Michael Hutchison's Amazing Un-Peak Experience?

[Buddy]

Not sure exactly where this should go, so Mods please move as necessary. Thanks.
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In the Wave, Laura talked about the pot of gold of Peak Experiences during the Human Potential Movement of the 1960's and the difficulties in deprogramming some folks whose minds had been turned completely off.

Michael Hutchison is a guy who admits to having chased the "peak experience" himself, but it was not until in the midst of a pile of unfortunant events that he realized the erroneous assumptions upon which this chase was based that he actually had an experience beyond bliss that he says stays with him even today.

I would like to share an interview of Hutchison by AVS Magazine in which he describes what seems to me as a "thrilling" kind of experience and invite the reader to comment on whether this seems like one of those "peak experiences" or something else entirely. The article I'm quoting from is 6,961 words and 8 pages of mostly unformatted text, so I've decided to shorten it a bit with some commentary.

First, I'll refresh the reader's memory from the online Wave:

Peak Experiences - experience, experience, experience - became the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow of the 1960's.
[...]
Each of the many techniques developed during this time was fully capable of producing an emotional high of one sort or another. There were endless "peak experiences," and dramatic "personal breakthroughs." The mixtures of Zen, yoga, meditation, drugs along with strict mechanical technology was a veritable adventure in awareness!

The only problem was: in the midst of all this peaking, mind-blowing, turning on and tuning in, ecstasy and encountering, many people encountered things that, perhaps, ought not have been awakened. Boundaries were breached into unseeable and terrifying realms of consciousness.

So, what follows is from an interview first published in 2002 in AVS (Audio/Visual Stimulation) magazine, reprinted with the permission of the publisher and of Michael Hutchison. Since then, an edited version of this interview has been published in the new and updated edition of Michael's Book of Floating: Exploring the Private Sea" book, which, I believe, was also mentioned by no-man's-land.

[quote author=A bit of background]
Michael Hutchison has been a leader in the AVS / light and sound industry for many years. He has held several workshops and seminars, produced numerous recordings, and has written several books, including "Mega Brain Power: Transform Your Life With Mind Machines and Brain Nutrients" and "Megabrain: New Tools & Techniques for Brain Growth & Mind Expansion". But a couple of years ago he stopped writing. Why? We would like to thank Michael for sharing his experiences with us, letting us all know what happened, and what he will be doing in the near future. We believe you will be amazed at what Michael has gone through, and is continuing to go through.[/quote]

The interview starts out simply asking Hutchison what he's been up to. Hutchison gives a lengthy description of all the projects he had been involved with, the research that had accumulated and a new book he was ready to start writing. Life was basically going OK and according to plan.

Michael Hutchison:

Then I got hit by a quadruple whammy, along with a string of mind-boggling coincidences.

Michael describes how he awoke to his house on fire, passed out from the smoke, awoke in the local hospital and began recovery. Attempting to go for a run, he wound up slipping on some ice, falling, breaking his spine and lying in a river bed with only his head above freezing water until being rescued and winding up in the hospital again.

According to Michael:

I woke up in the operating room, having neurosurgery done on my spinal cord. I had smashed five cervical vertebrae. They told me that my core temperature was so cold, they had to continuously pump my blood out of me into a special warming unit and then back into me, because I had such severe hypothermia.

While still in the hospital, he awoke in intensive care unit again, dying from pneumonia. After recovering from the initial bout with pneumonia, he came down with it once again.

So, at this point, Michael reflects:

So, what I was dealing with were five or six near-death experiences in a short period of time. It knocked the spiritual wind out of me. I was feeling very low and very tired. Of course I was paralyzed from the neck down and, to make it worse, I had to wear this whole body brace that kept me totally stiff, clear up to the back of my head, with the tip of my chin pointed way up in the air, to keep me from moving my neck, so that the vertebrae, which had been fused in the operation, could heal.

