Preston Dennett’s (2004) Out-of-Body Exploring: A Beginner’s Approach falls squarely within the genre of spiritual autobiography, due mostly to the transformation that his mother’s death and subsequent events effected in his world view. In 1984, at the age of 19, Dennett saw his mother’s ghost, which not only shattered his belief that there was “no such thing as life after death” (p. xiii) but also sparked a desire to have out-of-body experiences and to study the paranormal in general. The resulting OBEs—over one thousand of them from 1986 to 2004—are the subject of this book. Thirteen chapters deal with a fairly standard array of topics: the “desire body,” various experiments on the astral plane, astral people and animals, astral food and sex, mantra experiences, OBEs and healing, God and the Higher Self, high-level experiences, OBEs and psi, how to have OBEs, and various questions and answers. The organization is roughly chronological and ranges from basic to advanced as well as from short OBEs to longer and more profound ones. Frequent block quotations from the author’s journal convey the experiences and create a sense of immediacy because they are often longer than the commentary that links them.

Dennett had the good sense to ask early on, “Do we really need another book about out-of-body experiences?” (pp. xiv-xv). It is a fair question, especially given his heavy reliance on well-known authorities such as R. A. Monroe (1977); B. Moen (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001); R. Bruce (1999); R. Peterson (1997, 2001); and others. The answer is yes, for two reasons. First, Dennett noted that “several of the experiences I’ve had have not been reported by other explorers” (p. xiv). Which of his experiences these are, however, is unclear because he modestly avoids highlighting them as such. Second, he seeks to transform the world by inspiring others to have OBEs. While the book has so far not resulted in mass spiritual evolution (a point borrowed from R. Bruce [1999]), its forthright presentation of Dennett’s experiences as well as its simple, clear discussion of methods may well motivate some readers to give OBEs a try.

Out-of-Body Exploring commingles the difficulty of achieving the out-of-body state with important insights and ingenious solutions. As for the difficulty, it took Dennett a year just to get out of his body three or four times per month; and regarding an OBE that he had in 1997 (over a decade after starting his attempts), he wrote, “For the first time, I was getting some real control” (p. 142). In other words, more than 10 years were required just to move beyond the novice level. The developmental process was so arduous and his initial experiences so short in duration (often a minute or less) primarily because lucidity and emotional control were hard to achieve. Dennett distilled the solutions down into a single piece of advice: “The keys are relaxation, awareness, visualization, memory, desire, and intention” (p. 170). By “awareness” he means lucidity, and many of the experiences in Out-of-Body Exploring begin with lucid dreaming. In discussing this matter, however, Dennett seemed to contradict himself. He stated, on the one hand, that “when we dream, we are really out of our bodies on the astral plane” (p. 45) and that “many dreams are actually half remembered OBEs” (p. 163). He claimed, on the other, that “lucid dreams and OBEs are closely related, but definitely different phenomena” (p. 45). When these statements are considered together, Dennett’s lack of precision is obvious.

Despite such fuzziness, lucid dreaming is the book’s most important key to achieving the out-of-body state. There is occasional mention of the relaxation process that leads to conscious separation; but since we all have OBEs every night, it is easier to become lucid and then to remember the experience (a point that may reflect an unacknowledged debt to S. J. Muldoon and H. Carrington’s [1969] The Projection of the Astral Body). Dennett mentioned various things that can facilitate lucidity. He cited in two places P. Garfield’s (1979) idea that one can transform a lucid dream into an OBE by going through a barrier, and he noted that “nearly every dream provides cues to [help us] become lucid” (p. 18). These include not only flying and levitation but also bizarre or anachronistic details sent by the Higher Self (for example, the presence of celebrities) to wake us up in our dreams.

Another shortcoming is Dennett’s lack of consistency in claiming that it is the desire body that projects itself out of the body. Many of his experiences do suggest that he is right, and the book is full of brutally honest recollections of his gluttony and lechery. “I’m lucid. I create a grocery store and go crazy. I eat potato chips and guzzle soda. I create a woman and have wild sex with her” (p. 105). He even admitted “a few inadvertent experiences during which my desire body took control and I invaded the privacy of women’s showers” (p. 171). Dennett’s desire body may sometimes run amok on one plane or another, yet he also mentioned R. Bruce’s (1999) assertion that the astral body is a mental projection, as well as his term projected double, which was defined as “the energetic vehicle (or subtle body) housing a functioning, energetic copy of a projector’s mind and memories outside the projector’s physical body during any type of OBE” (Bruce, 1999, p. 542). Another statement by Dennett seemed closer to the whole truth: “Each time there’s a shift, it’s because we are changing energy bodies. I was vibrating high enough to enter a high dimension, but at some point, I fell back into the lower vibration and into a lower energy body” (p. 131). A variety of bodies thus participate in an OBE. The higher the dimension, the fewer energy bodies we take with us; and, as we descend, those bodies come back together, which explains the false awakenings that Dennett mentioned a few pages later. Such an explanation would have strengthened the book’s theoretical framework. As the omission indicates, Dennett leaves a good bit of the heavy lifting up to the reader.

Quibbles aside, one has to respect the author’s determination and admire his achievements, which he summed up early in the book:

By going out of body, I was able to fly to distant locations, [and for example] visit the moon. I was able to take a tour of the heavenly realms and many different dimensions. I met with deceased loved ones, I rescued lost souls and I bathed in The Light. I explored my past lives, encountered my Higher Self, met my spirit guides, studies in the Akashic Library and traveled into the past and the future (p. xiv).

Dennett’s OBEs generate in turn such psychic experiences as precognition, waking visions, gestalts, lucidity while awake, and a sense that waking and dreaming are beginning to merge or reverse. Toward the end of the book, he even claimed that dreams are the real world and physical reality the dream. As a result, his perception of the physical world underwent a change that “would take another book to fully explore” (p. 156).

As we read, we note that Out-of-Body Exploring is a text about the reading of texts. Dennett read the authorities whom he frequently quoted to support his reading of his own experiences, some of which, strangely enough, involved trying to read astral texts (books, television, radio). In one case that will resonate with TMI readers, however, he missed an important opportunity to read an experience in connection with Journeys Out of the Body (Monroe, 1977), though he obviously knows it well. In chapter 8, Monroe reported being unable to penetrate a solid wall, which seemed to block the return to his physical body: “I rammed into a solid wall of some impenetrable material,” which “was hard and solid, and seemed to be made of huge plates of steel overlapping slightly and welded together” (p. 117). Panicked, he desperately prayed for assistance, which evidently came in the form of a counter-intuitive insight; by reversing direction and flying away from the barrier, he soon reentered his body. Dennett described what is clearly the same obstacle: “I hit a massive barrier. This is the veil between the dimensions. It feels like a solid wall stretching forever in all directions” (p. 153). If the barrier really does separate the dimensions, it may partly account for things that Dennett did mention: our nightly amnesia, our ignorance of our past and future lives, and people’s doubt of life after death. The barrier may also explain why Dennett’s thousand-plus OBEs required “a combination of intense willpower, desire, focus, and intent. Only by obsessing myself with the subject was I able to generate out-of-body events” (p. 8).

Given that enormous difficulty, it is probably true that there is “very little evidence of any actual danger” (p. 170). But because “very little” is not “none at all,” it is worth mentioning, for example, Robert Perala’s (1998) account in The Divine Blueprint: Roadmap for the New Millennium of his friend Devon who died because she had stayed out of body too long. “So Devon’s obsession with the inner realms finally cost her her place in the outer realm, a heavy price indeed,” wrote Perala (p. 76). The disintegration of Devon’s silver cord directly contradicts Dennett’s assertion that one cannot get “locked out” (p. 170). In any case, one rightly supposes that Hemi-Sync® reduces the difficulty and increases the safety of astral travel. Yet, despite the author’s reverence for the works of R. Monroe and B. Moen,there is no mention of the sound technology or The Monroe Institute.

Curious, I e-mailed Dennett about these omissions: “Do I understand correctly that you accomplished your OBEs without the assistance of hemispheric synchronization? And if that is the case, do you, in retrospect, believe that your journey might have been easier if HS had supported your efforts to go OB?” (personal communication,February 17, 2011). He replied:

You are correct, I did not use hemi-sync [sic]. Much later, I did order a hemi-sync tape from TMI. I’m not sure if it would have been easier with it or not, but I would guess that, yes it would. When I finally tried it, I was surprised how the resonating sounds felt very much like the vibratory state that one feels immediately prior to a projection experience. The hemi-sync might have helped [me] get to that state more quickly. (personal communication, February 19, 2011)

He went on to state that he is working on another OBE book that “will reveal further adventures!” In a way, the fact that Dennett did not use Hemi-Sync makes the book more authentically what it sets out to be—an account of one man’s dogged struggle to explore beyond the physical and the great success he eventually achieved. Because Dennett did it the hard way, Out-of-Body Exploring is all the more worth reading. Though subtitled A Beginner’s Approach, it offers a model for developing one’s own abilities to the expert level, and its frankness about the difficulty of consciousness on the astral plane provides a helpful reality check for those who are not psychic prodigies.

References

Bruce, R. (1999). Astral dynamics: A new approach to out-of-body experiences. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Garfield, P. (1974). Pathway to ecstasy: The way of the dream mandala. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Moen, B. (1997). Voyages into the unknown. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Moen, B. (1998). Voyage beyond doubt. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Moen, B. (1999). Voyage into the afterlife. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Moen, B. (2001). Voyage to curiosity’s father. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Monroe, R. A. (1977). Journeys out of the body. New York: Doubleday. (Original work published 1971)

Muldoon, S. J., & Carrington, H. (1969). The projection of the astral body. York Beach, ME:Samuel Weiser. (Original work published 1929)

Perala, R. (1998). The divine blueprint: Roadmap for the new millennium. Campbell, CA: United Light.

Peterson, R. (1997). Out-of-body experiences: How to have them and what to expect. Charlottesville,VA: Hampton Roads.

Peterson, R. (2001). Lessons out of the body: A journal of spiritual growth and out-of-body travel. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Matthew Fike is professor of English at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC.

© 2011 by The Monroe Institute

The Annual International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternative Modes of Healing was founded in 1984 by Dr. Ruth-Inge Heinze to preserve and further the integrity of shamanism and share the latest insights in the field of alternative healing. Each year for the last 24 years, scholars and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines related to shamanism have gathered to compare notes and discussed future cooperation. The conference is a unique opportunity to test the results of past year’s work in discussions with colleagues, be confirmed, and also be stimulated by the work of others. For conference information, go to: http://shamanismconference.org/

The following paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division), Los Angeles on March 31, 1994. This paper is reproduced by permission of the American Anthropological Association and the estate of Ruth-Inge Heinz. Originally published in Anthropology of Consciousness, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 8-12, 1994. Not for sale or further reproduction.

ABSTRACT

First, I discuss the importance of recognizing different states of consciousness. Knowing how these states differ from each other and recognizing their specific qualities determines their use, increases our self-knowledge, balances our behavior, and adjusts our course of action. Second, I report on workshops conducted in the United States, Russia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The examples illustrate the nature of material retrieved during different states of consciousness. Third, I evaluate the respective techniques that can be used to access different states of consciousness and show how they can be applied to everyday life.

When we begin to recognize the qualities of specific states of consciousness, we are able to develop a tool chest. We can then decide which tool to use when we want to increase not only our knowledge of self and others, but also seek access to vitally important information that has not yet reached the level of consensus reality. I will start with the seminal definition of altered states of consciousness, provided by Ludwig (1966). In his opinion, altered states of consciousness are any mental state(s) induced by various physiological, psychological, or pharmacological maneuvers or agents, which can be recognized subjectively by the individual himself (or by an objective observer of the individual) as representing a sufficient deviation in subjective experience or psychological functioning from certain general norms for that individual during alert, waking consciousness. (p. 225)

Ludwig (1966) admitted that “there will be some conceptual pitfalls in such a general definition.” A whole generation of researchers has, indeed, continued the search for better definitions and methods to operationalize specific states of consciousness. In other words, scholars began to look for ways in which experience of such states can be distinguished in their application to daily life. Tart (1986) refers to “the nature of the pattern and the elements that make up the pattern [which] determine what you can and cannot do in that state” (p. 4).

Among those who mapped out different states of consciousness we find Fischer (1971); Krippner (1972); and Tart (1969, 1986). Especially in his Waking Up, Tart (1986) spoke of obstacles of human potential and discussed methods to overcome them. Winkelman (1986) surveyed psychophysiological research on the effects of trance-inducing procedures and states of “parasympathetic dominance in which the frontal cortex is dominated by slow wave patterns originating in the limbic system and related projections into the frontal parts of the brain” (p. 174).

Our “hidden observer,” according to Hilgard (1978), watches the fluctuations of our consciousness between ordinary and non-ordinary realities, but may not always be prepared for uncharted (i.e., previously not explored) territory.

cf. Heinze 1993, p. 203

Although the range of possible altered states of consciousness has not yet been fully explored, I am presenting the diagram above to serve as a working model for our discussion.

When we begin to cultivate awareness, we progress on the diagonal, from the lower-left to the upper-right quadrant. With growing insight, our control over the successive states also increases until we achieve intuitive knowledge, the highest point in the upper-right quadrant. This state indicates full control and complete awareness (i.e., the state of Being—knowing without objectification and detour through discursive thinking). The lowest point in the lower-left quadrant indicates complete dissociation (i.e., multiple personality, schizophrenia, possession with complete loss of control). Jung (1963) spoke of “unconscious, autonomic complexes” which appear in such a state “as projections because they are not associated with the ego” (p. 95).

To give an example for the caution we have to exercise when we want to define the state in which an individual is operating, I am reminded of the dilemma with shamans and mediums who say they go on magical flights and also call spirits into their body. In the latter case, they maintain that they are surrendering their consciousness to the spirit who begins to act through them. In some cultures, the dissociative state of unexpected possession may be treated with exorcism; however, in most cultures, shamans will explore whether the possessed can be trained to use this state professionally for healing and information retrieval. According to my model, trained practitioners descend from the point of consensus reality to dissociate into the lower-right quadrant (i.e., they retain a certain degree of control). Only at the depth of their possession do they surrender (i.e., experience flooding) and have to be plotted temporarily in the lower-left quadrant. They have, however, been trained to leave this state after its purpose has been fulfilled and ascend on pathways paved during their training, upward from the lower-right into the upper-right quadrant. Schizophrenics have to be plotted at the lowest point in the lower-left quadrant because they have neither recall nor control over this state of consciousness.

