Recently, I practised the transcendental meditation technique based on a declassified CIA document from 9 June 1983. Of course, it wasn't my first time introduced to this kind of stuff. I used to read a book on this topic by its inventor, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I'd never known that the CIA were into this meditation during the cold war era, but I quite grasp the reasoning behind it if we consider that the anti-war hippie movement was at its hype during this time. What an interesting occurrence for the student of Deleuze such as myself.
Back to my experience, it started in the last month, during my darkest days accompanied by misfortune, feeling of loss, and dread. I didn't perform well at my job, was uncertain about my future, combined with unresolved family problems, and frustrated with everything I had done until this point. At the same time, I want to unleash my full potency and carry on with my passion. From here, I'd return to the abandoned inner world: the wasteland and the Grail castle of the Fisher King. Pardon me for all these pompous references, but this is how I squeeze all my personal development experience and its insight since 2019.
Sufficed to say, I realised the need to reconnect with my deepest self. Reflecting on this dark night of the soul episode, I aware there's no objective other than regaining a sense of wholeness. Shred out this survivor personality to once again let the pain and suffering be a part of my humanity. I don't mind my suffering, but I don't want others to know my suffering. "It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things." So I said. Ironic, for someone who had the gift of enchantment, I was disenchanted myself. But why? Now, let's enter the gateway experience.
So, what is this gateway experience? Basically, by inducing our brain with audio stimulation, each ear heard a different sound frequency that would correspond to the right and left parts of our brain. According to the theory, the function of right hemisphere is to reduced the information from the stimulus into a 2D model with all of its details. Try to imagine a layer of pictures composed from the front to back, but simultaneously also composed from the bottom to the top. As a whole, this information is configured as a kind of hologram. The part always contains the whole. While the left hemisphere activity helps us to comprehend this complex information into a codified meaning. But ultimately, it wasn't just about cognitive function, but to realised the cosmos is an energy composed of manifold information without the bound of space and time. In other words, a non-local consciousness spread from our hollow skull and beyond.
Okay, that was a lot to take in, but does the transcendental meditation work like that? I didn't find a mindblown experience so far, but that was expected. Those who used to try any astral projection method would feel a similar experiences from this technique. Another effect I could list here is improved sleep quality, waking up around 5 to 6 AM regardless of my sleeping time, and a refreshing feeling for a day.
Sometimes, I try to re-enter the 'focus ten' state of consciousness during the leisure time. It's hard to do it properly without stimulus from the videotape. Let's say this focus ten is a login page, complete with a captcha puzzle in the form of focusing our attention on the number 10. No matter how right we're in typing the ID and solving the captcha, bad internet connection will ruin the attempt. Another difficulty is that I am stuck in session 4 because I always fall to sleep after uncovering a buried feeling under the fearful memory.
In the next journey, I will breakdown each sessions based on my experience. Overall, it was exciting discovery that aid me to keep grounded during the hardship. Could it be a genuine way to interact with the non-physical reality? Let's find out.