Hi All,
Although I haven't been following the Wave chapters for a few months, I intended to attend this meeting due to having read this chapter incidentally as part of reviewing the C's sessions. Here are a few thoughts based on that reading and also watching the video:
It's been fairly well covered in previous discussions that some psychedelic drugs lead to a dead-end pseudo-spirituality via mimicking the physiological changes induced by true shamanic states, but I found the mention of pharmaceutical drugs in general as perhaps having a "dampener" effect in a similar sense as interesting to consider. Obviously pharma drugs are intended to effect specific physiological changes similar to "tools" in a mechanical setting, but these changes are alway analogues of a natural biological process facilitated by compounds produced within the body. So in terms of more subtle electric/magnetic/quantum/information interactions, the natural processes may have effects that are novel when compared to chemical adjuncts, despite the similarity on a purely biochemical level. Also, if we consider the homophonic similarity of "pharma" to "farm" and the concepts of "frequency fences", epigenetics, proteins as "antennas" and "receivership capability"... well, interesting, don't you think?
The chapter also explains what the C's meant by their "prime rib" clue. Deoxy-rib-ose and rib-osomes make an elegant solution in the context of molecular structure, DNA and activation/transcription of genes. Amazing to think this knowledge was symbolically transmitted in ancient traditions long before Watson and Crick re-discovered DNA!
The discussion on temperament was interesting. I see things similar to Keit - temperament is a genetic, or genetically-influenced aspect of behaviour that acts as the foundation of personality structure. Psychologist Timothy Wilson in his book, "Strangers to Ourselves" refers to studies that assess personality traits as being 20-50% genetically based. I see this 20%-50% more "concrete" part of the personality as temperament. Wilson also makes reference to temperament in his book, I think, but I couldn't find the reference offhand. In terms of Gurdjieffian philosophical correspondence, I think of "essence" as a completely non-material/etheric part of one's being that then "contours" the expression of the genes and personality as the soul is "married" to the physical body during the maturation process. It's possible that the temperament is modified slightly during this, or the counter process, as part of "personality disintegration" as the Dabrowskian model describes it, but being significantly genetically determined, I see temperament as generally part of the "package" of physical attributes that the soul works with as part of the incarnative lesson plan. Hopefully this makes sense!
The other part of this chapter I found really interesting was the neuroanatomical stuff, the descriptions of the regions like the periaqueductal gray, nucleus of Barrington, Vagus nerve and lower/mid/forebrain 'circuits'. The control of the eyeballs via the superior colliculus is an interesting one as well; I have formulated a biofeedback exercise that involves staring upwards while I am doing EE, meditation and other relaxation exercises as a way to 'deprogram' areas of the brain that might have reflexive behaviours due to stored trauma. Not sure how efficacious this is, but it's very easy to include as an exercise and I haven't noticed any negative effects.
Regarding EE, I find the bioenergetic breathing to be the most valuable part - I'm planning some EE sessions with extended bioenergetic portions to see if it helps to really "super-purge" any nasty stuff.
Anyway, there's a few thoughts - sorry I missed the meetup. I notice that since there's only a few left until the end of the Wave series, I might jump in for the next ones and then see what the plan is from there. Cheers!