On the other hand, when going on magical flights, shamans and mediums have to be plotted ascending on the diagonal into the upper-right quadrant because they experience expansion of consciousness which they control to the point where they enter intuitive knowledge and the state of Being.

We recognize the fact that shamans as well as mediums use two qualitatively different states of consciousness (either mind-expanding or dissociating) for information retrieval, whenever required by their clients. Furthermore, training manuals in spiritual traditions (e.g., Patanjali; Prabhavananda & Isherwood, 1969) and St. Ignatius of Loyola (Mottola, 1964) spell out a wide range of states that can be accessed for similar reasons.

Are there states that can be used by untrained practitioners who want to expand their field of experience? The answer is “yes.” For nearly 10 years, I have conducted workshops during which I motivate individuals to explore less accessible levels of their mind. The state is entered through partially controlled dissociation that lowers emotional barriers repressing traumatic events. It evacuates the ego and annihilates both the mechanisms of repression as well as muscle tensions. In this state, one can experience pure “energy discharge” and “archetype-like patterns of functioning” (Fitremann, 1994). At the climax of the workshop, I invite participants to look for messages that have been received but not yet risen to waking consciousness.

Fieldwork

From a sample of several hundred cases that I recorded during workshops conducted in the United States, Russia, Lithuania, and Estonia, I will now present three reports. They exemplify the nature of the material that has been retrieved during this specific state of consciousness.

First report. In September 1989, a participant reported that the drumming brought up the image of a white bird. She got on the bird and was taken high in the sky to her father’s grave at Cape Cod. She saw a Star of David made out of twigs and her father rising from the grave. He told her that he had accepted his death and her mother had allowed him to rise. He, too, had freed himself from the ties that had kept him from claiming his spirithood. This was a “tearful experience” for the participant. The next day, she found six twigs like she had seen in her vision near the retreat center.

Comment: There had not been any stimulus other than the 10 minutes of rhythmic drumming. Tired after a long day of professional discussions, the participant followed the drumbeat without any interference of discursive thought. The right circumstances had been provided and the message arose as if it had waited for this moment of relaxed attention.

Second report. In 1994, a participant reported that she walked down on wide, shallow stone stairs in a park near her mother’s house. When she got to the bottom, she was no longer in the park but in Carlsbad Caverns. She became afraid. She did not know if the next step was level ground, up a hill, a drop of a few inches, or into an abyss. She could not step forward. Finally, she stepped out. It was dark and down. Then she was lying on an operating table, in a cold, bright room, scared and alone. The drumming, strong and steady, was all she could hear. She was on the operating table with toxemia, and her blood pressure was in the stroke range. She knew that she might die at any moment and that her unborn baby was far too young to survive. The lights were too bright, and the people were maintaining that awful silence that medical people keep when they don’t want to alarm the patient. She was in the sorrowful company of women who died in childbirth. At this point, the drumming was becoming more and more intense. She cried in fear. She left the vision and considered whether she should get up and leave the room without disrupting the others but decided she couldn’t. Back in the operating room, she was being cut on. It hurt. She was as afraid in the vision as she had been during the real operation. The drumming was most intense now. Why didn’t it stop or at least back off? Why can’t she forget? She wanted to get out. She wanted a different vision to happen. She became angry but the drum continued beating. She couldn’t separate from the memories, from the fear. She listened to the drum and tried to ride it. Drum surfing. Any place else had to be better. She became the drum, became the beat. Then she was no longer the drum but the sound. Pulsing. Tensing, relaxing. Breathing, flowing, moving. She rode the top of the sound like a wave. She didn’t sink but began to laugh. A full belly laugh. The grass was green, like spring. Life had burst forth. She was dancing to the beat of life. The dance was strong and she was the beat. Life was joy. She began to dance more forcefully, like Shiva, with many arms, dancing, stamping the creation into being. Wake up! Be solid! Be real! She became one with Life. It was time to come back. She was still alone but no longer afraid of either the dark or the aloneness or herself. She was empowered in the fullest sense. She walked back up the stairs, into the forest. When it was time to open her eyes, she did not hesitate to leave the vision.

Comment. The participant had been through the door of life. She had gone through a wide range of emotions. Familiar scenes led her to facing past traumas. However, she felt empowered and dealt with the horror. She remembered that she could use the sound of the drum. She also overcame her aversion to the driving force of the drum and rode the sound until she was able to dance freely and joyfully the dance of creation.

Third report. In July 1992, a participant wrote after her first drumming session:

I began to wait for something to emerge. A giant snake started crawling up from a far comer of the room. It was big and powerful. Some great energy and power were felt in all of its movements. The giant snake kept approaching me, as if some energy were flooding the room. I felt neither fear nor despair. “Is there any way out?” Suddenly I noticed that the small head of the snake started coming out of the crown of my head, it was very small and kept moving up. I felt that the snake was crawling through me, flooding my body. I felt it moving, in my legs, belly, arms, breast, and head, filling my body very powerful, strong, and big. I turned into a light green stone. I felt neither panic nor tension, but I wanted to find a way out. To my surprise I was no longer a stone, I was ice. The transparent light green color was the color of ice in sunlight. I was relieved, I now had a way out. The sun melted me and I became a light blue cloud, floating higher and higher. I heard a voice, “You must come back into the room.” I didn’t know how I possibly could come down again, being so light and evaporated. It seemed absolutely impossible. I became a big drop of water, concentrated myself, and came down into the comfortable room. Walking up the stairs, I opened my eyes. A feeling of freshness and inner clarity with a pervading sense of great mystery surrounded me.

Comment: This vision was experienced in Russia before the 1992 coup. The political tension was palpable every¬where. The faces of the people on the streets reflected fear, uncertainty, hopelessness, and lack of orientation. The participant expressed her surprise about the stages of transformation and the richness of her first experience. Clarity, hope, and renewed strength arose from less accessible regions of her being. I do not want to interpret her experience further because the meaning of the symbols is the personal property of the visionary.

The Technique

I have designed a technique by which we can access a state of consciousness to:

(1) find out whether inner and outer experiences need to be balanced (e.g., grief or trauma need to be resolved);

(2) access the source of strength and nourishment; and/or

(3) look for new information.

First, participants learn how to release barriers through breathing. Breath is the sign of life. When we stop breathing, life will stop as well. To use our full capacity for breathing, we have to release not only the used-up air but also what we have repressed or suppressed, sometimes for a long time. Participants are invited to fully exhale from the diaphragm while they are visualizing that they are “sweeping their bodies.” Exhaling prepares us for the drinking of fresh air. One’s whole body is being nourished. Breathing is also rhythmic, whether we breathe fast or slow. Breathing too fast can lead to hyperventilation. For a brief period, it may be very invigorating, but after approximately 3 minutes of fast breathing we become light headed, which has not the quality of clear awareness we are aiming at. There is also yogic breathing, which, practiced systematically, results in prolonged suspensions of breath to a high concentration of carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood, and this increase in the concentration of CO2 lowers the efficiency of the brain as a reducing valve and permits the entry into consciousness of experiences, visionary or mystical, from “out there” (Huxley, 1963, p. 144). Participants are told to breathe slowly but fully, to enjoy the release and go with the ebbing in and out of the breath.

The next step is relaxation—full-body relaxation—so that we become receptive for tuning. The purity of the sound of a Tibetan bowl, for example, will clear and entrain one’s mind, alleviate mistrust, foster understanding, and evoke joy. Tuning is the most pleasant way to interconnect.

For the third step—information retrieval—I use sonic driving (Heinze, 1988, pp. 84-94; 1991, pp.157-168; e.g., 10-minute drumming. Sonic driving assists in the process of connecting whatever needs to be reunited and we are motivated to act and to explore. By purifying and reconnecting our body with our mind, emotions, and soul, the conditions for breaking through the layers of misconception are provided. Expectations arise and may reduce the number of self-defeating thoughts and images and may increase the frequency of coping self-statements and positive images (Bootzkin, 1985, p. 207).

At this point, we begin to discover hidden resources and may find messages waiting for us. For the main part of the exercise, I designed a simple structure that borrows elements from hypnotherapy. Participants are reminded to remember each step so that they later can find their way in dreams or other journeys on their own. This means that I make sure they never surrender control. After having been led through breathing, relaxation, and tuning, participants are invited to mentally go down 10 steps, to see a door, and to memorize how it looks. They are asked to open the door, enter the room, and close the door behind them. The room serves as a space station between different states of consciousness. Participants are asked to look around and memorize what is in the room, on the walls, and on the ceiling. Whom do they meet? They can ask questions, why they are there, and they should look for a message. They then are asked to go to a second door on the other side of the room, memorize the nature of this door, open the door, step out, and close the second door behind them.

Having stepped out, into the unknown, 10 minutes of sound (using either a drum or a Tibetan bowl) provides the container for the main part of the experience. Participants are told that it is important to start the quest with a quiet mind and clear intentions. It is also important not to expect anything but keep the mind in the observer position, like sitting in a movie theater, looking at the blank screen, not knowing which movie will be played. Discursive thinking would be interfering. However, everyone is encouraged to remember what transpires. As we begin learning to trust the source of inner knowing and our connection with the universe, the conditions for the emergence of deep-seated memories have been created.

After 10 minutes, participants are led back the same way and asked to write down their experiences immediately, not to allow their minds to edit the content later. Trained and untrained participants alike have no problems during this partially controlled dissociative state. They feel generally quite comfortable and welcome newly found knowledge and power. Sound facilitates the exploration of the unknown and unlocks the information stored in our cells. The visions we are looking for are found inside of us.

Discussion

Deikman (1969, p. 24) talked about three forms of visionary and mystical experiences: (1) the untrained-sensate,

(2) the trained-sensate, and (3) the trained-transcendent. Meditators and yogis have trained-sensate experiences (i.e., visions), while trained-transcendent individuals practice toward mystical experiences. For individuals without any regular spiritual practice, insights may emerge either at moments of complete tranquility or at critical moments when our consciousness cannot go any other way. We live simultaneously at least on five different levels of awareness—the biological-physical, the emotional, the mental, the social, and the spiritual. My technique provides the means to recognize the language of each of these levels and to interact with them. Thus, information that is not available to waking consensus-reality but is vitally important to the present condition of the individual is now accessible.

Through education at home, at school, during our professional training, and by other peer groups, grids are imposed on us that filter out all so-called “useless” information. Additionally, we have to take into account the interferences of our autonomic nervous system that always tries to prevent systems overload. When we create a space and a time where we can relax some of the control mechanism, we are able to retrieve vitally important information that indicates areas that require attention. I argue that during our waking state in consensus-reality, important information is screened out. Nearly every culture known to us has developed techniques to access this natural source of nourishment, encouragement, and information. It does not seem to be a coincidence that many scientific discoveries have been made in different states of consciousness.

References

Bootzkin, R .R. (1985). The role of expectancy in behavior change. In L. White, B. Tursky, & G. E. Schwartz, (Eds.), Placebo: Theory, research and mechanisms (pp. 196-210). New York, NY: Guilford.

Deikman, A. J. (1969). Deautomatization and the mystic experience. In C. T. Tart (Ed.), Altered states of consciousness (pp. 23-43). New York, NY: John Wiley.

Fischer, R. W. (1971). A cartography of the ecstatic and meditative states. Science, 174(4012), 897-904.

Fitremann, J. M. (1994). The use of ecstatic trance for the treatment of addictive and abused individuals. In R.-I. Heinze (Ed.), Proceedings of the eleventh international conference on the study of shamanism and altered modes of healing. Berkeley, CA: Independent Scholars of Asia.

Heinze, R.-I. (1988). Trance and healing in southeast Asia today. Berkeley, CA: White Locus, Independent Scholars of Asia.

Heinze, R.-I. (1991). Shamans of the 20th century. New York, NY: Irvington.

Next Page

Heinze, R.-I. (1993). Alternate states of consciousness: Access to other realities, In B. Kane, J. Millay, & D. Brown,

(Eds.), Silver threads: 25 years of parapsychology research (pp. 201-209). Westport, CT: Praeger. Hilgard, E. R. (1978). Divided consciousness: Multiple controls in human thoughts and action. New York, NY: John Wiley. Huxley, A. (1963). The doors of perception. New York, NY: Harper and Row. Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, dreams, reflections. A. Jaffe, Ed. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Krippner, S. (1972). Altered states of consciousness. In J. White (Ed.), The highest state of consciousness (pp. 1-5).

Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Ludwig, A. M. (1966). Altered states of consciousness. Archives of General Psychiatry 15, 225-234. Mottola, A. (Trans.) (1964). The spiritual exercises of St Ignatius. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Prabhavananda, S., & C. Isherwood (Trans.) (1969). How to know God. The yoga aphorisms of Patanjali. New York, NY:

New American Library. Tart, C.T. (1969). Altered states of consciousness. New York, NY: John Wiley. Tart, C.T. (1986). Waking up: Overcoming the obstacles to human potential. Boston, MA: Shambhala. Winkelman, M. (1986). Trance states: A theoretical model and cross-cultural analysis. Ethos, 14,174-203.

Even when I was studying mathematics, physics, and computer science, it always seemed that the problem of consciousness was about the most interesting problem out there for science to come to grips with. David Chalmers

Natalie Sudman worked as an archeologist in the Great Basin states for 16 years before accepting a position managing construction contracts in Iraq. After being injured in Iraq, she retired from government service to concentrate on art and writing, both long-time passions. Raised in Minnesota, Natalie has lived most of her adult life in eastern Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota. She recently moved to southern Arizona where she is setting up an art studio, offering readings, and plotting future travel adventures. Her artwork is available through Davis & Cline Galleries in Ashland Oregon. A book detailing her near-death experience in Iraq will be published by Ozark Mountain Publishing in 2012. http://www.ozarkmt.com/

In 1988, one of Robert Monroe’s books found me in a used bookstore in Oregon. I bought the book and devoured it in one sitting, quite excited. Using Bob’s instructions as a guide, I immediately set out to travel out of body, and accomplished that goal within a couple of weeks.

