I must admit to reading this from afar for awhile and wanting to comment as thanks for sparking an internal dialogue. After reading this post, I have decided to purchase a Procyon AVS to help with my nonlocal adventures. While no stranger to them, I have had a bit of a dry spell after becoming a father. I'm looking for time management assistants and it sounds like this is just the sort of thing to speed the prerequisite mind awake body asleep state along. One thing I have thought as I read and researched over the last couple weeks is how difficult it has been for psychonauts to actually transition into the non physical states while wearing these devices. I read here from all of you that it works best to make a serious attempt after the session is done. Graham Nichols talks about it with the Lucia, that there is a highly visual/optical interface that works well for remote viewing but maybe not so much for OBE, yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a34nJUlfpzQ
I've been getting excited about the possibilities of the Oculus Rift which looks like it could take stroboscopes in a whole new direction, including a game on Steam about lucid dreaming called Dream. It looks wonderful and I will be on that like mad, but I think these will all just be training devices for what is a very complex process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8iOaBdWjk
As a kinesthetically oriented person, all of my nonphysical experiences have had essential tactile or atmospheric components. Including very vibration centered senses and filaments of tactile communication fibers that stretch and interweave in dynamic ways with the environment and are also co-integrated into the other senses uniquely at different times. I like it when visual input is added to my mindscapes and this is a secondary interest in buying a AVS device to train with. It seems to me that a primarily visual oriented device may provide an interesting hypnotic, neuro-linguistic switching, suggestive state for training visual patterns, especially with someone such as myself, but that I would be beholden to the programmer of the track, the held frequency, or the visual sensory stimulus as guide for the duration. Only after the session is done would I be able to "make it mine." The benefits come from habituating to precursor skills which are needed before we let go of the physical for real. Also, I seem to have a neurological response to vibrating photons/electrons radiating out of visual devices like TVs, computers, and smart phones that leave a unnatural like frequency stain that must be cleared before my body can fully fall asleep without tension. Dreams I have after habituating to these signals have jerky, hesitant, and rushed scenarios. It is like being gripped by an outside force or manipulated by photons with their own intent. Maybe it is the content of most visual media or maybe it is rushing electrons vibrating across a magnetic pulsing field. It will be interesting to see what the AVS device signals are like.
In essence, the problem of artificially generated nonphysical states is like that of trying to have an OBE, remote viewing, or lucid dream while simultaneously verbalizing the event to someone in the real world. The connection to a physical source of data takes a great deal of focus away from the personalized nonlocal world to the point of becoming almost incompatible. Right now all these devices are trying to resonantly establish a corresponding simulation in what is, it seems, an internally generated conscious processing that takes place superior (or anterior depending on your point of reference) to the sphere of the physical data input. The observer consciousness, if you will. Either this internally generated consciousness is a complex soup of neurology and brain chemistry, holographic quantum reduction, intention phasing, or all of the above and then some. Incorporating all of these elements is beyond what a device we currently have can do yet the signal generated by the device seems to take president and almost prevent a nonlocal shift from happening. Maybe because the physical is a default adaptation mechanism because concreteness and corporeality is our habituation. It seems like it would be hard to design a program tailored in one media to all of the adventurers' proclivities for an on demand virtual session. You would need a choose your own adventure program times a thousand or infinity. Although virtual technology is dazzling and I never have enough time to enjoy all of it, there is a interactivity and emotional quality to my OBEs that would be extremely difficult to replicate or simulate I think. Even the pre courser stages have this quality. Lucidity is more than just simple cognitive awareness, it is a living thing in its own right and it grows and evolves. Even simple frequency programs and guided meditations like the Gateway program are better left behind at some point to truly stretch out and fly the cosmos so that their signal does not limit. Still, I am super curious to find out what they can do, and will have a hard time waiting for my Procyon to find out.