And it doesn't end there. Having lost everything, having nowhere to go, money gone and no insurance, he gets shuttled to a nursing home where he is forced to deal with the madness there while being completely unable to do anything about anything due to his paralysis.

Michael describes the place he came to when he thought his life was over:

I remember thinking, "I still feel young, but I can't move. I'm a writer, but I can't move my hands, and I can't write. I'm a father, but I'm not with my son. I'm a thinker, but I can't think clearly. I'm a lover, but I can't make love." I had to face it. This was real life. The book I was working on had disappeared, and would never reappear. I had ended a long-term relationship a couple of months before the fire, so I didn't have any companionship that I could fall back on or count on. I was totally alone, and thought I would never have a relationship again. What woman would want to get involved with a quadriplegic? I didn't even know if I would ever be able to have sex again, because I was paralyzed. My young son, whom I loved with all my heart, and was the most important person in my life, and with whom I had been so very close, was not able to come and see me. He was living with his mother now, and at this point I hadn't seen him for almost a year. I missed him terribly. Things seemed pretty bleak. I went through this really painful period, when I thought my life was over. At some point it began to become clear to me-- the way muddy water gets clear if you let it sit still for a while-- that I was facing a big decision. And then it really hit me that I had to do in a serious way what I had been writing about in the new book. I had to truly live some of the spiritual processes that I had been exploring before the accident. This was no intellectual exercise, no book-- this was real life. Before the accident, I had been fascinated with the idea of spiritual awakening.

At this time, Michael is recapitulating his life from childhood up to his present circumstances and noticing how it all relates to his previously expressed goals. He says:

...as I sat there paralyzed in the nursing home, experiencing absolute depression, thinking my life was over, for the first time I really began to look back over my life, and I wondered, "What was that all about?" It became clear to me at that point, that the driving force in my work and my life wasn't about the brief periods of ecstasy you get from high risk, adventures, and peak experiences, but that I had been driven all my life by a deep longing to wake up-- to awaken from the dream of life to a higher, more real, reality.

Michael explains how his previous pursuits of "peak experiences" had been based on an erroneous assumption and that the true experience he had been looking for all the time had always been right there waiting...he just never saw it.

After talking about what led up to the realization, he describes what he's talking about:

I had this sensation of bliss or consciousness as just being some transparent, invisible, all pervasive substance that surrounded and permeated and interpenetrated everything in the world, and I was swimming in it. We all are-- all the time-- even though we don't know it. Everything that happened in that bliss was totally effortless. I found that my actions became effortless, too. When I lifted up my hand, for example, it wasn't me lifting my hand, it was just this Consciousness or bliss acting through me. I realized that I wasn't "doing" my life, but that I was being lived through by Consciousness. I wasn't breathing, but I was being breathed through. I wasn't thinking, I was being thought through. I wasn't seeing, I was being seen through. When you look at it this way, everything is happening just the way it is. Everything is perfect, just the way it is. There's no need to worry about anything, because whatever is going to happen, happens. There's nothing you can do about it, so just sit back, and let it happen, because it's all going to, anyway.

An interesting metaphor he uses to describe self is as "contraction":

I realized my ego, which is to say, my self, was holding on, trying to maintain control-- trying to remain in existence. I knew it was time for the ego to let go. It was like my entire being had been clenched in a tight fist, and suddenly the fist opened up and let go completely. Everything dropped away. All contractions released and disappeared, contraction of the mind, of the body, of the emotions. Everything's a contraction, you know, even thinking.

Another interesting metaphor for his experience involves a fish in water and watching a movie:

I was experiencing being like a fish swimming in water, suddenly realizing that he's in water.
[...]
In fact, once you become aware of it, you can't make it go away. It's like watching a movie-- your attention is on the images on the screen, but the screen is always there. Once the images go away, you see the screen. It's like if you get rid of everything that's a 'thing', what's left?

What's left is Consciousness, or absolute awareness.

