The Science of Out-of-Body Consciousness

           Presently, the scientific community is in the early stages of recognizing this phenomenon. METAtonin induced OBC events have been experienced by many of us in different degrees of intensity, and they have undoubtedly contributed to the inspiration of countless artists, researchers and writers of the past. Also, one must also question the validity of OBExperiences; does the brain fabricate the sensation of being out of the body by simply accessing past recollections? Or, indeed, is the OBE subject actually observing present real-time reality?  Perhaps there are several types of OBConsciousness, some being veridical (verifiably real) and some being hallucinatory. Anthony Peake in his recent book, The Out of Body Experience (http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Out_Of_Body_Experience.html?id=usiDeJKfzFUC) takes a very serious look at the validity of OBExperiences and comes to the conclusion that OBConsciousness is actually not out of the body but most likely take place within the realm of the brain itself or in a holographic personal parallel reality which he describes as an "intrasomatic" experience (experienced from within). He furthermore suggests that the body, particularly every cell in the body, is a repository for information that OBConsciousness can access. His theory is that individual cells intercommuicate to create a holographic cloud of information and that within this cloud can be found micro Einstein-Rosen wormholes that allow OBConsciousness to access distant parts of the universe and parallel realities.
          Furthermore, this cloud can also resonate with the planetary morphogenetic field as described by Rupert Sheldrake in his book, A New Science of Life. Additional research on this “field of life” that permeates the universe can be found in the studies of Dr. Ignacio Pachecco at: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread600818/pg1 and in the work of Robert Lanza in his book Biocentrism.

        This speculation may seem a bit over the top, but recent discoveries at the Russian Academy of Sciences may actually verify the above and furthermore expand our comprehension of how DNA shapes our reality in more ways than just providing a genetic code. It all has to do with what our scientists call "junk" DNA; that 95% of DNA that seems to be useless repetitive information, The Russians under the leadership of biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjtor Garjajev have  pursued a much more wholistic approach and have come up with some surprising results: 
(http://www.scribd.cometwww.rexresearch.com/gajarev/gajarev.htm).

         The human genome project was a massive undertaking, it was essentially an examination and tabulation of molecular makeup of the human gene, no small feat in itself. However, it was basically a biological identification process and a very important first step. Dr. Garjajev, on the hand, assembled a team of biologists, physicists and linguistic experts and pursued a more "wide angle" approach to understanding DNA from a biophotonic (coherent light intercommunication) and linguistic perspective. Garjajev's linguistic experts detected the basic elements of a language structure in the sequences of "junk" DNA that mirrors and may prove to be the origin of basic human speech patterns (which was theorized by Noam Chomsky as early as the late 1950s). In a reverse manner, it was discovered and verified, human speech, under certain conditions, can actually modify the sequence pattern of DNA! Furthemore, DNA is actually a crystalline structure capable of supporting and producing coherent light (discovered by Dr. Alfred Fritz-Popp) which in turn provides a mode of synchronous communication for all the cells of the body as suggested by Dr.  Jeremy Narby. The collective crystalline structure of the body can also resonate and respond to the larger human morphogenetic field of evolving  collective human consciousness.  In addition, coherent light stimulated DNA creates a magnetic disturbance in the space it occupies. If the DNA is removed, the magnetic disturbance field remains in the vacuum space that the DNA molecule once occupied! This is known as the "DNA phantom effect". It is possible that this lingering magnetic field is actually a micro magnetic wormhole, indicating the the vibratory energy of DNA may also intermingle with small amounts of "dark energy" and provide a segue to parallel realities. Adherents of Out-of-Body Consciousness claim that the METAtonin-activated neural consciousness circuit is able to access parallel realities via the biophotonic cloud of information created by the cumulative presence and intercommunication of the 70 trillion DNA molecules in our body. Visit: http:// www.emergentmind.org/gariaev06.htm ,
 http://www.fractal.org/Life-Science-Technology/Peter-Gariaev.htm
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/47283165/DNA-Decipher-Journal-Inaugural-Issue-Is-Published,  and http://www.scribd.com/doc/31618631/DNA-Monthly-Vol-5-No-7

