William Blake said, "Man has no Body distinct from his Soul; for that call'd Body is a portion of Soul discern'd by the five senses.... If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he see all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern" (Hughes). In other words, Behold and Become.
We experience this world through our five filters—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. It's hard to imagine what we would perceive without these filters.
There was a lot of text devoted to advanced yogic and meditative states. In one of my first blogs, I wrote "Hughes text (specifically parts of Chapter 3) reminded me of something I read in a Kabbalist text. It argued that the "real world" was filtered by our five senses. This filtering process keeps us from experience true reality." Hughes reiterates this idea again in this chapter. This concept, I believe, is central to the craft of Shamans, and advanced practitioners of yogic and meditative states.
I'd really like to know more about Buddhist and Hindu mandalas or yantras briefly touched on in Hughes' text on page 154.
In the first week of class, when we were asked to name different methods of altered states. I mentioned the "OM". In the kind of meditation I do, hemi-sync, the OM (or resonant tuning) is crucial to reaching an altered state. It's like a warp drive for meditation, allowing one to lock into the natural vibration that exist around us.
Hughes explained it well. He mentioned that many ancient (and modern) traditions teach that the origin of the whole of creation is vibration. I am so interested in the primal sound, the vibration of the Big Bang!! Fascinating!
Pearce also discusses many of the methods of ACS, commonly associated with the Shaman, Buddhist, and others, such as hypnotism and trance experiences.
Walsh, Part 7, tied right in with the Hughes and Pearce text. Walsh presented his readers with a detailed table, comparing the experiences of a Shamanic journey with the experiences of advanced yogic and meditative states. Toward the end of this section, he refutes all the outrageous claims that schizophrenic, Buddhist, and yogic states are indistinguishable.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
blog time
Hughes chapter 11, Walsh Part 7, Pearce Chapter 7:
Through ought the reading there was an emphasis of the power of the mind. Hughes and Pearce talked about hypnosis and trance. Hughes referenced the composer Sergei Rachmaninov and how he had a creative dry spell. After hypnosis he produced successful symphonies. Hughes pointed out “the most remarkable fact about hypnosis is that it reveals a range of powers within the individual, inaccessible to personal consciousness, but through attainable through surrender of the will.”
That quote applies to the shamans as well. Through the trance they enter, they see a world inaccessible through any other method than what they’re doing. Pearce said that trance experience is a disengagement from ordinary reality orientation, which is true to shamans and their rituals. Pearce also references Ainslie Meares, a doctor who underwent a tooth extraction under self-induced anesthesia.
He had published widely on therapy and had also served as the president of the international society for clinical experimental hypnosis. Perhaps this was his way of proving his point?
Hughes mentioned mystics. They “offer accounts, guides, and maps of other worlds, which may incidentally be valued creative products alone.” That reminded me a lot of shamans and the way they are an inside to another reality we don’t see. Walsh said about the shaman, “ Their specialty was ‘ soul travel’ in which they experience themselves journeying through these realms as free souls, mastering and placing their inhabitants, and bringing back knowledge to their earthbound compatriots.”
Through ought the reading there was an emphasis of the power of the mind. Hughes and Pearce talked about hypnosis and trance. Hughes referenced the composer Sergei Rachmaninov and how he had a creative dry spell. After hypnosis he produced successful symphonies. Hughes pointed out “the most remarkable fact about hypnosis is that it reveals a range of powers within the individual, inaccessible to personal consciousness, but through attainable through surrender of the will.”
That quote applies to the shamans as well. Through the trance they enter, they see a world inaccessible through any other method than what they’re doing. Pearce said that trance experience is a disengagement from ordinary reality orientation, which is true to shamans and their rituals. Pearce also references Ainslie Meares, a doctor who underwent a tooth extraction under self-induced anesthesia.
He had published widely on therapy and had also served as the president of the international society for clinical experimental hypnosis. Perhaps this was his way of proving his point?
Hughes mentioned mystics. They “offer accounts, guides, and maps of other worlds, which may incidentally be valued creative products alone.” That reminded me a lot of shamans and the way they are an inside to another reality we don’t see. Walsh said about the shaman, “ Their specialty was ‘ soul travel’ in which they experience themselves journeying through these realms as free souls, mastering and placing their inhabitants, and bringing back knowledge to their earthbound compatriots.”
Walsh, Hughes, Pearce
So there was a lot of talk about hypnosis and how there a similarities between different ASOC's (including, but not limited to: shamans, hypnosis, music, drug-induced, etc.) Here's my question: can i be my own hypnotist? don't we all have the innate ability to suggest ideas and thoughts to ourselves---this is how we form perceptions and opinions, right? then, as we've learned, we seek and find information to back these perceptions and opinions up---give them meaning and value. well then, i am in fact capable of anything i put my mind to, huh? more on this later...........i have to point out that i was over at my cousin's house the other sunday watching football and his daughter was playing in the next room. had it not been for this class i would not have paid any attention to her playing (other than general concern for her safety, of course), but i found myself watching her play with inamimate toys while sitting on the floor (eating dinner i think). when told to come and actually eat 'real' food, she said she was busy. i laughed. to me, it looks like she's playing with a stuffed animal and eating air---but who knows what she was really doing. i do remember having a difficult time as a child wanting to 'play' anything that was 'not real' because i thought it was stupid or that someone would laugh at me. how unfortunate! to me, i didn't have time for things that were imaginary---for my niece, she didn't have time for us and our 'real' food. ha! ok, back to this whole idea about being my own hypnotist. i'm going to try to explain something that i've been going over in my mind but haven't been able to put to words yet. i think i have this idea but haven't been able to express in any sort of satisfactory way---so maybe someone can help. here goes: i have a pretty bad memory so i'm constantly writing notes for myself to remember to do something. i joke that i actually have a "to do list" to remind me to do my "to do list". nevermind that........ why is it that when i write things down to do (1,2,3,4,5, etc.) they'll get accomplished and generally in that order. but if i don't write them down, then they won't. i realize on the surface this seems like i'm just reminding myself to do them---but i think there's more. i feel like my plans have a better chance of coming true/happening if i write them down (put them in the physical world rather than just thoughts in my mind). if my "to do" list is an outline or blueprint for my time that day, then can't i just pick and choose what i'm going to do. is my "to do" list suggesting (like a hypnotist) what i'm going to do next? i still feel like i'm not fully explaining myself. i guess what i want to know is.......if i don't write something down on my "to do list" for a certain day (ex.: 1, 2, 3, __ 5, 6, 7) did i not do it because i forgot to do it or because i didn't write it down? see the difference?????????
