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Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences
P.O. Box 57
Afton, Virginia 22920
Phone (703) 456-8166
The Institute had its beginning in the Research and Development
Division of Monroe Industries, Inc., which at the time (1958) was
investigating methods and techniques of accelerated learning through
practical environmental changes. As a result of certain findings,
the decision was made to broaden the base of such investigations and
to alter the purpose of any such research effort. In 1971, the Insti-
tute was created to conform with and expand this different approach.
Stated simply, the Institute holds to the concept that (1) : Con-
sciousness and the focusing thereof contain any and all solutions to
the life processes that man desires or encounters.
(2) :
Greater
understanding and appreciation of such consciousness can be achieved
only through inter-disciplinary approaches and co-ordination; (3) : The
results of related research effort are meaningful only if reduced to
practical application, to "Something of Value"
within the context of
the contemporary culture or era.
HISTORY
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Two points of reference need to be clarified in this, the opening
portion. First, the following report is not presented within the re-
strictive confines of a single avenue of study or practice. It is an
attempt to place in broadly comprehensive terms the basic developments
at the Institute so that each individual may relate it to his own area
of interest without need for "translation".
Second, the summary of study and research contained herein is not
conventional in its approach. There are no statistical tables,! graphs,
or references to the works of others in the field.
The efforts of the
Institute have not been designed or performed with the intent of
offering proof or documentation to the scientific community or the world
at large, although much of orthodox scientific method has been utilized.
Instead, such can well be the goal of other organizations and individuals
who may take the basic findings of the Institute to prove and present
them in other forms, in other areas of specialization. The Institute
welcomes this participation.
As stated above, the early goals were defined as the development
of learning methods and techniques through practical environmental changes,
i.e., changes that could be put into use simply and easily under typical
societal conditions. This immediately precluded any exotic approaches
such as chemical, drug, or dietary stimulation. Also, to be widely accept-
able, the use of sophisticated and expensive instrumentation could not be
of vital necessity.
Moreover, the need became apparent to go beyond the
current modes and theories of learning to reach a baseline that might be
all-encompassing. The purpose was to produce something effective in a new
form, rather than an extension or expansion of traditional practices that
were declining steadily in acceptable results each year.
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Type I Learning - Utilizing a freedom from conventionality,
studies
were made into all forms of the learning process in daily life activities.
In moving beyond the Skinnerian pattern, the key factor in learning ap-
peared to be, first of all, the focusing of attention.
Pain or pleasure
focused attention to the experience, and the experience was then learned/
stored. Further, any factor of emotion focused attention, again causing
the experience to be imprinted heavily. Any extreme physical experience
also focused attention on the experience with similar results. The depth
of learning (retention-recall) appeared to be in direct relation to the
intensity of experience.
Conversely, the more shallow the experience,
the lesser the attention seemed valid, which diminished greatly the
learning process. Any other "un-natural" learning such as willful focusing
of attention without stimulus required a form of dedication and discipline
generally unavailable to the average human mind. Attention flickers and
fluctuates also in low-order repetitive experience, denigrating again
learning that might take place.
The premise: (Natural) learning is triggered by attention focused by
experience which contains elements of emotion, pain-pleasure, physical
action, newness in various combinations. Therefore: natural learning is
experience: the greater the depth of the experience, the greater the
imprint of learning. This is labeled Type I Learning.
-
A simple validation of the premise can be achieved by no more than
sitting down and writing out a list of the ten most significant infor-
mation events you have learned to date, in the order of the clarity of
detail and your ability to recall. Having done this, note how many of
the ten represent those items you have learned through formal training.
The question was: how to put this natural learning process into a
synthesis that could be applied broadly and readily.
Type II Learning - Another learning process, the most conventional
and widely in use, is indeed deliberate and willful, and approaches a
Pavlovian conditioning pattern in its habituation, to be truly successful.
The reading and re-reading of a textbook, the physical co-ordination of
an athlete, the skill of a concert pianist, all are forms of Type 11
Learning - and require a special pre-learned form of focus of attention
(which may be triggered by a previous "natural" learning experience which
may or may not be in conscious recall) .
From this basic rote process,
"un-natural",
as it were, combinations thereof are assembled to form
deductive simulations akin to natural learning experience.
Type III Learning - Another pattern which is present and affects the
individual, yet for the most part is usually not within his conscious
recall, lies in two (or more) areas of experience.
The first takes place in non-conscious retention of experience which
is perceived and stored during his waking physical life activity. All
five physical senses perceive information, only a small portion (less than
20%) of which is ordinarily available to the conscious mind. Yet such
information is stored in memory in the most minute detail.
It is not a
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part of the average consciousness because there is no focus of attention
on the experience at that particular moment. This has been illustrated
in many forms, such as the recall of the content of a conversation be-
tween others while the focus of attention was in another direction, or
the remembering of a musical selection while reading a book.
The second form of learning is by the experience of the non-conscious
self - the dream experience which may or may not be in conscious recall.
The dream material itself may be a new experience created out of the
previously learned experiences, and in turn is treated by the learning
process as a learning experience no less real or important than any other.
An individual who previously has had no fear of snakes, dreams that he
is wading in a creek, is bitten by s snake and becomes seriously ill.
Thereafter, he is afraid of snakes, and quite possibly is afraid of wading
in creeks - though the entire dream experience is not a part of his con-
scious memory.
The important facet in Type III Learning is that such learning ex-
perience is indeed a part of non-conscious memory, which does not have
the basic ability to evaluate the experience within a relative context.
Yet, it is experiential, often emotional learning, and thus acts upon the
individual personality with the same strength as Type I Learning - without
conscious awareness of the individual.
It was herein, Type III Learning, that held the most hopeful promise
of achievement of the original purpose.
Preliminary Results - It soon became obvious that experiments in
Type III Learning were not at all an original approach. Much of it had
taken place through the years under various labels - suggestion, hypnosis,
psycho-synthesis, placebo effect, motivational research, plus several
hundred philosophical variations, The problem thus was to sort out the
catalytic factor in as many of thess as possible, and apply them in some
rational and repeatable scientific model.
With this came an important change in identification of exactly what
this was that had been under investigation. What attention was being
focused?
What was undergoing the experience?
Unhappy with the term
"human being" (the process might apply to animals also), personality or
individualism being the result, and "awareness" offering insufficient
connotation, we settled reluctantly upon Consciousness. Reluctance was
there because it still seemed inadequate, vague, mis-used, and over-used
but it was the best to be had at the time.
With this hurdle cleared hopefully, and shortened to CS through im-
patience, CS (Consciousness) became the target of intensive and unorthodox
patterns of research. If CS could be extended into Type 11 learning, and
focused therein, much might be achieved.
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By luck or intuition, the project aimed immediately at the most
obvious yet natural edge of CS - the release and dispersion of CS at
the onset of and during sleep. The simple process of extended wake-
fulness did not produce any worthwhile patterns, i.e., delaying the
loss of CS without qualitative changes of what appeared to be a de-
clining efficiency. Therefore, a means was sought to maintain the
quality of CS as the physiological system converted into the sleep
state. This included the problem of how to make peace with the home-
ostatic network, which resists or feels "threatened" by any change -
and change had to be the key to any process to be designed and de-
veloped.
Discovery - Very little was achieved in the early effort except
to verify many earlier studies on sleep.