        Another theory of consciousness and consciousness travel based on intracellular biophotonic coherent light transmission has been developed by American anesthesiologist Professor Stuart Hammerhoff and British theoretical physicist Professor Roger Penrose. Known as the Orch OR theory, it is based on the microscopic tubular structures that support communication within the cellular structure. Microtubules are made from tubulin molecules that arrange themselves into a helical tube with 13 molecules in the circumference. These microscopic tubes can be of varying length, up to a meter long in some instances. Microtubules define and create the structure of the cytoplasm of cells; they are crystalline molecule and can support coherent light pulses as small a single light proton. It has also been detected that in this microscopic environment that light as a wave form has been quantum reduced to a become a particle – which is exactly what happens in the macro world when light as a wave form is “observed” (by a conscious being)  and thus reduced to a particle form. When microtubules perform quantum reduction in a collective or orchestrated manner, a state of quantum coherence is established, this, they conclude is the fundamental building block of consciousness and may constitute the field from which OBConsciousness is launched. The main reason why these scientists focused on microtubules is because interference with microtubule function can reduce a human into a sleeping unconscious state and is the basis for many anesthetic procedures. Visit: http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/. A 2014 review and update of this controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness was recently published in Physics of Life Reviews. It claims that consciousness derives from  a deeper level, a finer scale of  activities within the brain neurons (and perhaps the astrocytes). Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-01-discovery-quantum-vibrations-microtubules-corroborates.html#jCp. Further investigations are discussed by Anthony Peake in his sixth and latest book, The Infinite Mindfield,  http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Mindfield-Gateway-Higher-Consciousness/dp/178028571X/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365591111&sr=1-7&keywords=Anthony+Peak which includes discoveries regarding entheogens, neurobiophotonic networks and the Zero Point Field.

        Both of the above discussions touch on the subject of intracellular communication via coherent light. Recently Project ENCODE http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/09/junk_no_more_en_1064001.html has determined that" junk" DNA actually contains the genome's hidden control circuitry. DNA is capable of performing thousands of different tasks, yet in the matrix of the body the DNA in each specific cell performs a discrete task. What informs the DNA as to it's specific function? How do the the 70 trillion DNA molecules communicate with each other? It seems that biophotonic light is the medium and if that is so, how is it transferred throughout the body? The answer to that question may be the  Bonghan duct network, a threadlike tissue  that permeates the body, envelopes every organ and even enters the lymphatic and blood vessels. These ducts can transfer DNA granules and may conduct coherent light signals. The distribution  of these ducts seems to mirror the classic acupuncture meridians. See:  http://howthebodyreallyworks.com/?p=167 and: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15898080.

            Terrance and Dennis McKenna in The Invisible Landscape published in 1975 postulate that the pineal secreted tryptamine/harmine presence in the consciousness circuit of the brain generates an electron spin resonance that creates a holographic standing wave field that draws its information from DNA neural/genetic code and extends its range via a superconducting phenomenon to the quantum level that also resonates with human thought perception and memory retention. The McKenna brothers also surmise that memory itself is a holographic phenomenon, a conclusion that recent brain research has since verified. 

         In chapters 11 through 14 in his book Consciousness Beyond Life, cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel makes a thorough study of quantum physics; endless, timeless, nonlocal all-pervasive consciousness and the human brain which  he sees as a transceiver that resonates with a discrete portion of the full spectrum of consciousness available.  Universal consciousness functions much like the internet “cloud” of information that now permeates our biosphere; an individual human brain is much like a personal computer that accesses certain limited fields within the cloud and stores personal memories that are used to  define one’s individuality.  He makes the point that when experiencing OBC or Near Death Consciousness, one  is not actually transcending personal consciousness; that is because we are completely immersed in endless universal consciousness all  the time, we just can’t sense it. However the blinders can be dissolved when the brain is retuned to a  broader spectrum.  Dr. van Lommel suspects that junk DNA in conjunction with endogenous DMT secreted by the pineal gland may be one of the agents that can configure this retuning of the brain. 

