Re: Schumann Resonance Revisited -- Helpful Scaffolding?
I've read this thread with interest, thanks to all who have written!
In regards to -- aha, vocabulary problem already! -- shall we call it "paranormal consciousness"? -- it is true that there are few systems and fewer vocabulary terms that the individual experiencer can use to make sense of their time away from "reality" or normal consciousness.
I studied such a system during my time with Siddha Yoga(TM) in the early 80s (such study was deemphasized later, but that's a whole 'nother soap opera.) In any case, the system we studied was Kashmir Shaivism, which is a system of philosophy regarding consciousness.
Disclaimer: Before I get to talking a little about it, though, please know that I am NOT a Shaivism scholar -- I have no idea if Shaivism answers the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and if it does, I don't care. What I care about, what I learned, was a useful vocabulary and a useful scaffolding/framework/matrix for describing and understanding my experiences of paranormal consciousness. I find it's helpful to have a place to "hang" an experience and say, "Yup, that makes sense now." What I know about Shaivism is a little, but that little has been of powerful help to me when seeking to understand these experiences, so that's what I'll share with you here.
Also, I'm not saying I have The Answers here, merely that I find this way of thinking about these concepts helpful. YMMV, as always. Also, I may misremember some of the details here, and if I do, I apologize to any Shaivism scholars I may offend. :D [/Disclaimer]
In Kashmir Shaivism (as I understand it), creation begins with one, undifferentiated Being (Shiva.) Thoughts, actions and things do not yet exist. All there is is the undifferentiated consciousness of Shiva.
Then, Shiva has a movement of Will -- Consciousness has a desire. It is a desire to differentiate; in effect, to create. This movement of will, this intention if you will, is the essence of thought, action and movement -- it has become Shiva's Shakti, or the power to create, who is embodied as Shiva's mate.
From Shiva and Shakti there arises a sound, which the Vedas call shabda (pronounced "shub-duh") -- it is the throb of creative consciousness, from which the universe arises. This sound is commonly called OM. I have also heard it described as the background frequency of the universe. Could this also be the Shumann resonance frequency? I dunno. It's an interesting thought, though.
Y'see, the Shaivites follow these three postulates -- the eternal Being of Shiva, the Will to Act of Shakti, and the Throb of Shabda -- through 36 processes of differentiation known as tattwas, which eventually lead to individual perception, through the senses, to what we call reality or normal consciousness. Please allow me to quote a nice Wiki passage here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattwas), so I get it right:
Quote:
In
Shaivite philosophy, the tattvas are inclusive of
consciousness as well as material
existence. The 36 tattvas of Shaivism are divided into three groups:
Shuddha tattvas: The first five tattvas are known as the
shuddha or 'pure' tattvas. They are also known as the tattvas of universal experience.
Shuddha-ashuddha tattvas: The next seven tattvas (6?12) are known as the
shuddha-ashuddha or 'pure-impure' tattvas. They are the tattvas of limited individual experience.
Ashuddha tattvas: The last twenty-four tattvas (13?36) are known as the
ashuddha or 'impure' tattvas. The first of these is
prakriti and they include the tattvas of mental operation, sensible experience, and materiality.
If you're interested in more detail, this Wiki article will give you all you desire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_36_tattvas . Here is a nice summary from that article:
Quote:
Kaśmir Śaivism describes the reflection of the top principle (
Śiva tattva) right into the lowest principle (
Pṛithvī tattva) - an
idealist monistic world view where
transcendence is present right in the middle of physical. Thus, there is no
dualism between spirit and matter.
So I'm hoping you see where I'm going with this: I find these concepts helpful because transcendence/paranormal consciousness isn't something you end up doing -- it's something you just need to get back to. You don't go there, you just remember that you're there already.
Make sense?
In the context of BWE, when I put the glasses on and queue up P11 for a hour-long meditation, I'm looking to get beyond my mind and my whirling thoughts. I want to immerse myself again in Shiva consciousness, that undifferentiated state of being where there are no thoughts or actions, but where potential for all thought and action exist. I think of it as "moving up the tattwas." I might start with an unruly mind and twitchy body, down in the 36th tattwa. The lights and tones of my Proteus send signals to my brain which encourage it to let go those thoughts and other discomforts and sink back into pure consciousness. Since my mind is derived from pure consciousness, it has a hard time understanding it. It labels the experience "paranormal", because it doesn't have a capacity to understand it as "normal". Shiva is impossible for the mind to comprehend (hence our problems talking about it.)