I didn’t keep up with out-of-body travel, though, finding that I moved more easily and quickly through dimensions without the astral body. I don’t know what that sort of travel is named–I’ll call it “consciousness travel.” One moment I am aware of being a consciousness in this physical body, and the next I am in a nonphysical place as pure consciousness. I’ve done this ever since I can remember, so, for me, it’s effortless. OBE travel seemed slow and ponderous in comparison.

Besides consciousness travel, since childhood I’ve seen things before they happen, sensed the history of certain buildings and landscapes, and conversed and worked with nonphysical beings. Before reading Bob’s book, though, I’d never really applied concerted discipline toward learning to control when my sixth sense would function. I didn’t apply effort toward learning to control when I traveled to nonphysical places, where I went when I traveled, nor what I did when I got there. Sensing nonphysical beings that needed assistance seemed like a random occurrence over which I had little control. During my work as an archeologist, I would often “see” buried sites before digging confirmed their existence, but those occurrences were intermittent. I had dabbled in meditation, given energy and psychic readings for friends once in awhile, and practiced energetic healing when the whim struck me. Now, having found that a few weeks of disciplined practice in out-of-body travel gave me a new and interesting level of experience, I have applied that discipline to attaining some control over my consciousness travel and related experiences.

Eventually, this led to deeper explorations of the places and skills previously familiar through my intermittent experiences. I found that I could consistently meet up with familiar nonphysical beings by putting myself into deep meditation. In honing meditation skills and control over when and where I traveled, I was also able to access the sixth sense more consistently. The applied discipline deepened my use and understanding of healing levels; allowed me to consciously choose when and how to help nonphysical beings who are “stuck”; and helped me to make better use of rejuvenation environments (places to rest, and/or restore energy when I am exhausted), among other things. I did not consider myself adept, but I was improving.

In 2007, nearly 20 years after first reading Bob’s book, I was working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq when the vehicle I was traveling in was hit with a roadside bomb. At the moment of the explosion, I left my body, moving immediately to a place that was deeply familiar and wonderfully relaxing after the frenetic pace of working in Iraq. I won’t recount that experience here, as its conceptual description is rather complex. I’ve written a book detailing the experience, to be published by Ozark Mountain Publishing in 2012. All I will say here is that the experience confirmed and expanded my understanding of the nonphysical realms. It also reignited my resolve to continue exploring.

Physical injuries from the roadside bomb landed me in Walter Reed Army Medical Center for a month and then kept me nearby in Maryland for 2 years as I continued outpatient treatment. Early on in this process, I was lolling around the house in a drug-induced drift when The Monroe Institute® (TMI) popped into my mind, though I hadn’t thought of Bob’s book in at least 5 years (probably every TMI alumni will understand that “coincidence”). Back in the 1990s, I had looked up the location of TMI, and I was almost certain that it was located close to where I was recovering in Maryland. In the 1990s, I’d judged the programs at TMI to be beyond my budget. But in 2007, as I was recovering from my injuries, I was pleased to admit that I could afford to attend a program and equally pleased to confirm that TMI was within a 3-hour drive of where I was living. When the surgeries and rehab exercises had tapered off, I took enthusiastic advantage of my proximity to the Institute, attending three courses: GATEWAY VOYAGE, LIFELINE, and GUIDELINES.

Familiar with the organization of Bob Monroe’s specific Focus Levels, I had never correlated them to the places I was familiar with from my own experiences of consciousness travel. On arriving at The Monroe Institute for the GATEWAY program, I must have unconsciously assumed that I would be introduced to entirely new and strange places I was as yet unable to access. After all, Bob was a master; I felt that I was little more than a tinkerer in comparison.

Upon being guided to Focus 10, I was surprised to find myself in a familiar location. “Hey,” I thought with some confusion, “this is where I spend most of my waking life!” I often move in and out of Focus 10 as I go about my daily business. For better or worse, much of daily life bores me, and, for as long as I can remember, I’ve let my mind wander off to F10 while my body completes its tasks in the physical. (Before you ask, yes, some people refer to me as a space cadet!) I suspect most children do this quite naturally and easily until it’s either unlearned through culture or the skill fades as a natural result of being in a physical body. For whatever reason, I retained the habit.

We Gateway Voyagers moved on to Focus 12, and I found that F12 is where I often go to rest and create things in my physical life by creating them here first with my imagination. As we moved into Focus 15, I at first thought, “Finally! A place I haven’t been before.” But moving around within F15, I was drawn to a specific area and found that this area of F-15, too, was intimately familiar. It’s where I go almost daily to perform deep healing work and to gain deep rest. It’s also an excellent place from which to create, and it is where I sometimes meet up with specific nonphysical beings who work with me on various tasks.

Whether Focus Levels were new or familiar to me did not detract from the GATEWAY experience. Spending a whole week exploring without the distractions of daily life is a valuable luxury, and hearing the stories of others’ experiences is always fascinating. It was also the first time I’d been anywhere in over a year without either an armed personal security team or my boyfriend as guide and guard. I didn’t realize the significance of this until later: It certainly was a generous place to learn how to negotiate a world that I no longer saw as clearly as I once did due to eye injuries sustained in Iraq. Finally, exploring the nonphysical within the safety net of a group of like-minded people allowed me to access some rather messy personal energy issues related to having been injured in Iraq.

My body doesn’t process energy as quickly as my mind does. While my quirky mind is very amused by and quite interested in the fact and consequences of having been blown up, this body is a little less enthusiastic about explosions and injuries, considering it an unwelcome trauma. Thirty years ago, my brother and I took our cat to the vet for a mysterious ailment of the cat’s eye. The vet peeled back the cat’s inner eyelid with a pair of tweezers, and suddenly I felt all the blood rush from my head and I had to will myself not to faint. I was shocked and perplexed by this extreme physical reaction, which my mind considered baseless and bizarre. I was suddenly vividly aware that I was a consciousness sitting within–at this very moment–a physical body that somehow held its own separate memory bank. I could recount many other similar incidents throughout my life, and I am still most often startled and perplexed by the depth and strength of the body’s memory (duh!).

TMI provided the space and structure to go into and clear some of that physical body trauma from the explosion and aftermath, and to do it without scaring my boyfriend at home with extended withdrawals from consciousness or histrionic emotional outbursts! TMI provided what I refer to as backup. Moving through that sometimes highly charged trauma energy while surrounded by like-minded and sympathetic people, a cautious and nervous part of my mind felt that, should I find myself spinning out of control, the group or an individual would likely be able to help me ground out of it. Simply knowing that backup was there was almost adequate assurance in and of itself, negating the need to actually call upon it directly.

Regardless of not having been led to entirely new and strange places, my experience of GATEWAY VOYAGE was enjoyable and personally useful. Before I had even completed the week, I was plotting to return for another program. I chose LIFELINE for my next foray. Since childhood I’ve had many experiences “seeing” and speaking with spirits of people who have passed over, often helping them to move on from some position in which they’ve become stuck. Being an archeologist perhaps offered me unusual opportunities for this sort of work. Walking mile after mile of transects across Wyoming or South Dakota, or mapping ancient sites, I would often sense the presence of others or find myself experiencing both my own immediate reality and a vivid and detailed internal movie of a whole different reality: that of past events. I would often converse with these nonphysical spirits about their lives and experiences before helping them to move on.

I thought that LIFELINE might help give me new insight or new ideas about that work. Once again, I must have expected, on some level, to discover places that I hadn’t experienced on my own because, again, I was surprised to find myself on such familiar ground in the Focus Levels. I immediately connected with the nonphysical friends with whom I have partnered for many years, and we went right to work.

The unfulfilled expectation that I would visit new places was, again, startling without being disappointing. In moving in and out of the Focus Levels all week, it felt as if I were in some way solidifying the places where I’ve always gone. When I visit a new physical landscape, be it a wildlife refuge or a foreign country, I like to learn the names of plants and animals, the history and geology, or a little of the language of the country. These things help me to ground myself within the context of that particular and specific landscape. Grounding myself in that landscape allows me to navigate with confidence through it and to share my experiences within it. TMI offered some names for the places that I visit beyond the physical, something that I didn’t have and now find useful and rewarding. The names and language have allowed me to move with more confidence. Discovering that others recognize these same landscapes has added to the confidence in the way that sharing can often be both comforting and fun.

I also found that I was gaining a new ease in moving between levels. It was certainly fascinating to me that “my” places were the same places that Bob and other TMI explorers visit. Bob Monroe and other TMI alumni, having independently made their way to “my” destinations, offered the ever-vigilant logical, linear, science-trained half of myself some assurance that it needed. It was another drop in my ever-flowing river of proof that energy is real, usable, and relevant, and that the places that I go are not simply vivid imagination or the result of a hard knock to the head. My grandmother was institutionalized for hearing voices and acting inappropriately in certain circumstances, so perhaps I carry an internal check that desires periodic assurance that I’m not just loopy.

When I signed up for GUIDELINES, I no longer expected the Focus Levels to be unfamiliar landscapes–and they weren’t. I was, however, startled by the depth of experience that came forth during the lab Personal Resources Exploration Program (PREP) session.1 Having Skip as a “control” sitting in the next room–another backup–allowed me to let go and explore further than I might have without him there as a safety net ready to bring me back to this particular physical world. In fact, I knew as soon as I walked out of 2 hours of channeling2 that the lab session was the entire reason I had felt compelled to attend the GUIDELINES program. I had channeled before in a limited way, never letting go fully to allow the nonphysical beings very far into my body nor admitting to anyone that I was receiving this information from a nonphysical being separate from myself. I had held back because I’d had some reservations about whether I would get the body back for myself, and I didn’t often interact with people who would accept it were I to admit that I was channeling.

In addition to the safety net that the presence of Skip provided for my cautious mind, the simple fact that someone else had listened to the information I had channeled proved to be important. This was information that I’d received previously on more than one occasion yet never shared with anyone. Some specific information seemed too “out there” to talk about, and the rest of it felt as if it could too easily be interpreted as fueling an ego trip when taken out of context. Having shared it now with Skip as monitor, the information somehow took on substance and found a legitimate place inside myself in the same way–again, that learning the names of plants and animals in a landscape that is new to me helps to make me feel more grounded in that place. In that sense, the information I channeled became manifest through having shared it with a respectful fellow human being on the physical plane.

Sharing with people is a powerful and valuable aspect of TMI. In my experience, when two people join together, the power of the All That Is doesn’t just double; it multiplies. When 20 people join together for a week of focused energy work, the power available becomes immense, assisting everyone with their own individual work as well as creating a group personality that carries its own unique force that we all experience. Even those of us who attend a program and keep quiet in the background throughout it are adding essential energy to the whole and sharing simply by being present. When we share experience with each other, we share our souls. A respectful audience–for speech or silence– heals and strengthens the soul.

I am looking forward to attending more programs–after all, I may yet be surprised! I may yet find Focus Levels or learn skills that aren’t familiar from my own explorations. And whether or not that happens, without a doubt I’ll find the space for valuable personal growth. I’ll undoubtedly meet interesting people with which to share stories and experiences, helping to seat me in harmony with life in this physical world.

Endnotes

Editors Note: ¹ The Personal Resources Exploration Program (PREP) is a personalized auditory-guidance session conducted in a specially designed, secluded cubical in which the participant is individually supported through customized, computer-generated sounds and verbal guidance provided by a trained facilitator. The PREP session is included as an aspect of the GUIDELINES® program but is also available to GATEWAY graduates. For more information about PREP Sessions, see http://www.monroeinstitute.org/prep/

² During the lab session, I channeled four different nonphysical beings. I sensed and watched them trading places in my body, depending upon their individual skill in expressing specific information that was being transmitted. They talked about my role in a physical body at this particular time in physical world history, confirmed my own understanding of the reasons I had chosen to be blown up in Iraq, and discussed some of my skills and the side effects and quirks related to those skills, as well as revealing some information about what many refer to as the “2012 Shift.” They explained that The Shift is not a 2012 event; it has been underway for some time now and continues as a gradual creation. It doesn’t belong to earth physicality; it’s a dimensional shift that could be said to originate anywhere and everywhere at once since all is one. Certain people are embodied right now in order to assist with the energy shift, as the multidimensionality of the energies is complex. The skills of these beings are such that they are more effective from within the physical than they would be without bodies.

© 2011 by The Monroe Institute

Christine Simmonds-Moore is currently the Senior Research Fellow at The Rhine Research Center (successor to the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory) in Durham, North Carolina. From an early age, Simmonds-Moore had been interested in paranormal and extraordinary experiences—phenomena that were part of the lived experience of several of her family members (“My gran once dreamed all six numbers of the national lottery—but didn’t put any money on it”). Simmonds-Moore herself approached the subject from a more academic angle. While attending Swansea University in Wales, she came across a number of books on parapsychology in the university library.

“There were lots of books on parapsychology,” she says, “but I thought parapsychology must be dead because all the journals in the library stopped at about 1975. But I thought I’d have a look and read them. I later found out that the skeptic Hansel had been at Swansea, and that was the reason for the presence of the books and journals. I was doing my undergraduate research project on the hypnogogic state, and I realized that a lot of paranormal experiences happen during that state. And so I decided that I wanted to do a study on the hypnogogic state and [related] aspects of consciousness and dream research.”

After earning a master’s degree in Cognitive Science at Dundee University, Simmonds-Moore returned to North Wales to take a teaching and research position at Bangor University. It so happened that a PA member, Robert Turner, was running a short parapsychology class in Bangor, where she realized that “the field of parapsychology is very much alive.” She was put in contact with the late Bob Morris, who at the time held the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh. Morris eventually become her “academic grandfather,” when Simmonds-Moore later went on to earn her Ph.D. on the psychology of anomalous experiences (with a focus on anomaly-prone personalities) at Northampton University in England under the supervision of Morris’s student Chris Roe. As part of her training during that time, Simmonds-Moore traveled to The Rhine Research Institute’s North Carolina campus in order to attend the 2-month parapsychology Summer Study Program (SSP).

“[Up to that point] I’d heard of some of the people and some of the terms, but I didn’t know how everything [in parapsychology] fitted together,” she recalls. “So getting the opportunity to go to The Rhine was just amazing. It was 2 months of intense training in parapsychology. You lived, breathed, and slept parapsychology. You met researchers and philosophers and skeptics and physicists and you were able to talk with those people about their ideas and the students about parapsychology. So that’s how I first got to The Rhine. [It was] sort of a pathway through my own interests—hypnogogia and realizing that parapsychology was alive.”

