A Very Doable Temple Proposal

Imagine 8 participants laying on a circular sound floor, inside a pyramid covered with LED lights moving up and down according to the coherence of a Random Event Generator. The transducers under the floor and speakers on the pyramid radiate from the center in a spiral formation, allowing sequential pulses of sound to inform the space with spin, giving the sensation of being inside a rotating vortex or black hole. Above each participant is a multicolored strobe that entrains one's brain waves to the same frequencies as the sound from speakers on either side of one's head, which would use binaural beats, similar to the "Hemi-Sync" tracks. Throughout the experience a constant, repetitive shamanic drumming would be played. In the center of the floor would be a cymatics device - a large speaker that transforms the sounds from the environment into a complex, pulsing geometric display. Hanging from the center of the pyramid is a tetrahedral orgone generator, with LED lights controlled by the REG. This would rotate at different speeds, creating even more of a vortex effect. To facilitate deeper states, each person would have a Galvanic Skin Response meter controlling the tone of speakers in front of them. It would be easy to tell when mindfulness and entrainment techniques are working to deepen the group's meditative state. The relative stress or calmness would also be fed back in visual form through the cymatics display, which would have broken quartz crystals in the water, charging it from the vibrations and intentions of the participants. This water could be consumed at the end, creating a powerful rejuvenating and energizing effect.  The sound floor could be covered in a light reflective surface to mirror the pulsing light from above. To enhance the subtle energy transfer from participants to mind at large, the entire pyramid structure would be an orgone generator of sorts - 8 columns of broken quartz crystal encased in clear resin and metal shavings would go from close to each person's head, to meet at the top. The tubes could be wrapped in copper coils, and lasers pointing through the tubes could be held in place by transducers vibrating at higher or lower frequencies, depending on the coherence of the REG, or tone of each GSR. You can imagine that greater coherence (Z-scores) would lead to enhanced visual effects, teaching the brain to create coherence at will. The copper coils up the quartz tubes and perhaps underneath the floor and up around the whole pyramid could create the effect of a capacitor of consciousness - holding and amplifying subtle energy.

I believe this temple is very possible to make. I did not go overboard in adding the Heart Rate Variance Monitor and 3d holographic projections. Something like that would require a bit more technology and computer programming. The REG programming needed for the above project is the simplest I can think of, but could be improved and complexified with time. The speakers and transducers would need to be computer controlled, to have it all timed perfectly. The track with binaural beats and audio entrainment would be created in advance, complete with introduction, gradual build up, frequency following, peak, and return. The "Hero's Journey" would be the model - initiation, separation and return, or a diving down into the unconscious, shamanic underworld, retrieving lost knowledge, and bringing it back. A major goal of this project is to get the highest levels of REG coherence possible, with the audio visual feedback. This device would also tell us which ritual procedures are effective at influencing "the field" and galvanizing the group into a state of coherence, which would alert one to opportune times for specific acts of magic. A final necessary element is that of creative expression, especially visionary painting and sculpture to anchor experiences and channel knowledge gained from non-ordinary reality. Such works of art could serve as portals to dimensions of hyperspace or maps of non-ordinary reality, to enable easier, repeatable access and travel to other worlds. Once such an immersive environment is built, emergent combinations of both ritual and technology will flower forth, perhaps from insights gained from within the experience itself. In other words, doors upon doorways will be flung open to the intrepid travelers of as yet unexplored vistas within the mind.

I would love to hear any suggestions for improving these ideas, especially technical details of related subtle energy devices. If anyone would like to help me build, program, or run such a temple, please let me know, especially those in the Northeast.

NeoShamanic Tuning Ritual Group and Project Proposal on Evolver.net

http://www.evolver.net/group/neoshamanic_tuning_ritual

The group description:

This group will look at the ins and outs of both the technological design issues ritualistic procedures to create the most effective, harmonizing, healing, and empowering ceremony experience possible. We will actually attempt to implement these ideas in a physical location and train facilitators to run it. I imagine locating near a major metropolitan area and facilitate the awakening and healing of as many people as possible. Eventually centers like this could be built around the world and integrated into a virtually connected, worldwide, sacred space.

