Psychomantium Mirrors - Past, Present, Future?

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I did some reading about the wall gazing meditation in Zen Buddhism, and I found one description that matches with some descriptions about what happens when using the psychomantium:

Sorry to revive such an old thread but this came as the first topic in a google search on "wall gazing", so I thought I would contribute info to this for anyone that wants to know more.

I have been practicing Buddhist meditation for 20 years. Wall gazing is my favorite practice. Wall gazing is actually an advanced meditation, and unless an individual excels in 1) achieving long periods of concentration (samadhi), and 2) observing the mind without being distracted (vipassana), then "wall gazing" may seem very boring and practitioners may soon lose interest. However, "Wall Gazing" is extremely an extremely profound practice that can enable you to see your Buddha nature instantly.

What actually happens during "Wall Gazing"? One merely uses the wall as a point of access to see the mind. To start, turn your gaze towards a wall. Although your eyes are physically on the wall, your mind is not thinking about the wall nor is it trying to analyze the wall. You focus your gaze on the wall, so that the wall can reflect your mind. It is a type of vipassana practice but it is more advanced because it can enable the Buddha nature to be revealed instantaneously.

Stare at the wall and observe your mind. Just as the wall is a blank canvas (much like watching a tv screen), allow your mind to reveal itself. When your mind reveals itself, continue focusing your gaze on the wall without actually paying attention to the mind. In this case, the mind itself is the object. There is no need to visualize anything. Learn to be still with the mind without falling into it's trap.

To use an analogy, it is like you're sitting on a rocking boat in the ocean. The waves cause the boat to rock back and forth. The waves symbolize the mind. The wall acts like an anchor for the boat to stabilize the mind. By focusing your gaze on the wall, you are learning not to be affected by the mind. The key steps are 1) keep your gaze on the wall, 2) let the mind reveal itself, and 3) stare at the wall without tuning into the mind. It's like seeing the images on a tv without paying attention to them. If you stare long enough, the mind turns into emptiness. It is like a bubble that is popped. When the bubble pops, it reveals the Buddha nature. The Buddha nature is not a thing or an object. It is merely the emptiness of the mind.

However, the mind will continue to play tricks or manifest delusions, so it is important to continue practicing this everyday until all delusions are emptied.

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Now, this "Buddha nature" sounds like a psychic body, mentioned by the C's:

A: Psychomantium utilizes one's own psychic body

Session 31 October 1998​

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The only difference is that in the psychomantium you gaze into the mirror and not the wall. But why the necessity for mirror?

I also found an article that confirms that Zen meditation practitioners can have alpha brainwaves even with their eyes opened: https://is.muni.cz/www/machinace/EEG_and_Zazen.pdf
 
Q: (A) I was thinking that for me it will not work at all unless I can write something down, because otherwise, it is not recorded... (L) I think that is a good idea to take a pad and pen and write whatever comes to you...

A: Yes.

Q: (L) You don't have to see what you are writing...

A: Writing has always worked for Ark.

Q: (A) Well, if it is true that writing has always worked for me, is it also true that this psychomantium environment will help?

A: Yes.

Session 31 October 1998​

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This woman talks a little about writing with the help of the mirror:


Now, I was thinking about the shape of the mirror, oval or rectangular, and I came to the conclusion that perhaps oval would be better because the human brain reacts more positively to oval shapes. It's not a big difference, but there is a difference:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

VISUAL ELEMENTS OF SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE MODULATE AMYGDALA ACTIVATION

What are the basic visual cues that determine our preference towards mundane everyday objects? We previously showed that a highly potent cue is the nature of the object’s contour: people generally like objects with a curved contour compared with ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

An fMRI study of visual geometric shapes processing

Cross-modal correspondence has been consistently evidenced between shapes and other sensory attributes. Especially, the curvature of shapes may arouse the affective account, which may contribute to understanding the mechanism of cross-modal integration. ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Here is another woman that talks about water scrying, and at one point she says that she found out that the flickering of the candle was important for creating the visual impressions in her mind. Unfortunately, she doesn't know what we now know about the connection of candle flicker with the alpha brainwaves and the visual system of our brain. She just discovered this by experimentation.

