trance states including schizophrenia, hypnotism, pro-active drugs, and automatic writing, talking in tongues, etc. are under the mediation of the E-system. So are the experiences of our psychological complexes, which produce arousal or anxiety. The perception of archetypes and dreams, or myth, as well as the enactment of psychological dynamics in ritual or art are also part of the E-system, which functions through the Parataxic Mode.Syntaxic Mode leads to inner rather than outer creativity. It begins in the sublimation of the sexual instinct and proceeds into meditative, concentrative, and contemplative states, culminating in a paradoxical switchover to mystical ecstasy after reaching higher jhana states.
CONSCIOUS ALCHEMY
The Alchemy of the Central Nervous SystemThe blending of the Solar “masculine” (E-system) and Lunar “feminine” (T-system) -- modes of awareness in a “chemical wedding” to produce the Philosopher’s Stone forms the bulk of the subject-matter of alchemy. More recently, this ancient investigation has been taken up in the field of neuropsychology and neurophysiology. An examination of the basic principles of alchemy, such as the unification of opposites, yields some extremely interesting correlations with modern medical research.Just what are the qualities represented by the basic alchemical substances, and what analogies for these substances can be found in human psychobiology? In alchemy, the primary opposites to be synthesizedare spirit and emotion or instinct; they are characterized as “fire” and “water.”
Alternatively, the fiery masculine spirit is known as the hot Solar principle and corresponds with Sulphur. The watery feminine element is cold and Lunar in nature, correspondingly termed Mercury. In any given alchemical document, these might be referred to as Sol and Luna, Rex and Regina, or Adam and Eve. Though their names and attributes are many, the process of their union remains essentially the same.From a biological perspective, we might begin our investigation by attributing the active, hot principle of sulphur to the left hemisphere of the brain. This hemisphere provides rational adaptation to the external environment. The passive, lunar principle of Mercury corresponds to the right hemisphere, which is holistic in its perception. Of course, the blending of these portions of the brain represents the functioning of a whole individual. But since most of us have some form of access to both modes, we must look further into the physiology of the brain to find the precise chemical mediators of the processes of hyperarousal and its counterpart, hypoarousal.
There are two nitrogen-containing organic compounds in the brain (called amines) which have been observed as significant in the balance of physical and mental processes. They are neurotransmitters, chemicals which are highly significant in the movement of electrical impulses between neurons (nerve cells) in the human Central Nervous System. The electrical charges always jump from nerve cell to nerve cell with the help of a given chemical helper, or neurotransmitter.Two specific compounds were originally proposed as the chemical mediators of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal.
Newer research shows a myriad of neuromodulators, but these two still take center stage in the complex chemistry.Noradrelalin (NA) also called norepinepherine corresponds with the solar Sulpher and works through the sympathetic system. It facilitates adaptation to external reality. When stimulated, it produces an excited anxious state of enflamment which can culminate in ecstasy. Among disorders of this system are manic episodes and hypervigilance. All illicit CNS stimulants also emulate hyperarousal and lead therefore to addiction.
Serotonin (5-HT) corresponds with the lunar Mercury and works through the parasympathetic system. Its influence is felt in a relaxed condition, like contemplation or meditation. Serotonin deficiencies are blamed for a host of disorders, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.In physiology, the sympathetic nervous system produces involuntary responses such as alarm, and the “fight-flight” syndrome.
The parasympathetic functions include digestion, and slowing one down. The chemicals noradrenalin and serotonin work in the body as cooperative antagonists; they balance one another in such a manner that we do not get too speedy, or sluggish at inappropriate times.We can easily recognize the “switching mechanism” in ourselves at various times. The most dramatic switch occurs in orgasm, when the body rapidly moves from a highly aroused state to one of extreme relaxation and torpor, even sleep. Another example occurs in the creative process, at the moment of “A-ha,” when intense concentration gives way to satisfactory solution.Noradrenalin and serotonin are also the mediators of the pain-pleasure cycle. Have you ever wondered why it is practically impossible to stay on a natural “high,” happy at every moment? The normal functioning of chemical processes in he brain makes this impossible.
However, mystical practice can moderate the mood swings experienced by most individuals, and even open a realm of bliss, which is distinctively different from an ordinary good mood. Traditionally this bliss is called “spiritual nectar” and emanates from the pineal gland.Noradrenalin mediates pleasure, action, excitation, motor behavior, and goal-oriented behavior. When there is imbalance, it contributes to depression or manic behavior. Serotonin mediates inaction, satiety, sleep, feeding, and functions as a punishment/pain system to inhibit and balanced the reinforcement/reward system mediated by noradrenalin.
Serotonin is believed to be a reciprocal inhibitor of noradrenalin’s ability to function as a sexual stimulant. This may, in part, account for traditions of ecstatic enflamment, such as Tantra; and conversely, for the progressively decreasing interest in sex reported by many yogis.
It is easy to observe the effects of serotonin and noradrenalin on the sleep cycle of an individual. Serotonin is responsible for beginning and maintaining cycles of deep sleep. Rising noradrenalin is implicated in REM sleep, or the dream state.Noradrenalin and serotonin exist in a balanced relationship with each other, although the amounts of each vary somewhat in different areas of the brain. For example, the limbic structures contain the highest concentrations of the neurotransmitters, while the neocortical portions have almost none. In most brain tissues they are similarly distributed.
Too much serotonin is known to be harmful for a variety of reasons. It can, paradoxically produce hyperactivity, but soon leads to exhaustion, depression, and anxiety. Irritation by serotonin can also lead the body to produce too many histamines, inducing symptoms of a cold.Serotonin creates hyperactivity by activating the overproduction of adrenalin and noradrenalin. The personal may feel euphoric for awhile, but after a period of time, this leads to adrenal exhaustion, and decreased recovery ability. Excessive serotonin is now implicated as the “death hormone.” When its levels rise with age in the hypothalamus, with a simultaneous depletion of dopamine (precursor of noradrenalin), the trigger may be pulled.
Noradrenalin and serotonin play a major role in the effectiveness of stimulants and hallucinogens. Long term effects of these drugs leads to depletion of neurotransmitter stores at synaptic junctions in the brain with consequent disorientation and impaired immunological responses.
“The messenger chemical is stored in pouches called vesicles on the surface of the neuron’s cellular membrane and released into the gap between nerves (synapses) when the nerves fire. Many popular stimulant drugs increase the level of NE (Noradrenalin) in these synapses, resulting in greater nerve stimulation. Such drugs include amphetamines, ...over-the-counter diet aids, magnesium pemoline, and cocaine.“These can temporarily improve alertness, learning in focusing and attention tasks, as well as memory. However, these effects may be due to general stimulation rather than altered data processing by the nerves. A serious disadvantage of these drugs is that once the stored supply of NE has been released from the vesicles and the NE in the synapses has been metabolized, the drugs no longer stimulate nerve activity (this process is called ‘tolerance) until the body produces more NE. Depression is very common during the period when NE supply is low owing to excessive use of the stimulants mentioned above, (Pearson and Shaw, 1982).”
With psychedelics, the body is tricked into producing massive quantities of serotonin, which leads to hallucinations. The body becomes hyperaroused when it tries to compensate by producing the noradrenalin to counteract the serotonin dump.Serotonin, then, is basically an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It reduces neuron activity. It prevents excessive nervous stimulation which results in depletion. Its nutritional precursor is tryptophan which is found in abundance in milk and bananas.Noradrenalin is important in primitive drives and emotions like sex, and in memory and learning. When noradrenalin is low, there is depression and poor immune system reactions. To increase noradrenalin storage, take its nutritional precursors l-phenylalanine, or the amino acid L-Dopa to increase brain levels of dopamine and noradrenalin.
Reflecting back to the relationship of serotonin and noradrenalin in the pain-pleasure cycle, we may see how they induce different states of consciousness.In a privately circulated thesis from the 1970s, Philip Steven Lansky amalgamated his research on systems of arousal with the work of noted Jungian psychologist, Edward Edinger. In his classic text, EGO AND ARCHETYPE, Edinger formulated his ideas on I-Self relationship into a graph showing the progress of the repetitive cycle. Lansky overlaid the likely chemistries, which correspond with these changes. In this manner initial overactivity of serotonin may function as a negative feedback system. A third circle for “drug abuse” might be included to depict the merry-go-round of addiction (Miller, 1982).[insert jpeg]
This is an interesting appraisal of the alchemy of the Central Nervous System. It might seem that homeostasis would keep consciousness forever in the grip of this psychic life cycle. Yet, Lansky goes on to state:“However, according to Edinger (1972), individuation means not having to continually repeat the cycle, but to develop conscious dialogues between I and Self. Neurochemically this may be interpreted as a partial overstepping of noradrenergic-serotonergic rebounds, and the concomitant state of more subtle serotonergic/noradrenergic relationships. This is reflected in the ability to remain active (noradrenergic) while inactive (serotonergic). It is a state of physiological and psychological paradox...as is aptly described by the wisdom of The Secret of the Golden Flower.”
This I-Self dialogue is certainly a valued dimension of the CRP Journeys. It consists of using action in order attain non-action. Lansky concludes,“Interestingly, the “chymical wedding” of alchemy was a symbol for the simultaneous constellation of psychic opposites, which we have already suggested concurs with a state of physiological paradox. Might not the contents of the two archetypal flasks represent two amines, serotonin and noradrenalin, being poured simultaneously into a marriage bath in the hypothalamus.?”
The Alchemical Formula of “Solve et Coagula”
In alchemy the balancing of opposites is by their merger as expressed in the formula “Solve et Coagula,” which means to dissolve and congeal, or recongeal. It is old attitudes which must be dissolved, and concrete experiences which form the coagulation---the embodiment of experience.When a one-sided attitude encounters a more comprehensive viewpoint, the old attitude dissolves. Solutio is the dissolution of the old attitude, which may be experienced as a threat to the world-view of the ego. The ego is interested in maintaining control. It tends to assume that it’s cognitive perception is foremost and builds personality or our world-view from its perception of order.
The ego embraces a paradigm about the nature of Reality. Exposure to someone with a convincing, more comprehensive and demonstrable worldview can wash away the solid ground from under the ego’s feet. This destabilization of the old self may bring up fear and insecurities or pain before the new self is congealed. The ego feels adrift or fragmented before the new viewpoints are assimilated into the conscious attitude and existential experience (coagulatio).
The unified state, or self is the agent of solutio in alchemy. It is either experienced in internal relationships among archetypal entities or forces, or it is projected into one’s environment. An example is where a person meets someone who “makes the bottom drop out” of his/her world. Consciousness then has the choice of embracing or rejecting the broader viewpoint. The long-range aims of solutio is the unification of opposites. Both the archetypal masculine and feminine elements are being dissolved and united at the same time.When one encounters the Self internally, a larger consciousness of the world and universe, solutio occurs. In tantra, it may have begun before the journey confronting the enlarged worldview of the transcendent perspective. In solutio, the best qualities of the ego survive and are refined. Those aspects of the ego which consciously relate to the Self withstand solutio, (Edinger).
This alchemical operations has characteristic stages which relate directly to the phenomenology of Tantra:
1. Return to the primal state;
2. Dissolution, dispersal, and dismemberment;
3. Containment of a lesser thing by a greater;
4. Rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative flow;
5. Purification ordeal;
6. Solution of problems;
7. Melting or softening process (dissolving).
The alchemist, or Tantrika, cooperating intentionally with this transpersonal process, experiences the diminishment by solutio as a precursor to union with the Self.In coagulatio, the conscious realization of archetypal forces comes only through personal experiences with the, in concrete forms. The experiential Journeys of tantric sex are an ideal medium for such tangible consolidation. These forms or patterns are unique for each individual, but they share primary characteristics. Experiences in childhood coagulate the archetypes, most frequently in limited or distorted forms. The inner relationships of creative imagination and external relationships coagulate. These are ways of experiencing personal encounters with the divine.Coagulatio means to congeal, or become more solid. The ego cannot soar unfettered by day-to-day matters into its spiritual fantasies. Ultimately, the body must be reunited with the process at the sensorimotor level. In order for wholeness to be realized, the alchemist or Tantrika must balance aspirations with personal, concrete reality (spouse, job, children, etc.).
This concrete form of realization of psychic processes in everyday life allows us to “see” that which previously had no form. The Journeys facilitate this deep focus. Archetypal patterns are manifesting in the mundane world constantly. To the alchemist, the archetypes are no longer perceived as qualities or concepts, but as entities with which they share a defined relationship. Psychologically, this is the union of ordinary human reality with the transpersonal Self.There must always be an investment of psychic energy in the alchemical process. Desire promotes coagulatio. This psychic energy, mobilized as desire, promotes life-experience. The lure is the sweetness of fulfillment. Coagulatio thus symbolizes the limitations of one’s personal reality, the boundary conditions. We find the limits of our abilities in relation to our desires.In its ultimate projection, coagulatio symbolizes the formation of an immortal body, one firmly grounded in the universal perspective, which is the equivalent of the Philosopher’s Stone.
REFERENCES
Aron, Elaine (1996); The Highly Sensitive Person,
Edinger, Edward, Ego and Archetype,
Fischer, Roland (1967); "Biological models of creativity," Journal for the Study of Consciousness, pg. 89-117. First presented Oct. 28-29, 1967.
Lansky, Philip, "Consciousness and the ergo- and tropho-tropic systems of arousal"; thesis.
Rossi, ErnestTart, Charles (1975); States of Consciousness,
Arousal and Transcendence
Iona Miller
The mystical effects of Tantric Sex are the result of spiritual and sexual technologies which manipulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal in the psychosexual body. The interaction and paradoxical union of these two systems of arousal is implicated in tantric bliss states. One system, ergotrophic, energizes us; the other, trophotropic, tranquilizes us. The E-system is Yang, while the T-system is Yin. The orchestration of these systems during the sexual sacrament is the essence of tantra.Max-ing out your system physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually with Tantra can lead through ego death to cosmic consciousness.
Rather than falling in love, Tantra is rising in love. As in the case of trance-induced transcendence by overwhelming the senses, at tantric full-body orgasm there is a paradoxical switch from maximal arousal to a profound state of emptiness and deep calm which can be lengthened or deepened even further in post-coital meditation into a direct perception of the mystic Void.As a metaphor of this process, imagine the fabulously beautiful and infinitely detailed structure of the fractals produced by the Mandelbrot set. When this form is generated all numbers of the equation either fall into the black void at the center of the figure because they are decreasing; or if they are increasing they wind up as part of the infinitely dynamic fractal set that forms the beautiful filigree around the voids.
Our consciousness does much the same kind of processing in the flow state of psychosexual expression. When aroused we expand our sense of self even to the cosmic scale even as our focus narrows (cosmic consciousness). After orgasm, our focus is free to expand infinitely while our sense of the body and our personal orientation can virtually vanish (the mystic Void).
Tantra works within the natural cycle of ergotropic and trophotropic processes, governed by the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. They mediate cycles of arousal and calm, and are therefore implicated in a variety of mystical experiences and also disorders which display states of hyperarousal and hypoarousal. They are mediated by the neurotransmiters noradrenalin and serotonin. The interhemispheric balancing mediates the harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brainmind. They mediate fight-flight responses, and pain-pleasure cycles. They can be chemically related to cycles of inflation, desire, acting out, guilt, remorse, high wellbeing, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. At their extremes, meditative and exalted states reflect as psychological and physiological paradox.Emotional Alchemy of Arousal and TranscendenceWe exist within a complex network of cycle within cycles. One of the fundamental cycles of our human lives centers around hyper- and hypoarousal.
The activated state of ergotropic arousal is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system; while the trophotropic arousal is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system. They are related to CRP (Consciousness Restructuring Process) Journeys as the source of the psychophysical imagery of the hallucination-perception-transcendence continuum.The Ergotropic System has to do with those mechanisms which belong physiologically to bodily work and the relevant dynamics of activation and general excitation. It moves our muscular and skeletal systems. Its potentiation can be mimicked by stimulation of the posterior and medial hypothalamus. This augments sympathetic discharges, increases cardiac rate, causes pupillary dilation, and inhibits gastrointestinal motor and secretory functions. Other effects on the body include dysynchrony of brain wave patterns, increased skeletal muscle tone. It is related to the elevation of certain hormones including noradrenalin, adrenaline, and adreno-cortical responsiveness. There is also a rise in blood sugar and shortening of time required for coagulation of blood. In Chinese systems, this arousal syndrome is considered YANG, in nature.
The Trophotropic System relates to physiological mechanisms of recuperation, protective mechanisms, unloading, restitution of achievement capacity, normalization, and healing. Its effects originate in the anterior or lateral hypothalamus, including pre-optic and supra-optic areas and the septum. It augments visceral responses, parasympathetic discharges, including reduction in cardiac rate, blood pressure, and sweat secretion. The pupil of the eye constricts, and there is an increase in gastrointestinal motor and secretory function with a fall in blood sugar.Brain waves become characteristically synchronized with production of alpha and theta patterns. There is loss of skeletal muscle tone, a blocking of the shivering response and increased secretion of insulin. The t-system is associated with the neurotransmitter, serotonin. Its behavioral effects include inactivity, drowsiness, and sleep. They are associated with meditative states. In Chinese systems, this tranquil state is considered YIN, in nature.Normally, the E-system activates during arousal or in situations of apprehension or danger, while the T-system manifests when danger or anxiety are minimal.
We can use a mnemonic to help us remember: the E-system is energized, exalted, or enflamed; while the T-system is tranquil, transformative, and transcendent.Stimulation of the E-system leads us into the external environment, and is associated with warming. Conversely, stimulation of the T-system leads us into the internal environment, an is associated with cooling. Both system are mediated through a balancing process which takes place in the hypothalamus, so that an “ET” balance is present in “normal” situations. The interplay of both processes keeps our organism in homeostasis. Stimulation of one system over the other creates specific physiological and psychological or behavioral effects.Highly Sensitive PeopleAs many as 20% of the population are highly sensitive people (HSPs), who are generally high-strung, and frequently feel overwhelmed by experiences that others seem to shrug off.
Only recently have such works as The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You (Elaine Aron; Broadway, 1996) given these individuals not only a jolt of recognition, but a positive spin on their condition.Aron’s book was a godsend for those who have been told since childhood how high-strung, nervous, timid, overly sensitive or fearful they were. Here was a mental health professional describing high sensitivity as a normal state shared by 15 to 20 percent of the population and framing it positively rather than as a flaw.
According to Aron, highly sensitive people typically share a number of characteristics: They are highly aroused by new or prolonged stimulation; strongly reactive to external stimuli such as noise and light; intolerant of pain, hunger, thirst caffeine, and medication; susceptible to stress-related and psychosomatic illnesses and deeply affected by other people’s moods and emotions. They are also highly intuitive; able to concentrate deeply (but do best without distractions); right-brained and less linear than non-HSPs; highly conscientious; especially good at tasks requiring vigilance, accuracy, and speed; and excellent at spotting and avoiding errors.“Sensitivity is an inherited trait,” Aron says, “that tends to be a disadvantage only at high levels of stimulation.”
Everything is magnified for HSPs. What is moderately arousing for most people, she explains, is highly arousing for the highly sensitive. And what is highly arousing for others is off the charts for HSPs, who reach a shutdown point once they attain a certain arousal level.Aron’s research has convinced her there are genetic and biological bases for extreme sensitivity. The brains of HSPs, she says differ from those of other individuals. Studies have shown that they have more activity--and blood flow-- in the right hemisphere of the brain, which indicates that they are internally focused rather than outwardly oriented. The balance between two opposing systems of the brain may account for heightened sensitivity.One system, the “behavioral activation system” is hooked up to sections of the brain that propel people into new situations, making them curious and eager for external rewards.
Another system, the “behavioral inhibition system,” compares present situations to past ones before proceeding and alerts the body to be cautious in risky situations. Aron believes that when the behavioral inhibition system in a person’s brain is the stronger of the two system, sensitivity results.Most important to Aron (a Jungian psychologist) is her finding that HSPs are inclined to be anxious, depressed, or shy only when they have suffered troubled childhoods, or trauma, or a series of traumas later in life. The strong “inhibition system: causes real inhibition only when personal history makes an HSP feel there are good reasons to be inhibited. Thirty percent of HSPs are actually extroverts.HSPs process information differently, “more deeply,” than others. Because they’re especially good at navigating through information, they’re predisposed to work well with information technology, which gives them an advantage in our present society. HSPs also have uncommonly sensitive nervous systems and a more reactive immune system. HSPs are 30 percent more likely to have allergies.
They often have decreased serotonin levels, which may result from the stress of repeated overarousal, although the jury’s still out on that one. And contrary to what our cultural assumptions may suggest, the HSP trait does not favor one gender. Just as many men as women are highly sensitive.HSP’s high degree of sensitivity and awareness of subtle clues contributes to their intuitive abilities. “You just know” how things got to be the way they are and how they are going to turn out,”
Aron says. “It can be wrong, of course, just as you eyes and ears can be wrong, but intuition is right often enough that HSPs tend to be visionaries, highly intuitive artists, or inventors, as well as more conscientious, cautious, and wise people.”Aron believes that, historically HSPs have had an important function in Indo-European cultures, which traditionally have spread their influence through aggressive domination under the guidance of strong, militaristic leaders. “The most long-lasting happy Indo-European cultures have always used two classes to govern themselves--the warrior kings and the priestly advisers,” she says. “HSPs tend to fill that adviser role. They are the writers, historians, philosophers, judges, artists, researchers, theologians, therapists, teachers, and plain conscientious citizens. What they bring to any of these roles is a tendency to think about all the possible effects of an idea.”
But don’t let the word adviser mislead you: HSPs are not always confined to waiting in the wings. Abraham Lincoln, Jimmie Carter, Ingmar Bergman, and Steven Spielberg are a few of the figures Aron thinks fit the profile of highly sensitive people. Still, few people are necessarily anxious to be identified as HSPs.Because society often doesn’t understand or appreciate the trait, many of the highly sensitive shy away from being labeled that way. In fact, HSP traits are much more accepted in some cultures than in others. For example, a study comparing Chinese and Canadian elementary schoolchildren found that sensitive, quiet children in China were among the most popular of their peers. In Canada, they were among the least popular.Aron’s interest in HSPs began with her awareness of her own “difference.” “I always thought there was something the matter with me,” she recalls. When she felt that she was overreacting to a medical procedure a decade ago, she consulted a therapist who suggested she might be “highly sensitive.”
Aron, at the time a psychologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz became intrigued by the notion that certain people might have higher levels of sensitivity than others and decided to do some research. She found that sensitivity was studied under different names.
Consciousness, Creativity and E/T-systems
The E-system function is analogous to the psychosexual energy known as Kundalini. Its content is perceived sensually. The T-system arousal, on the other hand, is sought through purely mental effort, with transcendence of sensory perception, yet there is still imagery which appears in sensory metaphors.Exalted and Meditative States [scan]To reach a ‘bliss’ state (or experience of Self) at either end of the spectrum, requires remaining trophotropically relaxed while ergotropically alert. One moves away from “normal” perception either along the “left-handed path” towards hallucinatory states, or along the “right-handed path” of meditation.
Activation of the T-system brings desirousness, mania, ecstasy; while that of the T-system yields satiety, relaxation, serenity, calm. This expressed in the colloquialism “cool, calm, and collected” vs. “hot-blooded, spitfire, burnout.”Consider the metaphors of healing and cooling (or crystallizing) in the transformative process of alchemy. In alchemy, the passive (‘Virgin) tames the active (‘Unicorn’).By withdrawing attention from the body and senses, awareness becomes purely mental, focused at the eye center (Pineal). All one’s psychic energy remains in the cortex with no sub-cortical information to interpret. The only ‘input’ or stimulation is endogenous. None leaks off down the spine.Alchemists, philosophers, and psychologists have urged us to balance these systems to achieve a harmonious lifestyle, free of the negative effects of burn-out and excessive stress.
Jung quoted the 17th century alchemist, Gerhard Dorn in this regard:“Learn therefore, O Mind, to practice sympathetic love in regard to thine own body, by retraining its vain appetites, that it may be apt with thee in all things. To this end I shall labour, that it may drink with from the fountain of strength, and, when the two are made one, that ye find peace in their union. Draw nigh, O Body, to this fountain, that with thy Mind thou mayest drink to satiety and thirst no more after vanities. O wondrous efficacy of this fount, which maketh one of two, and peace between enemies! The fount of love can make mind out of spirit and soul, but this maketh one man of mind and body.”
Psychologist Roland Fischer (1967) developed a map of inner space and states of consciousness based on the dynamics of the ergo- and trophotropic systems. He postulated that all knowledge is innate, being an interpretation by the cerebral cortex of sub-cortical information. He contends that each level of arousal contains certain types of information which one can “know” only at that level. This is similar to other theories of state-related learning and memory (Tart, 1975; Rossi, 1986).
Fischer also postulated that at extreme levels of hyper- or hypoarousal there is a paradoxical shift from one physiological system to the other, automatically. He declared boldly that the extremes in either direction create mystic experiences of the Self, which are interpreted as bliss whether as an experience of the Plenum of cosmic consciousness (hyper-arousal) or the Void (hypo-arousal).Fischer summarized his theories by creating a map, a Cartography of Meditative and Exalted States. Increased states of arousal are graphed to the left of center (which indicates “normal awareness”, while increasing tranquility is mapped to the right. Movement of an individual’s consciousness to the Left brings increasing motor excitation, while that to the right brings almost total lack of sensory input.
In Fischer’s own words:“What I propose is that normality, creativity, schizophrenia, and mystical states, though seemingly disparate, actually lie on a continuum. Furthermore, they represent increasing levels of arousal and a gradual withdrawal from the synchronized physical-sensory-cerebral spacetime of the normal state. Specifically, there is a retreat first to sensory-cerebral spacetime and, ultimately, to cerebral spacetime only. T
he gradual withdrawal from physical spacetime is an expression of the dissolution of ego boundaries, that is, the fusion of object and subject, and it implies that an existence solely in spacetime is an oceanic experience, the most intense mirroring of the ego in its own meaning.”
In summary, we can see that for any individual perception of the universe (as Self or mind) can occur as an internal or external experience. It is our rich internal experiences that have puzzled researchers in consciousness as the so-called “hard problem” of consciousness. At the extreme parameter in either direction, we experience an encounter with the Absolute. Along the continuum, we may experience varying forms of an I-Thou dialogue uniting reaching either extremely hyper- or hypo-arousal states.Hyperarousal, or mania, may result from psychoactive drugs, or a bipolar or schizophrenic episode. It results, sometimes in “ego-death” when the “I” becomes so freaked-out it submits or gives in to the sensory overload which overwhelms it. Hypoarousal leads to a characteristic state of silence or emptying when the ego voluntarily submits to unification of subject and object, of “I” and Self. In either case, cortical and subcortical activity become indistinguishably merged; there is no separate “I” left to perceive an objective reality.
Thus, dualism is obliterated.Paradoxical physiological mechanisms operate in the body under most conditions to chemically prevent the attainment of higher states of arousal on either end of the spectrum. They function somewhat like the switchover from arousal to repose which occurs at the point of orgasm. But it is possible, with repeated exposure, (such as through Tantra), to the paradoxical situation to function effectively at higher levels of arousal.In fact, there is always a complementary component of the opposite arousal system functioning even in the mystical state. If there were no ergotropic arousal in meditation, for example, we would fall asleep. Thus in some sense, our task becomes falling asleep as much as we can while remaining awake. REM sleep, or the dream state, is another example of physiological paradox where there is extreme cerebral excitation coupled with little muscular activity.We can characterize the physiological condition of an experience of the Self as remaining trophotropically relaxed while ergotropically alert.
The mystic achieves his goal when he learns to short-circuit the homeostatic mechanism of negative feedback. The negative feedback system perpetuates the experience of duality between the “I” and Self.Further correspondence of the E and T systems shows them to be linked with the emotions of love and lust (T-system) and anger or rage (E-system). They are also instrumental in our adaptation to cold (E-system) and adaptation to heat (T-system). These are apparent even in infants in feeding (T) and frustration (E) cycles. In the adult, these are superseded in importance by the sex act, or sublimated forms of creativity.
Thus, the physiological reactions of orgasm and “eureka” are analogous. In foreplay or the incubation of inspiration the parasympathetic system predominates. But at the moment of climax or “eureka” there is a dramatic switchover to the sympathetic system. After the act there a return to the recuperative T-system.This insight may lead you to some interesting contemplation on why Tantric yogis arouse sexual tensions for the purpose of transmuting them to spiritual purposes, for acts of internal creativity.
According to this model, the T-system is responsible for the accumulation of energies or tensions, while the E-system functions for the release of these energies. Thus the dynamics of creativity and orgasm precipitate the release of tensions, which might be sublimated to mystical awareness.
“However, extreme states of arousal and paradoxical ergotropic-trophotropic manifestations also provide the dynamic for mystical awareness and exalted states of consciousness. We have characterized the method of samadhi as remaining ergotropically conscious while trophotropically falling (more deeply than) asleep. Ecstasy involves remaining physically relaxed while becoming mentally hyperaroused. Cosmic consciousness is similarly a state of being trophotropically tuned to the absolute while ergotropically tuned to the relative,” (Lansky).
Fischer, on the other hand, describes mystical rapture in biocybernetic terms: “there is no data content from without, and therefore, no rate of data processing; only the content of the ecstatic experience of the mystic at the height of his rapture is a reflecting of himself in his own ‘program.’
The withdrawal from physical spacetime to cerebral spacetime is what is known as an experience of the causal plane, or mental dimension. Its integration into daily life requires the ability to make a meaningful interpretation of our own nervous system activity. A model or consciousness map helps us delineate one person’s mystical experience from another’s “bad trip.”Toward this end, of creating an inner road map, we can combine Fishcer’s model with the hierarchy of experiential states created by John Curtis Gowan.
Gowan’s model includes three modes of functioning: 1) Trance (ego absent); 2) Art (imagery state); 3) Creativity (ego fully present or transcended). Gowan’s periodic risers to spiritual awareness fit very neatly over Fischer’s cartography to give us an even more detailed series of descriptors of ergotropic and trophotropic functioning.[Insert jpeg]
Thus, we see that the Trance states including schizophrenia, hypnotism, pro-active drugs, and automatic writing, talking in tongues, etc. are under the mediation of the E-system. So are the experiences of our psychological complexes, which produce arousal or anxiety. The perception of archetypes and dreams, or myth, as well as the enactment of psychological dynamics in ritual or art are also part of the E-system, which functions through the Parataxic Mode.Syntaxic Mode leads to inner rather than outer creativity. It begins in the sublimation of the sexual instinct and proceeds into meditative, concentrative, and contemplative states, culminating in a paradoxical switchover to mystical ecstasy after reaching higher jhana states.
CONSCIOUS ALCHEMY
The Alchemy of the Central Nervous SystemThe blending of the Solar “masculine” (E-system) and Lunar “feminine” (T-system) -- modes of awareness in a “chemical wedding” to produce the Philosopher’s Stone forms the bulk of the subject-matter of alchemy. More recently, this ancient investigation has been taken up in the field of neuropsychology and neurophysiology. An examination of the basic principles of alchemy, such as the unification of opposites, yields some extremely interesting correlations with modern medical research.Just what are the qualities represented by the basic alchemical substances, and what analogies for these substances can be found in human psychobiology? In alchemy, the primary opposites to be synthesizedare spirit and emotion or instinct; they are characterized as “fire” and “water.”
Alternatively, the fiery masculine spirit is known as the hot Solar principle and corresponds with Sulphur. The watery feminine element is cold and Lunar in nature, correspondingly termed Mercury. In any given alchemical document, these might be referred to as Sol and Luna, Rex and Regina, or Adam and Eve. Though their names and attributes are many, the process of their union remains essentially the same.From a biological perspective, we might begin our investigation by attributing the active, hot principle of sulphur to the left hemisphere of the brain. This hemisphere provides rational adaptation to the external environment. The passive, lunar principle of Mercury corresponds to the right hemisphere, which is holistic in its perception. Of course, the blending of these portions of the brain represents the functioning of a whole individual. But since most of us have some form of access to both modes, we must look further into the physiology of the brain to find the precise chemical mediators of the processes of hyperarousal and its counterpart, hypoarousal.
There are two nitrogen-containing organic compounds in the brain (called amines) which have been observed as significant in the balance of physical and mental processes. They are neurotransmitters, chemicals which are highly significant in the movement of electrical impulses between neurons (nerve cells) in the human Central Nervous System. The electrical charges always jump from nerve cell to nerve cell with the help of a given chemical helper, or neurotransmitter.Two specific compounds were originally proposed as the chemical mediators of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of arousal.
Newer research shows a myriad of neuromodulators, but these two still take center stage in the complex chemistry.Noradrelalin (NA) also called norepinepherine corresponds with the solar Sulpher and works through the sympathetic system. It facilitates adaptation to external reality. When stimulated, it produces an excited anxious state of enflamment which can culminate in ecstasy. Among disorders of this system are manic episodes and hypervigilance. All illicit CNS stimulants also emulate hyperarousal and lead therefore to addiction.
Serotonin (5-HT) corresponds with the lunar Mercury and works through the parasympathetic system. Its influence is felt in a relaxed condition, like contemplation or meditation. Serotonin deficiencies are blamed for a host of disorders, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.In physiology, the sympathetic nervous system produces involuntary responses such as alarm, and the “fight-flight” syndrome.
The parasympathetic functions include digestion, and slowing one down. The chemicals noradrenalin and serotonin work in the body as cooperative antagonists; they balance one another in such a manner that we do not get too speedy, or sluggish at inappropriate times.We can easily recognize the “switching mechanism” in ourselves at various times. The most dramatic switch occurs in orgasm, when the body rapidly moves from a highly aroused state to one of extreme relaxation and torpor, even sleep. Another example occurs in the creative process, at the moment of “A-ha,” when intense concentration gives way to satisfactory solution.Noradrenalin and serotonin are also the mediators of the pain-pleasure cycle. Have you ever wondered why it is practically impossible to stay on a natural “high,” happy at every moment? The normal functioning of chemical processes in he brain makes this impossible.
However, mystical practice can moderate the mood swings experienced by most individuals, and even open a realm of bliss, which is distinctively different from an ordinary good mood. Traditionally this bliss is called “spiritual nectar” and emanates from the pineal gland.Noradrenalin mediates pleasure, action, excitation, motor behavior, and goal-oriented behavior. When there is imbalance, it contributes to depression or manic behavior. Serotonin mediates inaction, satiety, sleep, feeding, and functions as a punishment/pain system to inhibit and balanced the reinforcement/reward system mediated by noradrenalin.
Serotonin is believed to be a reciprocal inhibitor of noradrenalin’s ability to function as a sexual stimulant. This may, in part, account for traditions of ecstatic enflamment, such as Tantra; and conversely, for the progressively decreasing interest in sex reported by many yogis.
It is easy to observe the effects of serotonin and noradrenalin on the sleep cycle of an individual. Serotonin is responsible for beginning and maintaining cycles of deep sleep. Rising noradrenalin is implicated in REM sleep, or the dream state.Noradrenalin and serotonin exist in a balanced relationship with each other, although the amounts of each vary somewhat in different areas of the brain. For example, the limbic structures contain the highest concentrations of the neurotransmitters, while the neocortical portions have almost none. In most brain tissues they are similarly distributed.
Too much serotonin is known to be harmful for a variety of reasons. It can, paradoxically produce hyperactivity, but soon leads to exhaustion, depression, and anxiety. Irritation by serotonin can also lead the body to produce too many histamines, inducing symptoms of a cold.Serotonin creates hyperactivity by activating the overproduction of adrenalin and noradrenalin. The personal may feel euphoric for awhile, but after a period of time, this leads to adrenal exhaustion, and decreased recovery ability. Excessive serotonin is now implicated as the “death hormone.” When its levels rise with age in the hypothalamus, with a simultaneous depletion of dopamine (precursor of noradrenalin), the trigger may be pulled.
Noradrenalin and serotonin play a major role in the effectiveness of stimulants and hallucinogens. Long term effects of these drugs leads to depletion of neurotransmitter stores at synaptic junctions in the brain with consequent disorientation and impaired immunological responses.
“The messenger chemical is stored in pouches called vesicles on the surface of the neuron’s cellular membrane and released into the gap between nerves (synapses) when the nerves fire. Many popular stimulant drugs increase the level of NE (Noradrenalin) in these synapses, resulting in greater nerve stimulation. Such drugs include amphetamines, ...over-the-counter diet aids, magnesium pemoline, and cocaine.“These can temporarily improve alertness, learning in focusing and attention tasks, as well as memory. However, these effects may be due to general stimulation rather than altered data processing by the nerves. A serious disadvantage of these drugs is that once the stored supply of NE has been released from the vesicles and the NE in the synapses has been metabolized, the drugs no longer stimulate nerve activity (this process is called ‘tolerance) until the body produces more NE. Depression is very common during the period when NE supply is low owing to excessive use of the stimulants mentioned above, (Pearson and Shaw, 1982).”
With psychedelics, the body is tricked into producing massive quantities of serotonin, which leads to hallucinations. The body becomes hyperaroused when it tries to compensate by producing the noradrenalin to counteract the serotonin dump.Serotonin, then, is basically an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It reduces neuron activity. It prevents excessive nervous stimulation which results in depletion. Its nutritional precursor is tryptophan which is found in abundance in milk and bananas.Noradrenalin is important in primitive drives and emotions like sex, and in memory and learning. When noradrenalin is low, there is depression and poor immune system reactions. To increase noradrenalin storage, take its nutritional precursors l-phenylalanine, or the amino acid L-Dopa to increase brain levels of dopamine and noradrenalin.
Reflecting back to the relationship of serotonin and noradrenalin in the pain-pleasure cycle, we may see how they induce different states of consciousness.In a privately circulated thesis from the 1970s, Philip Steven Lansky amalgamated his research on systems of arousal with the work of noted Jungian psychologist, Edward Edinger. In his classic text, EGO AND ARCHETYPE, Edinger formulated his ideas on I-Self relationship into a graph showing the progress of the repetitive cycle. Lansky overlaid the likely chemistries, which correspond with these changes. In this manner initial overactivity of serotonin may function as a negative feedback system. A third circle for “drug abuse” might be included to depict the merry-go-round of addiction (Miller, 1982).[insert jpeg]
This is an interesting appraisal of the alchemy of the Central Nervous System. It might seem that homeostasis would keep consciousness forever in the grip of this psychic life cycle. Yet, Lansky goes on to state:“However, according to Edinger (1972), individuation means not having to continually repeat the cycle, but to develop conscious dialogues between I and Self. Neurochemically this may be interpreted as a partial overstepping of noradrenergic-serotonergic rebounds, and the concomitant state of more subtle serotonergic/noradrenergic relationships. This is reflected in the ability to remain active (noradrenergic) while inactive (serotonergic). It is a state of physiological and psychological paradox...as is aptly described by the wisdom of The Secret of the Golden Flower.”
This I-Self dialogue is certainly a valued dimension of the CRP Journeys. It consists of using action in order attain non-action. Lansky concludes,“Interestingly, the “chymical wedding” of alchemy was a symbol for the simultaneous constellation of psychic opposites, which we have already suggested concurs with a state of physiological paradox. Might not the contents of the two archetypal flasks represent two amines, serotonin and noradrenalin, being poured simultaneously into a marriage bath in the hypothalamus.?”
The Alchemical Formula of “Solve et Coagula”
In alchemy the balancing of opposites is by their merger as expressed in the formula “Solve et Coagula,” which means to dissolve and congeal, or recongeal. It is old attitudes which must be dissolved, and concrete experiences which form the coagulation---the embodiment of experience.When a one-sided attitude encounters a more comprehensive viewpoint, the old attitude dissolves. Solutio is the dissolution of the old attitude, which may be experienced as a threat to the world-view of the ego. The ego is interested in maintaining control. It tends to assume that it’s cognitive perception is foremost and builds personality or our world-view from its perception of order.
The ego embraces a paradigm about the nature of Reality. Exposure to someone with a convincing, more comprehensive and demonstrable worldview can wash away the solid ground from under the ego’s feet. This destabilization of the old self may bring up fear and insecurities or pain before the new self is congealed. The ego feels adrift or fragmented before the new viewpoints are assimilated into the conscious attitude and existential experience (coagulatio).
The unified state, or self is the agent of solutio in alchemy. It is either experienced in internal relationships among archetypal entities or forces, or it is projected into one’s environment. An example is where a person meets someone who “makes the bottom drop out” of his/her world. Consciousness then has the choice of embracing or rejecting the broader viewpoint. The long-range aims of solutio is the unification of opposites. Both the archetypal masculine and feminine elements are being dissolved and united at the same time.When one encounters the Self internally, a larger consciousness of the world and universe, solutio occurs. In tantra, it may have begun before the journey confronting the enlarged worldview of the transcendent perspective. In solutio, the best qualities of the ego survive and are refined. Those aspects of the ego which consciously relate to the Self withstand solutio, (Edinger).
This alchemical operations has characteristic stages which relate directly to the phenomenology of Tantra:
1. Return to the primal state;
2. Dissolution, dispersal, and dismemberment;
3. Containment of a lesser thing by a greater;
4. Rebirth, rejuvenation, immersion in the creative flow;
5. Purification ordeal;
6. Solution of problems;
7. Melting or softening process (dissolving).
The alchemist, or Tantrika, cooperating intentionally with this transpersonal process, experiences the diminishment by solutio as a precursor to union with the Self.In coagulatio, the conscious realization of archetypal forces comes only through personal experiences with the, in concrete forms. The experiential Journeys of tantric sex are an ideal medium for such tangible consolidation. These forms or patterns are unique for each individual, but they share primary characteristics. Experiences in childhood coagulate the archetypes, most frequently in limited or distorted forms. The inner relationships of creative imagination and external relationships coagulate. These are ways of experiencing personal encounters with the divine.Coagulatio means to congeal, or become more solid. The ego cannot soar unfettered by day-to-day matters into its spiritual fantasies. Ultimately, the body must be reunited with the process at the sensorimotor level. In order for wholeness to be realized, the alchemist or Tantrika must balance aspirations with personal, concrete reality (spouse, job, children, etc.).
This concrete form of realization of psychic processes in everyday life allows us to “see” that which previously had no form. The Journeys facilitate this deep focus. Archetypal patterns are manifesting in the mundane world constantly. To the alchemist, the archetypes are no longer perceived as qualities or concepts, but as entities with which they share a defined relationship. Psychologically, this is the union of ordinary human reality with the transpersonal Self.There must always be an investment of psychic energy in the alchemical process. Desire promotes coagulatio. This psychic energy, mobilized as desire, promotes life-experience. The lure is the sweetness of fulfillment. Coagulatio thus symbolizes the limitations of one’s personal reality, the boundary conditions. We find the limits of our abilities in relation to our desires.In its ultimate projection, coagulatio symbolizes the formation of an immortal body, one firmly grounded in the universal perspective, which is the equivalent of the Philosopher’s Stone.
REFERENCES
Aron, Elaine (1996); The Highly Sensitive Person,
Edinger, Edward, Ego and Archetype,
Fischer, Roland (1967); "Biological models of creativity," Journal for the Study of Consciousness, pg. 89-117. First presented Oct. 28-29, 1967.
Lansky, Philip, "Consciousness and the ergo- and tropho-tropic systems of arousal"; thesis.