 
         According to "quantum activist" Dr. Amit Goswami, a recalled OBE or NDE only becomes real when one returns to physical body consciousness after the event; at that moment of waking the potential for the memory of the event "collapses" into a real memory. The actual "seeing" of the event is a non-local quantum phenomenon and the seeing is witnessed by all personal consciousness present at the time; being non-local, it is all pervasive and unfocused, but it is a potential - to be actualized when the experiencer returns to self consciousness. He explains this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZgMYYSr5Lo . This may seem somewhat confusing for those of us who have experienced OBConsciousness: the experience feels very real and in the now when it is happening, at least that is how seemed during the experience.  Dreams are remembered, Out-of-Body Consciousness is unmistakably experienced.

           Another reason why there is so much interest in quantum phenomena is because memory is a basic factor of self consciousness, and the brain with its 100 trillion synapses plus the additional storage potential of glial cells does not even come close to containing enough storage capacity to hold the memories of an entire lifetime. According to Prof. Simon Berkovich of George Washington University (http://www.nderf.org/NDERF/Research/Berkovich.htm), the storage capacity of our brain would have to be 100,000 times denser than it is presently measured to be. In other words our brain would have to be that much larger (100 thousand times larger) to store all the sensory, emotional and mental history of a lifetime. So where is it stored?  The answer may lie in a quantum connection to parallel holographic reality or to what is classically known as the akashik record, and this may be the same venue that is exercised by our consciousness when stimulated by METAtonin.  For a thorough introduction into the latest quantum possibilities and theories visit: http://www.near-death.com/experien ces/research08.html

 

The pineal gland at the seat of consciousness

A good understanding of the pineal gland’s placement in the brain will reveal its central location at the crossroads of consciousness. The drawing below is a view of the pineal gland from the side (from Gray’s Anatomy plate 715):

The pineal gland can be seen resting on top of the midbrain tucked in the fold between the two lobes at the rear of the thalamus. The thalamus and the pineal gland are surrounded by cerebral spinal fluid. The next view is the pineal gland as seen looking upwards from below (from Gray’s Anatomy plate 716):

The pineal gland is the round circle in the center nesting between the two lobes of the thalamus. All the cavities in this area of the brain are filled with cerebral spinal fluid and are known collectively as the third ventricle. 

       In his previously mentioned book Dr. Pim Van Lommel states that several areas of the brain must be functioning in order for waking consciousness to occur: the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes of the cortex, the hippocampus, the brain stem and the thalamus. The thalamus which consists of two brazil nut-sized lobes is of essential importance because it is the messenger hub of the brain. All incoming stimuli from the body, the eyes and the ears are processed and distributed to the cortex while, simultaneously, all messages sent from the cortex destined to be distributed throughout the body are also being processed. The thalamus is the command center of the brain. It is also known to regulate the level of awareness, and is suspected to be the seat of consciousness working in conjunction with the cortex. If the thalamus is compromised to any degree, the patient becomes comatose and if the thalamus remains inoperable, the patient will never return to a wakened state. The Science News 2013 special article on consciousness details conditions in the brain that result in the disruption of consciousness, quote:  “Not only is the thalamus itself compromised, but also its connections — white-matter tracts that carry nerve signals — which seem to be dysfunctional in people who aren’t fully conscious, researchers reported last year in NeuroImage. “I can’t help but think there’s something fundamental about the functional circuitry,” says neuroscientist David Edelman of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. “There’s a fundamental loop between … the thalamus and the cortex. If those connections are cut or if you’ve damaged them, that individual will not be aware by any measure, forever.” It is quite possible that consciousness resides in this loop between the cortex and the thalamus and may somehow resonate with NPR (non-measurable physical reality, aka dark matter/energy) via DNA (Van Lommel, Narby, Garjajev) or microtubular (Hammerhoff & Penrose) resonance. Recent research also points to the claustrum nerve complex in the brain to be the "orchestra conductor" of consciousness - a theory proposed by Francis Crick shortly before his death.