Interestingly, he also mentions the idea of 'time' disappearing:

One way I can describe it is that time disappears. I don't know if you've been in a floatation tank, but the way it happens with me is that at a certain point, I reach the bottom of total relaxation, and I say, "No more words, no more thoughts, no more mind," and I melt or dissolve into this non-place, where time disappears, where there is consciousness, but there's no content to consciousness.
[...]
When time disappears, you're in a place where there's no inside and no outside, there's no center and no edge, there's no before and no after, no past and no future-- just now. This space is essentially formless, limitless, and very clear, open, empty, alive, and still. Radiant and alive, but totally still-- a paradox-- but that's what it is. It's just bliss or pure Consciousness or God, and I guess that's all I can say.

Michael summarizs his work up to this point in relation to the kind of 'spiritual' experience he had been working for:

Let me summarize a bit. Scientists studying complexity have found that complex systems such as the heart, the brain, and the body, all have a quality that they call "dimensionality". Degrees of dimensionality run along a spectrum from low to high. High dimensionality systems are characterized by great amounts of flexibility, novelty, unpredictability, variability, adaptability, resiliency, and so on. Low dimensionality systems are characterized by rigidity, stiffness, predictability, regularity-- the opposite of high dimensionality. The important fact to note is that high dimensionality biological systems are extremely healthy, with high vitality, while low dimensionality is a sign of disease, age, and dysfunction. Cardiologists, for example, are finding they can measure the dimensionality of the heart rate, and if the heart shows low dimensionality- - rigidity and extreme regularity-- then that is a sign of heart pathology, and there is danger of a heart attack. Similarly, research has proved that healthy humans have a high dimensionality gait, while low dimensionality gait is characteristic of sick or aging people.

I was applying this paradigm to brain wave analysis. Research has clearly established that high dimensionality brain waves are associated with enhanced cognition, higher I.Q., heightened awareness, high level functioning, "flow", and peak experiences. In my book, I was developing ways of teaching people to increase their own brain wave dimensionality, and thereby attain higher levels of brain functioning and peak states. I was doing this by bringing together the recent scientific discoveries with some of the my own work using the EEG, combined with some of the internal work I was doing. At that time, I was deeply involved in exploring Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Dzogchen, and Advaita Vedanta. All of these are based on a direct, non-dualistic perception of reality.

Treating his 2 year stay in a nursing home like a "monastery" where he continued his internal work, he was able to maintain a sense that he describes as:

...this Consciousness was always here. I was experiencing what Dzogchen calls, "Direct Seeing". It's like an infinite vastness inside yourself. The world becomes more real than real. It takes on a higher dimension, so to speak.

During this time he was getting better physically, regaining some use of his arms and legs and got to the point where he could move into public housing and get by with a helper as well as visit with his son again - the joy of his life.

In spite of his condition and the hell he's been through, he says that

The whole thing has been a great liberation. It's a miracle that I'm alive at all, but when you live with the constant experience of being lived through by Consciousness, you see that everything is a miracle, every instant, pain or pleasure, good or bad-- it's all a miracle, emerging out of emptiness, that is, Consciousness, instant by instant.

...and:

But what's becoming more clear is that as you go along, you go beyond bliss, and it's just Consciousness, impersonal awareness, pure Being. Bliss requires someone to experience it, but when you let go of bliss and go beyond it, there is no one there to experience it. What it is, is just emptiness. Beyond bliss, it's just infinite emptiness without beginning or end, God, the void."

He wraps up the article by mentioning the studies and experiments he is participating in related to his injuries as a result of Doctors who had previously read his books and wanted an opportunity to explore Michael's ideas and how everything he had been previously writing about is now coming back around to him:

For me, the coincidences are amazing, how all these technologies and protocols and nutrients that I wrote about before my accident, are now coming into my life in a direct, personal way."

The final words in the article?

Anyway, whatever has happened to me and whatever will happen to me, I'm always aware that all is well, and that I am merely an image superimposed on this mysterious power. So are you. So is everyone. This mysterious power, of course, is Consciousness, pure Awareness.