Week 11 (I think I'm actually ahead of some of you)
I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but have been keeping up with your posts and am, as usaul, impressed with many of the insights. We seem to have an overlap between last week and this, and this whole concept of the mind - body connection. fascinating stuff, isn't it? Ashley included two interesting scenarios to consider, but I wonder if we might define these diffferent attitudes as perspectives; perspectives which, of course, will then have effects on emotions, which will then effect physical results. So perhaps "perspective" is a word we need to apy more attention to. As is "hallucination," which Kristen soastutely points out is just that word we tend to use for things we can't really explain or define.
The idea of an "evolution of consciousness" is probably something worth more discussion, as is the idea of mind control. I look forward to hearing more from you.
The idea of an "evolution of consciousness" is probably something worth more discussion, as is the idea of mind control. I look forward to hearing more from you.
Happy Election Day!
I really liked the description of dance in the Hughes reading. He says, "Dance allows the the release of emotional expression and expresses joys and unhappiness experienced in life. Needs of the intellect are less important. The relationship between emotion and dance is close."
I agree with this quote from Hughes. I took ballet and jazz classes for 12 years or so and I danced in junior high when I was diagnosed with depression. I remember my jazz teacher pulling me aside to talk to me about how sad I seemed. I just kind of nodded as she talked, not wanting to talk about it at all. She was very understanding, but also rather narcissistic, so she was content to do all the talking in that conversation. Basically, she told me to use all my emotions and put them into my dancing. I was in 7th grade at that time, and I'm sure my thoughts went something like this: "Yeah, okay. Let me just use my sadness to help me achieve better turnout and greater flexibility. That sure sounds like it'd work."
But eventually (and I don't remember a specific moment), I understood what she meant and I don't know how I could explain it better now. Just like she said, I put myself into my dancing. And I think that if you went to a professional dancer (who belongs to a dance company, not a strip club) they would know what "putting yourself into your dancing" means. I think that dancing just to dance is obviously your own expression of creativity, but dancing to someone else's choreography can be just as much your own expression.
In my Tai Chi class, my teacher always emphasizes the importance of the "journey". He encourages us to do all the moves slowly, because just because we know what the end is, doesn't mean we have to rush toward it. I believe the same is true of altered states. There are so many ways to reach ASCs that I think the journey to the ASC is more or equally important as the ASC itself.
I think Walsh agrees. On p. 237, he says, "The journey is a central practice of shamanism."
Hypnotism is one way to reach an ASC, a way that I find fascinating. I've never been hypnotized and don't know that I'd ever really want to be, but I think hypnotism demonstrates the power of the mind. If you think about it, when you're hypnotized, you lose all inhibitions and focus of your surroundings. Like Pearce talks about Jung's patient who was able to keep her body in a straight line with her feet on one chair and her head on the other, at only 70 pounds. In her hypnotic state, she had no doubts that she couldn't do it, so she was able to do it. I think thats the key to hypnotism, removing all doubts.
I’m happy I’m not an Australian aborigine boy!
I said it before and I will say it again; I am never ceased to be amazed at the power that lies and our minds. Also, how we are connected, whether we like to believe it or not to the universe. This I think ties in with the reading, that our culture and individual experiences create direct links with the universe, its inhabitants, and spirits. We each travel on the path of knowledge in a search for our link to spirituality. That link can lead us to altered states making an ordinary life extraordinary! Our minds, although we don’t think about it are built to respond to the energies emitted by music, dance, painting, etc...
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but when I read the texts and the idea of spirits I tend to not think of Christianity in the mix. I suppose that it could be a result of me viewing that “spirits” are bad yet, I know they are not… The chapter on “What is a Spirit” was super valuable in my learning process.
The story relayed in Pearce regarding the tooth extraction is unbelievable! I can relate ever so slightly to this… I have three cavities and all three have been drilled and filled without the aid of Novocain… I do what I maybe be referred to as “mini-trance” focusing on a point on the wall and thinking about nothing, a best I can. Believe me I am not saying this relates to having oral surgery, but it certainly falls in on a similar path.
Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but when I read the texts and the idea of spirits I tend to not think of Christianity in the mix. I suppose that it could be a result of me viewing that “spirits” are bad yet, I know they are not… The chapter on “What is a Spirit” was super valuable in my learning process.
The story relayed in Pearce regarding the tooth extraction is unbelievable! I can relate ever so slightly to this… I have three cavities and all three have been drilled and filled without the aid of Novocain… I do what I maybe be referred to as “mini-trance” focusing on a point on the wall and thinking about nothing, a best I can. Believe me I am not saying this relates to having oral surgery, but it certainly falls in on a similar path.
Walsh VII, Highes 11, and Pearce 7
The dimensions for mapping states of consciousness is interesting: Degree of control, awareness of enviroment, ability to communicate, concentration, degree of energy or arousal, emotion, sense of identity, out of body expierence, nature of inner expierence..this almostr sounds to me like a guide to stay successful....The visual on page 241 was useful to me. The schizophrenic journey is much more diorganized than the shamanic. The lack of control being the key factor in the schizophrenic. I took yoga at HACC for my gym credit..i remember always deep breathing using the Ojai breath and focusing on an object in my head....it was pretty relaxing.
