Where to start?

[benhudelson]

Hi there - My apologies for the long post and all the questions!

I am very excited that my Kasina is currently out for delivery to my house. I've been perusing the forums and reading / watching assorted reviews on the web, but I'm not quite sure where to start.

Without going into too much detail I have been practicing audio entrainment daily for several months and meditating regularly for about 5 years. I have tried some of the retail AE programs and they have been very effective for me. Being who I am I haven't followed the programs to the T and have found ways to enhance my experience with audacity. I have not created custom entrainment beats yet.

My current practice is two 40-60 minute sessions a day. Most of my audio entrainment sessions start in the mid alpha range. Depending on my mood, alertness, and time of day, I will peak at deep alpha to mid-theta. 5 Hz is about the deepest I can get effects from. I can achieve a meditative state with deeper frequencies present but I don't think I am getting an entrainment effect from the audio. As I continue to entrain I do notice that I am able to achieve deeper levels.

I have not purchased any retail entrainment editors (yet) but intend on purchasing MW if my experience with the Kasina justifies the cost. I've been happy to see that there is a community here interested in collaboration and it is my hope to learn from you. If the Kasina is right for me,hopefully I can provide some useful contributions as well.

The audio entrainment has helped me to get to the next level of personal awareness. My hope is that the Kasina will be a useful tool in my communing arsenal. Having a strong technical background I also hope that I will be able to exploit the customizability and that the tool can grow in strength with me.

All this being said, do you have suggestions on where I should start to maximize my progress toward developing custom entrainment sessions? I'd love to know:

-what mindplace content to begin my experiences with
-what tools/features to start customizing with and what limitations they have

Also, I'd love to hear about some 'a-ha!' moments from the community that served as breakthrough moments that have enhanced their experiences with the Kasina. Links to other threads are very welcome!

[neuroasis]

Hi Ben,
Welcome to the Kasina family! The Kasina release cycle is in the very early stages. At this point I think many people are still exploring the factory content which is pretty vast. A factory piece can make a first impression, but you never really know how it 'affects' you until you explore it multiple times in different settings and states of mind. Generally, it is a long process of many months. We have suggested in the manual to start with A Starlit Night, which is really the brightest and most intense of the Kasina sessions. The is sort of a gauge of how much is enough, figuratively. After this one, you can be well equipped and confident to explore all the other content, as it is a bit more dialed back and comfortable. Next recommended is Patternity. This one has more color mixing and is a 'ride' session, which can be quite transportive. It is a good representation of the overall vision of Kasina as a new form of meditative audio visual art. Beyond that, you will want to begin to explore the 'work' sessions which are categorized by type and intent. They have more focused frequencies and good soundtracks for specific purposes.

In practice you will probably want to do a mix of sessions. For instance, I always start my meditations with BioMarkers for settling in, then I proceed with a session for the purpose that I want, often picking different ones from a category for variety and duration. For me, Soliton almost always get preferred play, as I have built up a lot of internal imagery and triggers around that session personally, and I can go deep with it really quick. You will find that this is the case with continued work with different sessions. Variety is good, but repetition over a period builds up 'state awareness', more so than a pick of the day approach. Hope that makes sense.

From a programmer's perspective we are still coming to grips with all the possibilities that the new SpectraStrobe format offers in conjunction with audio editors and Transparent products. Most all of the limitations of the past have been removed. Now it is a matter of developing workflows and finding out what works best and what types of content people like/want. There is also some measure of learning required on the part of all who wish to make content (and maybe additional software investments).

The AHA moments for me have been how powerful the Red LEDs are in comparison to the other colors in closed eyes and how they have to be managed for the best palette. Also I am continuing to explore hemispheric splits now that we have full control of each eye.

Also, generally I think that BWE along with an AVS machine really helps to learn to flow along with a rhythm and align with/ride a pulse to create patterned, ordered, repeatable, states of awareness. Unstructured meditation is generally pretty haphazard, and this is a welcomed enhancement. Coming from audio only you probably know what I mean, but light and flicker add a whole different level.

I look forward to hearing of your experience with the Kasina. Just realize that it is a big step forward from what was possible before and we are still growing into it.

Best regards,
Scott

[benhudelson]

Hi Scott,

Thank you very much for taking the time to construct such a well thought out response. I'd heard rave reviews about customer support, but your dedication to answering questions goes beyond customer support and into the realm of community building. Keep up the good work.

I have had my Kasina now for a few days and have been very thrilled with the variety of experiences I have had using it. I have definitely been enjoying the MindArt sessions, but I have not yet been able to consistently use them for entrainment. I think this will take some time and exploration. There are some visual techniques in the MindArt tracks that will definitely aid in entrainment - specifically patterns that create tunnel-like visuals (Mandelbrot-ish). I have not determined if the tunnel-like visuals can be consistently constructed from the use of similar patterns or if the tunnel was just my minds interpretation of that moment. If you have any comments on this or other visual phenomena I'd be glad to hear it.