This Consciousness is the same in everyone-- not the same, like identical consciousnesses in everyone-- but it's absolutely the same one thing. It's one thing only. It's all one thing. We're all this one thing.

So, to sum it up: I'm a quadriplegic. I live in poverty. I'm the happiest man on earth.

Wow! :)




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Article Source:
_http://www.mindmachines.com/AVsJournal/article-AnE-InterviewMichaelHutchison.htm
Here's a better one:
_http://www.thomhartmann.com/articles/2007/12/interview-michael-hutchison


Edit: added a paragraph

 

[obyvatel]

The "oneness" and "void" that he talks about are from Advaita (non-dual) Hindu philosophy and Zen Buddhism respectively which he studied. The realizations he has had and the way he describes it are very similar to the descriptions of the practitioners of these paths. But what is the real effect of these "realizations"? Illion's comments in "Darkness Over Tibet" about this resonated well with me.
Illion classifies the hubris of a created being trying to put itself at the level of the Creator as a spiritual sin, a sin against the soul. Undifferentiated oneness is an attribute of the Creator. Those who try to experience this "oneness" and act accordingly ("everything is exactly as it should be") may be guilty of hubris. At our level, it is about discerning the ascending and descending currents of spirituality (STS/STO) and participating in the struggle between the two. As Illion says the important choice for us is not between spirit and matter but between these two currents of life which play out their opposing roles using matter as the battle ground.


[quote author=Hutchison]
This Consciousness is the same in everyone-- not the same, like identical consciousnesses in everyone-- but it's absolutely the same one thing. It's one thing only. It's all one thing. We're all this one thing.

So, to sum it up: I'm a quadriplegic. I live in poverty. I'm the happiest man on earth.
[/quote]
Doesn't a drug addict feel the same when he is in the dumps but getting his fix? I feel that these oneness realizations are like a spiritual drug. After taking it, one is either in the dumps while dreaming all is perfect(worst case) or goes and sits on a mountain top and watches life pass by below without any participation (best case).
OSIT

 

[Laura]

Yeah, wow! What a story. One wonders, of course, if what he describes is not just the brain/mind effort to deal with an impossible situation. I described that state he "achieved" in The Wave a little bit differently (though it is clearly recognizable) as that moment when one makes a choice. It almost sounds like he took the default mode which is to make no choice at all. I could be wrong, but that is how it sounds.

 

[Nienna]

Yeah, wow! What a story. One wonders, of course, if what he describes is not just the brain/mind effort to deal with an impossible situation. I described that state he "achieved" in The Wave a little bit differently (though it is clearly recognizable) as that moment when one makes a choice. It almost sounds like he took the default mode which is to make no choice at all. I could be wrong, but that is how it sounds.

I agree.

This is one of the things that stood out for me:

[...] When you look at it this way, everything is happening just the way it is. Everything is perfect, just the way it is. There's no need to worry about anything, because whatever is going to happen, happens. There's nothing you can do about it, so just sit back, and let it happen, because it's all going to, anyway.

 

[Buddy]

I was mainly fascinated with Michael's description of his experience from the perspective of actual experience vs the mind's ability to remember and describe said experience.

The thing that stuck out most for me, though, is his description of ego and thought as 'contraction', because it tallies with mine.

Earlier in my Work, I implemented a modified form of Mindfulness Meditation with self-observation in order to maintain calm during two main problems I was dealing with: one, being subject to transitory states of hyperactivity and two, no matter how much emotional control I possess, I'm still subject to having my 'chemical soup' stirred by the frustration of dealing with people who seem to have no depth to their understandings at all.

So, my practice handles all that. In addition, anytime I accidentally hurt myself from working outside, I am able to relax my "me vs it (pain)" contraction and 'flow into' the experience in order to stay in the moment and directly experience all the phenomena available until it dissipates. This has aided me tremendously.