I think it is interesting that frontotemporal lobe dementia can induce exceptional creativity..."failure in one part of the brain can spark life in another". Seeing as how, when i took yoga, i was doing it to relax...it never really made me more creative. For the 'vison-seeker' they are looking to expierence a greater reality. For artists, the creative urge is to be able to express a personal vision, whether or not it is understood by anyone else.
What can be induced from hypnotism is incredible. Bloodless wounds, enormous strength, rediculous weakness can be induced. Super adrenaline..i want to try going under hypnotization!!
I think it is interesting that frontotemporal lobe dementia can induce exceptional creativity..."failure in one part of the brain can spark life in another". Seeing as how, when i took yoga, i was doing it to relax...it never really made me more creative. For the 'vison-seeker' they are looking to expierence a greater reality. For artists, the creative urge is to be able to express a personal vision, whether or not it is understood by anyone else.
What can be induced from hypnotism is incredible. Bloodless wounds, enormous strength, rediculous weakness can be induced. Super adrenaline..i want to try going under hypnotization!!
and so it is....
I like how both Hughes and Pearce touch on the idea of suspending normal thought processes. Hughes states, “Creativity involves an adjustment of an individual’s subjectivity.” This seems very apparent in the work of creative’s and shamans, where in they suspend rational thinking in order to reach new understandings and interpretations. Pearce notes “the most important aspect of autistic thinking… is that it has no value judgment. It has no criteria for what shall and shall not be synthesized.” This relates to the idea, very much so, that creative’s aren’t always conscious of their work and that often times it is very “other” to them. Pearce talks about hypnotic states and the ability of people to enter into them. Much of it seems rooted in childhood experiences and makes you think about how important a child’s emotional and spiritual development is in allowing them to tap into altered states as an adult.
Many times when I am trying to think of something creative, I draw a total blank. Not in the sense that I clear my mind, but in the sense that I can only think of obvious, subjective things that I am used to. Then I will go and start cooking dinner and “BAM!” there’s my idea. I sat at my desk for a half hour last night trying to come up with a story idea, and the minute I went outside for a cig, there it was. I do think we have “domesticated our minds” in such a way where we get stuck on a track. In order to jump it, we must be willing to suspend reality, which is not always feasible when we are in a certain frame of mind. The distractions and reactions of the world around us often help to propagate such changes.
Hughes touches on the idea of the dichotomy between the “creative person” and the “vision-seeker.” It does seem relevant that creativity lends itself to more than just “ends in themselves, or as means to a personal rather than social end.” As much as certain disciplines accelerate our normal state of consciousness, they do not always produce something new. I do think they are very important to mental growth and actually allow us to play off the balance between creativity and logic/reason.
Many times when I am trying to think of something creative, I draw a total blank. Not in the sense that I clear my mind, but in the sense that I can only think of obvious, subjective things that I am used to. Then I will go and start cooking dinner and “BAM!” there’s my idea. I sat at my desk for a half hour last night trying to come up with a story idea, and the minute I went outside for a cig, there it was. I do think we have “domesticated our minds” in such a way where we get stuck on a track. In order to jump it, we must be willing to suspend reality, which is not always feasible when we are in a certain frame of mind. The distractions and reactions of the world around us often help to propagate such changes.
Hughes touches on the idea of the dichotomy between the “creative person” and the “vision-seeker.” It does seem relevant that creativity lends itself to more than just “ends in themselves, or as means to a personal rather than social end.” As much as certain disciplines accelerate our normal state of consciousness, they do not always produce something new. I do think they are very important to mental growth and actually allow us to play off the balance between creativity and logic/reason.
I've Got a Crush on Thanksgiving Break... I'm Writing It a Love Note After this Blog
Unfocused attention...
page 150..." involves the individual's withdrawal from the active mode of normal consciousness in order to enter the complementary mode of receptivity."
One can read Hughes and see how the creative prepares to embark on their next project. I find it interesting that creatives don't necessarily find a science or discipline to what they are doing, but instead rely on rituals to get them there. The way their rituals are described does not seem as if they put a lot of thought into them, but instead need to find a place of comfort before creating.
Different levels of altered states were described, which gave me some insight into how extreme (or not extreme) these altered states can be. Vibrations, dance and music were all mentioned as ways of being in altered states while conscious. I've heard a lot dancers and musicians say that when they are performing, after they've finished, they cannot recall what they were thinking while in the process. Many say that they think about absolutely nothing, or that the one thing they are not thinking about is playing their instrument or their next dance move.
Pearce uses examples of children to describe this point. Again, he brings up the idea of autistic thought. By using means such as yoga, meditation, dance, and vibrations, we can put ourselves into an autistic mind set. In fact, I was just talking to a woman who provides support to children with autism while at school and while the children are at home. She described an autistic child as being like smoke. The child has no idea where his/her body is in relation to space. I definitely think that this type of feeling may be the ideal feeling many want to achieve while entering an altered state of consciousness.
I often write (not for school) Thursdays - Sundays, and I always think, "Alright, it's Thursday. I can relax and not concentrate on my school work. I end staying up just as late writing. What's funny is I have the time glowing on the screen right in front me, and I don't even look at it. I absolutely crave the feeling of being immersed in such a thing. I'll write a page, get up, smoke, sit back down, write a page, pace around the house, smoke, sit back down. It drives the people around me absolutely nuts, but it's so exhilarating. I've had arguments with family or whomever I'm living with at the time about how it creeps them out. I think they get bothered at how I don't respond to things when asked. I end the arguments with a clever and creative "Deal With It."
page 150..." involves the individual's withdrawal from the active mode of normal consciousness in order to enter the complementary mode of receptivity."
One can read Hughes and see how the creative prepares to embark on their next project. I find it interesting that creatives don't necessarily find a science or discipline to what they are doing, but instead rely on rituals to get them there. The way their rituals are described does not seem as if they put a lot of thought into them, but instead need to find a place of comfort before creating.