Van Lommel's Paradox

         By comparing the descriptions and statistics of several hundred near death experiences in Dr. Pim Van Lommel’s book with the reports from subjects in Dr. Rick Strassman’s book and other sources, it becomes quite evident that the entheogen responsible for the Near Death Experience is DMT. Research has also begun to verify that the pineal gland is the most likely source of endogenous DMT or METAtonin, in the brain, and, not surprisingly, the pineal gland neighbors the thalamus which is most likely the orchestrator of consciousness. Now that we’ve isolated the principal players it is time to investigate the method of hormone delivery. The pineal gland secretes both melatonin and METAtonin, both modify the state of consciousness and the two most likely mediums for delivery of these hormones to the thalamus are blood flow and the cerebral spinal fluid. It is quite possible that the melatonin is transferred by blood flow. The pineal gland exhibits profuse blood flow characteristics; these two organs neighbor each other and the melatonin transfer occurs at a gradual pace, furthermore, there is no melatonin scavenger in the blood as there is in the case of METAtonin (monoamine oxidase -MOXI).  The blood may be an excellent carrier for melatonin,  but for certain reasons, the blood may not be the most likely candidate for delivering METAtonin to the thalamus.

       When it comes to near death out-of-body consciousness, the situation is different. Dr. Van Lommel noted that all of the surgery patients who experienced vivid and accurate near-death experiences reported these incidents beginning at a point in time during surgery when the patient was undergoing a cardiac arrest.  That is, the out-of-body events were experienced when blood flow in the brain had ceased. When an NDE occurs at this time, the only possible medium of exchange between the pineal gland (the source of endogenous DMT) and the thalamus, the seat of consciousness, could only be the cerebral spinal fluid. These two glands are adjacent and possibly touch each other; the endogenous DMT must permeate from one gland to the other almost instantaneously, for there is a narrow window of time. According to Van Lommel, the brain doesn’t react to the interruption of blood flow until the first 6.5 seconds has elapsed and most cardiac arrest patients are usually resuscitated within 20 to 37 seconds of the initial arrest . If the patients are revived within 37 seconds, the EEG returns to normal although the patient remains unconscious. If there is an NDE incident, it is reported much later upon waking and verified with the surgery room record.  In most cases it has been verified that the NDE initially occurs when the brain is flat-lined and blood flow is non-existent. Thus we have Van Lommel’s paradox: how can the brain be considered the vehicle for out-of-body consciousness during an NDE when the brain appears to be completely shut down during the incident? Is the memory of the incident witnessed then stored somewhere else and then downloaded into the brain when functionality returns as Goswami suggests or is METAtonin delivered to the thalamus via the third ventricle all the way to the Foramen of Monro thus immediately saturating the thalamus and modifying the state of consciousness in preparation for transition? Though the brain may be flatlined the pineal and thalamus glands may be designed to function for an extended period after blood flow ceases and it is during this period that the Out of Body Consciousness is initiated.

         It will take many years of research before any of these questions can be answered, but the first step has been achieved with the Cottonwood Research Foundation May 23, 2013 announcement of  the verification of METAtonin production in pineal gland of laboratory rodents. When will it be possible to verify that the human pineal gland also secretes endogenous DMT? Is it delivered to the surrounding area via the cerebral spinal fluid or the blood? How does METAtonin modify the activity of the thalamus to create out-of-body consciousness? Finally, what is the bio-physical nature of consciousness, how is it embedded in the circuitry of the brain and does consciousness span both baryonic (physical space/time) and non-baryonic realities?  