For the near future, I hope people who are interested will take the initiative to research a particular aspect, whether it be chanting, holotropic breathing, sound healing, sacred architecture, cymatics or REG software programming. After an initial exploratory and brainstorming phase, I hope to have a meetup where all those interested could come for a week, with the requisite technological and shamanic innovations, and test them out. A major theme is that of integration, and I hope that with such a meeting in physical space, we can see some powerful emergent properties from integrating many different spiritual methods and technologies.

After the week of testing that might happen this winter or early next spring, I hope to find a location to actually build a temple, implement all the converging ideas, and open it to the public.

I also think there ought to be emphasis on using the very same technologies in a in a ritual performance in a much larger setting, at the Burning Man Festival in 2011. At such a place where people interested in consciousness already gather, I feel there could be some seriously earth-shattering records set, especially in Random Event Generator coherence, if we create the right kind of feedback device and ritual space for it to happen. An exposition like this has the potential to garner global interest in creating similar sacred spaces worldwide.

If this sounds interesting, please join and collaborate!

NeoShamanic Tuning Ritual

I have a vision for an experience that meshes the newest of consciousness technology, with the oldest wisdom from shamanism and mystery schools, and that seeks a harmonic tuning of the body, mind, and spirit. I propose integrating the Random Event Generator, the Heart Rate Variance Monitor, and the Emotiv EPOC neuroheadset into an interactive ceremonial setting, which drastically increases the feedback one receives from the environment, in terms of the coherence and focus of their hearts and minds. I believe that the more we can cultivate an awareness of the effects of our thoughts, intentions and emotions in the seemingly outside, physical world, the more we will realize that world to be an expression of our deepest aspirations for freedom, through the power of direct, unmediated creativity of our minds. To truly engage the creative power of the universe, we must first go deep into the source of creation within ourselves, through an inner shamanic journey. Modalities such as Holotropic Breathwork, shamanic drumming, sound healing, binaural beats, and brainwave entrainment with audiovisual synthesizers can be very effective at this. The idea is allow the brain to consciously experience the place of deep formlessness (a Theta or Delta state) that one ordinarily will only encounter in deep dreamless sleep or beyond death, and then, after renewal from contact with the source, to come back to spacetime and ground those realizations of inner power and peace in the physical world. This would be done with the Random Event Generator connected to a pyramid of lights, where the height and brightness of the lights responds to the coherence of the otherwise random outcomes. REGs have been found to be affected by human intention and could be a powerful tool for training people to collectively focus their minds on a positive outcome - something which is sorely needed at this time on the planet earth. To further enhance the collective vibe, participants would have the tiny fluctuations in their heart rate measured with a Heart Rate Variance monitor. These tend to show a more ordered or coherent rhythm when there is a positive emotional state. So, we have a measure of the coherence of the field from the REG displayed on a pyramid of lights, a measure of positive emotions with the HRV projected on the floor, and finally a measure of the coherence between the left and right hemispheres of the brain with the EPOC neuroheadset, projected on the walls. This headset has incredible potential to create realities that are literally “mind-manifesting”. After a brief training, the participant can use his or her mind to pick up, push, pull or light up virtual objects with the mind alone. So besides getting the feedback of coherence in the brain, the EPOC could be used to train participants to raise the level of light of the pyramid. The EPOC would then be switched off and the REG turned on, allowing people to focus their minds and affect reality with absolutely no intermediate technology. At it’s heart, this is an experience of empowering consciousness.

This ritual would take place inside a fiberglass pyramid, similar to the ones built in Russia, which have been found to have incredible healing powers. Another spiritual technology utilizing the pyramid structure, is the orgone generator that transmutes negative energy into positive energy. I propose the pyramid of lights that is controlled by the REG, be filled with fiberglass resin and metal shavings, and with 5 large quartz crystals, situated for the pure transmission and absorption of life energy. These generators also utilize a copper wire spiraling up the pyramid and coiled at the base. Why not make the larger fiberglass pyramid into an orgone generator of sorts by putting a copper wire coil under the floor and have it spiral up to the top and then back down to the REG pyramid? Large tubes of quartz and resin would go from the top of the pyramid down to the smaller one, and then radiate out in all four directions. If the coherence of the REG reached a preset level, the pyramid could send light through up and out, illuminating all crystalline channels.