Rossi, ErnestTart, Charles (1975); States of Consciousness,
LIFELONG LEARNING: Continuing to Grow throughout the Life Span
AN INTEGRATIVE VIEW OF NORMAL ADULT DEVELOPMENT
BY IONA MILLER, Asklepia Foundation, (c)2000
ABSTRACT: Developmental theory helps us gain a concept of what unblocked or free flowing developmental process looks like in terms of the fulfillment of human potential. The integrative developmental framework emphasizes the continuing evolution of the whole person; ultimately it is a spiritual process. The results of the stimulus of forward development and progression that is provided by the normative crisis of midlife, with its adjustments to aging and mortality, is examined in respect to the Consciousness Restructuring Process (CRP). The goal of treatment is elimination of blocks to the still-evolving personality and to the course of current and future development.The adult experiences a constant process of dynamic change and flux, and is always in a state of “becoming” or “finding the way.” We present seven hypotheses about development in adulthood, and identify phase-specific issues and challenges, including typical adult rites of passage and the developmental phenomena of middle and later life as well. Erickson’s eight stages of life are used to outline the developmental continuum through the illuminative phase of potential transpersonal experience. CRP often leads to spontaneous initiatory spiritual experiences.The evolution of the authentic self in adulthood is a dynamic process which is part of the lifelong shaping of identity and self-image. The attainment of authenticity is a central, dynamic task of adulthood achieved through restructuring of the self. Confronting the quintessential adult-human experience can lead to integration of the highest order and produce profound awareness of what it means to be human. A number of factors, some unique to adult experience, build on the self constructed from earlier phases of life and develop it further. Some of the most important include: (1) the body, (2) object ties, (3) time and death, and (4) work, creativity, and mentorship.Keywords: Adult development, developmental theory, Erickson, Maslow, Piaget, Gowan, Freud, Jung, midlife crisis, adult passage, rites of passage, death and dying, aging, mentoring, maturity, parenting, marriage, pair-bonding, self-actualization, self-realization, self-image, integrative models, character, vision, soul, spirituality, creativity, peak experiences, ego-death, spiritual growth, transpersonal.
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY
Developmental processes occur throughout the life span, not only during childhood. Therefore, the adult is understood to be a complex, dynamic, constantly changing organism. Learning in adulthood is a developmental experience; adult experience is a major determinant of further development. Current experience always adds to and interacts with existing mental structure, which is itself the result of all preceding development. Often this occurs in seemingly discontinuous “quantum leaps.”
Most spiritual philosophies or religions describe certain growth processes which result in emergent qualities which define the ideals of adult maturity and fulfillment. Whether it is described in terms of processes (becoming) or qualities/characteristics (states-of-being), the integrative process of dynamic change continues past childhood, into the three phases of adulthood, into old age. The ultimate fruit of this process is the spiritual luminary, or enlightened one.
Defining characteristics of this experiential process include emergence of the authentic self, self-actualization, or self-realization. They are expressed in the emergence of spirituality and integrity; wisdom, understanding, and compassion; a realistic self appraisal; and a continued ability for evolutionary change and creativity, with the emergent potential for and possible stabilization of illuminative or unitive experiences.
Personal experience and expression of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal goals can lead to fulfillment of human potential. The direct experience is of wholeness, personal connectedness and expansion of consciousness.
Our awareness can journey beyond the mere body, emotions, and mind to perceptions and insights which enlarge our sense of self-image in a functional and evolutionary manner, superceding merely personalistic, narcissistic, regressive tendencies in a permanent reorganization. These experiences occur in the context of normal adult passages, the spiritual quest, and in the psychotherapeutic setting. Sometimes expansive experiences are initiated by the awesomeness of nature, alone.Such transformative experiences have been described in religion, in both hierarchical and integrative models, such as the kabbalistic Tree of Life, and in concepts such as the Diamond Body of Sufism and the Superior Person of the I Ching. In Confucianism, the adult is a metaphor of the Way, a term describing the process of maturation involving continuous effort toward self-realization.
In the Socratic ideal, the philosopher is the properly educated individual who escapes from the bonds of his deluded senses to the freedom of enlightened reason and clear understanding of the realities of human existence. He is not deterred from the pursuit of truth and justice by illusions of self-importance. Implicit is the ideal of soul seeking “integrity and wholeness in all things human and divine,” with a mind “habituated to thoughts of grandeur and the contemplation of all time and all existence,” and such a person “will not suppose death to be terrible.” (Plato, The Republic, Book VI).
Many mystery schools and teachers of meditation describe inner planes of experience which can be accessed by the devoted with spiritual practice. Descriptions of these realms are consciousness maps which describe the typical features of various regions and how to gain access to them. The more highly developed one’s practice, the greater the degree of penetration and mystical union.Several hypotheses have emerged in psychology of the developmental process, including those of Freud, Jung, Piaget, Erickson, Maslow, and more recently Wilber (2000). Jung called the process individuation; Maslow called it self-actualization. Spiritual sources refer to it as self-realization. Ultimately, these processes represent emergent or stabilized spiritual endeavors exemplified by sages, adepts, saints, and spiritual masters.
Stated in the broadest possible terms, individuation refers to the innate urge of life to realize itself consciously. The transpersonal life energy, in the process of creative self-unfolding, uses human consciousness, the essence of itself, as an instrument for its own self-realization. The Way is inseparable from the person, an internal presence.Erikson described eight critical steps in the developmental process, which are rooted in psychophysical change rather than stability. We progress in life skills when confronted with contradiction, conflict, and disequilibrium:
1). Birth-2 yrs. This first phase is the incorporative stage of basic trust and mistrust, conditioning primal hope or a sense of impending doom throughout life. Erikson found that psychotic individuals had easy child-rearing situations that engendered mistrust from unpredictable and chaotic parenting.
2). 2-4 years. The central conflict is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Shame results when failure is not handled compassionately and sensitively; it leads to defiance or deviousness from fear of discovery. Balance between self-control and self-expression is lost. It relates to the development of self-esteem, love and hate.
3). 4-7 years. Initiative vs. guilt; superego development; parental prohibitions internalized.
4). 7-12 years. The main issue is industry vs. inadequacy; industriousness; social skill development.
5). 12-20 years. Identity vs. role confusion. Emancipation; separation from parents; onset of adolescence; new sense of identity emerges.
6). 20s-30s. Intimacy vs. self-absorption. Sexual relating; pair bonding; parenting. Inability to sustain intimacy leads to isolation and self-absorption, reclusiveness.
7). 40s-50s. Midlife generativity vs. stagnation. Erikson suggested that successful generativity meant the care and facilitation [mentoring] of a younger generation as a key to fulfillment and cohesion in midlife. The alternative is despair, feeling stuck emotionally and intellectually. This loss of forward momentum leads many into therapy.8). 60s+. This final stage brings either a sense of integrity or a sense of despair.Erikson’s contribution was to make explicit the processes inherent in each stage of human growth which offer the potential for developing personal strength to overcome older weaknesses of the self.
Thus, developmental models begin by describing stages of personality stabilization and move even further to describe evolutionary and revolutionary spiritual development beyond the tasks of average adult development, (such as pair-bonding, child rearing, and career building). Normal adult development is not necessarily average adult development.Average adult development tends to plateau at various points of complacent contentment, whereas normal development proactively continues in evolutionary fashion up to and through the moment of death. Just as adult development is a direct extension of childhood development, spiritual development is the logical extension of the adult developmental dynamic. Spiritual development is contemporaneous with, not sequential to, adult development, and represents the fruit of the tree of life.
We have assumed seven basic hypotheses about development in adulthood, after Colarusso and Nemiroff (1981):
(1) The nature of the developmental process is basically the same in the adult as in the child.
(2) Development in adulthood is an ongoing, dynamic process.
(3) Whereas child development is focused primarily in the formation of psychic structure, adult development is concerned with the continued evolution of existing structure and with its use.
(4) The fundamental developmental issues of childhood continue as central aspects of adult life but in altered form.
(5) The developmental processes in adulthood are influenced by the adult past as well as the childhood past.
(6) Development in adulthood, as in childhood, is deeply influenced by the body and physical change.
(7) A central, phase-specific theme of adult development is the normative crisis precipitated by the recognition and acceptance of the finiteness of time and the inevitability of personal death.
John Gowan (1975), (expanding on the work of Piaget, Erickson, Maslow and Rogers), outlined the continuum of the developmental process as the relationship of the individual ego to the collective preconscious which underlies creativity and psychedelic or mind-expanding functions. The preconscious is involved in a developmental process which manifests as anxiety at one end of the scale and ranges to creativity and illumination at the other. Gowan’s use of the term “psychedelic” is not synonymous with “drug induced.” His overview includes the work of Kubie, Sullivan, Tart, Masters and Houston, De Ropp, and Krippner, among others.The developmental continuum includes equally vital dimensions of cognition and affect, rational and emotional development, from childhood through adulthood. Developmental escalation on either of these dimensions can lead to personality change and emergence of new phenomena.
Gowan proposed three modes of cognition, (prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic), which he amplified as Trance, Art, and Creativity. They indicate the styles and degree of immersion or cooperation between the ego and the preconscious.
Gowan’s lifework was to describe developmental stages in different phases (latency, identity, creativity) revolving around issues of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, and generativity, creativity, psychedelia, illumination. Breeches of this order lead to a relative displacement of emotional and mental wellbeing which can inhibit or prevent integration.Gowan used the work of Piaget to define the rational development of the mind, and that of Erikson to chart emotional development. Usually the cognitive level lags a stage or two behind the emotional; but some individuals are emotionally stunted or frozen in their development.He called this dissonance by the term dysplasia, but it is more commonly known as dysfunctionality. It is the inability to function in an age-appropriate manner, a dissonance between rational and emotional dynamics resulting in self-defeating and self-destructive tendencies. It is developmental arrest which holds back self-actualizing potential.
“Escalation” implies raising the level of action by discrete jumps--quantum leaps in consciousness. Accessing latent energy resources escalates development from one level to the next. Discontinuity is a requisite for change. Gowan defined developmental forcing as trying to escalate from a given stage to more than one stage higher through mechanical or artificially-induced means.He likened this forcing to developmental abuse: trying to use characteristic powers or fruits of a given stage for display purposes when the individual is actually engaged in tasks of an earlier stage. Relative dysplasia results from not keeping up with developmental tasks--failure to escalate. But in developmental forcing an individual is exposed to experiences or tasks for which they are developmentally unprepared, and forced to attempt or react to them. The effect on the personality has been likened to that of tearing a silk scarf from a thorny rosebush, rather than carefully removing it.
Conversely, those who are well-adapted for their age can become stuck at any level of particular success. He notes that most mature adults become emotionally arrested at the level of vocational fulfillment, financial success, and contentment in marriage. Another stall may occur as the psychedelic nature-mystic experience, where nature is enjoyed for its own sake and virtually “worshipped.” Success at any stage of development may promote the desire to continue to play rather than integrating the lessons learned into the task of the next stage. Further development is an evolutionary task/opportunity.
This notion fit well in the psychological context of its time--the human potential movement with its accent on growth and upward mobility. It is consistent with classical Jungian psychology and humanistic psychology, the general paradigm of its time.Newer notions in Jungian thought, process work, an even process theology, are less focused on the developmental perspective of the coping heroic ego--becoming--and more focused on the ground state of Being--the dynamic Void or naked Reality. The older views seem to underemphasize the initiatory capacity of these radically expansive breakthrough experiences, expressed in our cultural history by 50,000 years of shamanic art and accident.
A course-correction here in conceptualization could include what we have subsequently learned in 30 more years of study of the unfolding of complex dynamical systems and chaos theory. The difference is one of ego control, compared with “letting go” and trusting the natural process: a paradigm shift from a model of ego strength to one of unhindered flow or fluidity. The new paradigm--which embraces chaos--is expressed in science and psychology in such notions as complex non-linear dynamics, punctuated equilibrium, emergent creativity, and creative self-organization.The notion of development implies hierarchical “operations of increasing order.” This reflects the interplay of the dynamic processes of order and chaos in all forms of change and growth. Increasing order automatically leads to entropy, which facilitates the breakdown of old forms including outworn personality traits and states of consciousness. Experiences of the complex interplay of chaos and order are the instrument of all development as well as that of the “psychedelic individual.” (Miller, 1994).
Self-initiation through inner guidance (by happenstance or intent) often leads, in a person with latent shamanic tendencies, to self-induced “shock treatment,” the results of which the person is subsequently forced to confront in daily life. These experiences may or may not be integratable; if not, they lead to breakdown, not breakthrough. Three commonly employed mechanical means are drug use, various forms of ritual or ceremonial magick, and marathon meditation, any of which can force escalation beyond normal social developmental stages.
Even in those with a poor social foundation, this “forcing” may crystallize a spirituality or inner-directed behavior which conditions or balances the individual in the short- or long-run. This spirituality may take a conventional, cultish, or idiosyncratic form. Thus, a dynamic if chaotic “path” or direction of development is chosen. The more definitive the commitment, the clearer the emergent non-linear path and creativity.Gowan did allude, but perhaps not fully comprehend in terms of complex dynamics, the dynamic interplay within the transformative process. Within each transition, he identifies certain components of change: succession, discontinuity (discontinuous equilibration), emergence or budding, differentiation or metamorphosis, and integration or creative repatterning. Together they define phases of developmental escalation, or shifting to a higher gear for more efficient use of available energy. The objective of escalation is creativity.Integration in the developmental process includes five aspects:
(1) confrontation of differences, (2) integration, (3) a yielding up or giving up of the old for a new reorganization, (4) a process of differentiation, and (5) a positive directionality.
In summary, Gowan piggybacks on the notions of Erikson and Piaget to create a developmental stage theory, which asserts four primary ideas:
1) that the developmental chart has a periodicity of three, and that the last three cognitive stages are creativity, psychedelia, and illumination;
2) that developmental stages are characterized by escalation, and when that does not occur (because an individual is complacent, stuck, or regressing) opens one to developmental lags, dysplasia, or dysfunctionality;
3) that creativity is a characteristic of the third and sixth developmental stages;
4) that the stabilization and mental health of the preconscious is the key factor in creative output and developmental progress, as well as a factor in psychophysical wellbeing.
Gradually, the traumatic impact of the encounter between the conscious and unconscious diminishes as the individual develops. The person learns how to handle issues of identity, love or intimacy, and finally death. Encounters with the “not-me” symbolize and express death of the ego, and prepare one for physical death by de-emphasizing externally-generated sensory input. Rather than being traumatically overwhelmed, the personal identity is radically deconstructed, creatively re-structured and expands to experience full emotional and cognitive acceptance of both freedom and responsibility.Pushing on our boundaries, we run the risk of rupturing our sense of identity. This is why the concept of a free creativity is always associated with the genuine danger of a “treasure hard to attain,” why madness and genius often appear simultaneously. Peak experiences of creative possibility can lead to self-fulfillment or self-destruction.
Mystic at-one-ment crowns the quest after lower developmental needs have been satisfied. Gowan, seemingly a humanist, asserts that the proper use of the awesome power of the psychedelic stage is “to protect and preserve those objects of individual man’s self concept starting with the health and welfare of his body image, and then extending outward to his environmental self and its possessions, his loved ones, his associations and interests, his concerns, and finally his total environment and his creations, thus embracing all of his natural world.”The small ego diffuses through cosmic expansion of the hierarchy of needs toward an enlarged sense of Self. According to Gowan, “man’s highest purpose is not to experience the world of the senses as a reactive being but to design it...to become part of the noumenon of the universe...co-creator...co-designer."
”He quotes Troward from 1909 as to how this can be done:
1) There is some emotion, which gives rise to,
2) a desire.
3) Judgement determines if we shall externalize this desire, if approved.
4) The will directs the imagination to form the necessary spiritual prototype;
5) the imagination thus centered creates the spiritual nucleus.
6) This prototype acts as a center around which the forces of attraction begin to work [i.e. a “strange attractor”], and continue until;
7) the concrete result is manifested and becomes perceptible.
This creative imagery cycle has practically become the foundation principle of New Age thought. Essentially, this same process is echoed in the transformational realities of experiential psychotherapy and process theology and codified in Transpersonal Psychology.
The innate self-image is intimately linked to feelings of destiny, meaningfulness, significance, uniqueness, one’s reason for being. When it is unhealthy to the core, we feel purposeless, pointless, life lacks meaning. Whether one follows a conventional path or an unpredictable offbeat journey, life is dull without connection to exploration, discovery, romance, beauty, myth, mystery, and spirituality. We are cut off from our spiritual Source and existential roots.Fromm spoke of man’s urge for transcendence, our need to rise above our animal nature. While Freud described a dynamic psychology marked by depth, Jung and Maslow also described peak experiences as moments of transcendence which are transformative. We are a complex energy field, not essentially separate from the entire Universe. This healing return to the fundamental condition beyond energy and form can be experienced and identified with.
Peak experiences are those moments in life when we feel strong, sure, and expansive. They may initiate a new phase of development or a dramatic change in lifestyle. It may occur as the reult of a powerful encounter with internal forces. This encounter with Being in some leads to erasure of behavioral patterns which block development, and at the same time provides the new orientation complete with insight and the energy sufficient to effect a dramatic and positive self-transformation.The nature of any image, including innate self-image, is that it is all there at once--it is a Gestalt. Self-image includes character, vision, and calling (vocation), as well as transcendence, a sense of the timeless. We refer to this source as our motivation, essence, character, fate, genius, calling, soul, spirit or destiny. It defines us; we embody it as a spark of consciousness. It heralds our potential for eminence and the exceptional. It links us with the great Unknown.
Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs or drives, in order of increasing priority or potency:
(1) physiological needs;
(2) safety needs;
(3) belongingness and love;
(4) esteem needs;
(5) self-actualization.
He found that growth-oriented self-actualizing people showed superior perception of reality; greater acceptance of self, other, and nature; flexibility, increased spontaneity; stronger focus on problems outside themselves; greater detachment and need for privacy; more autonomy and independence of culture and environment.They also show greater freshness of appreciation and richness of feeling, more frequent mystic or transcendent experience, display brotherly love, compassion or philanthropy, a more democratic character structure, less confusion of means with ends, a philosophical and whimsical rather than a hostile sense of humor, greater creativeness, and resistance to cultural conformity.Not all individuals are “peakers;” some are “non-peakers.” Finding oneself, or one’s center or essential nature, is a self-actualization which requires breakthroughs, but not necessarily “peaking.” When unblocked or distorted, life is a natural process of self-realization. Consciousness is always rising to a new level. Unless blocked, we mature away from rationalization, fear, resistance, escape, commitment-phobia, ego-death paranoia, and profaning the sacred.
Movement is toward creativity, joy, commitment, transcendence, insight, harmony, beauty, compassion, bliss, and Higher Power. It comes as a series or stream of refinements. Awareness then transcends the realm of the personal self and enters the realm of the transpersonal, suspending the illusions of time, space, and personal identity.
Psychedelic or conscious-expanding experiences are characterized by a sudden, spasmodic, transitory nature, and off-again on-again types of episodes which leave the individual enthralled, but somewhat let down when it is over. Illumination, on the other hand, is a steady state where the art of flowing with the experience has been mastered. But like the display of adventitious psychic powers, “natural” psychedelia is not valuable unless followed up by action and development and integration. It represents potentiality not accomplishment. (Gowan, 1975).
For Jung, Maslow, and Grof, neurosis is a failure of personal growth, an interference with the process of individuation or self-actualization. It could be considered a transpersonal crisis or emergency, which interrupts the process of spiritual emergence. In these theories of mental health, extra-psychic success is not enough; we must also include intra-psychic health, coming-to-wholeness.A further outgrowth of humanistic psychology is multidisciplinary Transpersonal Psychology. It is largely concerned with ultimate human capacities and potentialities, such as becoming, meta-needs, ultimate values, peak experiences, ecstasy, mystical experience, awe, bliss, wonder, transcendence of the self, and cosmic awareness or universal consciousness. In this ontological view, the physical or material world is not ultimate. Consciousness, rather than a function of the human brain, is fundamental and undergirds Reality.
The self is the core system within which certain basic tendencies are integrated: need-satisfaction, self-limiting adaptation, creative expansion, and upholding the internal order, while striving for fulfillment. We are proactive as well as reactive. The proactive individual strives to attain a freer and more creative state for himself and fellow human beings. Intentionality, purpose and choice are of primary concern. Thus, psychological growth includes self-discovery, self-creation and self-realization.Ken Wilber (2000) argues for a spirituality that transforms, rather than merely helping the self make sense of, and endure the realities of life, since that does nothing to change the level of consciousness in a person. He promotes the shattering liberation from the separate self, rather than consoling, defending, or promoting the self. One function of religion is to fortify the separate self, but shattering or devastating the self (ego-death) is the only way that leads to profound transmutation.
The first function of religion or spirituality, creating meaning for the self, is a type of horizontal movement; the second function of transcending self, is a type of vertical movement (higher or deeper, depending on your metaphor). The old self is undermined and eventually dismantled, looked into and through, “grabbed by its throat and literally throttled to death.” Thus, transformation is not a matter of faith or belief, but of the death of the believer and a process of finding and merging with infinity on the other side of death. Hence, the admonition to “die daily” in meditation since a spiritual practice is essential to stabilizing this “always there” atonement.
“Those who cannot translate adequately, with a fair amount of integrity and accuracy, fall quickly into severe neurosis or even psychosis; the world ceases to make sense--the boundaries between the self and the world are not transcended but instead begin to crumble. This is not breakthrough but breakdown, not transcendence, but disaster. But at some point in our maturation process, translation itself, no matter how adequate or confident, simply ceases to console. No new beliefs, no new paradigm, no new myths, no new ideas, will staunch the encroaching anguish. Not a new belief for the self, but the transcendence of the self altogether, is the only path that avails.” (Wilber).
Thus, the radicaly transformative process offers authenticity, spiritual authenticity, true enlightenment and liberation. Authentic consciousness finds its home in radiant infinity through revolutionary change, rendering the self undone. Since there is only Spirit, seeking Spirit is exactly what prevents its realization; it is an always-already present state. Therefore, the integral approach to overall transformation utterly dismantles the self. We can breathe into infinity.In the material world, we have split the atom, unraveled the genetic code, and probed the birth of the universe. We can do the same psychologically and spiritually; our quantum mind is not essentially separate from Universal Mind; our psychophysical consciousness is Consciousness. Transpersonal disciplines explore realizing these perennial visionary possibilities.
CRP, ADULT DEVELOPMENT, AND SPIRITUALITY
The Consciousness Restructuring Process (CRP) can be a valuable tool in facilitating adjustments and fundamental self-reorganization at the level of the primal existential self-image. More than fantasy or imagination, this visionary journey fosters insight and radical transformation. The CRP journey is guided by a Mentor who accompanies the Mentee in a co-conscious navigation through the stream of consciousness to the ocean of infinity.
The organic restructuring which follows is nourishing and healing; but it leads through dissolution or deconstruction of the ego, passed personal fears and pain. A journey to and immersion in “chaotic consciousness” can be employed whenever adults feel stultified or blocked in their transformative process, or simply for personal enhancement or enrichment of inner or spiritual life. We re-emerge from chaotic consciousness with a holistically repatterned blueprint for Reality which we immediately embody.
Though it is healing, there does not need to be any perception that something is wrong to employ the CRP technique with great benefit. It can be used during crises, growth periods, or to stimulate creativity and consciousness expansion. The approach is always to the whole person. Self-actualization, fulfillment of unique potential, is the theme or trend which regulates the interaction between an individual and the environment.Self-actualization is concerned with human capacities and potentialities such as love, creativity, self, growth, basic need-gratification, higher values, being, becoming, spontaneity, play, humor, affection, naturalness, warmth, ego-transcendence, autonomy, responsibility, meaning, fair-play, empathy, openness, transcendental experience, and psychophysical wellbeing.
Focus is on the experiencing person, including concepts like the self-image, self-esteem, and the unity or integrity of the personality, the organic emergence of new forms of fundamental reorganization of the whole person. Restructuring occurs at the root level of the Primal Existential Sensory Self-Image (PESSI).
CRP is of particular value during the so-called midlife crisis when a multitude of issues, existential realities, and dynamic changes cry for a reorganization or restructuring of the entire life. Reworking and eventual integration of powerful feelings are integral parts of normal development at midlife. Aging and mortality must be confronted and embraced.
At any stage, pathology can be seen as a deviation from normal development. The goal of treatment is therefore, not symptom removal, but the elimination of blocks to the still-evolving personality and to the course of current and future development, (which often comes in unpredictable quantum leaps or peak experiences).In the calm that follows this stormy midlife passage, CRP can provide the impetus for the next positive growth stage into such areas as mentoring, or other means of “giving back” to the greater whole the fruits of one’s lifetime of achievements. It is a means of fostering connection with Spirit, contentment, continuous optimal growth, self-actualization (psychological model), and self-realization (spiritual model), an expansive/integrative experience of self and universe.
CRP journeys provide a means of consciously connecting with Source and restructuring the psychophysical self image at the most fundamental level. Imagination-REM based, this process is an inner experience which explores the sensory nature and roots of a dream or symptom. REM is attained through breathing techniques, most notably by noticing the stillness and silence at the bottom of each breath.
CRP is radically imaginal; imagination is the primary element and mode of experience. “Exploration” is accomplished using imaginal sensory images that arise from the subconscious. Our existential realities and issues can take many fluid forms in this morphological field. Images are followed to their source, to the consciousness structure that shaped and formed them.
Dis-eased images dissolve into the unformed matrix, beyond energy and form. Ultimate reality is unknowable directly, and can only be experienced through the images by which it is expressed. When we emerge from that communion, it is with a freshly reborn self-image, created by the freeing of energies formerly locked into the dis-eased pattern.Behavior and physiology are based on perceptions of self and its relationship to the world. Past and present experiences create consciousness structures that are stored as neural patterns and shape these perceptions. This mindbody phenomenon underlies our personal and unique experience of self and reality.Our dream experience is shaped by these inner, conscious patterns (neural firing patterns) that also shape our behavior and physiology. Every dream, among other things, is a self-portrait, but an impressionistic one. Each dream symbol represents different aspects of self, although since dreams are holographic in nature, any part or symbol in a dream also contains the whole.
A primary value of consciousness journeys is the recapitulation and symbolic reiteration in an almost fractal-like manner of our entire evolutionary and developmental history. Just as the developmental growth of the embryo and fetus recapitulates the broad strokes of biological evolution, so to the journeys recapitulate our atomic and subatomic origins, our genetic inheritance, our electrochemical essence, our conceptual imprinting, neonatal programming, etc.
Thus, any journey can incorporate and modify imagery from all the developmental stages, depending on a wide variety of states of identification and dissociation.Through this means interior processes are deepened, and natural psychedelic consciousness emerges. It is often felt during the resolution or healing phase of the session as profound serenity and a sense of enlargement and communion--an epiphany. This is not the result of a simple translation of the belief system, but a deeper transformation which is associated with the radical deconstruction of ego death.
As healing continues (the psychobiological form of creativity), the emergent psychedelia of sessions becomes generalized into daily life. Clarity makes the world looks sharper, more beautiful; love and compassion become easier to embrace. Each developmental advance involves the increased cognitive confluence with an understanding of this deepening interior process.The innate self-image is intimately linked to feelings of destiny, meaningfulness, significance, uniqueness, one’s reason for being. Whether one follows a conventional path or an unpredictable offbeat journey, life is dull without connection to exploration, self-expression, discovery, romance, beauty, myth, mystery, and spirituality.
By closing the gap between unconscious emotions and “acting out” with experiential understanding of the sensory roots of attitudinal and behavioral patterns, CRP therapy facilitates healing of developmental dysplasia, promoting existential congruence of mental and emotional faculties. Cognitive dissonance is healed when our self-concept stands up to consensus reality checks and our thinking and feeling harmonize.
When we are healthy, our existential reality matches our perception. Head and heart cooperate, rather than tearing us in two. It is self-evident that we usually know what is “right” to do, but we tend to do what we feel like doing, even when it is self-defeating. Consciousness-expanding experiences are the antidote to this malady. They release us from our limitation to the realm of “no boundaries” and infinite potential.When we consciouly choose to journey inward, in a safe therapeutic setting, experiences emerge through process work which are virtually identical to naturally-induced psychedelic experiences. This probably has something to do with the serotonin cycle, as most chemical psychedelics exert their influence there. Common elements can be summarized in seven points as defined by Gowan (1975).
“(1) The attention of the subject is gripped, and his perception is narrowed or focused on a single event or sensation; 2) which appears to be an experience of surpassing beauty or worth; 3) in which values or relationships never before realized are instantaneously or very suddenly emphasized; 4) resulting in the sudden emergence of great joy and an orgiastic experience of ecstasy; 5) in which individual barriers separating the self from others or nature are broken down; 6) resulting in a release of love, confidence, or power; and 7) some kind of change in the subsequent personality, behavior or artistic product after the rapture is over.”
Thus, there are phenomena common to psychedelic experience, mystical states, and process work. They are typically the same images of ego death and emergent reorganization because the process/goal is the same no matter what means we use to facilitate expansion of consciousness. As the ego goes through its symbolic death throes, images of dismemberment and dissolution prevail. The old form dissolves into chaotic consciousness, making way for the rebirth of the newly reborn, expanded consciousness and sense of self.The corresponding physical unstressing manifests as completely involuntary, unintended, spontaneous muscular-skeletal movements and proprioceptive sensations: momentary or repeated twitches, spasms, tingling, tics, jerking, swaying, pains, shaking, aches, internal pressures, headaches, weeping, laughter, etc. Visceral experiences range from extreme pleasure to acute distress.
They may include bristling of the hair, perspiration, and burning sensations.Developmental forcing, moving into and through pain and fear, may be felt as a shock, psychic jolt or jerk. On the other hand, mystic ecstasy or expansion brings feelings of bliss, serene delight, sensations of the remoteness of physical surroundings, and transpersonal ecstatic exaltation beyond words. CRP offers all of the radically transformative benefits seen in the promising developments of LSD Therapy, by employing “drug-free shamanism.”
Cosmic expansion can bring psychic phenomena in its wake, such as synchronicities and extrasensory perception. Yogis caution that these siddhis are epiphenomena--powers which are actually obstacles to further enlightenment when identified with and employed to aggrandize the ego. Beneficial contact comes through interpenetration of the conscious mind and the universal consciousness field, a return to the primal Source.
Mead (1993) reports that meditation can have a definite down-side for some individuals, and these phenomena appear in the Journeys. Rather than promoting relaxation, meditation can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and even panic attack. The mentor guides the mentee through this portion of the journey, but the “relaxation induced panic” can manifest as muscular tension, racing heart, head pain, and perspiration.
The guidance of the mentor prevents the side-effects of self-guided meditation, which in extreme cases can result in breakdown, rather than breakthrough, (schizophrenic episodes, psychogenic illness, and suicidal tendencies). Typical side-effects include sore throats, muscular cramps, tingling or stinging sensations (localized or general), feelings of heaviness or weightlessness, floating sensations, outbursts of laughter or crying, mood swings, involuntary sighing, sweating, trembling, and shivering.
All of these manifestations appear in experiential journeys. They come in the initial phases as defenses to moving into pain and fear, and they come during culmination when the mentee releases embedded tissue memories, sensory memories, during the unstressing process. When the sensations are validated and deepened they transform, and the sojourner is transformed with them.
Experiential therapy, like meditation, is not a form of relaxation. It is actually a form of effortless attention and concentration, and a simultaneous emptying, which can raise our innate level of available or unblocked spiritual energy (chi, kundalini, Shekinah, “the Force,” etc.) with a profound mindbody altering effect.
Once this force is aroused, it is unpredictable just how it will effect the mental, physical, and emotional states. However, when this deep existential imagery transforms, the individual attitudes and fundamental beliefs about self are permanently transformed with it. There is a sense of deep healing of formerly unresolved conflicts, psychophysical restructuring, and rebirth into a renewed life. It changes one’s behavior, one’s lifestyle. Spirituality is not something we possess or attain; it is a Way of life. This is the hero’s journey into consciousness transformation, the age-old quest (see Joseph Campbell work for details).
Appendix: Maslow’s Descriptors of Self-Actualizing Individuals
1. They avoid publicity, fame, glory, honors, popularity, celebrity, or at least they do not seek it for its own sake. It is not terribly important one way or another.
2. They do not need to be loved by everyone.
3. They generally pick out their own causes, which are apt to be few in number, rather than responding to advertising or to campaigns or to other people’s exhortations.
4. Their fighting is not an excuse for hostility, paranoia, grandiosity, authority, rebellion, etc., but is for the sake of getting things right. It is problme-centered.
5. They manage somehow simultaneously to love the world as it is and to try to improve it.
6. They respond to the challenge in a job. A chance to improve the situation or the operation is a big reward. They enjoy improving things.
7. They do not need or seek for or even enjoy very much flattery, applause, popularity, status, prestige, money, honors, etc.
8. Expressions of gratitude, or at least of awareness of their good fortune, are common.
9. They tend to be attracted by mystery, unsolved problems, by the unknown, and the challenging, rather than to be frightened by them.
10. They enjoy bringing about law and order in the chaotic situation, or in the messy or confused situation, or in the dirty and unclean situation.
11. They try to free themselves from illusions, to look at the facts courageously, to take away the blindfold.
12. They feel it is a pity for talent to be wasted.
13. They tend to feel that every person should have an opportunity to develop to his highest potential, to have a fair chance, to have equal opportunity.
14. They like doing things well, doing a good job, to do well what needs doing. Many such phrases add up to bringing about good workmanship.
15. They get great pleasure from knowing admirable people (courageous, honest, effective, staright, big, creative, saintly, etc.) “My work brings me in contact with many fine people.”
16. They enjoy taking on responsibilities (that they can handle well) and certainly don’t fear or evade their responsibilities. They respond to responsibility.
17. They uniformly consider their work to be worthwhile, important, even essential.
18. They enjoy greater efficiency, making an operation more neat, compact, simpler, faster, less expensive, turning out a better product, doing with less parts, a smaller number of operations, less clumsiness, less effort, more foolproof, safer, more elegant, less laborious.
REFERENCES
Caplan, Mariana (1999), HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment, Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press.Colarusso, Calvin and Nemiroff, Robert (1981), ADULT DEVELOPMENT, New York: Plenum Press.Gowan, John Curtis (1975), TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY, Buffalo: Creative Education Foundation. (197 ), DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL. (1974 ), DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL. (1980), OPERATIONS OF INCREASING ORDER.Hillman, James (1996), THE SOUL’S CODE: In Search of Character and Calling, New York: Random House.Huang, Chungliang Al and Lynch, Jerry (1995), MENTORING: The Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom, San Francisco: Harper.Jacoby, Mario (1991), INDIVIDUATION AND NARCISSISM; The Psychology of Self in Jung & Kohut, New York: Routledge.Miller, Iona (1994), “Development of the psychedelic individual: a 20 year retrospective & commentary on the work of John Curtis Gowan,” for Psychedelic Monographs & Essays.Walsh, Roger and Vaughn, Frances (eds.) (1993), PATHS BEYOND THE EGO: THE TRANSPERSONAL VISION, Los Angeles: Tarcher.Wilber, Ken (2000), INTEGRAL PSYCHOLOGY: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy, Boston: Shambala.Wilber, Ken, “A spirituality that transforms,” online at What is Enlightenment?; http://www.wie.org/j12/wilber.html Links to work of John Curtis Gowan http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
Creativity, ESP, and Meditation; the JOHN CURTIS GOWAN Memorial Website of Psychic Phenomena, Mental Health, and Paranormal Psychology
BOOK I:
TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY
A Psychological Analysis of the Relationship Between the Individual Ego and the Numinous Element in Three Modes: Prototaxic, Parataxic, and Syntaxic
Keywords: archetype, art, biofeedback, collective unconscious, creativity, dissociation, dream, drug effects, ecstasy, ESP, glossolalia, hallucination, hypnosis, meditation, myth, mysticism, numinous element, parapsychology, peak experience, psychic, ritual, self-actualization, tantra, trance.
JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
California State University
Northridge, California
BOOK II:
OPERATIONS OF INCREASING
ORDER
AND OTHER ESSAYS
ON
EXOTIC FACTORS OF INTELLECT,
UNUSUAL POWERS and ABILITIES, ETC.
(as Found in Psychic Science)
Descriptors: Adamic ecstasy, altered states of consciousness, accelerated mental process, apports, auras, clairaudience, clairvoyance, dowsing, empery, elongation, gemeinschaftgefuhl, genius,healing, hologram model, incorruptibility, inedia, invisibility, infused knowledge, jhanas, levitation, mortem excursus, materialization, miraculous sight, non-somnia, poltergeists, precognition, psychometry, psychokinesis, psychic heat and surgery, precocity, reincarnation, siddhis, SHC (spontaneous human combustion), stigmata, telepathy, teleportation, time warp, transfiguration, translation, vision through opaque objects.
by JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
Professor (Emeritus)
California State University, Northridge
A. B., Ed. M., Harvard, Ed. D. UCLA
BOOK III:
DEVELOPMENT
of the
PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL
A Psychological Analysis of the Psychedelic
State and Its Attendant Psychic Powers
JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
California State University
Northridge, California
PAPER:
THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE
J. C. Gowan
BOOK IV: DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL
OTHER BOOKS BY J. C. GOWAN
PHOTO OF J.C .GOWAN
OBITUARY
Iona Miller
AN INTEGRATIVE VIEW OF NORMAL ADULT DEVELOPMENT
BY IONA MILLER, Asklepia Foundation, (c)2000
ABSTRACT: Developmental theory helps us gain a concept of what unblocked or free flowing developmental process looks like in terms of the fulfillment of human potential. The integrative developmental framework emphasizes the continuing evolution of the whole person; ultimately it is a spiritual process. The results of the stimulus of forward development and progression that is provided by the normative crisis of midlife, with its adjustments to aging and mortality, is examined in respect to the Consciousness Restructuring Process (CRP). The goal of treatment is elimination of blocks to the still-evolving personality and to the course of current and future development.The adult experiences a constant process of dynamic change and flux, and is always in a state of “becoming” or “finding the way.” We present seven hypotheses about development in adulthood, and identify phase-specific issues and challenges, including typical adult rites of passage and the developmental phenomena of middle and later life as well. Erickson’s eight stages of life are used to outline the developmental continuum through the illuminative phase of potential transpersonal experience. CRP often leads to spontaneous initiatory spiritual experiences.The evolution of the authentic self in adulthood is a dynamic process which is part of the lifelong shaping of identity and self-image. The attainment of authenticity is a central, dynamic task of adulthood achieved through restructuring of the self. Confronting the quintessential adult-human experience can lead to integration of the highest order and produce profound awareness of what it means to be human. A number of factors, some unique to adult experience, build on the self constructed from earlier phases of life and develop it further. Some of the most important include: (1) the body, (2) object ties, (3) time and death, and (4) work, creativity, and mentorship.Keywords: Adult development, developmental theory, Erickson, Maslow, Piaget, Gowan, Freud, Jung, midlife crisis, adult passage, rites of passage, death and dying, aging, mentoring, maturity, parenting, marriage, pair-bonding, self-actualization, self-realization, self-image, integrative models, character, vision, soul, spirituality, creativity, peak experiences, ego-death, spiritual growth, transpersonal.
DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY IN PSYCHOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY
Developmental processes occur throughout the life span, not only during childhood. Therefore, the adult is understood to be a complex, dynamic, constantly changing organism. Learning in adulthood is a developmental experience; adult experience is a major determinant of further development. Current experience always adds to and interacts with existing mental structure, which is itself the result of all preceding development. Often this occurs in seemingly discontinuous “quantum leaps.”
Most spiritual philosophies or religions describe certain growth processes which result in emergent qualities which define the ideals of adult maturity and fulfillment. Whether it is described in terms of processes (becoming) or qualities/characteristics (states-of-being), the integrative process of dynamic change continues past childhood, into the three phases of adulthood, into old age. The ultimate fruit of this process is the spiritual luminary, or enlightened one.
Defining characteristics of this experiential process include emergence of the authentic self, self-actualization, or self-realization. They are expressed in the emergence of spirituality and integrity; wisdom, understanding, and compassion; a realistic self appraisal; and a continued ability for evolutionary change and creativity, with the emergent potential for and possible stabilization of illuminative or unitive experiences.
Personal experience and expression of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal goals can lead to fulfillment of human potential. The direct experience is of wholeness, personal connectedness and expansion of consciousness.
Our awareness can journey beyond the mere body, emotions, and mind to perceptions and insights which enlarge our sense of self-image in a functional and evolutionary manner, superceding merely personalistic, narcissistic, regressive tendencies in a permanent reorganization. These experiences occur in the context of normal adult passages, the spiritual quest, and in the psychotherapeutic setting. Sometimes expansive experiences are initiated by the awesomeness of nature, alone.Such transformative experiences have been described in religion, in both hierarchical and integrative models, such as the kabbalistic Tree of Life, and in concepts such as the Diamond Body of Sufism and the Superior Person of the I Ching. In Confucianism, the adult is a metaphor of the Way, a term describing the process of maturation involving continuous effort toward self-realization.
In the Socratic ideal, the philosopher is the properly educated individual who escapes from the bonds of his deluded senses to the freedom of enlightened reason and clear understanding of the realities of human existence. He is not deterred from the pursuit of truth and justice by illusions of self-importance. Implicit is the ideal of soul seeking “integrity and wholeness in all things human and divine,” with a mind “habituated to thoughts of grandeur and the contemplation of all time and all existence,” and such a person “will not suppose death to be terrible.” (Plato, The Republic, Book VI).
Many mystery schools and teachers of meditation describe inner planes of experience which can be accessed by the devoted with spiritual practice. Descriptions of these realms are consciousness maps which describe the typical features of various regions and how to gain access to them. The more highly developed one’s practice, the greater the degree of penetration and mystical union.Several hypotheses have emerged in psychology of the developmental process, including those of Freud, Jung, Piaget, Erickson, Maslow, and more recently Wilber (2000). Jung called the process individuation; Maslow called it self-actualization. Spiritual sources refer to it as self-realization. Ultimately, these processes represent emergent or stabilized spiritual endeavors exemplified by sages, adepts, saints, and spiritual masters.
Stated in the broadest possible terms, individuation refers to the innate urge of life to realize itself consciously. The transpersonal life energy, in the process of creative self-unfolding, uses human consciousness, the essence of itself, as an instrument for its own self-realization. The Way is inseparable from the person, an internal presence.Erikson described eight critical steps in the developmental process, which are rooted in psychophysical change rather than stability. We progress in life skills when confronted with contradiction, conflict, and disequilibrium:
1). Birth-2 yrs. This first phase is the incorporative stage of basic trust and mistrust, conditioning primal hope or a sense of impending doom throughout life. Erikson found that psychotic individuals had easy child-rearing situations that engendered mistrust from unpredictable and chaotic parenting.
2). 2-4 years. The central conflict is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Shame results when failure is not handled compassionately and sensitively; it leads to defiance or deviousness from fear of discovery. Balance between self-control and self-expression is lost. It relates to the development of self-esteem, love and hate.
3). 4-7 years. Initiative vs. guilt; superego development; parental prohibitions internalized.
4). 7-12 years. The main issue is industry vs. inadequacy; industriousness; social skill development.
5). 12-20 years. Identity vs. role confusion. Emancipation; separation from parents; onset of adolescence; new sense of identity emerges.
6). 20s-30s. Intimacy vs. self-absorption. Sexual relating; pair bonding; parenting. Inability to sustain intimacy leads to isolation and self-absorption, reclusiveness.
7). 40s-50s. Midlife generativity vs. stagnation. Erikson suggested that successful generativity meant the care and facilitation [mentoring] of a younger generation as a key to fulfillment and cohesion in midlife. The alternative is despair, feeling stuck emotionally and intellectually. This loss of forward momentum leads many into therapy.8). 60s+. This final stage brings either a sense of integrity or a sense of despair.Erikson’s contribution was to make explicit the processes inherent in each stage of human growth which offer the potential for developing personal strength to overcome older weaknesses of the self.
Thus, developmental models begin by describing stages of personality stabilization and move even further to describe evolutionary and revolutionary spiritual development beyond the tasks of average adult development, (such as pair-bonding, child rearing, and career building). Normal adult development is not necessarily average adult development.Average adult development tends to plateau at various points of complacent contentment, whereas normal development proactively continues in evolutionary fashion up to and through the moment of death. Just as adult development is a direct extension of childhood development, spiritual development is the logical extension of the adult developmental dynamic. Spiritual development is contemporaneous with, not sequential to, adult development, and represents the fruit of the tree of life.
We have assumed seven basic hypotheses about development in adulthood, after Colarusso and Nemiroff (1981):
(1) The nature of the developmental process is basically the same in the adult as in the child.
(2) Development in adulthood is an ongoing, dynamic process.
(3) Whereas child development is focused primarily in the formation of psychic structure, adult development is concerned with the continued evolution of existing structure and with its use.
(4) The fundamental developmental issues of childhood continue as central aspects of adult life but in altered form.
