Gateway practices · 12 MIN READ · 7 SOURCE QUOTES
Problem solving in expanded awareness
Problem Solving is the second exercise on Wave II: Threshold of the Gateway Experience. It follows Introduction to Focus 12 and comes before One Month Patterning, Color Breathing, Energy Bar Tool and Living Body Map. The publisher describes it as a way to receive creative solutions to your questions. You bring a real question or problem into Focus 12, the state of expanded awareness, hold it there, and then pay attention to what comes.
The fullest description is in Lt. Col. Wayne McDonnell's 1983 assessment of the Gateway Process, which presents problem solving as the first of the Monroe Institute's tools for using expanded awareness. McDonnell describes identifying fundamental problems you want solved, filling your expanded awareness with your perception of them, and projecting them out into the universe. A response may come almost immediately, he writes, but often takes shape as developing intuition over the next two to three days, as a sudden whole-picture knowing or as visual symbols you must interpret after returning to normal consciousness. The assessment explains this through the Institute's idea of a higher self interacting with a universal hologram.
In practice it is a three-step habit: frame the question, receive whatever arrives without arguing with it, and test the result afterward like any other idea. The Institute's own documents are candid about the last step. A 1992 Hemi-Sync Journal article on an intuition workshop says the information does not initially have to make sense and usually cannot be validated objectively when it is perceived. A 1983 Institute proposal reports that thirty of forty-five executives asked to seek an answer to a personal problem while hearing Hemi-Sync reported solutions of mostly unexpected quality, and each was sure theirs was right. Being sure and being right are separate questions.
Problem Solving, Wave II's second exercise, holds a real question in Focus 12; answers may come at once or within days and still need checking.
Key points
Second exercise of Wave II, Threshold
Wave II lists Introduction to Focus 12, Problem Solving, One Month Patterning, Color Breathing, Energy Bar Tool and Living Body Map. The publisher summarizes Problem Solving as receiving creative solutions to your questions. Because each Gateway album builds on the one before, the exercise assumes you can already reach Focus 10 reliably and have been introduced to Focus 12. The Focus 12 page covers the state itself; this page covers what you do with it when you have a question.
The 1983 report: identify, fill, project
McDonnell writes that once a person reaches greatly expanded awareness he can begin using specific techniques, which the Monroe Institute calls tools, for practical, useful feedback; problem solving is the first he describes. The method has three moves. Identify the fundamental problems you wish to see solved. Fill your expanded awareness with your perception of them. Then project them out into the universe, which he says enlists the higher self, your expanded consciousness, to interact with the universal hologram for the information needed. The higher-self and hologram language is the report's own model; the practical instruction is to hold the problem fully in awareness and then send it outward.
Answers can come at once or over several days
McDonnell says a response may be received almost immediately, but often it comes from developing intuition over the next two to three days. That timing shapes how you work: the session plants the question, and the following days are when you watch for an idea, a connection or a sudden sense of knowing. Keep the question in mind and a notebook handy, rather than judging the exercise by the last ten minutes of the recording.
Answers arrive in different forms
The report describes a sudden, holistic perception in which you simply know the answer in all its ramifications and in context, sometimes without being able to put it into words at first. Or the response may arrive as visual symbols seen in Focus 12 that you interpret after returning to normal consciousness. A laboratory Explorer shows the second pattern: saying he was still waiting for some kind of concept, he reported getting the word listen and shapes he did not recognize, and the meaning came afterward as listening involves letting go of thinking.
Receive first, interpret later
The same Explorer's conclusion applies to the whole exercise: listening means letting go, as far as possible, of any attempt to correlate, and experiencing what is happening instead of trying to categorize and put it into words. Nancy McMoneagle says a remote viewing course teaches the same discipline: let the pieces come in, do not assume immediately, do not jump to defining the impression, perceive the overall gestalt first, and learn to judge appropriately afterward.
Checking the answer is a separate step
A 1992 Hemi-Sync Journal description of an intuition workshop for therapists and educators says intuitive information does not initially have to make sense and usually cannot be validated objectively at the time it is perceived. The 1983 Institute proposal records that of forty-five executives given a personal problem during a demonstration, thirty reported unexpected solutions and each was sure theirs was right; the passage records their confidence, not later outcomes.
Patterning is the sibling tool, with a warning
Patterning, the next Wave II exercise, differs in kind. Where problem solving asks for information, the report describes patterning as concentrating on a desired objective in Focus 12 and projecting it with the intention that it is already achieved. At a 1993 professional seminar a workshop leader left One Month Patterning, along with Release and Recharge, for participants to take home, and cautioned that you really have to know what you want to be, because when you start programming, that is probably what you will be.