In addition, sound would be an integral technology for resonance and group entrainment. The entire floor would use transducers to send powerful vibrations to the participants. The floor could have a layer of broken quartz and water, so people could see the vibrations manifested as form and light. At certain points of the ceremony, chanting could be utilized to harmonize the group and create a sacred space - the vocal sounds could also be amplified and fed into the floor and back to the participants. Another sound technology is the cymascope, a device that creates complex geometric patterns in water and light, from sound. These images could be projected onto the walls to create yet another feedback mechanism to manifest the mind.

These technologies are just begging to be integrated into a powerful neoshamanic ritual. There are endless permutations of both modern technology and ancient ceremonial practices and procedures, that will allow a most effective space to see the true powers and promises of the human body, heart and mind. I believe that an experience of coherence and transmission of focused positive energy by people around the world, through a scenario as described above, could be precisely the evolutionary accelerator that the budding revolution in consciousness has been waiting for. The pieces are finally here. Let’s put them together and will novelty into being.

If you like these ideas, please join the group and get started!
It's here: http://www.evolver.net/group/neoshamanic_tuning_ritual

Some good links for research and clarification:

REGs:
http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
http://www.psyleron.com/reg1.aspx

HRV:
http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart-variability.html
http://store.heartmath.org/emwave-handheld/emwave-handheld-silver

Emotive EPOC:
http://www.emotiv.com/apps/epoc/299/

Audio-Visual Synthesizer:
http://www.mindplace.com/MindPlace-Procyon-AVS-System

Shamanic Drumming/Voyaging:
http://shamanicdrumming.com/

Holotropic Breathwork:
http://www.holotropic.com/about.shtml

Binaural Beats:
http://web-us.com/thescience.htm

Brainwave Entrainment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_entrainment

Orgone Generators:
http://www.educate-yourself.org/dc/orgonegenindex.shtml

Amazing effects of Pyramids in Russia:
http://www.realitysandwich.com/great_pyramids_russia

Sound Healing:
http://www.worldsoundhealing.org/SoundHealing.html

Cymascope (sound made visible):
http://www.cymascope.com/cymascope.html

Excellent 3 min. clip of Global Consciousness Project that uses REGs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itQMALL__bE

Further thoughts to consider:

One way to launch this idea into the noosphere is to set up a kind of Google Maps real time virtual reality inside the temple. If video cameras were strategically positioned to capture the space, someone on the other side of the planet could, conceivably put on some augmented reality goggles in his or her bedroom, and be transported to the temple. A HRV and/or Emotiv headeset could transmit over the net, information to the temple. It would be like one was there, but even better - computer generated augmentations could be seen, such as futuristic avatar dress. In fact, people from all over the world could transport themselves there and completely conceal their identity with virtual bodies if they wanted to. I believe augmented reality, as already seen on the iPhone, will be much more tangible in the near future, and will allow a further collapse of time and space.

Another, somewhat old biofeedback technology that I've been experimenting with, is the GSR monitor, which measures Galvanic Skin Response, or roughly how relaxed or stressed out you are. The one I use lets me hear a tone that is raised or lowered accordingly. I have found it simple and helpful for gaining greater control over the mind. http://www.amazon.com/Basic-GSR2-Biofeedback-Relaxation-System/dp/B000E2...

I've also found this cheap negative ion generator to boost mental clarity. They allow the lungs to absorb more oxygen, and is similar to being right next to a huge waterfall!
http://www.amazon.com/Purely-Products-Lifestyle-Negative-Generator/dp/B0...

Some more quick thoughts:

