Gateway and understanding hemi-sync

[Little Bibble]

I've been using the Gateway Experience for several years now and I recently attended the Gateway Voyage at the TMI campus in Virginia so I thought I would share with you an insight in what I've come to understand about the the differences and explain some of my experiences about why this stuff is so special. I will try my best not to impose my will or preach as this (to quote Tom Campbell) is my truth and not yours.

First off I tried many different ways of using hemi-sync as there are many different approaches out there and I suppose all are equally as valid in their own way but I've come to realize that maybe some approaches had been counter productive for my consciousness development.

Let's take the simple notion of focus 10 - mind awake body asleep. A misleading label. Accounts of focus 10 vary wildly and for good reason as consciousness is personal and everyone experiences it in a different way based on their beliefs affecting perceptual filters when they do a focus 10 exercise. One of the most recurring questions I see on it is in regard to body awareness. I think a lot of techniques out there pay too much attention to this. Focus 10 can include being simply in a relaxed state to full body disassociation in a point consciousness state and everything inbetween. I get the impression too much emphasis is placed on acheiving total body disassociation which is counter-productive. As an example I will mention the Frank Kepples approach. Although a great method and a guy with much wisdom I feel people got side tracked with full mind/awake body asleep thing and thought that if they weren't in point consciousness by the count of 10 then they weren't there. It is simply not necessary and the sooner you let go of this fixation you might be open to more meaningful stuff. Gateway facilitators tell you while in your CHEC unit it is okay to move around, itch yourself if necessary, situp if you click out too easily. It doesn't matter as you will easily slip back into the focus level. And the final clincher that shows full body disassociation is unnecessary is you do an exercise where you move through to focus 21 while walking around outside.

That's the whole point of hemi-sync - It's not just about lying in a darkened room and escaping this reality. It's about incorporating and using in this reality as well to make your life richer

I think as a general rule you should not keep questioning signs and symptoms of focus levels. It's subjective and reading someone elses experience simply creates expectation in you and that is not a good thing. What is a good thing is to do the hemi-sync exercises which use rollercoasting - Those are the ones which keep moving up and down between particular focus levels. That way you get a distinct feel for each level and how it relates to you. Once you recognise that particular feeling of a focus level you can use it as an anchor point to easily shift back into that area of consciousness without having to overthink things.

I went to Gateway knowing I was at a disadvantage to my wife (also attending). I had spent the last 3 years devouring every piece of literature on OBE and TMI which created lots of expectation in me. My wife, who is into spiritual stuff, decided to come at the last minute not really knowing what hemi-sync was. She was open minded and had little expectation. That is the perfect state to be in for hemi-sync. I, on the otherhand, had a hard time putting all my expectations aside but over the course of the week I learned to trust myself and trust hemi-sync.

Now, what do you get out of Gateway? Well, I'm not going into specific details because that's personal to me but I will say that I don't think any of the participants got out of Gateway what they expected. They got what they needed. And what that is tends to be more profound than you will ever know.

What I have come to realise is that some people get into meditation for not necessarily the right reasons. Well, maybe the reasons are okay but as a result they don't yield the best results. what I mean by this is that I started to get better results with a few changes in mentality. Simply surrendering to process is always good. But largely I found a genuine desire for self love and acceptance is one very productive way forward. I went into exercises opening my heart space to love and self-love.

You may need to ask yourself what are trying to achieve with you OB attempts - connect with guidance, your soul group (i-there cluster), lost loved ones? If any of these then using love is  good launchpad. To stop you thinking maybe this is developing to a hippy-loving rant I will ground you with some Tom Campbell to show that growing towards love has science at its heart:

All matter in this universe is attempting to achieve a low-entropy state (entropy being a measure of disorder), If you take the big bang as an example then everything was in a state of flux and chaos. Over time it is trying to achieve harmony and peace in order to be more productive. Especially in humans this is best achieve through growing towards love. So if this is our ultimate goal on the Earth life system then it stands to reason that guidance will be more receptive to someone with an open heart space and goes into exploring consciousness with a more genuine intent rather than simply to fly in the clouds (which can also be fun). I will stop before I get too preachy.

