Asperger's Syndrome and The Third Eye
techstepgenr8tion
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15 Mar 2016, 10:50 pm
Manly P. Hall was a man with a masonic perspective. Like Joseph Campbell and others, he had a syncretistic approach and outlook. Comparative theology enabling one to transcend the limitations of myopia.
Want to look at some real crazy stuff - look at this guy's site = http://www.thehiddenrecords.com/
I am NOT saying that I endorse or follow any of the preceding references. I respect them all, including others we've discussed in this thread but...I'm still on my own quest.
With the interest of discussing from multiple angles, I'll bring up a reference that I brought up a few pages back =
http://www.julianjaynes.org/julian-jaynes-theory-overview.php = he has some seriously interesting explanations for mysticism.
Also, have you heard of Gobekli Tepe? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gobekli-tepe-the-worlds-first-temple-83613665/?no-ist ... the discoveries there are challenging the old thinking that civilization came first and the religion. Might it be the possibility that religious/spiritual gathering instigated civilization's constructs instead?
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techstepgenr8tion
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15 Mar 2016, 11:20 pm
It's probably a fine point but I tend to see his perspective perhaps as more Rosicrucian than Masonic (not trying to claim that there's any so-called Rosicrucian order that can claim pedigree or lineage as I really don't buy into all that but it was getting evolved from the late 16th and early 17th century as a philosophic framework). The former seemed to have significant impact on the later in that Masonry holds a lot of the same values and ideas, just that the two do seem to work differently in that Masonry keeps most discussion of mysticism and so-called magic (the western slang for similar yoga to what the East has) to dedicated interest groups and anywhere else it's just hinted at in the initiatic plays whereas most Rosicrucian orders are western mystery schools in the fuller sense.
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15 Mar 2016, 11:20 pm
Here's some more thinking that discusses the "Third Eye" directly.
A site that discusses the Third Eye in both Egypt and India, noting similarities =
http://www.richardcassaro.com/the-ancient-egyptian-third-eye
A site that discusses the Kabbalah's "Tree of Life" and relates it to Chakra / a very common topic these days / more syncretistic thinking = http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/treeoflifetraditional.htm
And finally, a site that looks into the brain directly and ponders the relationship to cerebral structures and mythic references = http://thehiddenlighthouse.blogspot.com/2012/09/e.html
All those sites discuss The Third Eye in some way directly or indirectly.
AGAIN, I AM NOT ENDORSING any of the stuff referenced. I am not proselytizing. Just illustrating some crazy thoughts that some people have on the subject of the third eye.
_________________
"Alpha males are for monkeys"
"If you cannot say what you mean...you will never mean what you say"
15 Mar 2016, 11:31 pm
It's probably a fine point but I tend to see his perspective perhaps as more Rosicrucian than Masonic (not trying to claim that there's any so-called Rosicrucian order that can claim pedigree or lineage as I really don't buy into all that but it was getting evolved from the late 16th and early 17th century as a philosophic framework). The former seemed to have significant impact on the later in that Masonry holds a lot of the same values and ideas, just that the two do seem to work differently in that Masonry keeps most discussion of mysticism and so-called magic (the western slang for similar yoga to what the East has) to dedicated interest groups and anywhere else it's just hinted at in the initiatic plays whereas most Rosicrucian orders are western mystery schools in the fuller sense.
Thanks for the insight and perspective.
I referred to him as a Mason because so many refer to him that way and he's reported to have been a 33rd degree Mason. However, you have to know that is why as you seem familiar with his work.
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Given that we've brought up "secret societies", I'll reference another great site =
http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/
I like that site and find them quite well written. They were the ones that disproved a widely spread myth that was bouncing around the internet years back (and still is I suppose), the myth about Albert Pike predicting the World Wars (with a third to come). Here's the write up = http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/?s=albert+pike
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There you have it. We've gone full circle. The third eye, secret societies and conspiracy theories. It's a trifecta!