Some 52 subjects were tested
in various sleep states without any significant new information brought
into view.
The first and basic breakthrough took place inadvertently,
through necessity.
The project team, for the most part volunteers,
found it difficult to find time to travel from home to home with equipment
and instrumentation to measure sleep states of various subjects. The
project did not have adequate facilities to house subjects for the night.
Also, subjects found it very difficult to go to sleep upon request. If
they did, it was usually in a near-exhausted state which negated anything
other than delta sleep, a near-comatose unresponsive state (at that period) .
To solve the problem, so that subjects would be able to go quickly
into sleep when needed, various methods were tried. Environments were
set up most condusive to sleep, including control of temperature, humidity,
light and sound - which were only partially successful. Light stimulation
was tried, - but seemedto bring discomfort rather than relaxation. A
combination of audio signals showed promise. Additional investigation
proved the solution.
It was discovered that phased sine waves at discernable sound frequen-
cies, when blended to create "beat" frequencies within the ranges of
electrical brain waves found at the various stages of human sleep, will
create a Frequency Following Response (FFR) within the EEG pattern of
the individual listening to such audio waveforms .
The FFR in turn evokes
physiological and mental states in direct relationship to the original
stimulus.
With the availability of this new tool, progress was immediate and
continuous. For the first time, it became possible to develop and hold
the subject into any of the various stages of sleep, from light alpha
relaxation through theta into delta and in REM (dreaming) . A generic
patent on the method and technique was granted to the originator, Robert
Monroe, for whom the Institute is named.
The Monroe method and techniques were found to be able to "program"
sleep cycles throughout the night of sleep, if so desired. Variations
could bring adjustment of the duration of each stage of sleep during
the cycle, according to the needs and desires of the individual. The
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waking-from-sleep moment was enhanced greatly over the traditional alarm
clock which had no cognizance of the stage of sleep it was invading. By
programming the FFR up into REM sleep for the few minutes before wake-up
time, then inserting a beta signal, the sleeper was roused gently yet
firmly, without startling shock or dull sleep "hangover".
In one multiple test, under medical supervision, some 45 insomniacs
were given a month of 'nightly repeating FFR tape recordings in their own
home environments. For such purpose, an insomniac was defined as an in-
dividual who could not sleep at night without prescribed medication. At
the end of the month, 40 of the 45 patients reported the system to be at
least as effective as their medication, and obviously without drug after
effects. In some cases, an entrainment factor lasted as long as six
months, whereby the patient had only to think of the sound pattern and
was able to achieve sleep.
Initially, the method has been released for general use as a cas-
sette tape, which is effective in monaural form. For maximum results,
it can be utilized in stereo with headphones in the same cassette con-
figuration. A prototype of a new unit with micro-electronic circuitry
is now under test whereby an entire multiple-cycle sleep period can be
'programmed", including a special wake-up sequence that goes into oper-
ation five minutes prior to a pre-set time.
These are in keeping with
the premise of "Something of Value" evolving from any research effort.
Interim Progress - With the ability to control borderland sleep states,
exploration of various stages of sleep continued as rapidly as limited
time, funds, personnel and subjects would permit - a pace that turned
into months and years. The goal was to move CS into sleep patterns and
still maintain CS as it is understood in the waking state.
Slowly, it became obvious that this could not be achieved, but not
for the expected reason. As each subject logged greater number of ex-
perimental sessions, CS in and of itself became enhanced rather than re-
stricted. Not only was the subject-participant able to ease through the
normal dimunition of physical sensory input in sleep, without loss of
CS, he discovered first, that CS was not dependent upon those same
physical sensory signals. Second, he discovered that CS as he under-
stood it became greater in its capacity without the heavy physical
sensory data presenting strong interference and distortion.
The knowing (conviction?) through experience that thinking, cog-
nition, self, personality, and any other components of consciousness
are not dependent upon physical sensory signals was in itself a most
profound learning process to most participating subjects.
In a social structure bound heavily to causal relationships through
matter-time-space, the acceptance of such as valid through personal ex-
perience was indeed profound, disturbing, and extremely stimulating to
both staff and participants. It was truly a suspected Pandora's Box
that offered unexpected potentials in an aspect that had pre-occupied
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man since his early beginnings. Could the Box be opened slowly, a little
at a time, so as to avoid being overwhelmed? Or would the additional
Studies show this paradoxical state of sleep-awake be that and no more.
At this point, a member of the research team recommended that the
beat frequency patterns be applied binaurally, i.e., that one set of
signals be inserted into one ear, another in the other ear. In open air,
extremely low frequency brain wave patterns (30HZ-1.5HZ) were below audio
perception levels, thus, the pattern was expressed in amplitude rather
than actual frequency of the sound itself. The effect of binaural in-
sertion implied a possible synthesis of the beat frequency by the brain
itself. A 200HZ signal in one ear and a 210HZ signal in the other could
suggest to the brain an effective 10HZ resonance.
The results were spectacular. A quantum jump in the entire process
became evident. Time of response shortened, duration extended, degree
of intensity was dramatic, all in the FFR patterns shown in EEG traces.
Even among some 22 previous and well-indoctrinated subjects, greatly in-
creased effectiveness was the rule.
The period that followed was one of exploration of response to audio
frequencies above EEG ranges, and often beyond normal hearing frequencies.
The search was aimed at the determination of other effective audio fre-
quencies, whatever such effect might be. The process was a tedious one,
as only a slow sweep tests permitted the FFR to appear, due to the time-
delay in response and the reporting of the volunteer subject. Moreover,
to be acceptable as to the nature of the response, a double-blind con-
sensus of subjects was a part of the criteria. Thus, to be significant,
a response reported by one subject was withheld from other subjects un-
less and/or until each reported a similar response within the same fre-
quency range. The factor of suggestion was then eliminated, and recordings
of subject response both verbal and through instrumentation were used for
evaluation.
A number of definite, repeatable responses were found. Attention
could be varied from non-conscious delta sleep of total lack of CS and
comatose physical state up through intense Beta-type concentration of one
pointed fixation, and into high-anxiety intolerable "nervousness".
How-
ever, much depended upon the sequence of the signals offered. For example,
an extremely "clear" form of mentation was obtained by first aiding the
subject to achieve Mind Awake-Body Asleep (arbitrarily identified as
Focus 10) through one set of signal stimulation, then applying a second,
overlapping signal that would normally be too "nerve-racking".
It is
still not thoroughly understood why most of such sequencing is important.
With the advent of a wide interest in brain-hemispheric theory and
study, the Institute undertook to explore the bi-lateral effects of FFR.
It was found very quickly that extreme disorientation could be produced
temporarily by inserting different, unrelated signals in each ear.
Moving more cautiously, a "de-tuning" of either hemisphere was possible
by the insertion of low EEG range frequencies in the opposite ear.
Con-
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versely, either hemisphere could be stimulated by the same method, by
application of specific Beta sound patterns and beyond. The natural
outcome of this was to seek patterns which would "balance" or adjust
the relationships between the left and right brain, and help produce
desired changes in behavior.
