Personal Introduction and the Kasina

[Journey Man]

Dear MindPlace Forum Members,

Seven years ago I read the book Get High Now *Without Drugs by James Nestor. It is a fantastic book if you haven't read it. In the book the author and his friends try out dozens of different techniques to alter consciousness without the use of drugs. In the book there is one section on mind machines. Nestor and his friends tried out the Photosonix Innerpulse and the Mind's Eye by Theta Technologies.

After reading about the machines, I was intrigued, but I had a hard time justifying the purchase at the time as I wasn't sure that a mind machine would work and I was saving up for a down payment on a house.

I decided to finally purchase a device and based on this forum and reviews. I purchased a Kasina. The Kasina seems to be very user friendly according to what I have read. My Kasina will be arriving tomorrow and I am looking forward to using it.

I am primarily interested in experiencing some kind of shamanic journey with the Kasina. I have tried with just hemisync music and shamanic drumming and I find that I get nowhere. I have been involved for so long in left brain activities (reading, research, and the learning of new knowledge for work) that I have trouble just trying to daydream these days.

What presets with the Kasina would you suggest I try first to experience a shamanic type journey?

Also, how does the Kasina compare to the Mind's Eye machine? I only ask because the writers of the book said that some of the users reported "scary soul hallucinations" (that sort of thing excites me!).

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

[Robert Austin]

Greetings... the Theta Technologies Minds Eye is a re-named Voyager XL, which we used to manufacture back in the 1990s (actually, I designed and programmed it). They have added their own sessions, though, so it's a different experience than the MindLab series that it was based upon. Like most earlier mind machines, it used only red LEDs, unlike our current offerings. The Kasina of course used red, green and blue light, and the technology embeds light control signals on the MP3 files, which include nature sounds, ambient electronics etc. as well as embedded binaural beats and sometimes isochronic sounds. We learned long ago though that the flickering light component is significantly more important than binaural beats, despite what you might have read online.

We licensed our tooling and design work to Theta for the Mindlab/VoyagerXL/Minds Eye platform nearly 20 years ago, so the Kasina employs the latest technologies, like a 32 bit processor instead of 8 bits, color LCD instead of... well, LED indicator lights, etc. Should you acquire one, I would suggest starting with Trance and Mind Art sessions. And use it at least 5-10 times before concluding whether it's what you were looking for. We (and Amazon) do offer 30 day return policy, so you would have plenty of time to evaluate it.

Robert

[Journey Man]

Thank you for the explanation. I have found binaural beats to be underwhelming.

According to USPS tracking, I should be receiving my Kasina tomorrow. I will update the forum on how it goes. Thanks again, Robert.

[Robert Austin]

We're looking forward to hearing about your Kasina experiences, Journey Man!

-Robert

[Journey Man]

I received my Kasina yesterday afternoon. I have tried three programs so far. The first program that I tried was Sanguine. I found Sanguine to be a little intense, but I only had about 10 minutes to spare.

Today I tried the Trance setting, specifically Alphabet. Alphabet most definitely put me in a trance. It worked exactly as described. Immediately after, I tried the Clear Your Mind program from the Rejuvenate sessions. I feel good, although I'm not exactly sure what the Rejuvenate sessions are supposed to do. I'm thinking that maybe it is like a nap.

Tomorrow I plan to try a longer Mind Art session.