(5) The developmental processes in adulthood are influenced by the adult past as well as the childhood past.
(6) Development in adulthood, as in childhood, is deeply influenced by the body and physical change.
(7) A central, phase-specific theme of adult development is the normative crisis precipitated by the recognition and acceptance of the finiteness of time and the inevitability of personal death.
John Gowan (1975), (expanding on the work of Piaget, Erickson, Maslow and Rogers), outlined the continuum of the developmental process as the relationship of the individual ego to the collective preconscious which underlies creativity and psychedelic or mind-expanding functions. The preconscious is involved in a developmental process which manifests as anxiety at one end of the scale and ranges to creativity and illumination at the other. Gowan’s use of the term “psychedelic” is not synonymous with “drug induced.” His overview includes the work of Kubie, Sullivan, Tart, Masters and Houston, De Ropp, and Krippner, among others.The developmental continuum includes equally vital dimensions of cognition and affect, rational and emotional development, from childhood through adulthood. Developmental escalation on either of these dimensions can lead to personality change and emergence of new phenomena.
Gowan proposed three modes of cognition, (prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic), which he amplified as Trance, Art, and Creativity. They indicate the styles and degree of immersion or cooperation between the ego and the preconscious.
Gowan’s lifework was to describe developmental stages in different phases (latency, identity, creativity) revolving around issues of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, and generativity, creativity, psychedelia, illumination. Breeches of this order lead to a relative displacement of emotional and mental wellbeing which can inhibit or prevent integration.Gowan used the work of Piaget to define the rational development of the mind, and that of Erikson to chart emotional development. Usually the cognitive level lags a stage or two behind the emotional; but some individuals are emotionally stunted or frozen in their development.He called this dissonance by the term dysplasia, but it is more commonly known as dysfunctionality. It is the inability to function in an age-appropriate manner, a dissonance between rational and emotional dynamics resulting in self-defeating and self-destructive tendencies. It is developmental arrest which holds back self-actualizing potential.
“Escalation” implies raising the level of action by discrete jumps--quantum leaps in consciousness. Accessing latent energy resources escalates development from one level to the next. Discontinuity is a requisite for change. Gowan defined developmental forcing as trying to escalate from a given stage to more than one stage higher through mechanical or artificially-induced means.He likened this forcing to developmental abuse: trying to use characteristic powers or fruits of a given stage for display purposes when the individual is actually engaged in tasks of an earlier stage. Relative dysplasia results from not keeping up with developmental tasks--failure to escalate. But in developmental forcing an individual is exposed to experiences or tasks for which they are developmentally unprepared, and forced to attempt or react to them. The effect on the personality has been likened to that of tearing a silk scarf from a thorny rosebush, rather than carefully removing it.
Conversely, those who are well-adapted for their age can become stuck at any level of particular success. He notes that most mature adults become emotionally arrested at the level of vocational fulfillment, financial success, and contentment in marriage. Another stall may occur as the psychedelic nature-mystic experience, where nature is enjoyed for its own sake and virtually “worshipped.” Success at any stage of development may promote the desire to continue to play rather than integrating the lessons learned into the task of the next stage. Further development is an evolutionary task/opportunity.
This notion fit well in the psychological context of its time--the human potential movement with its accent on growth and upward mobility. It is consistent with classical Jungian psychology and humanistic psychology, the general paradigm of its time.Newer notions in Jungian thought, process work, an even process theology, are less focused on the developmental perspective of the coping heroic ego--becoming--and more focused on the ground state of Being--the dynamic Void or naked Reality. The older views seem to underemphasize the initiatory capacity of these radically expansive breakthrough experiences, expressed in our cultural history by 50,000 years of shamanic art and accident.
A course-correction here in conceptualization could include what we have subsequently learned in 30 more years of study of the unfolding of complex dynamical systems and chaos theory. The difference is one of ego control, compared with “letting go” and trusting the natural process: a paradigm shift from a model of ego strength to one of unhindered flow or fluidity. The new paradigm--which embraces chaos--is expressed in science and psychology in such notions as complex non-linear dynamics, punctuated equilibrium, emergent creativity, and creative self-organization.The notion of development implies hierarchical “operations of increasing order.” This reflects the interplay of the dynamic processes of order and chaos in all forms of change and growth. Increasing order automatically leads to entropy, which facilitates the breakdown of old forms including outworn personality traits and states of consciousness. Experiences of the complex interplay of chaos and order are the instrument of all development as well as that of the “psychedelic individual.” (Miller, 1994).
Self-initiation through inner guidance (by happenstance or intent) often leads, in a person with latent shamanic tendencies, to self-induced “shock treatment,” the results of which the person is subsequently forced to confront in daily life. These experiences may or may not be integratable; if not, they lead to breakdown, not breakthrough. Three commonly employed mechanical means are drug use, various forms of ritual or ceremonial magick, and marathon meditation, any of which can force escalation beyond normal social developmental stages.
Even in those with a poor social foundation, this “forcing” may crystallize a spirituality or inner-directed behavior which conditions or balances the individual in the short- or long-run. This spirituality may take a conventional, cultish, or idiosyncratic form. Thus, a dynamic if chaotic “path” or direction of development is chosen. The more definitive the commitment, the clearer the emergent non-linear path and creativity.Gowan did allude, but perhaps not fully comprehend in terms of complex dynamics, the dynamic interplay within the transformative process. Within each transition, he identifies certain components of change: succession, discontinuity (discontinuous equilibration), emergence or budding, differentiation or metamorphosis, and integration or creative repatterning. Together they define phases of developmental escalation, or shifting to a higher gear for more efficient use of available energy. The objective of escalation is creativity.Integration in the developmental process includes five aspects:
(1) confrontation of differences, (2) integration, (3) a yielding up or giving up of the old for a new reorganization, (4) a process of differentiation, and (5) a positive directionality.
In summary, Gowan piggybacks on the notions of Erikson and Piaget to create a developmental stage theory, which asserts four primary ideas:
1) that the developmental chart has a periodicity of three, and that the last three cognitive stages are creativity, psychedelia, and illumination;
2) that developmental stages are characterized by escalation, and when that does not occur (because an individual is complacent, stuck, or regressing) opens one to developmental lags, dysplasia, or dysfunctionality;
3) that creativity is a characteristic of the third and sixth developmental stages;
4) that the stabilization and mental health of the preconscious is the key factor in creative output and developmental progress, as well as a factor in psychophysical wellbeing.
Gradually, the traumatic impact of the encounter between the conscious and unconscious diminishes as the individual develops. The person learns how to handle issues of identity, love or intimacy, and finally death. Encounters with the “not-me” symbolize and express death of the ego, and prepare one for physical death by de-emphasizing externally-generated sensory input. Rather than being traumatically overwhelmed, the personal identity is radically deconstructed, creatively re-structured and expands to experience full emotional and cognitive acceptance of both freedom and responsibility.Pushing on our boundaries, we run the risk of rupturing our sense of identity. This is why the concept of a free creativity is always associated with the genuine danger of a “treasure hard to attain,” why madness and genius often appear simultaneously. Peak experiences of creative possibility can lead to self-fulfillment or self-destruction.
Mystic at-one-ment crowns the quest after lower developmental needs have been satisfied. Gowan, seemingly a humanist, asserts that the proper use of the awesome power of the psychedelic stage is “to protect and preserve those objects of individual man’s self concept starting with the health and welfare of his body image, and then extending outward to his environmental self and its possessions, his loved ones, his associations and interests, his concerns, and finally his total environment and his creations, thus embracing all of his natural world.”The small ego diffuses through cosmic expansion of the hierarchy of needs toward an enlarged sense of Self. According to Gowan, “man’s highest purpose is not to experience the world of the senses as a reactive being but to design it...to become part of the noumenon of the universe...co-creator...co-designer."
”He quotes Troward from 1909 as to how this can be done:
1) There is some emotion, which gives rise to,
2) a desire.
3) Judgement determines if we shall externalize this desire, if approved.
4) The will directs the imagination to form the necessary spiritual prototype;
5) the imagination thus centered creates the spiritual nucleus.
6) This prototype acts as a center around which the forces of attraction begin to work [i.e. a “strange attractor”], and continue until;
7) the concrete result is manifested and becomes perceptible.
This creative imagery cycle has practically become the foundation principle of New Age thought. Essentially, this same process is echoed in the transformational realities of experiential psychotherapy and process theology and codified in Transpersonal Psychology.
The innate self-image is intimately linked to feelings of destiny, meaningfulness, significance, uniqueness, one’s reason for being. When it is unhealthy to the core, we feel purposeless, pointless, life lacks meaning. Whether one follows a conventional path or an unpredictable offbeat journey, life is dull without connection to exploration, discovery, romance, beauty, myth, mystery, and spirituality. We are cut off from our spiritual Source and existential roots.Fromm spoke of man’s urge for transcendence, our need to rise above our animal nature. While Freud described a dynamic psychology marked by depth, Jung and Maslow also described peak experiences as moments of transcendence which are transformative. We are a complex energy field, not essentially separate from the entire Universe. This healing return to the fundamental condition beyond energy and form can be experienced and identified with.
Peak experiences are those moments in life when we feel strong, sure, and expansive. They may initiate a new phase of development or a dramatic change in lifestyle. It may occur as the reult of a powerful encounter with internal forces. This encounter with Being in some leads to erasure of behavioral patterns which block development, and at the same time provides the new orientation complete with insight and the energy sufficient to effect a dramatic and positive self-transformation.The nature of any image, including innate self-image, is that it is all there at once--it is a Gestalt. Self-image includes character, vision, and calling (vocation), as well as transcendence, a sense of the timeless. We refer to this source as our motivation, essence, character, fate, genius, calling, soul, spirit or destiny. It defines us; we embody it as a spark of consciousness. It heralds our potential for eminence and the exceptional. It links us with the great Unknown.
Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs or drives, in order of increasing priority or potency:
(1) physiological needs;
(2) safety needs;
(3) belongingness and love;
(4) esteem needs;
(5) self-actualization.
He found that growth-oriented self-actualizing people showed superior perception of reality; greater acceptance of self, other, and nature; flexibility, increased spontaneity; stronger focus on problems outside themselves; greater detachment and need for privacy; more autonomy and independence of culture and environment.They also show greater freshness of appreciation and richness of feeling, more frequent mystic or transcendent experience, display brotherly love, compassion or philanthropy, a more democratic character structure, less confusion of means with ends, a philosophical and whimsical rather than a hostile sense of humor, greater creativeness, and resistance to cultural conformity.Not all individuals are “peakers;” some are “non-peakers.” Finding oneself, or one’s center or essential nature, is a self-actualization which requires breakthroughs, but not necessarily “peaking.” When unblocked or distorted, life is a natural process of self-realization. Consciousness is always rising to a new level. Unless blocked, we mature away from rationalization, fear, resistance, escape, commitment-phobia, ego-death paranoia, and profaning the sacred.
Movement is toward creativity, joy, commitment, transcendence, insight, harmony, beauty, compassion, bliss, and Higher Power. It comes as a series or stream of refinements. Awareness then transcends the realm of the personal self and enters the realm of the transpersonal, suspending the illusions of time, space, and personal identity.
Psychedelic or conscious-expanding experiences are characterized by a sudden, spasmodic, transitory nature, and off-again on-again types of episodes which leave the individual enthralled, but somewhat let down when it is over. Illumination, on the other hand, is a steady state where the art of flowing with the experience has been mastered. But like the display of adventitious psychic powers, “natural” psychedelia is not valuable unless followed up by action and development and integration. It represents potentiality not accomplishment. (Gowan, 1975).
For Jung, Maslow, and Grof, neurosis is a failure of personal growth, an interference with the process of individuation or self-actualization. It could be considered a transpersonal crisis or emergency, which interrupts the process of spiritual emergence. In these theories of mental health, extra-psychic success is not enough; we must also include intra-psychic health, coming-to-wholeness.A further outgrowth of humanistic psychology is multidisciplinary Transpersonal Psychology. It is largely concerned with ultimate human capacities and potentialities, such as becoming, meta-needs, ultimate values, peak experiences, ecstasy, mystical experience, awe, bliss, wonder, transcendence of the self, and cosmic awareness or universal consciousness. In this ontological view, the physical or material world is not ultimate. Consciousness, rather than a function of the human brain, is fundamental and undergirds Reality.
The self is the core system within which certain basic tendencies are integrated: need-satisfaction, self-limiting adaptation, creative expansion, and upholding the internal order, while striving for fulfillment. We are proactive as well as reactive. The proactive individual strives to attain a freer and more creative state for himself and fellow human beings. Intentionality, purpose and choice are of primary concern. Thus, psychological growth includes self-discovery, self-creation and self-realization.Ken Wilber (2000) argues for a spirituality that transforms, rather than merely helping the self make sense of, and endure the realities of life, since that does nothing to change the level of consciousness in a person. He promotes the shattering liberation from the separate self, rather than consoling, defending, or promoting the self. One function of religion is to fortify the separate self, but shattering or devastating the self (ego-death) is the only way that leads to profound transmutation.
The first function of religion or spirituality, creating meaning for the self, is a type of horizontal movement; the second function of transcending self, is a type of vertical movement (higher or deeper, depending on your metaphor). The old self is undermined and eventually dismantled, looked into and through, “grabbed by its throat and literally throttled to death.” Thus, transformation is not a matter of faith or belief, but of the death of the believer and a process of finding and merging with infinity on the other side of death. Hence, the admonition to “die daily” in meditation since a spiritual practice is essential to stabilizing this “always there” atonement.
“Those who cannot translate adequately, with a fair amount of integrity and accuracy, fall quickly into severe neurosis or even psychosis; the world ceases to make sense--the boundaries between the self and the world are not transcended but instead begin to crumble. This is not breakthrough but breakdown, not transcendence, but disaster. But at some point in our maturation process, translation itself, no matter how adequate or confident, simply ceases to console. No new beliefs, no new paradigm, no new myths, no new ideas, will staunch the encroaching anguish. Not a new belief for the self, but the transcendence of the self altogether, is the only path that avails.” (Wilber).
Thus, the radicaly transformative process offers authenticity, spiritual authenticity, true enlightenment and liberation. Authentic consciousness finds its home in radiant infinity through revolutionary change, rendering the self undone. Since there is only Spirit, seeking Spirit is exactly what prevents its realization; it is an always-already present state. Therefore, the integral approach to overall transformation utterly dismantles the self. We can breathe into infinity.In the material world, we have split the atom, unraveled the genetic code, and probed the birth of the universe. We can do the same psychologically and spiritually; our quantum mind is not essentially separate from Universal Mind; our psychophysical consciousness is Consciousness. Transpersonal disciplines explore realizing these perennial visionary possibilities.
CRP, ADULT DEVELOPMENT, AND SPIRITUALITY
The Consciousness Restructuring Process (CRP) can be a valuable tool in facilitating adjustments and fundamental self-reorganization at the level of the primal existential self-image. More than fantasy or imagination, this visionary journey fosters insight and radical transformation. The CRP journey is guided by a Mentor who accompanies the Mentee in a co-conscious navigation through the stream of consciousness to the ocean of infinity.
The organic restructuring which follows is nourishing and healing; but it leads through dissolution or deconstruction of the ego, passed personal fears and pain. A journey to and immersion in “chaotic consciousness” can be employed whenever adults feel stultified or blocked in their transformative process, or simply for personal enhancement or enrichment of inner or spiritual life. We re-emerge from chaotic consciousness with a holistically repatterned blueprint for Reality which we immediately embody.
Though it is healing, there does not need to be any perception that something is wrong to employ the CRP technique with great benefit. It can be used during crises, growth periods, or to stimulate creativity and consciousness expansion. The approach is always to the whole person. Self-actualization, fulfillment of unique potential, is the theme or trend which regulates the interaction between an individual and the environment.Self-actualization is concerned with human capacities and potentialities such as love, creativity, self, growth, basic need-gratification, higher values, being, becoming, spontaneity, play, humor, affection, naturalness, warmth, ego-transcendence, autonomy, responsibility, meaning, fair-play, empathy, openness, transcendental experience, and psychophysical wellbeing.
Focus is on the experiencing person, including concepts like the self-image, self-esteem, and the unity or integrity of the personality, the organic emergence of new forms of fundamental reorganization of the whole person. Restructuring occurs at the root level of the Primal Existential Sensory Self-Image (PESSI).
CRP is of particular value during the so-called midlife crisis when a multitude of issues, existential realities, and dynamic changes cry for a reorganization or restructuring of the entire life. Reworking and eventual integration of powerful feelings are integral parts of normal development at midlife. Aging and mortality must be confronted and embraced.
At any stage, pathology can be seen as a deviation from normal development. The goal of treatment is therefore, not symptom removal, but the elimination of blocks to the still-evolving personality and to the course of current and future development, (which often comes in unpredictable quantum leaps or peak experiences).In the calm that follows this stormy midlife passage, CRP can provide the impetus for the next positive growth stage into such areas as mentoring, or other means of “giving back” to the greater whole the fruits of one’s lifetime of achievements. It is a means of fostering connection with Spirit, contentment, continuous optimal growth, self-actualization (psychological model), and self-realization (spiritual model), an expansive/integrative experience of self and universe.
CRP journeys provide a means of consciously connecting with Source and restructuring the psychophysical self image at the most fundamental level. Imagination-REM based, this process is an inner experience which explores the sensory nature and roots of a dream or symptom. REM is attained through breathing techniques, most notably by noticing the stillness and silence at the bottom of each breath.
CRP is radically imaginal; imagination is the primary element and mode of experience. “Exploration” is accomplished using imaginal sensory images that arise from the subconscious. Our existential realities and issues can take many fluid forms in this morphological field. Images are followed to their source, to the consciousness structure that shaped and formed them.
Dis-eased images dissolve into the unformed matrix, beyond energy and form. Ultimate reality is unknowable directly, and can only be experienced through the images by which it is expressed. When we emerge from that communion, it is with a freshly reborn self-image, created by the freeing of energies formerly locked into the dis-eased pattern.Behavior and physiology are based on perceptions of self and its relationship to the world. Past and present experiences create consciousness structures that are stored as neural patterns and shape these perceptions. This mindbody phenomenon underlies our personal and unique experience of self and reality.Our dream experience is shaped by these inner, conscious patterns (neural firing patterns) that also shape our behavior and physiology. Every dream, among other things, is a self-portrait, but an impressionistic one. Each dream symbol represents different aspects of self, although since dreams are holographic in nature, any part or symbol in a dream also contains the whole.
A primary value of consciousness journeys is the recapitulation and symbolic reiteration in an almost fractal-like manner of our entire evolutionary and developmental history. Just as the developmental growth of the embryo and fetus recapitulates the broad strokes of biological evolution, so to the journeys recapitulate our atomic and subatomic origins, our genetic inheritance, our electrochemical essence, our conceptual imprinting, neonatal programming, etc.
Thus, any journey can incorporate and modify imagery from all the developmental stages, depending on a wide variety of states of identification and dissociation.Through this means interior processes are deepened, and natural psychedelic consciousness emerges. It is often felt during the resolution or healing phase of the session as profound serenity and a sense of enlargement and communion--an epiphany. This is not the result of a simple translation of the belief system, but a deeper transformation which is associated with the radical deconstruction of ego death.
As healing continues (the psychobiological form of creativity), the emergent psychedelia of sessions becomes generalized into daily life. Clarity makes the world looks sharper, more beautiful; love and compassion become easier to embrace. Each developmental advance involves the increased cognitive confluence with an understanding of this deepening interior process.The innate self-image is intimately linked to feelings of destiny, meaningfulness, significance, uniqueness, one’s reason for being. Whether one follows a conventional path or an unpredictable offbeat journey, life is dull without connection to exploration, self-expression, discovery, romance, beauty, myth, mystery, and spirituality.
By closing the gap between unconscious emotions and “acting out” with experiential understanding of the sensory roots of attitudinal and behavioral patterns, CRP therapy facilitates healing of developmental dysplasia, promoting existential congruence of mental and emotional faculties. Cognitive dissonance is healed when our self-concept stands up to consensus reality checks and our thinking and feeling harmonize.
When we are healthy, our existential reality matches our perception. Head and heart cooperate, rather than tearing us in two. It is self-evident that we usually know what is “right” to do, but we tend to do what we feel like doing, even when it is self-defeating. Consciousness-expanding experiences are the antidote to this malady. They release us from our limitation to the realm of “no boundaries” and infinite potential.When we consciouly choose to journey inward, in a safe therapeutic setting, experiences emerge through process work which are virtually identical to naturally-induced psychedelic experiences. This probably has something to do with the serotonin cycle, as most chemical psychedelics exert their influence there. Common elements can be summarized in seven points as defined by Gowan (1975).
“(1) The attention of the subject is gripped, and his perception is narrowed or focused on a single event or sensation; 2) which appears to be an experience of surpassing beauty or worth; 3) in which values or relationships never before realized are instantaneously or very suddenly emphasized; 4) resulting in the sudden emergence of great joy and an orgiastic experience of ecstasy; 5) in which individual barriers separating the self from others or nature are broken down; 6) resulting in a release of love, confidence, or power; and 7) some kind of change in the subsequent personality, behavior or artistic product after the rapture is over.”
Thus, there are phenomena common to psychedelic experience, mystical states, and process work. They are typically the same images of ego death and emergent reorganization because the process/goal is the same no matter what means we use to facilitate expansion of consciousness. As the ego goes through its symbolic death throes, images of dismemberment and dissolution prevail. The old form dissolves into chaotic consciousness, making way for the rebirth of the newly reborn, expanded consciousness and sense of self.The corresponding physical unstressing manifests as completely involuntary, unintended, spontaneous muscular-skeletal movements and proprioceptive sensations: momentary or repeated twitches, spasms, tingling, tics, jerking, swaying, pains, shaking, aches, internal pressures, headaches, weeping, laughter, etc. Visceral experiences range from extreme pleasure to acute distress.
They may include bristling of the hair, perspiration, and burning sensations.Developmental forcing, moving into and through pain and fear, may be felt as a shock, psychic jolt or jerk. On the other hand, mystic ecstasy or expansion brings feelings of bliss, serene delight, sensations of the remoteness of physical surroundings, and transpersonal ecstatic exaltation beyond words. CRP offers all of the radically transformative benefits seen in the promising developments of LSD Therapy, by employing “drug-free shamanism.”
Cosmic expansion can bring psychic phenomena in its wake, such as synchronicities and extrasensory perception. Yogis caution that these siddhis are epiphenomena--powers which are actually obstacles to further enlightenment when identified with and employed to aggrandize the ego. Beneficial contact comes through interpenetration of the conscious mind and the universal consciousness field, a return to the primal Source.
Mead (1993) reports that meditation can have a definite down-side for some individuals, and these phenomena appear in the Journeys. Rather than promoting relaxation, meditation can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and even panic attack. The mentor guides the mentee through this portion of the journey, but the “relaxation induced panic” can manifest as muscular tension, racing heart, head pain, and perspiration.
The guidance of the mentor prevents the side-effects of self-guided meditation, which in extreme cases can result in breakdown, rather than breakthrough, (schizophrenic episodes, psychogenic illness, and suicidal tendencies). Typical side-effects include sore throats, muscular cramps, tingling or stinging sensations (localized or general), feelings of heaviness or weightlessness, floating sensations, outbursts of laughter or crying, mood swings, involuntary sighing, sweating, trembling, and shivering.
All of these manifestations appear in experiential journeys. They come in the initial phases as defenses to moving into pain and fear, and they come during culmination when the mentee releases embedded tissue memories, sensory memories, during the unstressing process. When the sensations are validated and deepened they transform, and the sojourner is transformed with them.
Experiential therapy, like meditation, is not a form of relaxation. It is actually a form of effortless attention and concentration, and a simultaneous emptying, which can raise our innate level of available or unblocked spiritual energy (chi, kundalini, Shekinah, “the Force,” etc.) with a profound mindbody altering effect.
Once this force is aroused, it is unpredictable just how it will effect the mental, physical, and emotional states. However, when this deep existential imagery transforms, the individual attitudes and fundamental beliefs about self are permanently transformed with it. There is a sense of deep healing of formerly unresolved conflicts, psychophysical restructuring, and rebirth into a renewed life. It changes one’s behavior, one’s lifestyle. Spirituality is not something we possess or attain; it is a Way of life. This is the hero’s journey into consciousness transformation, the age-old quest (see Joseph Campbell work for details).
Appendix: Maslow’s Descriptors of Self-Actualizing Individuals
1. They avoid publicity, fame, glory, honors, popularity, celebrity, or at least they do not seek it for its own sake. It is not terribly important one way or another.
2. They do not need to be loved by everyone.
3. They generally pick out their own causes, which are apt to be few in number, rather than responding to advertising or to campaigns or to other people’s exhortations.
4. Their fighting is not an excuse for hostility, paranoia, grandiosity, authority, rebellion, etc., but is for the sake of getting things right. It is problme-centered.
5. They manage somehow simultaneously to love the world as it is and to try to improve it.
6. They respond to the challenge in a job. A chance to improve the situation or the operation is a big reward. They enjoy improving things.
7. They do not need or seek for or even enjoy very much flattery, applause, popularity, status, prestige, money, honors, etc.
8. Expressions of gratitude, or at least of awareness of their good fortune, are common.
9. They tend to be attracted by mystery, unsolved problems, by the unknown, and the challenging, rather than to be frightened by them.
10. They enjoy bringing about law and order in the chaotic situation, or in the messy or confused situation, or in the dirty and unclean situation.
11. They try to free themselves from illusions, to look at the facts courageously, to take away the blindfold.
12. They feel it is a pity for talent to be wasted.
13. They tend to feel that every person should have an opportunity to develop to his highest potential, to have a fair chance, to have equal opportunity.
14. They like doing things well, doing a good job, to do well what needs doing. Many such phrases add up to bringing about good workmanship.
15. They get great pleasure from knowing admirable people (courageous, honest, effective, staright, big, creative, saintly, etc.) “My work brings me in contact with many fine people.”
16. They enjoy taking on responsibilities (that they can handle well) and certainly don’t fear or evade their responsibilities. They respond to responsibility.
17. They uniformly consider their work to be worthwhile, important, even essential.
18. They enjoy greater efficiency, making an operation more neat, compact, simpler, faster, less expensive, turning out a better product, doing with less parts, a smaller number of operations, less clumsiness, less effort, more foolproof, safer, more elegant, less laborious.
REFERENCES
Caplan, Mariana (1999), HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment, Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press.Colarusso, Calvin and Nemiroff, Robert (1981), ADULT DEVELOPMENT, New York: Plenum Press.Gowan, John Curtis (1975), TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY, Buffalo: Creative Education Foundation. (197 ), DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL. (1974 ), DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL. (1980), OPERATIONS OF INCREASING ORDER.Hillman, James (1996), THE SOUL’S CODE: In Search of Character and Calling, New York: Random House.Huang, Chungliang Al and Lynch, Jerry (1995), MENTORING: The Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom, San Francisco: Harper.Jacoby, Mario (1991), INDIVIDUATION AND NARCISSISM; The Psychology of Self in Jung & Kohut, New York: Routledge.Miller, Iona (1994), “Development of the psychedelic individual: a 20 year retrospective & commentary on the work of John Curtis Gowan,” for Psychedelic Monographs & Essays.Walsh, Roger and Vaughn, Frances (eds.) (1993), PATHS BEYOND THE EGO: THE TRANSPERSONAL VISION, Los Angeles: Tarcher.Wilber, Ken (2000), INTEGRAL PSYCHOLOGY: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy, Boston: Shambala.Wilber, Ken, “A spirituality that transforms,” online at What is Enlightenment?; http://www.wie.org/j12/wilber.html Links to work of John Curtis Gowan http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
Creativity, ESP, and Meditation; the JOHN CURTIS GOWAN Memorial Website of Psychic Phenomena, Mental Health, and Paranormal Psychology
BOOK I:
TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY
A Psychological Analysis of the Relationship Between the Individual Ego and the Numinous Element in Three Modes: Prototaxic, Parataxic, and Syntaxic
Keywords: archetype, art, biofeedback, collective unconscious, creativity, dissociation, dream, drug effects, ecstasy, ESP, glossolalia, hallucination, hypnosis, meditation, myth, mysticism, numinous element, parapsychology, peak experience, psychic, ritual, self-actualization, tantra, trance.
JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
California State University
Northridge, California
BOOK II:
OPERATIONS OF INCREASING
ORDER
AND OTHER ESSAYS
ON
EXOTIC FACTORS OF INTELLECT,
UNUSUAL POWERS and ABILITIES, ETC.
(as Found in Psychic Science)
Descriptors: Adamic ecstasy, altered states of consciousness, accelerated mental process, apports, auras, clairaudience, clairvoyance, dowsing, empery, elongation, gemeinschaftgefuhl, genius,healing, hologram model, incorruptibility, inedia, invisibility, infused knowledge, jhanas, levitation, mortem excursus, materialization, miraculous sight, non-somnia, poltergeists, precognition, psychometry, psychokinesis, psychic heat and surgery, precocity, reincarnation, siddhis, SHC (spontaneous human combustion), stigmata, telepathy, teleportation, time warp, transfiguration, translation, vision through opaque objects.
by JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
Professor (Emeritus)
California State University, Northridge
A. B., Ed. M., Harvard, Ed. D. UCLA
BOOK III:
DEVELOPMENT
of the
PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL
A Psychological Analysis of the Psychedelic
State and Its Attendant Psychic Powers
JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
California State University
Northridge, California
PAPER:
THE MEASUREMENT OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE
J. C. Gowan
BOOK IV: DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL
OTHER BOOKS BY J. C. GOWAN
PHOTO OF J.C .GOWAN
OBITUARY
Iona Miller
DMT: A Natural Psychedelic Created in Your Brain
DMT, DOPAMINE and THE NATURAL HIGH The Biology of the Inner Light
by Iona Miller
Meditation evokes pineal DMT release through EM vibrations. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions. Meditation modulates pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that coordinates other brain centers with both chemicals and electromagnetism. Resonance is induced in the pineal gland using electric, magnetic, or sound energy, resynchronizing both hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a chain of synergetic harmony that releases DMT, an endogenous psychedelic. The pineal contains high levels of enzymes and building-blocks for DMT, which may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production with other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines which magnify and prolong DMT effects. DMT is the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. DMT production is particularly stimulated in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or awareness may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects, causing multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. When our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises the pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation and release.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. No wonder it is called illumination, and it can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Imagine suggesting the body makes it own psychedelic drug! This is just what psychiatrist Rick Strassman contends in DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2001). He asserts it is an active agent in a variety of altered states, including mystical experience. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation may awaken normally latent synthetic pathways.
Meditation may modulate pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain, as we have described above. To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT. DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak.
He suggests the mysterious pineal gland is implicated in the natural production of this mystic molecule, as metaphysical teachers have long claimed. The pineal has been called the spirit gland and may be the biological basis of spiritual experience. The only solitary, or unpaired gland in the brain may initiate and support a variety of altered states of consciousness.
The pineal is known to contain high levels of the enzymes and building-blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
The pineal sits, well-protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes.
Endogenous DMT is described as the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina.
DMT production is particularly stimulated, according to Strassman in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality—these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel or minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies . . .The pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation.” (Strassman).
Become Your Own Technoshaman
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, a form of entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute http://monroeinstitute.org , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute http://centerpointe.com is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim http://alpha-stim.com.
Dr. Rick Strassman http://rickstrassman.com
What's New with My Subject? www.innerworlds.50megs.com
www.neurotheology.org/
DMT, DOPAMINE and THE NATURAL HIGH The Biology of the Inner Light
by Iona Miller
Meditation evokes pineal DMT release through EM vibrations. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions. Meditation modulates pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that coordinates other brain centers with both chemicals and electromagnetism. Resonance is induced in the pineal gland using electric, magnetic, or sound energy, resynchronizing both hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a chain of synergetic harmony that releases DMT, an endogenous psychedelic. The pineal contains high levels of enzymes and building-blocks for DMT, which may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production with other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines which magnify and prolong DMT effects. DMT is the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. DMT production is particularly stimulated in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or awareness may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects, causing multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. When our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises the pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation and release.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. No wonder it is called illumination, and it can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Imagine suggesting the body makes it own psychedelic drug! This is just what psychiatrist Rick Strassman contends in DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2001). He asserts it is an active agent in a variety of altered states, including mystical experience. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation may awaken normally latent synthetic pathways.
Meditation may modulate pineal activity, eliciting a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain, as we have described above. To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT. DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak.
He suggests the mysterious pineal gland is implicated in the natural production of this mystic molecule, as metaphysical teachers have long claimed. The pineal has been called the spirit gland and may be the biological basis of spiritual experience. The only solitary, or unpaired gland in the brain may initiate and support a variety of altered states of consciousness.
The pineal is known to contain high levels of the enzymes and building-blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
The pineal sits, well-protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes.
Endogenous DMT is described as the source of visionary Light in transpersonal experiences. Its primary source, the pineal, has traditionally been referred to as the Third Eye. Curiously, this gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina.
DMT production is particularly stimulated, according to Strassman in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, psychosis, and physical death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT may also play a significant role in dream consciousness.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality—these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain ‘sacred’ worlds, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel or minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies . . .The pineal begins to ‘vibrate’ at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation.” (Strassman).
Become Your Own Technoshaman
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, a form of entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Split brain experiments have shown we are of “two minds” -- one rational, linear, time-bound, and cognitive while the other is emotional, holistic, intuitive, artistic. Even when we know what we should do we do what we want. The main distinction is between thinking and feeling, objective analysis and subjective insight. Each half has its own way of knowing about our being and perceiving external reality. Either mode can lead or follow, or conflict, keeping knowledge such as traumatic memories, from the other.
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies promoting this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Perhaps the oldest is the Monroe Institute http://monroeinstitute.org , which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute http://centerpointe.com is called Holosynch. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim http://alpha-stim.com.
Dr. Rick Strassman http://rickstrassman.com
What's New with My Subject? www.innerworlds.50megs.com
www.neurotheology.org/
Natural DMT, by Iona Miller, 2006 SOMA PINOLINE: Blinded by the DMT Light Prophets, Procreation, & Parallel Worlds
“I am created by Divine Light. I am sustained by Divine Light. I am protected by Divine Light. I am surrounded by Divine Light. I am ever growing into Divine Light.”
~Swami Sivananda Radha,
“Realities of the Dreaming Mind” (1990)
This is Your Brain on Youth
We are hardwired to seek pleasure, to seek ecstasy. As children we expressed our authentic, core selves – that which can neither be taught nor learned. But the whole “self-help” and “new age” movements are based on trying to get back that golden state of innocence, childlike wonder and awe with spiritual connection.
When religion suggests we “become as little children” again, who could imagine this implies a shamanic return to the womb and the natural psychedelic state of an uncalcified pineal gland? In early childhood, we are perpetually immersed in cascades of trance-inducing theta rhythms of the brain, with the feel-good chemical brew it creates for metaprogramming.
Until roughly age 8, we can’t really distinguish between fantasy and reality, due to our own natural hallucinogen, DMT, (dimethyltryptamine). DMT molecules are similar to serotonin and target the same receptors. Meditation has been suggested as a means of preserving youthful appearance and mental flexibility. Dr. Rick Strassman and others claim this spiritual technology encourages production and release of natural DMT (Soma Pinoline) in the mindbody throughout the lifespan.
DMT is implicated in the wild imaginings of our nightly dreams, near-death phenomena (NDEs), alien abduction experiences, and dream yoga. It is also a source of visionary phenomena in therapy, such as unusual psychophysical states attained in waking dreams, shamanic or psychotherapeutic journeys. Synthetic and botanical DMT crosses the blood-brain barrier and bonds to the same synaptic sites as serotonin. Psychedelic chemist, Sasha Shulgin claims, “DMT is everywhere.”
Each night in dreams we experience an essentially psychedelic state. The principal difference between dreams and hallucinations is the way the stages of wakefulness are organized, with the suppression of REM sleep and the intrusion of PGO waves in the arousal (waking) stage and in NREM (or slow) sleep.
The stages include: waking (arousal) stage, stage of PGO waves, hallucination stage, sleep stage and hallucinatory manifestations. The waking dream eliminates “residues” stirred up by the PGO wave pattern in the absence of REM sleep. These visions resemble those at the approach of death, or what are called near death experiences (NDEs). In another context, they are perceived as visions. They include the characteristics of two phases of NDEs (Sabom, 1982):
Autoscopic phase includes 1) subjective feeling of being dead; 2) peace and well-being; 3) disembodiment; 4) visions of material objects and events.
The Transcendental phase includes 5) tunnel or dark zone; 6) evaluation of one’s past life; 7) light; access to a transcendental world, entering in light; 9) encounter with other beings; 10) return to life.
The Path of Light: Primordial In-Sight
The pineal sits, well protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the sleep hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes at the onset of puberty’s sex hormones, around age 12.
The pineal is the only unpaired gland in the brain. Curiously, this solitary gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. Is there a retinal circus of biophotons deep in the brain, which only the Third Eye sees or even creates: the Light of Wisdom?
This “Third Eye,” in the center of the brain, is implicated in the production of endogenous or natural DMT, dubbed the Spirit Molecule. The pineal synthesizes natural hallucinogens in response to certain psychophysical states, and raises serotonin levels in the brain. There is a functional decline in the gland with advancing age.
This master gland is responsible for the internal perception of Light, the raising of Kundalini the serpent power, and for awakening inner sight or in-sight. The key to a successful meditation is the withdrawal of the sensory currents to the eye focus or the third eye. Once there, the gaze focuses on the middle of whatever appears without any distractions or intrusive thought.
The groundbreaking work of Dr. Rick Strassman (2001) focuses on the role natural body chemistry plays in creating spiritual life. He calls DMT the Spirit Molecule; an endogenous hallucinogen, which he boldly asserts, is an active agent in a variety of altered states including mystical experience.
To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine; N,N-DMT). DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak. DMT crosses the usually impenetrable blood-brain-barrier, suggesting its fundamental role in consciousness. But, concluding his 5-year studies early, Strassman admitted despite their growth potential, there were no viable therapeutic or neurological applications. He does NOT recommend recreational use.
DMT production is stimulated, in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, and death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT also plays a significant role in dream consciousness. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation awakens normally latent neural pathways.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality–these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of a fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain “sacred” words, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies. . .The pineal begins to “vibrate” at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation: the pineal cellular shield, enzyme levels, and quantities of anti-DMT. The end result is a psychedelic surge of the pineal spirit molecule, resulting in the subjective states of mystical consciousness.” (Strassman, 2001).
Natural hallucinogens may belong to the tryptamine or beta-carboline family of compounds. One compound (6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-beta-carboline) has been implicated in rapid eye movement sleep (REM). It is concentrated in the retinae of mammals, which may be related to its visual effects.
There are several ways in which either psychoactive tryptamines and/or beta-carbolines may be produced within the central nervous system and pineal from precursors and enzymes that are known to exist in human beings. In addition, nerve fibers leave the pineal and make synaptic connections with other brain sites through traditional nerve-to-nerve connections, not just through endocrine secretions.
Third Eye Blind
Serotonin or tryptamine levels are higher in the pineal than any other organ in the brain. 5-methoxy-tryptamine is a precursor with hallucinogenic properties, which has a high affinity for the serotonin type-3 receptor. Gucchait (1976) has demonstrated that the human pineal contains an enzyme capable of synthesizing both DMT and bufotenine-like chemistry. These compounds are prime candidates for endogenous “schizotoxins,” and their production may be related to stress and/or trauma, that correlate with schizophrenia.
Strassman notes that both the embryological rudiments of the pineal gland and the differentiated gonads of both male and female appear at 49 days. Melatonin is a timekeeper for gonadal maturation, so the pineal is implicated again. He suggests this rein-effect may be the root of the tension between sexual and spiritual energies, yang and yin. The pineal gland is a source of both psychedelic compounds and the gonads, sources of spiritual and generative immortality.
Stress-related hormones cue the pineal activation to activate normally latent synthetic pathways, creating tryptamine and/or beta-carboline hallucinogens. When we face stress or potential death, or in meditative reveries, we “tune back” into the most well developed motif of such experiences–the birth experience. Perinatal themes and memories re-emerge.
Those with Cesarean deliveries report greater difficulty in attaining transcendent states of breakthrough and release during drug-induced states. Maybe less fetal (or maternal) hallucinogens were released at the time of birth. They may not, according to Strassman, have a strong enough “template of experience” to fall back on, to let go without fear of total annihilation, because lesser amounts of pineal hallucinogens were produced during their births.
Through meditation, the pineal may be modulated to elicit a finely tuned standing wave through resonance effects. It creates the induction of a dynamic, yet unmoving, quality of experience. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. It recalibrates the whole organism.
Dysynchrony is associated with a variety of disorders. Such a standing wave in consciousness can induce resonance in the pineal using electric, magnetic or sound energy, and may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds. Thus, the pineal can be likened to an attractor, or “lightning rod” of consciousness. It generates an illuminative laser beam that pervades the energy body.
A Walk on the Wild Side
Physicist Cliff Pickover argues that, “DMT in the pineal glands of Biblical prophets gave God to humanity and let ordinary humans perceive parallel universes.” “Our brain is a filter, and the use of DMT is like slipping on infrared goggles, allowing us to perceive a valid reality that is inches away and all around us.”
He suggests, perhaps our ancestors produced more DMT, leading to extraordinary spiritual visions. “Maybe this is why the ancients seemed so in touch with God and with miracles and visions. Maybe Moses, Mohammad, and Jesus had a greater rate of pineal DMT production than most.” Pickover blames artificial light for a reduction in our DMT production rate.
Or perhaps more likely, as most ancient cultures, they simply supercharged themselves with shamanic herbs. Some claim the “burning bush” was Cannabis sativa, Assyrian Rue (Pegunam harmala; Zoroaster’s Hoama, Asena ) or the North African Acacia tree, and that Moses either smoked the leaves or got high downwind in the DMT-containing smoke. Modern research cites the species A. maidenii; obtusifolia; phlebophylla as psychedelic.
A few other species of Acacia are also found in the Sinai desert and the Jordan valley including Acacia albida, Acacia tortilis and Acacia iraqensis. Graves, (1948, 264) claimed the Acacia Sant, a host tree of the mistletoe-like loranthus, was the ‘burning bush’ and source of manna. If this oracular tree of Canaan contained tryptamines, as many species do, Moses could have had access to DMT illumination. It is still a practice to burn botanicals inside a tent to imbibe their smoke.
Assyrian rue was the most sacred plant of Mohammad, who took the Esphand (Arabic/Persian name for the plant) before receiving the Koran from God. This holy Esphand was associated with the appearance of angels and casts out evil spirits, and was used to cure fever and malaria and provides the rich red dye of Persian carpets.
Rue was central to the Petra mystery rites and schools of alchemy. Their sacrament was a beverage of illumination and restoration, mixed with gold and other alchemical products. It was passed down from Zoroaster, who was also known as Chem the original Alchemist and CHEMist. Chem is an ancient name for Egypt.
The grandson of Zoroaster, Nimrod or King En.Meru.dug, founded the Egyptian 2nd Dynasty. This plant of life became central in the Mysteries and healing schools of ancient Egypt, where Moses could easily have learned its powers. (Ananda)
The original Essenes, named after the plant, were headquartered in Heliopolis. Asena, the botanical Bush of Life, is an acronym, ASNA, of Aset (Isis) Sutekh (Set) Nebtet (Nephtys) and Auser (Osiris). It embodied the female form of the One God ATON, who correlates with the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Shamanic Bedouins still make the Egyptian eucharistic Bread of Light using the Asena/Hoama bush, the North African Acacia tree, and ground meteorite. They still shape it the form of the Eye of Ra, a circle with a central hole. The tradition was passed down to Christian Gnostics in Abydos, Egypt, the bush eventually becoming symbolically used to sprinkle holy water. Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo reportedly used it for visionary inspiration.
In modern times, Pickover has suggested spontaneous DMT experiences as a possible source of Whitley Streiber’s Communion aliens: “…we know that DMT can often produce visions of cartoon-like aliens.” Others (Meyer, 1993) report those using DMT often claim communication with stick-like, insect-like or elf-like beings and discarnate entities.