The above has produced dynamic results in many areas, and still
is in a stage of infancy as to the "state of the art". However, this
did lead to the definition of the basic effect with which the Institute
effort is dealing. Several years after the beginning of the "binaural
beat" studies, an associate researcher brought it to the attention of
the Institute. Utilizing the Institute FFR process in the binaural
mode, he set up a bi-lateral EEG on a volunteer subject whereby the
dominant wave form of each brain hemisphere was displayed on a dual-
trace oscilloscope.
Binaural beat-frequency stimulation creates a sustaining FFR that
is synchronous in both amplitude and frequency between the brain hemi-
phères.
The total meaning of such coherency is not understood as no extended
studies have been made except those begun by the Institute. Prior to the
development of the FFR method, no efficient technique was available to
generate an hemi-sync state. It may be true that those in a focused,
relaxed state in prayer, meditation, or similar physically-quiet states
may produce periods of such synchronization. One test of a Zen master
with twenty years of contemplative study indicated he was able to pro-
duce the effects for long periods. Certainly, it must occur naturally
if only momentarily under certain specific conditions in human life.
Exactly what these are is not yet known.
There is a partial entrainment effect, and there are indications
that it can be learned much as in the bio-feedback model. Whether the
synthesized signal crosses the Corpos Callosum (the nerve network be --
tween the brain hemispheres), travels through the brain stem, limbic
system - this has yet to be determined.
It appears that new neural
pathways are established as a result.
Work with the Monroe system and the brain hemispheric synchroniza-
tion-coherence has brought forth a number of interesting prospects. Some
of these are:
1.
Balanced Health:
The first and prime effect has been a stabi-
lization of the mental and physical energies of the participant. This
usually appears between the 10th and 11th session, each 45 minutes in
length. Most report dynamic changes in physical vitality, more restful
sleep, a greater sense of well-being, a general serenity, new enthusiasm
for living, and release from false identities and obligations, to name
a few. Generally, each begins with the statement "I feel better, I
seem to think more clearly". After the 10th exposure, the change is
often permanent.
Participants so report this some two and three years
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after the experiments.
2.
Stress-Tension Reduction: Used principally in cases that have
resisted conventional approaches, results derived appear to be caused
chiefly by a change in the overview of the individual, rather than
dealing with specifics.
3.
Surgical Support: Applied before, during and after surgery.
When used in its entirety,: this special system helps the patient in
reduction of anxieties, control of life energies, reduction of pain,
and acceleration of natural body healing.
Patients consistently re-
port major gains in all of these areas.
4. Control of Pain:
It is not yet clear why the method is as
effective as indicated. The suggestion for control of chronic pain
would appear to be quite insufficient to provide the dynamic changes
reported again and again. As little as one week of work with the
tapes has often been sufficient. There is some speculation that it
is related to the effect noted in (1) above.
5.
Stroke Recovery: Although very little has been done with
the Monroe System in this area, the preliminary findings bear report-
ing. The synchronization of the hemispheres of two participants
shortly after the onset of minor strokes, each produced definite im-
provement in the disfunction. In one case, the subject had suffered
minor speech difficulty and intermittent motor instability in his legs.
After three hemi-sync sessions, his speech had cleared considerably,
and he was able to walk steadily without effort.
Three months later,
there had been no retrogression that could be observed.
6.
Psycho-therapy:
When applied in the interview setting, the
hemi-sync mode appears to help the patient reach very quickly long-
submerged levels which have resisted penetration by most traditional
means.
It has been stated that 10 interviews using the system may be
the equivalent of 10 years of orthodox treatment.
7.
Problem Solving: The coherent brain-mind focused in a given
area by specific FFR patterns apparently has a far greater capacity
to view any condition from a holistic position than "normal" con-
sciousness. It can be speculated that it is the result of simple
utilization of complete inter-action between brain hemispheres.
In
a demonstration with a group of forty-five executives of a major
corporation, participants were asked to seek the best answer they
could for his own individual problem, while experiencing hemi-sync.
Thirty reported decision-solutions of a quality for the most part
unexpected. Each was sure it was the "right" answer.
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8.
Accelerated Learning: The pure synchronization effect alone
offers many potentials in Type II and Type III by the simple provision
of focusing of attention. For example, its use by students while
studying enhances retention and recall: One college student was able
to raise her college grades from a 2.5 to 3.9 average in one quarter,
using the method. Another test showed an ability to perceive and
remember oral information at a rate of 1,000 words per minute. (A
speech compresser was used to create the material). Another partici-
pant was able to multiply two eight-digit numbers mentally, with 100%
accuracy; without the hemi-sync effect, he had difficulty with sets
of two digit numbers. Multiplication tables from 13 to 24 were used
as rote material, with 60% accuracy in recall after one session.
Under the same conditions, mental-physical co-ordination activities
were simulated with a form of guided imagery. Particular tests were
performed chiefly in sports where any changes could be measured.
The
most indicative of these took place where six golfers all reduced their
scores by as much as five strokes. The implication that the method
could be employed in more constructive directions and in many forms
appears to be limited only by the need.
9. Creative Stimulus: A well-known training authority stated that
over 30,000 engineers on the company payroll, savings and/or profits
could be increased by some $200,000,000 if this employee group added
2% to their creative ability.
Response in this area from the Monroe
System has been so consistent that perhaps one day the Institute will
be able to conduct such an extensive study as this. Tests already
performed with a small and diverse engineering group some eleven in
number have shown a probability to surpass easily such percentile.
Several in the group have developed new designs in their respective
fields which were interesting enough to warrant patent application.
One participant in another Institute program became inspired to
write a book, completed it and sold it to a publisher within six weeks.
A second became proficient and prominent as a commercial artist, a
third turned musical composer and arranger. Several hundred have come
forth with new ideas, methods, concepts and viewpoints that have brought
major changes in their life styles. The value of the latter can be
assessed only by the individual at first, and subsequently by those
around him.
The following is a portion of a report from one Institute research
associate, psychiatrist Stuart Twemlow:
" In our studies of the effect of the Monroe Tape system on brain waves,
we have found that the tapes encourage the focusing of brain energy (it
can be measured as with a light bulb, in watts) into a narrower and
narrower "frequency band". This focusing of energy is not unlike the
yoga concept of one pointedness, which we may translate in Western terms
as single-mindedness. As Focus 10 counts down, there is a gradual in-
crease in brain-wave size, which is a measure of brain energy or power.
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Although the significance of this is not yet clear, it could be specu-
lated that the tape system encourages the recruitment of neurons in
the brain to focus their attention on a single task, thus perhaps in-
creasing the efficiency of mastering a task, whether that be to reduce
tension on the muscles, to improve sleeping, or control pain".
"I'll describe three situations where we have applied the Monroe
tapes with unusually striking results. The types of patients with
whom the tapes have been tried, generally speaking, have been chronic
that is, have had their problem for long periods of time" .
"One such case was a middle-aged lady who had severe pain resulting
from problems in the healing of an old fracture. In combining the tapes
with a structured hospital milieu, we determined that as she began to
relax the parts of her body which had not relaxed, were those pains con-
nected with psychological problems for which the pain was serving the
function of "secondary gains". That is, the pain appeared to help her
cope with some of the psychological stresses in her everyday life in a
sense was kept going because it served this adaptive function" ..
"As we were able to deal with this, she began to feel in control of
her life and her need to keep the pain decreased. After discharge from
the hospital, this patient has continued to be almost unrecognizable
physically. She looks a great deal younger than she did before, she
has her pain under control and does not need any physical support for it.