 
The woman from the previous video said that body scan meditation helps her to do water scrying. This is one version of body scan meditation:


And speaking about alpha waves, here is another study that shows that flicker with sine waveforms is better for brain entrainment than flicker with rectangular waveforms. You can find the previous article about those two types of waveforms in this post.

Two experiments to be described demonstrate that SML stimulation reduces variability in the EEG alpha frequency compared to the spontaneous condition without appreciable change in the spontaneous waveform. Photic flash stimulation markedly changes the EEG waveform but does not stabilize the alpha frequency.

Two experiments demonstrate that a spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythm, alpha, can be frequency-stabilized by sinusoidally modulated light (SML) but not by photic flash stimulation. It is suggested that this frequency stabilizing effect is not due to superimposition of an evoked response on the background EEG. Instead, SML might phase-lock the scalp-recorded alpha rhythm by influencing subcortical alpha generators within narrow limits set by the inherent resonant EEG frequency.

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What this also means, perhaps, is that you cannot create alpha frequency in the brain with sinusoidally modulated light. You can only increase the one that you already have. So you have to meditate first, to create alpha, and then use the flickering light to stabilize alpha. Of course, you also have to pay attention to your uniform visual field, because that also plays a big role in having alpha frequency when your eyes are open.
 
Here they studied an experienced Yogi during his meditation. They noticed that his alpha waves increased during the meditation, but that he also used an abdominal breathing during the meditation. So they think that abdominal breathing is important for the appearance of alpha waves. Unfortunately, they didn't test him during the meditation without abdominal breathing.


And here they tested people with abdominal breathing in eyes-closed and eyes-opened condition. With eyes-closed, the low alpha was at the beginning very high, but over time it was continually dropping. But with the eyes-opened, the low alpha was continually increasing. Unfortunately, they didn't test another condition, with eyes-opened but in darkness. In such case, would the low alpha be high at the beginning and also continue to increase?

 
A few more bits of info about alpha waves. First, I found a proof that abdominal breathing increases the alpha waves:

link.springer.com

Abdominal-thoracic respiratory movements and levels of arousal - Psychonomic Science

Respiratory movements of the abdomen and chest of human Ss were found to undergo progressive changes with loss of wakefulness. Abdominal-dominant breathing was associated with relaxed wakefulness, abdominal-thoracic equality with drowsiness, and thoracic-dominant breathing with sleep onset...
link.springer.com link.springer.com

Second, I found this explanation about what would looking up do in a brain:

A common observation when people try to recall a visual scene from memory is that they move their eyes upwards or even close them. This behavior may be interpreted as an attempt to reduce interference from the outside world, thereby facilitating the retrieval from memory.

www.frontiersin.org

Lateralized connectivity in the alpha band between parietal and occipital sources when spatial attention is externally and internally directed

IntroductionExternal spatial attention refers to the selection of currently present information at a specific external location, whereas internal spatial attention refers to the selection of stored information in short-term memory initially presented at a specific location...
www.frontiersin.org www.frontiersin.org
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Also, from the same article, with the link to the article that studied the difference between low alpha (Alpha 1) and high alpha (Alpha 2) that I mentioned in the previous post. This means that mind wandering is more prominent in the eyes-closed condition.

Alpha 1 was argued to be related to the effective inhibition of distractors, while Alpha 2 was suggested to be more related to overall lapses of attention or mind wandering.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Visual working memory recruits two functionally distinct alpha rhythms in posterior cortex - PubMed

Oscillatory activity in the human brain is dominated by posterior alpha oscillations (8-14 Hz), which have been shown to be functionally relevant in a wide variety of cognitive tasks. Although posterior alpha oscillations are commonly considered a single oscillator anchored at an individual...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
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And lastly, this confirms the advice of the C's that we should have no anticipation when looking in the mirror. Because the anticipation to see stops the alpha waves. And we need alpha waves in order to "see".