Psychonaut, Terence McKenna used synthetic DMT (N,Ndimetyltryptamine) to intentionally contact “machine elves” and explore parallel worlds: “What is driving religious feeling today is a wish for contact with this other universe.” Arguing for their radical “otherness,”
McKenna emphasized that the hyperspace aliens seen while using DMT present themselves “with information that is not drawn from the personal history of the individual.” But smoking this synthetic DMT for hyperspace experience rarely yields Clear Light experiences.
The Harma alkaloid “Harmine” is also known as Telepathine and Banisterine. It is a naturally occurring beta-carboline that is structurally related to harmaline. They stimulate the CNS by inhibiting the metabolism of serotonin and other monoamines. Telepathine, is an MAO inhibitor, which parallels the function of Pinoline (a natural MAO Inhibitor) naturally produced by the Pineal Gland.
The combination of the Pineal secreted DMT (Dimethyltriptamine) and the MAO Inhibitor, Pinoline (Methoxytetrahydrobetacarboline, MeOTHBC) may be responsible for naturally occurring psychic experiences.
Harmine and harmaline are found in Syrian Rue (3-7% harma alkaloid), and ayahuasca brews made with DMT sources, bark and leaves of “Pychotriaviridis” or Banisteriopsis caapi vine. Ayahuasca is the South American sacrament of the Church of Santo Daime and Uniao de Vegetal (UDV). In this setting, the churches condition the “spiritual” expectations, experiences, ethics and type of information “received” in the altered state. The visionary state is considered to be the essence of the shamanic complex.
Shamanic vision differs from hallucination in volition, form and content of thoughts, clarity of heightened awareness, perception and contextualization. Practitioners have claimed it is for “analysis”. There is no primary delusional experience. The distinction between self and non-self is blurred; the notion of causality is affected. Its chemistry probably works as follows:
The primary function of harmala alkaloids in ayahuasca is to allow for the oral activity of DMT by inhibition of MAO-A, and further permits accumulation of 5-HT and other neurotransmitters. On their own harmala alkaloids have only weak psychoactive effects (Callaway, 1994) but Kim et al (1997) found that the harmala alkaloids, which occur in ayahuasca, were the most effective inhibitors of purified MAO-A. The psychedelic effects of ayahuasca probably manifest primarily through the serotonergic effects of DMT on the CNS and through increased levels of unmetabolised biogenic amines. Pinoline potentiates the activity of methylated tryptamines and this is the probable mechanism behind ayahuasca (Callaway, 1994)
Investigation of long-term users of ayahuasca showed a statistically significant difference between control group and users with a higher binding density in blood platelets of 5-HT uptake sites in the ayahuasca drinkers. This indicates a modulatory role for pinoline (the endogenous equivalent of ayahuasca) in the CNS. An upregulation of the serotonergic system is exactly what current antidepressant medications attempt to do, i.e. increasing synaptic 5-HT by preventing its reuptake.
“Johnny Appleseed” brings the finesse of a Transpersonal Psychologist to his experiential shamanic teaching. He contends 5-MeO DMT awakens psychic centers by amplifying our telepathic ability to affect or be receptive to others’ brainwaves through modulating chemistry, electromagnetic entrainment and standing feedback loops.
Plants are mixed in brews with MAO Inhibitor containing plants (Banasteriopsis Caapi, Syrian Rue etc.), to produce entheogenic brews that mimic the DMT-Pinoline combination naturally produced by the Pineal Gland (in the brain).
“For the last ten years I have been doing healing and exploratory sessions with individuals and small groups. We have occasionally experienced the phenomena of telepathy, ESP, and interactions on an energetic level that produce healing in a number of modalities. I work only with a strain of Phalaris grass, an entheogen specifically bred to contain 5-MeO DMT. I use this in an oral preparation potentiated by MAOI from Syrian Rue. This is not a common mix, as most people smoke it for a blast, which is not conducive to this work. I feel all of the other materials mentioned, LSD, mushrooms, and DMT-based brews distort consciousness to some degree. Oral-based 5-MeO DMT from plant sources is something completely different, however. Traces of other alkaloids from the plant source produce a more enhanced experience than the pure chemical. A clear yet enhanced state is accessible easily and reliably with no delusional ideation, or visual distortions. It is simply like being fully awake. This is probably because we were born with, and until puberty had, a pineal gland that made 5-MeO DMT in quite substantial amounts, unlike the reports of only very trace amounts of endogenous DMT. Thus, we have the receptors and metabolic pathways to deal with this material in a non-distorting way.”
The pineal gland makes a neurohormone called melatonin, which is one of the key regulators of the circadian and seasonal biological rhythms. It also makes a mono-amine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor called pinoline (Methoxytetrahydrobetacarboline (MeOTHBC)) which acts on the GABA receptors and whose chemical structure is virtually identical with the harmala alkaloids.
Serotonin (5 Hydroxytryptamine (5HT)) has frequently been implicated in certain aspects of psychoses. Pinoline is a neuromodulator, which prevents, amongst other effects, the breakdown of serotonin. This results in an accumulation of physiologically active amines including dimethyltryptamine (DMT) within the neuronal synapses, which may lead to hallucinations, depression or mania depending on the amines being affected (Strassman, 1990).
Ananda M. Bosman emphasizes the crucial role of endogenous DMT and sacramental DMT from Syrian Rue and other potentiating botanicals. The ancients called it Hoama in Persian (Avesta Veda), Soma in Sanskrit (Rg Veda), the Egyptian Essene, the Sumerian Tree of Life, Mohammed’s Esphand, the burning bush Asena of Moses, the Gnostic Besa, the Etruscan Phallaris arundanacia, and the Rue of alchemy.
Syrian Rue was revered because Melatonin’s active metabolite Pinoline is oneirogenic and antidepressant, increasing Serotonin turnover. Lack of Pinoline disturbs our circadian rhythms and creates depression. Pinoline has been conclusively demonstrated to have no function in schizophrenia, since test subjects healthy and otherwise, had the same levels of Pinoline.
The pineal is a superconducting resonator. Ananda claims it potentiates DNA as a multidimensional transducer of holographic projection, through hadron toroids, and is implicated in staying youthful. 5meoDMT & DMT act on the T-RNA messengers, which carry out the protein synthesis for the DNA, or the rebuilding of our body image and organs.
Melatonin is exclusively made in the pineal gland, comprised of the same Tryptophane base materials as Pinoline. Melatonin induces mitosis. It does this, by sending a small electrical signal up the double helix of the DNA, which instigates an 8 HZ proton signal that enables the hydrogen bonds to the stair steps, to zip open, and the DNA can replicate.
The human Pineal gland not only produces the neuro-hormone Melatonin, one of the body’s most potent antioxidents, but the revolutionary Pinoline, 6-methoxy-tetra-dydro-beta carboline, or 6-MeO-THBC. Pinoline is superior to Melatonin in aiding DNA replication. Pinoline can make superconductive elements within the body. It encourages cell division by resonating with the very pulse of life - 8 cycles per second - the pulse DNA uses to replicate. Andrea Puharich measured this 8 Hz resonance in healers in the late 1970s.
Ananda implicates DMT in the hyperdimensional geometry or architecture operating in DNA through hadronic mechanics, a model of the 8 hz, or universal phase-conjugational force, that is also the most coherent Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and the DNA replication frequency. He relates this to the sacred geometry of the Merkabah, Flower of Life, Sri Yantra, Diamond Body, and Vector Equilibrium Matrix.
The living DNA in our bodies operates in hyperdimensions. The entire body holographic message is present in the single DNA molecule, in order to be capable of reproducing the entire whole. The local 8hz field component is a standard tetrahedron interlocked with a second tetrahedron representing the counter-rotary field that it is phase-conjugating with, and together comprising a “stellated cube.”
Ananda has also investigated Dark Room techniques for stimulating the pineal with Mantak Chia. Ananda developed, researched, and has taught the Dark Room technology for endogenous Pineal Soma and DMT production (Endohuasca), since 1992, upgrading his technique with Mantak Chia in 2000. Isolated from external light, the third eye (pineal gland) overflows with certain neurotransmitters that awaken the higher brain, the ability to imprint the brain, reprogramming itself for an “instant experience of Being.” The retreat reopens the source code of embryogenesis.
5-MEO-DMT activates the whole spine, the whole tree of life (Djedi, the staff of Hermes, the Caduceus of the spine) becomes active to be reprogrammed. This is the accessing and awakening of the tree of life, the kundalini, which is a readout of the DNA. DNA itself is a minute tree of life. So one can start to process the illusion of the dream from its binary code into the Unity Self. [See “Pitch Black”, below]
In The Unity Keys of Emmanuel and Somajetics, Ananda says,
“[By the DMT translation of the Sound of Silence of the Word into the Soul Computer Virtual Reality Interface, the parallel quantum bodies are thus accessed by the NMDA inhibition, which is electrical anesthesia, engaged by the heart ecstasis of 8 hz, to the 1000 hz petalled lotus. [This] is the learned means of NMDA inhibition, engaged through the cave and dark room retreats of inner re-engagement. Thus the chemical soul’s crystal laser transducers and interdimensional door keys, are in Soma Harmaline-Pinoline-Harmine, DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, and by the NMDA inhibitors through ecstasis.”
“A high spin state within the DNA water molecule harnessed by Pinoline/Soma intercalating with the DNA (a molecule that has a stable 8hz NMR proton-proton spin-spin coupling [thus hadron pi-meson interplay), together with N-Methl-D-Aspartate-Inhibitors enables the electron states to move into a nulling, and electron freeze within an entire cell, enabling only 8 hz fields to pass through, changing the charge of the cell, so that the superconductivity harnessed by the pinoline DNA intercalation (with sonic interaction of the vocalized DNA electron spin resonance tones) — enables the hadronic force to be able to operate within the macro region of an entire cell (and intercellularly, by extension).”
Furthermore, noradrenaline plays a significant role in the Pineal gland, when there is sufficient Pinoline saturation in the brain. It releases a serotonin site, enabling another serotonin site on the pineal gland to produce the potent visionary Dimethyltryhptamine (DMT), neurotransmitter.
Dr. James Callaway detected this molecule in the spinal serum of people who were dying, or were having an “Out of body experience (OOBE)”, or who were lucid dreaming. It is Pinoline that enables the threshold levels of DMT to become active in the brain, but it requires an adrenaline burst. DMT with Pinoline increases brain activation, and with its cousin the 5-Methoxy-DMT, has been shown to activate the brain by as much as 40%, compared to our 10% maximum potential at present. This is a frightening prospect for the uninitiated, due to the absolutely overwhelming nature of DMT.
What's New with My Subject? Youthenize Yourself
Hollywood trainer to the stars, Barry Hostetler, P.I. advocates “Youthenizing”, claiming his 35 years of bodybuilding and meditating allows him to “kick out the DMT.” We can control our psychobiology by controlling our mental state and vice versa, especially the reactive “dragon brain” or “reptilian brain”. Paramahansa Yogananda taught, “If you are in a dark room, don’t beat at the darkness with a stick, but rather try to turn on the light!”
Under stress we release toxic catabolites into our system, which undermine the immune system and age us faster. Without exercise (aerobic, core, strength) poisons accumulate, making the body toxic and mind frustrated and agitated. When we are calm and balanced, body chemistry is nontoxic and immune function improves.
Meditation is an alpha brain wave entrainment technique, which synchronizes the two brain hemispheres into 8 Hz. Closing the eyes, stops Melatonin flow leakage to the body, and makes it saturate the neocortex, increasing concentrations of Meltaonin and Pinoline in both brain and body. Meditation, several times a day, is an essential health exercise, an energizer, and tool for mental integration of daily activities.
Pinoline and related beta carbolines are not only produced in the brain, but in the adrenal glands themselves, where these hormones undergo their transformation to the hormones of life. HeartMath Institute demonstrated that minutes of compassion in the cardio-rhythm, which induces 8 Hz in the brain, brought DHEA up to youthful levels.
Twenty minutes of compassionate love, through meditative breathing, and whole body 8 Hz entrainment is the ultimate hormone precursor anti-aging pill. Not only does the pineal gland produce more Melatonin and Pinoline, which instigate 8 Hz ELF waves throughout the body, but these neurohormones signal the pituitary to release the life hormone Somatropin, which signals the adrenal glands to instigate cholesterol to convert to Pregnelenone then DHEA.
The extra Pinoline and other beta carboline levels that result, aid the body cells to replicate, and neutralize microorganisms, parasites, fungoids, and bacterias, and related harmful invaders. Melatonin and Pinoline are also antioxidents. Meditation is a rest break, an exercise session, an integration session, an energizer, and a body tuner, promoting antioxidant and antidepressant production.
We can return intentionally to more youthful states by doing emotional exercises and visualizations, which stimulate the body chemistry of our glory days. The body remembers and mimics those chemical states, producing youthful hormones and more flexible mental and physical states, improving overall balance and disposition. When “Youthenizing” yourself, it is helpful to use a photo from under age 7, a time you felt at your peak, or your happiest, or other ‘good chemistry’ times.
Kinesiology demonstrates that the mind “thinks” with the body itself. Mindbody is the subtle mechanism behind the disease process. The chemistry you generate with moods and states in your body is crucial to your health and well being. First toxic states of mind affect the energy body, then the physical body. Subjective and objective experience are hidden determinates of behavior. Embodied as corporeal memory, the body is your memory and subconscious. Self-regulation can modulate this process.
The body is an island of energy/matter and emotions with waves of feelings crashing onto its shores. Body-consciousness can either hide or reveal spirit, depending on how we direct our attention toward our ego, stress (including spiritual distress) and relief. The body and mind can be reunited in a congruent, healthy lifestyle by acting on what you know.
Pitch Black
Absolute darkness has an initiatory quality – the metaphor of moving from the darkness of ignorance into the illuminative Light. But it is more than a metaphor. All wisdom traditions have used sensory deprivation and darkness, (such as caves, tunnels, catacombs or special chambers), as a shamanic mind-altering force. Disorientation outside facilitates internal focus and connection.
Dark Room (DR) technology is for core reprogramming, restimulating the hardened pineal which begins calcifying around age 12. Sound becomes light. Chanting and drumming amplify the effects, which culminate in a rebirth of the spirit when one enters the point of Light or primordial Luminosity.
Author, Robert Newman, (Calm Healing, 2006) advocates Medicine Light for a variety of conditions. He cites Tibetan Buddhist, Trungpa Rinpoche about a highly advanced, dangerous forms of meditation practiced in utter darkness, known as a Bardo Retreat. They last up to seven weeks in a specially prepared Darkness Chamber, during which the whole Tibetan Book of The Dead becomes experiential and visions arise innately from the brain.
The beneficent and wrathful “eyes of Buddha” become visually and interactively alive as the Bardo of Luminosity flashes on and off; visions are self-arising; and transcend ordinary perception. The 49-day cycle recapitulates embryogenesis up to the point when pineal and gender differentiation occurs. The Taoists, Egyptians, Druids and others had similar practices of external light isolation.
Taoist master, Mantak Chia of Thailand recommends sound and light isolation in a process he calls Darkroom Enlightenment. He sequesters participants in the dark for over a week to shock the pineal into critical arousal to stimulate production of natural DMT and break down the barriers to transcendence. The neurotransmitter 5-MeO-DMT is normally only active when we are in the womb and in the first months of our lives. It is reactivated in the darkroom.
Stages include the ‘Melatonin state (Day 1-3; ego death), Pinoline State (Day 3-5; energy body and astral projection; lucid dreaming), 5-MeO-DMT (Day 6-8; telepathy, White Light), culminating in illuminative DMT (Day 9-12; Clear Light; Immortal Body). Participants leave through a tunnel, presumably a symbolic rebirth.
“There is now enough ‘Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibition’ triggered by the pinoline, to allow the pineal gland’s ’serotonin to melatonin cycle’ to be intercepted by adrenaline and ephedrine activity and converted into a ’serotonin - DMT pathway’. When DMT levels reach more than 25mg, one’s experience can become very visual. DMT is the visual third eye neurotransmitter. It enables the energy body and spirit to journey into hyperspace, beyond third dimensional realms of time and space.” (Chia, 2006)
Reentry implies rebirth — the self-organizing emergence of the new self. The seed of initiation is realized as the mature fruit of experience, which feeds and sustains us. The experience continues to be useful in our lives. Each healing journey is the death of something within us, which has kept us stuck or stultified. Healing facilitates our continuing evolution.
The new self continues to emerge and the consequences of the journey become embodied in this new form for months and even years after the journey. New behaviors, feelings, attitudes, ideas, and wisdom follow. Thus, the circle of life continues unbroken.
The Biology of the Inner Light
Melatonin and pinoline, made by the pineal gland are regulated by the seasonal changes in light and darkness, linked to the sleep/wake cycle. Pinoline is made in the pineal from 5HT and hypothesized as the neurochemical trigger for dreaming. Lack of sleep for several nights is often linked to the onset of acute psychotic breakdown in which the person starts hallucinating or “dreaming while awake.” This state of consciousness is common to the dream state, the psychedelic state, and the shamanic initiation experience. (Walking between worlds)
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. It can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Meditation modulates pineal activity, to create a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This results in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds.
Sacred images are generated by the lower temporal which also responds to ritual imagery and is facilitated by prayer and meditation. Religious emotions originate from the middle temporal lobe and are linked to emotional aspects of religious experience, such as joy and awe. Yet neural correlates don’t mean that these experiences exist “only” in the brain or are merely illusory; they are associated with distinct neural activity. There is no way to distinguish if the brain causes these experiences, or actually perceives spiritual reality. Visions of bright lights, portals, and spiritual icons correlate with DMT.
“Could it be that human beings have actually evolved specialized neural circuitry for the sole purpose of mediating religious experience?” Neurologist Ramachandran says so. “There may be certain neural pathways—neural structures in the temporal lobe and the limbic system—whose activity makes you more prone to religious belief.”
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain.
The pineal contains high levels of the enzymes and building blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
Clear Light
llumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence, which has no relation to visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, gives way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. Sacred Light is generated internally by DMT within the ventricles. Tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain are amplified. This universal Clear Light appears in all cultures with different names. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Blinded by the Light
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence, which has no relation to visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, gives way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions.
Kabbalalists speak of this light during ecstatic entry into Pardes, the “orchard” of the Garden of Pomegranates, the self-luminous spheres of the Tree of Life. This metaphysical experience of the “Light of the Shekinah,” the feminine aspect of the Divine, is associated with qabalistic ascent up the Middle Pillar. In this state the soul remains covered or adorned, and one cleaves to the Light, gazing at the awesome radiance of God (Tzvi ha Shekinah) in rapt mystic Union.
According to Kabbalist Idel, the grace of “sweet radiance” has erotic overtones. It also implies mystical death, separated from all concerns with the mundane world. The Divine Light attracts the light of the soul, “which is weak in relation to the Divine Light.” The metaphor is one of magnetic attraction. The Kabbalists tried to reach the pre-fall state of the Primordial Man, to reenter the radiance of the Shekinah, a mystically erotic relationship with the Divine Presence which creates a reflective “glow.”
Entrance of the philosopher or mystic into the Pardes affects only the human soul. But in the Theosophical paradigm it does have affects on the non-human realms, the system of divine powers, influencing the relationships between them. In the Theurgic paradigm there is also an influence on, or struggle with, the demonic realm, which seeks to hold the soul back from union.
In both cases, Pardes represents a danger zone, leading potentially to insanity or death, being overwhelming for most mortals. Premature entry to this realm has been likened to tearing a silk scarf from a rosebush, rather than gently removing it slowly (with regular meditation). It sounds like the wrathful visions of Buddhism and the intensely raw effects of unmediated DMT.
Yogatronics
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy DO IT YOURSELF, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Brain Synch
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies branding this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Among the oldest is the Monroe Institute, which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute is called Holosynch. BioPulse is another. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim.
Conclusions
Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
Curiously, DMT is ubiquitous in the biosphere, found everywhere from a variety of botanicals to mammals: It has been documented in rat brains at birth. Not only is it found in seaweed, flowers, vines, acacia tree (Sant), toadskins, Desmanthus illinoensis and Mimosa hostilis, A. columbrina, lawn grass, etc., but also in our brains and spinal columns
It is only in Western society that the potential shaman, with all of their psychic gifts, is ignored and treated as sick. All other human societies have honored their prophets, psychics, seers and shamans. We need to learn to recognize the potential shaman in our midst and re-learn what is required to ground them, teach them and train them so that their creative and psychic abilities can be a gift, not a curse, and can be used for their and our benefit. (Roney – Dougal)
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with the divine, but experiencing ourselves in the process of “becoming” divine or being sacred. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but reconnects with our metaprogram as the same essence as All, infused with Light.
REFERENCES
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Chia, Mantak
Graves, Robert (1948) The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth.
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Meyer, Peter (1993), “Apparent communication with discarnate entities induce by DMT”, Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, Vol. 6, Thom Lyttle, Ed., PM & E Publishing Group, Boynton Beach, Florida.
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Radha, Soami Sivananda (1990) The Divine Light Invocation; Timeless Books, Spokane, Washington.
Roney-Dougal, Serena, Walking Between the Worlds: Links Between Psi, Psychedelics, Shamanism, and Psychosis.
Sabom, M. B. (1982). Recollections of death: a medical investigation. Harper and Row, New York.
Strassman, Rick (1990), “The Pineal Gland”, Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, Vol. 5, Thom Lyttle, Ed., PM & E Publishing Group, Boynton Beach, Florida
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park St. Press.
5-7-2010 - Hi:
I am surprised at how many people assume that the conjecture in my book
about whether the pineal makes DMT, has actually been established as fact.
*If* DMT were made in the pineal, it would tie a lot of loose ends together.
But, we don't know if DMT does appear in the pineal.
The same has happened regarding my wondering if endogenous DMT activity
increases during particular non-drug altered states, such as dreams and
near-death experiences. We don't know if that's true. If it were, it would
help explain the psychedelic characteristics of those altered states.
A new assay for low levels of endogenous DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine, and
metabolites is being developed at LSU. We'll be looking at endogenous
levels of these compounds in different tissues, different species, and
different groups of people. Hopefully we'll get some answers within the
next year or two.
The Cottonwood Research Foundation site (www.cottonwoodresearch.org) could
be more up-to-date. However, the section on the assay is more current and
was written by Steve Barker at LSU, who's supervising the PhD student, Ethan
McIlhenny.
Rick Strassman
“I am created by Divine Light. I am sustained by Divine Light. I am protected by Divine Light. I am surrounded by Divine Light. I am ever growing into Divine Light.”
~Swami Sivananda Radha,
“Realities of the Dreaming Mind” (1990)
This is Your Brain on Youth
We are hardwired to seek pleasure, to seek ecstasy. As children we expressed our authentic, core selves – that which can neither be taught nor learned. But the whole “self-help” and “new age” movements are based on trying to get back that golden state of innocence, childlike wonder and awe with spiritual connection.
When religion suggests we “become as little children” again, who could imagine this implies a shamanic return to the womb and the natural psychedelic state of an uncalcified pineal gland? In early childhood, we are perpetually immersed in cascades of trance-inducing theta rhythms of the brain, with the feel-good chemical brew it creates for metaprogramming.
Until roughly age 8, we can’t really distinguish between fantasy and reality, due to our own natural hallucinogen, DMT, (dimethyltryptamine). DMT molecules are similar to serotonin and target the same receptors. Meditation has been suggested as a means of preserving youthful appearance and mental flexibility. Dr. Rick Strassman and others claim this spiritual technology encourages production and release of natural DMT (Soma Pinoline) in the mindbody throughout the lifespan.
DMT is implicated in the wild imaginings of our nightly dreams, near-death phenomena (NDEs), alien abduction experiences, and dream yoga. It is also a source of visionary phenomena in therapy, such as unusual psychophysical states attained in waking dreams, shamanic or psychotherapeutic journeys. Synthetic and botanical DMT crosses the blood-brain barrier and bonds to the same synaptic sites as serotonin. Psychedelic chemist, Sasha Shulgin claims, “DMT is everywhere.”
Each night in dreams we experience an essentially psychedelic state. The principal difference between dreams and hallucinations is the way the stages of wakefulness are organized, with the suppression of REM sleep and the intrusion of PGO waves in the arousal (waking) stage and in NREM (or slow) sleep.
The stages include: waking (arousal) stage, stage of PGO waves, hallucination stage, sleep stage and hallucinatory manifestations. The waking dream eliminates “residues” stirred up by the PGO wave pattern in the absence of REM sleep. These visions resemble those at the approach of death, or what are called near death experiences (NDEs). In another context, they are perceived as visions. They include the characteristics of two phases of NDEs (Sabom, 1982):
Autoscopic phase includes 1) subjective feeling of being dead; 2) peace and well-being; 3) disembodiment; 4) visions of material objects and events.
The Transcendental phase includes 5) tunnel or dark zone; 6) evaluation of one’s past life; 7) light; access to a transcendental world, entering in light; 9) encounter with other beings; 10) return to life.
The Path of Light: Primordial In-Sight
The pineal sits, well protected in the deep recesses of the brain, bathed in cerebrospinal fluid by the ventricles, the fluid-filled cavities of the brain that feed it and remove waste. It emits its secretions to the strategically surrounding emotional, visual and auditory brain centers. It helps regulate body temperature and skin coloration. It secretes the sleep hormone melatonin. Generally, after the more imaginative period of childhood, the pineal calcifies and diminishes at the onset of puberty’s sex hormones, around age 12.
The pineal is the only unpaired gland in the brain. Curiously, this solitary gland is light sensitive and actually has a lens, cornea, and retina. Is there a retinal circus of biophotons deep in the brain, which only the Third Eye sees or even creates: the Light of Wisdom?
This “Third Eye,” in the center of the brain, is implicated in the production of endogenous or natural DMT, dubbed the Spirit Molecule. The pineal synthesizes natural hallucinogens in response to certain psychophysical states, and raises serotonin levels in the brain. There is a functional decline in the gland with advancing age.
This master gland is responsible for the internal perception of Light, the raising of Kundalini the serpent power, and for awakening inner sight or in-sight. The key to a successful meditation is the withdrawal of the sensory currents to the eye focus or the third eye. Once there, the gaze focuses on the middle of whatever appears without any distractions or intrusive thought.
The groundbreaking work of Dr. Rick Strassman (2001) focuses on the role natural body chemistry plays in creating spiritual life. He calls DMT the Spirit Molecule; an endogenous hallucinogen, which he boldly asserts, is an active agent in a variety of altered states including mystical experience.
To explore his theory, Strassman conducted extensive testing, injecting volunteers with the powerful psychedelic, synthetic DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine; N,N-DMT). DMT is so powerful it is physically immobilizing, and produces a flood of unexpected and overwhelming visual and emotional imagery. Taking it is like an instantaneous LSD peak. DMT crosses the usually impenetrable blood-brain-barrier, suggesting its fundamental role in consciousness. But, concluding his 5-year studies early, Strassman admitted despite their growth potential, there were no viable therapeutic or neurological applications. He does NOT recommend recreational use.
DMT production is stimulated, in the extraordinary conditions of birth, sexual ecstasy, childbirth, extreme physical stress, near-death, and death, as well as meditation. Pineal DMT also plays a significant role in dream consciousness. This chemical messenger links body and spirit. Pineal activation awakens normally latent neural pathways.
“All spiritual disciplines describe quite psychedelic accounts of the transformative experiences, whose attainment motivate their practice. Blinding white light, encounters with demonic and angelic entities, ecstatic emotions, timelessness, heavenly sounds, feelings of having died and being reborn, contacting a powerful and loving presence underlying all of reality–these experiences cut across all denominations. They also are characteristic of a fully psychedelic DMT experience. How might meditation evoke the pineal DMT experience?”
“Meditative techniques using sound, sight, or the mind may generate particular wave patterns whose fields induce resonance in the brain. Millennia of human trial and error have determined that certain “sacred” words, visual images, and mental exercises exert uniquely desired effects. Such effects may occur because of the specific fields they generate within the brain. These fields cause multiple systems to vibrate and pulse at certain frequencies. We can feel our minds and bodies resonate with these spiritual exercises. Of course, the pineal gland also is buzzing at these same frequencies. . .The pineal begins to “vibrate” at frequencies that weaken its multiple barriers to DMT formation: the pineal cellular shield, enzyme levels, and quantities of anti-DMT. The end result is a psychedelic surge of the pineal spirit molecule, resulting in the subjective states of mystical consciousness.” (Strassman, 2001).
Natural hallucinogens may belong to the tryptamine or beta-carboline family of compounds. One compound (6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydro-beta-carboline) has been implicated in rapid eye movement sleep (REM). It is concentrated in the retinae of mammals, which may be related to its visual effects.
There are several ways in which either psychoactive tryptamines and/or beta-carbolines may be produced within the central nervous system and pineal from precursors and enzymes that are known to exist in human beings. In addition, nerve fibers leave the pineal and make synaptic connections with other brain sites through traditional nerve-to-nerve connections, not just through endocrine secretions.
Third Eye Blind
Serotonin or tryptamine levels are higher in the pineal than any other organ in the brain. 5-methoxy-tryptamine is a precursor with hallucinogenic properties, which has a high affinity for the serotonin type-3 receptor. Gucchait (1976) has demonstrated that the human pineal contains an enzyme capable of synthesizing both DMT and bufotenine-like chemistry. These compounds are prime candidates for endogenous “schizotoxins,” and their production may be related to stress and/or trauma, that correlate with schizophrenia.
Strassman notes that both the embryological rudiments of the pineal gland and the differentiated gonads of both male and female appear at 49 days. Melatonin is a timekeeper for gonadal maturation, so the pineal is implicated again. He suggests this rein-effect may be the root of the tension between sexual and spiritual energies, yang and yin. The pineal gland is a source of both psychedelic compounds and the gonads, sources of spiritual and generative immortality.
Stress-related hormones cue the pineal activation to activate normally latent synthetic pathways, creating tryptamine and/or beta-carboline hallucinogens. When we face stress or potential death, or in meditative reveries, we “tune back” into the most well developed motif of such experiences–the birth experience. Perinatal themes and memories re-emerge.
Those with Cesarean deliveries report greater difficulty in attaining transcendent states of breakthrough and release during drug-induced states. Maybe less fetal (or maternal) hallucinogens were released at the time of birth. They may not, according to Strassman, have a strong enough “template of experience” to fall back on, to let go without fear of total annihilation, because lesser amounts of pineal hallucinogens were produced during their births.
Through meditation, the pineal may be modulated to elicit a finely tuned standing wave through resonance effects. It creates the induction of a dynamic, yet unmoving, quality of experience. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. It recalibrates the whole organism.
Dysynchrony is associated with a variety of disorders. Such a standing wave in consciousness can induce resonance in the pineal using electric, magnetic or sound energy, and may result in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds. Thus, the pineal can be likened to an attractor, or “lightning rod” of consciousness. It generates an illuminative laser beam that pervades the energy body.
A Walk on the Wild Side
Physicist Cliff Pickover argues that, “DMT in the pineal glands of Biblical prophets gave God to humanity and let ordinary humans perceive parallel universes.” “Our brain is a filter, and the use of DMT is like slipping on infrared goggles, allowing us to perceive a valid reality that is inches away and all around us.”
He suggests, perhaps our ancestors produced more DMT, leading to extraordinary spiritual visions. “Maybe this is why the ancients seemed so in touch with God and with miracles and visions. Maybe Moses, Mohammad, and Jesus had a greater rate of pineal DMT production than most.” Pickover blames artificial light for a reduction in our DMT production rate.
Or perhaps more likely, as most ancient cultures, they simply supercharged themselves with shamanic herbs. Some claim the “burning bush” was Cannabis sativa, Assyrian Rue (Pegunam harmala; Zoroaster’s Hoama, Asena ) or the North African Acacia tree, and that Moses either smoked the leaves or got high downwind in the DMT-containing smoke. Modern research cites the species A. maidenii; obtusifolia; phlebophylla as psychedelic.
A few other species of Acacia are also found in the Sinai desert and the Jordan valley including Acacia albida, Acacia tortilis and Acacia iraqensis. Graves, (1948, 264) claimed the Acacia Sant, a host tree of the mistletoe-like loranthus, was the ‘burning bush’ and source of manna. If this oracular tree of Canaan contained tryptamines, as many species do, Moses could have had access to DMT illumination. It is still a practice to burn botanicals inside a tent to imbibe their smoke.
Assyrian rue was the most sacred plant of Mohammad, who took the Esphand (Arabic/Persian name for the plant) before receiving the Koran from God. This holy Esphand was associated with the appearance of angels and casts out evil spirits, and was used to cure fever and malaria and provides the rich red dye of Persian carpets.
Rue was central to the Petra mystery rites and schools of alchemy. Their sacrament was a beverage of illumination and restoration, mixed with gold and other alchemical products. It was passed down from Zoroaster, who was also known as Chem the original Alchemist and CHEMist. Chem is an ancient name for Egypt.
The grandson of Zoroaster, Nimrod or King En.Meru.dug, founded the Egyptian 2nd Dynasty. This plant of life became central in the Mysteries and healing schools of ancient Egypt, where Moses could easily have learned its powers. (Ananda)
The original Essenes, named after the plant, were headquartered in Heliopolis. Asena, the botanical Bush of Life, is an acronym, ASNA, of Aset (Isis) Sutekh (Set) Nebtet (Nephtys) and Auser (Osiris). It embodied the female form of the One God ATON, who correlates with the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Shamanic Bedouins still make the Egyptian eucharistic Bread of Light using the Asena/Hoama bush, the North African Acacia tree, and ground meteorite. They still shape it the form of the Eye of Ra, a circle with a central hole. The tradition was passed down to Christian Gnostics in Abydos, Egypt, the bush eventually becoming symbolically used to sprinkle holy water. Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo reportedly used it for visionary inspiration.
In modern times, Pickover has suggested spontaneous DMT experiences as a possible source of Whitley Streiber’s Communion aliens: “…we know that DMT can often produce visions of cartoon-like aliens.” Others (Meyer, 1993) report those using DMT often claim communication with stick-like, insect-like or elf-like beings and discarnate entities.
Psychonaut, Terence McKenna used synthetic DMT (N,Ndimetyltryptamine) to intentionally contact “machine elves” and explore parallel worlds: “What is driving religious feeling today is a wish for contact with this other universe.” Arguing for their radical “otherness,”
McKenna emphasized that the hyperspace aliens seen while using DMT present themselves “with information that is not drawn from the personal history of the individual.” But smoking this synthetic DMT for hyperspace experience rarely yields Clear Light experiences.
The Harma alkaloid “Harmine” is also known as Telepathine and Banisterine. It is a naturally occurring beta-carboline that is structurally related to harmaline. They stimulate the CNS by inhibiting the metabolism of serotonin and other monoamines. Telepathine, is an MAO inhibitor, which parallels the function of Pinoline (a natural MAO Inhibitor) naturally produced by the Pineal Gland.
The combination of the Pineal secreted DMT (Dimethyltriptamine) and the MAO Inhibitor, Pinoline (Methoxytetrahydrobetacarboline, MeOTHBC) may be responsible for naturally occurring psychic experiences.
Harmine and harmaline are found in Syrian Rue (3-7% harma alkaloid), and ayahuasca brews made with DMT sources, bark and leaves of “Pychotriaviridis” or Banisteriopsis caapi vine. Ayahuasca is the South American sacrament of the Church of Santo Daime and Uniao de Vegetal (UDV). In this setting, the churches condition the “spiritual” expectations, experiences, ethics and type of information “received” in the altered state. The visionary state is considered to be the essence of the shamanic complex.
Shamanic vision differs from hallucination in volition, form and content of thoughts, clarity of heightened awareness, perception and contextualization. Practitioners have claimed it is for “analysis”. There is no primary delusional experience. The distinction between self and non-self is blurred; the notion of causality is affected. Its chemistry probably works as follows:
The primary function of harmala alkaloids in ayahuasca is to allow for the oral activity of DMT by inhibition of MAO-A, and further permits accumulation of 5-HT and other neurotransmitters. On their own harmala alkaloids have only weak psychoactive effects (Callaway, 1994) but Kim et al (1997) found that the harmala alkaloids, which occur in ayahuasca, were the most effective inhibitors of purified MAO-A. The psychedelic effects of ayahuasca probably manifest primarily through the serotonergic effects of DMT on the CNS and through increased levels of unmetabolised biogenic amines. Pinoline potentiates the activity of methylated tryptamines and this is the probable mechanism behind ayahuasca (Callaway, 1994)
Investigation of long-term users of ayahuasca showed a statistically significant difference between control group and users with a higher binding density in blood platelets of 5-HT uptake sites in the ayahuasca drinkers. This indicates a modulatory role for pinoline (the endogenous equivalent of ayahuasca) in the CNS. An upregulation of the serotonergic system is exactly what current antidepressant medications attempt to do, i.e. increasing synaptic 5-HT by preventing its reuptake.
“Johnny Appleseed” brings the finesse of a Transpersonal Psychologist to his experiential shamanic teaching. He contends 5-MeO DMT awakens psychic centers by amplifying our telepathic ability to affect or be receptive to others’ brainwaves through modulating chemistry, electromagnetic entrainment and standing feedback loops.
Plants are mixed in brews with MAO Inhibitor containing plants (Banasteriopsis Caapi, Syrian Rue etc.), to produce entheogenic brews that mimic the DMT-Pinoline combination naturally produced by the Pineal Gland (in the brain).
“For the last ten years I have been doing healing and exploratory sessions with individuals and small groups. We have occasionally experienced the phenomena of telepathy, ESP, and interactions on an energetic level that produce healing in a number of modalities. I work only with a strain of Phalaris grass, an entheogen specifically bred to contain 5-MeO DMT. I use this in an oral preparation potentiated by MAOI from Syrian Rue. This is not a common mix, as most people smoke it for a blast, which is not conducive to this work. I feel all of the other materials mentioned, LSD, mushrooms, and DMT-based brews distort consciousness to some degree. Oral-based 5-MeO DMT from plant sources is something completely different, however. Traces of other alkaloids from the plant source produce a more enhanced experience than the pure chemical. A clear yet enhanced state is accessible easily and reliably with no delusional ideation, or visual distortions. It is simply like being fully awake. This is probably because we were born with, and until puberty had, a pineal gland that made 5-MeO DMT in quite substantial amounts, unlike the reports of only very trace amounts of endogenous DMT. Thus, we have the receptors and metabolic pathways to deal with this material in a non-distorting way.”
The pineal gland makes a neurohormone called melatonin, which is one of the key regulators of the circadian and seasonal biological rhythms. It also makes a mono-amine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor called pinoline (Methoxytetrahydrobetacarboline (MeOTHBC)) which acts on the GABA receptors and whose chemical structure is virtually identical with the harmala alkaloids.
Serotonin (5 Hydroxytryptamine (5HT)) has frequently been implicated in certain aspects of psychoses. Pinoline is a neuromodulator, which prevents, amongst other effects, the breakdown of serotonin. This results in an accumulation of physiologically active amines including dimethyltryptamine (DMT) within the neuronal synapses, which may lead to hallucinations, depression or mania depending on the amines being affected (Strassman, 1990).
Ananda M. Bosman emphasizes the crucial role of endogenous DMT and sacramental DMT from Syrian Rue and other potentiating botanicals. The ancients called it Hoama in Persian (Avesta Veda), Soma in Sanskrit (Rg Veda), the Egyptian Essene, the Sumerian Tree of Life, Mohammed’s Esphand, the burning bush Asena of Moses, the Gnostic Besa, the Etruscan Phallaris arundanacia, and the Rue of alchemy.
Syrian Rue was revered because Melatonin’s active metabolite Pinoline is oneirogenic and antidepressant, increasing Serotonin turnover. Lack of Pinoline disturbs our circadian rhythms and creates depression. Pinoline has been conclusively demonstrated to have no function in schizophrenia, since test subjects healthy and otherwise, had the same levels of Pinoline.
The pineal is a superconducting resonator. Ananda claims it potentiates DNA as a multidimensional transducer of holographic projection, through hadron toroids, and is implicated in staying youthful. 5meoDMT & DMT act on the T-RNA messengers, which carry out the protein synthesis for the DNA, or the rebuilding of our body image and organs.
Melatonin is exclusively made in the pineal gland, comprised of the same Tryptophane base materials as Pinoline. Melatonin induces mitosis. It does this, by sending a small electrical signal up the double helix of the DNA, which instigates an 8 HZ proton signal that enables the hydrogen bonds to the stair steps, to zip open, and the DNA can replicate.
The human Pineal gland not only produces the neuro-hormone Melatonin, one of the body’s most potent antioxidents, but the revolutionary Pinoline, 6-methoxy-tetra-dydro-beta carboline, or 6-MeO-THBC. Pinoline is superior to Melatonin in aiding DNA replication. Pinoline can make superconductive elements within the body. It encourages cell division by resonating with the very pulse of life - 8 cycles per second - the pulse DNA uses to replicate. Andrea Puharich measured this 8 Hz resonance in healers in the late 1970s.
Ananda implicates DMT in the hyperdimensional geometry or architecture operating in DNA through hadronic mechanics, a model of the 8 hz, or universal phase-conjugational force, that is also the most coherent Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and the DNA replication frequency. He relates this to the sacred geometry of the Merkabah, Flower of Life, Sri Yantra, Diamond Body, and Vector Equilibrium Matrix.
The living DNA in our bodies operates in hyperdimensions. The entire body holographic message is present in the single DNA molecule, in order to be capable of reproducing the entire whole. The local 8hz field component is a standard tetrahedron interlocked with a second tetrahedron representing the counter-rotary field that it is phase-conjugating with, and together comprising a “stellated cube.”
Ananda has also investigated Dark Room techniques for stimulating the pineal with Mantak Chia. Ananda developed, researched, and has taught the Dark Room technology for endogenous Pineal Soma and DMT production (Endohuasca), since 1992, upgrading his technique with Mantak Chia in 2000. Isolated from external light, the third eye (pineal gland) overflows with certain neurotransmitters that awaken the higher brain, the ability to imprint the brain, reprogramming itself for an “instant experience of Being.” The retreat reopens the source code of embryogenesis.
5-MEO-DMT activates the whole spine, the whole tree of life (Djedi, the staff of Hermes, the Caduceus of the spine) becomes active to be reprogrammed. This is the accessing and awakening of the tree of life, the kundalini, which is a readout of the DNA. DNA itself is a minute tree of life. So one can start to process the illusion of the dream from its binary code into the Unity Self. [See “Pitch Black”, below]
In The Unity Keys of Emmanuel and Somajetics, Ananda says,
“[By the DMT translation of the Sound of Silence of the Word into the Soul Computer Virtual Reality Interface, the parallel quantum bodies are thus accessed by the NMDA inhibition, which is electrical anesthesia, engaged by the heart ecstasis of 8 hz, to the 1000 hz petalled lotus. [This] is the learned means of NMDA inhibition, engaged through the cave and dark room retreats of inner re-engagement. Thus the chemical soul’s crystal laser transducers and interdimensional door keys, are in Soma Harmaline-Pinoline-Harmine, DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, and by the NMDA inhibitors through ecstasis.”
“A high spin state within the DNA water molecule harnessed by Pinoline/Soma intercalating with the DNA (a molecule that has a stable 8hz NMR proton-proton spin-spin coupling [thus hadron pi-meson interplay), together with N-Methl-D-Aspartate-Inhibitors enables the electron states to move into a nulling, and electron freeze within an entire cell, enabling only 8 hz fields to pass through, changing the charge of the cell, so that the superconductivity harnessed by the pinoline DNA intercalation (with sonic interaction of the vocalized DNA electron spin resonance tones) — enables the hadronic force to be able to operate within the macro region of an entire cell (and intercellularly, by extension).”
Furthermore, noradrenaline plays a significant role in the Pineal gland, when there is sufficient Pinoline saturation in the brain. It releases a serotonin site, enabling another serotonin site on the pineal gland to produce the potent visionary Dimethyltryhptamine (DMT), neurotransmitter.
