Personally I think that all forms of self-induced altered consciousness derive from the mind and will, and that therefore nothing is necessary but will, even though the use of rituals may aid it by giving more substance to the whole thing.

Have you ever achieved an altered state of consciousness using nothing but will? Was there a method involved? There are all sorts of neurological explanations for the state of altered consciousness, but no scinetific explanations for how peoiple actually get there.

It's just self-hypnosis...

It is not self hypnosis of which I am very familiar, it is just a way of bring the long term subconscious memories into the short term memory part of the brain, nothing spooky

Some very unusual people can access all the memories stored in all the files of their brain, but it is less agift and more of a burden to them. Constant data and information and vivid memories flooding their brains day and night

Some types of autism is like that the enormous memory capacity of the Rain Man is just one example, but this ability and is useless and purposeless

I don't really need a mirror, I get into this state easily, put a dark cloth over my eyes and wait patiently for what I call eyelid visions.



It seems that somehow my brain projects these visions and images onto my eyelids, instead of the normal reverse of the eye feeding the brain with images.

Of course if you really want to get all technical, these eyelid/mirror visions are just images stored in the memory part of your brain, the temporal lobe in fact, and you fooled by the brain to think they are on your eyelids or on the mirror .


Try the mirrors if your wife or kids can give you a few moments of quite, why not you? may have an interesting experience


The temporal lobe contains each and every event of your entire life, like hard drive files, but countless millions of them

The brain is smart and keeps most of these memories way down in the subconscious, or you would be flooded with thousands of short and long term memories, all the time, becoming completely confused and useless to man and beast

Many people who have come very near to dying say that their whole life played off like an extremely rapid movie, in fact each and every event, sight, sound, smell, visual a huge flood out of the deep subconscious into the conscious short term part of the brain, in a millisecond



These eyelid or mirror images can be very beautiful , strange robed people walking around in great marble buildings, or horrible visions of demons, if this happens, I just open my eyes and drink a cup of coffee


You don't actually go to these dimensions you just get a picture of what they look like
.

Peace and light to you

Alan

Alan:
I was responding to Manored. I was actually interested in that particular method of transmentalism. I've been meditating for around 15 years, and am always interested in methods I have not tried.

Cheers:
Russ

I also find that interesting and have obtained extreme altered states of consciousness in the past. I am now a bit lazy now, children, grandchildren and outside noise, so I have become a very aged web computer geek, in record time at that

My suggested method I think it is called scything or something worded like that, but no matter the word for it, it really really works, Give it a go and report back I am fascinated to read another experience, being unique entities our experience are allways unique

Can you relate what you have experienced or been helped by your long practise of medidtation, by PM if you prefer, but I am sure the others guys will be as interested as I am

Peace

I have never tried seriously, but I already achieved some sensorial disturbances on purpose such as feeling the bed move with closed eyes.

Allison,

I am a a loss girl, who is Paul? and why this long personal rant on an open thread?

Peace

Alan:
What is your Experience with Binaural and Bilateral sound and meditation? I have been experimenting with Binaural Beats, and or some call it Beat Trance Induction. I had done similar (non-hi-tech) beat trance work with some tribal medicine people in my research travels, but only recently found out that there is a whole hi-tech nuero-heavy industry for it.

Does this technique have anything to do with Lacan's mirror stage?

Who is Paul??I really want to know..Paul come out wherever you are...

Hum....... what?

Yeah i go with that.^ um......what?

Pretty Sure Paul is Aedes

Interesting practice there Alan. I did this a couple of times, years back, but in a different mind set......Kind of.

Basically I stared into a mirror face to face with my reflection, gazing into my own eyes. The entire goal of this was to remove all acknowledgment that I was myself. Whether it was letting go or not, before hand i ran thoughts through my mind such as, I am not Joe, I am not my Body, I am not my emotions, etc...

I did this for a couple of hours once. It was cool. The only thing I really enjoyed about it was the glimpse or experience of letting time evaporate. Nothing really big, but it was a experience none the less.

Staring into my own eyes was alot more comfortable and easy going then I thought it would be. I'm not sure why. Perhaps contentment just for that particular moment, because back then I was not very inwardly solid. These types of practices are great therapy, if not anything else.:cool:

peace