Different levels of altered states were described, which gave me some insight into how extreme (or not extreme) these altered states can be. Vibrations, dance and music were all mentioned as ways of being in altered states while conscious. I've heard a lot dancers and musicians say that when they are performing, after they've finished, they cannot recall what they were thinking while in the process. Many say that they think about absolutely nothing, or that the one thing they are not thinking about is playing their instrument or their next dance move.
Pearce uses examples of children to describe this point. Again, he brings up the idea of autistic thought. By using means such as yoga, meditation, dance, and vibrations, we can put ourselves into an autistic mind set. In fact, I was just talking to a woman who provides support to children with autism while at school and while the children are at home. She described an autistic child as being like smoke. The child has no idea where his/her body is in relation to space. I definitely think that this type of feeling may be the ideal feeling many want to achieve while entering an altered state of consciousness.
I often write (not for school) Thursdays - Sundays, and I always think, "Alright, it's Thursday. I can relax and not concentrate on my school work. I end staying up just as late writing. What's funny is I have the time glowing on the screen right in front me, and I don't even look at it. I absolutely crave the feeling of being immersed in such a thing. I'll write a page, get up, smoke, sit back down, write a page, pace around the house, smoke, sit back down. It drives the people around me absolutely nuts, but it's so exhilarating. I've had arguments with family or whomever I'm living with at the time about how it creeps them out. I think they get bothered at how I don't respond to things when asked. I end the arguments with a clever and creative "Deal With It."
Walsh 7, Pearce and Hughes Yo!
I have to say tat after reading all three of these articles, they are basically saying mind over body and soul. I happen to think that if you are listening to music and you are focused enough on it and feel it, you can take a trip to another consciousness. I do that all the time. I find myself listening to music, fading out, and coming back at the end of the song. For those 2 or 3 minutes, i was somewhere else. So i have to agree with this because it indeed has happened to me. I feel that if you know how to focus your brain on one thing, this can help u reach your altered state regardless of what it is. For instance, when i get hurt, i quickly tell myself that im fine and that im not hurt. Im telling myself this so it will not hurt when it really does. This sometimes works for me. It supresses the pain. Basically if you tell yourself something enough times, no matter how foolish it it, it will work!
Walsh, Hughes, and Pearce.
Walsh went off talking about what types of altered states occur in shamanism. Control, ability to enter and leave ASC, altered states of conscience, at will, the ability to control the content of experience, awareness of environment, ability to communicate, concentration, mental energy/arousal, calm, emotion, identity or self-sense, out of body experience, and nature of experience, are all examples of a map of shamanic journey states. The chapter demonstrates, simply if a person looks at the shamanic charts, that their really is no definition for shamanism. It’s something that Walsh couldn’t fully define. He has thoughts and uses the word “may” a lot. Walsh eventually leads you to the topic of evolutionary change and how it “may” affect shamanism. Everything in the world evolves due to change, including the practice of shamanism. It’s inescapable, unless you plan on going to live on a deserted island by yourself. The evolving world will change how things are conducted, and if something isn’t working out anymore, the world has a way of making it obsolete. What I don’t understand by Hughes, on the first page of this chapter, is how he defines consciousness. He acts as if it was a term just developed. “Consciousness is now seen more as the operation of certain areas of the brain,” according to Hughes. Where did he see this? I didn’t really understand where he was coming from discussing consciousness, and then going off unto different forms of art. He showed some weird paintings that are not looked at as great works of art in current society. People like Monet, not Francis Bacon. His picture is not a recognizable art so the examples didn’t coincide well with the text. That painting didn’t create an emotional response to the viewer. More or less, it causes viewers to grow puzzled over what they are looking at. It almost looks like three deformed birds with teeth yet he calls it Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Pearce used examples of magic, and talked about hallucinogens. Drugs mostly induced the hallucinogens in his stories. I guess it all depends on what a person believes, again. I am very direct with my faith and beliefs. I’m a very strong practicing Catholic, so when it comes to talking about shamanism, I don’t have the same response like many classmates. I don’t believe in shamanism. I believe in certain similar traits that shamanism has with certain religions and faith, and reaching powerful altered states, but how they are achieved is controversial. It all depends on a person’s beliefs. If my intentions are different from another’s, of course there are going to be different outcomes.
Trance-like states; Shamans, hypnotists, and patients
In trying to connect the three readings together, I first noticed that all three mention different subjects in trance-like states. Hughes refers to the hypnotist who attempts to alter the patient's state of consciousness by reducing their attention from external sensories in an effort to concentrate on inner experiences; "mental, sensory, and physiological". Pearce refers to the same attempt in his example of the dental procedure and former examples of firewalkers. Pearce states, "He had filtered out those elements of his ordinary world that he did not want, and had set up his expectancies for those he needed to retrain". In this trance-like state, however, control over "zoning out" external stimuli is ultimately up to the individual himself, and not at the liberty of a hypnotist. Walsh discusses the trances of shamans and also those of yoga and Vipassana. All three, similar to the trance of Pearce's dental patient, can enter an ASC at will; however, shamans do not necessarily eliminate external stimuli to enter their trances. My understanding is it is imperative for them to maintain some awareness outside their ASC to enable communication to those they are helping/healing. Yoga attempts to rule out external stimuli entirely while Vipassana attempts to connect one's inner self with a heightened awareness of environment.
All together, each of these authors discussed the factors present in order to achieve an ASC, but Hughes and Pearce acknowledge the significance of the state beyond achieving it. Hughes, in reference to the creative process states, "Creativity is subsumed within the larger enterprise of going beyond oneself, not to create any particular thing but to experience a greater reality" (150). The end result for creatives is not just formulating a new piece of work, but the enlightening process in doing so. Pearce, in reference to autistic thinking, states, "It has no criteria for what shall or shall not be synthesized" (115). Again, the focus is not on output but the ongoings of input and greater awareness from these. Shamans, in their initial journey of their training also are not focused on simply getting from point A to point B but are concentrated on learning, envisioning, reflecting, and appreciating the experiences during it. In all three readings, a state of, what Walsh describes as "formal, objectless awareness" is present. Perhaps this awareness, or ASC, becomes hindered when we try too hard to shape, mold, and create what we want or hope to find.