Used beyond the home album
The 1994 Journal account of a weekend workshop for people affected by HIV and AIDS encourages participants to use Problem Solving independently over the following weeks and record their insights. A workshop for therapists and educators, described in the Fall 1992 Hemi-Sync Journal, built an intuition course from Gateway Experience, Metamusic and Mind Food tapes, and a 1993 conflict-management workshop used Exploring, a tape from the separate Journeys into Creative Problem Solving series, which is a different product from the Gateway exercise.
What Voyage participants report
In a 1996 Professional Seminar, Todd Masluk grouped the exceptional experiences reported during Gateway Voyage programs into four categories. The second, cognitive experiences, includes creativity and problem solving: participants said their mental skills were enhanced, thinking came more easily and thoughts flowed more fluidly. These are self-reports gathered by questionnaire, not tests of performance.
In their own words
Quotes are checked word for word against the recordings and documents they come from. Bracketed words correct transcription errors; “…” marks an omission.
“This technique involves identifying fundamental problems which the individual wishes to see solved, filling his expanded awareness with his perception of these problems and then projecting them out into the universe.”
“Responses to the problem solving technique may be received almost immediately, but often they come based on developing intuition over the next two to three days. Frequently the response comes in the form of a sudden, holistic perception in which the individual suddenly finds that he simply knows the answer in all of its ramifications and completely in context, sometimes without even being able to put his newly found perception into words, at least initially. In some cases, the response may even arrive in the form of visual symbols which the individual [will “see”] with his mind while he is in the Focus 12 state and which he will have to interpret after he returns to normal consciousness.”
“In a demonstration with a group of forty-five executives of a major corporation, participants were asked to seek the best answer they could for his own individual problem, while experiencing Hemi-Sync. Thirty reported decision-solutions of a quality for the most part unexpected. Each was sure it was the “right” answer.”
“I get the word “listen.” I'm seeing these shapes that I don't recognize look like objects or something. They're not physical objects that they have form. It's like they don't come clear into my mind, they're just like shadows or something. Words that listening involves letting go of thinking. Listening involves as often as possible letting go of any attempt to correlate, rather, to experience what is happening rather than trying to categorize and analyze and put into words.”
“Information does not initially have to make sense. It usually cannot be validated objectively at the time it is perceived to be accurate. An intuitive approach leads to quantum leaps in understanding, and is an essential component of creativity.”
“Got to allow all the pieces, let the pieces come in, come in. Don't assume immediately. Don't try to jump to defining it. And so what he teaches people how to do is to, to perceive the overall [Gestalt] first off, and then he goes through and he teaches the difference, you know, how to be a remote viewer. He teaches the person also how to appropriately judge a remote viewing.”
“The second major category here are cognitive experiences. And these have to do with every day cognitive processes: convergent or divergent thinking, creativity, problem solving. What happens, though, is for these participants, their mental skills are enhanced. They tend to think more easily; there's more fluid flow of thoughts. They simply enjoy using the mind more.”
Important things to consider
Choose a real question and write it down
The report's examples run from personal difficulties to technical and administrative problems, so the question need not be grand, but it should be real and specific enough that you would recognize an answer. Put it on paper in your own words, with the date, so it cannot drift during the session and you can check later what you actually asked. The report speaks of filling your awareness with your perception of the problem, so include what you perceive about it, not just the headline.
Keep the notebook open for three days
Because the report expects responses to develop over the next two to three days, treat the session as the start rather than the finish. Note ideas, coincidences, changes of mind and sudden senses of knowing when they occur, with the time and what you were doing. Late is not the same as absent.
Record the form before the meaning
Write down exactly what came before you explain it: an image, a word, a feeling of knowing, a sensation. The Explorer who got the word listen and shapes he did not recognize let each arrive as it came and let the meaning develop. Keeping the raw impression separate from your interpretation lets you revise the interpretation without losing the original.
Feeling right is not being right
In the 1983 proposal thirty executives reported mostly unexpected answers and each was sure the answer was right, and the 1992 Journal notes that intuitive information usually cannot be validated when it arrives. Certainty is part of how a strong impression feels. Treat it as a reason to test the idea, not as proof.
Test before you act
Compare the idea with the facts, ask someone who knows the field, and try the smallest reversible version first. Judge the idea on its merits, whatever its source: a fresh way of phrasing the problem can be useful, and a vivid impression can still be impractical.