After returning to the UK to finish her Ph.D., Simmonds-Moore took a teaching position at Liverpool Hope University, where, as luck would have it, there happened to be a position open for a parapsychology teacher. During that time, she returned to The Rhine Research Center twice, for a 2003 and a 2009 sabbatical. After 10 years teaching at Liverpool Hope, Simmonds-Moore left the UK to take the position of Senior Research Fellow at The Rhine Research Center. During our conversation, we spoke about the differences in how the fields of parapsychology and consciousness studies are approached and supported in our two continents; the recent uproar about Bem’s upcoming article on ESP research to be published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; The Rhine Center’s research focus; and, finally, her vision for a more integrated consciousness-parapsychology future.

Hillary Webb: Something I’m curious about is how parapsychology is approached, treated, and supported—or not supported—in the United Kingdom as opposed to the United States. Based on your experiences, what do you see as the differences and similarities?

Christine Simmonds-Moore: The biggest difference is that, in the U.S., places that are studying parapsychology are generally separated from universities. I think there’s one unit left—the [Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia]—that is still part of a university, but I don’t think there are many others. There’s Saybrook University. At Saybrook you can do some parapsychology, and there certainly was a parapsychology course at the University of West Georgia. On the other hand, in the UK—I think in Europe too, but in the UK in particular—there is a model that parapsychology is part of psychology, and so there are about 16 universities in the UK where you can study parapsychology or something equivalent as part of an undergraduate psychology degree.¹

A lot of that is [due to] the work of Bob Morris. He was an American—he passed away in 2004—who was the Koestler Chair of Parapsychology at Edinburgh. His philosophy was to try to get parapsychology into the mainstream. The way that he taught all of us was that you should always have an area of expertise in normal [psychology] and then look at paranormal and see if you can find some links, [building] a bridge between the two. [That way] you can get a job in a normal psychology department and you can be an integral member of that department, but you can also do the stuff that makes you happy. That was his philosophy. A lot of the universities in the UK where you can study parapsychology, the faculty members are graduates of the Edinburgh program or are the [academic] grandchildren of Bob Morris. So, people have tried to become experts in other areas, too. Mine is looking at personality and differences between healthy and less healthy people who score high on the positive schizotypy dimension. And also in research methods. Parapsychologists have to be really good at research methods, and so a lot of people have gone on to teach research methods in mainstream psychology departments.

[That model] isn’t always an easy ride, but it’s there, and, when it works, it can work quite well. But [even in the UK] you do still have a lot of resistance, and people are not always aware of what parapsychology is or what consciousness studies is until they talk to you. That’s the same between the countries. I think if people realize what you are doing and what your approaches are, then they soften, but the bias is there in both countries. I think somewhere there is the realization that if someone can do a job, then maybe it’s ok if they do this other stuff as well. And people are realizing that there is value in studying unusual experiences, whatever your interpretation. In the last year [in the UK], there has been the introduction of anomalistic psychology into the A-level programs. The A-level is the exam you do at the age of 18, and the A-level now includes a course on anomalistic psychology. This is a great shift as well, because there are going to be a lot of students now who finish school aware of this thing that you can study. It’s taught very skeptically, very critically, [and] takes a range of experiences and tries to explain everything normally. However, I think that might shift as well. [Palgrave MacMillan Publishers have] commissioned a book on anomalistic psychology as part of a whole series of textbooks. Some of my colleagues in the UK and I are co-writing that book. So, we’re trying to infiltrate from within. We can be critical and [acknowledge that] there are all these different explanations, but [also say,] “Hey, let’s look at all the explanations that include the psi hypothesis and see what’s been done!”

I think that’s quite exciting that that book is coming out as part of a series of psychology books and that younger kids are going to be studying this stuff, which means that more people are going to be wanting a university education. That is very healthy, even though there is some resistance. I’ve felt it firsthand. I had to stand up and represent our research group at Liverpool, and I could hear sniggering at the back of the group when I first stood up. And then, actually, afterwards several people came up to me and they were like, “Oh, I didn’t realize it was this or this or this.”

HW: It sounds like some preconceived notions, but perhaps there is slightly more openness to it over there than here.

CSM: Yeah.

HW: It’s been suggested that the European mindset is more aligned with a broad and classical understanding of human nature, while the U.S. tends towards a more positivistic/materialistic and behavioral perspective. As a result, academia in the U.S. is less inclined to acknowledge some of the nonlinear aspects of human experience. Perhaps that accounts for some of the slight differences.

CSM: I think you’re right. That’s something I’ve noticed about psychology departments over here. They seem to be very old fashioned. You don’t generally see much evidence of qualitative research. At Liverpool, [the study of ] qualitative research methods was half the research course. Here [in the U.S.] it tends to be very old fashioned. A pattern I see in both countries—which is a depressing pattern and I hope it’s not true—[is that] it seems like the new universities that are trying to get themselves established are much more open to studying things that are a bit more unusual, but then when they get more established some of them then try to move away from parapsychology. Like Duke, for example. My university that I just left in the UK wants to remove parapsychology from the curriculum, and so from the next academic year, it will no longer be part of the psychology degree. I think that’s quite sad.

HW: What is that about? Is that a sign of a philosophical shift, or an economic one, or something else entirely? Any theories on why that is?

CSM: They want to compete with the bigwigs. I think somewhere it’s an economic decision, but I don’t think they’ve really thought it out because if they were aware of the whole picture—i.e., that more students are going to want to be studying this stuff at A-level and looking for universities where they would be able to study this—then they would think again. I don’t know. It seems like at some universities there’s this thing about prestige, and after awhile they don’t want to be associated with things that are not mainstream, despite their popularity. For example, at Liverpool Hope, they recently brought two new professors into the psychology department who are strongly cognitive and somewhat uncomfortable with parapsychology.

HW: I imagine you’ve heard about the uproar from many in the psychology community regarding the upcoming article in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that presents what the author considers to be strong evidence for extrasensory perception. Some scientists support the report, saying it deserves to be published in the name of open inquiry, but there are many others who are furious, who consider its publication a flaw in the peer review process and believe that it should not be published at all.

CSM: I think the whole discussion is quite interesting as a research topic—the extremity of the reaction. It is fascinating. [Apparently] there is going to be a published rejoinder commenting on the critique that’s come out, which has taken a Bayesian analysis of Bem’s data. The authors of the critique claim that the Bayesian approach demonstrates no evidence of psi, but that is potentially because a Bayesian probability depends on an a priori evaluation of the likelihood of finding a given outcome. And if you come from a skeptical perspective, then the probability of finding evidence for psi may not be very likely. I am less familiar with the Bayesian approach than the usual “hypothesis testing” model, but it seems inherently biased, which is problematic if something as controversial as psi is being evaluated. Bem and others have published a rejoinder, or will hopefully be publishing one in the same journal. This will say that the Bayesian approach can be very useful, but you really do need to look at the whole spectrum of findings to come up with a more accurate a priori probability level. I think the skeptical reactions are quite depressing but also interesting (from the perspective of social science) to see how people are reacting to these findings.

HW: At some point, their resistance says more about them and their beliefs than it does about the data.

CSM: It does, definitely. “We don’t know how this works so it cannot be true” . . .

HW: . . . “This doesn’t fit into my worldview; therefore, I refuse to acknowledge the data.”

As a researcher it seems that any research you do, at some point you bump up against yours or somebody else’s ontology and philosophy. It’s hard to move past that. All we have is data, not proof. Just a bunch of ideas, which, frankly, I find fun and exciting. I enjoy the mystery. I’m not so much looking for proof but rather data that leads to the opening of further questions.

CSM: I enjoy the mystery, too. And also how people construct their own experience and find meaning. That’s a separate thing. Even if there were a million experiments that found there was no evidence of ESP, I think these things are still valuable to study. People have experiences and sometimes they are life transforming and bring people great meaning and [improved] mental heath. There is value [to these experiences], even if there is no ESP.

HW: Exactly. Asking, “What is the meaning behind it for people?”

CSM: Yeah.

HW: So tell me a little about how The Rhine approaches the study of consciousness—its methodologies, basic philosophies.

CSM: Traditionally, The Rhine Center has been very experimental. If you go back to the days of J. B. Rhine, J.B. Rhine revolutionized the study of paranormal phenomena by developing the card-guessing tests and also the systematic revision of methodologies [so that they are] sensitive to criticism. And also trying to develop methods where you can test a lot of people—not necessarily just special claimants but students. That was one thing that Rhine started—the idea that you don’t necessarily have to have people who think that they are very, very psychic—although those people do come in and Rhine certainly started off by testing mediums at the very beginning of his career. So, yeah, rigorous, repeatable methods and being able to test lots of people [is part of The Rhine legacy]. In the middle years, they were focusing more on the experimental methods—card tests and then looking at PK research and seeing if people could influence the die, and then Dr. Helmut Schmidt developed PK machines that were based on random-event generators. Again, it was this idea of, “Let’s find something that we can actually measure; let’s measure the deviation away from chance.” So, historically, The Rhine has always focused on statistics and using the scientific method to see whether you’ve got an anomaly and then seeing if you can repeat that anomaly and see if you can find patterns there.

At the same time, the history of The Rhine has also embraced subjective experiences in the work of Louisa

Rhine, so I suppose always there has been the history of both: rigorous, repeatable experimental methods, looking for patterns—as in, is there ESP? Is there PK?—but also what do people [subjectively] experience in the real world? What are people reporting? The current research group at The Rhine, we’ve got [researchers interested in both experimental and qualitative methods]. I think that using complementary and mixed methods is the ultimate way to find out how something is working and getting the fullest picture of that thing. I’ve been trying to promote the qualitative. I’m fascinated by experimental methods but also by personality. I’m fascinated by experiences, [regardless of ] whether there is any truth to them or not, just because I think they are part of human nature. What I’ve gotten interested in lately are the differences between “healthy” and “less healthy” paranormal experiences. For example, can you do something to help people become more healthy if they have less healthy experiences?

Most of my recent studies have been like that, trying to approach a subject from lots of different perspectives. What I’m trying to do as well is link things between normal and paranormal.

HW: What’s your vision for the future of this field?

CSM: I would like there to be more fusion between consciousness studies, parapsychology, anomalistic psychology, and mainstream psychology. I think they have a lot to say to each other. It frustrates me a lot of the time [that] mainstream psychology is so compartmentalized. For example, I have colleagues who are investigating the psychology of belief from the perspective of the psychology of religion. There are many parallels here with parapsychology. There are so many [different fields] that have parallels, but they don’t talk to each other. I just wish that things could be a little more integrated. People need to be doing more experiments that cross the boundaries. And I think parapsychologists and people researching this should do normal research as well as asking the psi questions because I think more studies that are crossing the boundaries will be [essential] for pushing this field forward. I think it’s a shame that in the U.S. the parapsychology units are separate from the universities. There’s an advantage at some level with that because you can do more quirky, interesting research properly if you’re not in the university and you’ve got more time to do research. But, then, you’ve got the problem of funding, and so you see a lot of places struggling or trying to work out a way to bring in money. It would be nice if there were some kind of sustainable way of being able to do this research and push it forward. It always seems to me that the best place is within the university environment. But I don’t know how that’s going to shift unless there can be a Bob Morris-type model in which people can sell themselves doing something normal and then gradually bring in the other stuff. None of this work is so frightening. We are asking questions that are actually quite normal at some level. A lot of people [in the parapsychology field] are not even asking the psi questions, and, even when they are, it shouldn’t be frightening. It should be about asking questions and seeing what the data tell you. So, my dream would be for there to be more of a fusion. I don’t know if that is an unrealistic dream. Some days it feels like it’s possible and other days it doesn’t.

Maybe the publication of [the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology] article will stimulate conversation around that. Maybe that will encourage more discussion. Or a debate, at least! The APA meeting this August is supposed to be a debate with skeptics and proponents discussing this topic, based on the book that Stanley Krippner and Harris Freidman just published [Mysterious Minds: The Neurobiology of Psychics, Mediums, and Other Extraordinary People (with H. L. Friedman) (2009). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger]. It’s really an interesting book. With more things like that in the public domain, APA sponsored, that’s excellent. That’s going to move things forward.

Christine Simmonds-Moore can be reached at Christine@rhine.org. The Rhine Research Center website is www.rhine.org.

The Rhine Research Center (RRC) launched its first online course, Introduction to Parapsychology, in March, 2011. Simmonds-Moore was recently awarded a Bial grant, which is seeking people who are synesthetes to take part in an interesting study. If you are a synesthete (or even if you are not) and would like to participate in studies at the RRC, please contact Christine Simmonds-Moore at the above email address. Likewise, Dr. John Palmer (the Director of Research at the Rhine Research Center) has also just been awarded a Bial grant and is also seeking research participants. People who are generally interested in getting involved in the research at the RRC should sign up to the participant pool, which can be accessed via the website at http://www.rhine.org/researchcurrent.htm.

(Endnotes)

1 A list of some of these universities is provided on the TMI Research Division web pages: http://www. monroeinstitute.org/research/other-consciousness-research-and-education-institutes/

© 2011 by The Monroe Institute

No matter how powerfully we know we are more than our physical bodies, that consciousness is a continuum, and that nothing ever dies, losing a friend hurts. There’s just something exquisitely poignant about realizing that a beloved and unique body-mind-spirit entity will never again grace this, or any, existence in precisely the same way.We heard recently of the death of Stephen Graf, long-time friend and supporter of The Monroe Institute. Steve’s brother-in-law and fellow Professional Member Jack Auman kindly brought us the news. He attached the lovely tribute written by Steve’s wife and three daughters, which can be viewed in full HERE. Excerpted from that tribute:

Stephen A. Graf, 67, of Poland, Ohio, died at his home in the company of his family on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 [from a rare form of lung cancer].

… Steve went to Miami (OH) University and was a three-year letter winner in baseball. He then obtained his Doctorate from the Ohio State University before becoming a psychology professor at Youngstown State University. While at YSU, he was also an assistant baseball coach with Dom Rosselli for several years.

Honored as a distinguished professor, and featured in Who’s Who Among American Teachers, ‘The Graffer’ influenced the lives of many of his students. Some of his more memorable teaching methods included the use of SAFMEDS, standard celeration charts, clicker training, and authoring the books he used for his classes. He retired from YSU in 2005, but he and Jack Auman, continued to teach a course about extraterrestrials through 2010.