It makes me wonder if this kind of practice represents ancient remnants of knowledge of the sort that gets preserved in the form of colloquialisms like: "open your heart", "open your mind", "open yourself to possibilities", "open up", etc.

At any rate, there is a difference between his Oneness as "no-thing-ness" and my understanding of Oneness as "unspeakable every-thing-ness", because in the paradigm I'm familiar with, unity is an unbreakable, interconnected web of everything as One - the One Universal Being, not its reverse.

Interesting, nonetheless. Thanks for the feedback y'all. :)

 

[obyvatel]

I was mainly fascinated with Michael's description of his experience from the perspective of actual experience vs the mind's ability to remember and describe said experience.

What do you mean? Are you saying that he was describing his experience from direct cognition rather than retrieving the sensations and feelings that he had during his experience from his memory banks?
[quote author=Bud]
The thing that stuck out most for me, though, is his description of ego and thought as 'contraction', because it tallies with mine.
[/quote]
Is this contraction used in the similar sense as what an unlimited consciousness capable of direct cognition of reality would feel when he is limited within the bounds of 3D existence? If so, this is most likely logically true. But then what comes after that? In my experience, the next step is an effort to lose this individual self, critical thought and merge into the infinite consciousness leading to a dissolution of the self. Does not mean that everyone will think this way but this is the way of thinking I have encountered from people following this path.

[quote author=Bud]
So, my practice ...............
It makes me wonder if this kind of practice represents ancient remnants of knowledge of the sort that gets preserved in the form of colloquialisms like: "open your heart", "open your mind", "open yourself to possibilities", "open up", etc.
[/quote]
Yes I have been benefited from similar kind of "open focus" practice too and I agree.

[quote author=Bud]
At any rate, there is a difference between his Oneness as "no-thing-ness" and my understanding of Oneness as "unspeakable every-thing-ness", because in the paradigm I'm familiar with, unity is an unbreakable, interconnected web of everything as One - the One Universal Being, not its reverse.
[/quote]
For me, interconnectedness does not imply a sense of oneness. I realize the interconnectedness of life at the levels I am capable of perceiving- with various degrees of strong and weak connections. Oneness as an intellectual idea is perceivable in the same sense as parts of a body can imagine the existence of a larger entity (the body) which encompasses the whole. But the parts cannot directly know the whole - so true experience of "oneness" seems impossible for a part. However, individual parts can recognize the interconnectedness, try to identify their position as a component of the whole, and serve the whole to the best of their ability while retaining their individuality (or self). Per my understanding of Illion, Laura and the Sufis, that is the challenge and the lesson at our 3D level rather than realizing and celebrating an imaginary "oneness".
fwiw

 

[Buddy]

I was mainly fascinated with Michael's description of his experience from the perspective of actual experience vs the mind's ability to remember and describe said experience.

What do you mean? Are you saying that he was describing his experience from direct cognition rather than retrieving the sensations and feelings that he had during his experience from his memory banks?

No, I meant his description was fascinating, but I was wondering to what extent, if any, his recollection and description of the experience might differ from whatever he might actually have experienced. Gurdjieff was pretty plain about how unlikely it is for a person to actually remember actual contact with actual 4th state objective consciousness.

[quote author=o]
But then what comes after that? In my experience, the next step is an effort to lose this individual self, critical thought and merge into the infinite consciousness leading to a dissolution of the self. Does not mean that everyone will think this way but this is the way of thinking I have encountered from people following this path.[/quote]

Well, of course we don't want to lose the Real self. We want a unified self. This is my goal and why I found his experience fascinating, yet somehow also the reverse of where we're supposed to be going individually.

