TMI Journal 2013 No. 1

people from all backgrounds in transforming their lives by realizing their unlimited potential. For more information, visit http://www.eye-ris.org . D r. Bullard’s presentation at the Professional Seminar described a systematic approach to creativity in today’s world designed especially for those people who would lead us into the future. This approach to creativity accesses a higher state of consciousness first, realizing that all truly “new” ideas come from beyond our own limited thinking. Once in a state of higher consciousness, we can then access the quantum view of reality and clearly choose among many possibilities in our creative thinking. The key is not only to get outside of routine but also outside of our comfort zone—the zone in which we feel familiar and that we can control to some extent. The magic and breakthroughs we seek happen outside the comfort zone. Dr. Bullard draws from ancient alchemical methods and understanding, blended with modern science and powerful techniques for harnessing consciousness. Shifting to a quantum paradigm will help us more consciously create, amidst the rising uncertainties, the exponential inflow of information, and the accelerated pace of change today. Next Page 6 TMI JOURNAL 2013 Dr. Bullard shared her 7-step method, which she coined V.I.S.I.O.N.S., and consists of: 1. Vision 5 R5..#(!55&,5#'!5) 5."5-/$.5),5#--/5.".515(5.)5,%5.",)/!" 2. Illumination 5 R5"# .#(!5.)55"#!", state of consciousness, to transcend any perceived limitations that come from the lower mind 3. Stillness 5 R5 )0#(!5#(.)5."50)#65.)5--5."5#( #(#.5 #&5) 5*).(.#&A."5-)/,5) 5&&5.,/&35new ideas 4. Ignition 5 R5 !(#.#(!5."5-*,%5) 5,.#0#.3 5. Outburst 5 R5/,-.5) 5,.#05#-5)'#(!5#(.)5."5,&'5) 5)/,5"#!",5'#(651",515(5-.,.5.)5."#(%5)/.5."'5 and brainstorm for a new vision 6. Nexus 5 R5"5(150#-#)(5(2.5)'-55(2/-5*)#(.5,)/(51"#"515(5-.,.5 ),'/&.#(!55*&( 7. Success 5 R5/-- /&&35,,35."#-5*&(5#(.)5.#)(5(5 ,/#.#)( Dr. Bullard teamed up with J. S. Epperson to create a guided imagery called Creative Alchemy that incorporates all of these elements. This new guided meditation is available through the TMI Store. Also see “The Seven Stages of Alchemy with Hemi-Sync” by Dr. Bullard. Winter-Spring 2010 Journal. Back to page 1 7 TMI JOURNAL 2013 BECOMING OUR OWN GUINEA PIGS. A PROGRESS REPORT. Presented by Eleusis during its two-thousand-year run. The initiates Joseph Felser, PhD returned to their respective homelands and remained faithful to their native religious practices. Dr. Joe Felser has been on These factors make TMI an ideal venue for studying the faculty at Kingsborough the synergy between the two aspects of wonder. What Community College of the kinds of philosophical questions lead individuals to City University of New come to TMI? What types of EHEs do they have York (CUNY) in Brooklyn here, and what meaning do they take away from their for the past fifteen years. experiences? How might that meaning change over As a philosopher, he has time? What further kinds of experiences do they long been interested in the have or seek as a result? And how do their individual fundamental questions about trajectories affect others around them and perhaps even human existence. He authored The Way Back to Paradise: the culture at large? How do they enact these changing Restoring the Balance Between Magic and Reason meanings in the world? These are the kinds of questions (Hampton Roads, 2005) and The Myth of the Great that I have been pursuing in my study. Ending: Why We’ve Been Longing for the End of Days The study thus follows a qualitative rather than Since the Beginning of Time (Hampton Roads, 2011). quantitative methodological model. Qualitative research seeks to articulate the subject’s own sense of his or F ollowing is an edited and condensed version of Dr. Felser’s presentation at the Professional Seminar, a progress report on his long-term study of Exceptional her experience in all its lived immediacy, rather than to impose upon that experience some ideal scheme or theory that aims to explain it—or explain it away. Human Experiences (EHEs), Becoming Our Own The qualitative researcher: Guinea Pigs. 1) Focuses on gathering information pertaining Prof. Felser states that The Monroe Institute (TMI) to the research participant’s subjective (first-person) is a uniquely valuable venue for studying the links experiences. between experiences of wonder, intellectual wondering, and the potential for restoring the missing visionary 2) Seeks data that is rich in contextual detail—such base of philosophy and the culture at large. TMI is a as the participant’s emotional experience, relationships safe laboratory for individual self-experimentation and with others, personal mythology, etc. self-inquiry, where one may indeed become one’s own 3) Is not concerned with trying to achieve absolute guinea pig. objectivity through controlled experiments. TMI’s audio technology has a proven track record for safely facilitating EHEs. The program process 4) Takes note of the words, metaphors, symbols, synthesizes the individualistic and communal aspects of memes, etc., used by the participant and uses them EHE induction favored by the Greeks in schools such to uncover the deeper meaning that the participant’s as the Eleusian Mysteries. The solitude of the CHEC experiences have for her or him. unit is complemented by group work and opportunities 5) May not know in advance what he or she is for sharing ideas and experiences. looking for (i.e., there is no specific hypothesis being The distinctive “ethos” of the Institute is succinctly tested) or how the research will unfold but, instead, encapsulated in Bob’s oft-repeated refrain: “Go allows the research design to shift according to the check it out for yourself.” This studious avoidance of data and/or circumstances that arise. The study has indoctrination and dogma has an important precedent. indeed evolved with some modifications along the No specific belief system was ever promulgated at way, including a widening of the pool of potential Next Page 8 TMI JOURNAL 2013 participants, as well as modifications to the recruiting become certified by the City University of New York as a materials and the follow-up surveys. principal investigator. 6) Aims to make the study’s findings public via a published report. The basic set-up of the study was as follows: On the final day of their TMI program, graduates 7) Strives to achieve the highest level of ethical received a flyer describing the study and inviting their rigor with respect to the welfare and rights of research participation. This included the direct link to the participants. In addition to obtaining approval from both consent form on my web site. There was a follow- my college and the Institute’s IRB (Institutional Review up email, sent via Constant Contact, several weeks Board) committees, I also had to take and pass an online later, which also had the direct link to my web site. course on the ethics of human research in order to From there, participants were directed to the Phase 1 Survey, which included general instructions and ten demographic questions, which they could elect to Could it be that the answer in whole, in part, or not at all; and they were asked to indicate whether they wished to be eligible for inclusion in the Phase 2 Survey, which I would send via induction of wonder email three months following their initial response. Here are the six Phase 1 Survey questions: 1) How would you describe yourself as a person? and its concomitants of What is your sense of self—of who and what you are? 2) What kinds of questions have been most important to you in your life? How have you addressed delight, joy, rapture, and them? 3) Why did you decide to attend a program at The Monroe Institute (TMI)? even ecstasy might be 4) Describe the highlights of your experience at TMI. What episodes, interactions, or features of the the primary purpose or program had the greatest impact on you? 5) How did your TMI experience affect your sense of self ? Where do think this might lead? driving force behind the 6) What effect(s) has your TMI experience had on your main life-questions, or on the answers you may have obtained or sought in the past? How might this EHE? If so, some of our change?