In researching the Lucia, I came upon this helpful article on the pineal gland and what the author calls METAtonin, which is the synergistic complex of secretions centered around endogenous DMT in the brain and body.
http://www.clearlightfoundation.com/research-articles.html
I would like to share something that has worked greatly for me in achieving pre courser states which allow for traditional OBE techniques, such as discussed here, to be utilized easier. It is somewhat related to the above link on the pineal gland and trying to manipulate brain chemistry, however without a device. I came upon it after reading Jurgen Ziewe's book Multidimensional Man. In it he talks about coming upon OBE quite unexpectedly during the course of his personal spiritual training program. Although he doesn't give his personal set of practices away, he did link to the books which helped him develop it. I started using the methods at this site that he linked to in the back of the book: http://www.aypsite.org/index.html I use the spinal pranayama and AYAM mantra meditation ("I am" - but really any focal point will do, silence is the end focus) detailed there along with Qigong and Zhan Zhuang (standing post meditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoeoP8qqdC0&feature=player_embedded) that I learned elsewhere in the mornings before work. As I'm somewhat of an agnostic type, I try to keep it simple and focus just on the core exercises stripped of any religious context. After about 3 months of daily practice, I started to get a luminous (albeit faint) glow in the pineal/forehead area at times, which then later led into trance phenomena and the beginnings of the vibrational state while sitting upright in half lotus. Other powerful experiences followed including spacial and time pulsing, emotional regulation, and the best; the infinity and grandeur of pure silence. The connection with the pineal seems almost like a prerequisite to better non-conditional lucidity. I think training the spinal area to relax while stimulating the pelvic floor and upper spinal/brain with mild intention plus adding the calm abiding and mental absorption of traditional meditation afterwords provides a powerful jump point for nonlocal awareness. It is like an organic key to the endogenous DMT experience. Maybe adding mind/neuron training with AVS can make for a more powerful combination in the direction of OBE. I can sometimes "see the other side" close by in my morning meditations, but don't go on because I have to leave for work afterwords and don't want to risk flying off in some wonderland and being late. Usually at night I'm too dog tired to attempt OBE, and even in the middle of the night I fear losing quality sleep and then having to slog through work and being with the family. Maybe AVS will allow me to decompress quickly without mentally falling asleep early in the night or getting mired in the insomnia syndrome in the middle of the night. If I find anything useful, I'll come back and share. Anyways, thanks for having this discussion and good luck to you all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a34nJUlfpzQ
I've been getting excited about the possibilities of the Oculus Rift which looks like it could take stroboscopes in a whole new direction, including a game on Steam about lucid dreaming called Dream. It looks wonderful and I will be on that like mad, but I think these will all just be training devices for what is a very complex process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln8iOaBdWjk
As a kinesthetically oriented person, all of my nonphysical experiences have had essential tactile or atmospheric components. Including very vibration centered senses and filaments of tactile communication fibers that stretch and interweave in dynamic ways with the environment and are also co-integrated into the other senses uniquely at different times. I like it when visual input is added to my mindscapes and this is a secondary interest in buying a AVS device to train with. It seems to me that a primarily visual oriented device may provide an interesting hypnotic, neuro-linguistic switching, suggestive state for training visual patterns, especially with someone such as myself, but that I would be beholden to the programmer of the track, the held frequency, or the visual sensory stimulus as guide for the duration. Only after the session is done would I be able to "make it mine." The benefits come from habituating to precursor skills which are needed before we let go of the physical for real. Also, I seem to have a neurological response to vibrating photons/electrons radiating out of visual devices like TVs, computers, and smart phones that leave a unnatural like frequency stain that must be cleared before my body can fully fall asleep without tension. Dreams I have after habituating to these signals have jerky, hesitant, and rushed scenarios. It is like being gripped by an outside force or manipulated by photons with their own intent. Maybe it is the content of most visual media or maybe it is rushing electrons vibrating across a magnetic pulsing field. It will be interesting to see what the AVS device signals are like.