[quote author=o]
For me, interconnectedness does not imply a sense of oneness. I realize the interconnectedness of life at the levels I am capable of perceiving- with various degrees of strong and weak connections. Oneness as an intellectual idea is perceivable in the same sense as parts of a body can imagine the existence of a larger entity (the body) which encompasses the whole. But the parts cannot directly know the whole - so true experience of "oneness" seems impossible for a part. However, individual parts can recognize the interconnectedness, try to identify their position as a component of the whole, and serve the whole to the best of their ability while retaining their individuality (or self). Per my understanding of Illion, Laura and the Sufis, that is the challenge and the lesson at our 3D level rather than realizing and celebrating an imaginary "oneness".
fwiw[/quote]

For clarity, when I said "oneness", I mean in the sense of a "whole unit" or "undivided and with system integrity", not "one" as in the numerical sense of "less than two".

My apologies for any lack of clarity.

 

[Gertrudes]

Is this contraction used in the similar sense as what an unlimited consciousness capable of direct cognition of reality would feel when he is limited within the bounds of 3D existence? If so, this is most likely logically true.

The way I originally interpreted it was not only unlimited consciousness being limited by 3D existence, although this would surely be part of the equation, but also the contraction as expressing the STS state of our specific earthly 3D existence.

But then what comes after that? In my experience, the next step is an effort to lose this individual self, critical thought and merge into the infinite consciousness leading to a dissolution of the self. Does not mean that everyone will think this way but this is the way of thinking I have encountered from people following this path.

I think that one of the issues with spiritual experiences and/or a possible growing is that we know that we need to let go of something, our ego, our inner predator, our programs and so on. The problem is, when does this letting go become letting go into nothingness, into pure dissolution of our being? I don't know myself, and it is a subject that confuses me.

I thought about the author's story yesterday as I felt a bit divided about what to think of it. Here are a few thoughts I came to, would appreciate any feedback in case anyone thinks I am off or simply missed the point, as I'm trying to understand how to distinguish some things:

I saw the author's story as one of a man that due to sudden physical constraints, as well as other problems, found a way to put his mind to practice by learning how to let go of what we could assume to be his ego, with all that the ego entails. Once the "letting go button" is turned on, he basically maintains this same dynamic, willing to see where this would take him. But here would lie the trap, he doesn't know when letting go of his ego or false personality becomes letting go of his being. He becomes passive in the process, or perhaps he was passive from the very beginning. If I'm seeing this correctly, I think there is a thin line here distinguishing a sense of "relaxing" that part of us that is false and is always ready to jump and react, this "relaxing" of that part would allow us to get deeper into the core, or becoming as passive as a leaf in the wind, being used by any and every force that wishes to use us and lead us into any direction is pleases.
Is this something plausible?

 

[Buddy]

Is this contraction used in the similar sense as what an unlimited consciousness capable of direct cognition of reality would feel when he is limited within the bounds of 3D existence? If so, this is most likely logically true.

The way I originally interpreted it was not only unlimited consciousness being limited by 3D existence, although this would surely be part of the equation, but also the contraction as expressing the STS state of our specific earthly 3D existence.

That's my understanding too. And there's those 'in the moment contractions' that are done during daily life, from flinching, to avoiding looking, to trying to distance one's self from a source of pain, etc.

To self-observe during these times in a 'mindful' way, one would simply 'un-contract' one's self and allow whatever is there to be there in whatever way it is being there. To experience it as it is without adding to it or subtracting from it. To allow consciousness to think through it or see through it, etc.

Of course, this is just a first step that does not address what one can or should do in a situation if it is a source of harm - it's just the proper awareness approach - the fearless "allowing self to be fully conscious of it" stance, OSIT.

If I'm seeing this correctly, I think there is a thin line here distinguishing a sense of "relaxing" that part of us that is false and is always ready to jump and react, this "relaxing" of that part would allow us to get deeper into the core, or becoming as passive as a leaf in the wind, being used by any and every force that wishes to use us and lead us into any direction is pleases.
Is this something plausible?