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"Alpha males are for monkeys"
"If you cannot say what you mean...you will never mean what you say"
15 Mar 2016, 11:42 pm
I think this thread is becoming something like "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Enlightenment".
I hope y'all are checking my links...some are quite wacked out. Strange and hilarious.
My quest for understanding spirituality (aka Third Eye / Higher Consciousness) started years ago when I discovered Robert Anton Wilson. Philosopher humorist is what he was. He's influenced me and I approach the discussion of spirituality with a high degree of skepticism and attempt to remain holy sarcastic.
R.A.W.'s masterwork The Illuminatus Trilogy is quite humorous. And it's kind of a gateway drug.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus!_Trilogy
But R.A.W. isn't all silliness. He has quite serious philosophical insight, some of which is built on the theories of Timothy Leary directly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-circuit_model_of_consciousness
And yes, R.A.W. gets around to Terrence McKenna and Alan Watts...as well as everyone else he can think of.
Again, I'm not endorsing nothing.
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techstepgenr8tion
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16 Mar 2016, 9:23 am
A few things I though might be worth mentioning regarding Hermetic Qabalah.
One of the main things people have done, starting with the implications offered by Eliphas Levi, was attaching the 22 major trump of the tarot with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. From this they utilized a document from the 2nd century CE called the Sefer Yetzirah to further delegate the cards. It's said that Hebrew has three mother letters, seven double letters, and twelve single letters. Accordingly the twelve singles are treated as the twelve signs of the mazaloth or zodiac, the seven doubles are treated as sevens are - the seven Ptolemaic planets, and with the three mothers Aleph is considered the element of air, Mem the element of water, and Shin the element of fire. The missing fourth element, earth, is assigned to Tav which does double-duty as the planet Saturn. The later isn't a significant stretch because Malkuth (Earth) is seen as the thrown of Binah (Saturn) and they're handled in a rather synonymous manner. When tracing the YHVH down the tree Y is posited in Chokman (Wisdom) which represents the zodiac, the first H in Binah (Understanding) which I mentioned is Saturn, the V in Tiphareth (Beauty) which is Sol, and the final H in Malkuth (Kingdom) which is Earth. Two letters - Y,V are considered masculine and attributed to the Father and Son as well as fire and air, the two H's are considered feminine and attributed to the mother and daughter as well as water and earth.
The additional three planets - Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, were tacked on to the mother letters, thus Aleph, which is the Fool in most Golden Dawn and later decks, became representative of Uranus, Mem which is similarly applied to the Hanged Man came to take on Neptune, and Shin which is similarly delegated to Judgment (unless you're going back to French Martinist and packs like the Oswald Wirth which place the Fool on Shin) received the influence of Pluto.
I can't say how well the above work, seems like no one has debated the addition of three planets, just that overall I can't help but feel like it's on one hand astrological in nature but on the other the astrology is arbitrary. Meaning - it's a system of philosophy based on Ptolemaic astrology. In that way the cosmos as they knew it came to house a philosophic system that was as complete as they could make it. Some people like to try and pin every new astronomic discovery about the solar system to the tree or try to put Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in Chokman, Kether, and Daath - I really think this is just poorly thought-out and dutiful reaction by people who believe in an objective reality to astrology. Really in consequence this is a similar idea at it's basis to the Hindu seven chakra system just that it happened to be tacked to physical objects (at least in it's Assiah or 'mundane chakra' interpretation) which the western world over were very familiar both as the seven main gods of most western polytheists's pantheons and even today they're the seven days of the week.