 “Junk” DNA  and “junk” Neurons, the Glial network.

          Just as indecipherable DNA sequences that constituted 95% of the DNA molecule were relegated to the status of “junk” DNA by early researchers, so, too, there are “junk “ neural cells, known as glial cells (in Greek: glue cells) that constitute 90% of the brain cellular structure. This neural conglomerate has been been considered to be an insignificant structure by the neurological community since brain cellular makeup was first researched in the 1890's. 

        Just 30 years ago, most brain scientists believed that only neurons intercommunicated and were solely responsible for our thought patterns, and that glial cells were a passive network of connective tissue that anchored and insulated neurons.  There are several types of glial cells, but recently scientists have begun to focus on a the most complex type of glial cell called the "astrocyte".  These cells are abundant in the cortex, more abundant than neurons themselves.
 
        As one ascends the evolutionary ladder, astrocytes in the cortex increase in size and number, with humans having the greatest number astrocytes and also the most complex (dolphin astrocytes may not have been investigated yet).  Scientists have also discovered that astrocytes communicate with each other and with neurons in the cortex and are  capable of sending information through both networks, neural and glial. Finally, astrocytes are also the adult stem cell in the brain and control blood flow to regions of brain activity. Because of all these important properties, and since the cortex is believed responsible for higher thought, scientists have started to realize that astrocytes must contribute to the thought process and perhaps even consciousness.  
                                                                                              Astrocytes

                                                                                   A -human          B - mouse
           Early researchers  were so focused on neurons that they concluded that glial cells were worthless, in fact, glial experiments didn't begin until the 1960s. Dr. Stephen W. Kuffler at Harvard discovered that frog and the leech that astrocytes were influenced by neuronal ion exchange, a process long held to be the chemical counterpart to thought. Since then many researchers have completed experiments on the communicatory ability of glial cells with neurons. In the late 80s and early 90s it was discovered glial cells respond to and release neurotransmitters, though their chemical means of communication differs from neurons. 

          Astrocytes have hundreds of 'endfeet' spreading out from their body. They look like mini octopi, and they link these endfeet with blood vessels, other astrocytes and neuronal synapses.  Calcium is released from internal stores in astrocytes as they are stimulated, then calcium travels through their endfeet to other astrocytes. The term 'calcium waves' describes the calcium release and exchange between astrocytes and between astrocytes and neurons. Scientists at Yale, most notably Ann H. Cornell-Bell and Steven Finkbeiner, have shown that calcium waves can spread from the point of stimulation of one astrocyte to all other astrocytes in an area hundreds of times the size of the original astrocyte. Furthermore, calcium waves can also cause neurons to fire. Furthermore, it was recently shown that a molecule that stimulates the same receptors as THC can ignite astrocyte calcium release. There are no reports yet as to how other entheogens affect the status of the glial network of if they exhibit anything similar to Sigma-1 receptors. 

         According to the recent theory, neurons are tied to our muscular action and external senses. We know astrocytes monitor neurons for this information. Similarly, they can induce neurons to fire. Therefore, astrocytes modulate neuron behavior. Neuronal activity without astrocyte processing is a simple reflex; anything more complicated such as abstract thought might require astrocyte processing. The fact that humans have the most abundant and largest astrocytes of any animal and we are capable of creativity and imagination also lends credence to this speculation.   Basically, it is obvious that astrocytes are involved in brain processing in the cortex, but the main questions are, do our thoughts and imagination stem from astrocytes working together with neurons, or are our thoughts and imagination solely the domain of astrocytes?  It may be that the role of neurons is to support astrocyte activity.  From: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-root-of-thought-what

       A study, published in Cell Stem Cell, not only introduces a new tool to study the mechanisms of the human brain, it supports the hypothesis that glial cells — and not just neurons — play an important role in learning. "Glia are in a position to regulate the flow of information through the brain," says R. Douglas Fields, PhD., a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health. "This concept is missing from all our models." In addition,  astrocytes, have evolved as humans have evolved, while neurons have exhibited very little change.  A mouse neuron and a human neuron look so much alike, even experienced neuroscientists can't tell them apart.