Hard for me to say yes or no to that the way it's worded. My own experience has shown me that the only thing that I can "un-contract" and "relax into" is a particular or specific instance of what I described above - certainly not the 'entire' false personality, or false ego in one go. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy? :)

 

[obyvatel]

I think that one of the issues with spiritual experiences and/or a possible growing is that we know that we need to let go of something, our ego, our inner predator, our programs and so on. The problem is, when does this letting go become letting go into nothingness, into pure dissolution of our being? I don't know myself, and it is a subject that confuses me.
.................
If I'm seeing this correctly, I think there is a thin line here distinguishing a sense of "relaxing" that part of us that is false and is always ready to jump and react, this "relaxing" of that part would allow us to get deeper into the core, or becoming as passive as a leaf in the wind, being used by any and every force that wishes to use us and lead us into any direction is pleases.

Per my understanding, to wake up involves a grim struggle where one needs to be active and alert all the time. The inner predator is what is ruling us and is the king who needs to be dethroned. Perhaps using the words "letting go" or "relaxing" is appropriate for some in this context - but I do not see that approach as being helpful to myself. One of the main reasons behind this is that where I come from , I see that the effect of this "letting go" approach has been detrimental to those who buy into it. It can give rise to a state of inner passivity and if it does, it is definitely not conducive to waking up.
Dabrowski's positive disintegration theory is the only reliable framework that I am familiar with against which I try to study these stories of awakening and enlightenment. Laura's awakening followed very similar patterns as Dabrowski described. There are several Dabrowski discussions on this forum - including a summary of his book "Multilevelness of Emotional and Instinctive Functions" here . When someone sincerely tries to "grow up" psychologically and spiritually (to me the two are very closely inter-related) , he/she has to undergo a period of disintegration. This is referred to as "bankruptcy" in 4th Way terminology. This bankruptcy process needs to be primarily concentrated on the thoughts and emotions. It involves tremendous disgust, angst and shame at one's own self. Needless to say, it is very uncomfortable - and I can say that the very preliminary parts of the process that I have undergone myself have been pure torment. When the predator is really seen (and this seeing is different from intellectually understanding predatory behavior of the self) the emotional pain can be unbearable to the point one wants to just curl up in a fetal position and die rather than face it again. And here, at this point (my experience has not been a single defining moment but ongoing episodes of this seeing the predator) there is a choice. One could decide to shut down the emotions and not look at this again since it is so painful. Or one could decide to somehow plod on despite the blinding pain. If the disintegration process is quite extensive to begin with such that even if the person does not want to see the predator again, he still cannot go back to his old way of life - then one of the possible results of the first choice could be the person who sees Oneness in everything and become passive emotionally. There are neurochemical changes possibly - which leads to this feeling of bliss. When reality intrudes, the bliss is lost and it is attributed to the ego asserting itself. Then it is back to bliss again. The person has been addicted to a spiritual drug - or so it looks to me.
Also what is interesting is that the words used to describe this state of bliss, the experience of this unified consciousness and the demeanor of the people who have attained this state of so-called "enlightenment" are so close to being identical that it is uncanny. Most have this permanent smile on their faces (many try to fake it to ape the teacher), speak the same language and do their best to look unaffected by everything that goes on around them. Illion in "Darkness Over Tibet" describes a vision of such an army of spiritual dummies, exactly identical to each other, who were trying to snatch his soul while he was being protected by some young boys in white who had distinct individualities.

Regarding Hutchison's account, it seems he led a life dominated by the moving center - courting danger, experimenting with various mechanical techniques to get a spiritual experience (psychedelic drugs, sensory deprivation chambers, brain wave manipulation etc) and then his life fell apart through a series of unfortunate accidents which destroyed his body. Most likely this could have been a stage of bankruptcy for him. He laments his loss of physical functions and his old life. But as uncomfortable emotions started to surface, he disconnected from his grim reality and went deep into meditation (of the sensory deprivation type) and came out on the other side seeing oneness and feeling bliss- a state where there is no choice for him to make. I could not find any of the components of multilevel emotional disintegration process in his account.