In essence, the problem of artificially generated nonphysical states is like that of trying to have an OBE, remote viewing, or lucid dream while simultaneously verbalizing the event to someone in the real world. The connection to a physical source of data takes a great deal of focus away from the personalized nonlocal world to the point of becoming almost incompatible. Right now all these devices are trying to resonantly establish a corresponding simulation in what is, it seems, an internally generated conscious processing that takes place superior (or anterior depending on your point of reference) to the sphere of the physical data input. The observer consciousness, if you will. Either this internally generated consciousness is a complex soup of neurology and brain chemistry, holographic quantum reduction, intention phasing, or all of the above and then some. Incorporating all of these elements is beyond what a device we currently have can do yet the signal generated by the device seems to take president and almost prevent a nonlocal shift from happening. Maybe because the physical is a default adaptation mechanism because concreteness and corporeality is our habituation. It seems like it would be hard to design a program tailored in one media to all of the adventurers' proclivities for an on demand virtual session. You would need a choose your own adventure program times a thousand or infinity. Although virtual technology is dazzling and I never have enough time to enjoy all of it, there is a interactivity and emotional quality to my OBEs that would be extremely difficult to replicate or simulate I think. Even the pre courser stages have this quality. Lucidity is more than just simple cognitive awareness, it is a living thing in its own right and it grows and evolves. Even simple frequency programs and guided meditations like the Gateway program are better left behind at some point to truly stretch out and fly the cosmos so that their signal does not limit. Still, I am super curious to find out what they can do, and will have a hard time waiting for my Procyon to find out.
In researching the Lucia, I came upon this helpful article on the pineal gland and what the author calls METAtonin, which is the synergistic complex of secretions centered around endogenous DMT in the brain and body.
http://www.clearlightfoundation.com/research-articles.html
I would like to share something that has worked greatly for me in achieving pre courser states which allow for traditional OBE techniques, such as discussed here, to be utilized easier. It is somewhat related to the above link on the pineal gland and trying to manipulate brain chemistry, however without a device. I came upon it after reading Jurgen Ziewe's book Multidimensional Man. In it he talks about coming upon OBE quite unexpectedly during the course of his personal spiritual training program. Although he doesn't give his personal set of practices away, he did link to the books which helped him develop it. I started using the methods at this site that he linked to in the back of the book: http://www.aypsite.org/index.html I use the spinal pranayama and AYAM mantra meditation ("I am" - but really any focal point will do, silence is the end focus) detailed there along with Qigong and Zhan Zhuang (standing post meditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoeoP8qqdC0&feature=player_embedded) that I learned elsewhere in the mornings before work. As I'm somewhat of an agnostic type, I try to keep it simple and focus just on the core exercises stripped of any religious context. After about 3 months of daily practice, I started to get a luminous (albeit faint) glow in the pineal/forehead area at times, which then later led into trance phenomena and the beginnings of the vibrational state while sitting upright in half lotus. Other powerful experiences followed including spacial and time pulsing, emotional regulation, and the best; the infinity and grandeur of pure silence. The connection with the pineal seems almost like a prerequisite to better non-conditional lucidity. I think training the spinal area to relax while stimulating the pelvic floor and upper spinal/brain with mild intention plus adding the calm abiding and mental absorption of traditional meditation afterwords provides a powerful jump point for nonlocal awareness. It is like an organic key to the endogenous DMT experience. Maybe adding mind/neuron training with AVS can make for a more powerful combination in the direction of OBE. I can sometimes "see the other side" close by in my morning meditations, but don't go on because I have to leave for work afterwords and don't want to risk flying off in some wonderland and being late. Usually at night I'm too dog tired to attempt OBE, and even in the middle of the night I fear losing quality sleep and then having to slog through work and being with the family. Maybe AVS will allow me to decompress quickly without mentally falling asleep early in the night or getting mired in the insomnia syndrome in the middle of the night. If I find anything useful, I'll come back and share. Anyways, thanks for having this discussion and good luck to you all.