From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Mon Dec 16 1996 - 15:06:35 MST
At 09:50 AM 12/16/96 -0500, you wrote:
>On Mon, 16 Dec 1996, David Musick wrote:
>
>> I stongly believe that all the results of using LSD can be achieved without
>> the drug, and I have been working on developing the types of states of mind
>> that I experienced on LSD, for the past few years, with great success. I
>> think that LSD and other psychoactive drugs are only one way to achieve
>> certain results with one's mind. I think it is more beneficial to
develop the
>> mental discipline to put oneself in various states of consciousness at will
>> (although I have nothing against using the drugs -- in fact, I enjoy using
>> them, but haven't for a while, due to the difficulty of obtaining them
>> safely). It's taken a lot of work, but my everyday experience now is far
>> beyond anything I ever experienced on acid, and it keeps getting more
intense
>> all the time.
>
> This of course can be related to Anders post about being more
>creative when dead tired. I myself have found that states of
>consciousness can bring with them intense experiences and open your mind
>to vast new worlds. I have never experimented with psychedelic drugs,
>because I have never felt the need, I have been able to attain states of
>that rise me above "at the expense of the general intellect" to entirely
>new realms, purely through what I call "atmosphere engineering". I find
>that electro/ambient/techno music, and a good deal of world music, in
>combination with a candle, or small suffusive night light, and
>sometimes by the soft glow of a monitor and endless depth of the 'net,
>allow me to easily shift states of consciousness.
...[monster snip]...
>It is said that what makes a
>genius is the ability to combine two entirely unrelated fields in new and
>unexplored ways. Make note of the new issue of Wired, in it is featured
>software that analyzes something to the effect of three million or billion
>(I don't have it sitting next to me, so please excuse the vagueness)
>technical papers and looks for associations that would not normally have
>been found. In this state, one thinks of some vary bizarre things, and
>can make associations. What Anders experiences is probably just this, he
>is dead tired so is less able to maintain a grip on his beta state, and
>slips down into slight unconsciousness, rides the border, releasing a
>torrent of new and creative unforeseen ideas.
Many of my best ideas have also when I was either tired, or "under the
influence". My "normal" sober self tends to be extremely rational and
analytical, which while very helpful for much of the work I do, isn't
particularly conducive to creativity. I have been successfully working on
achieving this creative state via consciously "switching" between modes.
Minor Digression:
What I find interesting, is that I have found out (over the last year or so)
that I can exert a phenomenal amount of control over my body and mind by
force of will alone. I have been experimenting extensively with trying to
control various parts of my biological functioning via conscious thought.
It is easiest with realtime biofeedback, and my first experimental target
was my heart rate. Currently I can drop my heart rate by about 20 pulses
per minute and raise it about 40 pulses per minute almost immediately simply
by "making it so". When I first tried doing this, I had a difficult time
making my heart rate change at all, but with practice, I found that I could
do it both quickly and fairly dramatically. I have tried this with a lot of
other biological functions such as body temperature, metabolism, and many
other metrics and have had significant success. Ideally, I would like to be
able to control, absolutely, every significant functioning of my body via
conscious thought.
The key to doing this, for me, was the subtle differences between "hoping
something will happen", "seeing if something will happen", and "making
something happen". The key is to simply "make it happen" under the
assumption that you can already do it. Its as if your body won't let your
mind take control unless your mind actually knows that it can. Its not as
if you should be "requesting" these things, because you already own them but
just aren't aware of it. And with regular practice, it becomes easier to do.
I was prompted to look into this by something that I have been able to do
for years, and that is operate without an alarm clock. Before I go to
sleep, I tell myself what time I want to wake up. Almost without fail (it
doesn't always work if I am really exhausted), I wake up within two minutes
of the time I wanted to wake up. When I first found out that I could do
this I thought it was odd, but now I simply accept it as a normal aspect of
my existence. The most interesting part of this to me is: How does the
mind keep such an accurate sense of time while you are sleeping, when there
is no external queues?
My ultimate goal in all this is that I hope to eventual have the capability
to consciously reprogram my own mind in an active, effective fashion.
Historically, people have been aware that it is possible to have a great
deal of control over mind and body simply by the mechanism of suggestion. I
am seeking a way of actively harnessing this elusive interface to my own
advantage.
Who knows, maybe I will write about it someday.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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