- Use videoconferencing to discuss this project with the Evolver group.
- Collect psychometric evaluations of the various states of consciousness that people experience, compile them all and display the results online.
- Allow people to express their experiences through the medium of art - the pictures that people draw after Holotropic Breathwork, for example, are quite revealing and therapeutic. These could be put online to show others the transformational power of this ritual.
- Do some yoga exercises in the beginning and yoga/meditation at the end, to increase the flow of energy and also ground it.
- Look into the different effects of color and how they can be used to affect mood and thought.
- Use the ever increasing power of the placebo by giving people vitamins B6 and B12, calling them hyperdimensional portals, or attach a similar significance to them.
- Use Ganzfeld eyeshades - headbands with half ping pong balls over the eyes to give a pure color effect with the eyes open. This is used in psy experiments to heighten intuition.
- Coordinate rituals around the world so that points of great focus are all happening on the 11th minute of certain hours.
- Locate temples at places with specific subtle energy characteristics, for maximum effect.
- Have participant drink the charged water that has been vibrating with broken quartz in the cymascopes. This water would have received the same healing vibrations as well as the vocalizations and chants of the participants. It would be one more way feeding back the life energy of the participants in different forms.
- One way to see real world benefits is to focus healing energy on specific targets, geographical areas or segments of population. There have been some studies of meditation where small groups seem to be able to affect the crime rate of the cities they focus on. This could have tremendous power if enough people around the world were focusing on achieving a goal like this.
- Use sacred geometry in the construction wherever possible. Since a theme is that of going to the heart of creation, it may be possible to integrate some of - --- Nassim Haramein's ideas of the geometry of spacetime into the temple. For example, there could be a hanging/spinning isotropic vector matrix above the inside pyramid. In this way the entire temple would represent the fundamental geometry of creation. Here is the trailer for his video lecture which is all up on -YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_aBlmq08X8&feature=relatedand his website: http://theresonanceproject.org/
- Use the REG to project "random" pixels on a screen. This might give the best chance for either contacting entities, or seeing and communicating with archetypal forms from the unconscious.
- Use holographic projection technology combined with the cymascope to project a cymatics form - something close to the original form that was created when the original sound was made.
- Use analogue sound as opposed to digital, which would be much more pure and crisp and true.
- Finally I think it'd be helpful to guide participants with educational and philosophical content. It would involve describing something like the Hermetic or Perennial Philosophy, perspectives I think many intelligent people are unaware of. Philosophy like this could give people historical context and avenues for further exploration into their revelations from non-ordinary states.

The PsycheCymatitron: Biofeedback, Cymatics, and Random Event Generators

Imagine... you are strolling along the Esplanade at Burning Man, and something catches your eye. Bands of lights are rapidly moving up and down a 30 foot high pyramid, from Red at the bottom, through Orange, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet, and finally White light at the top. Nothing too unusual, but look! Projected on 10 by 10 screens to either side of it are complex geometric patterns pulsing like fractal mandalas. You say, "What's the big deal, I see that everywhere?" But upon closer inspection you learn that the people waiting in line are eagerly anticipating the moment they will stick their finger into a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) meter, measuring the electrical conductance across their skin. It's like a lie detector test, measuring just how calm or agitated these Burners are. This in turn produces a tone, which varies according to the relative stress of the Burner. The tone is then translated into a geometric pattern by a cymatics device. This consists of a transducer, which is basically a speaker, underneath a flat (now vibrating) metal plate with grains of salt on top. The salt, sand, water, or even cornstarch, is now creating beautiful geometric patterns, which is finally projected onto a screen for all to witness.

You've waited patiently and now you're up at bat. You want to take a few practice swings before the real thing right? Here, lie down on this comfy memory foam, inside a chamber fitted with noise canceling material, and wrapped in wire mesh and aluminum foil to block any stray electromagnetic radiation. "Here, put these on and just float on a sea of bliss," the facilitator says as he hands you a pair of glasses, headphones and GSR meter for your finger. A flicker of doubt crosses your mind. "What the hell, it's Burning Man, man," your inner psychonaut reassures you as the lid closes. Inside you hear the GSR on your finger driving the sound in your headphones. You're agitated and so is the sound. The light from the special glasses also indicates significant stress. "Shit, I'm a mess." Bhvvvv. More agitated sound. Bhvvv. "Damn it!" Bhvvvvvvvv. "Forget this crap I'm just going to get comfy on this memory foam and float through the clouds." Beewwwww. The sound is calm, the light is serene. "Wow, that was easy. I just let go of fears and relaxed into the moment." The lid opens, you step into the hot seat, slide on the GSR meter, and instantly the cymatics projection explodes into the most beautiful shimmering fractal the crowd has ever seen.