Most strikingly, other parts of her life from which she had been very
withdrawn, have now become a source of gratification to her".
"The next case concerns a middle-aged man with a very long history
of psychosomatic problems affecting practically every organ in his body.
A psychological investigation found many of these symptoms related to
some severe surgical trauma which occurred when he was a young child.
In this case, we combined the tape exercises, especially the Focus 10
exercise with the sorts of stimuli in his environment that would make
him very anxious, that is, the stimuli that reminded him of the surgi-
cal trauma as a child.
Over a period of weeks we exposed him both to
the Focus 10 deeply relaxed state and to the stimuli that would make
him very anxious and upset. Gradually, he became desensitized to the
stimuli and was able to feel a lot more in control of his life".
"A dying man utilized the tape system. He also had severe pain
which had been impossible to control with massive doses of narcotic.
Over a period of weeks, he also achieved control. Since he died, we've.
had a communication from his wife.
She stated that he played the tapes
until he died and the last week of his life, was completely pain free
and at peace".
"Our feeling was that both the experience with achieving control of
the part of his body that was painful and preparing himself for death
of his physical body made him less frightened and panicky. The control
and preparation made him, therefore, more able to make peace with the
family - so important in dying people. In fact, as we have noticed with
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a number of people who are dying, he was able to give support to those
around him who will suffer the loss. Coming to terms with the loss of
his own physical body enabled him to integrate the remaining he had in
this direction". .
"Use of the tapes in a clinical setting has pointed out that their
effect on reduction of stress and tense muscles is startling. As a
matter of fact, it appears that not only muscles under voluntary con-
trol but also those under involuntary control (smooth muscles, such
as the muscles of the bladder) may be relaxed with the Focus 10 exercise".
"Patients who are chronic feel very much out of control of the vari-
ous symptoms they have. As with a number of the newer therapeutic tech-
niques, giving them a sense of control has a "snowball" effect on the
control of other symptoms and aspects of their interpersonal relation-
ships. As they begin to achieve in other areas resulting from this
"snowball" effect, each small success has a reinforcing effect".
"It seems that Focus 10 is the basic state which is essential to
master before being able to proceed.
Some of our patients have learned
to induce the Focus 10 state to relax their bodies while they are
actively engaged in work, and certainly to relax their bodies in be-
tween some highly stressful day-to-day working situations.
Some
patients are now able to program their sleep, so that they awake at
certain times. A number of them with insomnia have found themselves
sleeping very restfully".
"One patient had noticed that a very few minutes of sleep in Focus
10 seemed equivalent to him, in terms of restfulness, to many hours of
sleep with his normal sleeping pattern. Sometimes problems can be
created by this. For example, one patient noted that he has had periods
of very high energy in which he finds he is creative, but which re-
presents a change in his ordinary level of functioning to which other
people take some time to adjust. He has noticed, for example, that
he needs fewer hours of sleep at night and this is ready to start the
day's work a great deal earlier than most other people".
"A number of patients who have regularly practiced with the tapes
have found that they've become much more reflective, less physically
active, and more satisfied with quieter sorts of hobbies and day-to-day
activities. Becoming more inwardly turned is a characteristic of
people who learn to utilize sources of gratification within their own
heads rather than having to constantly turn to the outside world for
gratification".
Approved For Release 2003/09/16 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009-7

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-
12 -
The Gateway Program - In 1975, the Institute was invited to the
Esalen Center in Big Sur, California, to conduct a week-end workshop
which would incorporate some of the methods and techniques it had de-
veloped. In that week-end, and the one that followed at Esalen in
San Francisco, the Institute inadvertently opened a new aspect to its
experimental procedure. As additional requests for similar sessions
of exploration of consciousness came in, the decision was made to
present other week-end programs in a semi-public manner, i.e., the
selection of participants would be on the basis of sincerity of in-
terest and inherent ability, with appropriate personality profiles.
Most important, such an on-going program would offer a far wider
consensus base than ever possible through experimental work inside the
Institute itself. Moreover, a feedback system could be employed,
whereby the participants themselves, in their reporting of effects,
would permit the evolution and modification of methods and techniques
employed with each succeeding program.
With a few exceptions, the procedure has worked remarkably well.
In four years, over 1,500 participants have been through this training
and exploration in consciousness. Originally named the M-5000, it is
now called the Gateway Program. The present Gateway Session is a
distant cousin of the first, to say the least. Much of the primary
method-material has been validated through surveys of Gateway Participants.
Here - Now - Downstream:
In a broad view, those closely associ-
ated with the Institute are deeply pre-occupied with the implications
inherent in the information gathered to date. Any introspection based
upon extended application of such new tools as now seem available usu-
ally brings confusion. It is not the donkey starving equidistant be-
tween only two hay stacks - there look to be five, ten, one-hundred or
more potentials, all equally important. The inevitable conclusion:
Assuming the validity of data gathered, that such methods and
techniques are in fact tools for the alteration/amplification of con
sciousness, their very simplicity offers potential practical appli-
cation in all facets of human existence, without exception.
From this overview,
any wider diversity is beyond the current
capability of the Institute. Therefore, the Institute is now open to
contact and communication with all sectors of human endeavor, with the
purpose of development and utilization of such tools wherever feasible
and applicable. These include medicine, psychiatry, structured edu-
cation, commercial products, music, entertainment, religion, not neces-
sarily listed in order of importance.
Such dissemination is expected
to lead into areas not yet contemplated or conceived of by those associ-
ated with the Institute. Those at the Institute believe this position
to be the only one that will lessen the possible mis-use of the system
for non-constructive ends. The Institute welcomes any inquires from
responsible individuals and organizations that might aid in the total
process.
Approved For Release 2003/09/16 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009-7

back issues for $3 00 apiece plus $1 00 per order Subscriphon rates 1 year (6 issues! $18 ($21 outside the U S ). 2 years ( 12 issues ) $33
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Reprinted from THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS' . P O Box 70 . Hendersonville N C 28791 Copies of this reprint can be ordered for $1 00 each isix for $5 00;
(539 Outside the U 5 | 3 years { 13 issuesi $45 ($54 outside the U S : Intetime subscription $600 [ $700 outside the U S ; NOTE Please be aware that- because this material has been reprinted directly from the editorial pages of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS " -prices and addresses may no longer be cuigen!
SOLOHO 13715
(This article was originally published in the March/April 1983 issue of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS".)
Approx
ed For Release 2003
19
POPO
00788R001700270009-
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Monroe Institute ....
Bob Monroe at his composing switchboard. ... MOM's
staffer in a CHEC unit. . . . Chief instructor Melissa Jager.
A MOTHER staffer tries to find out for himself whether audio technology can help induce . . .
ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The following article doesn't necessarily
represent the official opinion of the staff or
management of THE MOTHER EARTH
NEWS". Instead, it's made up of subjective
impressions of what I, associate editor Pat
Stone, experienced during the week-long Gate-
way Program at the Monroe Institute of Ap-
plied Sciences. I was sent there, by this mag-
azine, when we learned that Elisabeth Kubler-
Ross (renowned expert on death and dying,
and the subject of next issue's Plowboy Inter-
view) claimed to have made a life-changing
exploration of higher states of consciousness
while at the institute.