After only 6 days the whole group of 21 of us felt the most incredible sense of fellowship and love and we were taking this into the hemi-sync exercises. Coupled with the energy of the place and surroundings made for some really enlightening experiences. Prior to Gateway I considered myself quite an even keel kind of guy in relations to my emotions. My wife complaining that I rarely show emotion. She has never seen me cry. 6 days surrounded by the love and energy and joy of our group at Gateway has changed me. I cried a few times during that week. At times I had no logical reason why. Even now thinking back to my Gateway makes me choke up a little inside.

They say Gateway extends beyond just the week and that you will get residuals manifesting themselves in your lives. It took 1 hour of being home before I got a call and an offer to move house that could alter the course of our lives for the better.

Gateway is expensive and certainly for us coming from Europe during peak season but we are definitely returning. Such an amazing experience.

[Bedeekin]

I still don't understand the focus points. The more I read them the more I feel that these points are something I've never noted or that they have passed me by, like the inconsequential scenery of a well travelled journey.

Sounds great though.

If only there were more of these Institutions... rather than an expensive one tucked away in Virginia.

[Little Bibble]

Well I suppose if you reach your desired intent without noticing any difference in the focus levels then it doesn't matter. But if you struggle then noticing these differences can really help in moving between them by simply remembering how they feel. If i'm honest, doing Gateway Experience for nearly 3 years I would say that I was never confident I was ever in a particular focus cos, like you, I had a hard time differentiating. At GW Voyage it took about 2 days and I was confident with identifying the different levels. After that you just let go and let the experience happen. There's something about the combination of setting, people, energy, facilitators (who were incredible) and being away from society for a week. They remove your watches so you are not driven by time. Very freeing.

And yeah it is very expensive as I said but it wasnt as if we could afford it either (it went on credit card). It was just something I felt we had to do. I don't regret it. If I didn't have to be back at work today I very much think we would have stayed for another course and put it on another credit card.

[Astralsuzy]

I think it would be great to go on a course.  I would not want to pay a lot of money for it.  You meet people that are interested in ap and you can talk about it.  The atmosphere I imagine would be wonderful.  Overall, you would have a great time and good memories from it for a long time.  There is a lot of talk about Gateway hemi-sync.  I have never been tempted to want to learn about it.  It seems to be complicated.  I like simple things.  What works for me is, I listen to a CD on the sounds of the wind, thunder and rain.  It helps to get your body and mind more and more relaxed.  It is not designed for ap but I really like to use it for ap.  The rest is up to you what you do to make ap happen.  I do not have to worry about different focus levels on the hemi-sync people talk about.  Everyone is different so do whatever works best for you.

[Astralsuzy]

I hope I did not sound like I was putting your course down.  I was talking about what works for me.  It may have sounded a bit like it.  It just entered my mind.  As I said I think it is wonderful you went on the course.  I have done things in the past and I admit it cost a lot of money but I do not regret it.  It is all experience and we learn.

[Astralsuzy]

Also, we have wonderful memories from the experiences.

[Little Bibble]

That's fine. I never took it as an insult. I guess this thread is really aimed for people who are using the Gateway Experience and are struggling to understand how to use it because it is not very clear.

As I say this was my experience and mine alone. We all have our own paths. I just thought I'd share mine.

[Bedeekin]

Yeah... same here... I wasn't dissing Gateway or making it sound less than brilliant.

I would love to go there for a weeks retreat. 

I wish we had more that's all.

[Stookie_]

Thanks for sharing that Little Bibble, I always like hearing about people's experiences at TMI.

[Dorfmeister]

I've just acquired the first two levels of the Gateway Experience on cassette along with several of the Human Plus titles, also on cassette.

Any thoughts on how to effectively use these would be welcome.

Thanks,

Bryan

[Stookie_]

I've just acquired the first two levels of the Gateway Experience on cassette along with several of the Human Plus titles, also on cassette.

Any thoughts on how to effectively use these would be welcome.

Thanks,

Bryan

This might help. I know there is more stuff regarding Wave I - it used to be a fairly big topic here.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_permanent_astral_topics/wave_1_and_general_phasing_questions-t15371.0.html