quale n., a property of a thing, considered independently from the thing or things having the property.
Lately, I also like referring to what I usually experience as metaphysical energies (or... metamechanical energies?) as sentiment. Physical objects can have sentimental value. If it can't be sensed, it's mental.
These are things that, if I sense them at all, are in a default mental state. I suppose that it's a personal default mental state, and not what I refer to as the default world. The default world would be the collective and unanimous experience of the world. Whenever I stand apart from that default world to any degree, I would be in an altered state of mind.
And that is what I'm currently attempting to map: from "migraine auras" (as demonstrated in the BBC documentary How Art Made The World, episode two: "The Day Pictures Were Born"), to REM sleep (and how to distinguish them from OBE's*), to the hallucinations of those with Charles Bonnett Syndrome (as studied by neurology/psychiatry professor Oliver Sacks), to hallucinations associated with psychosis which is very different from Charles Bonnett**, to memory and imagination which can be quite similar to psychosis***. And then, of course, there's the aura and hallucinations that sometimes come with episodes of petite mal epilepsy.
None of which I can be arsed to expand on right now because I no longer have the time/money to read the necessary literature nor have I had the inclination to meditate lately and investigate what I can for myself. So, my attempts have been more... attempting to attempt. Theoretical, you know. Even my personal default mental state, has been closer to the default world lately... and, I must confess that I... just sort of really like it that way! ;-)
* Monroe. R.A. (1985). Far journeys. New York, Doubleday, p. 239.
Susan Blackmore discusses several cases of adepts who subjected themselves to psychophysiological measurements while in the out-of-body state. In all of these cases, the OBE did not occur during REM sleep, as measured with an electroencephalograph (EEG), an objective indicator of dreaming. The EEG revealed a variety of complex patterns, but nothing that could easily be classified as dreaming. In fact, in some instances, the EEG even showed an alert and awake mind.10 Scott Rogo concludes: "while LaBerge is correct in pointing out the many similarities between OBEs and lucid dreaming, objective EEG criteria suggest that these resemblances are purely superficial or artifactual."^
** Sacks, O. (2009 February 5). Oliver Sacks: What hallucination reveals about our minds [Video file]. Retrieved from YouTube, also TED main website. Note: Oliver Sacks authored a book on the topic, Hallucinations. ^
*** http://snitkof.com/cg156/mnemonics.php ^
Of ancient origin, according to Bower, 1970, the method of loci is basically the following idea: "the use of an orderly arrangement of locations into which one could place the images of things or people that are to be remembered." ... You are supposed to use your imagination and see the ... item that you are supposed to be remembering at the location that you associate it with. What happens is that after you are done with this ... and you have associated all the items to these specific locations, you are supposed to reuse these location for any new list of items that you may encounter.
Bower does however provide a study that shows the effectiveness of this mnemonic device. He talks of a study done by Ross & Lawrence, 1968, in which the experimenters asked their students to memorize long lists of items, each about 40 items long. Their task was to memorize the list using the method of loci and using 40 locations on the college campus. Each student recalled the list after each list was presented. What was found was that each student was able to recall the list. The next day, the students had to recall the list again and also remember a new list of items. The results showed that recall immediately after studying the lists averaged 38 out of 40 correct in serial order. And the day following, the average was 34 out of 40. Comparatively, these results were exemplary that the method of loci did in fact work.
I remember reading once pre-internet days (I will never be able to find it! urg!) that Dostoyevsky has used the method of loci while imprisoned to write Crime and Punishment in his head. After that I was inspired to use a crude adaptation of the method with classes to prepare for a test. Instead of a mental "palace" though, I used actual items in the room we were in and tied those things to be memorized. Then, after review and rest for a few days, I removed the items for the test. It went very well except some were stuck in the end, but I took out the items from a drawer and placed them where they'd been and boom, 100%s around the room were had. That was fun but many of the kids did not feel confident that they could do this entirely mentally.
ReplyDeleteI just watched a video by Ken Wilbur prior to his downfall ( I found in this article: http://postmasculine.com/ken-wilber ) in which he demonstrated changing his brain waves using a portable EEG. I think it would be great tool to have around to tell the difference between different states instead of guessing and fumbling around with terminology. I waste too much time doing that and as things progress, I'd really like to know if I am actually making progress.
However, I can understand wanting to stop too. In another book I am reading (Magick in Theory and Practice), Crowley writes that there are stages one goes through in meditative practices and after an enthusiastic and often protracted start, there is a point where one begins to loathe the practices. After that is the last stage where one may go beyond and again incorporate the practices in a new and more meaningful way. I do not know if he is spot on or not, but it makes sense with a great many things that work that way.
In any event, if you are happy and liking life, that is awesome IMO.
Great stuff, thank you so much for sharing!
DeleteOhh, I can never stay on the armchair for too long. It is comfy here, though. XD
Just wanted to let you know that I am halfway through the Sacks book Hallucinations. WOW. I love this book. So far, it makes me feel sane. There are so many examples that ring very familiar. As of where I am in the reading only once has he mentioned that a hallucination was helpful in something as if it was giving information not available to regular thought processes and that was a man playing poker who did quite well by listening to his voices. However, this was not examined past a brief mention. I am hoping that at some point he will go into whether or not there is some value or evidence that some hallucinations do seem to make actual contact with knowledge not readily available to regular people. That would be cool. However, like the remote viewing evidence that was disregarded as being an extraordinary claim that required extraordinary proof, I suspect if something is discussed it will be likewise dismissed.
ReplyDeleteStill, and excellent read and thank you for tipping me to it!
You're very welcome, and thank you for searching further than I can at the moment. XD I'd love to hear what you think of his book when you're done!
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