Indeed, even the expectation of seeing a stimulus in a completely dark room was sufficient to quiet the alpha waves. These waves can be stopped by trying to see in a dark room.

link.springer.com

Alpha suppression indexes a spotlight of visual-spatial attention that can shine on both perceptual and memory representations - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review

Although researchers have been recording the human electroencephalogram (EEG) for almost a century, we still do not completely understand what cognitive processes are measured by the activity of different frequency bands. The 8- to 12-Hz activity in the alpha band has long been a focus of this...
link.springer.com link.springer.com
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I must apologize because I misunderstood the C's. They didn't say to look up, they said to look ahead.

A: We suggest you direct your gaze ahead and a little to the left!
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And ahead means "further forward in space". So it's about how far you put your gaze upon. And I found a study that talks exactly about that:

Various studies have implicated the oculomotor system as possibly being involved in the biofeedback control of alpha activity with the eyes closed. This study investigated the effect of degree of eye convergence (and accompanying changes in accommodation) on alpha activity level both with the eyes open and closed. The effectiveness of eye convergence as a means of voluntarily controlling alpha activity level with the aid of EEG- or EOG-modulated auditory feedback also was investigated. Degree of eye convergence was found to be inversely related to alpha level both with the eyes open and closed. The two variables also were found to covary when subjects attempted, with the aid of biofeedback, to generate high or low levels of alpha activity with their eyes closed. The activation of visual cortex as manifested through changes in alpha activity appears to be increased when the eyes assume a position for viewing near objects, even when they are closed.

(...)

The above results provide evidence that degree of eye convergence is linked to alpha activity level, convergence being associated with relatively low levels of alpha activity and divergence with relatively high levels.

With regard to voluntary alpha control when the eyes are closed, the above findings indicate that one effective strategy, if not a frequently used one, would be simply to vary degree of eye convergence.

While variations in vertical eye position have been shown to affect alpha activity (Mulholland & Evans, 1965, 1966), our data along with the earlier findings of Chapman et al. (1970), provide further indirect support for Dewan's (1967) view that the enhancing and suppressing effects may not be due to the elevation and lowering of the eyes per se but rather to variations in degree of eye convergence correlated with such vertical displacement.

Since there is no kinesthetic feedback to the eye muscles (Brindley & Merton, 1960), it is entirely possible that some individuals highly skilled at controlling their alpha activity levels utilize strategies which induce changes in eye vergence and accommodation without realizing it.

link.springer.com

Relationship between voluntary control of alpha activity level through auditory feedback and degree of eye convergence - Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society

Various studies have implicated the oculomotor system as possibly being involved in the biofeedback control of alpha activity with the eyes closed. This study investigated the effect of degree of eye convergence (and accompanying changes in accommodation) on alpha activity level both with the...
link.springer.com link.springer.com
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This means that we can control our brainwaves with our eyes. And that we can create alpha waves either by looking at objects which are far from us, or by simply having an unfocused gaze. And this has an effect on our brainwaves even if our eyes are closed. Which means that when you are meditating with your eyes closed, you need to pay attention to what you are doing with your eyes, because you can stop your alpha waves if you focus your eyes in the same way as you would be doing when viewing a near object in front of you. So when meditating, you need to pay attention to both your breathing and your eyes.

Another characteristic of high alpha is low eye movements. So pay attention of how much your eyes are moving. The less they are moving, the more alpha you will produce.
 
Persej said:
I must apologize because I misunderstood the C's. They didn't say to look up, they said to look ahead.