         There is some conjecture that the more complex human glial cells have played a role in making humans smarter.  Steve Goldman,  M.D., PhD., a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester teamed up with this wife, Maiken Nedergaard, M.D. to test this idea. They injected some human glial cells into the brains of newborn mice.  As the mice grew,  the human glial cells thrived. These cells spread through the mouse brain, integrating perfectly with mouse neurons and, in some areas, outnumbering their mouse counterparts. All the while, Goldman observed, the glial cells maintained their human characteristics.

         Next came the intelligence tests. In terms of social behavior, the humanized mice displayed no noticeable difference, however, these mice are measurably smarter. In classic maze tests, they learn faster. "They  make many fewer errors, and it takes them less time to come to the appropriate answer," Goldman says. It might take a normal mouse four or five attempts to learn the correct route in a maze, but a mouse with human glial brain cells usually learned the correct route by  the second try. It appears that Glial cells somehow enhance learning. From: http://wabe.org/post/make-mice-smarter-add-few-human-brain-cells. Just as we planted human astrocytes in mice, what will the outcome be when whale and dolphin astrocytes are planted in humans? or visa-versa?

                                                                                  neurons surrounded by glial cells

 Nonlocal astrocytic activity 

         Asok Kumar Mukhopadhyay, MD believes that there are several reasons brain research merits a change of focus. He points out that the brain is the organ with the highest information density per unit volume and mass. In the brain, information is channeled through four cellular networks; neuron-neuron, neuron-astrocyte, astrocyte-neuron and astrocyte-astrocyte network.

         Astrocytic intervention in flow of information through neuronal channels is primarily meant to prevent informational chaos which the extremely non-linear neuro-neuronal, glia-neuronal and neuron-glial channeling is prone to exhibit. Like information, the mind and often the ‘self’ behave in both local and nonlocal ways. The brain is the play-ground of such both local and nonlocal players. Local players means energy and  matter confined within defined space and time.  Nonlocal players are those which are not consistently confined to a specific space and/or adhered to a definitive time.  Therefore, with knowledge pertaining to only local players, explaining brain function with the help of local theories of science and adhering to use of local investigative tool, we are far from understanding the brain as a whole. There are preliminary data available in science on nonlocal behavior in the brain activities and we are hoping to find out how we can outreach this domain.

          Two titans, local science and nonlocal science meet within the science of the brain. This issue has not been adequately addressed so far. Like any cell, an organ which works locally and has the ability to communicate nonlocally can be responsive to evolutionary forces. Unlike kidneys and liver or lungs or spleen, the  brain with its constituents, neuron and glia belong to such group.

        How consciousness, mind and self of individual neuron and glia make a unitary experience of consciousness, mind and ‘self’ as a whole within the brain is the issue. The binding element involved in this process of unification is suggested to be information. The closest approximation of the ‘abstract’ consciousness at the concrete plane, therefore, in most likelihood is the conformational geometry of information involving various group of neuron-glia at different hierarchical levels operating in different contexts. It may be that the two different networks – the neuronal network and the glial network are separate phases of the brain that, like the tide, ebb and flow as the dominant paradigm depending on the activity and focus of the self. From: http//akmukhopadhyayconsciousness.com/pdf/LINK11.pdf