We used to talk about a couple of concepts which always made understanding the process of meditation and playing in other realms of consciousness easier. First, when settling down for meditation, it may be helpful to think of your thoughts as clouds in the sky -- they are there, but you cannot affect them, they move as they will. Just let them do so, remaining relaxed, and gently relax any analytical movement the mind is making.
Shaivism, through the tattwas, talks about the senses being expressed through the physical body. The sense of sight literally flows out of your eyes around the objects you are perceiving, and so returns what it perceives to the body/mind through the eyes. In a similar manner, each of the other senses "reaches out", gathers information from outside the body, and then returns that perceived info back to the body/mind through their sense organs.
So when I do a Proteus session, I allow my senses to "withdraw" from the world -- to look without seeing, to hear without hearing, etc. I establish an attitude which holds my state of mind as paramount, and not the things I'm seeing/hearing/thinking. The outside stimuli -- including my thoughts -- are just nice, big, fluffy clouds, and while it's nice to see them, they don't register as important to me. Meanwhile, the pretty lights and tones are leading my brain to experience the state of pure consciousness.
Gah, am I helping or just confusing more? I dunno. This stuff works for me, is all I do know. :D
The other thing they used to talk about which stuck with me: In India, they dye fabric to be colorfast using an ancient method. They dip the fabric in dye, then hang it in the sun to dry and fade. Then, they dip the fabric again, hang it in the sun to dry and fade, etc. Over many iterations, this process produces a dye which cannot be washed out of the fabric.
In meditation, I "dip" myself in that ineffable state of being again and again. The more I do it, the more the "color" of it stays with me through the "sunshine" of normal consciousness. My goal is to make that dye colorfast, and carry a brilliant shade of it with me wherever I go.
I think it's clear that my approach is "from the inside out," so to speak. I don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out if my experiences in altered consciousness are "real" or not. I believe that analysis paralysis is a hindrance. In fact, I don't try to relate my experiences to the "real" world at all. They just are what they are; meanwhile, I'm getting dipped again -- whee!
That's not to say that Kashmir Shaivism doesn't have philosophical tools to delve into each experience in detail -- it does, I'm sure. Other meditators I lived in the Ashram with often kept journals of their experiences, and would discuss them with others. I have things I would call "experiences" -- meeting other beings along the way, seeing things that seem significant, sights, sounds, the whole breadth of psychedelia -- I just don't keep track of them that well. They are less meaningful to me than the experience of dipping in and refreshing myself from the well of Being.
And holy cow, this ended up long-winded! Sorry if it's tl;dr ("too long; didn't read"). I hope I've added to the discussion.
Warmly,
Marcy ^_^
Re: Schumann Resonance Revisited -- Helpful Scaffolding?
Great post, Marcy! Thanks.
What often strikes me is the similarity of creation myths between belief systems. The creative triad features so frequently that I find myself feeling that there has to be something very fundamental and correct about it.
As I've mentioned before, I have chosen the Qabalah as the 'structure' off which to dangle my knowledge. I think it matters little which particular one is used, but I do believe that such a structure is incredibly valuable to the individual.
I often wonder if one of the consequences of multi-ethnic society is the loss of the common language that exists between people of similar culture. The western agnostic/atheist finds itself struggling to communicate with 'proper scientific' terms that are wholly unsuited to matters of mind and spirit, and using 'emotional' words, such as love, trust, respect, etc., that have real meaning only in the context of a moral/ethical framework.
My nature is much inclined to analysis, but I have managed to grasp that analysis should follow observation, not be interwoven with it. When I'm 'in' a session I try to throw myself in unreservedly and to not interefere or direct. Developing recall is probably a bigger challenge than learning to let go, but the rewards upon 'return' are immense.
Again, thanks for a really interesting post.
Cheers,
Craig
Re: Schumann Resonance Revisited
Hi Craig. I have been meditating since a child, I am now in my 60's. in meditation like many other things in life, you hit a wall & find it difficult to break the barrier. I have been using Schumann's Resonance frequency in mp3@s & with my Procyon & Kasina I have broken the wall in so many ways, taking me to worlds & places I only dreamed of. I always say that before you start, try to still your mind, its no use jumping into anything with the pressure of bills coming in on your mind, any worries should be put to one side to get best results. Even after all my years at this, I still hit times where success is not as great as the last time but the more you persevere the stronger you make your mind. People forget that the brain is as much a muscle that needs exercise as with any other body part, in fact the brain is the most powerful muscle if you let it.