Dr. James Callaway detected this molecule in the spinal serum of people who were dying, or were having an “Out of body experience (OOBE)”, or who were lucid dreaming. It is Pinoline that enables the threshold levels of DMT to become active in the brain, but it requires an adrenaline burst. DMT with Pinoline increases brain activation, and with its cousin the 5-Methoxy-DMT, has been shown to activate the brain by as much as 40%, compared to our 10% maximum potential at present. This is a frightening prospect for the uninitiated, due to the absolutely overwhelming nature of DMT.
What's New with My Subject? Youthenize Yourself
Hollywood trainer to the stars, Barry Hostetler, P.I. advocates “Youthenizing”, claiming his 35 years of bodybuilding and meditating allows him to “kick out the DMT.” We can control our psychobiology by controlling our mental state and vice versa, especially the reactive “dragon brain” or “reptilian brain”. Paramahansa Yogananda taught, “If you are in a dark room, don’t beat at the darkness with a stick, but rather try to turn on the light!”
Under stress we release toxic catabolites into our system, which undermine the immune system and age us faster. Without exercise (aerobic, core, strength) poisons accumulate, making the body toxic and mind frustrated and agitated. When we are calm and balanced, body chemistry is nontoxic and immune function improves.
Meditation is an alpha brain wave entrainment technique, which synchronizes the two brain hemispheres into 8 Hz. Closing the eyes, stops Melatonin flow leakage to the body, and makes it saturate the neocortex, increasing concentrations of Meltaonin and Pinoline in both brain and body. Meditation, several times a day, is an essential health exercise, an energizer, and tool for mental integration of daily activities.
Pinoline and related beta carbolines are not only produced in the brain, but in the adrenal glands themselves, where these hormones undergo their transformation to the hormones of life. HeartMath Institute demonstrated that minutes of compassion in the cardio-rhythm, which induces 8 Hz in the brain, brought DHEA up to youthful levels.
Twenty minutes of compassionate love, through meditative breathing, and whole body 8 Hz entrainment is the ultimate hormone precursor anti-aging pill. Not only does the pineal gland produce more Melatonin and Pinoline, which instigate 8 Hz ELF waves throughout the body, but these neurohormones signal the pituitary to release the life hormone Somatropin, which signals the adrenal glands to instigate cholesterol to convert to Pregnelenone then DHEA.
The extra Pinoline and other beta carboline levels that result, aid the body cells to replicate, and neutralize microorganisms, parasites, fungoids, and bacterias, and related harmful invaders. Melatonin and Pinoline are also antioxidents. Meditation is a rest break, an exercise session, an integration session, an energizer, and a body tuner, promoting antioxidant and antidepressant production.
We can return intentionally to more youthful states by doing emotional exercises and visualizations, which stimulate the body chemistry of our glory days. The body remembers and mimics those chemical states, producing youthful hormones and more flexible mental and physical states, improving overall balance and disposition. When “Youthenizing” yourself, it is helpful to use a photo from under age 7, a time you felt at your peak, or your happiest, or other ‘good chemistry’ times.
Kinesiology demonstrates that the mind “thinks” with the body itself. Mindbody is the subtle mechanism behind the disease process. The chemistry you generate with moods and states in your body is crucial to your health and well being. First toxic states of mind affect the energy body, then the physical body. Subjective and objective experience are hidden determinates of behavior. Embodied as corporeal memory, the body is your memory and subconscious. Self-regulation can modulate this process.
The body is an island of energy/matter and emotions with waves of feelings crashing onto its shores. Body-consciousness can either hide or reveal spirit, depending on how we direct our attention toward our ego, stress (including spiritual distress) and relief. The body and mind can be reunited in a congruent, healthy lifestyle by acting on what you know.
Pitch Black
Absolute darkness has an initiatory quality – the metaphor of moving from the darkness of ignorance into the illuminative Light. But it is more than a metaphor. All wisdom traditions have used sensory deprivation and darkness, (such as caves, tunnels, catacombs or special chambers), as a shamanic mind-altering force. Disorientation outside facilitates internal focus and connection.
Dark Room (DR) technology is for core reprogramming, restimulating the hardened pineal which begins calcifying around age 12. Sound becomes light. Chanting and drumming amplify the effects, which culminate in a rebirth of the spirit when one enters the point of Light or primordial Luminosity.
Author, Robert Newman, (Calm Healing, 2006) advocates Medicine Light for a variety of conditions. He cites Tibetan Buddhist, Trungpa Rinpoche about a highly advanced, dangerous forms of meditation practiced in utter darkness, known as a Bardo Retreat. They last up to seven weeks in a specially prepared Darkness Chamber, during which the whole Tibetan Book of The Dead becomes experiential and visions arise innately from the brain.
The beneficent and wrathful “eyes of Buddha” become visually and interactively alive as the Bardo of Luminosity flashes on and off; visions are self-arising; and transcend ordinary perception. The 49-day cycle recapitulates embryogenesis up to the point when pineal and gender differentiation occurs. The Taoists, Egyptians, Druids and others had similar practices of external light isolation.
Taoist master, Mantak Chia of Thailand recommends sound and light isolation in a process he calls Darkroom Enlightenment. He sequesters participants in the dark for over a week to shock the pineal into critical arousal to stimulate production of natural DMT and break down the barriers to transcendence. The neurotransmitter 5-MeO-DMT is normally only active when we are in the womb and in the first months of our lives. It is reactivated in the darkroom.
Stages include the ‘Melatonin state (Day 1-3; ego death), Pinoline State (Day 3-5; energy body and astral projection; lucid dreaming), 5-MeO-DMT (Day 6-8; telepathy, White Light), culminating in illuminative DMT (Day 9-12; Clear Light; Immortal Body). Participants leave through a tunnel, presumably a symbolic rebirth.
“There is now enough ‘Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibition’ triggered by the pinoline, to allow the pineal gland’s ’serotonin to melatonin cycle’ to be intercepted by adrenaline and ephedrine activity and converted into a ’serotonin - DMT pathway’. When DMT levels reach more than 25mg, one’s experience can become very visual. DMT is the visual third eye neurotransmitter. It enables the energy body and spirit to journey into hyperspace, beyond third dimensional realms of time and space.” (Chia, 2006)
Reentry implies rebirth — the self-organizing emergence of the new self. The seed of initiation is realized as the mature fruit of experience, which feeds and sustains us. The experience continues to be useful in our lives. Each healing journey is the death of something within us, which has kept us stuck or stultified. Healing facilitates our continuing evolution.
The new self continues to emerge and the consequences of the journey become embodied in this new form for months and even years after the journey. New behaviors, feelings, attitudes, ideas, and wisdom follow. Thus, the circle of life continues unbroken.
The Biology of the Inner Light
Melatonin and pinoline, made by the pineal gland are regulated by the seasonal changes in light and darkness, linked to the sleep/wake cycle. Pinoline is made in the pineal from 5HT and hypothesized as the neurochemical trigger for dreaming. Lack of sleep for several nights is often linked to the onset of acute psychotic breakdown in which the person starts hallucinating or “dreaming while awake.” This state of consciousness is common to the dream state, the psychedelic state, and the shamanic initiation experience. (Walking between worlds)
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence. This brightness has no relation to any visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, may give way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. It can confer a palpable glow to the person that is perceptible after the return to ordinary awareness.
Meditation modulates pineal activity, to create a standing wave through resonance effects that affects other brain centers with both chemical and electromagnetic coordination. Resonance can be induced in the pineal using electric, magnetic, or sound energy. Such harmonization resynchronizes both hemispheres of the brain. This results in a chain of synergetic activity resulting in the production and release of hallucinogenic compounds.
Sacred images are generated by the lower temporal which also responds to ritual imagery and is facilitated by prayer and meditation. Religious emotions originate from the middle temporal lobe and are linked to emotional aspects of religious experience, such as joy and awe. Yet neural correlates don’t mean that these experiences exist “only” in the brain or are merely illusory; they are associated with distinct neural activity. There is no way to distinguish if the brain causes these experiences, or actually perceives spiritual reality. Visions of bright lights, portals, and spiritual icons correlate with DMT.
“Could it be that human beings have actually evolved specialized neural circuitry for the sole purpose of mediating religious experience?” Neurologist Ramachandran says so. “There may be certain neural pathways—neural structures in the temporal lobe and the limbic system—whose activity makes you more prone to religious belief.”
If this is true, it is easy to see how much this mind-altering chemical could amplify all of the tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain.
The pineal contains high levels of the enzymes and building blocks for making DMT, and it may be secreted when inhibitory processes cease blocking its production. It may even produce other chemicals, such as beta-carbolines that magnify and prolong its effects.
Clear Light
llumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence, which has no relation to visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, gives way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions. Sacred Light is generated internally by DMT within the ventricles. Tendencies toward mystical apprehension originating in other parts of the brain are amplified. This universal Clear Light appears in all cultures with different names. Visionary experience with symbolic or religious content gives way to dazzling light of illumination, reported in eastern and western religions.
The mindbody is electronic, but it is rooted in the luminosity of its invisible ground. Living systems are very sensitive to tiny energy fields and resonance phenomena, both locally and at a distance. They allow the cells of the body to work together instantaneously and symphonically. All biological processes are a function of electromagnetic field interactions. EM fields are the connecting link between the world of form and resonant patterns. EM fields embody or store gestalts, patterns of information. Biochemical action and bioelectronic action meet at the quantum-junction.
We can return to Nature and our nature, collectively preparing a paradigm shift for a new shared reality and trajectory of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual coherence. The silent frictionless flow of living intelligence is beyond words and conceptual constructs. We are a process of recursive self-generation. This continuum, which is our groundstate or creative Source, is directly discoverable in the immediacy of the emergent embodied moment, in the living Light that generates our Being.
Blinded by the Light
Illumination has been described as being blinded by the manifestation of God’s presence, which has no relation to visible light. Visionary experience, which has symbolic or religious content, gives way to this dazzling light, which is reported in eastern and western religions.
Kabbalalists speak of this light during ecstatic entry into Pardes, the “orchard” of the Garden of Pomegranates, the self-luminous spheres of the Tree of Life. This metaphysical experience of the “Light of the Shekinah,” the feminine aspect of the Divine, is associated with qabalistic ascent up the Middle Pillar. In this state the soul remains covered or adorned, and one cleaves to the Light, gazing at the awesome radiance of God (Tzvi ha Shekinah) in rapt mystic Union.
According to Kabbalist Idel, the grace of “sweet radiance” has erotic overtones. It also implies mystical death, separated from all concerns with the mundane world. The Divine Light attracts the light of the soul, “which is weak in relation to the Divine Light.” The metaphor is one of magnetic attraction. The Kabbalists tried to reach the pre-fall state of the Primordial Man, to reenter the radiance of the Shekinah, a mystically erotic relationship with the Divine Presence which creates a reflective “glow.”
Entrance of the philosopher or mystic into the Pardes affects only the human soul. But in the Theosophical paradigm it does have affects on the non-human realms, the system of divine powers, influencing the relationships between them. In the Theurgic paradigm there is also an influence on, or struggle with, the demonic realm, which seeks to hold the soul back from union.
In both cases, Pardes represents a danger zone, leading potentially to insanity or death, being overwhelming for most mortals. Premature entry to this realm has been likened to tearing a silk scarf from a rosebush, rather than gently removing it slowly (with regular meditation). It sounds like the wrathful visions of Buddhism and the intensely raw effects of unmediated DMT.
Yogatronics
Want to take an active role in your own spiritual life, a safe and easy mind trip? Would you like to glimpse some of the experiences outlined here? Or even just get the mental health benefits of deep relaxation and increased inner focus? Intimidated by the prospect of spending 15 to 20 years learning to meditate to attain life-enhancing benefits?
Haven’t had a near-death experience and don’t want one? Too busy to devote your life to alchemy, or spend endless years in transpersonal therapies, or too afraid to allow a “mad scientist” to zap your brain with EM frequencies, hook your brain up to a high-tech scanning machine, or inject you with psychedelic substances?
Modern technology offers an easy DO IT YOURSELF, “passive” alternative. Anyone can employ a safe and easy technique that automatically puts you in the “zone.” A form of “yogatronics” is available using a simple CD and headphones with input from subsonic frequencies. This audio technology creates a harmonization of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and automatically drives the brain harmlessly into the Alpha or Theta brainwave range.
This resonance phenomenon, entrainment, is called the frequency-following response, or binaural beat technology. Entrainment is the process of synchronization, where vibrations of one object will cause another to oscillate at the same rate. It works by embedding two different tones in a stereo background. Continuous tones of subtlely different frequencies (such as 100 and 108 cycles per second) are delivered to each ear independently via stereo headphones. The tones combine in a pulsing “wah wah” tone.
External rhythms can have a direct effect on the psychology and physiology of the listener. The brain effortlessly begins resonating at the same rate as the difference between the two tones, ideally in the 4-13 Hz. (Theta and Alpha) range for meditation. All you have to do is sit quietly and put on the headphones. The brain automatically responds to certain frequencies, behaving like a resonator.
You may not become immediately enlightened, but hemispheric synchronization helps with a whole host of problems stemming from abnormal hemispheric asymmetries. Problems, often resulting from stress or abuse in early life, include REM sleep problems, narcissism, addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Communication between hemispheres correlates with flashes of insight, wisdom and creativity.
Brain Synch
The hemispheres are meant to work in concert with one another. Interactive hemispheric feedback is used to treat disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, ADD, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and a host of other dysfunctions. Disorders of under-arousal include depression, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), chronic pain and insomnia. Overarousal includes anxiety disorders, problems getting to sleep, nightmares, ADHD, hypervigilance, impulsive behavior, anger/aggression, agitated depression, chronic nerve pain, and spasticity.
Because the brain is functionally “plastic” in nature, creating and exercising new neural pathways can retrain neural circuitry. In meditation, the halves of the brain become synchronized and exhibit nearly identical patterns of large, slow brainwaves. Rhythmic pulses can modulate collective neuronal synchrony. Then, both lobes automatically play in concert.
Rhythm regulates the entire spectrum of activation and arousal by kindling, or pulling more and more parts of the brain into the process. Disorders related to under- and over- arousal, including attentional and emotional problems, can be stabilized by self-organizing restructuring. Depressions, anxiety, worry, fear, and panic can be moderated. Stimulating neglected neural circuitry creates new pathways, improving equilibrium and long-term change, essentially “tuning” the nervous system.
There are many companies branding this self-regulation technology, both in “active” clinical neurofeedback programs, and as “passive” home programs. Among the oldest is the Monroe Institute, which calls its trademarked method Hemi-Synch. Another program offered by Centerpointe Research Institute is called Holosynch. BioPulse is another. Another variation uses light pulses from goggles to drive the process, and is marketed as Alpha-Stim.
Conclusions
Are there things we should not know? We are innately geared to crave ecstasy, “escape reality,” and seek extraordinary or novel experiences on our way to wisdom. The history of mankind recounts the stages of that journey. Religions and mysticism arose from the accounts of spontaneous spiritual experiences. In shamanism, our ancestors sought them in an instinctual or animalistic way. In art, myth and ritual we sought them in a human, if narcissistic and self-expressive reactionary way.
Curiously, DMT is ubiquitous in the biosphere, found everywhere from a variety of botanicals to mammals: It has been documented in rat brains at birth. Not only is it found in seaweed, flowers, vines, acacia tree (Sant), toadskins, Desmanthus illinoensis and Mimosa hostilis, A. columbrina, lawn grass, etc., but also in our brains and spinal columns
It is only in Western society that the potential shaman, with all of their psychic gifts, is ignored and treated as sick. All other human societies have honored their prophets, psychics, seers and shamans. We need to learn to recognize the potential shaman in our midst and re-learn what is required to ground them, teach them and train them so that their creative and psychic abilities can be a gift, not a curse, and can be used for their and our benefit. (Roney – Dougal)
In creativity and meditation we seek in a fully conscious way, willfully cooperating and facilitating the process not only of connecting with the divine, but experiencing ourselves in the process of “becoming” divine or being sacred. The ego no longer perceives itself as a separate expression of consciousness, but reconnects with our metaprogram as the same essence as All, infused with Light.
REFERENCES
Callaway, J.C. (1994). Pinoline and Other Tryptamine Derivatives: Formations and functions. PhD Dissertation, Dept. Pharmacol. & Toxicol, Univ. Kuopio, Finland
Chia, Mantak
Graves, Robert (1948) The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth.
Journal of Pineal Research
McKenna, Terence; Food of the Gods; New York: Bantam Books, 1993.
Meyer, Peter (1993), “Apparent communication with discarnate entities induce by DMT”, Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, Vol. 6, Thom Lyttle, Ed., PM & E Publishing Group, Boynton Beach, Florida.
Miller, Iona; “Chaos as the Universal Solvent: Re-creational ego death in psychedelic consciousness”; Psychedelics ReImagined, Thom Lyttle, Ed. New York: Autonomedia, 1999.
Miller, Iona (1994) BECOMING THE VINE: An Anecdotal Account of an Ayahuasca Initiation
Miller, Iona (2001), NEUROTHEOLOGY 101:Technoshamanism and Our Innate Capacity for Spiritual or Mystical Experience, Institute for Consciousness Science & Technology
Miller, Iona (2003), How the Brain Creates God: The Emerging Science of Neurotheology, Chaosophy, Asklepia Pub.
Pickover, Cliff (2006)
Radha, Soami Sivananda (1990) The Divine Light Invocation; Timeless Books, Spokane, Washington.
Roney-Dougal, Serena, Walking Between the Worlds: Links Between Psi, Psychedelics, Shamanism, and Psychosis.
Sabom, M. B. (1982). Recollections of death: a medical investigation. Harper and Row, New York.
Strassman, Rick (1990), “The Pineal Gland”, Psychedelic Monographs & Essays, Vol. 5, Thom Lyttle, Ed., PM & E Publishing Group, Boynton Beach, Florida
Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park St. Press.
5-7-2010 - Hi:
I am surprised at how many people assume that the conjecture in my book
about whether the pineal makes DMT, has actually been established as fact.
*If* DMT were made in the pineal, it would tie a lot of loose ends together.
But, we don't know if DMT does appear in the pineal.
The same has happened regarding my wondering if endogenous DMT activity
increases during particular non-drug altered states, such as dreams and
near-death experiences. We don't know if that's true. If it were, it would
help explain the psychedelic characteristics of those altered states.
A new assay for low levels of endogenous DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine, and
metabolites is being developed at LSU. We'll be looking at endogenous
levels of these compounds in different tissues, different species, and
different groups of people. Hopefully we'll get some answers within the
next year or two.
The Cottonwood Research Foundation site (www.cottonwoodresearch.org) could
be more up-to-date. However, the section on the assay is more current and
was written by Steve Barker at LSU, who's supervising the PhD student, Ethan
McIlhenny.
Rick Strassman
The Relativity of Body & Soul
by Iona Miller, 1993
By directly entering into and engaging our dream imagery, symptoms, and emotions we can tap that healing energy by plumbing our depths and soaring to our own heights of potential. This immersive experience produces direct conscious participation in the stream of consciousness which brings psychophysical change, feelings of renewal or rebirth, and connection with Spirit; all of which help us bounce back from the chaos and tragedies life brings our way.We can experientially come to realize that our consciousness of ourselves as embodied individuals in the world is founded upon empathy -- on our empathic cognition of others, and others' empathic cognition or grasp of oneself. This is the antidote for the poison of mutual projection of negative traits onto others, which happens both personally and culturally. This projection of animosity lies at the root of war, which can only be weeded out individual by individual through experiential confrontation with Shadow elements. When religious beliefs are used for war propaganda, the projection becomes cultural.
THE RELATIVITY OF BODY AND SOUL
by Iona Miller, c1992
...we are not concerned here with a philosophical, much less a religious,
concept of the soul, but with the psychological recognition of the existence of
a semiconscious psychic complex, having partial autonomy of function,
[anima].
C.G. Jung, TWO ESSAYS...
The soul loses its psychological vision in the abstract literalisms of the spirit
as well as in the concrete literalisms of the body.
James Hillman, RE-VISIONING PSYCHOLOGY
Psychic and somatic symptoms express the soul's painful wounds and
obstructions. The rational mind is incapable of deciding what is best for the
soul. The mind can discover what is needed only by listening to and
reflecting upon the subtle movement of the soul as it expresses itself in
bodily sensations, feelings, emotions, images, ideas, and dreams.
Robert M. Stein, "BODY AND PSYCHE"
Throughout history there have been many conceptions about the physical and spiritual
nature of reality. Early on, they were confounded, though now separated into
philosophy, physics, and religion. Each of these models or conceptions of mankind's
relationship to nature and the divine was based in a belief-system which
pre-conditioned all notions about the nature of the self.
The realm of psychology, with its own unique perspective on body and soul, lies
between the worlds of physical reality and spiritual heights. And, of course, there are
many schools of thought in psychology, many of which, like behaviorism and
humanism, do not consider the relevance of a notion of soul as motivating factor. On
the other hand, transpersonal psychology accepts the validity of the spiritual to the
point where its primary psychological orientation may recede into the background.
Jungian psychology, and its avant-garde form, imaginal psychology seek to maintain
the primacy of the image as a direct expression of soul. As a discipline, it alleges that
soul is a primary experience, and seeks to give her a voice. The realm of psyche is a
subjective world of depth and meaning that is sometimes corporeal, sometimes not.
Entry into this style of consciousness means heightened awareness of subjective
realities. Each "thing" speaks of the gods, or archetypal qualities and forces. It boldly
asserts that not even technology and inorganic matter are inherently soulless.
Imaginal psychology's main proponent, James Hillman, suggests it is only the literalist,
objective world of Newtonian mechanics and the Christian apocalypse that is "dead."
This school of psychology views many "spiritual" notions as products of a monotheistic
style of consciousness. It puts forth the view that soul is a pluralistic expression,
rather than an individual quality. It upholds a polytheistic perspective which is more
in line with the primitive concepts of the nature of soul. It views notions like
"spiritual soul," "material body," and "spiritual body" metaphorically, rather than
literally. Each god or archetype has its relative, characteristic style of consciousness
and way of seeing through the nature of things.
Jung and his followers have shown that certain mind-sets lead to biased fantasies
about the nature of the body, the soul, and the cosmos. Psyche is essentially related to
soma because it is rooted in organic structure. The intimacy of this relationship is not
fully understood. It is a realm of mystery which brings in its wake phenomena such
as synchronicity and psychosomatic disorders.
Religion and superstition undermined any remotely objective viewpoint about the
physical nature of the universe until the Enlightenment. Then scientists armored
themselves against incursions of the divine with Newtonian mechanics and Cartesian
duality. Descarte split mind from body, and equated the soul with the ego and mind,
thus disenfranchising it. The mechanistic, "clockwork universe" was based on the
primacy of underlying order. The universe was perceived as chaos tending toward
order, with each atom following God's great plan.
This notion of an orderly universe was superceded by the unpredictable phenomena of
quantum mechanics and chaos theory. We have found that beneath the apparent order
is a world of chaos that self-generates order, which dissolves back into chaos. Even
orderly motion is ultimately unpredictable due to initial conditions and even the
slightest of random intruding influences. So, the universe may still be "God's plan,"
but its basis is irrational, not rational.
Physics is a form of philosophy which makes educated guesses about the nature of
reality and our existence. It invites us to "look at it this way..." Scientific revolutions
demonstrate that these are not ultimate statements about the nature of reality. They
are relative, state-of-the-art hypotheses. This particular type of natural philosophy
includes many universal laws, however, which reflect the way things seem to be from
the current point of view.
It is difficult for any of us to free ourselves from our enculturated and a priori
beliefs about existence. It is hard to view anything from outside of our own
fundamental philosophical, spiritual, and psychological perspectives. These theories,
dogmas, and experiences condition how we perceive reality. Their influence may be
so subtle we fail to notice where our position originated. Our viewpoint is relative to
our position.
Einstein showed us that, in physics, all perspectives are relative to the position of the
observer. He discovered this by imagining he was riding on a beam of light. This
relativity holds true in psychology also, depending on what assumed truths one holds.
Notions of soul and body are not describing any irreducible reality. These notions are
relative realities, reflecting our personal understanding of the nature of reality. They
emerge from our specific worldview about the way things (including ourselves) work.
What we believe conditions what we perceive, feel, and express. Research shows our
beliefs and opinions are largely conditioned by the belief system of our peer group.
The day-to-day influence of convention creates a consensus opinion about reality and
is a big influence on lifestyle. Much of consensus is a tacit agreement to overlook
certain kinds of information, especially if it doesn't fit the "party line."
Beliefs are subject to radical reversal in some instances--the process of conversion.
Jung called this 180 degree shift in consciousness enantiodromia. Conversions arise
from a desperate need, from exposure to a new peer group with different attitudes
and values, or through embracing a broader worldview, or by covert means like
propaganda and brainwashing.
The prime expression of beliefs is through spontaneous imagery. We never experience
directly, but interpret our experience of our perceptions through imagery. All our
input comes through multi-sensory channels. We never directly perceive ourselves,
soul, or God. We don't perceive our bodies directly, only our sensory impressions. But
we do have first-hand experience of our body-image, soul-image, and God images.
That is all we know directly. The rest is pure speculation.
Relative viewpoints condition our concepts of reality, body and soul. A given
individual may hold several within himself. For example, a rational scientist may
find no empirical evidence for soul in her normal methods of investigation, but it
does not prevent her continuing practice and belief in her faith. The emotional self
will not be denied, even if it is held discrete from the workplace.
Historically, the body (and matter in general) has been a spiritual battle-ground.
Because of the bi-polar nature of our being (or our perception of bi-polarity), the
human spirit naturally comes into conflict with our earthy and material needs. These
primal drives create conflict between spirituality and instinctuality or sensuality. But
the conflict is a matter of perception and psychological perspective.
In the West, flesh was condemned for "original sin", a mandate forced on the body by
so-called "spiritual" pontification. This mandate was extended to include the
condemnation of all matter. In the East, the perception of any solid substance was
declared a mental phenomena. Matter was seen merely as an expression of universal
mind, reduced to a gross state known as maya. In this state all matter is subject to
karma, the natural consequences of active existence. In this worldview, the soul is
continuously recycled. Both philosophies reject materialism, and the body with it.
So matter is merely a convincing illusion in one view, while in another it is inherently
evil, the very opposite of God. The notion of immanence holds, on the other hand,
along with Pantheism and Animism, that all matter, formless or substantive, is
naturally infused with the divine. All agree that matter occupies space and time and
is perceived by the senses. Philosophically, matter is the formless material of the
universe of sensory experience. Each of these ideas, maya and the "fall," provides a
coherent worldview, yet remains discrete and congruent only within its own belief
system, with its a priori assumptions unexamined.
In our culture, the body and our fantasies about it, have come to represent the lost
Feminine element. We have lost touch with our primal femininity, the animating
principle (nature, body, instinct). We have become estranged from the body through
the mind/body split fostered by Cartesian thinking, which is also non-relativistic.
The image of the disembodied modern individual is one of an over-rational "walking
head," not a whole human being. Our modern need is not for further disembodiment
by transcending off into salvation in the nether-realms of space, not for more
out-of-body experiences. Rather, we almost desperately need to create ways of truly
inhabiting our bodies, unsplit by Puritanical and Cartesian residue.
There is a way that joins spirit and body through the spontaneous imagery of soul. It
seeks neither to solve our troubles (pathologies) nor "save" our souls. It suggests direct
engagement with images for soul-making or deepening through personal experience.
We can see through the nature of apparent reality for ourselves, if we but try. Then
we develop our own philosophy, apart from consensus. When it comes to questions of
speculation on the unknown, we can either accept what others have said, or look for
ourselves.
We seek the lost soul primarily because of the intense degree of wounding in our
modern consciousness. This wounding has "opened" us to transformation. We can
embody soul by seeing-through appearances to an acute awareness of the archetypal,
subjective perception of our experience.
We can find soul in the body. It speaks metaphorically in body language (how closed
or open one is to life and experience), body talk ("he's a pain in the neck," "I can't
stomach that"), symptoms, and displacements. Conversion reactions change
psychological dis-ease into concrete ailments. Jung said the gods have become diseases
and there is a god within every disease. Noticing that psychic element and giving it
voice is psychological soul-making. We can also look at our behavior, emotions,
thoughts, and styles of consciousness psychologically.
The conflict over the body is really between spirit and spirit, good and bad, polarized.
But it is popularized as a split between spirit and matter, with the soul as
intermediary. To compound the problem, in linguistics and beliefs, spirit and soul
have become mis-identified with one another by theology and philosophy. Philosophy,
for the Greeks was an adventure undertaken for its own sake, without dogma, rites, or
sacred entities.
These disciplines pull the soul in opposite directions, leaving the alienated ego
rejecting both mystical experience and the imperfection of the body. Thus we need
recourse to priests (for spirituality), therapists (for psychological insight), and doctors
(to interpret the condition of the body).
All healing appears to come from without, when we cannot heal our own dis-ease.
The body is betrayed and mentally abandoned. Symptoms become something to get rid
of, while the soul has no recourse to a higher power. Then the body becomes
tyrannical, ruling the self with addictions and psychosomatic complaints. It has many
ways of manifesting dis-ease.
The entire choice between spirit and body, inner and outer, has its source in
identification with the ego. Ego maintains itself by creating conflicts from opposing
drives within. It suppresses one and makes you believe you have chosen freely. The
dilemma comes from the ego, not the soul.
Matter, spirit, and ego fight over the soul. Yet soul is a primary experience. Each
wants its unique fantasy to reign uppermost. So, the first task is to distinguish soul
from spirit, so the body may unite and be enlivened by both. In this process, primacy
is given to the perspective of psyche or soul. This is a psychological approach--not
spiritual or religious--giving voice to soul. It means the return of a subjective
feminine eye on reality. It means the enlivening of our bodies, the world of nature,
and the imagination. When we see soul as the background of all phenomena, we
become aware of the animating principle.
All images arise from either body processes (instinct) or psychic forms (spirit).
Whether instinct-controlled or spirit-controlled, they are related to physiological
processes. They appear psychologically as images, but work physiologically. They
produce emotional or visceral aspects, but not in any causal way. The images don't
produce reactions. The images is the entire psychophysical gestalt.
We have considered three relative perspectives from which the notion of soul may be
viewed: theological, philosophical, and psychological. Each has its own distinct notion
about the body. Like Jung, we are not referring to a religious or philosophical
concept of either body or soul. Soul may or may not ultimately be a disembodied,
immortal thing as Zoroaster, Plato, and THE BIBLE suggest.
They uphold the pervasive cultural view that soul is a transcendent entity, distinct
from the body, that participates in an idealistic afterlife. No one alive can say for
sure, and what about this life, here and now? Psyche's view speaks directly to our
whole personalistic experience, with its transpersonal elements.
The soul in depth psychology is an empirical manifestation of imagination, fantasy,
and creativity which is always in the process of becoming--images forming, and
dissolving, and forming anew. Imagination is the essence of the life forces, both
physical and psychic. These fantasies always permeate our beliefs, ideas, emotions,
and physical nature.
Like the psyche, or life-breath, of the early Greeks, this notion of soul is like that of
the butterfly which always stays close to the ground. It is an airy thing, hovering
lightly, without heroically soaring to the heights. In this model, there are no abstract
flights of fancy into spirit's realm, no transcending off into subtle "spirit bodies"
mistakenly distinguished as aspects of the soul. These urges are real, but they belong
to spirit.
Rather, the soul generates images unceasingly. The soul lives on images and metaphor.
These images form the basis for our consciousness. All we can know comes through
images, through our multi-sensory perceptions. So this soul always stays close to the
body, close to corporeality, to what "matters." Let the images come into your body.
Embrace the image. To heal the mind/body split we need a view of reality that
eliminates the dichotomy of "in here" in this separate body vs. "out there" in the alien,
external world.
Even physics shows us we are continuous with that world. Our skin-boundary is an
illusion. We literally exchange gases and atoms with one another, and the world. The
turn-over of matter in the body means there is no single, stable structure over
time--just a duration of consciousness.
The line between organic and inorganic matter is indistinguishable at the subatomic
level. All that exists is alive with motion. Both body and mind are the realm of
psyche which can manifest as particular behaviors, psychosomatic illnesses, emotional
patterns, mental and spiritual beliefs, and synchronistic events.
Mystics tell us that the entire world of phenomena is of the nature of mind or
consciousness. Modern quantum mechanics seems to uphold this view from the
scientific side. There is no solid matter, when you get right down to it--only waves of
energy, "quantum fuzz", and probabilities. so, matter is no more tangible, nor less
divine than the intangible energy or light from which it congeals. It is a spiritual
notion that matter is a debased form of energy.
But the perspective of spirit would not have us confuse the creation with the Creator.
Yet, in some sense, the light is the Light, in the metaphorical, if not literalistic or
concretistic sense. We are merely a local outcropping of individuality, embedded in a
continuum of cosmic connectivity, a webwork of relationship. In so many words, it
means, "We are the world!"
"In here" and "out there" become moot when the subatomic nature of matter is truly
understood. It becomes easier to see the nature of psyche as the underlying, living,
divine field of all experience and phenomena. At the deepest level, we are physically
indistinguishable from the cosmos at the quantum level.
Our existence is one of an indeterminate electromagnetic field, rather than a distinct
chemical entity. Divinity is not off somewhere else, long ago, or in the future. We
don't need to leave the body, die, or travel through time and space to find it in
"pie-in-the-sky" salvation. As the Buddhists note, all is self, or Atman, here and now
always.
The universal EM field is a primary physical, if not corporeal reality. Our apparently
discrete existence is contiguous with it. In this model there is no mandate for a
"soul-as-spirit body" to leave or vacate the body for purification, enlightenment, or
union with divinity. Only our state of consciousness keeps us from that
moment-by-moment realization. Direct psychological experience tells us that "I AM
THAT."
We are psychological beings, composed of body and soul. Psychic life is physical and
mental. Spirit enlivens soul--it manifests through soul. Soul animates the body. Soul
enlivens and tends to favor the body. The body unites with spirit and soul by
becoming "saturated" with them, immersed in their essence.
Denial of the body by a disembodied spiritual drive leads to ascensionism. It may be
an escapist, transcendence fantasy. It is a way of keeping life at bay. In the
provisional life one is always waiting to live life if things are just so. We can
reinhabit or re-own the body in consciousness and experience ourselves as total
psychosomatic beings. Spirit can be grounded in the body by making practical use of
spiritual insights.
The harmonization of spirituality and instinctuality leads to wholeness. For example,
in sexuality, a spirit-body split leads to an inability to see one sexual partner as both
sexy and spiritually inspiring. This may manifest through circumstances or a
psychological complex. It is an aspect of the Madonna-whore complex.
The whole person, on the other hand, views the sex act as the divine marriage of spirit
and soul, God/Goddess, Shiva/Shakti. It epitomizes the universal cycle of
creation/destruction, mind and matter in play. This attitude exalts body, soul, and
spirit. It is akin to a nature mystic experience where the outer divine resonates and
enters the body.
The ancient art of alchemy was the search for the God-head in matter. The
alchemical task was to unify spirit and soul in the body. Psychic reality means to be
in soul, esse in anima, as Jung put it. It means an enlarged experience of concrete
reality to include the realm of the psyche, a dialogue with events, situations, and
circumstances.
Body is made complete, not by perfecting it, but by spiritualizing it. It becomes the
vehicle of the "incarnating Self." Spirit is attracted to matter and matter to spirit.
Matter gets purpose and meaning from spirit. An "immortal body" now means
grounding of the spirit. The uniting of soul, body, and spirit was called the Unus
Mundus, or One World in alchemy.
As a psychophysical entity you experience the Anima Mundi, or Soul of the World.
The Jews knew it as the Shekinah. She is the embodiment of psyche, the animating
force behind all events, images, and material forms. Soul functions both in the body
and through projection in the physical world. Psychic reality means to be-in-soul,
through embodiment (soma) or enlivenment (psyche)--perceiving images viscerally
(soma) and mentally (psyche).
Acknowledgement of this force does not constitute Goddess worship--only recognition
of the archetypal reality of nature, and our nature. She is a way of reclaiming the
divinity of body, matter, and world. The Soul of the World notion, though repressed,
is part of the return of the Feminine. Hillman invites us into this world:
Let us imagine the anima mundi neither above the world encircling it as a
divine and remote emanation of spirit, a world of powers, archetypes, and
principles transcendent to things, nor within the material world as its
unifying panpsychic life-principle. Rather let us imagine the anima mundi
as that particular soul-spark, that seminal image, which offers itself through
each thing in its visible form. Then anima mundi indicates the animated
possibilities presented by each event as it is, its sensuous presentation as face
bespeaking its interior image--in short, its availability to imagination, its
presence as a psychic reality. Not only animals and plants ensouled as in the
Romantic vision, but soul is given with each thing, God-given things of nature
and man-made things of the street.
Hillman suggests therapy shift its focus from saving the soul of the individual to
saving the soul of the world, resurrection of the world, rather than man--a raising of
consciousness of created things, the world's psychic reality. He says we have, in
essence, taken and stored the world soul within ourselves. "There is no 'in here' and
'out there'. We should give it back."
Physical reality becomes psychic and psyche becomes real. It "matters." The
difference between soul and external things no longer matters. Inner and Outer
worlds are real. They are One World. Image, metaphor and symbol bridge the abyss
between matter and spirit. They are integrated with feeing, mind, and imagination.
We can see soul in all natural objects. We can notice our fantasies constantly
conditioning our experience of reality.
We need to learn how to be in our souls, just as we had to learn to reinhabit the body.
Being-in-soul implies that you are being suffused with spirit. Knowledge of spirit
doesn't come from ideas, even revelations, but through a reflective process. Their
conjunction, or marriage, means spirit is reborn whenever you are in touch with soul.
They are opposites, so the interplay is eternal. Just observe without attachment the
interaction of soul and spirit, distinct yet conjoined. Hold the tension of the
opposites.
When spirit as energy and matter as form are in balance, the body becomes the living
"Temple of the Spirit." The notion of a soul's immortality comes to mean direct
experience of non-spatial, non-temporal, four-dimensional reality--the realm of
relativity.
by Iona Miller, 1993
By directly entering into and engaging our dream imagery, symptoms, and emotions we can tap that healing energy by plumbing our depths and soaring to our own heights of potential. This immersive experience produces direct conscious participation in the stream of consciousness which brings psychophysical change, feelings of renewal or rebirth, and connection with Spirit; all of which help us bounce back from the chaos and tragedies life brings our way.We can experientially come to realize that our consciousness of ourselves as embodied individuals in the world is founded upon empathy -- on our empathic cognition of others, and others' empathic cognition or grasp of oneself. This is the antidote for the poison of mutual projection of negative traits onto others, which happens both personally and culturally. This projection of animosity lies at the root of war, which can only be weeded out individual by individual through experiential confrontation with Shadow elements. When religious beliefs are used for war propaganda, the projection becomes cultural.
THE RELATIVITY OF BODY AND SOUL
by Iona Miller, c1992
...we are not concerned here with a philosophical, much less a religious,
concept of the soul, but with the psychological recognition of the existence of
a semiconscious psychic complex, having partial autonomy of function,
[anima].
C.G. Jung, TWO ESSAYS...
The soul loses its psychological vision in the abstract literalisms of the spirit
as well as in the concrete literalisms of the body.
James Hillman, RE-VISIONING PSYCHOLOGY
Psychic and somatic symptoms express the soul's painful wounds and
obstructions. The rational mind is incapable of deciding what is best for the
soul. The mind can discover what is needed only by listening to and
reflecting upon the subtle movement of the soul as it expresses itself in
bodily sensations, feelings, emotions, images, ideas, and dreams.
Robert M. Stein, "BODY AND PSYCHE"
Throughout history there have been many conceptions about the physical and spiritual
nature of reality. Early on, they were confounded, though now separated into
philosophy, physics, and religion. Each of these models or conceptions of mankind's
relationship to nature and the divine was based in a belief-system which
pre-conditioned all notions about the nature of the self.
The realm of psychology, with its own unique perspective on body and soul, lies
between the worlds of physical reality and spiritual heights. And, of course, there are
many schools of thought in psychology, many of which, like behaviorism and
humanism, do not consider the relevance of a notion of soul as motivating factor. On
the other hand, transpersonal psychology accepts the validity of the spiritual to the
point where its primary psychological orientation may recede into the background.
Jungian psychology, and its avant-garde form, imaginal psychology seek to maintain
the primacy of the image as a direct expression of soul. As a discipline, it alleges that
soul is a primary experience, and seeks to give her a voice. The realm of psyche is a
subjective world of depth and meaning that is sometimes corporeal, sometimes not.
Entry into this style of consciousness means heightened awareness of subjective
realities. Each "thing" speaks of the gods, or archetypal qualities and forces. It boldly
asserts that not even technology and inorganic matter are inherently soulless.
Imaginal psychology's main proponent, James Hillman, suggests it is only the literalist,
objective world of Newtonian mechanics and the Christian apocalypse that is "dead."
This school of psychology views many "spiritual" notions as products of a monotheistic
style of consciousness. It puts forth the view that soul is a pluralistic expression,
rather than an individual quality. It upholds a polytheistic perspective which is more
in line with the primitive concepts of the nature of soul. It views notions like
"spiritual soul," "material body," and "spiritual body" metaphorically, rather than
literally. Each god or archetype has its relative, characteristic style of consciousness
and way of seeing through the nature of things.
Jung and his followers have shown that certain mind-sets lead to biased fantasies
about the nature of the body, the soul, and the cosmos. Psyche is essentially related to
soma because it is rooted in organic structure. The intimacy of this relationship is not
fully understood. It is a realm of mystery which brings in its wake phenomena such
as synchronicity and psychosomatic disorders.
Religion and superstition undermined any remotely objective viewpoint about the
physical nature of the universe until the Enlightenment. Then scientists armored
themselves against incursions of the divine with Newtonian mechanics and Cartesian
duality. Descarte split mind from body, and equated the soul with the ego and mind,
thus disenfranchising it. The mechanistic, "clockwork universe" was based on the
primacy of underlying order. The universe was perceived as chaos tending toward
order, with each atom following God's great plan.
This notion of an orderly universe was superceded by the unpredictable phenomena of
quantum mechanics and chaos theory. We have found that beneath the apparent order
is a world of chaos that self-generates order, which dissolves back into chaos. Even
orderly motion is ultimately unpredictable due to initial conditions and even the
slightest of random intruding influences. So, the universe may still be "God's plan,"
but its basis is irrational, not rational.
Physics is a form of philosophy which makes educated guesses about the nature of
reality and our existence. It invites us to "look at it this way..." Scientific revolutions
demonstrate that these are not ultimate statements about the nature of reality. They
are relative, state-of-the-art hypotheses. This particular type of natural philosophy
includes many universal laws, however, which reflect the way things seem to be from
the current point of view.
It is difficult for any of us to free ourselves from our enculturated and a priori
beliefs about existence. It is hard to view anything from outside of our own
fundamental philosophical, spiritual, and psychological perspectives. These theories,
dogmas, and experiences condition how we perceive reality. Their influence may be
so subtle we fail to notice where our position originated. Our viewpoint is relative to
our position.
Einstein showed us that, in physics, all perspectives are relative to the position of the
observer. He discovered this by imagining he was riding on a beam of light. This
relativity holds true in psychology also, depending on what assumed truths one holds.
Notions of soul and body are not describing any irreducible reality. These notions are
relative realities, reflecting our personal understanding of the nature of reality. They
emerge from our specific worldview about the way things (including ourselves) work.
What we believe conditions what we perceive, feel, and express. Research shows our
beliefs and opinions are largely conditioned by the belief system of our peer group.
The day-to-day influence of convention creates a consensus opinion about reality and
is a big influence on lifestyle. Much of consensus is a tacit agreement to overlook
certain kinds of information, especially if it doesn't fit the "party line."
Beliefs are subject to radical reversal in some instances--the process of conversion.
Jung called this 180 degree shift in consciousness enantiodromia. Conversions arise
from a desperate need, from exposure to a new peer group with different attitudes
and values, or through embracing a broader worldview, or by covert means like
propaganda and brainwashing.
The prime expression of beliefs is through spontaneous imagery. We never experience
directly, but interpret our experience of our perceptions through imagery. All our
input comes through multi-sensory channels. We never directly perceive ourselves,
soul, or God. We don't perceive our bodies directly, only our sensory impressions. But
we do have first-hand experience of our body-image, soul-image, and God images.