Not a substitute for professional advice
Problem Solving is a creativity and intuition exercise. For medical, legal, financial or safety decisions, use it to generate questions and options, then take them to a qualified professional. Do not base medical or treatment decisions on impressions from a relaxation exercise.
If you click out, repeat with the same question
Losing the thread partway through a Focus 12 session happens; see the clicking out page. Run the exercise again on another day with the same written question rather than changing it, and keep watching over the following days.
What is and is not established
The sources are the 1983 assessment, Institute proposals, practitioner articles, seminar talks and Explorer transcripts. They describe the method and report experiences and self-ratings, including a 1992 follow-up questionnaire to intuition-workshop participants (fifty-eight across four workshops) that asked them to rate their own accuracy. None is an independent controlled test of the Gateway Problem Solving exercise, and the higher-self and hologram explanation is a model, not a demonstrated mechanism.
Common questions
What is the Problem Solving exercise in the Gateway Experience?
Problem Solving is the second exercise on Wave II: Threshold, after Introduction to Focus 12. The publisher describes it as a way to receive creative solutions to your questions. You enter Focus 12, the state of expanded awareness, with a real problem in mind, hold it there, and then watch for a response. The 1983 Army assessment lists it as the first of the Monroe Institute's tools and says it can address personal difficulties, technical problems in physics or mathematics, and practical administrative problems.
How do I do the Problem Solving exercise?
Work through Wave I and Introduction to Focus 12 first. Write your question in your own words, with the date, including what you actually perceive about the problem. Use stereo headphones in a quiet place, play Problem Solving, and follow the recording's guidance through the preparation, the count to Focus 10 and the move to Focus 12. In the report's terms, fill your expanded awareness with your perception of the problem and project it outward. After the return count, write down anything you noticed in the form it came, and keep the notebook open for the next two to three days.
How do I word the question?
The sources give no template, but the report's wording suggests two principles. It speaks of fundamental problems the individual wishes to see solved, so choose something real that you would act on. It asks you to fill your expanded awareness with your perception of the problem, so bring the situation itself, not an abstraction. A practical addition: because responses can arrive as images, words or a sudden sense of knowing, an open question about what you are missing leaves more room for them than a yes-or-no question.
How long until I get an answer, and what will it look like?
The report says a response may come almost immediately but often develops as intuition over the next two to three days. It describes two forms: a sudden, holistic perception in which you simply know the answer in context, sometimes without words at first, or visual symbols seen in Focus 12 that you interpret after you return to normal consciousness. A laboratory Explorer reported a word and shapes he did not recognize, and the meaning unfolded afterward in words about listening. If nothing arrives during the session, keep watching for several days, then repeat on another day.
How do I know whether the answer is right?
You do not know from how it feels. The 1992 Hemi-Sync Journal says intuitive information does not initially have to make sense and usually cannot be validated objectively at the time it is perceived. In the 1983 Institute proposal, thirty executives reported unexpected solutions and each was sure theirs was right, which records confidence, not outcomes. Test the idea against facts, advice from someone who knows the field, and a small trial. Nancy McMoneagle's advice about remote viewing applies: don't assume immediately, don't jump to defining it, and learn to judge appropriately.
What is the difference between Problem Solving and Patterning?
Problem Solving seeks information about a question. Patterning, the next Wave II exercise, programs a desired condition. The 1983 report describes patterning as concentrating on a desired objective in Focus 12 and projecting it with the intention that it is already achieved. A workshop leader at a 1993 seminar left One Month Patterning for participants to take home, cautioning that you really have to know what you want to be, because when you start programming, that is probably what you will be. Treat Problem Solving as asking and Patterning as choosing.
Keep exploring
Prepared answers open instantly in the chat; anything else you ask gets a fresh answer.
Connected ideas
States of awareness
Focus 12
Expanded awareness: the Gateway state where physical input fades, other ways of perceiving surface, and the Threshold tools do their work.
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Patterning
Patterning is the Gateway exercise of holding a chosen goal in Focus 12 as already achieved, then projecting it with intent for a stated time frame.
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Nonverbal communication in Explorer accounts
Communication without words: whole meanings and experiences received directly, which Explorers then have to translate into speech for the monitor.
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The CIA Gateway document
A 1983 Army assessment of Gateway, later released by the CIA, that links Hemi-Sync to resonance, holograms, the Absolute and patterning.
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The holographic model
The 1983 report treats the universe and the mind as holograms, an idea drawn from Bentov, Pribram and Bohm, and uses it to explain how Gateway could work.
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