On that note visually speaking I have had some tremendous experiences. Touch of Silence has moments where my space no longer feels three dimensional, rather the space is irrational. For lack of better words, I refer to it as 'Space Contemplation'. The concept of a flat plane does not make sense nor does volume, yet somehow both exist and change very rapidly. Size has no meaning either. It seems everything is infinitely small and infinitely vast at the same time. I have contemplated and experienced very similar ideas in meditation before, however the visual component was much more fleeting.

My first time doing Patternity created some very vivid imagery though I have not been able to reproduce it. I am thinking my 'want' is getting in the way of my present. Its always when I have expectations in these things that I am disappointed. The imagery was a scene from my childhood. There wasn't much to it, but it was still very beautiful. I saw my bicycle leaning against my childhood home and the plants were in full bloom. The sun was shining an extremely golden light that shone through and reflected off the surface of the greenery. I haven't found significance of the image yet, though it evokes some very strong emotions.

Overall, I am still trying to figure the Kasina out. I've had some very cool experiences and some duds. But I think you mentioned timing and that is something I will need to work on. I also think that I might require some desensitizing to the visual component. At times I find entrainment harder with the lights, but I also think I might be able to create some sessions that will provide some relief from the light exposure while utilizing the benefits of using them.

I had my wife try the Kasina out. She is no stranger to meditation but she knew very little of this strange little device. I was able to capture a few moments on tape of her first experience. I plan on posting it on youtube but need to edit a few personal things out first, but I think the community will enjoy watching her first use.

I am definitely looking forward to doing your MWS tutorials. Is there any reason to get the more expensive versions? I can see myself interested in getting the SDK in the future but at this point I am not sure that cost is worth it. Can you provide a general idea of what the upgraded versions of MWS would provide for a Kasina session author?

Thanks again,

Ben

[neuroasis]

I have found over years of use and also reading many reports and fielding questions that there is a definite range of imagery that consistently shows up. Tunnels, fractals, and spinning vortices are very common. (and awesome) We have learned to consistently exploit these mirages only to a small degree, because yes, you are correct, there is a certain amount of building up a context within the flow of the session. Also, as you have pinpointed, the viewer brings a great deal to the table in the 'imagination' overlay they use to categorize and interpret what they see. The interesting thing though is studies within the field of entoptic imagery (hallucination/phosphene categorization) you will find that even aboriginal peoples from the beginning of history have interpreted these phenomena in similar ways. Witness certain cave painting for instance which some have suggested document these phenomena to a certain extent. (firelight and dark caves were ideal environments for phosphenic visions) This thread has some links that expand on this: http://www.mindplacesupport.com/foru...light=entoptic

You might also find interest in the discussion of 'surface vs. depth' awareness which is a natural or acquired skill depending on the individual. However, for long term AVS use, seeking to develop depth awareness will expand your enjoyment immensely. In fact, I want to suggest that in some sessions, just gently moving the lights around with slight blushes of color and form, such that they are downplayed and non-intrusive, creates the most fertile ground for hypnagogic imagery. It is especially so, if you let yourself drift in and out of small naps. The latest session I posted, Sleep Pattern, is based on this principle. By itself it is not too impressive, but with proper depth awareness, it is quite nice. The discussion on these topics is here: http://www.mindplacesupport.com/foru...=surface+depth

Meditation in general, has productive periods and dry periods. In most meditation traditions, to achieve deep results you must bore yourself to the point where your imagination (subconscious) comes to the forefront and fills in the gaps. If any claim of 'accelerated meditation' using AVS machines has validity, then it stands upon the fact that some measure of the pathway to this 'bounty by boredom' is made more accessible. The suggested visual imagery and pulsing waves within AVS sessions lead many, if not most people to fascination, awe, and ultimately trance. However, these initial breakthroughs can be fleeting or short-lived. That is where doing the work of heightening your internal senses and building up transcendental body awareness, is unavoidable for long term enjoyment. These very lively initial experiences suggest that much deeper and more interesting journeys await you, given that you persevere.

Would love to see your video. It is always enjoyable to see people engage and try to explain their experiences.

As far as MWS, it depends really on how you like to learn and express yourself. Or at least somewhat. For instance the advanced versions of Mind Workstation allow you to use more mathematical functions, which are really quite interesting and powerful. Also, the use of programming for BioSensors is expanded a bit with the Timer engine and also math functions. Most of the upper features however are designed for therapeutic or clinical usage. You can get a great deal of results from even the base level. My tutorials videos up to this point have not gone beyond the features in the base.

Thanks for your compliments and interesting discussion, I look forward to talking with you more.

Best,
Scott