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transcendental meditation so that their objectives and mode of functioning would be compared in the reader's mind with the Gateway process as the model of its underlying mechanics was developed.
Additionally, that introductory material is useful in supporting the conclusions of the paper. I indicate that at times these related techniques may provide useful entry points to accelerate movement into the Gateway experience.
Three, Niels Bohr, the renowned physicist, once responded to his son's complaints about the obtuse nature of certain concepts in physics by saying, quote, "You are not thinking. You are merely being logical." The physics of altered human consciousness deals with some conceptualizations that are not easily grasped or visualized exclusively in the context of ordinary, quote, left-brained linear thinking. So, to borrow from Dr. Bohr's
mode of expression, parts of this paper will require not only logic but a touch of awkward page turning uh mechanic. Right-brain intuitive insight to achieve a complete comfortable grasp of the concepts involved. Nevertheless, once that is done, I am confident that their construction and application will stand up to the test of rational critique.
And before we finish this kind of introductory point, I think this is really important to establish out of the gate. I mean, there's so much of consciousness that cannot be expressed, as he's saying, simply through the left brain, you know, simply through data and scientific materialistic terminology. I mean, consciousness itself is a holistic subjective experience, and it does get inherently philosophical and spiritual, I think,
when you wait into this territory. And I think he does a good job throughout the paper, from what I remember, of of towing that line and respecting that line. For, paradoxically having gone to such great lengths to avoid trying to render judgments based on an occult or dogmatic frame of reference, in the end I found it necessary to return, at least briefly, to the question of the impact of the Gateway experience on common
belief systems. I did so because, although it was essential to avoid attempting to render an assessment in the context of such systems, I felt that it was necessary, after having completed the analysis, to point out that the resulting conclusions do not do any violence to the fundamental mainstream of either Eastern or Western belief systems. Unless that point is clearly established, the danger exists that some people will reject the whole concept of
the Gateway experience in the mistaken belief that it contradicts and is therefore alien to all that they hold to be right and true. This study is certainly not designed to be the last word on the subject, but I hope that the validity of its basic structure and of its fundamental concepts upon which it is based will make it a useful guide for other USAINSCOM personnel who are required to take the Gateway training or work within
Gateway materials. So, again, an interesting tidbit pretty much right out of the gate here. It sounds assumed that other USA INSCOM personnel will be undertaking this training. Will be undertaking psychical training. All right, here we go. Introduction.
In order to describe the Monroe Institute technique for achieving altered states of consciousness, the Gateway experience involving brain hemisphere synchronization or Hemi-Sync, the most effective way to begin is to briefly profile the basic mechanics which underlay the operation of related methods such as hypnosis, transcendental meditation, and biofeedback. It is easiest to effectively describe what Gateway is by beginning with a short
description of those associated techniques that share some common aspects with the Gateway experience, but which are nevertheless different. In this way, we can develop a frame of reference at the outset which will provide useful concepts to explain and understand Gateway by comparison as we proceed. Again, we touch on the importance of philosophy, of lenses, of how to think about what's happening using uh you know, other related
concepts like what we're about to jump into, hypnosis. According to the theories of psychologist Ronald Stone and the biomedical engineering models of Itzhak Bentov, hypnosis is basically a technique which permits acquisition of different access to the sensory motor cortex and pleasure centers, the lower cerebral emotional portions, and the associated pleasure centers of the right side of the human brain following successful disengagement of the stimulus
screening function of the left hemisphere of the brain. The left hemisphere of the brain is the self-cognitive, verbal, and linear learning component of the mind. It fulfills the function of screening incoming stimuli by categorizing, assessing, and assigning meaning prior to allowing passage into the right hemisphere of the mind. The right hemisphere, which functions as the non-critical, holistic, non-verbal, and pattern-oriented component of the brain,
appears to accept what the left hemisphere passes without question. Consequently, if the left hemisphere can be distracted either through boredom or through reduction to a soporific Hm, there's a stretch in my vocabulary with that one.
A soporific semi-sleep state, external stimuli to include hypnotic suggestions are allowed to pass unchallenged into the right hemisphere where they are accepted and acted upon directly. The result may involve an emotional reaction originating in the lower cerebral region, sensory motor responses requiring involvement of the cortex and so on. Both the sensory and the motor cortices of the right cerebral portion of the brain contain a sequence of
points known as the homunculus, which corresponds to points in the body. See exhibit one on the next page. Stimulation of the corresponding area of the cortex uses intermediate response to the associated portion of the body.
