Submitted by corpusc (not verified) on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 14:28.
2 1/2 years ago i was practiceing a form of Qigong involving standing movenents, slow symetrical movements, no effort, with a pause between each part of the movement. This often results in spontaneous movements and on this occasion i fell to the floor and went in to a very deep sleep. On waking (dont know how long i slept, but perhaps 1/2 hour) one leg was very numb, though without the usual pins and needles, i dont remember which one, but i could still walk. Cant remember well now but perhaps one arm numb too. i forgot to do the usual concluding movements normaly done after this type of qigong. I went out on bicycle and noticed that i had a complete abscence of fear or anxiety which is quite unusual for me. Even haveing someone berrate me had zero negative response in my mind or body whatsoever, i just was incapable of feeling negativity, though i was completely lucid and i think i remember that the world seemed brighter. It gradualy wore off after an hout or so. Positivie emotion came very easily in that state.
Submitted by Tony Wright on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 22:09.
Fascinating, has many similarities with my experiences during prolonged periods without sleep. Your comment reminded me of the 1st time one side of my body felt that strange numb kind of feeling, followed by intense euphoria and a sense of escape into a profound state of otherness, cool stuff!
Submitted by midge (not verified) on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 13:08.
My personal experience of a very different state of consciousness occurred 14 years ago at around 10pm on 18th of September after a period of over 30 hours without sleep. I wasn’t trying to bring about this experience. I wasn’t even aware that it was possible to have an experience such as this. I have never had an experience like it since. Here’s an account of what happened…
I flew home to the UK after spending a month on holiday in the USA. It was an overnight flight and the journey was truly awful. We experienced very bad turbulence - the plane was bouncing up and down. It was like a roller coaster ride. I was terrified. However, we rode the storm and landed safely in the UK around 7 am. I travelled by coach to my home town on the South coast and went straight into work, where I spent the day. At 9pm I went to bed with a book I’d bought at the airport – ‘Further along the road less travelled’ by M Scott Peck. About half way through the book Mr Peck relates an anecdote about how a dinner companion had challenged him to explain his latest book in a sentence. He couldn’t. But then went on to relate how Jesus had managed to encapsulate the Christian message in a couple of sentences – ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your might. And love your neighbour as yourself.’ Though not a Christian, or religious, I was familiar with the words. But reading them on this occasion, after 30+ hours without sleep it’s as though I suddenly experienced their meaning for the very first time. I felt unbounded, intense love for everything and everyone, just an immensity of love so that it was almost unbearable.
What happened next is difficult to describe because words become inadequate. I felt overwhelmed by some pure cool essence or energy pouring into me, overflowing – it was a physical experience as well as an emotional one. Somewhere in the midst of this, my awareness shifted from being in my bedroom to something inherently indescribable. But I’ll give it my best shot. All around was joy, ecstasy, love, I was immersed in and saturated with it. I was love, and I was everywhere. Then there was the knowledge – ‘I’ understood everything, the hows, the whys, the wherefores of the universe, the meaning of life – everything that had been or could be. I knew that we are all in but not aware of this ‘dimension’ all of the time. That we are all one light, but separate also. Although my partner was thousands of miles away, I knew there was no separation between us at this level. We were one in this ocean of love.
I don’t know how long I was in this mode of being – minutes at the most. Time there had no meaning – it was a dimension beyond time. During the experience I could not focus in, dissect, analyse or process in a linear way. I could only be/know in a universal/holistic way. I ‘left’ this state of my own accord. I thought I could re-access it in the future and I wanted to examine what had happened to me.
Unfortunately I could not retain the complete understanding that I experienced, so I was left to examine something beyond examination. I lost access to the whole when my normal way of being was restored. I didn’t have the concepts, never mind the language to describe what I’d witnessed. Even so, I will never forget how idiotic and unimportant our desire for material things seemed. Or the ridiculousness of the facades we create to protect ourselves and hide from each other. But most of all, I will never forget the love.
Submitted by creamspider (not verified) on Thu, 12/03/2009 - 02:51.
Midge, I just read your account and signed up so I could ....well, not sure really, reach out and say..... how wonderful, what a wonderful account of your experience!
I have come across people hinting at this before, it is good to hear. Your description was very touching.
I am a little in awe,
thank you friend, for sharing x
Submitted by midge (not verified) on Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:12.
Hi Cin, Thank you for taking the time to leave a message. I put my experience on the net in the hope that people who were looking for contemporary first hand accounts of different states of consciousness would find their way to it. When it happened to me I really had no idea that this state was possible and I spent many months searching for other accounts. They are there of course, right across recorded history. To this day I love to read of others' experiences. They remind me that right here, right now I am immersed in and a part of a boundless ocean of love.
This isn't exactly a personal experience, but I've recently heard about something that is totally relevant to all the material in Left In the Dark: darkroom technology.