This galvanizes the mass of onlookers into a frenzy. You whisper to yourself, "I never thought such beauty was possible!" As you stand there in a state of unrivaled ecstasy, the crowd catches your fire and starts chanting - beauty, beauty, beauty, beauty!!! Bvvvhhaaaaaoo! "What the?" The pyramid of lights whirs to life as the sound amps up and lights go from red to orange to green up towards the top. The crowd is overjoyed! A facilitator notices your perplexed gaze and tells everyone, "Beneath the pyramid is a Random Event Generator and the lights and sound goes up or down depending on the coherence or odds against chance of the outcomes. It has been found that focusing intently on it can raise the coherence and thus elevate the light, pure white light being the highest level of coherence at the top." The energy is electric. A bolt of lightning blasts through your head and ripples out through the people concentrating on raising the pyramid of light. The words come out of nowhere and past your lips, "We are infinite potential!" The light races through indigo, violet and ultraviolet - a sudden collective gasp - boom. Pure white light blasts out of the top and bathes all in the primordial essence of being. All you can do is wonder. You've disregarded Terrence and have given in to astonishment. You think it'll never end, but something creeps up, like a serpent through your veins, a nagging doubt - "is it real?" Immediately the light is gone, the pyramid plummets to a dull red and blackness envelops all. Guess not. You walk off the stage, kick the dust, and choke down a sugary drink at the nearest bar. A single tear rolls down your cheek and splashes in the playa dust. "For a moment... it was real."

And it could be. It's all technically possible - just a matter of connecting a few cords to a few computers and whatnot. I'm not an audiovisual or computer technician by any stretch, but I don't see why it can't be done with a little group mind and elbow grease. If this project piques your interest, join up and let's make it happen!

Some operational thoughts: The above is only one permutation of many amazing possibilities. I'd like your input to improve it! For example:

We could use brainwave entrainment with an audiovisual synthesizer (using specific light and sound frequencies) to drive the brainwaves into say, an Alpha or hypnagogic state, and see how that affects the GSR and cymatic patterns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_entrainment
Audiovisual synthesizer: http://www.mindmodulations.com/light-sound-mind-machines.html?TreeId=1

Perhaps a dance floor covered with salt, with a massive transducer underneath, pumping in the vibes from wireless GSR meters on the dancers? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_skin_response

Could the cymatic pattern be projected as a 3d hologram instead of merely on a flat screen? Or we could throw on a mixture of cornstarch and water to create a non-Newtonian fluid and grow some 3d cymatic creatures!
Cymatics in action - video of changing sand patterns:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YedgubRZva8&feature=related
General Cymatics info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics
http://www.cymatics.org/

We could have 4 participants each with GSR meters hooked up to the original setup, with one side getting as agitated as possible and the other trying to remain calm, and have emotion battles! Perhaps the tones from each side would be averaged together to produce 2 different cymatic patterns, one the product of restlessness, and the other the result of serenity.

Other measures of biofeedback could be used, such as the coherence of heart rhythms, pulse rate, or even an EEG of brainwaves. The raw data from each of these could be displayed on a separate screen, with a high/low record holder list.
Biofeedback devices: http://www.mindmodulations.com/biofeedback-neurofeedback.html?TreeId=1

The Random Event Generator idea could be expanded to have 3 separate towers of lights with three different REGs, with one mega tower in the middle averaging the coherence of all three. We could add some kind of reward, like a beautiful sound when the lights reach certain levels of coherence, with a loud gong at the top. Perhaps integrate specific chakra sounds from the root (red) with a C sound to crown (white) B sound.
Chakra sounds: http://www.cymascope.com/chakrasacredsound.html
REG general info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_event_generator
REG light: http://www.psyleron.com/lamp.aspx
REG capable of linking with computer:http://www.psyleron.com/reg1.aspx

The original color progression was inspired by the levels of consciousness chart here: http://www.kheper.net/topics/Wilber/levels-of-consciousness.jpg

The REG aspect would be interesting to simply record and correlate it with events such as Burning the Man or the Temple, or even with the level of ambient sound or light levels on the playa.

We could strategically place some dream machines around the REG pyramids to help entrain brainwaves to an Alpha or hypnagogic state. These are rotating cylinders with slits cut up the sides, on top of record players with light bulbs inside. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamachine

Finally a very basic option is to simply have microphones for people to sing, chant or play music into and see what cymatic patterns they produce.

I would also propose we develop a short survey of people's experiences, to get data on how well it works (how mystical/transpersonal the experiences are) for different people, and particularly of interest would be to record a rough estimate of people's value structure (developmental stage) and also note any pharmacological agents at work. This data, when correlated with people's biofeedback record, would be invaluable!

This entire setup may seem like an impossible dream, but so has every idea that ever tested the perceived boundaries of creation. I cannot think of a more empowering or trans-formative technological achievement to devote resources to. Let's use our ingenuity, our technical expertise, our vision, and our burning passion to do what has never been done, to manifest the mind, and will novelty into being. Let's go to moon, 21st century style.