Originally posted May 3, 2007.

Thinking about hypnagogia. I suspect it’s a 100% universal human state, closely related to the psychic (indigo) state; however, the strong habit of most people is to ignore and deny hypnagogic experiences. Now THIS is interesting…

According to a study in the book Hypnagogia by Andreas Mavromatis, the occurance was around 70-80% of adults have had hypnogogic experiences. They assumed the occurance was probably higher (possibly 100%) but many people either didn’t take note of what was actually happening or they were hesitant to admit to hearing things like voices as it’s generally considered a sign of being crazy.

I’m not sure how many people are capable of doing this, but with enough years of practice, it’s possible to have hypnogogic visual experiences (objects moving position, shadows shifting at will, witnessing of “impossible” events, etc.) almost at will in the waking state. It helps if the lighting conditions are just right. It doesn’t hurt either if you’re nearsighted and you are able to see light reflecting off the surface of a metallic object.

In a controlled environment, it’s possible to actually see the minute details of each hair on your eyelashes and to feel their movement as a distinct sensation. At least according to my own experience in recent years, as described to an opthamologist as I observed hypnagogic phenomena in his examining room.

“Are they delusions? Optical illusions? I mean, I’m actually seeing my eyelashes projected onto the pattern of refracting light coming off the surface of that doorknob. I can count each one, and practically measure their thickness.”

“No, it’s not an illusion. It’s an optical disturbance. It’s completely normal and healthy. There would be something wrong with you if you were attune to what you’re attune to and you DIDN’T see something. You’re just aware of things that most people ignore or don’t think of as important.”

The eye doctor went on to describe several common hypnagogic phenomena, such as the sensation you would get if you’re riding in the back of a truck, watching the scenery move behind you. The truck stops, and you get out. And for a moment, you are still but the world rushes to meet you! You see it. You feel its movement. The experience is real. It would be delusion or hallucination if you DIDN’T see the world rushing at you. The world really does move in your visual field.

An optical disturbance! Pupils dilated in a darkened room, my eyes turned into a freaking magnifying glass. Head tilted just so, eyelashes pointed downwards just so, an entire world of sensoria opens up. A world that usually only opens up to me in the late night or early morning hours of falling asleep and waking.

I think I just heard a voice. I saw a face in the window. I heard a strange sound.

It helps to experience these sensoria if you’re not concerned in the least that if you describe what you’re hearing or seeing people will think you’re crazy. It’s also more than a little unsettling. If you’re not careful, you could find yourself losing touch with reality…

Technorati Tags: consciousness, hypnagogia, sleep, states

Originally posted May 3, 2007.

As I first set forth my views in Rising Up, there are universal sexual ethics. I suggest they may be founded by defining sex in this way: Sex is the joining of persons by Love through the mingling of bodies in all dimensions of being (gross, subtle, causal) and is clearly expressed primarily by the mingling of genitals. Sex is the joining of persons by Love. It is an embodiment of the Unity that already exists between all persons. But here’s the really tricky part. Sex is an expression of who we truly are in the center of our being. We are not one; we are connected. We are connected through Eros to the otherness of our partner(s); we are connected through Agape to the sameness of our partner(s). But we are already connected to all other beings, whether or not we have sex with one partner, many, or none at all! Sex is a profound act of affirmation of our nature as spiritual beings having a human experience. We are never closer to who we are truly then when we realize our unity with another, and by extension, with all. Sex is neither essential to this realization nor is it detrimental.

Our sex can be a profoundly distorted and disassociated experience (he projecting his communion onto her; she projecting her agency onto him, etc.). Or it can be an opening to our deepest center. The point isn’t so much what we do or who we do it with, but who we are when we give and receive love. Are we a fragmented self, satisfying basic instincts? Are we creatures of habit and virtue or vice? Are we rational beings engaged in productive activity? Are we sensitive souls? Are we integrated bodyminds? Or are we Love, arising in the moment, allowing our bodies to dance and shake and shiver in delight at the ecstasy at the heart of the universe? That is our deep charge, no matter what our sex life looks like on the surface.

Technorati Tags: ethics, Rising Up, Sex and Gender, states