One thing I for to mention yet - the 56 minor trump of the tarot are split up between the ten pips and the four court cards. The tree of life is considered to span over four zones. This is done ambiguously; on one level the tree of life repeats itself across each zone, on the other a section of the tree of life holds that zone. For example the ten pips in the pentacles or coins suit would represent earth; each one stands for one of the ten sephira but all of these are in the zone called Assiah which is synonymous with Malkuth or the earth element. The broadest reaching zone is Yetzirah as this covers six of the Sephira, the fourth Chesed (Mercy) down to Yesod (Foundation). Yetzirah is equivalent to what people consider the astral level of function, covers the element of air and accordingly it fits the ten pips of swords where each of the cards matches its number of sephira within Yetzirah. When you go back to the court-cards, this reapproaches the zone reference so the Princess or Page is just Malkuth, the Prince or Knight is Chesed down to Yesod, the Queen is Binah (which houses the zone of Briah), and the King is Chokmah (which houses the zone of Aztiluth). From AE Waite forward the illustrations on the cards and, in the case of Crowley the names of the cards, are intended to depict the function of that sephira within that zone - ie. Binah in Assiah (3 of pentacles), Chesed in Briah (4 of cups), or Tiphareth in Atziluth (6 of wands), etc. etc..
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techstepgenr8tion
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16 Mar 2016, 9:28 am
To break out of my long-worder if there were any books I'd recommend in particular:
For getting to know the ten spheres and their meanings:
Dion Fortune - Mystical Qabalah
For getting to know the tarot and it's meaning when looking at the tree of life:
Qabalistic Tarot - Robert Wang (covers and compares four different classic decks including BOTA but without pictures)
The Tarot - Paul Foster Case, Paul founded BOTA which is touted as still having the best initiatic and mystical training system around the tarot available to date.
Also on a side note Gareth Knight wrote a book called A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism - this is a pretty thick book but what it does is takes the ten sephira, as Dion Fortune discussed them, and adds in a similar discussion of the 22 paths as well as how people can meditatively 'pathwork' them.
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The loneliest part of life: it's not just that no one is on your cloud, few can even see your cloud.
16 Mar 2016, 9:48 am
It's called self-hypnosis.
Elaborate on that.
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“In the same way that you see a flower in a field, it’s really the whole field that is flowering, because the flower couldn’t exist in that particular place without the special surroundings of the field; you only find flowers in surroundings that will support them. So in the same way, you only find human beings on a planet of this kind, with an atmosphere of this kind, with a temperature of this kind- supplied by a convenient neighboring star. And so, as the flower is a flowering of the field, I feel myself as a personing- a manning- a peopling of the whole universe. –In other words, I, like everything else in the universe, seem to be a center… a sort of vortex, at which the whole energy of the universe realizes itself- comes alive… an aperture through which the whole universe is conscious of itself. In other words, I go with it as a center to a circumference.”~ Alan Watts
16 Mar 2016, 9:55 am
It's called self-hypnosis.
Elaborate on that.
I'll copy the article here, since it's behind a paywall. From New Scientist: (my highlights)
Many problems we bring to our doctors have a psychophysiological component: irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent migraines, anxiety-related symptoms. And we know that people can somehow keep powerful medications from being effective. Access to mental healthcare is important here, but it’s physicians who are most often in a position to help those people self-regulate.
Clinical hypnosis is about learning how to interpret nonverbal cues and improve trust, communication and empathy. It is about educating the patient to be a better boss of their body and mind. That is improving care.
Then why is hypnosis not widely used?
In part, because nobody knows what it is. We first need to be able to say, this is what hypnosis is, and this is all it is. Then we can say how we think it works.
So, tell us what hypnosis is and how you think it works.
My colleagues and I propose that hypnosis is simply a skill set for influencing people. It involves facial expression, language, body movement, tone of voice, intensity, metaphor, understanding how people interpret and represent things. It isn’t something you’re in, or that you do: hypnosis is something you use. That means it’s not a therapy; it’s a means to therapy.
In strategies like psychoanalysis or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), the most therapeutic influence tends to be the act of being heard. The skills that facilitate that are part and parcel of the influence of hypnosis.
Where does the hypnotic trance fit?