That is all we know directly. The rest is pure speculation.
Relative viewpoints condition our concepts of reality, body and soul. A given
individual may hold several within himself. For example, a rational scientist may
find no empirical evidence for soul in her normal methods of investigation, but it
does not prevent her continuing practice and belief in her faith. The emotional self
will not be denied, even if it is held discrete from the workplace.
Historically, the body (and matter in general) has been a spiritual battle-ground.
Because of the bi-polar nature of our being (or our perception of bi-polarity), the
human spirit naturally comes into conflict with our earthy and material needs. These
primal drives create conflict between spirituality and instinctuality or sensuality. But
the conflict is a matter of perception and psychological perspective.
In the West, flesh was condemned for "original sin", a mandate forced on the body by
so-called "spiritual" pontification. This mandate was extended to include the
condemnation of all matter. In the East, the perception of any solid substance was
declared a mental phenomena. Matter was seen merely as an expression of universal
mind, reduced to a gross state known as maya. In this state all matter is subject to
karma, the natural consequences of active existence. In this worldview, the soul is
continuously recycled. Both philosophies reject materialism, and the body with it.
So matter is merely a convincing illusion in one view, while in another it is inherently
evil, the very opposite of God. The notion of immanence holds, on the other hand,
along with Pantheism and Animism, that all matter, formless or substantive, is
naturally infused with the divine. All agree that matter occupies space and time and
is perceived by the senses. Philosophically, matter is the formless material of the
universe of sensory experience. Each of these ideas, maya and the "fall," provides a
coherent worldview, yet remains discrete and congruent only within its own belief
system, with its a priori assumptions unexamined.
In our culture, the body and our fantasies about it, have come to represent the lost
Feminine element. We have lost touch with our primal femininity, the animating
principle (nature, body, instinct). We have become estranged from the body through
the mind/body split fostered by Cartesian thinking, which is also non-relativistic.
The image of the disembodied modern individual is one of an over-rational "walking
head," not a whole human being. Our modern need is not for further disembodiment
by transcending off into salvation in the nether-realms of space, not for more
out-of-body experiences. Rather, we almost desperately need to create ways of truly
inhabiting our bodies, unsplit by Puritanical and Cartesian residue.
There is a way that joins spirit and body through the spontaneous imagery of soul. It
seeks neither to solve our troubles (pathologies) nor "save" our souls. It suggests direct
engagement with images for soul-making or deepening through personal experience.
We can see through the nature of apparent reality for ourselves, if we but try. Then
we develop our own philosophy, apart from consensus. When it comes to questions of
speculation on the unknown, we can either accept what others have said, or look for
ourselves.
We seek the lost soul primarily because of the intense degree of wounding in our
modern consciousness. This wounding has "opened" us to transformation. We can
embody soul by seeing-through appearances to an acute awareness of the archetypal,
subjective perception of our experience.
We can find soul in the body. It speaks metaphorically in body language (how closed
or open one is to life and experience), body talk ("he's a pain in the neck," "I can't
stomach that"), symptoms, and displacements. Conversion reactions change
psychological dis-ease into concrete ailments. Jung said the gods have become diseases
and there is a god within every disease. Noticing that psychic element and giving it
voice is psychological soul-making. We can also look at our behavior, emotions,
thoughts, and styles of consciousness psychologically.
The conflict over the body is really between spirit and spirit, good and bad, polarized.
But it is popularized as a split between spirit and matter, with the soul as
intermediary. To compound the problem, in linguistics and beliefs, spirit and soul
have become mis-identified with one another by theology and philosophy. Philosophy,
for the Greeks was an adventure undertaken for its own sake, without dogma, rites, or
sacred entities.
These disciplines pull the soul in opposite directions, leaving the alienated ego
rejecting both mystical experience and the imperfection of the body. Thus we need
recourse to priests (for spirituality), therapists (for psychological insight), and doctors
(to interpret the condition of the body).
All healing appears to come from without, when we cannot heal our own dis-ease.
The body is betrayed and mentally abandoned. Symptoms become something to get rid
of, while the soul has no recourse to a higher power. Then the body becomes
tyrannical, ruling the self with addictions and psychosomatic complaints. It has many
ways of manifesting dis-ease.
The entire choice between spirit and body, inner and outer, has its source in
identification with the ego. Ego maintains itself by creating conflicts from opposing
drives within. It suppresses one and makes you believe you have chosen freely. The
dilemma comes from the ego, not the soul.
Matter, spirit, and ego fight over the soul. Yet soul is a primary experience. Each
wants its unique fantasy to reign uppermost. So, the first task is to distinguish soul
from spirit, so the body may unite and be enlivened by both. In this process, primacy
is given to the perspective of psyche or soul. This is a psychological approach--not
spiritual or religious--giving voice to soul. It means the return of a subjective
feminine eye on reality. It means the enlivening of our bodies, the world of nature,
and the imagination. When we see soul as the background of all phenomena, we
become aware of the animating principle.
All images arise from either body processes (instinct) or psychic forms (spirit).
Whether instinct-controlled or spirit-controlled, they are related to physiological
processes. They appear psychologically as images, but work physiologically. They
produce emotional or visceral aspects, but not in any causal way. The images don't
produce reactions. The images is the entire psychophysical gestalt.
We have considered three relative perspectives from which the notion of soul may be
viewed: theological, philosophical, and psychological. Each has its own distinct notion
about the body. Like Jung, we are not referring to a religious or philosophical
concept of either body or soul. Soul may or may not ultimately be a disembodied,
immortal thing as Zoroaster, Plato, and THE BIBLE suggest.
They uphold the pervasive cultural view that soul is a transcendent entity, distinct
from the body, that participates in an idealistic afterlife. No one alive can say for
sure, and what about this life, here and now? Psyche's view speaks directly to our
whole personalistic experience, with its transpersonal elements.
The soul in depth psychology is an empirical manifestation of imagination, fantasy,
and creativity which is always in the process of becoming--images forming, and
dissolving, and forming anew. Imagination is the essence of the life forces, both
physical and psychic. These fantasies always permeate our beliefs, ideas, emotions,
and physical nature.
Like the psyche, or life-breath, of the early Greeks, this notion of soul is like that of
the butterfly which always stays close to the ground. It is an airy thing, hovering
lightly, without heroically soaring to the heights. In this model, there are no abstract
flights of fancy into spirit's realm, no transcending off into subtle "spirit bodies"
mistakenly distinguished as aspects of the soul. These urges are real, but they belong
to spirit.
Rather, the soul generates images unceasingly. The soul lives on images and metaphor.
These images form the basis for our consciousness. All we can know comes through
images, through our multi-sensory perceptions. So this soul always stays close to the
body, close to corporeality, to what "matters." Let the images come into your body.
Embrace the image. To heal the mind/body split we need a view of reality that
eliminates the dichotomy of "in here" in this separate body vs. "out there" in the alien,
external world.
Even physics shows us we are continuous with that world. Our skin-boundary is an
illusion. We literally exchange gases and atoms with one another, and the world. The
turn-over of matter in the body means there is no single, stable structure over
time--just a duration of consciousness.
The line between organic and inorganic matter is indistinguishable at the subatomic
level. All that exists is alive with motion. Both body and mind are the realm of
psyche which can manifest as particular behaviors, psychosomatic illnesses, emotional
patterns, mental and spiritual beliefs, and synchronistic events.
Mystics tell us that the entire world of phenomena is of the nature of mind or
consciousness. Modern quantum mechanics seems to uphold this view from the
scientific side. There is no solid matter, when you get right down to it--only waves of
energy, "quantum fuzz", and probabilities. so, matter is no more tangible, nor less
divine than the intangible energy or light from which it congeals. It is a spiritual
notion that matter is a debased form of energy.
But the perspective of spirit would not have us confuse the creation with the Creator.
Yet, in some sense, the light is the Light, in the metaphorical, if not literalistic or
concretistic sense. We are merely a local outcropping of individuality, embedded in a
continuum of cosmic connectivity, a webwork of relationship. In so many words, it
means, "We are the world!"
"In here" and "out there" become moot when the subatomic nature of matter is truly
understood. It becomes easier to see the nature of psyche as the underlying, living,
divine field of all experience and phenomena. At the deepest level, we are physically
indistinguishable from the cosmos at the quantum level.
Our existence is one of an indeterminate electromagnetic field, rather than a distinct
chemical entity. Divinity is not off somewhere else, long ago, or in the future. We
don't need to leave the body, die, or travel through time and space to find it in
"pie-in-the-sky" salvation. As the Buddhists note, all is self, or Atman, here and now
always.
The universal EM field is a primary physical, if not corporeal reality. Our apparently
discrete existence is contiguous with it. In this model there is no mandate for a
"soul-as-spirit body" to leave or vacate the body for purification, enlightenment, or
union with divinity. Only our state of consciousness keeps us from that
moment-by-moment realization. Direct psychological experience tells us that "I AM
THAT."
We are psychological beings, composed of body and soul. Psychic life is physical and
mental. Spirit enlivens soul--it manifests through soul. Soul animates the body. Soul
enlivens and tends to favor the body. The body unites with spirit and soul by
becoming "saturated" with them, immersed in their essence.
Denial of the body by a disembodied spiritual drive leads to ascensionism. It may be
an escapist, transcendence fantasy. It is a way of keeping life at bay. In the
provisional life one is always waiting to live life if things are just so. We can
reinhabit or re-own the body in consciousness and experience ourselves as total
psychosomatic beings. Spirit can be grounded in the body by making practical use of
spiritual insights.
The harmonization of spirituality and instinctuality leads to wholeness. For example,
in sexuality, a spirit-body split leads to an inability to see one sexual partner as both
sexy and spiritually inspiring. This may manifest through circumstances or a
psychological complex. It is an aspect of the Madonna-whore complex.
The whole person, on the other hand, views the sex act as the divine marriage of spirit
and soul, God/Goddess, Shiva/Shakti. It epitomizes the universal cycle of
creation/destruction, mind and matter in play. This attitude exalts body, soul, and
spirit. It is akin to a nature mystic experience where the outer divine resonates and
enters the body.
The ancient art of alchemy was the search for the God-head in matter. The
alchemical task was to unify spirit and soul in the body. Psychic reality means to be
in soul, esse in anima, as Jung put it. It means an enlarged experience of concrete
reality to include the realm of the psyche, a dialogue with events, situations, and
circumstances.
Body is made complete, not by perfecting it, but by spiritualizing it. It becomes the
vehicle of the "incarnating Self." Spirit is attracted to matter and matter to spirit.
Matter gets purpose and meaning from spirit. An "immortal body" now means
grounding of the spirit. The uniting of soul, body, and spirit was called the Unus
Mundus, or One World in alchemy.
As a psychophysical entity you experience the Anima Mundi, or Soul of the World.
The Jews knew it as the Shekinah. She is the embodiment of psyche, the animating
force behind all events, images, and material forms. Soul functions both in the body
and through projection in the physical world. Psychic reality means to be-in-soul,
through embodiment (soma) or enlivenment (psyche)--perceiving images viscerally
(soma) and mentally (psyche).
Acknowledgement of this force does not constitute Goddess worship--only recognition
of the archetypal reality of nature, and our nature. She is a way of reclaiming the
divinity of body, matter, and world. The Soul of the World notion, though repressed,
is part of the return of the Feminine. Hillman invites us into this world:
Let us imagine the anima mundi neither above the world encircling it as a
divine and remote emanation of spirit, a world of powers, archetypes, and
principles transcendent to things, nor within the material world as its
unifying panpsychic life-principle. Rather let us imagine the anima mundi
as that particular soul-spark, that seminal image, which offers itself through
each thing in its visible form. Then anima mundi indicates the animated
possibilities presented by each event as it is, its sensuous presentation as face
bespeaking its interior image--in short, its availability to imagination, its
presence as a psychic reality. Not only animals and plants ensouled as in the
Romantic vision, but soul is given with each thing, God-given things of nature
and man-made things of the street.
Hillman suggests therapy shift its focus from saving the soul of the individual to
saving the soul of the world, resurrection of the world, rather than man--a raising of
consciousness of created things, the world's psychic reality. He says we have, in
essence, taken and stored the world soul within ourselves. "There is no 'in here' and
'out there'. We should give it back."
Physical reality becomes psychic and psyche becomes real. It "matters." The
difference between soul and external things no longer matters. Inner and Outer
worlds are real. They are One World. Image, metaphor and symbol bridge the abyss
between matter and spirit. They are integrated with feeing, mind, and imagination.
We can see soul in all natural objects. We can notice our fantasies constantly
conditioning our experience of reality.
We need to learn how to be in our souls, just as we had to learn to reinhabit the body.
Being-in-soul implies that you are being suffused with spirit. Knowledge of spirit
doesn't come from ideas, even revelations, but through a reflective process. Their
conjunction, or marriage, means spirit is reborn whenever you are in touch with soul.
They are opposites, so the interplay is eternal. Just observe without attachment the
interaction of soul and spirit, distinct yet conjoined. Hold the tension of the
opposites.
When spirit as energy and matter as form are in balance, the body becomes the living
"Temple of the Spirit." The notion of a soul's immortality comes to mean direct
experience of non-spatial, non-temporal, four-dimensional reality--the realm of
relativity.
SELF TEST: Northridge Developmental Scale of Self-Actualization
Test Your Self-Transcendence from Creativity, ESP, and Meditation;
the JOHN CURTIS GOWAN Memorial Website of Psychic Phenomena, Mental Health, and Paranormal Psychology
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE by JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/northp.html
(SELF-TEST YOUR SELF-ACTUALIZATION)
Preface by Iona Miller, c2000
Caution: Do not read to the end of this file if you intend to take this
self-test, or you will skew your results. Read this brief introduction,
take the test, and then read further about the development and
meaning of the test. For self-scoring, click the link at the end of the
test for directions on scoring and interpreting your results.
We all have the potential for being creative and even extraordinary human
beings, yet many of us never develop this capacity fully, due to a variety of
blocks. When we see the creativity of others, we may often wonder how we can
tap our own creative potential. Psychologists have been trying for years to
determine what distinguishes the creative personality from the population at
large. Being scientists, they have devised means for categorizing and measuring
these distinctions. Some of the most interesting work along these lines has been
conducted by Piaget, Erikson, Maslow, Arieti, Tart, and John Gowan.
Gowan synthesized the best research on consciousness and development toward
self-actualization, which Maslow defined as the manifesting of one's potential
capabilities. However, it is more thoroughly described as a process/goal with
operations on three distinct levels: 1). the creative; 2). the psychedelic, and 3). the
illuminative. Those in whom this process is stabilized, rather than merely
emergent, are termed self-actualized. In the perennial philosophy this process is
known as Self-Realization, a living connection with the creative inspiration of the
higher Self, which Plato called the Daemon or genius. See Gowan Memorial Site at http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
Gowan reworked several standard evaluation tests to determine levels of mental
and emotional health in graduate candidates. Because the scale extends beyond
the traits of healthy adult adjustment, it also is an objective measure of some
aspects of spirituality. He reasoned that not fostering these extraordinary traits
and transcendent experiences concurrent with the adult tasks of career and family
building is roughly equivalent to lack of sexual maturation in an adolescent. The
strong ego, fearing loss of control, may be reluctant to enter the soul-revealing
stages of psychedelia.
More recently these creative and transpersonal qualities have been compared on a
par with I.Q. as E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) and S.Q. (Spiritual Quotient).
Gowan emphasized that when the opposites of cognitive and emotional
development keep pace with one another, a more balanced individual emerges.
This balance is reflected in both inner and outer life. This test will help you
understand where you are in your personal individuation, what is blocking you,
and what developmental tasks remain as options for further exploration and
development.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE
(from the book Development of the Psychedelic Individual)
by J. C. Gowan
This test attempts to find out how well you know yourself and your own development. There are no right answers. You are asked in each question to respond to one of the four alternatives IF YOU WISH. if none of them is "you," please mark response 5. You can work rapidly and take your first impression. You should finish within 45 minutes.
1.1 It seems like the world is going crazy.
.2 1 find life makes more and more sense.
.3 One has to fight one's way up in the world.
.4 1 would rather retreat from the world.
2.1 1 like the status quo.
.2 1 feel comfortable with change.
.3 Society needs a revolution.
.4 Society needs more hermits and cop-outs.
3.1 1 have the worst luck in the world.
.2 Fighting is a natural heritage of man.
.3 I know who my enemies are.
.4 Lucky little things keep happening to me.
4.1 1 worry about the future.
.2 1 believe in serendipity.
.3 1 suffer from my memories.
.4 Man is naturally antagonistic.
5.1 1 certainly feel useless at times.
.2 1 have never laughed at a dirty joke.
.3 1 think I would like to be an auto racer.
.4 Some people are plotting against me.
6.1 1 am afraid to be myself.
.2 1 don't put off till tomorrow what ought to be done today.
.3 1 have sometimes had awareness of things and events before they occur.
.4 1 have low back pain.
7.1 1 have waked up with an idea so compelling, I have to run to get it down.
.2 1 feel obligated when a stranger does me a favor.
.3 1 dislike modern art.
.4 No one is going to exploit me if I can help it.
8.1 1 am seldom bothered by nightmares.
.2 1 am often bothered by nightmares.
.3 1 am often constipated.
.4 1 am afraid to be myself.
9.1 1 don't accept my own weaknesses.
.2 1 have sinned much in the past.
.3 People are essentially "no-good."
.4 My life is very full and complete.
10.1 1 don't really care whether people like or dislike me.
.2 1 am stricter about right and wrong than most people.
.3 1 am fascinated by fire.
.4 My parents never really understood me.
11. 1 1 am assertive and self-confident.
.2 1 am going down hill.
.3 1 would like to take a year off and visit a desert island.
.4 The last few years have been the best of my life.
12.1 1 am often angry with those I love.
I feel good about life.
I am over-dependent on those I love.
Most people's lives fill me with despair.
13.1 1 have been very fortunate in life.
.2 1 have been very unfortunate in life.
.3 1 have nothing to complain about.
.4 There are many people who are better off than I am.
14.1 Good things are continually happening to me.
.2 Bad things are continually happening to me.
.3 Freaky things are continually happening to me.
.4 Dumb things are continually happening to me.
15.1 1 always finish everything I start.
.2 1 am afraid of deep water.
.3 If the wages were good, I would like to travel with a circus.
.4 1 know who my enemies are.
16.1 1 tend to play on bad luck.
.2 On several occasions I have been unjustly accused when innocent.
.3 Luck is simply a matter of the law of averages.
.4 Happy little coincidences seem continually to occur in my life.
17.1 1 like to be helpful to others.
.2 1 don't care about being helpful to others.
.3 1 like others to be helpful to me.
.4 1 find that being myself is helpful to others.
18.1 1 am not absolutely bound by the principle of fairness.
.2 1 have never had a traffic ticket.
.3 1 am not in as good health as most of my friends.
.4 1 do not agree with many modern trends.
19.1 1 think tests like this one are really stupid.
.2 Some things are right, and some are wrong, and there is no middle.
.3 1 have dreams about my parent(s).
.4 The pursuit of happiness is not opposed to altruism.
20.1 1 must admit that I am a hyper-strung person.
.2 1 like only the better things in life.
.3 1 am afraid to be alone in the dark.
.4 1 can describe myself as a strong person.
21.1 1 do not have to justify my feelings with reasons.
.2 1 like crowds.
.3 1 would like to go to an orgy.
.4 My health is below par.
22.1 Personal autonomy is more important than personal consistency.
.2 Personal consistency is more important than personal autonomy.
.3 1 dislike dogs.
.4 Even when feeling ill, I am never cross.
23.1 1 can express affection regardless of whether it is returned.
.2 1 believe in corporal punishment in the schools.
.3 1 often think about things too bad to talk about.
.4 Disorganization continually keeps cropping up in my life.
24.1 1 would like to live in a fantasy world.
.2 1 am fascinated by horror stories.
.3 1 need a great deal of security.
.4 It is important for me to perceive reality as it is.
25.1 1 have often been punished without cause.
.2 1 take a bath every day without fail.
.3 1 cannot do anything really well.
.4 1 have a great deal of stomach trouble.
26.1 People have an instinct for evil.
.2 1 feel ashamed of my emotions.
.3 1 often feel controlled by forces outside myself.
.4 1 am loved because I am loveable.
27.1 1 feel the world is getting better not worse.
.2 People are just too hostile.
.3 1 should like to go away and pull things in with me.
.4 1 feel very dependent on some other person.
28.1 1 hate growing older.
.2 1 have a lot of aches and pains as I grow older.
.3 1 find more opportunities for growth as I grow older.
.4 1 do not think about growing older.
29.1 1 find learning usually involves growing toward others.
.2 1 wish I had a lot more money.
.3 There are people I dislike so much I'm afraid to go near them.
.4 Everything tastes the same.
30.1 A thunderstorm terrifies me.
.2 If I had to choose between liberty and security, I'd choose security.
.3 My fingers and nails are always neat and clean.
.4 My sleep is fitfull and disturbed.
31.1 My environment often baffles me.
.2 Disorganization continues to pop up in my life.
.3 1 feel very much in control of my environment.
.4 The world is a jungle any way you look at it.
32.1 1 wish certain people would stop persecuting me.
.2 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a good motto.
.3 1 am a piano player in the whore-house of life.
.4 1 feel that my life is dedicated to a noble purpose.
33.1 1 live a very ordinary kind of life.
.2 1 am concerned with self-improvement at all times.
.3 1 know that others are often talking about me.
.4 1 live a very unusual type of life.
34.1 While I love people, I often need withdrawal and detachment.
.2 1 feel lonely whenever I don't have friends around me.
.3 1 do what others expect of me.
.4 1 had no idea life could be so depraved.
35.1 People often talk about me behind my back.
.2 My father was a strong man who was severe in discipline.
.3 If I were to die tonight, I feel I would go to Heaven.
.4 1 doubt if anyone is really happy.
36.1 Every day something happens to frighten or worry me.
.2 Every day something happens to anger or annoy me.
.3 Every day seems to bring new challenges and opportunities.
.4 Every day is one step nearer to the grave.
37.1 1 am optimistic about the future and never feel anxious about it.
.2 1 am pessimistic about the future and really see little hope.
.3 1 rarely think about the future.
.4 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
38.1 1 have some very sad memories.
.2 1 have some very nice memories.
.3 1 have some very scary memories.
.4 1 have no memories.
39.1 1 am thorough.
.2 1 am consistent.
.3 1 am dependent.
.4 1 am self-sufficient.
40.1 1 know who is responsible for most of my troubles.
.2 1 sweat very easily even on cool days.
.3 Familiarity breeds contempt.
.4 1 never jay-walk across the street.
41.1 1 sometimes have experiences where life seems just about perfect.
.2 1 wouldn't let a man hijack a plane I was on.
.3 1 feel moody much of the time.
.4 Most people don't give a damn what happens to you.
42.1 My life is really messed up.
.2 1 feel that I have an innate capacity to deal with life.
.3 How one gets on in life is largely a matter of luck.
.4 Life never allows one any second chances.
43.1 1 hated one of my brothers or sisters.
.2 1 do not feel in control of my environment on some occasions.
.3 It is important to accept others as they are.
.4 1 believe marriage should improve a husband or a wife.
44.1 1 dislike the Moslem religion.
.2 1 dislike to cook.
.3 1 am sometimes disturbed by the hostile humor of others.
.4 1 have often wanted to run away.
45.1 1 would like to belong to a motorcycle club.
.2 At times I have a strong urge to do something harmful or shocking.
.3 My moral code is above reproach.
.4 1 often get disgusted with myself.
46.1 There is not enough time in the day.
.2 1 dislike cats.
.3 1 am very independent.
.4 There are some very bigoted people in our neighborhood.
47.1 1 do not feel bound by my duties and obligations to others.
.2 1 have stomach cramps often.
.3 1 am proud of my possessions.
.4 1 hate to wait for a traffic light to change.
48.1 Man is naturally aggressive.
.2 Man is naturally cooperative.
.3 Man is naturally weak.
.4 Man isn't naturally anything.
49.1 It is not necessary that others approve of what I do.
.2 It is not necessary that others follow the rules.
.3 It is not necessary that others and I communicate.
.4 It is not necessary that others and I live on friendly terms.
50.1 1 have never acted like a coward.
.2 Most people seem pretty ignorant and gullible.
.3 1 am afraid of high places.
.4 Sometimes I feel I must injure either myself or others.
51.1 1 like to play and hate to work.
.2 For me, work and play are the same.
.3 I like to alternate hard work and hard play.
.4 All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
52.1 Man is bad and needs to be saved.
.2 Man is good and can be trusted.
.3 Man is, and values are inherent in the situation.
.4 Why make such a big fuss about it ?
53.1 My values come primarily from a code to which I adhere.
.2 My values come primarily from what others say and think.
.3 My values come primarily from my own feelings.
.4 1 have no need for values.
54.1 Sometimes I feel like I would like to run away.
.2 Sometimes I feel like I would like to fight the world.
.3 Sometimes I feel like giving up.
.4 Sometimes I feel as though I knew a secret about the universe.
55.1 Once you get the facts, there is usually only one answer to a question.
.2 1 feel generally gloomy about the future.
.3 1 carry a heavy burden which few others understand.
.4 1 never lose my temper.
56.1 1 like to have lots of people around me.
.2 1 have a great need for privacy in my life.
.3 1 feel guilty when I am selfish.
.4 1 know who my creator is.
57.1 1 think of myself as masculine (m) or feminine (f).
.2 1 think of myself as honest and reliant.
.3 1 think of myself as conscientious and intelligent.
.4 1 think of myself as creative.
58.1 People are apt to describe me as creative.
.2 People are apt to describe me as good-looking.
.3 People are apt to describe me as responsible and conscientious.
.4 People are apt to describe me as having a pleasing personality.
59.1 New ideas frequently occur to me.
.2 1 am sometimes frightened by TV violence.
.3 When someone else gets into trouble, most people are indifferent.
.4 When I listen to a lecture, I often feel restless.
60.1 There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time.
.2 1 am afraid of deep water.
.3 1 make it a rule never to indulge in gossip.
.4 Success is a matter of will power.
61.1 1 tend to be more realistic than optimistic or pessimistic.
.2 1 am often annoyed by weak people.
.3 1 always finish everything I start.
.4 My health often gives me concern.
62.1 1 worry about unimportant things.
.2 1 know people who have very bad tempers.
.3 1 dislike to speak in front of a crowd.
.4 1 feel integrated with myself and the universe.
63.1 1 am not in as good health as most of my friends.
.2 1 am on guard with those more friendly than I expected.
.3 People say I am an unusual person.
.4 1 am not one who would rather switch than fight.
64.1 1 find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job.
.2 1 sometimes feel that things are not real.
.3 People think of me as a problem solver.
.4 1 feel that the world is pretty much like a jungle.
65.1 1 have been disappointed in love.
.2 1 sometimes have spells of hay fever or asthma.
.3 My table manners are as good at home as when I am out in company.
.4 1 agree with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
66.1 1 adhere to the moral values which I was taught.
.2 My feet frequently hurt.
.3 Some people among my acquaintances have it in for me.
.4 Some mornings the world seems clean and bright as if it was just created.
67.1 1 enjoy the process of work more than the product.
.2 1 would feel ashamed to walk barefoot down a street.
.3 1 often sweat a lot.
.4 The personal habits of some people annoy me.
68.1 1 blame others for my habits
.2 1 am under a doctor's care.
.3 1 object to taking orders from other people.
.4 People describe me as a doer.
69.1 1 have often had bad dreams and nightmares.
.2 1 like spontaneous humor.
.3 As a child, I did not belong to a gang or crowd.
.4 Old fashioned discipline is what is needed by most children.
70.1 1 feel nervous when meeting a lot of people.
.2 Most people are secretly pleased when someone else gets into trouble.
.3 1 am made nervous by certain animals.
.4 1 read the editorial page thoroughly every day.
71.1 Evil is an intrinsic part of human nature.
.2 Moral laxity is the cause of our present sorry situation.
.3 Success is generally the result of the puritan ethic of good hard work.
.4 1 often know beforehand when the day will be particularly good.
72.1 1 need fame and adulation most.
.2 1 need money and power most.
.3 1 need detachment and privacy most.
.4 1 need challenge and conquest most.
73.1 1 consider myself good looking.
.2 1 feel inferior much of the time.
.3 1 had rather be myself than anyone I know.
.4 Sometimes I cry myself to sleep.
74.1 Airline hijackers should be given the death penalty.
.2 1 can center in on a problem while most others are confused by emotions.
.3 1 sometimes think about things too bad to talk about.
.4 When my views differ from others, I usually change my mind.
75.1 At times I feel like picking a fight with someone.
.2 1 know who my enemies are.
.3 Almost every day something happens to frighten me.
.4 1 have never been even slightly under the influence of alcohol.
76.1 1 feel most people have an instinct for good.
.2 Disorganization keeps cropping up in my life.
.3 Other people generally know what is best for me.
.4 People have sometimes called me ruthless.
77.1 1 would not object to hanging a convicted murderer.
.2 1 am assertive and affirming.
.3 1 know a number of people who are mentally unbalanced.
.4 It is better to give in than to cause trouble.
78.1 Death is not one of my worries.
.2 Several times a week I feel something dreadful will happen.
.3 1 often feel I made the wrong choice in my occupation.
.4 A strong person doesn't show his feelings or emotions.
79.1 1 am in favor of strict enforcement of all laws.
.2 Death is not one of my worries.
.3 1 have had some strange and peculiar experiences.
.4 There have been times when I have been discouraged.
80.1 1 would like to see a bullfight.
.2 Much of the time my head seems to hurt or ache.
.3 1 usually feel nervous at parties.
.4 1 am equally polite to people whether they annoy me or not.
81.1 1 believe in what I am doing.
.2 1 like to keep my things tidy, neat, and in good order.
.3 When I hear of someone else's success, it makes me feel like a failure.
.4 1 am sometimes troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting.
82.1 Sometimes it seems that life has no meaning.
.2 Sometimes I feel like smashing things.
.3 Sometimes I feel I may lose my mind.
.4 It is important for me to perceive reality as it is.
83.1 1 have never been arrested for a traffic violation.
.2 Sometimes I can see reality that others are not ready to accept.
.3 It is pretty easy for people to win arguments with me.
.4 1 have not lived the right kind of life.
84.1 1 certainly feel useless at times.
.2 My mouth feels dry most of the time.
.3 I am always honest in thought and deed.
.4 1 have at least two friends approaching self-actualization.
85.1 1 often lose sleep by having bad dreams or worries.
.2 1 hate someone very much.
.3 Sometimes I would like to run away and join a circus.
.4 Children should be seen and not heard.
86.1 1 sometimes feel that things are not real.
.2 Overcoming or preventing problems is a challenge I accept.
.3 1 have never been bothered with thoughts about sex.
.4 It is usually safer to trust nobody.
87.1 Most leaders cannot be trusted.
.2 1 like to give orders and get people moving.
.3 1 am very independent.
.4 1 never gossip.
88.1 1 have few fears compared to my friends' fears.
.2 1 am not afraid of fire; actually I'm fascinated by it.
.3 1 am afraid of snakes.
.4 1 was never afraid of the dark.
89.1 1 have never deliberately told a lie.
.2 Even if I could afford to retire, I'd still work for free.
.3 People often talk about me behind my back.
.4 1 would enjoy having authority over others.
90.1 1 would rather be myself than anyone I know.
.2 1 have never been cross or grouchy without reason.
.3 1 sometimes feel weak and dependent.
.4 1 cannot eat certain foods.
___________________________________________
ORIGIN, RATIONALE, AND SCORING OF N.D.S.
NORMS FOR N.D.S.
ANSWER KEY FOR N.D.S.
Test Your Self-Transcendence from Creativity, ESP, and Meditation;
the JOHN CURTIS GOWAN Memorial Website of Psychic Phenomena, Mental Health, and Paranormal Psychology
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE by JOHN CURTIS GOWAN
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/northp.html
(SELF-TEST YOUR SELF-ACTUALIZATION)
Preface by Iona Miller, c2000
Caution: Do not read to the end of this file if you intend to take this
self-test, or you will skew your results. Read this brief introduction,
take the test, and then read further about the development and
meaning of the test. For self-scoring, click the link at the end of the
test for directions on scoring and interpreting your results.
We all have the potential for being creative and even extraordinary human
beings, yet many of us never develop this capacity fully, due to a variety of
blocks. When we see the creativity of others, we may often wonder how we can
tap our own creative potential. Psychologists have been trying for years to
determine what distinguishes the creative personality from the population at
large. Being scientists, they have devised means for categorizing and measuring
these distinctions. Some of the most interesting work along these lines has been
conducted by Piaget, Erikson, Maslow, Arieti, Tart, and John Gowan.
Gowan synthesized the best research on consciousness and development toward
self-actualization, which Maslow defined as the manifesting of one's potential
capabilities. However, it is more thoroughly described as a process/goal with
operations on three distinct levels: 1). the creative; 2). the psychedelic, and 3). the
illuminative. Those in whom this process is stabilized, rather than merely
emergent, are termed self-actualized. In the perennial philosophy this process is
known as Self-Realization, a living connection with the creative inspiration of the
higher Self, which Plato called the Daemon or genius. See Gowan Memorial Site at http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/
Gowan reworked several standard evaluation tests to determine levels of mental
and emotional health in graduate candidates. Because the scale extends beyond
the traits of healthy adult adjustment, it also is an objective measure of some
aspects of spirituality. He reasoned that not fostering these extraordinary traits
and transcendent experiences concurrent with the adult tasks of career and family
building is roughly equivalent to lack of sexual maturation in an adolescent. The
strong ego, fearing loss of control, may be reluctant to enter the soul-revealing
stages of psychedelia.
More recently these creative and transpersonal qualities have been compared on a
par with I.Q. as E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) and S.Q. (Spiritual Quotient).
Gowan emphasized that when the opposites of cognitive and emotional
development keep pace with one another, a more balanced individual emerges.
This balance is reflected in both inner and outer life. This test will help you
understand where you are in your personal individuation, what is blocking you,
and what developmental tasks remain as options for further exploration and
development.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE NORTHRIDGE DEVELOPMENTAL SCALE
(from the book Development of the Psychedelic Individual)
by J. C. Gowan
This test attempts to find out how well you know yourself and your own development. There are no right answers. You are asked in each question to respond to one of the four alternatives IF YOU WISH. if none of them is "you," please mark response 5. You can work rapidly and take your first impression. You should finish within 45 minutes.
1.1 It seems like the world is going crazy.
.2 1 find life makes more and more sense.
.3 One has to fight one's way up in the world.
.4 1 would rather retreat from the world.
2.1 1 like the status quo.
.2 1 feel comfortable with change.
.3 Society needs a revolution.
.4 Society needs more hermits and cop-outs.
3.1 1 have the worst luck in the world.
.2 Fighting is a natural heritage of man.
.3 I know who my enemies are.
.4 Lucky little things keep happening to me.
4.1 1 worry about the future.
.2 1 believe in serendipity.
.3 1 suffer from my memories.
.4 Man is naturally antagonistic.
5.1 1 certainly feel useless at times.
.2 1 have never laughed at a dirty joke.
.3 1 think I would like to be an auto racer.
.4 Some people are plotting against me.
6.1 1 am afraid to be myself.
.2 1 don't put off till tomorrow what ought to be done today.
.3 1 have sometimes had awareness of things and events before they occur.
.4 1 have low back pain.
7.1 1 have waked up with an idea so compelling, I have to run to get it down.
.2 1 feel obligated when a stranger does me a favor.
.3 1 dislike modern art.
.4 No one is going to exploit me if I can help it.
8.1 1 am seldom bothered by nightmares.
.2 1 am often bothered by nightmares.
.3 1 am often constipated.
.4 1 am afraid to be myself.
9.1 1 don't accept my own weaknesses.
.2 1 have sinned much in the past.
.3 People are essentially "no-good."
.4 My life is very full and complete.
10.1 1 don't really care whether people like or dislike me.
.2 1 am stricter about right and wrong than most people.
.3 1 am fascinated by fire.
.4 My parents never really understood me.
11. 1 1 am assertive and self-confident.
.2 1 am going down hill.
.3 1 would like to take a year off and visit a desert island.
.4 The last few years have been the best of my life.
12.1 1 am often angry with those I love.
I feel good about life.
I am over-dependent on those I love.
Most people's lives fill me with despair.
13.1 1 have been very fortunate in life.
.2 1 have been very unfortunate in life.
.3 1 have nothing to complain about.
.4 There are many people who are better off than I am.
14.1 Good things are continually happening to me.
.2 Bad things are continually happening to me.
.3 Freaky things are continually happening to me.
.4 Dumb things are continually happening to me.
15.1 1 always finish everything I start.
.2 1 am afraid of deep water.
.3 If the wages were good, I would like to travel with a circus.
.4 1 know who my enemies are.
16.1 1 tend to play on bad luck.
.2 On several occasions I have been unjustly accused when innocent.
.3 Luck is simply a matter of the law of averages.
.4 Happy little coincidences seem continually to occur in my life.
17.1 1 like to be helpful to others.
.2 1 don't care about being helpful to others.
.3 1 like others to be helpful to me.
.4 1 find that being myself is helpful to others.
18.1 1 am not absolutely bound by the principle of fairness.
.2 1 have never had a traffic ticket.
.3 1 am not in as good health as most of my friends.
.4 1 do not agree with many modern trends.
19.1 1 think tests like this one are really stupid.
.2 Some things are right, and some are wrong, and there is no middle.
.3 1 have dreams about my parent(s).
.4 The pursuit of happiness is not opposed to altruism.
20.1 1 must admit that I am a hyper-strung person.
.2 1 like only the better things in life.
.3 1 am afraid to be alone in the dark.
.4 1 can describe myself as a strong person.
21.1 1 do not have to justify my feelings with reasons.
.2 1 like crowds.
.3 1 would like to go to an orgy.
.4 My health is below par.
22.1 Personal autonomy is more important than personal consistency.
.2 Personal consistency is more important than personal autonomy.
.3 1 dislike dogs.
.4 Even when feeling ill, I am never cross.
23.1 1 can express affection regardless of whether it is returned.
.2 1 believe in corporal punishment in the schools.
.3 1 often think about things too bad to talk about.
.4 Disorganization continually keeps cropping up in my life.
24.1 1 would like to live in a fantasy world.
.2 1 am fascinated by horror stories.
.3 1 need a great deal of security.
.4 It is important for me to perceive reality as it is.
25.1 1 have often been punished without cause.
.2 1 take a bath every day without fail.
.3 1 cannot do anything really well.
.4 1 have a great deal of stomach trouble.
26.1 People have an instinct for evil.
.2 1 feel ashamed of my emotions.
.3 1 often feel controlled by forces outside myself.
.4 1 am loved because I am loveable.
27.1 1 feel the world is getting better not worse.
.2 People are just too hostile.
.3 1 should like to go away and pull things in with me.
.4 1 feel very dependent on some other person.
28.1 1 hate growing older.
.2 1 have a lot of aches and pains as I grow older.
.3 1 find more opportunities for growth as I grow older.
.4 1 do not think about growing older.
29.1 1 find learning usually involves growing toward others.
.2 1 wish I had a lot more money.
.3 There are people I dislike so much I'm afraid to go near them.
.4 Everything tastes the same.
30.1 A thunderstorm terrifies me.
.2 If I had to choose between liberty and security, I'd choose security.
.3 My fingers and nails are always neat and clean.
.4 My sleep is fitfull and disturbed.
31.1 My environment often baffles me.
.2 Disorganization continues to pop up in my life.
.3 1 feel very much in control of my environment.
.4 The world is a jungle any way you look at it.
32.1 1 wish certain people would stop persecuting me.
.2 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a good motto.
.3 1 am a piano player in the whore-house of life.
.4 1 feel that my life is dedicated to a noble purpose.
33.1 1 live a very ordinary kind of life.
.2 1 am concerned with self-improvement at all times.
.3 1 know that others are often talking about me.
.4 1 live a very unusual type of life.
34.1 While I love people, I often need withdrawal and detachment.
.2 1 feel lonely whenever I don't have friends around me.
.3 1 do what others expect of me.
.4 1 had no idea life could be so depraved.
35.1 People often talk about me behind my back.
.2 My father was a strong man who was severe in discipline.
.3 If I were to die tonight, I feel I would go to Heaven.
.4 1 doubt if anyone is really happy.
36.1 Every day something happens to frighten or worry me.
.2 Every day something happens to anger or annoy me.
.3 Every day seems to bring new challenges and opportunities.
.4 Every day is one step nearer to the grave.
37.1 1 am optimistic about the future and never feel anxious about it.
.2 1 am pessimistic about the future and really see little hope.
.3 1 rarely think about the future.
.4 Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
38.1 1 have some very sad memories.
.2 1 have some very nice memories.
.3 1 have some very scary memories.
.4 1 have no memories.
39.1 1 am thorough.
.2 1 am consistent.
.3 1 am dependent.
.4 1 am self-sufficient.
40.1 1 know who is responsible for most of my troubles.
.2 1 sweat very easily even on cool days.
.3 Familiarity breeds contempt.
.4 1 never jay-walk across the street.
41.1 1 sometimes have experiences where life seems just about perfect.
.2 1 wouldn't let a man hijack a plane I was on.
.3 1 feel moody much of the time.
.4 Most people don't give a damn what happens to you.
42.1 My life is really messed up.
.2 1 feel that I have an innate capacity to deal with life.
.3 How one gets on in life is largely a matter of luck.
.4 Life never allows one any second chances.
43.1 1 hated one of my brothers or sisters.
.2 1 do not feel in control of my environment on some occasions.
.3 It is important to accept others as they are.
.4 1 believe marriage should improve a husband or a wife.
44.1 1 dislike the Moslem religion.
.2 1 dislike to cook.
.3 1 am sometimes disturbed by the hostile humor of others.
.4 1 have often wanted to run away.
45.1 1 would like to belong to a motorcycle club.
.2 At times I have a strong urge to do something harmful or shocking.
.3 My moral code is above reproach.
.4 1 often get disgusted with myself.
46.1 There is not enough time in the day.
.2 1 dislike cats.
.3 1 am very independent.
.4 There are some very bigoted people in our neighborhood.
47.1 1 do not feel bound by my duties and obligations to others.
.2 1 have stomach cramps often.
.3 1 am proud of my possessions.
.4 1 hate to wait for a traffic light to change.
48.1 Man is naturally aggressive.
.2 Man is naturally cooperative.
.3 Man is naturally weak.
.4 Man isn't naturally anything.
49.1 It is not necessary that others approve of what I do.
.2 It is not necessary that others follow the rules.
.3 It is not necessary that others and I communicate.
.4 It is not necessary that others and I live on friendly terms.
50.1 1 have never acted like a coward.
.2 Most people seem pretty ignorant and gullible.
.3 1 am afraid of high places.
.4 Sometimes I feel I must injure either myself or others.
51.1 1 like to play and hate to work.
.2 For me, work and play are the same.
.3 I like to alternate hard work and hard play.
.4 All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
52.1 Man is bad and needs to be saved.
.2 Man is good and can be trusted.
.3 Man is, and values are inherent in the situation.
.4 Why make such a big fuss about it ?
53.1 My values come primarily from a code to which I adhere.
.2 My values come primarily from what others say and think.
.3 My values come primarily from my own feelings.
.4 1 have no need for values.
54.1 Sometimes I feel like I would like to run away.
.2 Sometimes I feel like I would like to fight the world.
.3 Sometimes I feel like giving up.
.4 Sometimes I feel as though I knew a secret about the universe.
55.1 Once you get the facts, there is usually only one answer to a question.
.2 1 feel generally gloomy about the future.
.3 1 carry a heavy burden which few others understand.
.4 1 never lose my temper.
56.1 1 like to have lots of people around me.
.2 1 have a great need for privacy in my life.
.3 1 feel guilty when I am selfish.
.4 1 know who my creator is.
57.1 1 think of myself as masculine (m) or feminine (f).
.2 1 think of myself as honest and reliant.
.3 1 think of myself as conscientious and intelligent.
.4 1 think of myself as creative.