And ahead means "further forward in space". So it's about how far you put your gaze upon. And I found a study that talks exactly about that:



This means that we can control our brainwaves with our eyes. And that we can create alpha waves either by looking at objects which are far from us, or by simply having an unfocused gaze. And this has an effect on our brainwaves even if our eyes are closed. Which means that when you are meditating with your eyes closed, you need to pay attention to what you are doing with your eyes, because you can stop your alpha waves if you focus your eyes in the same way as you would be doing when viewing a near object in front of you. So when meditating, you need to pay attention to both your breathing and your eyes.

Another characteristic of high alpha is low eye movements. So pay attention of how much your eyes are moving. The less they are moving, the more alpha you will produce.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I've done that since I was a child.

I look with an unfocused gaze and I let my mind go, I let it wander aimlessly.

I have never thought that he was meditating, however now I see that I have been doing it all my life.

And some response or other comes to me with this system.
 
Wandering Star said:
For what it's worth, I've done that since I was a child.

I look with an unfocused gaze and I let my mind go, I let it wander aimlessly.

I have never thought that he was meditating, however now I see that I have been doing it all my life.

And some response or other comes to me with this system.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you are meditating and channeling something. People say that if they want to see something in their mind, they use a crystal ball. If they want to see something outside their mind, they use a mirror. In both cases, reaching this alpha state of mind seems to be the crucial part of the process. In my country, people, usually women, practice a divination in a coffee cup. They are probably using the same state of mind.
 
I experimented today with a mirror, during a daylight, paying attention to how my eyes feel when I look in a mirror. And it felt like my eyes were more divergent when I looked in a mirror than when I looked at a real objects.

I couldn't find anyone testing the brainwaves when looking in a mirror, but I found this article that talks about something called "plastic effect" which says that objects in the mirror look more distant than real objects. Interestingly, it takes about 4 minutes for this effect to manifest fully, so it's not just some simple optical illusion, because it requires some kind of brain adaptation.


And there is this article that says that reaction times are slower in the mirrored space condition than in the real space condition. And we know that alpha waves suppress the vision center, so it's possible that mirrors stimulate the alpha brainwaves.

 
I tried meditating last night with my attention to belly breathing and eye focus. I felt a little energy during meditation but nothing special. But this morning I had a very unusual dream. In the dream, I was trying to call somebody using a phone, but every time I would pick up a phone I would hear a female voice on the other side, blocking me from calling anybody. I was trying to dial a number even with her constantly talking, hoping that I can override her, but without any success. I felt like my phone was hacked.

I think that the method that I applied during the meditation really works, but that it won't be enough for me to get a connection to my higher self or whatever. I think that more is needed.
 
Jones said:
Was curious what a 10hz flicker would look like. Found two different samples and they are different to each other so it doesn't really give an exact answer.
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First video has 10 frames per second, second video has 30 frames per second. First video is probably downgraded from 30, so my guess is that first video actually has 3 times lower flicker, which would be about 3.3 Hz flicker. So the second video probably has 10 Hz. Although I don't have high speed camera, so I cannot confirm.

That is rectangular waveform flicker, which is much more unpleasant than sine waveform flicker, like the one that natural flames would be producing. I would not use such flicker for brain entrainment, certainly not with low frequencies such as 10 Hz.

Wandering Star said:
Wow two more damaging videos, at least for me.

They cause me incredible discomfort.

Two seconds and I turned them off.
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Yes, rectangular waveform flicker with 50% duty cycle, 100% light intensity during the ON cycle, and 0% light intensity during the OFF cycle, on low flicker frequencies, is very unpleasant. I would not use such flicker for brain entrainment.

Candlelight flicker is much more pleasant than that because it has very different characteristics than that kind of flicker. Plus it should be indirect light, not directly in your eyes.

In the early experiments, scientist were using incandescent light, which behaves similar to candlelight when it comes to the flicker because it's much slower when turning on and off, compared to the LED light. Which doesn't mean that you couldn't make appropriate LED light with sine flicker, if you had the right tools and knowledge. Also, 80 Hz seems to have the same effect as 10 Hz, so that's another option.
 
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