Consequently, induction of the suggestion that the left neck leg is numb, if it reaches to the right cortex, will result in an electrical reaction being generated that will induce the feeling of numbness. Similarly, the suggestion that the person is experiencing a general feeling of happiness and well-being would be referred to the appropriate pleasure centers located in the lower cerebral portion of the cortex of the right
hemisphere, thereby inducing the suggested feeling of euphoria. Finally, suggestions such as one that informs the hypnotic subject that he enjoys enhanced concentration or powers of memory would be reported would be responded, rather, to the right hemisphere by accessing unused information storage capacity normally held in reserve as a result of the left hemisphere selection and control processes. This aspect will become significant in the context of
Gateway process when the attention is given to examining the way that hypnosis may be used to accelerate the progress in the early stages of the Gateway experience. So, this is something I I you know, thought about on my retreat and I've thought about since is how does the gateway process or the gateway method relate to hypnosis? Like there's no actual outright suggestion going on as far as I can tell. I truly don't think that there's anything embedded in
the Hemi-Sync tapes or CDs or MP3s or whatever form you have them in subliminally. I don't think that's how it works. I do think that there is some other form of suggestion. And I realize that by saying that that sounds nefarious or underhanded, but I don't think it necessarily is. But we'll we'll get more into this as we go.
And now still under the effort of framing we'll get into transcendental meditation and I guess comparing and contrasting that with Gateway. On the other hand, transcendental meditation works in a distinctly different fashion.
In this technique, intense and protracted single-minded concentration on the process of drawing energy up the spinal cord ultimately results in what appears to be creation of acoustical standing waves in the cerebral ventricles, which are then conducted into the gray matter in the cerebral cortex on the right side of the brain.
As a result, according to Bentov, these waves will stimulate and eventually polarize the cortex in such a way that it will tend to conduct a signal along the homunculus starting from the toes and on up. The Bentov biomedical model as described in a book by Lee Sannella, MD, entitled Kundalini: Psychosis or Transcendence, not a book I've read, but has my wonder whiskers perked up, states that the standing acausal waves are a
result of the altered rhythm of heart sounds, which are occasioned by prolonged practice of meditation, and which set up sympathetic vibrations in the walls of the fluid-filled cavities, which comprise the third and lateral ventricles of the brain. In addition, according to Bentov, the states of bliss described by those whose Kundalini symptoms have completed the full loop along the hemispheres may be explained as a self-stimulation
of the pleasure centers in the brain caused by the circulation of a quote current along the sensory cortex. Bentov also notes that quote that most of the described symptoms start on the left side of the body maybe a typo here means that it is mostly a development occurring in the right hemisphere. End quote. Although normally a period of meditation involving intense concentration and practice for 5 years or some is required to quote bring up
the Kundalini Bentov states that exposure to mechanical or acoustical vibrations in the range of 4 to 7 hertz cycles per second for protracted periods may achieve the same effect. Bentov sites as an example quote repeated riding in a car whose suspension and seat combination produced that range of vibrations or being exposed for long periods of time to these frequencies caused for instance by an air conditioning duct. He also notes that
quote the cumulative effect of these vibrations may be able to trigger a spontaneous physio Kundalini sequence in susceptible people who have particularly sensitive nervous systems. So, maybe this is a good moment to pause and reflect on this guy, Itzhak Bentov. I talked about him in the other gateway video.
This guy is like this multi-disciplinary polymath who is an absolute genius for sure. But he's not a doctor. In fact, he's really I think a like I said an autodidactic um philosopher and engineer. He ends up really contributing for my understanding to the science of biomedical implants in particular um like catheter technology.
So, this is a very smart man with a wide variety of interests and he really tries to collapse all of those interests down into an overarching theory of reality. And that theory of reality includes everything from very cosmic things like black holes and white holes and quantum theory to very uh localized biological things to completely psychophysical and spiritual things. I mean, in his book, if you want to get an overview of his
whole theory, he has a book called Stalking the Wild Pendulum. We actually uh read it recently for the Third Eye Drops Book Club. You're going to find all of the above in there. And it has to do with some pretty familiar topics. I mean, you know, topics like um resonance and sound and frequency, but he doesn't just talk about these things in a hand-waving way. He talks about them in a pretty technical way. Um and this is what a lot of this is hinting at
is that the body responds to different frequencies and you can achieve different states of consciousness including expanded states of consciousness by altering the signals that you're putting into the brain, that you're putting into the whole uh you know, biophysical psychomatrix that is the human being. And on that note, we move on to point four, biofeedback and how it relates to Gateway. The third consciousness-altering methodology,