58.1 People are apt to describe me as creative.
.2 People are apt to describe me as good-looking.
.3 People are apt to describe me as responsible and conscientious.
.4 People are apt to describe me as having a pleasing personality.
59.1 New ideas frequently occur to me.
.2 1 am sometimes frightened by TV violence.
.3 When someone else gets into trouble, most people are indifferent.
.4 When I listen to a lecture, I often feel restless.
60.1 There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time.
.2 1 am afraid of deep water.
.3 1 make it a rule never to indulge in gossip.
.4 Success is a matter of will power.
61.1 1 tend to be more realistic than optimistic or pessimistic.
.2 1 am often annoyed by weak people.
.3 1 always finish everything I start.
.4 My health often gives me concern.
62.1 1 worry about unimportant things.
.2 1 know people who have very bad tempers.
.3 1 dislike to speak in front of a crowd.
.4 1 feel integrated with myself and the universe.
63.1 1 am not in as good health as most of my friends.
.2 1 am on guard with those more friendly than I expected.
.3 People say I am an unusual person.
.4 1 am not one who would rather switch than fight.
64.1 1 find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job.
.2 1 sometimes feel that things are not real.
.3 People think of me as a problem solver.
.4 1 feel that the world is pretty much like a jungle.
65.1 1 have been disappointed in love.
.2 1 sometimes have spells of hay fever or asthma.
.3 My table manners are as good at home as when I am out in company.
.4 1 agree with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
66.1 1 adhere to the moral values which I was taught.
.2 My feet frequently hurt.
.3 Some people among my acquaintances have it in for me.
.4 Some mornings the world seems clean and bright as if it was just created.
67.1 1 enjoy the process of work more than the product.
.2 1 would feel ashamed to walk barefoot down a street.
.3 1 often sweat a lot.
.4 The personal habits of some people annoy me.
68.1 1 blame others for my habits
.2 1 am under a doctor's care.
.3 1 object to taking orders from other people.
.4 People describe me as a doer.
69.1 1 have often had bad dreams and nightmares.
.2 1 like spontaneous humor.
.3 As a child, I did not belong to a gang or crowd.
.4 Old fashioned discipline is what is needed by most children.
70.1 1 feel nervous when meeting a lot of people.
.2 Most people are secretly pleased when someone else gets into trouble.
.3 1 am made nervous by certain animals.
.4 1 read the editorial page thoroughly every day.
71.1 Evil is an intrinsic part of human nature.
.2 Moral laxity is the cause of our present sorry situation.
.3 Success is generally the result of the puritan ethic of good hard work.
.4 1 often know beforehand when the day will be particularly good.
72.1 1 need fame and adulation most.
.2 1 need money and power most.
.3 1 need detachment and privacy most.
.4 1 need challenge and conquest most.
73.1 1 consider myself good looking.
.2 1 feel inferior much of the time.
.3 1 had rather be myself than anyone I know.
.4 Sometimes I cry myself to sleep.
74.1 Airline hijackers should be given the death penalty.
.2 1 can center in on a problem while most others are confused by emotions.
.3 1 sometimes think about things too bad to talk about.
.4 When my views differ from others, I usually change my mind.
75.1 At times I feel like picking a fight with someone.
.2 1 know who my enemies are.
.3 Almost every day something happens to frighten me.
.4 1 have never been even slightly under the influence of alcohol.
76.1 1 feel most people have an instinct for good.
.2 Disorganization keeps cropping up in my life.
.3 Other people generally know what is best for me.
.4 People have sometimes called me ruthless.
77.1 1 would not object to hanging a convicted murderer.
.2 1 am assertive and affirming.
.3 1 know a number of people who are mentally unbalanced.
.4 It is better to give in than to cause trouble.
78.1 Death is not one of my worries.
.2 Several times a week I feel something dreadful will happen.
.3 1 often feel I made the wrong choice in my occupation.
.4 A strong person doesn't show his feelings or emotions.
79.1 1 am in favor of strict enforcement of all laws.
.2 Death is not one of my worries.
.3 1 have had some strange and peculiar experiences.
.4 There have been times when I have been discouraged.
80.1 1 would like to see a bullfight.
.2 Much of the time my head seems to hurt or ache.
.3 1 usually feel nervous at parties.
.4 1 am equally polite to people whether they annoy me or not.
81.1 1 believe in what I am doing.
.2 1 like to keep my things tidy, neat, and in good order.
.3 When I hear of someone else's success, it makes me feel like a failure.
.4 1 am sometimes troubled by attacks of nausea and vomiting.
82.1 Sometimes it seems that life has no meaning.
.2 Sometimes I feel like smashing things.
.3 Sometimes I feel I may lose my mind.
.4 It is important for me to perceive reality as it is.
83.1 1 have never been arrested for a traffic violation.
.2 Sometimes I can see reality that others are not ready to accept.
.3 It is pretty easy for people to win arguments with me.
.4 1 have not lived the right kind of life.
84.1 1 certainly feel useless at times.
.2 My mouth feels dry most of the time.
.3 I am always honest in thought and deed.
.4 1 have at least two friends approaching self-actualization.
85.1 1 often lose sleep by having bad dreams or worries.
.2 1 hate someone very much.
.3 Sometimes I would like to run away and join a circus.
.4 Children should be seen and not heard.
86.1 1 sometimes feel that things are not real.
.2 Overcoming or preventing problems is a challenge I accept.
.3 1 have never been bothered with thoughts about sex.
.4 It is usually safer to trust nobody.
87.1 Most leaders cannot be trusted.
.2 1 like to give orders and get people moving.
.3 1 am very independent.
.4 1 never gossip.
88.1 1 have few fears compared to my friends' fears.
.2 1 am not afraid of fire; actually I'm fascinated by it.
.3 1 am afraid of snakes.
.4 1 was never afraid of the dark.
89.1 1 have never deliberately told a lie.
.2 Even if I could afford to retire, I'd still work for free.
.3 People often talk about me behind my back.
.4 1 would enjoy having authority over others.
90.1 1 would rather be myself than anyone I know.
.2 1 have never been cross or grouchy without reason.
.3 1 sometimes feel weak and dependent.
.4 1 cannot eat certain foods.
___________________________________________
ORIGIN, RATIONALE, AND SCORING OF N.D.S.
NORMS FOR N.D.S.
ANSWER KEY FOR N.D.S.
Is Earth Making You Crazy? You are more likely to flip than it is...
Also see, Nexus Magazine, Vol. 12, No. 2 Feb/Mar ’05, Int’l; Mar/Apr ‘05 North America. “SIREN SONG OF THE EARTH: Investigating Vortex Theory & EM Signals with Ben Lonetree,” Ben Lonetree and Iona Miller, May 2004 ionamiller2009.iwarp.com/whats...8.html
Fluctuating geomagnetic effects lead to increased liminality and anomalous experiences. Field effects include hallucination and temporal lobe microseizures. As Earth’s field continues to weaken in certain areas, we can expect more reports of dramatic psychophysical phenomena emerging at an increasing rate.
IS EARTH DRIVING US CRAZY? FLIPPING OUT OVER GEOMAGNETISM
Geomagnetic Field Effects,
Paranormal Potential & the Biophysics of Anomalous Experiences
By Iona Miller, March 2009
Earth's geomagnetic field intensity is dropping slowly but steadily. At some time in the distant future, Earth’s internal nuclear dynamo will stop spinning, melting magma, creating the aura of Earth’s geomagnetic field, and turn cold. The atmosphere will be relentlessly stripped away by the force of the solar winds, until our planet becomes a gamma ray bombarded husk like Mars. But long before that happens, we can expect normal reversals in the polarity of our magnetic field.
Geopsychopathology: The geomagnetic field fluctuates continually. The geodynamic model has fractal properties. Even minor fluctuations in earth fields are related to psychophysical anomalies in human beings. Geomagnetism underlies and perturbs the human brain, cognitive/affective and sense perceptions.
Turbulence & Polarity Transitions
PsiFi: Unexpected escalation of climate change demonstrates that perturbations in natural cycles can lead to cascades of cataclysmic change related to complex dynamics. Our climate is degrading much faster than most of us thought. One small change can disrupt a system already in motion, ultimately leading to cataclysmic results.
But, long before pole reversal-- or more accurately, geomagnetic reversal -- we might plausibly expect an amplification of experiential effects. Recognized phenomena might escalate in ratio with fluctuations even prior to ‘tipping points.’ Ecological cataclysm looms [Lovelock, 2009] and geomagnetic cataclysm is also a possibility.
Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable: Geomagnetic reversal is chaotic in nature. There is no way we can predict it. Yet, it is a normal pursuit of science to identify and extrapolate future scenarios, including geomorphology. The goal is to anticipate and mitigate effects on humanity and the biosphere. We are challenged not by single alterations but a complex confluence of unstable systems. This is not to say, “The End is coming,” but to identify phenomena, which might arise along the way to major earth changes.
Geomorphological systems containing bifurcations have both deterministic (universal and necessary) and probabilistic (historical happenstance) elements. They have more than one solution (configuration) and this fact calls into question notions of process domains leading to the development of characteristic forms. They possess varying degrees of susceptibility to change induced by fluctuations; and they respond differently to local, regional, and global fluctuations. Geomagnetic Field (GMF) is one of these parameters.
Global Field Effects
Fluctuating geomagnetic effects can lead to increased liminality and anomalous experiences by perturbing the human mindbody. Field effects include hallucinations and temporal lobe microseizures [Krippner and Persinger].
Tiny fluctuations can have dramatic effects. Some fluctuations are sudden and unexpected. If the GMF should destabilize, scientists tell us magnetic fields of flux both entering and flowing from the Earth would become much more randomized. That is not to say it will happen in our lifetimes, but that it can happen and surely will at some point in the future.
As Earth’s local and global fields continue to weaken, can we expect more reports of strange psychophysical phenomena emerging at an increasing rate? Known effects of geomagnetic pulsation include synesthesia, anomalous cognition and [lucid] dreams, psi events, and paranormal phenomena as well as heart attack, depression and suicidal tendencies.
Can ambient magnetic fields lead to disregulation of the mindbody creating magnetic hallucinations? Is our sanity at risk as the Earth’s field fluctuates more and more? Is Earth driving us crazy?
South Atlantic Anomaly
Incredible as it seems, the magnetic field occasionally flips over. Reversals are random events. But marked field fluctuations such as the South Atlantic anomaly (magnetic field intensity 60% of predicted value) precede them. In the last 20 years, the planet's magnetic field intensity has decreased by 1.7%, and in South Atlantic by 10%. In the last two hundred years, Earth's magnetic field decreased 10% in intensity.
The South Atlantic Anomaly (SSA) is above South America, about 200 - 300 kilometers off the coast of Brazil, extending over much of South America and the nearby portion of the Van Allen Belt. It is a weak spot in the geomagnetic field, Earth’s protective bubble. The envelope here is 1/3 of normal. As the geomagnetic field continues to weaken, the inner Van Allen belt gets closer to the Earth, with a related enlargement of the SAA at given altitudes. (Hsu)
Sudden fluid motions within the Earth's core can alter the magnetic envelope around our planet. Researchers have just begun to detect such rapid magnetic field changes taking place over just a few months.
The last major reversal in the field took place about 780,000 years ago. A flip in the north and south poles typically involves a weakening in the magnetic field, followed by a period of rapid recovery and reorganization of opposite polarity. Some studies in recent years have suggested the next reversal might be imminent, but the jury is still out. Weakening of Earth's overall magnetic field by10 percent over the past 150 years might also point to an upcoming field reversal.
Earth Is A Dynamo
Earth itself acts as a magnet. The Earth's magnetic field extends about 36,000 miles (58,000 km) into space, generated from the spinning effect of the electrically conductive core that acts something like a giant electromagnet. In ancient times, the field was 20 times stronger.Movement of the liquid and the solid parts of the Earth's core generate an electric potential, making the planet a sort of an electric generator. We have evolved in the presence of this magnetic field, the magnetosphere that also protects us from solar radiation.
But the evidence of deep time shows the geomagnetic field changes rapidly and frequently. Paleomagnetic records show that the dipole polarity of the geomagnetic field has reversed many times in the past. The mean time between reversals is roughly 200,000 years with individual reversal events taking only a couple thousand years.
Convection in the fluid outer core is continually trying to reverse the field. However, the solid inner core inhibits magnetic reversals because the field in the inner core can only change on the much longer time scale of diffusion. Only once in many attempts is a reversal successful. This is probably the reason the times between reversals of the Earth's field are long and randomly distributed.
Considerable literature exists on the biological effects of magnetic fields. Organisms respond to natural and artificial magnetic fields of various intensities, frequencies and directions. Geomagnetic fields are also influential in mass extinction events. Field deprivation and geomagnetic field variations can produce anomalous psychophysical effects. The geomagnetic field modulates biological and artificial magnetic fields.
Geophysics
The magnetosophere is a highly stable field constantly bombarded by energetically charged solar particles (solar wind). Normally, some days are magnetically stormy, while others are calm. Earth's magnetic field is currently changing dramatically as part of its normal cyclic behavior. Is the observed decrease of the dipole moment indicating a future polarity transition? What would be the effects of such a drastic change on system Earth? What positive or negative effects on our biosphere or even humans can be expected?
Affected by weather, the Moon and sunspots, regular daily and monthly fluctuations occur in the Geomagnetic Field (GMF). Fluctuations in the level of the GMF, a quasi-static magnetic field, and geomagnetic storms have been associated with a number of health effects and disorders in scientific literature for more than 50 years. Changes in the geomagnetic field have deviated from the predictions of the original International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coefficients.
“Geomagnetic field: when will compass fail?”
en.rian.ru/analysis/200...16577165.html
Scientists from the Institute for Geomagnetism at the Russian Academy of Sciences say the Earth's magnet poles are gradually drifting towards the Equator, with the field intensity falling slowly, but steadily. The latter reaches zero point in about 2,000 years, which would be a disaster for living organisms. The rate of changes happening to the planet's liquid core, however, could mean that the polarity shift is going to happen much sooner.
If a hundred years ago somebody said that the South and the North could switch places, he would be definitely taken to a mental hospital. Nevertheless, as early as 1906, it was revealed that in the past magnetization of some rocks was opposite to that of the present day, making it clear that some time ago it was different from the modern time.
In 2001, an international polar expedition revealed that in the recent seven years the North magnetic pole shifted around 300 km (186.4 miles). Currently, it is drifting 40 km (24.85 miles) a year from the Canadian Arctic shelf towards Russia's Severnaya Zemlya islands. Scientists predict the North Pole could eventually be found in South Atlantic. An extensive anomaly area with the magnetic field intensity at around 60% of the predicted value shows the forecast is likely to score.
What is the danger, after all? Russian scientists say changes in the magnetic field would lead to the anti-radiation protection falling, with space flights becoming impossible and energy-dependent systems, including mobile phones and satellites, failing. Then, solar and space radiation would affect the genome of the organisms inhabiting the Earth, causing some of them to become extinct, and others to have a much larger per cent of mutations. Taking into account the solar flares, accompanied by extremely powerful electrojet currents, life is likely to become impossible on Earth before the full magnetic field collapses.
Sounds terrible. But may be there's no need to dramatize and we will not face giant bloodthirsty killer ants from Hollywood horror movies? May be. Recent reports say that in the last 90 million years, the magnetic poles changed around every 500,000 years, with no total extinction of mass genetic mutations of living organisms taking place and the atmosphere remaining a reliable guarantor of security of the Earth's biosphere.
On the other hand, scientists haven't established so far, if the changes happening to the geomagnetic field are reversible. Nobody has ever found out why the Earth's history has seen times when the magnetic poles remained unshifted as long as 50 million years.
Pole Reversal
We know about pole shift from an examination of the geological record -- the magnetic poles reverse. Valkovic links massive faunal extinctions with polarity reversals in earth’s geomagnetic field. He assumed that the concentration factor for essential trace elements is dependent on the magnetic field .
When lavas are deposited on the Earth’s surface, and subsequently freeze, and when sediments are deposited on ocean and lake bottoms, and subsequently solidify, they often preserve a signature of the ambient magnetic field at the time of deposition. This type of magnetization is known as 'paleomagnetism'.
Careful measurements of oriented samples of faintly magnetized rocks taken from many geographical sites allow scientists to work out the geological history of the magnetic field. We can tell, for example, that the Earth has had a magnetic field for at least 3.5 billion years, and that the field has always exhibited a certain amount of time-dependence, part of which is normal secular variation, like that which we observe today. Part of the cycle is an occasional reversal of polarity; the magnetic field occasionally flips over!
The geomagnetic poles are currently roughly coincident with the geographic poles, because the rotation of the Earth is an important dynamical force in the core, where the main part of the field is generated. Occasionally, however, the secular variation becomes sufficiently large such that the magnetic poles end up being located rather distantly from the geographic poles. The poles have undergone an ‘excursion’ from their preferred state.
Now, we know from physics that the Earth’s dynamo is just as capable of generating a magnetic field with a polarity like that which we have today, as it is capable of generating a field with the opposite polarity. The dynamo has no preference for a particular polarity. Therefore, after an excursional period of enhanced secular variation, the magnetic field, upon returning to its usual state of rough alignment with the Earth’s rotational axis, could just as easily have one polarity as another.
The consequences of polarity reversals for the compass are dramatic. Nowadays, the compass points roughly north, or, more precisely, the north end of the compass points roughly north at most geographical locations.
However 780,000 years ago, the polarity was reversed, so a hypothetical compass pointed roughly south. Before that reversed state the polarity was like that which we have today, and the compass would have pointed roughly north, and so on. The timings of reversals forms the so-called 'geomagnetic polarity timescale'.
During a reversal, between polarities, the geometry of the magnetic field is much more complicated than it is now, and a compass could point in almost any direction depending on one’s location on the Earth and the exact form of the mid-transitional magnetic field. One of the things that are interesting about reversals is that there is no apparent periodicity to their occurrence. Reversals are random events. They can happen as often as every 10 thousand years or so, and as infrequently as every 50 million years or more.
Human Effects
We know that the iron core of our earth vibrates at 40 Hertz (40 pulses per second.) Our earth's crust has a different vibrational speed at around 7.5 Hertz. When we are at the height of our brain activity we record roughly 40 Hertz and a 7.5 Hertz low brain activity. This draws a direct correlation between the earth’s core environment at its height and our brain activity at its height. Also the earth's outer crust environment pulse rate and our low end brain function.
Rhythmically changing electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields are ubiquitous in our environment. Some of these fields are natural; others are produced by household appliances and technologies. Many people are adversely affected by natural and/or artificial energy fields (clinically termed weather or electromagnetic sensitivity). Often affected individuals do not recognize the sources of their ailments.
There is positive correlation between EEG and geomagnetic activity. Disturbances in geomagnetic fields (e.g. caused by solar and terrestrial magnetic storms) have been correlated with the onset of a variety of disorders, including heart attacks, increased blood pressure, seizures and strokes. Also, decreases in nocturnal melatonin, enhanced anxiety, heart rate, sleep disturbance, psychiatric admissions (Persinger), light sensitivity, SIDS, depression, suicide and sudden death. www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/ge...pdf
Persinger has conclusively demonstrated that electromagnetic fields can trigger mini-seizures. Geomagnetic fluctuations have been studied in this regard. Abnormalities in the temporal lobes (TLE) caused by genetics, injury, or infections can lead to amplification of "spiritual" characteristics in the personality.
Are some people predisposed to psychism, mystical visions, or religious zeal? What lies at the root of the personality driven to pursue the spiritual quest, often characterized as a “seeker”? How does one come by an intensely personal, even idiosyncratic relationship with gods or demons, aliens or nature spirits? Are we hardwired for religious beliefs? Or do some of us just have more magnetite in our bodies?
Temporal lobe seizures mimic or perhaps even embody certain essentially religious experiences. This tendency may be reinforced by a kindling process potentiating pathways to the amygdala and other parts of the brain. Emotional tone and multisensory content of these experiences is dependent on which lobe and portion of the temporal lobes become unstable and subject to seizures, clinical or sub-clinical.
The phenomena which appear pathologically in TLE can also appear in the general population, and are often even encouraged by the practice of meditation. The union of brain science and theology is called neurotheology, which studies all related religious and spiritual phenomena and their neurological roots. We might also look to the magnetic environment for subtle triggers. (Miller, 2003, neurotheology.50megs.com/whats...9.html )
We can conjecture that if magnetic force is strong enough, TLTs can be kindled in normal individuals. Among the most electrically unstable portions of the brain, the temporal lobes are quite sensitive to extremely low magnetic frequencies (Persinger). Persinger has tickled the temporal lobes of enough individuals to define the parameters of electromagnetic shifts on brain function. Medical use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to relieve psychological symptoms such as depression indicates that the mind may be an electromagnetic field.
There is a continuum of temporal lobe lability or sensitivity, and even normal individuals have sub-clinical microseizures frequently, particularly during REM or dreams. The full-blown effects of such electrical storms are seen in petit mal and grand mal seizures of epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures propagate across the brain through a process called “kindling.” Nerve signals are amplified exponentially, resulting in a chaotic electrical storm that can entrain more than one brain area. For example, in temporal lobe epilepsy, spreading includes the temporal lobe, underlying limbic structures and hippocampus; all of them fire in an overexcited manner, especially if serotonin levels are low.
Epilepsy is triggered by different parts of the brain. Behavioral changes immediately preceding an epileptic seizure indicate what portion of the brain is the focus of the seizure. Electrical lability, or seizures in the temporal lobes do not usually cause physical convulsions, unless they propagate to the motor regions.
Not all those with intense spiritual experiences have temporal lobe epilepsy. Meditators often sit for years before experiencing the slightest tingles or visions of light. But often once manifestations begin, they increase in frequency and tend to stabilize. They can come as sounds, smells, intense feeling, visionary landscapes or forms of living entities, or amorphous lights. These inner experiences feel as real or seem more real than external perception.
The temporal lobes host many structures and functions including memory, orientation of self in space and time, interpretations of meaning and emotional significance, organization of audio and visual patterns, smell, and language. Local discharges can be potentiated by specific memory recall or extremely low biofrequency magnetic fields penetrating brain tissue.
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is accompanied by classic personality changes. Though some researchers disagree, attributed characteristics include the following: loss of humor; intense affect; moodswings (peaks or highs, depressions, distortions, aggression); suggestibility; existential anxiety; neophobia; hypergraphia; an intense active interest in dreams, religion and philosophy; reports of psi experiences. Supreme faith is placed in the validity of subjective experience. Unusual experiences are assigned special personal meaning. They accept logical incongruities, displaying a rigid core of private beliefs.
This later spiritual interest can be rooted in subjective experiences of a variety of phenomena kindled by electrical instabilities in the brain. They include, but are not limited to depersonalization, time distortion, anxiety or panic, floating or falling sensations, peripheral imagery, a sense of presence either sacred or malefic, apparitions, downloading of memory sequences and false memory confabulations or fantasies, voices and visionary experiences ranging from heavenly to hellish, and a panoply of psychophysical manifestations.
Psi Is a Geomagnetic Field Correlate
Paranormal experiences (sensed presence, time distortion, information acquisition, death crisis, eccentric thinking) can be "induced" by a variety of fields. They are associated with geomagnetic activity or lack of it and neuronal activity of the temporal lobes. Sources of stimuli range from chaotic activity to field effects. Paranormal beliefs are related to paranormal experiences, often substituting for traditional religious beliefs.
We live in a dense soup of natural and artificial magnetic fields induced by electric charges moving through electric fields. Each event we experience as humans is centered in its own electromagnetic field. Psi phenomena [healing, telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, remote viewing, psychokinesis, poltergeists, hauntings] are complex field effects. A field is a matrix, a region of influence that invisibly connects two or more points in space or time with visible, informational or energetic effects.
A 1991 article in Bioelectromagnetics Magazine is called, "The Solar Wind and Hallucinations, --a possible relation due to magnetic disturbances.” Walter and Steffani Randall recount breakthrough research showing psychophysical correlations with increased GMF (geomagnetic field) periods. Data from the 19th century on hallucinations and magnetic disturbances were found to exhibit a direct and statistically significant correlation. Magnetic influences on the pineal hormone, melatonin, are suggested as a possible source of variation.
Geomagnetic activity is related to mental activity. Research suggests lower geomagnetic activity correlates with increased psi activity such as telepathy and anomalous dreams. Conversely, magnetically stormy days correlate with violent crime, bereavement hallucinations, (sleep) paralysis episodes, psychokinesis and poltergeist phenomena.
This nonlocal field may be enhanced or disrupted by a variety of environmental conditions [Krippner, Persinger, Spottiswoode, McTaggart, Lazslo]. Bursts of creativity in all cultural forms flourish in years of highest solar activity. The same covariance was found between hallucinations and magnetic disturbances.
Geomagnetic Field effects have yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Do geomagnetic fields carry psi information or effect the modulation of brainwave activity? We might suspect field coherence or resonance phenomena. Is this field phenomenon more perceptible in shamanic or altered states of consciousness?
In "Geomagnetic Field Effects in Anomalous Dreams and the Akashic Field," Krippner reports a relationship between geomagnetic fluctuations, lunar cycle, and sunspot activity with anomalous dreams, including telepathic, clairvoyant and precognitive content. Other factors, including the holographic mechanism (vacuum wave interference patterns) of the nonlocal zero-point field may also be influential. In psi tests, "hits" and "misses" are statistically significant relative to geomagnetic fields.
S. James P. Spottiswoode (1997) summarizes in “Geomagnetic fluctuations and free-response anomalous cognition: a new understanding,” as follows:
For some years there has been speculation that anomalous cognition (AC) performance may be correlated with global geomagnetic field (GMF) fluctuations. This idea arose from the work of Persinger (e.g., Persinger & Schout, 1988), who found that anecdotal cases of putative AC occurred on days when GMF fluctuations were significantly lower than on the preceding and following days. Many workers have investigated whether or not this interesting observation could be extended to laboratory anomalous cognition, but with mixed results.
Tart (1988) and Persinger and Krippner (1989) found an association between high-scoring AC trials and low GMF fluctuations, while Haraldsson and Gissurarson (1987) and Nelson and Dunne (1986) did not. In an unpublished meta-analysis, this author collected 1,468 free-response trials from 21 studies, reasoning that the effect, if it existed, would be most easily detected in a large database with high effect size; in fact, the overall correlation was a disappointing -0.0002 (Spearman's [Rho], N = 1,468, ns). The first step to understanding the physics of anomalous cognition will probably be the discovery of physical variables that unambiguously modulate the effect.
Persinger has experimented with weak complex, time-varying magnetic fields applied to the brains of human subjects. Some people are more susceptible to field variance than others. This application has been dubbed EIF or Experience Inducing Fields. Not all magnetic anomalies have implications for experience. Ambient geomagnetic fields are usually considered too weak to initiate but always undergird anomalous events, including hallucination. Neural entrainment confuses the brain into hallucinations it accepts as sensory information). EIF’s are fluctuations on top of the local dynamic field.
Visual hallucinations include circles, ellipses and triangles. Persinger conjectures that geomagnetic activity may enhance the receptivity of the brain to extrasensory signals, noting in particular that sudden decreases in geomagnetic activity may decrease the likelihood of certain types of electrical seizures in the brain. Persinger contends that increases in geomagnetic activity tend to lower seizure thresholds and may even precipitate convulsions in epileptics.
Some scientists (e.g., Radin, McAlpine & Cunningham, 1994; and Adair, 1991) have, however, expressed skepticism that changes in the geomagnetic field would have sufficient strength to produce any physiological effects on the human body at all. As a second possibility, Persinger suggests that lowered geomagnetic activity might enhance the signal carrying the ESP message, which he has speculated may consist in part of extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation.
Adrian Ryan [2008] reports,
Geomagnetic field measurements were collected from the SAMNET array of magnetometers in Northern Europe. Measurements were selected from the nearest operating magnetometer at the time of each ESP trial; the mean distance between magnetometer and ESP trial location was 126 km (minimum 2 km, maximum 261 km). The sampling interval was 5 seconds until mid-November 1995 and 1 second thereafter. The amplitude resolution of the measurements is 0.1 nT. The field measurements were converted by fast Fourier transform into power within five frequency bands. Pulsations with frequency > 0.1 Hz were found to be highly geographically localized, therefore data for these frequency bands were discarded for all but the 99 remote viewing trials conducted at in York, for which the magnetometer was also located in York.
Two patterns were observed: ESP was found to succeed only during periods of enhanced pulsation activity within the 0.2-0.5 Hz band, but ESP effect was absent during the most disturbed periods of activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz band.
Analysis of the continuous record of geomagnetic field measurements between November 1996 and March 2005 revealed that activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz range is strongly correlated with the global index of geomagnetic activity ap, but no such relationship exists between activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band and ap, which may account for the overall slight negative correlation between ESP and ap reported in the literature.
As each frequency band of geomagnetic pulsation exhibits distinct seasonal and/or interacting seasonal/daily variation, they make excellent candidates for explaining the associations between ESP and LST that have been reported in the literature. To explore this possibility, the ESP effect size for trials in the database was plotted by LST; the resultant pattern was similar to that found by Spottiswoode (1997a, 1997b). Modeling revealed that this shape was partially attributable to the pattern of ESP results by pulsation activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band.
Vortex Phenomena
Naturally occurring electromagnetic waves entrain human brainwaves. Unusual magnetic areas – “hotspots” -- provide mini-laboratories for investigating anomalous geomagnetic effects. They have been honored or feared by primal peoples from the dawn of time. Magnetic vortexes, such as those found in the iron-rich soil of Sedona, Southern Oregon and elsewhere are places where unusual electromagnetic phenomena abound.
These hotspot areas of subtle earth energies often have a deep base of crystalline rock. Ten percent of the earth's total magnetic field fluctuates significantly over decade time scales, apparently reflecting the unsteady exchange of angular momentum between the core and the mantle in the velocity field.
Initially a skeptic, electrical engineer, Ben Lonetree <sedonanomalies.com/> describes iron-rich soil as “focusing” non-dipole geomagnetism that exhibits upward and downward motion. This is a Vortex. Lonetree was able to conclusively demonstrate what others have long conjectured.
[more at ionamiller2009.iwarp.com/whats...8.html ]
During a vortex event, monitoring equipment detects no N-S polarity. Compass instabilities plus upswing and downswing in field intensity can indicate vortex activity. You can catch a vortex in the act of dramatically increasing local field activity by orders of magnitude. Lonetree calls this a “Sudden Magnetic Impulse event.”
When the event passes, a compass will once again behave normally as outflow or inflow ceases. Lonetree has verified his readings by observing Schumann Resonances (SR), difficult to filter from ambient, artificial electronic noise or “smog.” He uses one computer to monitor SR and another to monitor magnetic intensity. Lonetree also makes it clear, despite the pseudo-science assertions of others, that SR is not rising, as his longterm readings clearly show.
Lonetree made observations, locally and globally, of Schumann Resonances in various areas of Arizona to see if distinctions emerged in the vortex hotspots. Schumann Resonance is 20,000 times less in intensity than the earth’s magnetic field. The SR pulse acts as a "driver" of our brains and might also potentially carry information. Entrainment is a process of synchronization where vibrations cause an object to oscillate at the same rate, affecting psychology and physiology.
He generated spectrographs to, “provide a point of reference to discuss and demonstrate Geomagnetic affects on the first resonance." Each of the seven Schumann Resonances occupies a bandwidth of 1 Hz. In other words, each of the resonances is 1 Hz. wide: 7.83 Hz, 14 Hz, 21 Hz, 26 Hz, 33 Hz, 39 Hz, and 45 Hz.
“Vortex Action” increases the intensity (strength) of correlated SR readings. For example, the 7.83 Hz Resonance increases in strength relative to that of the vortex event. The peak of the magnetic amplitude is coincidental with the peak of SR amplitude.
Certain geophysical conditions also function like amplifiers and speakers, making the natural electromagnetic ‘voice’ of the planet louder. Lonetree’s gut-feeling is that these are not waves of electromagnetic energy, but rather a gentle oscillation of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
This frequency also happens to fall between two of the human brainwaves, Alpha and Theta. There are four altogether: Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta. When our brain is functioning restfully in the predominantly alpha/theta zone, we become more relaxed or peaceful. The human brain acts like an electrical circuit called a phase-lock loop. A local external (outside the body) electromagnetic signal, as long as it is stronger than our brainwaves, initiates a resonance effect where the brain locks onto and resonates at that frequency.
Inflow and outflow are intermittent with typical events lasting 90 seconds to 2 minutes – a spike in magnetic activity. Twisted, rotating spiral or circular lines of magnetic force enter and emerge from the earth in specific local areas. They can be monitored electronically with Fluxgate detectors, induction coils or proton precession magnetometers, measuring the strength and direction of the local field.
Vortex activity causes trees to grow in gnarled and twisted patterns, creating other observational and perceptual clues to their existence, beyond the subjective. They are also purported to have unique psychophysical effects on certain individuals, mostly relevant to health and well-being.
We are complex electrodynamic, rather than chemical beings. We are subject to natural and artificial EM fields. SR frequencies coincide with human brain waves. There is a strong correlation between human behavioral disturbance or enhancement and geomagnetic field turbulence.
Hot Spot Alpha
Up-flow Vortexes are said to boost healing, creativity, visions, spiritual skills, exhilaration, and expand consciousness. Many claim to experience increases in UFO sightings and presence. Places labeled as a magnetic vortex are areas of inflow energy. Some claim an area labeled an electric vortex is an area of up-flow energy.
Lonetree laudes the virtues of magnetically-supercharged brainwave entrainment. With his spectrographic evidence, he knowledgeably declares, “Sitting on top of a magnetic outflow while the first Schumann Resonance promotes a state of Alpha / Theta is an experience you will never forget!”
What's New with My Subject? REFERENCES
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HSU, JEREMY, (2008), “Sloshing Inside Earth Changes Protective Magnetic Field” "There are these changes in the South Atlantic, an area where the magnetic field has the smallest envelope at one third [of what is] normal," said Mioara Mandea, a geophysicist at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany. www.space.com/scienceastr...th-core.html
KRIPPNER, STANLEY, “The Akashic Field and Psychic Dreams” - Persinger conducted an analysis of reports of telepathy and clairvoyance from a popular magazine. He found that these reported experiences were more likely to occur when the global geomagnetic activity was significantly quieter than the days before or the days after the experience. A day characterized by slow, predictable variations in the field is referred to as a "quiet" magnetic day. These were the days that were associated with reports of telepathy and clairvoyance (Persinger, 1985). About the same time, Marcia Adams (1986) studied the relationship between quiet magnetic days with success in clairvoyance experiments that had been conducted in another laboratory, finding a positive connection. A day of sudden and large field changes is referred to as a magnetically stormy day. Persinger noted a tendency for reports of poltergeist and haunting experiences to occur on these days (Persinger, 1989). Psychokinesis (in other words, anomalous effects on distant objects or activity) has been studied in the laboratory under psi task conditions. One analysis of these experiments has indicated a tendency for them to occur most frequently on magnetically stormy days (Braud & Dennis, 1989).
Krippner, Stanley, “Geomagnetic field effects and anomalous dreams”
Krippner, S., & Persinger, M. (1996). Evidence for enhanced congruence between dreams and distant target material during periods of decreased geomagnetic activity. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 10, 487 - 493.
Krippner, S., Vaughan, A., & Spottiswoode, S.J.P. (2000). Geomagnetic factors in subjective precognitive experiences. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 64, 109-118.
Lockman D (2002) Galvanizing ghosts: geomagnetic fields may be the culprit - Anomalous Experience
Lonetree, Ben and Iona Miller (2004), “SIREN SONG OF THE EARTH: Investigating Vortex Theory & EM Signals with Ben Lonetree,” Nexus Magazine, Vol. 12, No. 2 Feb/Mar ’05, Int’l; Mar/Apr ‘05 North America. ionamiller2009.iwarp.com/whats...8.html
Miller, Iona (2003), “Fear and Loathing in the Temporal Lobes,” neurotheology.50megs.com/whats...9.html
Persinger, M.A. (1985). Geophysical variables and behavior: XXX. Intense paranormal activities occur during days of quite, global geomagnetic activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 320 - 322.
Persinger, M.A. (1989). Psi phenomena and temporal lobe activity: The geomagnetic factor. In L.A. Henkel & R. Berger (Eds.), Research in parapsychology 1988 (pp.121 - 156). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
Persinger, M.A., & Krippner, S. (1989). Dream ESP experiments and geomagnetic activity. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 83, 101 - 116.
Persinger, M.A. 1979. "Possible Infrequent Geophysical Sources of Close UFO Encounters: Expected Physical and Behavioral-Biological Effects." In R.F. Haines (Ed.), UFO Phenomena and the Behavioral Scientist. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, pp. 396-434.
Persinger, M.A. 1983. The Effects of Transient or Intense Geomagnetic or Related Global Perturbation Upon Human Group Behavior." In J.B. Calhoun (Ed.), Perspectives on Adaptation, Environment and Population. New York: Praeger, pp. 28-30.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical models for parapsychological experiences. Psychoenergetic Systems, 1975, 1, 63-74.
Persinger, M.A. Transient geophysical bases for ostensible UFO-related phenomena and associated verbal behavior? Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1976, 43, 215-221.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: III. Prediction of UFO reports by geomagnetic and seismic activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1981, 53, 115-122.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: IV. UFO reports and fortean phenomena: temporal correlations in the central U.S.A. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1981, 53, 299-302.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior. VII. Prediction of recent European UFO report years by nineteenth century luminosity and solar-seismic variables. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 56, 91-95.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior. VIII: Specific prediction of UFO reports within the New Madrid states by solar-geomagnetic and seismic measures. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 56, 243-249.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior. IX: Expected clinical consequences of close proximity to UFO-related luminosities. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 56, 259-265.
Persinger, M.A. The tectonic strain theory of luminosities (UFO reports): determining optimal temporal, spatial and intensity parameters. Pursuit, 1983, 1, 21-35.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and human behavior: XV. Tectonic strain luminosities (UFO reports) as predictable but hidden events within pre-1947 Central U.S.A. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1983, 57, 1227-1234.
Persinger, M.A. & Derr, J.S. Geophysical variables and behavior: XIX. Strong temporal relationships between inclusive seismic measures and UFO reports within Washington State. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984, 59, 551-566.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and human behavior: XVIII. Expected perceptual characteristics and local distributions of close UFO reports. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984, 58, 951-959.
Persinger, M.A., & Nolan, M. Geophysical variables and behavior: XX. Weekly numbers of mining accidents and the weather matrix: The importance of geomagnetic variation and barometric pressure. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1984, 59, 719-722.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: XXI. Geomagnetic variation as possible enhancement stimuli for UFO reports preceding earth tremors. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985, 60, 37-78.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: XXII. The tectonogenic strain continuum of unusual events. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985, 60, 59-65.
Persinger, M.A., & Derr, J.S. Geophysical variables and behavior: XXIII. Relations between UFO reports within the Uinta Basin and local seismicity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985, 60, 143-152.
Michaud, L.Y., & Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: XXV. Alterations in memory for a narrative following application of theta frequency electromagnetic fields. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985, 60, 416-418.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and human behavior: Intense paranormal experiences occur during days of quiet, global, geomagnetic activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1985, 61, 320-322.
Gearhart, L., & Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and human behavior. Onsets of historical and contemporary poltergeist episodes occurred with sudden increases in geomagnetic activity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1986, 62, 463-466.
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Persinger, M.A. Geopsychology and geopsychopathology: mental processes and disorders associated with geochemical and geophysical factors. Experientia, 1987, 43, 92-104.
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Persinger, M.A., & Schaut, G.B. Geomagnetic factors in subjective telepathic, precognitive and postmortem experiences. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1988, 82, 217-235.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: L. Indications of a tectonic strain factor in the Rutledge (UFO) observations during 1973 in Southeastern Missouri. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1988, 67, 571-575.
Arango, M.A., & Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: LII. Decreased geomagnetic activity and spontaneous telepathic experiences from the Sidgwick collection. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1988, 67, 907-910.
Persinger, M.A. Increased geomagnetic activity and the occurrence of bereavement hallucinations: Evidence for melatonin-mediated micro-seizuring in the temporal lobe? Neuroscience Letters, 1988, 88, 271-274.
Derr, J.S., & Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: LIV. Zeitoun (Egypt) apparitions of the Virgin Mary as tectonic strain-induced luminosities. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989, 68, 123-128.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: LV. Predicting the details of visitor experiences and the personality of experients: The temporal lobe factor. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1989, 68, 55-65.
Persinger, M.A., & Krippner, S. Experimental dream telepathy, clairvoyance and geomagnetic activity. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1989, 83, 101-116.
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Richards, P. M., Persinger, M. A. & Koren, S. A. (1993). Modification of activation and evaluation properties of narratives by weak complex magnetic field patterns that simulate limbic burst firing. International Journal of Neuroscience, 71, 71-85.
Persinger, M.A. Geophysical variables and behavior: LXVI. Geomagnetic storm sudden commencements and commercial aircrashes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1991, 72, 476-478.
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RANDALL, Walter and Steffani, (1991), Bioelectromagnetics Magazine, "The Solar Wind and Hallucinations.
RENTON, C. M., & PERSINGER, M. A. (1998). Elevations of complex partial epileptic-like experiences during increased geomagnetic activity for women reporting "premenstrual syndrome." Perceptual and Motor Skills, 86, 240-242.
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RYAN, ADRIAN, [2008] “New Insights into the Links between ESP and Geomagnetic Activity”, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Fall 2008
SPOTTISWOODE, S. J. P. (1997). Geomagnetic fluctuations and free response anomalous cognition: A new understanding. Journal of Parapsychology, 61, 3-12.
SPOTTISWOODE, S. J. P. Geomagnetic Activity and Anomalous Cognition: A Preliminary Report of New Evidence.
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www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/ge...pdf
Also see, Nexus Magazine, Vol. 12, No. 2 Feb/Mar ’05, Int’l; Mar/Apr ‘05 North America. “SIREN SONG OF THE EARTH: Investigating Vortex Theory & EM Signals with Ben Lonetree,” Ben Lonetree and Iona Miller, May 2004 ionamiller2009.iwarp.com/whats...8.html
Fluctuating geomagnetic effects lead to increased liminality and anomalous experiences. Field effects include hallucination and temporal lobe microseizures. As Earth’s field continues to weaken in certain areas, we can expect more reports of dramatic psychophysical phenomena emerging at an increasing rate.
IS EARTH DRIVING US CRAZY? FLIPPING OUT OVER GEOMAGNETISM
Geomagnetic Field Effects,
Paranormal Potential & the Biophysics of Anomalous Experiences
By Iona Miller, March 2009
Earth's geomagnetic field intensity is dropping slowly but steadily. At some time in the distant future, Earth’s internal nuclear dynamo will stop spinning, melting magma, creating the aura of Earth’s geomagnetic field, and turn cold. The atmosphere will be relentlessly stripped away by the force of the solar winds, until our planet becomes a gamma ray bombarded husk like Mars. But long before that happens, we can expect normal reversals in the polarity of our magnetic field.
Geopsychopathology: The geomagnetic field fluctuates continually. The geodynamic model has fractal properties. Even minor fluctuations in earth fields are related to psychophysical anomalies in human beings. Geomagnetism underlies and perturbs the human brain, cognitive/affective and sense perceptions.
Turbulence & Polarity Transitions
PsiFi: Unexpected escalation of climate change demonstrates that perturbations in natural cycles can lead to cascades of cataclysmic change related to complex dynamics. Our climate is degrading much faster than most of us thought. One small change can disrupt a system already in motion, ultimately leading to cataclysmic results.
But, long before pole reversal-- or more accurately, geomagnetic reversal -- we might plausibly expect an amplification of experiential effects. Recognized phenomena might escalate in ratio with fluctuations even prior to ‘tipping points.’ Ecological cataclysm looms [Lovelock, 2009] and geomagnetic cataclysm is also a possibility.
Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable: Geomagnetic reversal is chaotic in nature. There is no way we can predict it. Yet, it is a normal pursuit of science to identify and extrapolate future scenarios, including geomorphology. The goal is to anticipate and mitigate effects on humanity and the biosphere. We are challenged not by single alterations but a complex confluence of unstable systems. This is not to say, “The End is coming,” but to identify phenomena, which might arise along the way to major earth changes.