Trance is a process of intense learning. It happens when we change our minds in significant ways, when we become neuroplastic; we are thoughtful, we pause, change our breathing. There is a shift in the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system – an intensified focus of attention and narrowed peripheral awareness. Trance happens when we are traumatised, and when we fall in love. There’s no such thing as “hypnotic trance” as distinct from the trance of yoga or of prayer, for example. But part of the skill set of hypnosis is recognising and facilitating trance, because it makes whatever you’re learning more effective.
So the stage and the swinging watch…
No.
The popular conception of hypnosis is quite wide of the mark, then?
Hypnosis is widely attributed to the power of the hypnotist. Everything from the evil fictional character of Svengali to movies and the occult has contributed to this mistaken notion that somebody else can control our physiology – our minds. And certainly, entertainers who claim to use hypnosis can and do play on that myth.
People can be influenced into cults and violent religious movements, be depersonalised and become victims of abuse. If I have poor self-esteem and self-efficacy, I may let people use hypnosis to “overpower” me. But ultimately the power to change lies with the person who, as we say, “owns the trance”. It still takes two to tango.
You’re a medical doctor. How did hypnosis ever enter your radar?
I spent 20 years as a solo primary care paediatrician, and I was struck by how inadequate my training was for the behavioural and psychophysiological issues I encountered. All of my training was only to do things to help kids, whereas I saw a clear need to better help kids help themselves. This got me interested in hypnosis.
What convinced you it could make a difference?
I saw a little girl who was 8. She had a serious disease and needed an injection every week. Each time it was a very difficult process because she was so anxious and traumatised from illness and long hospitalisations.
I said, “I know it’s scary to come here, I bet you would rather be somewhere else.” She was sitting on her mother’s lap with her eyes closed. She said, “I would rather be home playing with my kittens.” So I said, “Go play with your kittens, how do they feel, what do they sound like, how do they smell?” I kept talking her through and saying less and less and letting her fill in more and more. After it was done, she looked up and said, “Where’s the shot?”
Now, do I think she really didn’t know she got a shot? I think part of her knew, but part of her wanted the hypnosis to work, so she made it work.
Is clinical hypnosis a sort of non-deceptive placebo?
Hypnosis is a medium for delivering placebo effects (see “Tap the placebo effect to unlock your body’s healing powers“). Pill colour or shape isn’t hypnosis, but my interpersonal communication is. My definition of placebo is the use of conditioning, expectation, social relationships and narrative paradigm to change a person’s physiology in a way that they attribute to an external intervention. But if they don’t externally attribute it – to a pill or therapist, for instance – then they’re doing it themselves. The challenge is to use placebo responses without relying on a placebo. I would argue that hypnosis, as a strategy, is not a non-deceptive placebo. It’s the anti-placebo, the opposite of external attribution.
How is hypnosis different from things like mindfulness meditation?
I may offend lots of people by saying that mindfulness meditation is an example of hypnosis – but it’s what I think. In the West, it is used as a therapy to practise coping or decreasing stress. It can be really helpful when someone is sick and tired of having thoughts overtake them and needs to practise dropping out of them, for instance. But that’s where it stops. It doesn’t direct change. I think a lot more can be done.
How well can we tell whether hypnosis makes a therapy more effective?
One meta-analysis found that, of patients being treated for obesity, those receiving CBT with hypnosis had better results, even after long-term follow up, than those just receiving CBT. That is impressive because, the hypnosis aside, the therapy was so similar. A study of CBT for depression also showed more benefit for the hypnosis group. I expect more studies of this type.
Can we use hypnosis on ourselves?
We use it all the time. Most of our self-hypnosis is not very nice. Most of it is: “I suck at that, I’m not a very nice person, I’m lazy, I deserve this abuse, every time I do that I’m going to get a headache.” If trance is this intense learning process, we use a lot of that plasticity to reinforce our ruts.
Clinical hypnosis is a way of helping somebody change their self-hypnosis, to understand what trance-formation looks and feels like, and use both the novelty and intensity of conversation to teach them to do their own trance.