Has anyone ever heard of, or had any experience with darkness retreats/cave-sitting? Mantak Chia, a Chi Kung master, hosts retreats in Thailand, for exactly this purpose; and there are some others, as well--Jasmuheen, a man called Ananda...
But the premise of the retreats is this: once the body stops absorbing light from all sources (skin, eyes, head, etc.), after three days (during which most people sleep, a LOT), the seratonin/melatonin cycle stops, and the brain produces PINOLINE, instead. Once the pinoline in the body reaches some critical threshold, MAO is inhibited, and the brain starts pumping 5-meo-DMT, and eventually, DMT. And supposedly, one can see in infrared and ultraviolet, plus tons of other mindblowing things.
I also remember reading on Mantak Chia's website about the importance of high-tryptophan foods, seaweeds, and blue-green algae. Other less reputable sources on the internet have mentioned how cooking destroys enzymes, ESPECIALLY tryptophan, which results in a very chronically depleted pineal gland (the pineal is a huge source of internet gossip!). Raw foods could be good for this?
Anyway, I know in the book, the question is asked how to kickstart the brain in a way that would allow the right hemisphere to shine unfettered. Could these darkness retreats hold a clue?
I am no scientist, but hopefully someone here could shed some science on the subject? When it comes to the language promoting the darkroom technology, there's no fine line between hard science, speculation, and mysticism.
And how many religious "rebirth"/initiation scenarios take place in something similar--caves, catacombs, tombs, pyramids...?
Submitted by corpusc (not verified) on Fri, 10/16/2009 - 11:25.
The German author of some books about shamanism Holger Kalweit runs Darkness therapy treatments in the blackforest. His site here is in German. His is a Tibettan treatment. From the small amount of his ive read his writing is spot on.
He talks about the treatment being used by artists to help them produce work, as well as participants feeling like time passes much faster, in this youtube talk (also in German)
Thought Tommy McHugh might appreciate a look at Left in the Dark.Tony might want to pop over and talk with him and his perceptions of 2 brains and 2 people, one very creative! Phil from PFAF left his copy of LITD with me 16 years after Tony explained things to me over a long night at a permaculture convergence.Life has never been the same.Thanks for the work.
Comments
Really a great post. I have
Really a great post. I have not yet read the book which is being discuss here, but i will surely read it soon. Anyway thanks for the posting.
Regards,
Sterling Silver Necklaces
Sterling Silver Rings
CZ Rings
Possible right brain experience
2 1/2 years ago i was practiceing a form of Qigong involving standing movenents, slow symetrical movements, no effort, with a pause between each part of the movement. This often results in spontaneous movements and on this occasion i fell to the floor and went in to a very deep sleep. On waking (dont know how long i slept, but perhaps 1/2 hour) one leg was very numb, though without the usual pins and needles, i dont remember which one, but i could still walk. Cant remember well now but perhaps one arm numb too. i forgot to do the usual concluding movements normaly done after this type of qigong. I went out on bicycle and noticed that i had a complete abscence of fear or anxiety which is quite unusual for me. Even haveing someone berrate me had zero negative response in my mind or body whatsoever, i just was incapable of feeling negativity, though i was completely lucid and i think i remember that the world seemed brighter. It gradualy wore off after an hout or so. Positivie emotion came very easily in that state.
Sounds alright to me
Fascinating, has many similarities with my experiences during prolonged periods without sleep. Your comment reminded me of the 1st time one side of my body felt that strange numb kind of feeling, followed by intense euphoria and a sense of escape into a profound state of otherness, cool stuff!
my experience of a different state of consciousness
My personal experience of a very different state of consciousness occurred 14 years ago at around 10pm on 18th of September after a period of over 30 hours without sleep. I wasn’t trying to bring about this experience. I wasn’t even aware that it was possible to have an experience such as this. I have never had an experience like it since. Here’s an account of what happened…
I flew home to the UK after spending a month on holiday in the USA. It was an overnight flight and the journey was truly awful. We experienced very bad turbulence - the plane was bouncing up and down. It was like a roller coaster ride. I was terrified. However, we rode the storm and landed safely in the UK around 7 am. I travelled by coach to my home town on the South coast and went straight into work, where I spent the day. At 9pm I went to bed with a book I’d bought at the airport – ‘Further along the road less travelled’ by M Scott Peck. About half way through the book Mr Peck relates an anecdote about how a dinner companion had challenged him to explain his latest book in a sentence. He couldn’t. But then went on to relate how Jesus had managed to encapsulate the Christian message in a couple of sentences – ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your might. And love your neighbour as yourself.’ Though not a Christian, or religious, I was familiar with the words. But reading them on this occasion, after 30+ hours without sleep it’s as though I suddenly experienced their meaning for the very first time. I felt unbounded, intense love for everything and everyone, just an immensity of love so that it was almost unbearable.