All together, each of these authors discussed the factors present in order to achieve an ASC, but Hughes and Pearce acknowledge the significance of the state beyond achieving it. Hughes, in reference to the creative process states, "Creativity is subsumed within the larger enterprise of going beyond oneself, not to create any particular thing but to experience a greater reality" (150). The end result for creatives is not just formulating a new piece of work, but the enlightening process in doing so. Pearce, in reference to autistic thinking, states, "It has no criteria for what shall or shall not be synthesized" (115). Again, the focus is not on output but the ongoings of input and greater awareness from these. Shamans, in their initial journey of their training also are not focused on simply getting from point A to point B but are concentrated on learning, envisioning, reflecting, and appreciating the experiences during it. In all three readings, a state of, what Walsh describes as "formal, objectless awareness" is present. Perhaps this awareness, or ASC, becomes hindered when we try too hard to shape, mold, and create what we want or hope to find.
Readings
I really believe that your mindset has a lot to do with the outcome of the situation you are in. Hypnosis seems to help people enter the mind of positive outcome when a lot of people have a negative outlook. The anemic lady that Pearce talks about is a great example of hypnosis at its best. He said that she weighed 70 pounds and while in her altered state had a couple of doctor’s sit on her while only her head and feet were supported. She could support their weight because she was told that she had amazing strength. This amazes me that an altered state can do that much to you. Another thing that Pearce mentioned at the beginning of his chapter was the low blood sugar group. After fasting for a couple of days their blood sugar was very low. They were then given imaginary meals and their health immediately improved. Would this be possible in other circumstances? Instead of being supervised by doctors and in a situation like your boat wrecks and they can’t find you and you have no food. Would the effect be the same if you imagined that you were eating real meals?
One of my parent’s friends has a hypnosis business. They help a lot of people and I know that both my brother and my father went to them for help. My brother has never been a motivated student and was about to fail out of high school simply because he didn’t want to do the work. He is very smart and my parents saw that it was the lack of motivation. They enlisted the help of their friends and he went to several sessions of hypnosis. It helped him improve a lot for a while and he stopped going. He was given a tape to listen to while he was going to sleep but he also stopped using that and his grades slipped again. What really ended up changing his life was when he entered the military. My dad went to hypnosis for depression and I do believe that it has helped him a lot. My family situation was about to fall apart when he started going and he has improved so much after he went.
One of my parent’s friends has a hypnosis business. They help a lot of people and I know that both my brother and my father went to them for help. My brother has never been a motivated student and was about to fail out of high school simply because he didn’t want to do the work. He is very smart and my parents saw that it was the lack of motivation. They enlisted the help of their friends and he went to several sessions of hypnosis. It helped him improve a lot for a while and he stopped going. He was given a tape to listen to while he was going to sleep but he also stopped using that and his grades slipped again. What really ended up changing his life was when he entered the military. My dad went to hypnosis for depression and I do believe that it has helped him a lot. My family situation was about to fall apart when he started going and he has improved so much after he went.
The Mind
It is clear to see the theme in Walsh, Pearce, and Hughes as mind over body. While i agreed with most of the readings such as Hughes saying music would not take a person into an altered state the individual must want to go to that altered state before it can take take place. Pearce also struck me with the women that was sick and lost alot of weight. The doctors put her into a hypnosis state and apparently easily balanced herself with her head on one chair and hells on another perfectly straight. I never before believed the mind could heal the body my idea was medicate, medicate, medicate!! While my wife was in the hospital and the doctors found cancer in her brain she looked at me and said, "thank god they found out what it was so how good are my chanches". At the time I was in shock i didnt know what to do, but she was as calm as could be without an ounce of fear in her body. Throughout the following weeks she always kept a positive outlook. She had her procedure completed to remove the cancer three weeks ago and after living at her parents place for a few weeks I am happy to report i got to pick her up this past Thursday and bring her home. The point of my story is even though the doctors caught the cancer very early her recovery time from the procedure to remove the cancer was supossed to take up to 3 months. She is fully recovered in less than 1 and I believe it is attributed to her telling her self she would be just fine. The overall feeling i get from these three readings is the mind is a very powerful tool if the individual understands how to control it. I also liked how Walsh ties in Shaminism, (I understand i ripped Shamans pretty hard in my last blog) but after my wifes ordeal the way Shamans use the different states of mind is very ingenious.
Week 11
"Ninety-nine percent of all the species that have lived on earth have died away, and no stars will wink out in tribute if we in our folly soon join them" (Ferris as quoted in Walsh 257).
I found Walsh's use of a quote from Richard Dawkins, a world renowned evolutionary biologist, followed by Stan Grof's quite interesting. Besides his scientific expertise, Richard Dawkins is a committed proponent of atheism these days, and it is this ideology that I suppose Walsh seeks to briefly engage, and not solely the biological implications of evolutionary consciousness. Walsh follows this quote up by one from Stan Grof, who attempts to lend support to intelligent design. Grof supposes that the mere probability of human beings acquiring their intelligence by mere chance can be likened to the possibility of a tornado rumbling through a junkyard and "assembling by accident a 747 jet" (Walsh 258). Propositions like this leave us begging the question as to precisely what Grof's opinion is on the subject-matter, whereas we know precisely where Dawkins stands. Additionally, Grof's fallacious reasoning doesn't need any further commentary or elaboration, especially to those of us who wholly accept the theory of evolution and do not believe it to be a "myth" in any respect. Finally, the underlying supposition contained within Grof's discourse, which presumes that the universe was created, or to some degree, functions with us in mind, exhibits a degree of arrogance comparable to the tirades of persons like Richard Dawkins.