In January of this year, Steve was honored with the Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Standard Celeration Society, an organization he presided over for two years. He was a keynote speaker at the International Precision Teaching Conference and editor of the Association for Behavioral Analysis newsletter for nine years. He was highly involved in the CSETI organization and The Orion Project.

During the more than two decades he served as a Professional Member of The Monroe Institute, Steve’s presence at the Professional Seminar became synonymous with the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that defined that group. His many contributions include several articles published in TMI’s Journal, including

• Measuring Inner and Outer Behavioral Effects of Hemi-Sync [1993]

• Re-Creating Recreation: Hemi-Sync in Competitive and Cooperative Situations [1995]

• Analyzing Results From the Remote Viewing Practicum [2002]

Steve was a dedicated Dolphin Energy Club member from the inception of DEC. True to form, he acknowledged every request. Each e-mail, letter, and card he signed, “As ever.” We remember Steve’s shy ready smile, his quiet quirky sense of humor, and that he was game for pretty much anything. Not to mention, the man could count! Steve took good-natured ribbing from his TMI colleagues for counting absolutely everything—to excellent effect.

Thank you, Steve! You are deeply appreciated. You are missed.

As ever,

Your Friends at The Monroe Institute

© 2011 by The Monroe Institute

Joseph M. Felser, Ph.D., graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Boston University and received his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy at Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York. His numerous articles on philosophy, parapsychology, religion, and myth have appeared in both popular and scholarly journals. He is the author of The Way Back to Paradise: Restoring the Balance between Magic and Reason (Hampton Roads, 2005) and the recently published book, The Myth of the Great Ending: Why We’ve Been Longing for the End of Days Since the Beginning of Time (Hampton Roads 2011).

ABSTRACT

What is the source of philosophical thought? Why do we ask fundamental questions about human existence? Early philosophers like Socrates, whose ideas and practices were shamanistic, believed that rational thinking was rooted in and fed by non-rational experiences, such as visions, dreams, trances, ecstasies, mystical encounters, and other experiences of wonder that excite our curiosity and imagination. But modern Western philosophy largely rejected this older view, holding instead that genuine philosophical analysis can only arise through the purging of all such “extra-rational” influences that interfere with our use of reason, logic, and observation via the physical senses. This paper outlines a new research project, to be undertaken by the author in concert with The Monroe Institute®, that is designed to explore the question of how experiences of  “wonder” relate to processes of philosophical-type thinking, and in particular how this question is addressed by TMI program participants.

Introduction

Alasdair MacIntyre, a world-renown philosopher (who happened to be my mentor), once candidly admitted to a BBC radio interviewer that philosophy “does tend to sterilize the mind and imagination far too easily” (Magee, 1971, p. 199). When I initially read this remark as an eager college undergraduate and enthusiastic neophyte philosophy major, I found it curious, if not incredible. To me, philosophy was a brand new, exciting world of fascinating ideas and heroic, inspiring thinkers. Yet, by the time I entered graduate school 4 years later, it would prove eerily prophetic of my own personal crisis. For despite all my considerable hard work and achievements—or perhaps, rather, because of them—my inner life felt like a well run dry. I found myself wandering alone, without a compass, lost in a mental desert.

Thus began my quest for what the late mythologist Joseph Campbell called “the waters of life” (Campbell with Moyers, 1988, p. 121)—a magical elixir that would somehow revivify my stale intellect and dry-as-dust imagination. I needed to find a counterbalance to the narrow, reductive rationalism that passes for “the love of wisdom,” the literal translation of the Greek word philosophia. I did not quit my academic studies—although I was sorely tempted to at times. Instead, I began certain “unofficial” investigations into subjects that would have scandalized my professors but which reflected certain erstwhile experiences and interests that had long lain fallow: mysticism, extrasensory perception, out-of-body experiences, dreams, shamanism, and the like. In public, I was a conventional aspiring academic; in private, I had become a secret searcher after heresies.

Eventually, I would learn to blend these two sides of myself as I gradually shifted my “official” areas of study into subjects closer to my true interests in myth, religion, and the ranges of human consciousness. It was during that early, intensive period of searching—in late 1979 or early 1980—that I initially discovered a mesmerizing volume entitled Journeys Out of the Body (1971) by Robert A. Monroe. That book struck a particularly deep chord, as did the author’s two sequels, Far Journeys (1985) and UltimateJourney (1994). These ignited in me a strong desire to visit The Monroe Institute. I finally did so in 2000, when I took my GATEWAY VOYAGE®.

Since then, I have attended other Institute programs (LIFELINE, EXPLORATION 27, and STARLINES). I wrote about my experiences at TMI in my first book (Felser, 2005) and in several published articles (Felser, 2000; 2004), including one in the TMI Focus (2002). In addition, I have been honored with invitations to attend two professional seminars, once in 2006 as the keynote speaker (Felser, 2006) and most recently in 2010 as a guest participant. That makes for a solid decade of active and fruitful involvement with TMI and over 30 years of familiarity with the work of Robert Monroe.

Now, thanks to a recently granted sabbatical from teaching duties that happens to coincide with the Institute’s new direction in qualitative research (more on that below), my involvement with TMI is about to be taken to the next level, in the form of a collaborative research project. As I will discuss below, this study will explore the very issues I have wrestled with for the past 30 years in my own life-career—namely, the relationship between the quest for meaning and questions of meaning, between trans-rational experience and rational thinking, and between wonderment and wondering. In short, I am asking, “How does genuine philosophical inquiry relate to expansions of consciousness?”

The Quest and Question

“Nothing shapes our lives so much as the questions we ask—or refuse to ask,” declared that inveterate spiritual traveler, Sam Keen (1994). “We are all questioners, but the questions that animate us are profoundly different” (p. 14). Indeed, they are. Keen’s longtime friend and colleague Joseph Campbell (1988) may well have been right when he lamented that, for many people today, the only important question is “where their money is coming from and where it’s going to go” (p. 14). Yet, it is not so for all. Witness author, engineer, and consciousness explorer Bruce Moen (1997), who credits his serendipitous discovery of the books of Bob Monroe, as well as his subsequent attendance at the Institute’s GATEWAY VOYAGE and LIFELINE programs, to his “great curiosity”—a fiery spark that ignited his lifelong search for answers to what he calls his “Three Great Questions”: “Where did I come from before I was born? What am I supposed to do while I’m living here? Where do I go when I die?” (p. 24).1

Now, these just happen to be the big, meaty, metaphysical questions concerning human destiny, freedom, and the nature of existence that, in ancient times, were thought to be the special province of philosophy: What is the meaning of life—its significance, value, and purpose? Who and what are we? What is this thing we call “reality”? More recently, however, mainstream Anglo-American philosophers of the logical positivist and linguistic schools have dismissed such large-scale questions as silly and meaningless verbiage, arising either from a perverse inability to discern rational (scientific or common) sense from irrational (religious or mystical) nonsense (e.g., Ayer, 1936/1952; Reichenbach, 1951) or from certain strictly linguistic errors that could be avoided by a properly rigorous analysis (e.g., Austin, 1962). All are the intellectual descendants of the British philosopher G. E. Moore (1873-1958), who once remarked that, as far as he could tell, philosophical problems arose not from the world but rather from the ridiculous things that philosophers have said about it (Warnock, 1958/1966, p. 11). Even some contemporary postmodernists (e.g., Rorty, 1982, p. xl) echo this dismissive attitude toward the big questions and the “cosmic anxieties” (Warnock, p. 10) that inspire them.

Such churlish views nevertheless clash with a Western tradition that goes all the way back to Plato—and even further still. It was Plato who famously declared that philosophy begins in the experience of wonder (Plato, 1949). By “wonder,” I would argue that Plato meant not only the intellectual curiosity and sense of perplexity that drive some of us to try to solve puzzles, pursue mysteries, and parse meanings but also the feelings of awe and rapture that accompany the visionary beholding of “other realities” that leave the beholder speechless or groping for words. For Plato, the analytical thinker was also—and at the same time—a profound mystic (Findlay, 1978, pp. 15-16). These, in fact, represent the twin poles or sides of “wonder”—the intellectual and the mystical, the sense-making and sense-transcending—experienced in tandem by Plato’s great mentor, Socrates, whose lifelong philosophical quest was born in a personal crisis triggered by the enigmatic pronouncement of the Oracle of Delphi, which declared him to be the wisest of all. But he did not consider himself wise at all. So what did it mean?

Socrates’ effort to reconcile this contradiction led him to conclude that at least he recognized how ignorant he was, whereas the vast majority did not. His dissatisfaction with conventional beliefs and values was fueled by his mystical trances, in which he had visions of other realities and communed with the dead. In the Symposium dialogue, Plato accordingly eulogized his teacher as “a skilful magician, an alchemist [i.e., herbalist], a true sophist” (Plato, 1951, p. 82; cf. Ruck, 1986, p. 177) who yearned after knowledge and loved wisdom. The seer and the seeker of truth were thus one and the same, co-existing side-by-side in a creative synergy in which each side nurtured the other.

This symbiosis is precisely what led classical scholars like Carl A. P. Ruck (1986, pp.151-177) and E. R. Dodds (1951, pp. 135-178) to identify Socrates with the primordial lineage of shamanism. Indeed, anthropologist (and shamanic practitioner) Michael Harner (1980/1990) has defined the shaman as one who goes on otherworldly journeys in quest of knowledge and power in order to help others and restore wholeness (health). In the process, said Harner, “the shaman typically experiences an ineffable joy in what he sees, an awe of the beautiful and mysterious worlds that open before him” (p. 21). This is the mystical aspect of wonder. But, he said, there is also the critical aspect that strives to penetrate the mystery and solve the riddle of human existence: “The shaman is forever trying to articulate his personal revelatory experiences as though they were the pieces of a great cosmic jigsaw puzzle” (p. 45). Thus, said Harner, the shaman, like the scientist, is an empiricist, or one who relies on experience, rather than authority or mere armchair speculation, as the source of knowledge and primary method of research (pp. 45-6).

It is precisely on this last point that modern philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche (1887/1984) would demur. Nietzsche saw not a synergy but an irreconcilable opposition between the mystical side of wonder and genuine intellectual questioning. In his view, science and philosophy are utterly incompatible with otherworldly visions and mystical experiences, which would vanish into thin air if scrutinized by reason—if we truly allow ourselves to think about them. Only those, he said, who “thirst after reason, [and] are determined to scrutinize [their] experiences as severely as a scientific experiment—hour after hour, day after day” (p. 253) are true philosophers. “We ourselves wish to be our experiments and guinea pigs,” he concluded. Real philosophy is thus born with the death of wonder, which to Nietzsche is only the bewitching enchantment of irrationalism.

Or is it? Who is on the right track, Plato or Nietzsche? What is the relationship between critical thinking, deep questioning, and intellectual curiosity on the one hand, and visionary or mystical consciousness on the other? In other words, are experiences of wonder—of the kind that leave us dumbfounded and speechless (or just plain grateful), that defy our common sense and both challenge and expand our notion of what is possible—the sweet ambrosia or the bitter hemlock of philosophical inquiry? What might it mean to become one’s own guinea pig, even while not rejecting wonder? Is this even possible?2

The Project

These, then, are the very questions that, in one guise or another, I have been more or less continuously wrestling with over the 30-odd years of my own philosophical career. They are also at the heart of the exciting new research project that I am currently undertaking in collaboration with The Monroe Institute and its new director of research, Dr. Hillary Webb, that explores the question of whether (and if so, how) expanded states of awareness conducive to experiences of wonder are related to acts of wondering (questioning, thinking, reflecting, seeking) and, in particular, how this question is addressed by TMI program participants. The Monroe Institute is a uniquely propitious setting for generating and cultivating experiences of wonder. It is, as many would attest, a wonder-full place! What better venue to explore such questions?

But a philosopher doing field research, you ask? Yes, I admit this is indeed a radical departure from the kind of armchair reflections, or even the library and archival investigations, in which I have been engaged in the past. Instead of interpreting pre-existing texts, or creating new ones in the solitude of my study, the volunteer participants and I will be co-creating the very texts (in the form of initial surveys, follow-up questions, and perhaps even face-to-face interviews) whose meanings will become the subject of interpretation. It is a full collaboration all around.

Because I will be employing a qualitative rather than a quantitative research approach (inspired in great part by the work of Smith and Osborn, [2003]), I will be exploring relationships between phenomena in an open-ended fashion, using semi-structured instruments, as opposed to testing pre-formed hypotheses with highly structured methods and analytical tools designed to collect numerical data. Rather than seek to explain and predict strictly causal relationships between objects or events, or to ascertain general characteristics of a widespread population, my aim will be to describe, in depth and detail, the experiences of selected individuals and to try and grasp the meaning that those experiences have for them. This type of qualitative approach will necessitate using a relatively small sample of participants (some veteran researchers suggest as few as 3 or as many as 10), whose selection will be based on the responses provided by them to the initial (confidential) on-line surveys that will soon be made available to all voluntary eligible participants (that is, graduates of selected TMI programs) on my web site. Link to: http://www.everythingtriestoberound.com/

To start with, I will want to know about the types of questions that bring individuals to TMI’s residential programs in the first place; what kinds of answers, if any, that they receive in the experiences of “wonder” that they might have; how and what they might think about those experiences, if and when they subsequently reflect on them; and whether these experiences then go on to foster new questions or new forms of questions that in turn precipitate a still-further search for answers and/or additional experiences, in an ongoing, perhaps open-ended, process.

Once again, my aim will be to describe and make sense of how participants perceive and make sense of their own processes, not to try to explain why some may have certain kinds of experiences (or thoughts) and others do not. Nor will I try to objectively validate (or invalidate) those experiences (or thoughts). This is the essence of the phenomenological method pioneered by the German philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). It was Husserl who urged us to set aside what we regard as “common sense” (which is mostly inherited prejudices or habits of thought and perception) and even our philosophical, scientific, and religious theories in order “to allow us see and describe experience in its lived purity” (Kohak, 1978, p. 27), that is, as a meaningful and intelligible phenomenon in its own right, prior to our sophisticated theorizing about it. The primary aim of the phenomenologist “is not to ‘explain’ . . . experience but first to understand it” (Kohak, p. 41).