What happened next is difficult to describe because words become inadequate. I felt overwhelmed by some pure cool essence or energy pouring into me, overflowing – it was a physical experience as well as an emotional one. Somewhere in the midst of this, my awareness shifted from being in my bedroom to something inherently indescribable. But I’ll give it my best shot. All around was joy, ecstasy, love, I was immersed in and saturated with it. I was love, and I was everywhere. Then there was the knowledge – ‘I’ understood everything, the hows, the whys, the wherefores of the universe, the meaning of life – everything that had been or could be. I knew that we are all in but not aware of this ‘dimension’ all of the time. That we are all one light, but separate also. Although my partner was thousands of miles away, I knew there was no separation between us at this level. We were one in this ocean of love.
I don’t know how long I was in this mode of being – minutes at the most. Time there had no meaning – it was a dimension beyond time. During the experience I could not focus in, dissect, analyse or process in a linear way. I could only be/know in a universal/holistic way. I ‘left’ this state of my own accord. I thought I could re-access it in the future and I wanted to examine what had happened to me.
Unfortunately I could not retain the complete understanding that I experienced, so I was left to examine something beyond examination. I lost access to the whole when my normal way of being was restored. I didn’t have the concepts, never mind the language to describe what I’d witnessed. Even so, I will never forget how idiotic and unimportant our desire for material things seemed. Or the ridiculousness of the facades we create to protect ourselves and hide from each other. But most of all, I will never forget the love.
different state of consciousness
Midge, I just read your account and signed up so I could ....well, not sure really, reach out and say..... how wonderful, what a wonderful account of your experience!
I have come across people hinting at this before, it is good to hear. Your description was very touching.
I am a little in awe,
thank you friend, for sharing x
Cin
different state of consciousness
Hi Cin, Thank you for taking the time to leave a message. I put my experience on the net in the hope that people who were looking for contemporary first hand accounts of different states of consciousness would find their way to it. When it happened to me I really had no idea that this state was possible and I spent many months searching for other accounts. They are there of course, right across recorded history. To this day I love to read of others' experiences. They remind me that right here, right now I am immersed in and a part of a boundless ocean of love.
Tina x
NeuView glasses
Here´s a simple way to shift the dominant hemisphere
http://www.neuviewglasses.com
I´ve had good results with it.
Asymmetrical brainwave entrainment would also work.
endogenous DMT production
This isn't exactly a personal experience, but I've recently heard about something that is totally relevant to all the material in Left In the Dark: darkroom technology.
Has anyone ever heard of, or had any experience with darkness retreats/cave-sitting? Mantak Chia, a Chi Kung master, hosts retreats in Thailand, for exactly this purpose; and there are some others, as well--Jasmuheen, a man called Ananda...
But the premise of the retreats is this: once the body stops absorbing light from all sources (skin, eyes, head, etc.), after three days (during which most people sleep, a LOT), the seratonin/melatonin cycle stops, and the brain produces PINOLINE, instead. Once the pinoline in the body reaches some critical threshold, MAO is inhibited, and the brain starts pumping 5-meo-DMT, and eventually, DMT. And supposedly, one can see in infrared and ultraviolet, plus tons of other mindblowing things.
http://www.universal-tao.com/workshops/jasmuheen.html
I also remember reading on Mantak Chia's website about the importance of high-tryptophan foods, seaweeds, and blue-green algae. Other less reputable sources on the internet have mentioned how cooking destroys enzymes, ESPECIALLY tryptophan, which results in a very chronically depleted pineal gland (the pineal is a huge source of internet gossip!). Raw foods could be good for this?
Anyway, I know in the book, the question is asked how to kickstart the brain in a way that would allow the right hemisphere to shine unfettered. Could these darkness retreats hold a clue?
I am no scientist, but hopefully someone here could shed some science on the subject? When it comes to the language promoting the darkroom technology, there's no fine line between hard science, speculation, and mysticism.
And how many religious "rebirth"/initiation scenarios take place in something similar--caves, catacombs, tombs, pyramids...?
Another darkness therapy/ darkroom practitioner Europe
The German author of some books about shamanism Holger Kalweit runs Darkness therapy treatments in the blackforest. His site here is in German. His is a Tibettan treatment. From the small amount of his ive read his writing is spot on.
http://www.naturtherapie-rituale.de/html/dunkeltherapie.html
He talks about the treatment being used by artists to help them produce work, as well as participants feeling like time passes much faster, in this youtube talk (also in German)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDXMN3WMmho
The title of the talk means Path to the Understanding/experience of light.
Tommy McHugh
Thought Tommy McHugh might appreciate a look at Left in the Dark.Tony might want to pop over and talk with him and his perceptions of 2 brains and 2 people, one very creative! Phil from PFAF left his copy of LITD with me 16 years after Tony explained things to me over a long night at a permaculture convergence.Life has never been the same.Thanks for the work.