However, although the tale of my own ex-
perience at the rural Virginia center pales be-
side hers (and when compared with many re-
lated to me by my coparticipants in the pro-
gram), it may still strike some readers as pret-
ty far-fetched. If so, that's perfectly under-
standable. Just remember that I'm not trying
to convince anyone of anything . .. I'm just
attempting to honestly relate some (I couldn't
tell you all in twice this space!) of what I
believe I observed and experienced.
"Have a good trip!" Those were the last
words I heard before Melissa Jager, the re-
markable woman who's the chief training
instructor at the Monroe Institute of Ap-
plied Sciences, turned on the first experien-
tial stereo tape that I-and the other partici-
pants in the institute's Gateway Program --
would hear during our week-long stay. I was
lying in my own CIIEC unit (it stands for
Controlled Holistic Environmental Cham-
ber) ... an isolation cube complete with a
exclude distracting light), speakers, and an
excellent set of stereo headphones. I lay still
with my eyes closed, eager and anxious to
experience ... to experience
... well, I
wasn't sure just what might happen!
Of course, while I couldn't guess exactly
what was in store for me, I had gathered
some background knowledge about the in-
stitute before signing up. It was started by
Robert Monroe, a former radio show pro-
duction executive who claims to have be-
gun, in 1958, to spontaneously undergo bi-
zarre personal events that he didn't under-
stand. In essence, Monroc's adventures-
now commonly called out-of-body experi-
ences, or OBE's-were typified by a sensa-
tion that his conscious mental self had lifted
from his resting physical form and (with an
ethereal "body" of its own) traveled by the
power of thought to places near, far, and
otherworldly.
Bob's full story is detailed in his well-
known book, Journeys Out of the Body. I'd
read the volume a decade earlier and had-
over the years-talked with several people
who claimed to have had out-of-body ex-
periences themselves. (For instance, a close
college friend had told me that he once
watched his own body from the ceiling of
his apartment, while his roommate franti-
cally worked to rescue the sleeping form
from a fire!) In fact, as soon as it became
known around the office that I was sup-
posed to go to "Out of Body U.", an occa-
sional cohort would pull me aside and-of-
ten in a secretive voice-admit his or her
own experience with "astral travel".
hearing such accounts-that OBE's, as well
as many other experiences related to altered
states of consciousness, were possible ...
but about the only encounter I'd had with
any so-called higher energies consisted
merely of feeling an electricity-like energy
(called prana by yogis) moving up my spine
and into my skull during a year of hatha
yoga classes. So while my attitude toward
the adventure I was about to undergo was
open and receptive, I was-in effect-a
"New Age novice":
Bob Monroe now employs modern sound
technology to help other people reach vari-
ous higher states of awareness. (The OBE
was supposed to be only one possible out-
come among many.) His method is based on
two premises: [1] If your brain "hears" a
sound frequency it can create electrically it-
self, it will tend to imitate that same wave
signal (Monroe secured a patent on this
"frequency-following response" in 1975).
[2] You can't directly hear such sound
waves (they're mostly pitched too low for
the ears to pick up), but they can be com-
municated to the mind by playing slightly
different wavelengths to opposite ears
through stereo headphones. Your brain will
then assimilate the two pulses and-in ef-
fect --- "hear" the difference between them!
Thus, if you wanted to send a 10-cycle-per-
second (CPS) signal-a low alpha signal-to
the mind, you could play a 100-CPS sound
wave in one ear and a 110-CPS signal to the
other. Your brain would, it's claimed, be
aware of the information received by the
separate ears, hearing both signals and their
(over)
comfortable Approved For Release 2003/09/16: CIA-RDP96-00788R00170027000919cycle-per-second wave.

Having worked at home with some of the down and brought us back to normal con-
institute's DiscoveApproved For Release 2003/09/16 1CIA-RDP96-00788R004700270009p7tterns and have no
settes that can be used either independently
of the center's program or as a preparation
for the Gateway course), I believed that
Monroe's brain-hemisphere-uniting process
-called "Hemi-Sync"-could work. In fact,
my biggest fear was that I'd simply show so
little aptitude for alternative consciousness
that I'd have a drab, disappointing experi-
ence and end up with no personal growth
(and nothing to report). Conversely, my
goals were to have an actual out-of-body
experience ... to gain more spiritual in-
sight ... to grow as a loving person ...
and, of course, to get material for an inter-
esting article.
In short, that's where I stood-or rather
lay-one Sunday morning last May when
our trainer started playing the first tape.
*
The first tape. Immediately after Melissa's
friendly send-off, the sound of ocean surf
(which underlay every tape as an "audio
bed") rose up and filled my headphones.
Next, Bob Monroe's deep, soothing-re-
corded-voice told us to adjust our headsets
so that the volume was balanced between
our ears and we heard his voice in the right
channel. Then humming, almost hissing,
tones-which were the Hemi-Sync signals-
blended in with the sea wave sounds.
At this point Bob's voice began describ-
ing the four steps of the "pre-preparation
process" ... a procedure that would serve
as the opening ritual of every tape. The first
step was to construct an "energy conversion
box", a mental vision of a chest in which we
were to "lock away" all of our everyday
concerns (such as my worry about having to
write an article) and thereby leave our
minds free and unburdened.
Second, chanting voices on the tape pro-
vided the cue for us to begin "resonant tun-
ing": a series of deep, open-throated breaths
during which we inhaled while visualizing
sparkling energy entering our bodies and
rising up into our heads and exhaled while
chanting "aaah", "oooh", or "ummm" and
mentally releasing the energy.
Third, we were to construct a "rebal", or
"resonant energy balloon": a sphere of en-
ergy outside our bodies. We would do this
by "shooting" the energy gathered during
resonant tuning out the tops of our heads,
down around our bodies, and back in at
our feet.
Last, we were to repeat the Gateway Af-
firmation, the institute's credo, which be-
gins, "I am more than my physical body.
Because I am more than physical matter, I
can perceive that which is greater than the
physical world." (It goes on to proclaim the
individual's deep desire to learn to use bene-
ficial higher energy systems, and to be guid-
ed and protected.)
Well, even though I'd practiced all of
these techniques on the Discovery home
tapes, I still had some difficulty acting them
out. My imaginary worry box didn't stop
me from getting distracted with outside
thoughts. And although I made an earnest
mental attempt to rebal, I didn't feel as if I
were pushing any energy at all around my
body. On the other hand, the Hemi-Sync
signals and chanting did invoke the type of
spinal energy flow I'd felt in my old yoga
classes. In fact, my whole body felt stimu-
lated as if by a pleasing charge of energy.
After about 45 minutes, the tape wound
at the institute). We all left our individual
booths and gathered in a meeting room to
discuss the experience.
Thus began the ongoing "take a tape and
then relate" routine of the week. Except for
the excellent vegetarian meals, a two-hour
break each afternoon, and some movie view-
ing, that's what we did . . . at least six times
a day!
*
*
Focus 10. The next tapes we worked on
took us from Focus ] to Focus 10 . . . a con-
sciousness level where "your mind is awake
and your body is asleep". Induced by com-
bining low theta (sleep) brain-wave signals
with higher beta (wakeful) ones, Focus 10
was to become a launching pad for all the
other experiences to come.
It took me a tape or two to get going, but
eventually I was having great fun! My inter-
nal energy flow seemed stronger and strong-
er. I was even beginning to feel the sensa-
tion of some energy shooting out of my head
during the rebal phase (although no matter
how hard I tried, I couldn't make this loop-
ing flow extend below my knees). And Fo-
cus 10-whatever it was -- did give my whole
body a tingly, alert feeling.
*
*
Intro Focus 12. The last tape of the day
was also the first one to go beyond the six
Discovery cassettes and into new (to me)
territory ... to Focus 12, "the state of ex-
panded awareness". After the initial pre-
preparation process (during which I finally
began-with difficulty-to be able to feel
that I was projecting some rebal energy
down to my feet!), Bob's recorded voice led
us up to Focus 10 . . . counted to 12 ...
back to 10. . . up to 12 again . . . back to 10
. . . and then down to C-1.
The moment before Bob's voice first
called out "10", I felt my body zapped all
over with remarkably intense electricity.
When he led the count up to 12, I tried to
imagine an expanded self (even though I
had no idea what that really meant!) . . . and
suddenly my chest got tight. I felt as if I had
to fight to breathe. I was also hit with
rushes of harsh light, and my body was
racked with vibrating energy.
In fact, I became so frightened by these
sensations that I instinctively chanted the
Gateway Affirmation ("I am more than my
physical body. .. . ") out loud to get a hold
on myself. Finally, when the tape was over,
I did some stretching exercises to calm
down the residual physical tinglings . ..
and prayed.
From a follow-up interview with Bob Mon-
roe: "The signals we send in the sequence
of a tape follow a lot of the gradients of
sleep . . . up to a certain point. Then, at Fo-
cus 10, we insert some high beta signals on
top of the already established theta tones, in
order to trigger a waking consciousness
while leaving the body asleep. And when
we go to 12, we drop the body down even
deeper, into delta sleep, while-using a spe-
cialized mixture of at least four different
sets of beta signals-we increase the level of
mental wakefulness.
"Now you should understand that ac-
cording to most researchers, the high beta
signals we use here are not analogous to any
particular value. Such scientists typically
think of beta signals as going up to 30 or 40
CPS. We use much higher wave pulses
here, however. In fact, when we try to help
trigger out-of-body states, we employ beta
signals of around 2877.3 CPS."
*
*
Self-responsibility. When we rejoined our
group, I told the others how very trying my
tape experience had been. And-I'll admit
-I kind of expected our instructor to of-
fer comfort. Instead, she challenged me:
"What are you afraid of? Don't resist pain
. . . that just increases it. Move into the ex-
perience, so you can move through it."
I was a little startled by her blunt reac-
tion, too. But then I realized that her advice
was likely sound, and-after all-I hadn't
asked for emotional support. Besides, as I
came to observe them throughout the week,
I noted that Melissa and her cotrainer (a
visiting psychiatrist) expected the program
participants to take responsibility for them-
selves. True, they would always keep an eye
on people who seemed troubled or didn't
leave their CHEC units after a tape, but
they never encouraged any of us to act de-
pendent or even to share our experiences.
Instead, they gave us respect and a right to
privacy.
*
*
Monday .. . clicking out. According to
Monroe, tape listeners will automatically
"click out" into a deep sleep if they're not
ready to deal with what they're hearing.
And, indeed, more than one member of our
group had trouble staying awake during the
initial tapes. Some past Gateway partici-
pants bad reputedly slept through every
tape for three days . . . only to wake up dur-
ing a Hemi-Sync experience on the fourth
afternoon and find themselves hovering
above their bodies!
Of course, I had to wonder whether
"clicking out" was a real phenomenon or
just a euphemism for catnapping. And I
couldn't answer that question . . . until one
day, later in the week (during a Focus 15
tape), when we were supposed to travel
back mentally on a wheel of time and ex-
plore our past. As soon as I decided to at-
tempt to "visit" a traumatic and still dis-
turbing incident in my childhood, I started
feeling weary. The next thing I knew, the
entire 45-minute tape was over!
Once we regrouped, many other members
confessed that they, too, had passed out.
Melissa then told us that, in her experience,
well over half of program participants
"click out" on that particular tape. "A lot
of people don't like to face parts of their
past," she said.
*
*
Out-of-body practice. On Monday we also
tried a Focus 12 tape which helped us play
with five different ways of leaving our bod-
ies ... such as rising up on end like a tele-
phone pole, rolling out like a log, or simply
floating up. By this time, I was no longer
hit with the formerly experienced overpow-
ering energy during the Focus 12 state-in
fact, my first exposure to every new level
was the most physically intense-so I was
able to try all five techniques calmly.
Approved For Release 2003/09/16 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009 though. Maybe I
€

-
*
was tensing my body too much. Or perhaps
request rather than attempt to hold an ex-
I was trying tApproved For Release 2003/09/16ceGIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009-7The Gateway process pro-
tempted to levitate my left "astral" hand, I
opened my eyes ... and discovered I was
moving my real hand!
*
Bob Monroe: "If any people come here ex-
pecting that we can guarantee them an out-
of-body experience, we give them their hats
and say goodbye. Of course, most individ-
uals who hope for an OBE learn other, per-
haps more important, lessons here. You see,
there are a lot more useful ways to handle
the same energy that creates the out-of-body
state."
Melissa: "Only a small percentage of the
people who come here have an OBE during
their stay. A good number achieve one a few
days after they return home-once they've
given up hope of it-because their eagerness
for the experience actually kept them from
having it! After all, an expectation is a way
of saying you can't do something now."
My thoughts: "But how can I stop wishing
for an out-of-body experience if I really
think I want one?" I felt trapped by that
paradox much of the week. After all, I rea-
soned, what better proof could I receive that
I am more than a physical body ... and
what more exciting event could I have to
write an article about?
*
*
The group. I soon learned that most of the
folks attending our session had more exten-
sive backgrounds in alternative conscious-
ness research than I did. And as the weck
went on, I couldn't fail to be impressed by
their experience, their commitment, and --
especially -- their eagerness to exchange in-
formation with like-minded people. (Many
of them have to keep their expanded-con-
sciousness experiences secret most of the
time ... since their friends-and, often,
employers-would be shocked to hear about
such things.)
Of course, the fact that the Monroe pro-
gram (which isn't advertised anywhere) is
both difficult to find out about and expen-
sive (the week cost $850) helps limit partici-
pants to very committed people rather than
attracting mildly curious "New Age dilet-
tantes". Our group, for instance, included a
parapsychological healer from Europe who
claimed to have cured his own debilitating
childhood case of multiple sclerosis by go-
ing out of his body and performing an "as-
tral operation"!
On the other hand, some members of the
group -- like me -- tended to have less dra-
matic personal events ... and to spend al-
most as much time wondering if our experi-
ences were real as we did learning how to
deal with them. Yet we also tackled our ex-
traordinary lessons with focused sincerity.
*
*
*
-
Patterning. One of the "second state"
skills we worked on during the week was
patterning ... which involves going into a
Focus 12 state, "balling up" a question you
want answered-or a request-inside your
head, and then "shooting" that query out to
the universe at large. And although the
process might at first seem to be merely a
new-fangled version of traditional prayer,
we were told that patterning demanded
some specific and specialized techniques.
For one thing, we were supposed to re-
lease completely-even forget -- a patterned
thermore, it was equally important, Melissa
told us, to add the "disclaimer" that we
wanted our wishes fulfilled only if they
would be in the interests of our higher
selves .. . to keep them from possibly back-
firing. Our instructor also advised us to
phrase our requests in the present tense ("If
you ask for something to happen in the fu-
ture, the result may always stay in the fu-
ture") and to think positively, as if our pat-
terned questions had already been answered
("You're creating an effect ... the cause
will catch up to it").
*
Tuesday. States like Focus 10 and Focus
12 were starting to take shape for me (in-
stead of simply giving me intense physical
rushes). Focus 10 definitely did involve a
"body asleep, mind awake" feeling. And in
the less-relaxed Focus 12, I consistently felt
a vibrant energy extending to the borders of
my rebal cocoon.
While working with new tapes, we did a
variety of exercises today, such as attempt-
ing to send visual color energies (red for vi-
tality, purple for healing, green to wash out
negative emotion) throughout our bodies
... and experimenting with a "bubbling
away" technique to help deal with personal
fears. (After this last tape, one group mem-
ber related how she first visualized a snake,
then "bubbled away" her phobic fear of the
reptile ... and saw-in its place-a brown
belt, which reminded her of long-forgotten
beatings she'd received from her father!)
Some of the day's tapes gave me strong
physical sensations ... others had little ob-
vious meaning or effect . .. and a few did
indeed seem to portend insight or power.
Yet perhaps equally significant for me was a
"physical level" event that took place when
I asked the parapsychological healer in our
group to cure my new -- and irritating-case
of poison ivy. In response, he told me to
take a bath in a half-and-half mixture of hu-
man urine and the milk from dandelion
stems. When I protested that I could never
gather enough of those two required liq-
uids, he stated simply, "Well, visualize it!
That's the same thing!"
So, alone in my room, I sat down and
imagined an elaborate treatment scenario
... complete with specialized machinery
for harvesting millions of dandelion milk
droplets, and lots of beer drinking to help
me produce the other ingredient. Finally, I
pictured dunking myself three times in the
noxious mixture.
When it was over, my skin really did feel
covered with a caky crust. And soon after
that, I was-cross my heart !- taken aback
by the unmistakable stench of stale urine!
In fact, the odor was so strong that I was
hesitant to rejoin the group ... until I
decided that they couldn't possibly smell
the product of my fantasy!
The result? My poison ivy did not go
away, but ran its usual several-day course.
The itching, however, stopped . . . and to an
inveterate rash-scratcher like me, that relief
was as good as a cure. True, the familiar ir-
ritating sensations returned about once a
day thereafter, but if I spent a few moments
revisualizing my treatment scenario, the
maddening urge to scratch went away . ..
every time.
Was I just fooling myself? Well, as far as
I was concerned, that didn't matter . . . be-
vides a dramatic means of discovering one-
self, and then making full use of one's po-
tential. We provide the tools ... which are
mental, not physical, ones. They can then
be used in a variety of ways-for such pur-
poses as practical problem solving, gain-
ing self-knowledge, or maintaining mental
health-but what each person does with the
tools is an individual matter.
"We don't try to indoctrinate people. In-
stead, we say, 'Don't take our word about
anything ... but find out for yourself
what's true. The tools we are providing
should help you do this.'
"We have only one piece of dogma that
we want to knock into people's heads: 'You
are more than your physical body. If you
will seriously consider-and try working
with-that assumption, you'll find here the
opportunity to know that it's so.' "
*
*
Wednesday. This was one of my best days.
Almost all of the tapes felt really accessible
and enjoyable. And such basic maneuvers as
popping a rebal or going into Focus 10 or
12 were now ridiculously easy. In addition,
I was gaining a greater sense of control over
these processes. One example of that oc-
curred during a tape on Focus 15, "the state
of no time". (According to Bob, time is
merely an assumption made by one's con-
sciousness. People can therefore learn to
acknowledge, experience, and utilize-by
doing such things as peering into the past or
future -- the fact that time does not exist.)
Now I can't guarantee that I experienced
timelessness while I was in Focus 15, but I
did feel that my mind was in a beautifully
clear, still, and relaxed place. In fact, I felt
so good "up there" that when Monroe's
taped voice started to bring us back down to
C-1, I just took off the headphones, moved
myself back up to 15, and enjoyed it for a
while. (Melissa applauds such actions: "It's
important to ultimately shake your depen-
dence on tapes ... to learn to reach these
states without using 'training wheels'.")
*
*
Going Out? After one of the day's tapes, a
group member told us that she saw the
words "I am more than my physical body"
spin in a vortex overhead. Then her arms
began to ache and to rise straight up in the
air. "I would have bet a paycheck," she
said, "that my real arms were sticking up
... but when I looked, they were still on
my chest!"
Melissa then gave us a lot of advice on
how to get all the way out if we feel our-
selves starting to separate from our physical
bodies: "Think of something you really
want, and mentally try to reach for it. Or
speed up the process by imagining yourself
hopping onto a Ferris wheel. But don't
tense up and hold your breath, or deliberate
about what's happening to you, or you may
squelch it."
And me? I'm trying to stop hoping for an
OBE. Instead, I'm attempting to pattern
that I already am out of body . . . and back
in, of course!
*
The problem of trust. Several members of
the group have expressed the thought that
although sensations, insights, and messages
received during a tape session may feel com-
Approved For Release 2003/69/f6": CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009-he time, they can't help

-
questioning the validity of the experience
and saw that my forearms-while they may
have been pressing up a little on my cover-
once they regain normal consciousness.
When they asked ouApprovedFor Release 2003/09/16 CIA-RDP96-00788RQ01700270009-7vous about seeing
experiences were authentic, she responded,
"You're the only one who can judge.
Whenever you reach to us for validation, all
we can do is show you consensus . . . in the
form of statements made by many other
people that these types of things have hap-
pened to. Yet ultimately, the extent to
which you can validate yourself will deter-
mine the extent to which your reality will
be able to expand further."
One group member (a Gateway veteran)
added, "I didn't really believe the answers I
was receiving through these processes until
they disagreed with the course of action I
would normally have chosen ... yet they
worked!"
*
*
*
Thursday ... the elation series. Today we
went through four tapes in which we were
supposed to gradually "elate our conscious-
ness" to encompass the entire earth . . . the
solar system . . . the galaxy ... and wher-
ever we wanted to explore. The aim of the
series seemed to be that all-awareness ex-
perience, typical of many Eastern religions,
known as cosmic consciousness.
I went both "up" and "down" on these
tapes. I did experience many strange sensa-
tions. It seemed-once again-that my con-
sciousness was being stretched and I was be-
ginning to encounter new levels of aware-
ness. At the same time, though, a ring of
sharp physical pain began to develop at my
elbows. The ache became so intense during
the third Elation tape that I quickly count-
ed myself back down to Focus 1, took the
headphones off for a while, and rubbed
my arms.
Friday ... Focus 21. According to an en-
tire cosmology that Bob and his researchers
were apparently given from "beyond" (the
institute offers cassette recordings of these
"explorer series" transmissions), there are
21 levels of physical life. Seven of these
encompass the range of human existence,
while the highest -- Level 21-provides the
beginning of a bridge to nonphysical spirit
forms.
As always, we weren't asked simply to ac-
cept these ideas, but to try working with
them and see what happened. So we moved
up to a new state, Focus 21 (which was, in
theory, parallel to Level 21) and tried to
reach out for communication with the be-
yond. I didn't meet any identifiable spirits
during this tape (as did the member of our
group who related afterward that she'd had
a deeply profound contact with her de-
ceased and formerly estranged mother), yet
I did have a personally powerful and mean-
ingful experience. I was flushed. several
times with feelings of love and-through a
vision of people undertaking symbolic ac-
tivities in a variety of different rooms-
gained some moving (and, I think, truthful)
insights into the emotional difficulties of
several individuals I know.
Oh, how I wished my hands had felt way
high up-instead of a measly few inches-so
I could have been positive I wasn't kidding
myself. But then I realized that the reality
or nonreality of one "out of hands" expe-
rience wasn't all that important. The real
lesson, I became certain, was that the proc-
esses I'd been going through during the
week were definitely beginning to lead me
to higher states of consciousness. I now
knew without doubt that these altered states
existed and that I had some tools for work-
ing with them (and was even convinced that
sometime-in my lifetime-I would reach an
out-of-body state).
In a way, though, I felt like a child who,
having just learned to climb the steps to the
high diving board at a swimming pool, jig-
gles up and down on the edge of the board
. .. tightening up with nervous tension, yet
not ready to jump,
My real body was the diving board I
wasn't ready to leave. And something our
instructor told me privately just before we
took the last tape of the day-and of the
week-made me realize that as long as I had
to fulfill the role of a journalist, it may have
been both impossible for me to jump off the
board and best that I couldn't. Melissa ad-
mitted that she was both "awed and ap-
palled" that I had managed to fully partici-
pate in the course while working toward
preparing a report on it. Other writers
who'd come to Gateway on assignment had
all quit part way through .. . either from
disbelief or because they finally couldn't
handle it .
So the fact that the personal insights into
higher reality that I gained during this week
were completely convincing-though not as
dramatically earthshaking as I'd hoped-
may well have been "in the interests of my
higher self". Someday, though, I'd like to
go back to the Monroe Institute on my own
. . . and see what happens then.
*
*
The last tape. I can't tell you all of the
moving experiences I had during-or con-
nected with-our final tape, but I will share
one ... an event that's had great impor-
tance for me. It concerns my then four-
month-old daughter, Jessica.
When Jesse was born in February 1982,
my 2-1/2-year-old boy Nathan had been se-
riously ill for two weeks. Indeed, a few
short hours before my daughter's birth, my
wife and I finally admitted our mutual fear
that our son might die ... and just three
hours after the delivery, I was taking the'
pain-racked boy to an appointment with
medical specialists.
Nathan eventually recovered. However,
my emotional preoccupation with my son
throughout Jesse's arrival, and during the
first days of her life, apparently hampered
my ability to establish a good relationship
with my daughter. She couldn't relax in my
arms, or even look at me for long without
crying. We both felt uncomfortable with
each other.
In addition, my lower arms started aching
again ... and this time, my forearms felt as
This problem troubled me deeply, so dur-
ing our last Gateway experience-a pattern-
ing tape-I asked to have a close, loving re-
lationship with my daughter. As previously
instructed, I didn't put a time frame on my
wish . . . yet in the back of mind, I couldn't
help thinking I'd be grateful if our relation-
if they were beginning to rise. I tried using
mental Ferris wheels to encourage the proc-
ess, but I think that my self-consciousness
stopped it instead. Figuring my hands were
only about six inches off the bed, but that
I'd better check quick or they'd, lose even
that slight elevation, Approved For Release 2003/09/16- CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270009-7
When I got off the plane the next day af-
ter my return trip, then, I was eager to greet
Jessica. Remembering that the one time I
left Nathan for a few days during his in-
fancy, he'd almost seemed to forget who I
was, I couldn't help fearing that what little
bond I had established with my daughter
would have dissolved and that she'd be even
less comfortable with me now than before.
Yet when I walked up to greet my family,
Jessica saw me ... and just beamed. Her
face glowed with a delight I'd never seen
her show for anyone except her mother.
And she's been happy and loving with me
ever since.
Postscript. What about afterward? Does
the Monroe program have any lasting effects?
I was able to contact five of the members of
my Gateway group seven months after our
one-week session. All felt they had gained a
deeper knowledge of themselves through the
program, and that their experiences there had
been personally authentic and meaningful.
They varied greatly in the degree to which they
were incorporating what they'd learned into
their daily lives, though. One, for instance,
only uses the Focus 10 method for keeping his
mind aware-while resting -- to help him inves-
tigate his dreams . . . and another, caught up
with simply surviving in the struggle of day-to-
day life, just uses Monroe relaxing techniques
to relieve particularly hectic moments. At the
other end of the spectrum, two members put
the tools to work quite frequently . . . going in-
to a Focus 10 or 12 state to receive prompt an-
swers to difficult decisions, for example, or
even popping rebals to help repel antagonistic
dogs!
I, too, feel that the personal and spiritual
lessons I learned from the program are valid
... but I've definitely been remiss about ap-
plying Monroe's technology in my day-to-day
life. I rarely listen to any Hemi-Sync tapes,
and I have difficulty mustering up strong ener-
gy flows. Yet-call it coincidence or cause and
effect-when I apply the methods, they almost
always seem to work. The poison ivy itch rem-
edy has never failed me (or my wife). The in-
stitute's Catnapper tape (which condenses the
brain-wave patterns of a normal 90-minute
sleep cycle into 30 minutes) has given me, and
two friends, refreshing half-hour rests. Once,
after a hard day of rototilling, I used purple
energy to prevent subsequent-and normally
almost inevitable-back pain . .. and had no
"after aches". And the results I've patterned
for-whether they were as trivial as avoiding a
driver's license hassle or as significant as im-
proving a serious family problem-have al-
ways been favorable.
If you'd like to learn more about the center,
you can write the Monroe Institute, Dept.
TMEN, Box 175, Faber, Virginia 22938 (or
call 800/446-5006) for a packet of free infor-
mation. The institute can also supply the book
Journeys Out of the Body for $6.50 . .. a
number of practical-purpose Hemi-Sync tapes
(such as Under Par Golf, Love Tennis, Sound
Sleeper, Concentration, and the Catnapper)
for $11.95 each . .. the full set of six Dis-
covery cassettes for $95 (all these prices include
postage) . .. and the week-long Gateway Pro-
gram for $850.
And finally, as a special offer to interested
MOTHER-readers, Bob Monroe has agreed
to send "The Way of Hemi-Sync" (a 30-min-
ute introductory experience tape), plus the in-
stitute's basic information packet and a $5.00
discount coupon for further tape purchases
all for $5.00 postpaid (in the United
($39 outside the U.S.). 3 years (18 issues) $45 ($54 outside the U. S.). lifetime subscription $600 ($700 outside the U.S.). NOTE: Please be aware that - because this material has been reprinted directly from the editorial pages of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS ' -prices and addresses may no longer be current.
Reprinted from THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS' . P.O. Box 70 . Hendersonville. H. C. 28791. Copies of this reprint can be ordered for $1.00 each (six fer $5.00) . . . back issues tor $3.00 apiece. plus $1.00 per order. Subscription rates: 1 year (6 issues) 518 (521 outside the U.S.). 2 years (12 issues) $33
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