To both accurately describe and sympathetically understand the relationship between our experiences of wonder and the act of wondering about our experiences is thus the goal of my new and exciting exploration of human consciousness. All aboard! I welcome feedback—anyone wishing to offer comments or suggestions regarding this project is cordially invited to contact me at JFelser@Kingsborough.edu.

Endnotes

1 The relationship between experiential quest and the act and attitude of questioning raises some thorny classical chicken-and-egg issues that will have to be explored. For example, was Moen’s curiosity unbidden (i.e., essentially uncaused) or did it motivate him to seek experiences of expanded consciousness? Or, did prior experiences of such nonordinary states (like the childhood dream of a possible past life episode he relates in the same chapter, following his mention of his “Three Great Questions”) spark his curiosity and the nascent questioning? It may very well be, as the psychologist Abraham Maslow (1963) has stated, that certain psychologically healthy individuals are blessed with an instinctive drive to know things, to find out the truth even if it makes them unhappy or uncomfortable, and thus are “positively attracted to the mysterious, to the unknown, to the puzzling and the unexplained” (cited in Wilson, 1966/1980, p. 78), whereas the psychologically sick or those with a weak ego are fearful and threatened by such prospects. In that case, one could point to an innate drive of curiosity, essentially uncaused by any particular experience of “wonder” (though perhaps cultivated through a general upbringing productive of and conducive to psychological health) as the source of the quest.

In examining the issue of creativity and the relationship between questioning and questing, author Joseph Chilton Pearce (2007) has identified what he called a “dynamic interplay or looping effect [that] takes place between the bottom-up activity of our volitional, thinking brain-mind and the top-down action from some nebulous field of potential outside our thought” (p. 40). This larger “nebulous field of potential” is what we would directly encounter in those experiences of wonderment to which I have been referring, and which Pearce dubs the “Eureka!” experience insofar as it is, implicitly or explicitly, understood as providing the answer(s) to certain longstanding and important question(s). A “strange loop” indeed!

2 Nietzsche (1887/1974) complained that mystical types are willfully irrational and dishonest because they never ask themselves the really tough questions: “What did I really experience? What happened in me and around me at that time? Was my reason bright enough? Was my will opposed to all deceptions of the senses and bold in resisting the fantastic?”

(p. 253). One striking counter-example to Nietzsche’s thesis is Bob Monroe himself, as the record of Journeys Out of the Body (1971) quite readily attests. It is clear that he did ask himself (over and over again) Nietzsche’s very questions: Am I sane? Am I mentally and physically healthy? Is this real? Can I trust my perceptions? Only gradually, and very reluctantly, did he begin to accept the validity of his out-of-body excursions—and only when he was forced to question his own most cherished beliefs and assumptions: “If I accepted the data as fact, it struck hard at nearly all of my life experience to that date, my training, my concepts, and my sense of values. Most of all, it shattered my faith in the totality and certainty of our culture’s scientific knowledge” (Monroe, 1971, p. 31). Even as his experiences of “wonder” expanded in their depth and intensity, he never ceased to value questioning himself or his cultural assumptions, scientific or religious, as his remarks in Ultimate Journey (1994) underscore: “Nothing is sacred to the point where it should not be investigated or put under inquiry” (p. 109). Indeed, he came to view the development of this questioning faculty as the prime purpose of human existence in what he dubbed the “Earth Life System” (p. 86) and therefore as perfectly compatible with our enjoyment of the fullest range of possible human experiences—including and especially experiences in states of consciousness other than the normal physical waking kind.

References

Ayer, A. J. (1952). Language, truth and logic. New York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1936)

Austin, J. L. (1962). Sense and sensibilia (G. J. Warnock, Ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Campbell, J., with B. Moyers. (1988). The power of myth (B. S. Flowers, Ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday.

Dodds, E. R. (1951). The Greeks and the irrational. Berkeley, CA: The University of California Press.

Felser, J. M. (2000). My gateway voyage: An experiential account. EHE News, 7(2), 17-25.

Felser, J. M. (2002). Explaining infinity to a monkey: Challenges and rewards of NVC. TMI Focus, 24(1), 1, 4, 8.

Felser, J. M. (2004). Through the doorways of change: A philosopher’s inner voyage continues. Exceptional Human Experience, 17(2), 180-189.

Felser, J. M. (2005). The way back to paradise: Restoring the balance between magic and reason. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Felser, J. M. (2006). Reasonable magic and magical reason: The philosophy of Robert Monroe. TMI Focus, 28(1-2), 1, 3, 5-6, 8-9; 11.

Findlay, J. N. (1978). Plato and Platonism. New York, NY: Times Books.

Harner, M. (1990). The way of the shaman (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1980)

Keen, S. (1994). Hymns to an unknown god: Awakening the spirit in everyday life. New York, NY: Bantam.

Kohåk, E. (1978). Idea & experience: Edmund Husserl’s project of phenomenology in ideas I. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Magee, B. (1971). Conversation with Alasdair MacIntyre: Philosophy and social theory. In B. Magee (Ed.), Modern British philosophy pp. 191-201). New York, NY: St. Martin’s.

Maslow,A.H.(1963,January).The need to know and the fear of knowing. Journal of General Psychology, 68, 119-25.

Moen, B. (1997). Voyages into the unknown: Exploring the afterlife series, Vol. I. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads.

Monroe, R. A. (1971). Journeys out of the body. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Monroe, R. A. (1985). Far journeys. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Monroe, R. A. (1994). Ultimate journey. New York, NY: Doubleday.

Nietzsche, F. (1974). The gay science (W. Kauffman, Ed. & Trans.). New York, NY: Vintage. (Original work published 1887)

Pearce, J. C. (2007). The death of religion and the rebirth of spirit: A return to the intelligence of the heart. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

Plato. (1949). Theaetetus (B. Jowett, Trans.). New York, NY: Bobbs-Merrill. (Original work published 4th century BCE)

Plato (1951). The symposium (W.Hamilton,Trans.).NewYork,NY:Penguin.(Original work published 4th century BCE)

Reichenbach, H. (1951). The rise of scientific philosophy. Berkeley, CA: The University of California Press.

Rorty, R. (1982). Consequences of pragmatism (Essays: 1972-1980). Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.

Ruck, C. A. P. (1986). Mushrooms and philosophers. In R. G. Wasson, S. Kramrisch, J. Ott, & C.A.P. Ruck, (Eds.), Persephone’s quest: Entheogens and the origins of religion (pp. 151-177). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J. A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to methods (pp. 53-80). London, England: Sage.

Warnock, G. J. (1966). English philosophy since 1900. New York, NY: Galaxy/Oxford University Press.(Original work published 1958)

Wilson, C. (1980). The new existentialism. London, England: Wildwood House. (Original work published 1966)

© 2011 by The Monroe Institute

Winter 1993

F. Holmes Atwater is a scientific investigator and human behavioral engineer specializing in techniques for cultivating propitious states of consciousness. He became administrator of TMI’s ongoing computerized brain-wave research project in 1988. The following report on TMI laboratory activities was presented at the Professional Seminar in July

Abstract

This paper discusses an EEC definition of the Hemi-Sync process from the dissociative state into transcendent states and their experiences. A Hemi-Sync index based on brain­wave synchrony in response to multiplexed binaural beat frequencies is proposed. The role of alpha brain-wave sup­pression in relation to the development of these states also is considered. A commentary, including protocols, data analy­sis, and illustrations of initial results of ongoing research, is included.

History

For years researchers associated with and those indepen­dent of the Institute have been in search of an objective way to measure and appraise something known as the Hemi-Sync process. Most researchers have chosen the electroencephalograph (EEC) as their instrument or device to conduct these objective observations. Conventional research protocols called for these researchers to look for classic evoked-potential EEC responses to binaural beat stimuli. Failing in their efforts to observe a so-called direct response to Hemi-Sync, these well-intentioned researchers were forced by their own findings to conclude that the binaural sound patterns of Hemi-Sync had no observable effect on brain waves. A 4 Hz binaural beat signal did not present a classic evoked-potential 4 Hz EEC response.

In 1988 The Monroe Institute acquired a computerized EEC recording device, the LEXICOR Neurosearch-24 (NRS-24). The NRS-24 provided EEC data acquisition, analysis, and display. The EEC research that we began at that time was not designed in form and protocol to ensure acceptance by orthodox segments of our culture. It was obvious that the Hemi-Sync sound patterns worked; there had been literally thousands of individuals who knew from their own experience that this was true. The Institute confirmed what other researchers had found: Conventional EEC evoked-potential protocols simply did not provide any information about how Hemi-Sync was affecting the brain. The Institute was not bound, however, by the often narrow confines of convention. The Institute chose to observe brain-wave activity openly with the highly versatile NRS-24 and wait for patterns to emerge. Later, more traditional scientific protocols were used to validate hypotheses developed. Through this process, objective evidence of the effect of Hemi-Sync sound patterns on the brain has emerged.

The Dissociative State

During what is termed normal waking consciousness, nonphysical phenomena generally remain at the unconscious level. When perceptions of the nonphysical intrude into what is otherwise occupied with sensory data about the physical world, an opening is experienced. This, however, is not classified as a dissociative state. Only when nonphysical phenomena constitute the whole field of perception, when there is no impression of being “normally” in the physical body, when the physical body is asleep or fully entranced, then together these constitute a dissociative state.

In terms of EEC, the shift from normal waking consciousness into a dissociative state is evidenced by a change in amplitude, frequency, and locale of predominant brain waves. Looking at the bipolar electrode position C3-C4 (the median of the central cortex), the waking state is characterized by alpha and beta brain waves. The dissociative state is characterized by relatively high-amplitude slow-wave (delta and theta) activity.

Sleep is a dissociative state. Deep meditative states and some trance states can also be classified as dissociative states (Figure 1). In the case of the latter, synchrony of brain-wave activity is increased. This brain-wave synchrony can be seen at the bipolar C3-C4 electrode site.

Figure 1:  The Dissociative State

The suppression of this alpha activity frees one to perceive nonphysical energies outside the confines of physical-law belief systems.

The Transcendent State

Beyond dissociation is transcendence. The transcendent state can be defined as outside the normal limits of one’s ego and one’s personal unconscious mind, into universal awareness. Experiences in this state are many times ineffable. Experiences in this realm are more than passive diversions. Their creative power can change the very nature of the participant’s reality

Figure 2: The Transcendent State

In terms of EEC, the shift from a dissociative state into transcendence is evidenced by further changes in amplitude, frequency, and locale of predominant brain waves. The transcendent state is characterized by relatively high-amplitude slow-wave (delta and theta) brain waves, but this is accompanied by regional (usually temporal) gamma wave activity (Figure 2). There is evidence that brain-wave synchrony is increased during experiences in transcendent states. The shift in consciousness from the dissociative state into transcendence is also evidenced by continued alpha suppression.

The Hemi-Sync Index

BioLex V200 software for the NRS-24 has enabled the development of a Hemi-Sync index, an objective measuring device which demonstrates the brain-wave response to Hemi-Sync sound patterns. This index is a complex combination of parameters heretofore unrealized in conventional EEC records. The first component of this index is frequency. Brain waves must first be of the same frequency to be considered potentially synchronous. The second element of this index is phase-angle symmetry. Brain-wave synchrony is defined as having brain waves of equal frequency and phase angle. Frequency and phase angle are easily derived with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) mathematics.

Synchrony alone, however, is insufficient to define the Hemi-Sync index. Even though brain waves may approach 100% synchrony, they may be of so low an amplitude that they have little or no significant relationship to the brains overall functions. Remembering too that a shift into a dissociative state and later into a transcendent state is accompanied by higher-amplitude slow-wave activity, the formula for a Hemi-Sync index is frequency equality plus phase-angle equality multiplied by the amplitude in microvolts of slow-wave activity. The NRS-24 BioLex V200 software enables determination of this derived parameter through simple user programming. By entering the derived parameter, “synch(band)*band,” the software will compute and display the Hemi-Sync index. The index can be measured from the bipolar C3-C4 electrode.

Alpha Suppression

Hemi-Sync (the mixing of a number of binaural beat frequencies) generates an audioencephalographic-interferometry effect which can be used to transform or suppress innate resting-state-alpha [Ed.: Also see HEMI-SYNC™ JOURNAL, Summer 1992, Vol. X, No. 3). Some “Focus level” Hemi-Sync frequencies used do not interfere with resting-state-alpha and allow the listener to integrate and relate to “tape experiences” in his or her everyday, familiar life. Other Hemi-Sync frequencies endeavor to alter or suppress resting-state-alpha to provide listeners with high-fidelity, rich “Focus level” dissociative states and transcendent experiences. This alpha suppression can be seen in NRS-24 topographs and, with the advent of the new BioLex V200 software, can be quantified and graphed.

Ongoing Research

Introduction

It was stated earlier that well-intentioned researchers failed in their efforts to observe a so-called direct brain-wave response to Hemi-Sync. Simply stated, a 4 Hz binaural beat signal did not present a classic evoked-potential 4 Hz EEC response. This evoked-potential hypothesis, however, was flawed from the onset. The lower auditory centers of the brain provide the neural pathways for the generation of binaural beats. It is there, in each hemisphere’s olivary nucleus, deep inside the brain, that beat-frequency oscilla­tions can be measured directly. At the cortex, the site of EEC electrodes, these original binaural frequencies can only be observed as having been integrated with prevailing electroneural activity. It is the entrainment that occurs during this integration process that accounts for the effectiveness of Hemi-Sync sound patterns. Applying a more sophisticated investigative paradigm than that of simple evoked-potential protocols, objective EEC evidence of the effect of Hemi-Sync binaural beats has been established.

Procedure and Method

A series of volunteer subjects is being studied. All volun­teers are being examined while listening to the same series of sounds through piezoelectric stereo headphones, lying supine on a waterbed in an isolated, shielded environment. Volunteers are instructed to attend to sounds over a period of approximately forty-five minutes. Volunteers are connect­ed to a 20-channel, computerized EEC (Neurosearch-24, LEXICOR, Boulder, Colorado), using V151 software. The entire 10/20 International system of electrodes is being used (Electro-Cap), with linked ears serving as reference and the midline vertex as a ground. An AB^NA experimental protocol is being used. Ninety seconds of EEC data are being collect­ed at baseline (without sound), during stimulation of a series of experimental Hemi-Sync tones, and postbaseline (without sound). The NRS-24 sampling rate of 256 Hz is being used, which provides for a brain-wave frequency response of 1 Hz-64 Hz, a frequency resolution of 1 Hz, and a temporal resolution of one second. Subjective reports of experiential content are obtained both during stimulation, when appropriate, and at a debriefing session at the end of each experiment. All EEC data is recorded and saved on an IBM-compatible 386 AT computer in raw form accessible only by LEXICOR’s proprietary software and hardware.