 

[Gertrudes]

When reality intrudes, the bliss is lost and it is attributed to the ego asserting itself. Then it is back to bliss again. The person has been addicted to a spiritual drug - or so it looks to me.
(...)
But as uncomfortable emotions started to surface, he disconnected from his grim reality and went deep into meditation (of the sensory deprivation type) and came out on the other side seeing oneness and feeling bliss- a state where there is no choice for him to make.
(...)
One could decide to shut down the emotions and not look at this again since it is so painful. Or one could decide to somehow plod on despite the blinding pain. If the disintegration process is quite extensive to begin with such that even if the person does not want to see the predator again, he still cannot go back to his old way of life - then one of the possible results of the first choice could be the person who sees Oneness in everything and become passive emotionally.

I see, many thanks for the explanation Obyvatel. When I first read it, I considered the possibility that perhaps the author had just gone through that same disintegration, which eventually gave space to something else. But I understand what you are saying, I see that it is likely that he merely disconnected from his emotions in exchange for his dissolution in "spiritual" ecstasy.
A few things that I had read in the thread you created on: A study and critique of mysticism (http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=17325.0) are becoming even clearer now. For anyone reading this thread and wanting to explore further this subject of spiritual wrongdoing, having a look at the thread I've just linked could be very helpful.

Thank you for the link on Dabrowski. I will definitely read it.

I see that the effect of this "letting go" approach has been detrimental to those who buy into it. It can give rise to a state of inner passivity and if it does, it is definitely not conducive to waking up.

So from what I gather departing from a "letting go" approach would already be wrong. That makes sense, as it would lead us to the passivity state you mentioned. Perhaps what can be confused is a state of observation, similar to what Bud mentioned here:

To self-observe during these times in a 'mindful' way, one would simply 'un-contract' one's self and allow whatever is there to be there in whatever way it is being there. To experience it as it is without adding to it or subtracting from it. To allow consciousness to think through it or see through it, etc.

Of course, this is just a first step that does not address what one can or should do in a situation if it is a source of harm - it's just the proper awareness approach - the fearless "allowing self to be fully conscious of it" stance, OSIT.

where the subject is indeed more passive since it is observing, but that can also be a state that leads to future choices and actions, with a state of pure passivity.

Hard for me to say yes or no to that the way it's worded. My own experience has shown me that the only thing that I can "un-contract" and "relax into" is a particular or specific instance of what I described above - certainly not the 'entire' false personality, or false ego in one go. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy? Smiley

Sometimes I think it would ;)

 

[Joe]

This part

But what's becoming more clear is that as you go along, you go beyond bliss, and it's just Consciousness, impersonal awareness, pure Being. Bliss requires someone to experience it, but when you let go of bliss and go beyond it, there is no one there to experience it. What it is, is just emptiness. Beyond bliss, it's just infinite emptiness without beginning or end, God, the void."

gave me the impression that he was experiencing something like "sleeping consciousness" and he really resonated/gravitated to it.

If you think about it, his ethos really doesn't leave much room for the gaining of consciousness through knowledge and the application of that conscious awareness, he's basically advocating the "let it all happen" approach. It's like what he is saying or what he experienced applies to human beings who don't really have the potential to really interact with the creative forces in a conscious active way and thereby shape reality.

 

[Buddy]

...gave me the impression that he was experiencing something like "sleeping consciousness"...

Thank you. That's what I was thinking of as "fascinating, yet somehow also the reverse of where we're supposed to be going individually."

 

[Gertrudes]

If you think about it, his ethos really doesn't leave much room for the gaining of consciousness through knowledge and the application of that conscious awareness, he's basically advocating the "let it all happen" approach. It's like what he is saying or what he experienced applies to human beings who don't really have the potential to really interact with the creative forces in a conscious active way and thereby shape reality.

What you said makes perfect sense, thanks Perceval.
The words : having a "spiritual experience" for the pure sake of it, just gained a different light.