 The Second Visual Platform

           As mentioned earlier, the pineal gland may prove to have a visual function also. The pineal glands of lower vertebrates do indeed have photoreceptor cells similar to those found in the retina. In the human pineal gland, the photoreceptor cells have evolved into “cone-like modified photoreceptor cells” known as pinealocytes. For information on this research visit:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0014483586900424 and  www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0306452286902885. These pineal receptors may be sensitive to a specific spectrum of light or electromagnetic stimulus and if this is so, what is the source of stimulation? It could be coherent biophotonic light produced by our own cells as discovered by Dr. Fritz Alfred Popp: http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/1559.html, or it could be that coherent light-stimulated-DNA is resonating with the dark energy that permeates 72% of the universe (http://www.dapla.org/) as suggested by Dr, Garjajev or it could be light emanating from microtubules as suggested by Hammerhoff and Penrose, or it could be luminous piezoelectric calcite crystals, or octonia, that are found to be present in pineal gland, see: http://2012thebigpicture.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/the-pineal-gland-crystal-transducer/and    http://fedgeno.com/documents/crystal-in-the-pineal-gland.pdf , or light may not be involved at all. As far as anatomy reveals, there is an indirect neural pathway between the pineal gland and the optic nerve via the hypothalamus and the superior cervical ganglion which is classically considered the pathway by which the pineal is informed as to when it should step up melatonin production. In a reverse manner this may be a pathway for the pineal to send imagery to the visual cortex via the optic nerve.

          Several researchers, including David Wilcock in his book: The Source Field Investigations, have suggested that there is a second visual platform in the brain in addition to the eyes, an inner view screen, so to speak, that can augment and at times even replace our optical visual circuitry. Further research by Dr. Draulio de Araujoof the Brain Institute at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil has verified that the visual activity produced by DMT inspired imagery stimulates the exact same brain centers as does normal vision, though the imagery source is not from the optic nerve but originates in the frontal cortex.  Visit:  http://www.researchgate.net/publication/51647290_Seeing_with_the_eyes_shut_Neural_basis_of_enhanced_imagery_following_ayahuasca_ingestion

 Out-of-body Locales and Bandwidth

          Robert Monroe is one of the best documented out-of-body, or ecsomatic explorers. The term ecsomatic derived from the Latin: ec, outside, and soma, body, was coined by Anthony Peake in his book Out-of-Body Experience. Monroe’s gift came to him unbidden and he developed his theories gradually over the years after having hundreds of experiences. He wrote the book: Journeys out of the Body followed by two more and founded Monroe Mind Research Institute of Faber, Virginia where he developed the Gateway Voyage program using Hemi-Sync sound technology. He also developed a classification system to describe the destination environments of ecsomatic experience using the term “locales”. His YouTube series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBii06UyWwY  is extremely interesting. Earlier in this article we discussed the various conditions that could instigate a METAtonin episode now we are discussing the various categories of destinations that these episodes can encounter, be they METAtonin or DMT instigated.

          Monroe described the locales as follows:

Locale I – are local ecsomatic experiences where one travels about the physical plane not too far from the body which can be seen below (bi-location) and observes the environment usually from above; most mild NDE (Near Death) experiences and most ecsomatic experiences launched from a waking state, such as a METAtonin episode, tend to hover near the body and the general surroundings.  Most likely, the secondary visual platform is being used to translate visual information scanned from the physical plane. The secondary visual platform is a mental phenomenon and is sensitive to the mental plane imagery as well. This can result in a meshing of imagery from both planes.

Locale II – would be viewed as the “dream world” environment, a fantasy world peopled with archetypal characters as well as persons known to the traveler. It is possible to interact with these astral beings and to be guided or misled by them. All the while, one is in a lucid, seemingly fully conscious, self-knowing and self-directed state, that is, the lucid dream state. In this state one can become aware of their second (astral) body also known as the subtle body or etheric double. Some of the more powerful NDE and DMT induced episodes lead to this locale. One can manipulate the environmental parameters with the power of thought since the environment in Local II is a product of one’s own personal psyche.