Can this approach truly be as powerful as you suggest?
If we want to really change healthcare, we have to help people recognise their own potential. We have to tell people, look, you can do this. You are the man behind the curtain.
techstepgenr8tion
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16 Mar 2016, 10:07 am
Most of our problems do tend to come from bad brain-software either directly in cases such as TMS and a lot of autoimmune problems and indirectly such as aftermath of heavy drinking, smoking, narcotics use, having temper tantrums on everything from road-rage to politics, etc. etc.. Certain types of cancer are notorious for coming and going based on people's attitudes.
Taking positive psychology seriously is probably our best way of closing the gap between our current state of technology and the psychological (really also endocrine) software we're running.
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The loneliest part of life: it's not just that no one is on your cloud, few can even see your cloud.
16 Mar 2016, 12:29 pm
Well... metaphorically speaking... conceive of the way your eyes perceive the "reality of extension" through sight... your "third eye" would apprehend a reality that exists, but can only be perceived directly through the awareness of this extra "sense."
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“In the same way that you see a flower in a field, it’s really the whole field that is flowering, because the flower couldn’t exist in that particular place without the special surroundings of the field; you only find flowers in surroundings that will support them. So in the same way, you only find human beings on a planet of this kind, with an atmosphere of this kind, with a temperature of this kind- supplied by a convenient neighboring star. And so, as the flower is a flowering of the field, I feel myself as a personing- a manning- a peopling of the whole universe. –In other words, I, like everything else in the universe, seem to be a center… a sort of vortex, at which the whole energy of the universe realizes itself- comes alive… an aperture through which the whole universe is conscious of itself. In other words, I go with it as a center to a circumference.”~ Alan Watts
techstepgenr8tion
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16 Mar 2016, 12:46 pm
A rather blunt and perhaps mechanistic approach to it - when you sleep you dream, when you're going to sleep with good luck you'll catch some really odd and shifting imagery that usually gets the terminology 'hypnogogic imagery'.
A person opening their third eye in the sense most people would intend to define the experience is having access to this template in a waking or meditative state without the need of drugs. This would really be the more desirable way to do it because even though it's considerably more work than eating something to get results the neurochemical distortions caused by hallucinogens undermine the coherence of what you'd be seeing (like doing math problems when you're drunk enough to have TV-vision). That and with hallucinogens you can get an 'ooh ahhh' effect, if you're analytical enough retrieve a few things about your life that might have been sort of hidden-in-plain-sight until that moment, but you're very limited in what you can do with your trip as well as the lasting effects. If you're able to achieve these effects by discipline you'd have a much more stable, useful, and ultimately programmable platform.
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techstepgenr8tion
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16 Mar 2016, 12:53 pm
This pdf is almost 20 years old but offers some really good hints at what it is to build an internal terrain deliberately, customize the symbols, and even take this so far as getting into Enochian tablet workings toward the end. A lot of it is way beyond me, a lot of what I'm doing is closer to the front end of this but still you'll get the concept:
http://hermetic.com/norton/ashort.htm
A lot of the people I've talked to suggest starting with the smallest space possible - ie. a room with perhaps some windows to let light in but not a lot else; that is you're trying to give your mind a space that it can handle, particularly when you're new at attempting to work your visualization muscles this hard. One essential pointer though is to create a buffer between sitting down to visualize and returning from your space, that is you need something to give your mind that distances it from sensory life whether that's floating out into space, floating down into the earth, opening a magical wardrobe and going back through and closing it at the end. Some short one-liner prayer at both the beginning and end is also good for reinforcing this protocol and encapsulation of your work (ie. keeping the spaces from overlapping).
The terms of this kind of work is 'scrying' and perhaps even 'scrying in the astral', those terms are a bit loaded though - the real fun of this stuff is doing it yourself, seeing what kinds of results you get, and whether you'd call it that or just call it a bunch of neat ways to program the meat in your skull is really up to you.
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