The human consciousness project that Walsh wants to pursue will definitely yield valuable information to society in future generations. Among the various potentially useful pieces of information desired from this future research, he suggests, scientists wish to obtain the "biological underpinning" of our conscious experience. Until then, he suggests, scientists must exhibit a certain level of "neurohumility." I would agree, and suggest that this void in information may appeal to Walsh a little more than he lets on. In my opinion, it is not a question of if this knowledge will be aquired; the question really involves when this sort of information will come to light.
I found Walsh's use of a quote from Richard Dawkins, a world renowned evolutionary biologist, followed by Stan Grof's quite interesting. Besides his scientific expertise, Richard Dawkins is a committed proponent of atheism these days, and it is this ideology that I suppose Walsh seeks to briefly engage, and not solely the biological implications of evolutionary consciousness. Walsh follows this quote up by one from Stan Grof, who attempts to lend support to intelligent design. Grof supposes that the mere probability of human beings acquiring their intelligence by mere chance can be likened to the possibility of a tornado rumbling through a junkyard and "assembling by accident a 747 jet" (Walsh 258). Propositions like this leave us begging the question as to precisely what Grof's opinion is on the subject-matter, whereas we know precisely where Dawkins stands. Additionally, Grof's fallacious reasoning doesn't need any further commentary or elaboration, especially to those of us who wholly accept the theory of evolution and do not believe it to be a "myth" in any respect. Finally, the underlying supposition contained within Grof's discourse, which presumes that the universe was created, or to some degree, functions with us in mind, exhibits a degree of arrogance comparable to the tirades of persons like Richard Dawkins.
The human consciousness project that Walsh wants to pursue will definitely yield valuable information to society in future generations. Among the various potentially useful pieces of information desired from this future research, he suggests, scientists wish to obtain the "biological underpinning" of our conscious experience. Until then, he suggests, scientists must exhibit a certain level of "neurohumility." I would agree, and suggest that this void in information may appeal to Walsh a little more than he lets on. In my opinion, it is not a question of if this knowledge will be aquired; the question really involves when this sort of information will come to light.
Hughes, Pearce, Walsh
There is definitely the idea of mind over body in all of these readings. The one that struck me the most was the readings in Pearce. "Carl Jung told of a young lady patient, disabled by anemia,whose body weight had dropped to seventy pounds. Hypnotized, she was told of her enormous strength. Her head was then placed on one chair, her heels on another, her body easily spanning the gap in a straight line - a feat the best of athletes have difficulty doing" (Pearce 110). If a person thinks certain ideas then they can be done. Somewhere I heard or read about two men who were in the wilderness starving. However, the one man lasted longer, because he would imagine that he would have dinner every night. The other individual kept thinking that he was starving to death, and the effects happened much faster to him. Even in Hughes the mind plays a huge role. Music can't take anyone into an altered state of consciousness, that individual must want to go there. Diseases do play a role in altered states of consciousness, but not everyone who has a disease is considered creative. The mind allows people with diseases to overcome it, or indulge in it. In Walsh it is explained how a person goes to an altered state of consciousness and how the experience is dependent upon many factors. The state of mind and the amount of control are crucial for strong experiences. The mind is the key. John Milton says, "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven (Walsh 237). This shows that the mind holds all of the power. Everyone says life is what you make it, which is true. However, really a person's life is what his or her mind makes it. I really liked how Walsh compared states of mind with Shamanism. This definitely shows that not two experiences are alike, because nobody can ever be in the exact state of mind. It is like a science fair project that not all variables can be accounted for. The human mind is a powerful device, but through Hughes, Walsh, and Pearce my understanding of altered states of consciousness is increasing.
It's not where you go but how you get there
The ideas that there are different altered states of consciousness seems only a reasonable conclusion, not only from what we have discussed so far in class, but also from personal experience. Walsh did an excellent job (of course) of outlining the differences between different states with very straight-forward tables. There may be different altered states, but it seems a logical deduction that how you arrive at any altered state would affect how you feel or react to or act in that state. Nearly all of the authors have agreed that a shaman consuming hallucinogenic plants for the purpose of traveling will act differently and bring something back that a recreational user may not be searching for, which leads me to the hypothesis that intention plays a huge part in where the altered state will take the experimenter.
If you decide to take a trip to Florida, let's say you have the option to travel either by plane or by car. Depending on which you choose, your vacation will prove different. If, for example, you choose to take the plane, you may get to the airport in plenty of time and get through security quickly and easily, there may be no turbulence, and the stewardess (oh, I mean, flight attendant) may offer you an extra pillow or blanket without you even having to ask. On the other hand, the taxi may pick you up late, security may need to do a body cavity search, the stewardess (once again, that should be flight attendant) may mess up your drink order while you sit freezing beneath the air ducts, and you may go through so many clouds you forget what color the sky is -- suddenly, you find yourself wishing you had just taken the extra day off to drive.
If you had decided to drive, however, maybe traffic would have been horrendous, with construction the entire route down I-95 (as if that would ever happen...) and eighteen-wheelers threatening to decapitate your beloved sedan if you even drift past their rear view mirrors. As with the flying example, though, it could be a simply lovely experience. Your children are not screaming and carrying on in the backseat, but rather occupying themselves and getting along very pleasantly (even if the younger has to feign sleep to escape the nagging of the older...). Your navigator manages to not get you lost even once, and when you arrive early because traffic flowed so smoothly, the hotel graciously offers to upgrade you to a suite.
That may be over-simplistic, but having experienced each of those examples (of course, I was one of the children, I did not have children), I can honestly say that the trip down had a huge impact on the rest of the vacation, at the very least the beginning of it. When your parents are screaming at each other because one does not like the way the other drives, it puts a bit of a damper on seeing your first palm tree. On the other hand, if you leave early enough in the morning and beat all the rush hour traffic to the airport, you have time for a leisurely cup of coffee (hot chocolate, in my case) and you can hold a pleasant discussion about what the family would like to do when it arrives.
