Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Gateway Experience Journal April 4, 2007

I began the first lesson in the Gateway Experience put out by The Monroe Institute. I am going to be keeping a journal as it recommends; this is the first entry.

My mood tonight starting out was slightly frustrated and aggrevated, but only due to computer hardware issues. I turned out the light and laid back in my recliner in the computer room, took off my shoes and glasses. As directed, I created a box in my mind to put all my concerns into. Some of the things I stuffed into this box were computers, money, blogs, husbands, friends, just about anything that's been on my mind lately, good or bad. The idea is to have a mind that is not cluttered with thoughts. As with regular meditation, the idea is to have a quiet mind.

The Gateway Experience plays a multitude of sounds and tones, similar to binaural beats. Different tones are played in each ear, so that the brain acts as a third ear which creates it's own tone. It's called "hemi-sync". If you'd like to know more about it, look it up.

We worked on breathing exercises, breathing in while opening my eyes and imagining new fresh energy filling up my body and head, exhaling out while closing my eyes and imagining old stale energy leaving my body through my breath. Later, I chanted tones as I exhaled.

I began to feel as though I were floating. This isn't really the best description of what I was feeling. It felt like gravity wanted to pull me down farther than the chair was allowing. My hands tingled.

At the end, the speaker said, "When I count down to one you will be awake and alert." I was so relaxed in what is known as "Focus 3" that I couldn't conceive of coming out of it alert. I thought surely I would be sleepy afterwards. But, while he counted down, some new tones were played and sure enough after he got to one and I opened my eyes I felt refreshed.

I had fun during this session. There are quite a few lessons and I am unsure of what pace I should be going right now. I wonder to myself if I should do the first lesson again the next few nights or if I should just keep going forward and progressing. I'll probably look around the Internet and see how fast other people have gone.

Thank you to my mate in Australia for sending me this wonderful gift.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been trying some of these stuff without really knowing what it is all about. Thank you for the links. Maybe I will get a better idea.
Will these techniques lead to clarity and enlightenment or to spaciness and suggestibility? I don't know for sure.
Well, even legitimate and well-tried meditational techniques could be wrongly used or applied. So I guess one should be very careful.
For me, altho I suffer from CFS and often spaciness, these techniques don't seem to have much effect on me. Because I tend not to believe in anything. And I tend to stay calm, cool and collected. Except for laziness and tiredness, I seem to manage to accomplish my tasks as much as anybody else. Most of my co-workers are lazy, tired, tensed and inefficient anyway.
And as always there is the danger of abuse and addiction.

Sophia said...

I can easily see the danger of addiction to these sound recordings. They are a tool to access greater states of awareness, and tools should not be abused, but used responsibly.

Is CFS chronic fatigue syndrome? Do you suffer from depression by any chance? I remember when I was depressed, I was consistently fatigued; I never had any energy to do anything. Now it feels like I can climb a mountain.

Anonymous said...

Chronic fatigue syndrome, yes. Depression? Not that I am aware of.
Maybe you should try this link:
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=28723

Sophia said...

My husband has several times claimed that I was spacey, but I think he meant it in terms of my beliefs and ideas, that they are unusual or "far out".

I do, however, often have difficulty focusing. I just got back from a meeting and the entire time it felt like my mind kept wanting to wander off. I get bored very easily.

Anonymous said...

CFS and spaciness is not so bad as long as you know what you are doing. As long as you stay calm and cool. Don't panic. And don't try anything stupid.
Maybe being spacey or spacy makes you less self-conscious. Just don't allow people to tell you what to do. And you will be all right.

Sophia said...

I am somehow less self-conscious when I am spacey. Normally I would be worrying about what other people are thinking about me, but in la-la land, those kinds of thoughts don't exist. Actually, sometimes in la-la land, there are simply no thoughts. Just quiet mind.

What if someone tells me what to do and I think it is a good idea that I do it? Say, that something is good for me somehow, for growth or self-development? It would then be unwise of me not to do so.

Anonymous said...

Well, of course. But why do you want to be someone else other than who you are. We can't all be God at the same time. I mean we don't become God. We are simply who we are. And we should be happy with that. I don't believe in inequality. We are equal in God's eyes.

Sophia said...

I do not want to be anyone other than I Am. Yes, we are all equal. About all being God at the same time, are you sure about that? If there is no such thing as time, then why not? Time is a human construct. We think we feel time much as we think we see matter separately.

Anonymous said...

You are already that. Everytime you say I am this, I am that. But to be unique individuals we need to limit ourselves to you and me. Otherwise we will not be able to relate to each other. Of course if you want to escape all this, you will have to live alone. And no one will want to relate with you. Imagine telling people you are God, they will think you have gone crazy. And perhaps you will lose your job. And they will make fun of you. I don't mean to say you should give a damn. But it's better that way, not to make other people jealous. Most people don't like to be considered inferior or less wise, less intelligent, less talented than you. They will hate you if they get the idea.
Let me tell you something. Sometimes I provoke people by telling them I am a Guru and I am helping a lot of people. Most people don't believe this. They think I am crazy, vain and arrogant and proud. So they make fun of me. But it doesn't bother me. Because I am just trying to find out what this people think if I aggrandize myself. And I know one thing for sure. Most of them don't like the idea. So they do their best to humiliate and bully me. And I just laugh at them. But one thing they can't do to me is intimidate me.
Anyway, I prefer to tell jokes and make people laugh. To teaching and playing God.

Sophia said...

Maybe I should take up residence in a cave? :) Only kidding of course.

To be certain, people might not be ready for the truth, that is why they should figure it out in their own time. I will not push my beliefs down anyone's throat unless they ask me for it.