Volunteers

The volunteer pool includes adult males and females, aged twenty to eighty. Familiarity with Hemi-Sync ranges from naive to adept.

Data Analysis

All data is screened for movement artifacts; those epochs demonstrating artifact levels exceeding 30 microvolts of delta at bipolar site C3-C4 are discarded from analysis. For each volunteer’s data, each ninety-second recording period is then subjected to an FFT analysis of the EEC activ­ity at bipolar site C3-C4 to determine the fluctuations of individual frequency bands over time and across varied stim­uli. The analysis is computed by taking the FFT of a single epoch of data (one second), then summing the values within the range of frequencies corresponding to each band. Average amplitude in microvolts of delta (0 Hz-4 Hz), theta (4 Hz-8 Hz), alpha (8 Hz-13 Hz), and beta (13 Hz-20 Hz) is computed.

Two designated derived parameters are computed simul­taneously with the above FFT analysis. The first of these is the Hemi-Sync index, “synch(delta)*delta.” The second is an alpha-suppression algorithm, “% alpha².” A graph of these two derived parameters is then constructed, extending from baseline across varied stimuli to postbaseline. This graph is examined to substantiate the hypothesis that Hemi-Sync binaural beat stimuli engender elevated-amplitude slow-wave EEC synchrony and that this effect may be inversely proportional to the suppression of resting-state alpha. Individual ninety-second recording periods can also be graphed and scrutinized to substantiate the same hypothesis.

Results

Significant alterations in EEC frequency, amplitude, and synchrony at bipolar site C3-C4 are being observed. When compared to baseline, postbaseline, and a control trial, the Hemi-Sync index indicates elevated-amplitude slow-wave EEC synchrony during periods of Hemi-Sync stimulus.  Alpha suppression appears related to Hemi-Sync stimulus as well. Individual ninety-second recording periods provide a closer look at the relationship between elevated-amplitude, synchronous slow-wave EEC activity and alpha suppression. Figure 3 shows the Hemi-Sync index and related alpha suppression from baseline, across varied Hemi-Sync stimuli, to postbaseline.

This subject appears to have regressed slightly into resting-state-alpha during Hemi-Sync stimulus BF4. The Hemi-Sync index is at its highest point during stimulus BF10. Before illustrating more ABNA protocol subjects, examining a control trial is valuable. In Figure 4, the subject is not provided with any Hemi-Sync stimulus. As you can see, there is no significant increase in the Hemi-Sync index and there is no alpha suppression. In Figure 5, this same subject, on another day, was exposed to the experimental Hemi-Sync stimulus. This subject appears to have awakened somewhat during BF8. With the next subject (Figure 6), a now familiar pattern of inversely proportional indexes demonstrates objective EEC evidence of Hemi-Sync influence once again. After a slight regression during BF6, the subject moves deeply into the Hemi-Sync environment. The next subject’s record shows a similar pattern (Figure 7).

There is an awakening during BF10 and the deepest state occurs during BF6. To get an overall impression of how Hemi-Sync affects the total volunteer subject population to date, it is possible to average all subject data and plot a graph. Figure 8 illustrates that Hemi-Sync stimulus induces elevated-amplitude slow-wave EEC synchrony and that this effect is often inversely proportional to the suppression of resting-state-alpha.

Summary

A brief history of Hemi-Sync EEC research showed that classic evoked-potential protocols were inappropriate. Definitions of the dissociative state and the transcendent state were presented. A Hemi-Sync index was proposed. The role of alpha brain-wave suppression was also considered. Evidence was presented that supported the hypothesis set forth that Hemi-Sync stimuli induce elevated-amplitude slow-wave EEC synchrony and that this effect may be inversely proportional to the suppression of resting-state-alpha.

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.

Summer 1996

Richard Cauley Kennerly is currently the director of clinical services for an adolescent treatment center in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. He will begin doctoral studies this fall in behavioral medicine. Rick has a keen interest in effective nondrug therapies, neuronal regulation, means of accessing full human potential, and “in general, everything under the sun”. His research was a direct outgrowth of his insatiable thirst for knowledge. After what he describes as a lifetime of academic struggle, Rick discovered that a combination of nutritional supplementation and binaural beat signals could offset his learning disabilities. Learning finally became a pleasure. This thesis arose from his personal success with and interest in binaural beat signals.

Introduction

This study is an empirical inquiry into the facilitation of human memory with the use of beta frequency binaural beat audio signals (BBSs) under conditions designed to control for confounding variables. Previous studies have not controlled for confounding variables, preventing any definite conclusions on the extent to which BBSs may facilitate memory.

Statistically significant results in this study would support earlier nonempirical research which has found BBSs to be useful in facilitating improved academic performance among mainstream and attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) populations. The results of the earlier studies, and more tightly controlled studies with other brain-wave training techniques, suggest that beta frequency BBSs should significantly facilitate memory.

Hypotheses, Dependent Variables, and Operational Definition of Memory

Four hypotheses were used, each postulating that in a study controlling for confounding variables the experimental group would display a statistically significant improvement in mean scores over the control group at a .05 or less significance level.

Hypothesis one (H₁) postulated a statistically significant higher mean score for the experimental group as measured by a twenty-five-item word list recall test. This first test was a simple free recall memory task.

Hypothesis two (H₂) postulated a statistically significant higher mean score for the experimental group as measured by a twenty-five-item word list recall/recognition test. This test was a German vocabulary combined recall/recognition test given to obtain data on the facilitation of memory with a more complex associative recall/recognition task.

Hypothesis three (H₃) postulated a statistically significant higher mean score for the experimental group as measured by the Welscher Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-R) digit symbol subtest.

Hypothesis four (H₄) postulated a statistically significant higher mean score for the experimental group as measured by the WAIS-R digit span subtest.

The third and fourth tests were administered in order to gain clarity on the observations of teachers who have reported improvements in grades, student attention, and decreased hyperactivity while using binaural beats in their classes. Facilitation of my ability to attend and persevere at routine tasks may be in part, or in whole, the underlying factor in the facilitation of memory by binaural beat signals.

Statistically significant improvement in the mean scores of the experimental group over the control group on any of the tests allows one to infer that facilitation of test performance occurred. In the absence of confounding variables, this facilitation of test performance can be attributed to the independent variable.

The free recall word list test and my combined recognition/recall test are the two most memory-related tasks out of the four presented and thus the two most relevant to drawing any conclusions about the facilitation of memory. For my purposes of this study, memory was operationally defined as a subject’s ability to reproduce on a test, within the time allocated, the information presented on each of four subtests.

Review of Related Literature

A quiet revolution has been occurring in the study of human cognitive functioning and its associated brain-wave activity. New interventions have arisen out of ongoing research in electroencephalographic (EEG) feedback. Utilizing this information, biofeedback researchers have been training subjects who have frequency patterns associated with various disorders to alter their brain-wave patterns to match those associated with normally functioning individuals. This approach has been found to be a rapid and effective intervention for many severe and resistant pathologies including depression, sleep disorders, seizures, chronic fatigue, headaches, mood swings, anxiety, alcoholism, addiction, ADHD, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress, paralysis, and cognitive impairment as a result of a stroke or head injury.

Possible Mechanisms Underlying Brain-wave Training

Different neurotransmitters are triggered by different frequencies and wave forms. The implication is that the brain’s neurochemistry, and thereby its functioning, can be altered with modifications of brain-wave frequency. There is also speculation that the neurochemical response to trauma may become entrained as a permanent state and that brain-wave training may allow a return to the pre-trauma neurochemical state.

Perhaps the most famous research to date using EEG biofeedback training has been the work of Peniston and Kulkosky, developers of the Peniston protocol. Alpha-theta brain-wave training was used to increase the amount and amplitude of [alcoholic] subjects’ alpha and theta brain waves. The control group, who received traditional medical treatment, demonstrated an 80 percent relapse rate during the thirteen-month post-treatment follow-up period. The experimental group, who received fifteen twenty-minute brain-wave training sessions (and no other treatment) demonstrated only a 20 percent relapse rate during the same period.

Other researchers have investigated the benefits of brain-wave training for beta frequencies. In a controlled study, Dr. Siegfried Othmer found that beta training produces average IQ increases of 23 percent.  Where the starting IO value was lower than 100, the average IQ increase was 33 points. Brain-wave training might actually increase the level of functioning of an unimpaired subject.

Unfortunately, financial resources limit the availability of EEG biofeedback brain-wave training. It is hard to imagine a classroom with all twenty students seated, with electrodes on their heads, and a biofeedback therapist attending to each of them. Fortunately, EEG biofeedback training is not the only way to accomplish the EEG training.

Audio and visual driving of brain-wave frequencies without a feedback loop has been found to be an effective method of performing brain-wave training, and cranial electrical stimulation introduces the desirable frequencies by low-level electrical currents applied to the cranium.

There is another cost-effective method of conducting brain-wave training: binaural beat audio signals. Only sound driving is used to alter brain waves and, in specific forms of intervention, selected frequencies can be presented. By using audio stimulation only, equipment is reduced to a tape and personal stereo tape player. Access may also be provided by open air speakers, relieving the subjects from having to wear any equipment at all.

Variables in This Study

The independent variable was the presence of BBSs on the instrumental music tape for the experimental group and the absence of BBSs on the same instrumental music tape heard by the control group. The four dependent variables were the tests administered to fifty undergraduate students of West Georgia College, most of whom participated for extra credit or to meet a course requirement. A between

groups design, also known as an independent subject design, was used in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned with a double-blind methodology (by a coin toss) to experimental and control groups.  A 0.5 or less significance level was used to determine whether or not to accept the null hypothesis (p>.05) or reject it (p<=.05) in favor of theresearch hypothesis.  The experimental group contained twenty-seven subjects who were presented with a music tape bearing binaural beat audio signals while performing four different learning tasks. The control group contained twenty-three subjects who performed the same four learning tasks as the experimental group. The music tape that the control group listened to did not contain the BBSs but was otherwise identical to the experimental group’s tape. The two tapes were provided by The Monroe Institute. They were presented via headphones and a stereo tape player. The researcher controlled the sound level to prevent possible confounding of the results by variations in volume.

In order to counterbalance any effect of practice or fatigue, the four learning tasks were presented on a rotating basis known as Latin squares to insure the even distribution of any carryover effects from one learning task to another.

Each subject completed a consent form in compliance with the West Georgia Institutional Review Board procedure for research with human subjects. It was explained that the purpose of the experiment was to determine what effect, if any, listening to these tapes at a low volume has on memory tasks, that the tapes did not contain any subliminal messages, that there would be four separate memory tasks, and that the whole process should take no more than forty-five minutes. The results of the study and personal scores were available to subjects after the study was completed.

At the time of data collection, neither the experimenter nor subject knew which tape was for the experimental group and which was for me control group. Once a subject was assigned to a group, the appropriate tape was placed in the tape player, and the subject was asked to listen to the tape for fifteen minutes. This allowed time for entrainment of the brain waves of the subjects in the experimental group. Subject numbers were placed on the front of the test packets, which were also marked for the sex of the subject, position in Latin square rotation, and group.

At the end of the fifteen minutes of listening to the tape, each subject was instructed to continue listening to the tape during each of the four subtests. Each learning task was presented in the most uniform manner possible.

Scoring of Tests

The word list recall and the German vocabulary recognition/recall tests were scored with one point being assigned for each correct answer. The digit symbol and digit span subtests of the WAIS-R were scored and scaled before being analyzed, in accordance with the procedures outlined in the WAIS-R manual.

Limitations

To eliminate confounding variables, a simple post-test-only design was employed. Each subject was seen in a single interview to be assigned to a group, to be exposed to one of the two levels of the independent variable, and finally to have the effect of the independent variable measured. While this design maximized the isolation of the independent variable, there was no opportunity for it to exert a cumulative effect upon the dependent variable. This is an important limitation. Peniston and Kulkosky noted, “Time course analysis of the EEG effects of brainwave training revealed that increases in alpha and theta rhythms occurred gradually across the fifteen treatment sessions.” Studies evaluating student performance over a period of weeks or months have also had the benefit of the cumulative effect. A logical next step might be to repeat this study with a longitudinal dimension to observe any increase in performance across sessions and to observe the effect of binaural beat audio signals on learning as well as memory.

Placebo and suggestion effects were deliberately filtered out by the double-blind design. If some of the positive results of previous studies resulted from just such effects, the positive results of this study may not be as profound.

Figure 2. Word List Recognition Mean Scores

Results

The experimental group displayed statistically significant higher mean scores on three of the four dependent measures, allowing for the rejection of the null hypothesis for H₁, H₃ and H₄. The obtained data did not allow for the rejection of the null hypothesis with H₂. Figures 1 through 4 display the mean scores with histograms and significance level.

Figure 1. Word List Free Recall Mean Scores

Figure 3. Scaled Digit Symbol Mean Scores

Figure 4. Scaled Digit Span Mean Scores

Discussion

The data support facilitation of memory by binaural beat audio signals as measured by the word list recall test. The results of the digit span and digit symbol tests support reports of a decrease in student hyperactivity and an increased ability to pay attention in class while using BBSs. It is reasonable to infer, given the current data, that beta frequency BBSs are helpful for those individuals seeking help in free recall memory, attention, and completion of routine tasks.

The word list recall is a simple free recall test and thus was considered by the experimenter to be the core dependent variable for examining any facilitation of memory with binaural beat audio signals.

The German vocabulary recognition list is more of a combined free recall and cued recall task. Surprisingly, the results for this subtest did not show a statistically significant increase in memory. Since a Latin square rotation of the tests was used, this is not a result of the order of presentation.  Perhaps the associative memory mechanisms behind remembering the meanings for a novel set of words were not reinforced as strongly as the mechanisms behind the pure recall of a word list. None of the subjects knew German, and the chosen words did not resemble their English equivalents. Since previous work in the comparable task of second language acquisition has reported that BBSs improved performance, the lack of statistically significant mean scores in this case may be an artifact of the single session limitation. It would be interesting to see if the data from administering a foreign language vocabulary test would have a statistically significant outcome in a longitudinal study.

The digit span subtest indicates ability to recall and repeat back a series of rote numerical digits and also an individual’s ability to attend.

The digit symbol test is timed. Heightened memory should facilitate higher scores due to less time spent going back to the list of symbols and their numerical equivalents. It is characterized as a performance subtest which measures the subject’s ability to persevere at routine tasks.

Relation of Results to Previous Research

The results support the ability of BBSs to function as an effective, stand-alone form of brain-wave training. The research corroborates the observations of teachers who have reported better grades and fewer behavioral problems while utilizing binaural beat audio signals in the classroom. The data support the conclusions of previous research that binaural beat audio signals increase a subject’s ability to perform free recall tasks, attend (reduced student distractibility), and persevere at routine tasks (as measured by the digit span and digit symbol subtests); three important dimensions for success in the classroom.

Recommendations

It would be rewarding to pursue the effect of binaural beat audio signals into broader applications. Of particular interest would be the use of binaural beat audio signals to help both ADHD and unimpaired students function at a higher level in mainstream classes. Another study seems to be in order to properly address the question of whether or not the BBSs can facilitate learning as well as memory. Finally, it would be of interest to investigate alpha-theta BBS brain-wave training in the treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse. If the results of such a study find comparable benefits to the Peniston protocol, then the social and educational impact would be wide-ranging.

Conclusions

Having found binaural beat audio signals to be an effective method of facilitating memory on three of the four dependent variables in this study, it may be inferred that they are a viable form of brain-wave training and could provide a portable, inexpensive method of assisting students and other individuals in memory tasks. This study suggests that the observed results with binaural beat signals in previous research were the result of the binaural beat signals and not the result of placebo effects or a confounding variable.

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.

Dr. Davis practices general dentistry in Erlanger, Kentucky, and is a doctoral candidate with the American Institute of Hypnotherapy. A member of the Professional Division since February of 1989, he has achieved dramatic results using nitrous-oxide-oxygen sedation and Hemi-Sync. His goal is to apply Hemi-Sync techniques toward achieving drug-free dentistry and to aid in hypnotherapy induction. Dr. Davis offers the following cases representing his results so far.

DISCUSSION

Nitrous-oxide-oxygen conscious sedation is also known as relative analgesia. It is also commonly and incorrectly referred to as “analgesia.” The term “analgesia” as defined in the Stages of Anesthesia, is one of unconsciousness and is never employed in this mode of treatment.

The concentration of gas ranged from 40%-70% oxygen, well within the limits of safety. (Air is about 20% oxygen.)

The Hemi-Sync tapes used in this study were the Pre-Op tape from the EMERGENCY SERIES and random METAMUSIC tapes.

Due to the difficulty of gathering meaningful data in the clinical milieu, it was decided to report the patient’s impressions and comments, along with a brief case history. Selection of patients was random, in that no one was excluded from the study for any reason, i.e., age, sex, race, attitude, etc. Expression of interest and a willingness to participate fulfilled the only requirement.

Seven cases are presented, although more than twenty have been documented. These seven cases cover a wide spectrum of fears, phobias, and anxieties associated with pain and dental treatment.

It is notable that of the twenty cases documented, there were no failures.  There are, however, limitations.

CASE PRESENTATION

Six of the seven patients received conscious sedation and Hemi-Sync.

CASE # 1

A middle-aged, male, Caucasian, recently unemployed, faced with a career change, had postponed dental treatment for twenty or more years. He felt that his prospects for employment would be enhanced if he could present a more aesthetic appearance.

Since all previous dental treatment had proved unsatisfactory from an emotional and psychological aspect, the patient expressed an interest in treatment alternatives.

VISIT # 1

Pre-Op Tape

The patient requested a local anesthetic in conjunction with the treatment.

Patient Comment:”That’s pretty good, Doc. I only felt a little pain, not bad, mind you. I’ll be back.”

VISIT # 2

The patient again requested local anesthetic.

Patient Comment:”Didn’t feel a thing, Doc. That stuff’s really good.”

VISIT # 3

The patient did not mention local anesthetic and none was used. Four teeth were prepared for crowns.

Patient Comment:”Didn’t feel a thing, Doc.”

Patient Conclusion:”If I knew about this, I would have been here much sooner. I’ll never wait this long again.”

CASE # 2

The patient was a male, middle thirties, Black, employed at a managerial level. He confessed to a morbid fear of the needles used in dental treatment and had postponed for too long.

VISIT # 1

Pre-Op Tape

Several large restorations were completed.

Patient Comment:”I didn’t feel a thing. That’s really great.”

VISIT # 2

Single tooth prepared for a crown.

Patient Comment:”The pinched nerve in my neck has quit hurting. I feel good all over.” (No mention of the dental procedure.)

Patient Conclusion:”There’s just nothing to be afraid of. We’ll be in touch more often.” “By the way, Doc, I’ll be back and you can help me with my smoking problem.”

CASE # 3

The patient was a middle-aged Caucasian female, professional, with no particular aversion to dental treatment. Conscious sedation was not used. Local anesthetic was her preference. The problem in this case was time. She had to relocate quickly in order to gain a career advantage. This required a longer-than-usual visit.

VISIT # 1

Pre-Op Tape

Several teeth were prepared for crowns.

Patient Comment:”I can’t believe I’ve been here so long. The time just flew by.” “My God, that’s amazing.”

CASE # 4

The patient was a street-wise, teen-aged Caucasian male with a dramatic aversion to dental treatment in general and to injections in particular. He was present in my office as an alternative to the prospect of severe bodily harm promised by his parents. (The dental insurance was due to expire shortly.)

VISIT # 1

METAMUSIC  Tape

Two moderately large restorations were placed.

Patient Comment:”That’s weird, I mean man, that’s weird.” “Really weird.” (No comment on the treatment.)

CASE # 5

The patient was a pre-teen, Caucasian male with no history of dental fears or phobias. Since his mother was using the Hemi-Sync system, he expressed an interest.

VISIT # 1

METAMUSIC Tape

Two moderately large restorations were placed.

Patient Comment:”Everything’s fine.”

Patient Conclusion:”I could have stayed for an hour if you wanted me to.”

CASE # 6

The patient was a physician, Caucasian, male, late fifties. No particular dental phobias. Previous dental treatment had been accomplished without the use of local anesthetic. His entire family was participating in the Hemi-Sync program, and he expressed an interest.

VISIT # 1

METAMUSIC Tape

A single tooth was prepared for a crown.

Patient Conclusion:”Well — general anesthesia would be more effective — but outside of that –.”

CASE # 7

This is the most complex and challenging case in the entire study. The history of this patient precedes my use of Hemi-Sync tapes by several years. The patient was a Caucasian male, middle thirties, well-educated, suffering severe stress from work-related activities. For several years he had been given Elixir Donnatal 30 minutes prior to treatment, and extensive local anesthetic in addition to the conscious sedation. All of this proved to be quite unsatisfactory. The “pain” could be tolerated so he continued to permit treatment.

When the Hemi-Sync program was introduced, he was the first patient to come to mind. He was given a Pre-Op tape to take home and play at least once every day.

Prior to treatment, he began playing the tape when he left his home. (His wife drove.)

VISIT # 1

Pre-Op Tape

Extensive local anesthetic was administered and multiple crowns were prepared.

Patient Comment:”I’m not afraid anymore.” “I can sleep the night before I come to see you.” “By the way, I’ve quit taking Valium before I go to work, I just play the tape.” “I feel better without the dope.”

The following day, the patient’s wife appeared at my office, on his orders, to confirm what he had stated the previous day.
Patient Conclusion:”This is wonderful.” “There’s just nothing to be afraid of anymore.” “It’s a shame I just can’t afford to continue.” (His wife claims that this is not the case.)

CONCLUSION

For the most part, dentists venture forth to work in an unmarked emotional and psychological minefield, without knowing how to defuse them. This is at least a beginning. Hemi-Sync seems to be the decisive factor in enhancing the effects of both local anesthetic and conscious sedation. The patients’ comments were all highly positive. There were no cases where the patient was not impressed in some manner. Could it be that Hemi-Sync alone can be adapted to meet the needs of the patient, regardless of their degree of fear, phobia, or anxiety, without any chemical intervention?

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The first effort has accomplished more than was dreamed possible. Subsequently, it has become a standard operating procedure in my practice of dentistry.

Hemi-Sync® is a registered trademark of Interstate Industries, Inc.
© 1990 by The Monroe Institute

Eileen Carda, a Sustaining Member of TMl since 1987, submitted this report describing her experiences using Hemi-Sync with major dental work from the patient’s perspective.

The following is a report of my use of Hemi-Sync in connection with some major dental work I have had performed in the last year. I currently have four finished dental crowns, one on each last back tooth. The first one I had done traditionally, using the anesthetic commonly administered. The other three, worked on separately over a year, were completely without the use of any type of anesthetic, topically or otherwise. I did, however, use Hemi-Sync, specifically the Pain Control tape on the second and third, and the Open Exercise tape for the fourth.

At the time of the second crown, I had been using the Pain Control tape primarily to fall sleep, and for experiments in healing other maladies. I had also completed a short class in self-hypnosis. I wanted to try hypnosis on the dental work, though I was not confident it would work. Since I have many fillings, and had already had one crown done, I knew what the anesthetic effect felt like, as well as the later accompanying stiffness, etc., from the shots. I was anxious to see if I could dispense with the medication, as I always felt nauseated from using it. When I expressed my fears to the hypnosis teacher, he basically told me. . .if it works for other people, what makes you think it won’t work for you?

The day of the appointment for the second crown, I showed up with the hypnosis techniques the teacher had given me, and my Sony Walkman, with my Pain Control tape as a backup. I told my dentist I wanted to try the hypnosis and not have any anesthesia. His first reaction was surprise and a shocked, “No! Don’t you know there are a lot of exposed nerves, gum manipulation, and major drilling involved?” I said I remembered, but I wanted to try this even if I were nervous. He told me to sit in the chair and do my thing. At this appointment, I was also to have a filling redone on the same row of teeth as the crown, and also to have a cleaning. (J wanted to get everything over with in one appointment.)

I sat in the dental chair and began to play the Pain Control tape through my headphones. During the beginning of the tape I gave myself the hypnosis suggestions of (1) Everything in my mouth the dentist was working on would be numb for two hours, and afterwards I would not be aware of pain from the worked-on tooth, and that it would heal quickly. (2) That I would not fall asleep during the procedure and that I would be able to respond to whatever directions the dentist would give me. (3) That I would automatically recognize and reject anything negative that was said or implied.

The verbal guidance tape reached the count of 20 before the dentist came in to work on me. Just before that I felt myself spiral out and around similar to a dizzy feeling, almost like the state of an OBE out-of-body experience. I recognized it as such and the spiral stopped, though I felt quite deep in the tape.

The dentist began to work and drill on the tooth, not saying anything except to whisper to his assistant that I had not had any anesthetic. I could feel the drilling and the sensations of the work, but no shooting pains or anything that registered as pain. He even stopped and said he would have to perform some electrosurgery on the gum, that most patients at this point were given another shot, and would I now like a shot? I dumbly shook my head no, and he continued. I could feel the touch of the instruments to the skin, but again, nothing that felt like pain. The dentist wasn’t saying a word throughout the procedure. He finished packing and capping it with the temporary crown. Then he said he was ready to redo the other filling, that the tape had ended and did I need to do anything. Again, I just shook my head no, and he proceeded to fill the other tooth. Same reaction. He finished. I went out to put money in the meter by my car, returned and went to the bathroom before the cleaning. I noticed the pupils of my eyes were quite dilated.

The cleaning necessitated taking x-rays. I remember the bite-wings that were used did not bother me this time as in the past.

Later that day, hours after the work was done, the side with the crown and filling felt as if no work had been done at all on them. On the opposite side, on the roof, I was noticing a pain, and when I looked in my mouth, I realized I had inadvertently cut myself on one of the bite-wings of the x-rays—the only casualty of the procedure.

Two weeks later, I returned for the permanent crown and did no preparation and had no medication. I certainly felt the sensitivity of the exposed tooth before it was finished. I knew the nerves were still intact! The dentist was extremely interested in the fact I had gone through it all without once wincing. We spoke about the power of the brain, etc. He did not question me much about the methods.

It was discovered that the third and fourth crowns were needed after the next six-month follow-up. For the third crown, I again used the Pain Control tape with the suggestions. This time I did feel pain sensation, but seemed to have a sort of control over the body, and did not feel the pains were severe enough to wince. The dentist was talking throughout with the assistant, and I remember feeling distracted in the process. I felt I was not nearly as “out of it” as with the first experience. When the permanent crown was affixed two weeks later, I again underwent the procedure without any preparation. I felt more acutely the potential pain of the exposed tooth than while it actually was being prepared.

When the fourth crown was about to be done, I thought I’d use something I felt was “stronger” than the Pain Control tape, so I experimented with the Open Exercise tape. I asked the dentist not to talk a lot during the procedure, and used the same hypnosis suggestions as earlier. I was very nervous this time, but felt myself get into the tape more so than with the third crown experience, but not as deeply as with the second crown. I felt only occasional moments of the shooting pain sensation, but not uncontrollably enough to wince. Again, electrosurgery was performed and I felt only the sensation of the instrument touching the skin, but not anything that would be called pain. I felt no pain sensation with the packing or with the creation of the impressions. During the week before the permanent crown was affixed, I did notice a pressure sensitivity to the tooth, as well as an accompanying soreness of the electrosurgery areas (this was not apparent in the two hours of the procedure). The exposed tooth was extremely sensitive, more so than the previous ones, as the permanent crown was being fitted.

It is my firm belief that Hemi-Sync is extremely effective as a pain control technique during such surgery. In all three cases, I applied the hypnosis suggestions for the permanent crown settings without using the tape, and I felt every twinge.

The dental assistant asked me about the tapes. I had brought the Pain Control tape with me in case the Open Exercise tape didn’t work, and let her borrow it for a while. She later reported that it helped her relax as well as fall asleep after exhausting days at work when she normally had difficulty.