Intention is everything. When I go into a massage, there is a huge difference in my performance if I am feeling positive or negative. Whether they can put a name to it or not, a guest can tell when your energy is negative, and it affects the guest's experience. The same may be true with an altered state of consciousness -- perhaps if we do not plan our dreams, that may explain why some dreams are completely off-the-wall. On the other hand, if a shaman enters an altered state with a specific goal in mind (ie, healing a particular illness), that shaman will most likely be able to identify a solution.
If you decide to take a trip to Florida, let's say you have the option to travel either by plane or by car. Depending on which you choose, your vacation will prove different. If, for example, you choose to take the plane, you may get to the airport in plenty of time and get through security quickly and easily, there may be no turbulence, and the stewardess (oh, I mean, flight attendant) may offer you an extra pillow or blanket without you even having to ask. On the other hand, the taxi may pick you up late, security may need to do a body cavity search, the stewardess (once again, that should be flight attendant) may mess up your drink order while you sit freezing beneath the air ducts, and you may go through so many clouds you forget what color the sky is -- suddenly, you find yourself wishing you had just taken the extra day off to drive.
If you had decided to drive, however, maybe traffic would have been horrendous, with construction the entire route down I-95 (as if that would ever happen...) and eighteen-wheelers threatening to decapitate your beloved sedan if you even drift past their rear view mirrors. As with the flying example, though, it could be a simply lovely experience. Your children are not screaming and carrying on in the backseat, but rather occupying themselves and getting along very pleasantly (even if the younger has to feign sleep to escape the nagging of the older...). Your navigator manages to not get you lost even once, and when you arrive early because traffic flowed so smoothly, the hotel graciously offers to upgrade you to a suite.
That may be over-simplistic, but having experienced each of those examples (of course, I was one of the children, I did not have children), I can honestly say that the trip down had a huge impact on the rest of the vacation, at the very least the beginning of it. When your parents are screaming at each other because one does not like the way the other drives, it puts a bit of a damper on seeing your first palm tree. On the other hand, if you leave early enough in the morning and beat all the rush hour traffic to the airport, you have time for a leisurely cup of coffee (hot chocolate, in my case) and you can hold a pleasant discussion about what the family would like to do when it arrives.
Intention is everything. When I go into a massage, there is a huge difference in my performance if I am feeling positive or negative. Whether they can put a name to it or not, a guest can tell when your energy is negative, and it affects the guest's experience. The same may be true with an altered state of consciousness -- perhaps if we do not plan our dreams, that may explain why some dreams are completely off-the-wall. On the other hand, if a shaman enters an altered state with a specific goal in mind (ie, healing a particular illness), that shaman will most likely be able to identify a solution.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Walsh, Pearce, Hughes
Walsh Part VII-
This chapter was very interesting because it pointed out that the Shamans do not nesseccarly use "drugs" to enter into an ASC. So it was merrily sticking up for them. I am going to be taking a yoga class next semester for a gym credit I'm very excited to take it and learn all about it. When Walsh talks about "Has Consciousness Evolved" it is merely close to what we call past, present, future. Because the past according to waslh "sees history as a cyclical affair of recurrent ups and downs, the present as " a downhill view that sees things as getting worse and consciousness ad devolving, and sees no change in consciousness or at least religious consciousness, since prehistoric times", finally future "upward view of progressives that sees culture and consciousness as evolving." The conclusion to part VII is true " the more we explore shamanism, the more it points to unrecognized potentials of the human body mind and spirit. For untold thousands of years the world of shamanism has helped, healed, and taught human kind, and it has still more to offer us."
Pearce-
In the beginning of the chapter it is true that when parents tell their children fairy tale stories they can bring them back from la la land into reality. And drugs can do the same with the help of a guide. How on pg 18 do "what we loose on earth is still loosed in heaven." How can that be when Heaven under Gods eyes is a total different demintion of time and Gods time is not our time like minutes, seconds, hours, days. Pierce made reference to the crack in both worlds on pg 131. "The crack between the worlds" is neither a "real world" nor an opening into such- for there is no such thing as a "real world" other than that one from which one makes such a statement." The last statement mentioned by Don Juan " advised us to thinking carefully about our baths before we set out on them. For by the time a man discovers that his path "has no heart," the path is read to hill him." That is true because we should think about the path on which we wish to explore and further examine it before we walk it and wander what the consequence could be, and if we will be able to handle it.
Hughes-
Creativity is also used by artist for spiritual worships. According to Hughes."The purpose of religious art is to guide the viewer's mind to thoughts of the divine, and this is at variance with the end-in-itself nature of ordinary creativity." That is true because when you worship God you see his pictures and that helps focus you to him. The lord of the dance, is also a shamanistic way because dancers enter an altered state through their dancing rituals that are performed to others. I seen people being hypnotised 3 times and it is quite a show. People believe what they want to believe in that trance and they listen to that voice no matter what it is telling them an they have no recollection of it. But how can that become a ASC if you don't recall it?
This chapter was very interesting because it pointed out that the Shamans do not nesseccarly use "drugs" to enter into an ASC. So it was merrily sticking up for them. I am going to be taking a yoga class next semester for a gym credit I'm very excited to take it and learn all about it. When Walsh talks about "Has Consciousness Evolved" it is merely close to what we call past, present, future. Because the past according to waslh "sees history as a cyclical affair of recurrent ups and downs, the present as " a downhill view that sees things as getting worse and consciousness ad devolving, and sees no change in consciousness or at least religious consciousness, since prehistoric times", finally future "upward view of progressives that sees culture and consciousness as evolving." The conclusion to part VII is true " the more we explore shamanism, the more it points to unrecognized potentials of the human body mind and spirit. For untold thousands of years the world of shamanism has helped, healed, and taught human kind, and it has still more to offer us."