Geomorphological systems containing bifurcations have both deterministic (universal and necessary) and probabilistic (historical happenstance) elements. They have more than one solution (configuration) and this fact calls into question notions of process domains leading to the development of characteristic forms. They possess varying degrees of susceptibility to change induced by fluctuations; and they respond differently to local, regional, and global fluctuations. Geomagnetic Field (GMF) is one of these parameters.
Global Field Effects
Fluctuating geomagnetic effects can lead to increased liminality and anomalous experiences by perturbing the human mindbody. Field effects include hallucinations and temporal lobe microseizures [Krippner and Persinger].
Tiny fluctuations can have dramatic effects. Some fluctuations are sudden and unexpected. If the GMF should destabilize, scientists tell us magnetic fields of flux both entering and flowing from the Earth would become much more randomized. That is not to say it will happen in our lifetimes, but that it can happen and surely will at some point in the future.
As Earth’s local and global fields continue to weaken, can we expect more reports of strange psychophysical phenomena emerging at an increasing rate? Known effects of geomagnetic pulsation include synesthesia, anomalous cognition and [lucid] dreams, psi events, and paranormal phenomena as well as heart attack, depression and suicidal tendencies.
Can ambient magnetic fields lead to disregulation of the mindbody creating magnetic hallucinations? Is our sanity at risk as the Earth’s field fluctuates more and more? Is Earth driving us crazy?
South Atlantic Anomaly
Incredible as it seems, the magnetic field occasionally flips over. Reversals are random events. But marked field fluctuations such as the South Atlantic anomaly (magnetic field intensity 60% of predicted value) precede them. In the last 20 years, the planet's magnetic field intensity has decreased by 1.7%, and in South Atlantic by 10%. In the last two hundred years, Earth's magnetic field decreased 10% in intensity.
The South Atlantic Anomaly (SSA) is above South America, about 200 - 300 kilometers off the coast of Brazil, extending over much of South America and the nearby portion of the Van Allen Belt. It is a weak spot in the geomagnetic field, Earth’s protective bubble. The envelope here is 1/3 of normal. As the geomagnetic field continues to weaken, the inner Van Allen belt gets closer to the Earth, with a related enlargement of the SAA at given altitudes. (Hsu)
Sudden fluid motions within the Earth's core can alter the magnetic envelope around our planet. Researchers have just begun to detect such rapid magnetic field changes taking place over just a few months.
The last major reversal in the field took place about 780,000 years ago. A flip in the north and south poles typically involves a weakening in the magnetic field, followed by a period of rapid recovery and reorganization of opposite polarity. Some studies in recent years have suggested the next reversal might be imminent, but the jury is still out. Weakening of Earth's overall magnetic field by10 percent over the past 150 years might also point to an upcoming field reversal.
Earth Is A Dynamo
Earth itself acts as a magnet. The Earth's magnetic field extends about 36,000 miles (58,000 km) into space, generated from the spinning effect of the electrically conductive core that acts something like a giant electromagnet. In ancient times, the field was 20 times stronger.Movement of the liquid and the solid parts of the Earth's core generate an electric potential, making the planet a sort of an electric generator. We have evolved in the presence of this magnetic field, the magnetosphere that also protects us from solar radiation.
But the evidence of deep time shows the geomagnetic field changes rapidly and frequently. Paleomagnetic records show that the dipole polarity of the geomagnetic field has reversed many times in the past. The mean time between reversals is roughly 200,000 years with individual reversal events taking only a couple thousand years.
Convection in the fluid outer core is continually trying to reverse the field. However, the solid inner core inhibits magnetic reversals because the field in the inner core can only change on the much longer time scale of diffusion. Only once in many attempts is a reversal successful. This is probably the reason the times between reversals of the Earth's field are long and randomly distributed.
Considerable literature exists on the biological effects of magnetic fields. Organisms respond to natural and artificial magnetic fields of various intensities, frequencies and directions. Geomagnetic fields are also influential in mass extinction events. Field deprivation and geomagnetic field variations can produce anomalous psychophysical effects. The geomagnetic field modulates biological and artificial magnetic fields.
Geophysics
The magnetosophere is a highly stable field constantly bombarded by energetically charged solar particles (solar wind). Normally, some days are magnetically stormy, while others are calm. Earth's magnetic field is currently changing dramatically as part of its normal cyclic behavior. Is the observed decrease of the dipole moment indicating a future polarity transition? What would be the effects of such a drastic change on system Earth? What positive or negative effects on our biosphere or even humans can be expected?
Affected by weather, the Moon and sunspots, regular daily and monthly fluctuations occur in the Geomagnetic Field (GMF). Fluctuations in the level of the GMF, a quasi-static magnetic field, and geomagnetic storms have been associated with a number of health effects and disorders in scientific literature for more than 50 years. Changes in the geomagnetic field have deviated from the predictions of the original International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) coefficients.
“Geomagnetic field: when will compass fail?”
en.rian.ru/analysis/200...16577165.html
Scientists from the Institute for Geomagnetism at the Russian Academy of Sciences say the Earth's magnet poles are gradually drifting towards the Equator, with the field intensity falling slowly, but steadily. The latter reaches zero point in about 2,000 years, which would be a disaster for living organisms. The rate of changes happening to the planet's liquid core, however, could mean that the polarity shift is going to happen much sooner.
If a hundred years ago somebody said that the South and the North could switch places, he would be definitely taken to a mental hospital. Nevertheless, as early as 1906, it was revealed that in the past magnetization of some rocks was opposite to that of the present day, making it clear that some time ago it was different from the modern time.
In 2001, an international polar expedition revealed that in the recent seven years the North magnetic pole shifted around 300 km (186.4 miles). Currently, it is drifting 40 km (24.85 miles) a year from the Canadian Arctic shelf towards Russia's Severnaya Zemlya islands. Scientists predict the North Pole could eventually be found in South Atlantic. An extensive anomaly area with the magnetic field intensity at around 60% of the predicted value shows the forecast is likely to score.
What is the danger, after all? Russian scientists say changes in the magnetic field would lead to the anti-radiation protection falling, with space flights becoming impossible and energy-dependent systems, including mobile phones and satellites, failing. Then, solar and space radiation would affect the genome of the organisms inhabiting the Earth, causing some of them to become extinct, and others to have a much larger per cent of mutations. Taking into account the solar flares, accompanied by extremely powerful electrojet currents, life is likely to become impossible on Earth before the full magnetic field collapses.
Sounds terrible. But may be there's no need to dramatize and we will not face giant bloodthirsty killer ants from Hollywood horror movies? May be. Recent reports say that in the last 90 million years, the magnetic poles changed around every 500,000 years, with no total extinction of mass genetic mutations of living organisms taking place and the atmosphere remaining a reliable guarantor of security of the Earth's biosphere.
On the other hand, scientists haven't established so far, if the changes happening to the geomagnetic field are reversible. Nobody has ever found out why the Earth's history has seen times when the magnetic poles remained unshifted as long as 50 million years.
Pole Reversal
We know about pole shift from an examination of the geological record -- the magnetic poles reverse. Valkovic links massive faunal extinctions with polarity reversals in earth’s geomagnetic field. He assumed that the concentration factor for essential trace elements is dependent on the magnetic field .
When lavas are deposited on the Earth’s surface, and subsequently freeze, and when sediments are deposited on ocean and lake bottoms, and subsequently solidify, they often preserve a signature of the ambient magnetic field at the time of deposition. This type of magnetization is known as 'paleomagnetism'.
Careful measurements of oriented samples of faintly magnetized rocks taken from many geographical sites allow scientists to work out the geological history of the magnetic field. We can tell, for example, that the Earth has had a magnetic field for at least 3.5 billion years, and that the field has always exhibited a certain amount of time-dependence, part of which is normal secular variation, like that which we observe today. Part of the cycle is an occasional reversal of polarity; the magnetic field occasionally flips over!
The geomagnetic poles are currently roughly coincident with the geographic poles, because the rotation of the Earth is an important dynamical force in the core, where the main part of the field is generated. Occasionally, however, the secular variation becomes sufficiently large such that the magnetic poles end up being located rather distantly from the geographic poles. The poles have undergone an ‘excursion’ from their preferred state.
Now, we know from physics that the Earth’s dynamo is just as capable of generating a magnetic field with a polarity like that which we have today, as it is capable of generating a field with the opposite polarity. The dynamo has no preference for a particular polarity. Therefore, after an excursional period of enhanced secular variation, the magnetic field, upon returning to its usual state of rough alignment with the Earth’s rotational axis, could just as easily have one polarity as another.
The consequences of polarity reversals for the compass are dramatic. Nowadays, the compass points roughly north, or, more precisely, the north end of the compass points roughly north at most geographical locations.
However 780,000 years ago, the polarity was reversed, so a hypothetical compass pointed roughly south. Before that reversed state the polarity was like that which we have today, and the compass would have pointed roughly north, and so on. The timings of reversals forms the so-called 'geomagnetic polarity timescale'.
During a reversal, between polarities, the geometry of the magnetic field is much more complicated than it is now, and a compass could point in almost any direction depending on one’s location on the Earth and the exact form of the mid-transitional magnetic field. One of the things that are interesting about reversals is that there is no apparent periodicity to their occurrence. Reversals are random events. They can happen as often as every 10 thousand years or so, and as infrequently as every 50 million years or more.
Human Effects
We know that the iron core of our earth vibrates at 40 Hertz (40 pulses per second.) Our earth's crust has a different vibrational speed at around 7.5 Hertz. When we are at the height of our brain activity we record roughly 40 Hertz and a 7.5 Hertz low brain activity. This draws a direct correlation between the earth’s core environment at its height and our brain activity at its height. Also the earth's outer crust environment pulse rate and our low end brain function.
Rhythmically changing electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields are ubiquitous in our environment. Some of these fields are natural; others are produced by household appliances and technologies. Many people are adversely affected by natural and/or artificial energy fields (clinically termed weather or electromagnetic sensitivity). Often affected individuals do not recognize the sources of their ailments.
There is positive correlation between EEG and geomagnetic activity. Disturbances in geomagnetic fields (e.g. caused by solar and terrestrial magnetic storms) have been correlated with the onset of a variety of disorders, including heart attacks, increased blood pressure, seizures and strokes. Also, decreases in nocturnal melatonin, enhanced anxiety, heart rate, sleep disturbance, psychiatric admissions (Persinger), light sensitivity, SIDS, depression, suicide and sudden death. www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/ge...pdf
Persinger has conclusively demonstrated that electromagnetic fields can trigger mini-seizures. Geomagnetic fluctuations have been studied in this regard. Abnormalities in the temporal lobes (TLE) caused by genetics, injury, or infections can lead to amplification of "spiritual" characteristics in the personality.
Are some people predisposed to psychism, mystical visions, or religious zeal? What lies at the root of the personality driven to pursue the spiritual quest, often characterized as a “seeker”? How does one come by an intensely personal, even idiosyncratic relationship with gods or demons, aliens or nature spirits? Are we hardwired for religious beliefs? Or do some of us just have more magnetite in our bodies?
Temporal lobe seizures mimic or perhaps even embody certain essentially religious experiences. This tendency may be reinforced by a kindling process potentiating pathways to the amygdala and other parts of the brain. Emotional tone and multisensory content of these experiences is dependent on which lobe and portion of the temporal lobes become unstable and subject to seizures, clinical or sub-clinical.
The phenomena which appear pathologically in TLE can also appear in the general population, and are often even encouraged by the practice of meditation. The union of brain science and theology is called neurotheology, which studies all related religious and spiritual phenomena and their neurological roots. We might also look to the magnetic environment for subtle triggers. (Miller, 2003, neurotheology.50megs.com/whats...9.html )
We can conjecture that if magnetic force is strong enough, TLTs can be kindled in normal individuals. Among the most electrically unstable portions of the brain, the temporal lobes are quite sensitive to extremely low magnetic frequencies (Persinger). Persinger has tickled the temporal lobes of enough individuals to define the parameters of electromagnetic shifts on brain function. Medical use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to relieve psychological symptoms such as depression indicates that the mind may be an electromagnetic field.
There is a continuum of temporal lobe lability or sensitivity, and even normal individuals have sub-clinical microseizures frequently, particularly during REM or dreams. The full-blown effects of such electrical storms are seen in petit mal and grand mal seizures of epilepsy.
Epileptic seizures propagate across the brain through a process called “kindling.” Nerve signals are amplified exponentially, resulting in a chaotic electrical storm that can entrain more than one brain area. For example, in temporal lobe epilepsy, spreading includes the temporal lobe, underlying limbic structures and hippocampus; all of them fire in an overexcited manner, especially if serotonin levels are low.
Epilepsy is triggered by different parts of the brain. Behavioral changes immediately preceding an epileptic seizure indicate what portion of the brain is the focus of the seizure. Electrical lability, or seizures in the temporal lobes do not usually cause physical convulsions, unless they propagate to the motor regions.
Not all those with intense spiritual experiences have temporal lobe epilepsy. Meditators often sit for years before experiencing the slightest tingles or visions of light. But often once manifestations begin, they increase in frequency and tend to stabilize. They can come as sounds, smells, intense feeling, visionary landscapes or forms of living entities, or amorphous lights. These inner experiences feel as real or seem more real than external perception.
The temporal lobes host many structures and functions including memory, orientation of self in space and time, interpretations of meaning and emotional significance, organization of audio and visual patterns, smell, and language. Local discharges can be potentiated by specific memory recall or extremely low biofrequency magnetic fields penetrating brain tissue.
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is accompanied by classic personality changes. Though some researchers disagree, attributed characteristics include the following: loss of humor; intense affect; moodswings (peaks or highs, depressions, distortions, aggression); suggestibility; existential anxiety; neophobia; hypergraphia; an intense active interest in dreams, religion and philosophy; reports of psi experiences. Supreme faith is placed in the validity of subjective experience. Unusual experiences are assigned special personal meaning. They accept logical incongruities, displaying a rigid core of private beliefs.
This later spiritual interest can be rooted in subjective experiences of a variety of phenomena kindled by electrical instabilities in the brain. They include, but are not limited to depersonalization, time distortion, anxiety or panic, floating or falling sensations, peripheral imagery, a sense of presence either sacred or malefic, apparitions, downloading of memory sequences and false memory confabulations or fantasies, voices and visionary experiences ranging from heavenly to hellish, and a panoply of psychophysical manifestations.
Psi Is a Geomagnetic Field Correlate
Paranormal experiences (sensed presence, time distortion, information acquisition, death crisis, eccentric thinking) can be "induced" by a variety of fields. They are associated with geomagnetic activity or lack of it and neuronal activity of the temporal lobes. Sources of stimuli range from chaotic activity to field effects. Paranormal beliefs are related to paranormal experiences, often substituting for traditional religious beliefs.
We live in a dense soup of natural and artificial magnetic fields induced by electric charges moving through electric fields. Each event we experience as humans is centered in its own electromagnetic field. Psi phenomena [healing, telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, remote viewing, psychokinesis, poltergeists, hauntings] are complex field effects. A field is a matrix, a region of influence that invisibly connects two or more points in space or time with visible, informational or energetic effects.
A 1991 article in Bioelectromagnetics Magazine is called, "The Solar Wind and Hallucinations, --a possible relation due to magnetic disturbances.” Walter and Steffani Randall recount breakthrough research showing psychophysical correlations with increased GMF (geomagnetic field) periods. Data from the 19th century on hallucinations and magnetic disturbances were found to exhibit a direct and statistically significant correlation. Magnetic influences on the pineal hormone, melatonin, are suggested as a possible source of variation.
Geomagnetic activity is related to mental activity. Research suggests lower geomagnetic activity correlates with increased psi activity such as telepathy and anomalous dreams. Conversely, magnetically stormy days correlate with violent crime, bereavement hallucinations, (sleep) paralysis episodes, psychokinesis and poltergeist phenomena.
This nonlocal field may be enhanced or disrupted by a variety of environmental conditions [Krippner, Persinger, Spottiswoode, McTaggart, Lazslo]. Bursts of creativity in all cultural forms flourish in years of highest solar activity. The same covariance was found between hallucinations and magnetic disturbances.
Geomagnetic Field effects have yet to be conclusively demonstrated. Do geomagnetic fields carry psi information or effect the modulation of brainwave activity? We might suspect field coherence or resonance phenomena. Is this field phenomenon more perceptible in shamanic or altered states of consciousness?
In "Geomagnetic Field Effects in Anomalous Dreams and the Akashic Field," Krippner reports a relationship between geomagnetic fluctuations, lunar cycle, and sunspot activity with anomalous dreams, including telepathic, clairvoyant and precognitive content. Other factors, including the holographic mechanism (vacuum wave interference patterns) of the nonlocal zero-point field may also be influential. In psi tests, "hits" and "misses" are statistically significant relative to geomagnetic fields.
S. James P. Spottiswoode (1997) summarizes in “Geomagnetic fluctuations and free-response anomalous cognition: a new understanding,” as follows:
For some years there has been speculation that anomalous cognition (AC) performance may be correlated with global geomagnetic field (GMF) fluctuations. This idea arose from the work of Persinger (e.g., Persinger & Schout, 1988), who found that anecdotal cases of putative AC occurred on days when GMF fluctuations were significantly lower than on the preceding and following days. Many workers have investigated whether or not this interesting observation could be extended to laboratory anomalous cognition, but with mixed results.
Tart (1988) and Persinger and Krippner (1989) found an association between high-scoring AC trials and low GMF fluctuations, while Haraldsson and Gissurarson (1987) and Nelson and Dunne (1986) did not. In an unpublished meta-analysis, this author collected 1,468 free-response trials from 21 studies, reasoning that the effect, if it existed, would be most easily detected in a large database with high effect size; in fact, the overall correlation was a disappointing -0.0002 (Spearman's [Rho], N = 1,468, ns). The first step to understanding the physics of anomalous cognition will probably be the discovery of physical variables that unambiguously modulate the effect.
Persinger has experimented with weak complex, time-varying magnetic fields applied to the brains of human subjects. Some people are more susceptible to field variance than others. This application has been dubbed EIF or Experience Inducing Fields. Not all magnetic anomalies have implications for experience. Ambient geomagnetic fields are usually considered too weak to initiate but always undergird anomalous events, including hallucination. Neural entrainment confuses the brain into hallucinations it accepts as sensory information). EIF’s are fluctuations on top of the local dynamic field.
Visual hallucinations include circles, ellipses and triangles. Persinger conjectures that geomagnetic activity may enhance the receptivity of the brain to extrasensory signals, noting in particular that sudden decreases in geomagnetic activity may decrease the likelihood of certain types of electrical seizures in the brain. Persinger contends that increases in geomagnetic activity tend to lower seizure thresholds and may even precipitate convulsions in epileptics.
Some scientists (e.g., Radin, McAlpine & Cunningham, 1994; and Adair, 1991) have, however, expressed skepticism that changes in the geomagnetic field would have sufficient strength to produce any physiological effects on the human body at all. As a second possibility, Persinger suggests that lowered geomagnetic activity might enhance the signal carrying the ESP message, which he has speculated may consist in part of extremely low frequency electromagnetic radiation.
Adrian Ryan [2008] reports,
Geomagnetic field measurements were collected from the SAMNET array of magnetometers in Northern Europe. Measurements were selected from the nearest operating magnetometer at the time of each ESP trial; the mean distance between magnetometer and ESP trial location was 126 km (minimum 2 km, maximum 261 km). The sampling interval was 5 seconds until mid-November 1995 and 1 second thereafter. The amplitude resolution of the measurements is 0.1 nT. The field measurements were converted by fast Fourier transform into power within five frequency bands. Pulsations with frequency > 0.1 Hz were found to be highly geographically localized, therefore data for these frequency bands were discarded for all but the 99 remote viewing trials conducted at in York, for which the magnetometer was also located in York.
Two patterns were observed: ESP was found to succeed only during periods of enhanced pulsation activity within the 0.2-0.5 Hz band, but ESP effect was absent during the most disturbed periods of activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz band.
Analysis of the continuous record of geomagnetic field measurements between November 1996 and March 2005 revealed that activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz range is strongly correlated with the global index of geomagnetic activity ap, but no such relationship exists between activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band and ap, which may account for the overall slight negative correlation between ESP and ap reported in the literature.
As each frequency band of geomagnetic pulsation exhibits distinct seasonal and/or interacting seasonal/daily variation, they make excellent candidates for explaining the associations between ESP and LST that have been reported in the literature. To explore this possibility, the ESP effect size for trials in the database was plotted by LST; the resultant pattern was similar to that found by Spottiswoode (1997a, 1997b). Modeling revealed that this shape was partially attributable to the pattern of ESP results by pulsation activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band.
Vortex Phenomena
Naturally occurring electromagnetic waves entrain human brainwaves. Unusual magnetic areas – “hotspots” -- provide mini-laboratories for investigating anomalous geomagnetic effects. They have been honored or feared by primal peoples from the dawn of time. Magnetic vortexes, such as those found in the iron-rich soil of Sedona, Southern Oregon and elsewhere are places where unusual electromagnetic phenomena abound.
These hotspot areas of subtle earth energies often have a deep base of crystalline rock. Ten percent of the earth's total magnetic field fluctuates significantly over decade time scales, apparently reflecting the unsteady exchange of angular momentum between the core and the mantle in the velocity field.
Initially a skeptic, electrical engineer, Ben Lonetree <sedonanomalies.com/> describes iron-rich soil as “focusing” non-dipole geomagnetism that exhibits upward and downward motion. This is a Vortex. Lonetree was able to conclusively demonstrate what others have long conjectured.
[more at ionamiller2009.iwarp.com/whats...8.html ]
During a vortex event, monitoring equipment detects no N-S polarity. Compass instabilities plus upswing and downswing in field intensity can indicate vortex activity. You can catch a vortex in the act of dramatically increasing local field activity by orders of magnitude. Lonetree calls this a “Sudden Magnetic Impulse event.”
When the event passes, a compass will once again behave normally as outflow or inflow ceases. Lonetree has verified his readings by observing Schumann Resonances (SR), difficult to filter from ambient, artificial electronic noise or “smog.” He uses one computer to monitor SR and another to monitor magnetic intensity. Lonetree also makes it clear, despite the pseudo-science assertions of others, that SR is not rising, as his longterm readings clearly show.
Lonetree made observations, locally and globally, of Schumann Resonances in various areas of Arizona to see if distinctions emerged in the vortex hotspots. Schumann Resonance is 20,000 times less in intensity than the earth’s magnetic field. The SR pulse acts as a "driver" of our brains and might also potentially carry information. Entrainment is a process of synchronization where vibrations cause an object to oscillate at the same rate, affecting psychology and physiology.
He generated spectrographs to, “provide a point of reference to discuss and demonstrate Geomagnetic affects on the first resonance." Each of the seven Schumann Resonances occupies a bandwidth of 1 Hz. In other words, each of the resonances is 1 Hz. wide: 7.83 Hz, 14 Hz, 21 Hz, 26 Hz, 33 Hz, 39 Hz, and 45 Hz.
“Vortex Action” increases the intensity (strength) of correlated SR readings. For example, the 7.83 Hz Resonance increases in strength relative to that of the vortex event. The peak of the magnetic amplitude is coincidental with the peak of SR amplitude.
Certain geophysical conditions also function like amplifiers and speakers, making the natural electromagnetic ‘voice’ of the planet louder. Lonetree’s gut-feeling is that these are not waves of electromagnetic energy, but rather a gentle oscillation of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
This frequency also happens to fall between two of the human brainwaves, Alpha and Theta. There are four altogether: Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta. When our brain is functioning restfully in the predominantly alpha/theta zone, we become more relaxed or peaceful. The human brain acts like an electrical circuit called a phase-lock loop. A local external (outside the body) electromagnetic signal, as long as it is stronger than our brainwaves, initiates a resonance effect where the brain locks onto and resonates at that frequency.
Inflow and outflow are intermittent with typical events lasting 90 seconds to 2 minutes – a spike in magnetic activity. Twisted, rotating spiral or circular lines of magnetic force enter and emerge from the earth in specific local areas. They can be monitored electronically with Fluxgate detectors, induction coils or proton precession magnetometers, measuring the strength and direction of the local field.
Vortex activity causes trees to grow in gnarled and twisted patterns, creating other observational and perceptual clues to their existence, beyond the subjective. They are also purported to have unique psychophysical effects on certain individuals, mostly relevant to health and well-being.
We are complex electrodynamic, rather than chemical beings. We are subject to natural and artificial EM fields. SR frequencies coincide with human brain waves. There is a strong correlation between human behavioral disturbance or enhancement and geomagnetic field turbulence.
Hot Spot Alpha
Up-flow Vortexes are said to boost healing, creativity, visions, spiritual skills, exhilaration, and expand consciousness. Many claim to experience increases in UFO sightings and presence. Places labeled as a magnetic vortex are areas of inflow energy. Some claim an area labeled an electric vortex is an area of up-flow energy.
Lonetree laudes the virtues of magnetically-supercharged brainwave entrainment. With his spectrographic evidence, he knowledgeably declares, “Sitting on top of a magnetic outflow while the first Schumann Resonance promotes a state of Alpha / Theta is an experience you will never forget!”
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DRUG-FREE SHAMANISM
The Psychedelic Individual
THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL
Iona Miller
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/contentp.htmlSelf-actualization was defined by Maslow as the act of manifesting the capabilities for which one had the potentiality. The structure of our language predisposes us to think in terms of those who finally reach self-actualization, as contrasted with those who merely get to the vestibule of the mansion and wait. But like other more mathematical limits, self-actualization is better measured by the differential than the functional. Hence, a better way of conceptualizations is to look at the process, not the end product, and to distinguish those in which the process is wholly developed as self-actualized.
In discussion of the sixth (creative), seventh (psychedelic), and eighth (illuminative) cognitive stages, we are on new and insufficiently explored ground; hence, the reader must be prepared for some confusion in terms. Here the phrase "self-actualization" will be used indiscriminately to refer to operations at all three levels. Actually, the upper reach of the continuum from the stage of creativity onward is open ended, for once an individual reaches the creative stage cognitively, his conscious mind is opened and enlarged, and he gains new horizons and options. The theory of stages becomes much less significant than the study of the process, and for all we know, looking at the system as it were from below, there may be advanced stages or processes that we cannot yet conceive.
We have tried to make tentative identification of the three advanced stages - the sixth or creative, the seventh or psychedelic, and the eighth or illuminative. The creative stage has been well described in the literature. The psychedelic is just now being described in the literature of psychology (Tart, 1969), though it has long been known in the literature of mysticism. The eighth stage is still pretty much unknown territory. Although we can say little about the cognitive processes of the final stage, those processes which are occasional and transitory in the psychedelic period become habitual and fixed in the eighth stage, and thus the doors or barriers between the conscious and preconscious are done away with almost entirely. This stage or process may be referred to as "integral," since the person is truly "whole" or "holy".
A 20 Year Retrospective and Commentary
on the Work of John Curtis Gowanby Iona Miller, ©1994
ABSTRACT: As we approach the Millennium, we can hark back for more than nostaligia to the classic chronicles of the psychedelic revolution. Twenty years ago, in 1974, creativity expert John Curtis Gowan, (Professor Emeritus, California State University, Northridge, California) published, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL: A Psychological Analysis of the Psychedelic State and Its attendant Psychic Powers. While Gowan "may have some pretensions to being creative, he has none at all to being psychedelic." His work suffers only from this objectivity.
This article reviews Gowan's orientation, his concepts of escalation and developmental dysplasia, and the creation of the Northridge Developmental Scale, a test for self-actualization. The commentary includes: 1). current observations on the psychedelic stage in experiential therapy, ("drug-free shamanism") for a 90's approach to Gowan's work, and 2). the qabalistic Tree of Life as an ancient map of consciousness and model of developmental escalation, interpreted in Gowan's terms for historical perspective.
"This book is for the Twenty-First Century. It will speak across time to those who come after, as Thoreau's Walden speaks across the Nineteenth Century to us. Happy is he who understands it now for he can set his house in order to welcome the Zeitgeist of that day and era.""Psychedelic experiences are characterized by a sudden, spasmodic, transitory nature, and off-again on-again typ of episode which leaves the individual enthralled, but somewhat let down when it is over. Illumination, however, is a steady state where the art of controlling the experience has been mastered. But like the display of adventitious psychic powers, "natural" psychedelia is not valuable unless followed up by action and development; its represents potentiality, not accomplishment." --John Curtis Gowan, 1974
A PROSPECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE
This classic work in interdisciplinary consciousness studies was printed for the Creative Education Foundation for the 20th Annual Creative Problem-Solving Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., June, 1974. It traces in developmental stage form the growth of the relationship between the individual ego and the collective preconscious which underlies creativity and psychedelic or mind-expansion functions. The work is based in thee idea that the preconscius is involved in a developmental process which starts with anxiety and ranges to creativity through well known stations on the continuum of mental health.
Gowan expanded the continuum of the developmental process outlined by humanistic psychologists (Erikson, Maslow, Rogers, Piaget). He included mystical/transpersonal states of consciousness and their attendant phenomena, including those occuring naturally, through meditation, and as the result of drug ingestion.
Gowan's use of "psychedelic" is not synonymous with "drug related." His overview includes the work of Kubie, Sullivan, Tart, Masters and Houston, De Ropp, and Krippner, among others.Before "self esteem" became a buzz-word for the 90s, he defined a developmental continuum with equally vital dimensions of cognition and affect, rational and emotional development. Perhaps even more importantly, he surveys the positive and negative effects of natural escalation compared with developmental forcing on subsequent emergence of creativity and personality change.
Further he constructed a psychological test measuring the process/goal of self-actualization. In 1972, the Northridge Developmental Scale was bootstrapped from the Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrum, 1966) and other measures of self-concept, emotional morale and psychological well-being.Gowan proposed three modes of cognition: prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic, which he amplified as trance, art, and creativity. They indicate the styles and degree of immersion or cooperation betwen the ego and the preconscious. They range from dissociation, to propitiation, to conscious contact with the irrational and numinous element--from unconscious insstinctual response, to (usually symbolic) self-conscious ego processes, tto inner, paranormal "uncanny" aspects.
GOWAN'S ORIENTATION
Gowan's major works, including THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL (1972), DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL (1974), TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY (1975), and OPERATIONS OF INCREASING ORDER (1980) express his continued interest in the spectrum of human consciousness potential and the defining of a relative taxonomy of such states. Though excellent, these works were not widely circulated and are somewhat difficult to find, particularly outside of academic circles.
J.C. Gowan's lifework led him to the notion of a developmental order within states of consciousness. This order (see Chart 1) includes three cycles (latency, identity, creativity) revolving around issues of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, and generativity. Breeches of this order lead to a relative displacement of emotional and mental well-being which can inhibit or prevent integration.
Gowan used the work of Piaget to define the rational development of the mind, and that of Erikson to chart emotional development. Usually the cognitive level lags a stage or two behind the emotional; but opthers are emotionally stunted or frozen in their development. Our modern society has come to known this condition as dysfunctionality, inability to consistently function in an age-appropriate manner. It is a dissonance between rational and emotional dynamics resulting in self-defeating or self-destructive tendencies. Gowan called it dysplasia, developmental arrest which holds back self-actualizing potential.
Escalation implies raising the level of action by discrete jumps--quantum leaps in consciousness. Accessing latent energy resources escalates development from one level to the next. Discontinuity is a requisite for change. Gowan defined developmental forcing as trying to escalate from a given stage to more than one stage higher through mechanical or artificial means.
He likened this forcing to developmental abuse: trying to use characteristic powers or fruits of a given stage for display purposes when the individual is actually engaged in tasks of an earlier stage. Relative dysplasia results from not keeping up with developmental tasks--failure to escalate. But in developmental forcing an individual is exposed to experiences or tasks for which they are developmentally unprepared, and forced to attempt or react to them.
Conversely, those who are well-adapted for their age can become stuck at any level of particular success. He notes that most mature adults become emotionally arrested at the level of vocational fulfillment, financial success, and happy marriage. Another stall may occur as the psychedelic nature-mystic experience where nature is enjoyed for its own sake. Success at any stage of development may promote the desire to continue at play rather than integrating the lessons learned into the task of the next stage. Further development is an evolutionary task/opportunity.
This notion fit well in the psychological context of its time--the human potential movement with its accent on growth and linear movement toward perfection or some other process of ever-elusive "salvation." It is consistent with classical Jungian psychology and humanistic psychology, and the general scientific paradigm of its time.
Current notions in new generation Jungian thought, process work, and even process theology, are less focused on the developmental perspective of the coping heroic ego--becoming--and more focused on the ground state of Being--the dynamic Void or naked reality. The older view seems to underemphasize the initiatory capacity of these breakthrough experiences, expressed in our cultural history by 50,000 years of shamanic art and accident.
A course-correction here in conceptualization could include what we have subsequently learned in 20 years of the study of complexity and chaos theory. The difference is one of ego control compared with "letting go" and trusting the natural process: ego strength or flow/fluidity. The new paradigm--which embraces chaos--is expressed in science and psychology in such notions as complex non-linear dynamics, punctuated equilibrium, emergent creativity, and self-organization.Operations of increasing order automatically lead to entropy, which facilitates the breakdown of old forms including outworn personality traits and states of consciousness. Experiences of the complex interplay of chaos and order are the instrument of all development as well as that of the "psychedelic individual."
Self-initiation through the inner guide (happenstance or intent) often leads, in a person with latent shamanic tendencies, to self-induced "shock-treatment," the results of which the person is subsequently forced to confront in daily life. Two commonly employed mechanical means are drug use and marathon meditation, either of which can force escalation beyond normal social developmental stages.
Even in those with a poor social foundation, this "forcing" may crystallize a spiritual or inner-directed behavior which conditions or balances the individual in the short- or long-run. Thus, a dynamic if chaotic "path" or direction of development is chosen. The more definitive the commitment, the clearer the emergent non-linear path and creativity.
Gowan did allude perhaps to a dynamic interplay within the transformative process. Within each transition, he identifies certain components of change: succession, discontinuity (discontinuous equilibration), emergence or budding, differentiation or metamorphosis, and integration or creative repatterning. Together they define phases of developmental escalation, or shifting to a higher gear for more efficient use of available energy. The objective of escalation is creativity.Integration in the developmental process includes five aspects: (1) confrontation of differences, (2) integration, (3) a yielding up or giving up of the old for a new reorganization, (4) a process of differentiation and (5) a positive directionality.
In summary, Gowan piggybacks on the notions of Erikson and Piaget to create a developmental stage theory, which asserts four ideas:
The Psychedelic Individual
THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL
Iona Miller
http://www.csun.edu/edpsy/Gowan/contentp.htmlSelf-actualization was defined by Maslow as the act of manifesting the capabilities for which one had the potentiality. The structure of our language predisposes us to think in terms of those who finally reach self-actualization, as contrasted with those who merely get to the vestibule of the mansion and wait. But like other more mathematical limits, self-actualization is better measured by the differential than the functional. Hence, a better way of conceptualizations is to look at the process, not the end product, and to distinguish those in which the process is wholly developed as self-actualized.
In discussion of the sixth (creative), seventh (psychedelic), and eighth (illuminative) cognitive stages, we are on new and insufficiently explored ground; hence, the reader must be prepared for some confusion in terms. Here the phrase "self-actualization" will be used indiscriminately to refer to operations at all three levels. Actually, the upper reach of the continuum from the stage of creativity onward is open ended, for once an individual reaches the creative stage cognitively, his conscious mind is opened and enlarged, and he gains new horizons and options. The theory of stages becomes much less significant than the study of the process, and for all we know, looking at the system as it were from below, there may be advanced stages or processes that we cannot yet conceive.
We have tried to make tentative identification of the three advanced stages - the sixth or creative, the seventh or psychedelic, and the eighth or illuminative. The creative stage has been well described in the literature. The psychedelic is just now being described in the literature of psychology (Tart, 1969), though it has long been known in the literature of mysticism. The eighth stage is still pretty much unknown territory. Although we can say little about the cognitive processes of the final stage, those processes which are occasional and transitory in the psychedelic period become habitual and fixed in the eighth stage, and thus the doors or barriers between the conscious and preconscious are done away with almost entirely. This stage or process may be referred to as "integral," since the person is truly "whole" or "holy".
A 20 Year Retrospective and Commentary
on the Work of John Curtis Gowanby Iona Miller, ©1994
ABSTRACT: As we approach the Millennium, we can hark back for more than nostaligia to the classic chronicles of the psychedelic revolution. Twenty years ago, in 1974, creativity expert John Curtis Gowan, (Professor Emeritus, California State University, Northridge, California) published, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL: A Psychological Analysis of the Psychedelic State and Its attendant Psychic Powers. While Gowan "may have some pretensions to being creative, he has none at all to being psychedelic." His work suffers only from this objectivity.
This article reviews Gowan's orientation, his concepts of escalation and developmental dysplasia, and the creation of the Northridge Developmental Scale, a test for self-actualization. The commentary includes: 1). current observations on the psychedelic stage in experiential therapy, ("drug-free shamanism") for a 90's approach to Gowan's work, and 2). the qabalistic Tree of Life as an ancient map of consciousness and model of developmental escalation, interpreted in Gowan's terms for historical perspective.
"This book is for the Twenty-First Century. It will speak across time to those who come after, as Thoreau's Walden speaks across the Nineteenth Century to us. Happy is he who understands it now for he can set his house in order to welcome the Zeitgeist of that day and era.""Psychedelic experiences are characterized by a sudden, spasmodic, transitory nature, and off-again on-again typ of episode which leaves the individual enthralled, but somewhat let down when it is over. Illumination, however, is a steady state where the art of controlling the experience has been mastered. But like the display of adventitious psychic powers, "natural" psychedelia is not valuable unless followed up by action and development; its represents potentiality, not accomplishment." --John Curtis Gowan, 1974
A PROSPECTIVE RETROSPECTIVE
This classic work in interdisciplinary consciousness studies was printed for the Creative Education Foundation for the 20th Annual Creative Problem-Solving Institute, Buffalo, N.Y., June, 1974. It traces in developmental stage form the growth of the relationship between the individual ego and the collective preconscious which underlies creativity and psychedelic or mind-expansion functions. The work is based in thee idea that the preconscius is involved in a developmental process which starts with anxiety and ranges to creativity through well known stations on the continuum of mental health.
Gowan expanded the continuum of the developmental process outlined by humanistic psychologists (Erikson, Maslow, Rogers, Piaget). He included mystical/transpersonal states of consciousness and their attendant phenomena, including those occuring naturally, through meditation, and as the result of drug ingestion.
Gowan's use of "psychedelic" is not synonymous with "drug related." His overview includes the work of Kubie, Sullivan, Tart, Masters and Houston, De Ropp, and Krippner, among others.Before "self esteem" became a buzz-word for the 90s, he defined a developmental continuum with equally vital dimensions of cognition and affect, rational and emotional development. Perhaps even more importantly, he surveys the positive and negative effects of natural escalation compared with developmental forcing on subsequent emergence of creativity and personality change.
Further he constructed a psychological test measuring the process/goal of self-actualization. In 1972, the Northridge Developmental Scale was bootstrapped from the Personal Orientation Inventory (Shostrum, 1966) and other measures of self-concept, emotional morale and psychological well-being.Gowan proposed three modes of cognition: prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic, which he amplified as trance, art, and creativity. They indicate the styles and degree of immersion or cooperation betwen the ego and the preconscious. They range from dissociation, to propitiation, to conscious contact with the irrational and numinous element--from unconscious insstinctual response, to (usually symbolic) self-conscious ego processes, tto inner, paranormal "uncanny" aspects.
GOWAN'S ORIENTATION
Gowan's major works, including THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CREATIVE INDIVIDUAL (1972), DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC INDIVIDUAL (1974), TRANCE, ART, AND CREATIVITY (1975), and OPERATIONS OF INCREASING ORDER (1980) express his continued interest in the spectrum of human consciousness potential and the defining of a relative taxonomy of such states. Though excellent, these works were not widely circulated and are somewhat difficult to find, particularly outside of academic circles.
J.C. Gowan's lifework led him to the notion of a developmental order within states of consciousness. This order (see Chart 1) includes three cycles (latency, identity, creativity) revolving around issues of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, and generativity. Breeches of this order lead to a relative displacement of emotional and mental well-being which can inhibit or prevent integration.
Gowan used the work of Piaget to define the rational development of the mind, and that of Erikson to chart emotional development. Usually the cognitive level lags a stage or two behind the emotional; but opthers are emotionally stunted or frozen in their development. Our modern society has come to known this condition as dysfunctionality, inability to consistently function in an age-appropriate manner. It is a dissonance between rational and emotional dynamics resulting in self-defeating or self-destructive tendencies. Gowan called it dysplasia, developmental arrest which holds back self-actualizing potential.
Escalation implies raising the level of action by discrete jumps--quantum leaps in consciousness. Accessing latent energy resources escalates development from one level to the next. Discontinuity is a requisite for change. Gowan defined developmental forcing as trying to escalate from a given stage to more than one stage higher through mechanical or artificial means.
He likened this forcing to developmental abuse: trying to use characteristic powers or fruits of a given stage for display purposes when the individual is actually engaged in tasks of an earlier stage. Relative dysplasia results from not keeping up with developmental tasks--failure to escalate. But in developmental forcing an individual is exposed to experiences or tasks for which they are developmentally unprepared, and forced to attempt or react to them.
Conversely, those who are well-adapted for their age can become stuck at any level of particular success. He notes that most mature adults become emotionally arrested at the level of vocational fulfillment, financial success, and happy marriage. Another stall may occur as the psychedelic nature-mystic experience where nature is enjoyed for its own sake. Success at any stage of development may promote the desire to continue at play rather than integrating the lessons learned into the task of the next stage. Further development is an evolutionary task/opportunity.
This notion fit well in the psychological context of its time--the human potential movement with its accent on growth and linear movement toward perfection or some other process of ever-elusive "salvation." It is consistent with classical Jungian psychology and humanistic psychology, and the general scientific paradigm of its time.
Current notions in new generation Jungian thought, process work, and even process theology, are less focused on the developmental perspective of the coping heroic ego--becoming--and more focused on the ground state of Being--the dynamic Void or naked reality. The older view seems to underemphasize the initiatory capacity of these breakthrough experiences, expressed in our cultural history by 50,000 years of shamanic art and accident.
A course-correction here in conceptualization could include what we have subsequently learned in 20 years of the study of complexity and chaos theory. The difference is one of ego control compared with "letting go" and trusting the natural process: ego strength or flow/fluidity. The new paradigm--which embraces chaos--is expressed in science and psychology in such notions as complex non-linear dynamics, punctuated equilibrium, emergent creativity, and self-organization.Operations of increasing order automatically lead to entropy, which facilitates the breakdown of old forms including outworn personality traits and states of consciousness. Experiences of the complex interplay of chaos and order are the instrument of all development as well as that of the "psychedelic individual."
Self-initiation through the inner guide (happenstance or intent) often leads, in a person with latent shamanic tendencies, to self-induced "shock-treatment," the results of which the person is subsequently forced to confront in daily life. Two commonly employed mechanical means are drug use and marathon meditation, either of which can force escalation beyond normal social developmental stages.
Even in those with a poor social foundation, this "forcing" may crystallize a spiritual or inner-directed behavior which conditions or balances the individual in the short- or long-run. Thus, a dynamic if chaotic "path" or direction of development is chosen. The more definitive the commitment, the clearer the emergent non-linear path and creativity.
Gowan did allude perhaps to a dynamic interplay within the transformative process. Within each transition, he identifies certain components of change: succession, discontinuity (discontinuous equilibration), emergence or budding, differentiation or metamorphosis, and integration or creative repatterning. Together they define phases of developmental escalation, or shifting to a higher gear for more efficient use of available energy. The objective of escalation is creativity.Integration in the developmental process includes five aspects: (1) confrontation of differences, (2) integration, (3) a yielding up or giving up of the old for a new reorganization, (4) a process of differentiation and (5) a positive directionality.
In summary, Gowan piggybacks on the notions of Erikson and Piaget to create a developmental stage theory, which asserts four ideas: