The Peak Experience

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all looking for the same thing.  It's that feeling that everything is as it should be, perfect, and in complete alignment with the entire universe.  What many people call "the zone".  We all go about it in different ways. Some need to go to a punk rock concert, others practice extreme sports or dance at clubs. A lot of people use sex, and many like to flex their mental muscle and come up with crazy scientific theories.  Still, many use drugs like marijuana or ecstasy (which only simulate the peak experience). The methods take many forms, but the end result is the same. The big YES!!!!!

An unfortunate belief that too many people succumb to, is the belief that the peak experience must end at some point. That there are highs and lows, and that's just how life is. I used to be one of these people until I broke through that self-defeating, self-victimizing paradigm. If you apply the information in this post to your life, authentically, your life may never be the same... if you choose, of course, our lives are our own responsibility. Which brings us to the first point:

The peak experience does NOT rely on anything outside of us. You can be sitting in rush-hour traffic (a time of day that the majority of people deem to be the most stressful) and you'll look at the sky, or hear a song on the radio, and it'll be the most beautiful experience. Anyone who has been in a kickboxing tournament would know this from personal experience. You're in pain, you're weak, you're fighting for what feels like your life, and yet you feel indescribably amazing during and well after the fights.

The second point is a crucial one: Most people think that their peak experiences are extra-ordinary, and the mundane work-a-day reality is the "normal" reality.  This misconception couldn't be further from the truth. The fix is so simple I totally missed it all my life. The fix is all in where you put the emphasis.

You see, the world exerts a certain psychological "pressure" on us.  However, we also have a certain "inner pressure" of our own that we exert on the outside world. When the outer pressure is greater than the internal, we exist in our mundane reality. When we get to those really low states where we wonder what the point is to anything and just need to "get away", then the outer pressure is extreme. However, when our inner pressure is equal to, or even greater than, the outer pressure, everything changes. We say YES to the outer world, we take it all in and take control of it. We are no longer under its weight.

So how does one maintain this pressure? Ask for it. Seriously, it that's easy. You just have to believe its possible. Who are you asking? Your other self... your right brain, to be specific. Now some background info:

Split-Brain (or Corpus Collosotmy)

There are actually two people within us. The right brain and the left brain. The left brain is YOU. The regular, normal, mundane work-a-day schlub that is the unsuspecting victim of his/her own destiny.  The right brain is the SUPER-YOU. The you that creates your destiny moment to moment.

In people who suffer from severe epilepsy, doctors will cut the cords connecting the two hemispheres of the brain, causing a split brain and also a split personality. And the effects of this are extremely interesting.

In one case of a split-brain patient, they showed the left eye (which corresponds to the right brain) a pornographic picture, and the patient would begin to blush. When the doctor would ask the person "why are you blushing" (which corresponds to the left brain analytical response) the person responds with "I have no idea".

In all cases, the left brain has no idea what the right brain is doing. What is even more interesting are cases where one personality will have an allergy (for example to strawberries), and the other (right brain) personality will have no reaction at all to strawberries. Or one personality may be resistant to anaesthetic and so a split-brain person will come out of anaesthetic if the right brain person kicks in. Many such cases have been document in modern medical studies where the abilities and/or limitations of the body depend entirely on the person inhabiting it at any given time.

Maintaining Pressure:

As I mentioned earlier, to maintain the inner pressure, you just have to ask your right brain personality, "hey! Righty, THE BALL'S IN YOUR COURT. DO YOUR THING".  Your only job is to let go. This is crucial because if you try to interfere with it, you'll only mess things up. Your right brain is capable of absorbing over a million bits of information per second, whereas your left brain can only absorb a few hundred... you're out of your league to contend with such a super-you.

Help:

There is this wonderful thing called "binaural tones" that are harmonized frequencies that will activate both the right and left lobes of the brain, and through harmonizing them, also harmonizes both hemispheres, both selves working together, exerting pressure on the outer world. This is only a crutch and does not have a lasting effect without your constant choosing in every  moment to place the emphasis on the peak experience. So it's a crutch at best but a good starting point to experience whole-brain awareness.

Listen to this binaural tone for the entire length. Keep in mind that it has to be an ACTIVE listening. Concentrate on the sound and be aware of it. Don't read or watch TV or day-dream. Be cognizant of the tone, go with it and your brain will begin to synchronize. I'm not going to tell you how it will feel, that will  be up to you to discover for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xpI00ShS4M

Pre-Existing:

Watch your thoughts but don't "connect" with them, just let them come and go.
You are not those thoughts because you are able to observe those thoughts.
But you are also able to observe that your are observing your thoughts.
You are not the observer, then.
What are you?
The observer of the observer?
Can the observer of the observer be observed?
How infinite are we?

The Simplest Way to Slip Into Expanded Consciousness

The very first exercise my mentor in theosophy gave me to do was to stare at a candle flame with no thought in my mind, even the thought "I'm staring at a candle flame".  He told me it would help my focus... I had no idea what was to come.  By his prescription, I performed the ritual for five minutes in the morning and five minutes at night, every day.  After a relatively short period of time it became easier to stay focused on the observation of the flame with an empty mind, and to maintain that focus for longer intervals.

One day, as I was doing my nightly ritual, it unexpectedly happened. My entire identity, my whole sense of 'self', dissolved into nothingness. What was left was just pure awareness, pure being-ness, pure "is-ness". I was in all places in my room at once, I was all things, I was all times, I was no longer me.  The effect of this experience does not last, contrary to what many people who chase "enlightenment" might believe. After about two days, I was back to living out the story of "me".

Fortunately, there is a method to help bring it back quicker.  First, don't stop the candle exercise. It will bring the desired state of consciousness back more easily. Second, when in that state, create physical cues that will make your brain associate the experience (for example, rub the bottom of your ear every few seconds while in that expanded awareness). Eventually you will train your brain to re-create that state almost at will. Congratulations, you are now a psychonaut.

The important point is to get over yourself and just DO IT. Don't intellectualize it or complicate it. Just "observe candle, no thought". Simple.

Enjoy navigating the waters of the reality that exists outside the mundane, boring, limited daily experience!

The Truth About You

From Guy Ritchie's movie, Revolver. This hits directly at the ultimate truth of our self-created identity.

There is something about yourself that you don’t know. Something that you will deny even exists until it’s too late to do anything about it. It’s the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the shitty boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. “Fear or revere me, but please think I’m special.” We share an addiction. We’re approval junkies. We’re all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The “hip, hip, hoo-fucking-rah.” Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we’re just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others.