Pearce-
In the beginning of the chapter it is true that when parents tell their children fairy tale stories they can bring them back from la la land into reality. And drugs can do the same with the help of a guide. How on pg 18 do "what we loose on earth is still loosed in heaven." How can that be when Heaven under Gods eyes is a total different demintion of time and Gods time is not our time like minutes, seconds, hours, days. Pierce made reference to the crack in both worlds on pg 131. "The crack between the worlds" is neither a "real world" nor an opening into such- for there is no such thing as a "real world" other than that one from which one makes such a statement." The last statement mentioned by Don Juan " advised us to thinking carefully about our baths before we set out on them. For by the time a man discovers that his path "has no heart," the path is read to hill him." That is true because we should think about the path on which we wish to explore and further examine it before we walk it and wander what the consequence could be, and if we will be able to handle it.
Hughes-
Creativity is also used by artist for spiritual worships. According to Hughes."The purpose of religious art is to guide the viewer's mind to thoughts of the divine, and this is at variance with the end-in-itself nature of ordinary creativity." That is true because when you worship God you see his pictures and that helps focus you to him. The lord of the dance, is also a shamanistic way because dancers enter an altered state through their dancing rituals that are performed to others. I seen people being hypnotised 3 times and it is quite a show. People believe what they want to believe in that trance and they listen to that voice no matter what it is telling them an they have no recollection of it. But how can that become a ASC if you don't recall it?
Don't stifle a child's imagination!!!!!
"Suppose a group of people were to experience a non-ordinary event that would not fit their conceptual frame of possibility - that agreement on which their normal world hangs together. They would call the event an hallucination, or folie a deux, and so keep their categories for the norm intact, lest their ideation collapse and they fall into chaos." (Pearce 112) I have to assume that this statement can also be applied to an individual experience, but the fact that Pearce used "group" and not "a person" was interesting. Most of us have this innate need for normalcy - normalcy as defined by our society - and will go to great lengths to preserve it. As Pearce points out, we will write off something we can't define, explain or categorize as a hallucination. The idea of something being contrary to our idea of normal is too much for many of us to process rationally. He goes on to talk about individuals who are able to enter trances and some other ASCs. Most of the adults who are able to do so were encouraged to be imaginative as children by their parents. Not only was this practiced encouraged by their parents, but their parents were even active in this imaginative process. They learn that these practices are accepted and throughout their lives they are able to cultivate their abilities to enter ASCs for creative/imaginative purposes. Pearce goes on to discuss the various experiences of the Balinese, Ceylonese and Aboriginal peoples. All sound as if they are rather extreme ways to achieve such ASCs, however the experiences found within those ASCs are "extreme" in themselves. Walsh discusses individuals' progression through the stages of consciousness and relates it to the stages of cognitive development throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood (251). To reach the more "extreme" ASCs, one must evolve and pass through the gross and subtle states, on to the causal and nondual.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
"Is getting well ever an art, Or art a way to get well?" (Lowell 116)
"The creative, the carrier of this virus or antibiotic, is threatened both by the nature of the gift and by the response of society. For while creativity may be a natural condition, perhaps the most natural of all, according to Rossseau, Blake, and others, it is far from being a normal one, in the sense of "not deviating from the standard." (117)
Creatives are "abnormal" in their personalities but also in the way society sees the. Just like the Shamans way of being, to society they are seen as epileptics or mad people who like a painter or writer or a creative they too carry this "virus or antibiotics". From the reading we know that physical illness can start or speed the creative into his or her work. Some illnesses that evoke creativity are fever, delirium and depression. By using these illnesses the creative can explore multiple meaning and inner worlds. Marcerl Proust wrote," To kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey." (118) I remember one episode in the tv show HOUSE; Dr. Gregory House said, " Pain lets you know you are still alive". Hughes says the same thing. He states, "...pain warns the organism of damage...". Many people who have suffered great illness can encounter great creativity for example sensory deprivation. Sight is by far the most important of all sense but if lost in its absence the senses develop in unusual ways. A Spanish guitarist, Jose Feliciano, who is blind can play the guitar like no other guitarist that I have heard. His hands move violently up and down the strings and chords and he sways back and forth as he plays ( I guess because he can feel the music from deep within. Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "gradual blindness is not a tragedy. It's like a slow summer twilight...but then I think of letters and roses." (120)
Creativity is something generally seen as a positive nature but illness is something that needs to be cured not something that need developing. I would have to agree to a certain extent with Artaud when he says, "... A mad man is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths." (126) This reminds me a lot of the shamanic ways and how (we) the Westerners describe the shaman ways like those of a "mad" person; something out of this world to crazy to believe.
Creatives are "abnormal" in their personalities but also in the way society sees the. Just like the Shamans way of being, to society they are seen as epileptics or mad people who like a painter or writer or a creative they too carry this "virus or antibiotics". From the reading we know that physical illness can start or speed the creative into his or her work. Some illnesses that evoke creativity are fever, delirium and depression. By using these illnesses the creative can explore multiple meaning and inner worlds. Marcerl Proust wrote," To kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey." (118) I remember one episode in the tv show HOUSE; Dr. Gregory House said, " Pain lets you know you are still alive". Hughes says the same thing. He states, "...pain warns the organism of damage...". Many people who have suffered great illness can encounter great creativity for example sensory deprivation. Sight is by far the most important of all sense but if lost in its absence the senses develop in unusual ways. A Spanish guitarist, Jose Feliciano, who is blind can play the guitar like no other guitarist that I have heard. His hands move violently up and down the strings and chords and he sways back and forth as he plays ( I guess because he can feel the music from deep within. Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "gradual blindness is not a tragedy. It's like a slow summer twilight...but then I think of letters and roses." (120)
Creativity is something generally seen as a positive nature but illness is something that needs to be cured not something that need developing. I would have to agree to a certain extent with Artaud when he says, "... A mad man is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths." (126) This reminds me a lot of the shamanic ways and how (we) the Westerners describe the shaman ways like those of a "mad" person; something out of this world to crazy to believe.
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