Locale III – while Locale II is primarily generated by the subject’s personal memory, Locale III environments are actual parallel dimensions that have their own discrete unchangeable definition. One is a visitor here; one can travel about at will, but cannot change the definition of the environment and in many cases must make many return visits to learn how to navigate themselves to preferred destinations.  Peruvian shamans must receive extensive life-long training and guidance to learn how to navigate the realm of natural primal archetypal levels in order to obtain information on specific herbal healing combinations. Entheonauts who smoke synthetic DMT sometimes end up in parallel intelligent realms – extensive futuristic geometric cities peopled by alien beings who have highly advanced technology and who are eager to communicate with us. (This is one interpretation of Locale III)

        Those of us who have had Locale II and III experiences have some great stories to tell, but unless we can somehow verify these experiences, they remain resident in the realm of extremely significant personal experience, the certainty of which cannot be verified. People who have accompanied an ayahuasca guide into the herbal realm can verify their shared Locale III experience with their guide. Proof of the “reality” of this type of experience is also evident in the shaman-revealed herbal combinations that are either divulged or sold to pharmaceutical manufacturers who then synthesize, refine, test and manufacture the product.  As stated earlier 74% of today’s pharmacopeia originates from this source.

        For the majority of us who have had an ecsomatic experience in Locale I, the real time “real” world, the question has always remains: “was it real?” It certainly felt real, unmistakably real, even though we were floating about separated from our body.  As mentioned earlier, author Anthony Peake after exhaustive investigation has, to his surprise and disappointment, concluded that the ecsomatic Locale I experience is not actually a perception of true physical reality.  Peake finds anomalies in every proof indicating that what is “seen” is an internally generated hologram that closely, but not completely, parallels the real world. Thus he concludes that the “mind’s eye” is always tuned inward, which is not surprising, for despite hundreds of research studies undertaken in university and hospital environments by dedicated scientists, no conclusive scientific evidence has yet to emerge. This could be a disappointment to those of us who have had very meaningful life-changing ecsomatic experiences. Disappointment because we have experienced a change, and this personal transformation would be seemingly more “certified” if what we had witnessed from above was verifiably, absolutely real.

         Let’s take a technical look at some of the assumptions that led Mr. Peake to this conclusion.  For example, we’ll observe the famous remote viewer Mr. Ingo Swann who worked with Professor Harold Putoff and Russel Targ of the Sanford Research Institute. Suppose Mr. Swann is remote-viewing an object 100 feet from his body that he is trying to verbally describe. One could assume that Swann’s consciousness has detached itself from the host body and has located itself 100 ft. away, above the object. What is the exact nature of the connection by which consciousness transfers visual information to the secondary visual platform of the physical brain through space, be it feet or light years away? This cord could be a multi -stranded mini-wormhole phantom DNA field that folds space via quantum entanglement as detected by Dr Garjajev of the Russian Academy of Science, and as also suggested by Stephen Hawking. This could be the "silver thread" that is often referred to by many psychics, or could it be some other space-traversing phenomenon such as Penrose/Hammerhoff microtubular coherent light proposition? Whatever the connection is, the question remains: can this non-physical, non-electromagnetic connection transmit (or “stream”) as much visual data to the viewer’s brain as the human optic nerve is able to? most probably not. This is simply a matter of bandwidth, most likely the image definition sent to the second visual platform of the brain is of poorer resolution. Furthermore, since the temporary remote viewing DMT-defined neural pathways are not as resilient as established mainstream pathways, they may be more vulnerable and subject to peripheral neural interference. 

            Next we have to consider just what exactly is the makeup of this "mind’s eye" that gathers and encodes the visual image? This is even more of a challenge. This viewing-at-a-distance-consciousness  has to convert the scene being witnessed into some type of signal. Based on what we know about optic transmission, this remote viewing individualized self-consciousness (which has no detectable physical presence) should also feature some kind of focusing apparatus consisting of a NonMaterialPhysicalReality lens and a NMPR cornea or similar data receiver that converts a focused image into a signal. Of course there may be some alternative image processing phenomenon at work here as well. One explanation given is that the remote viewer is viewing the distant object using their “subtle” or astral body complete with subtle optical apparatus.  However, information still has to be transferred back to the host’s physical brain or is everything being processed in the subtle brain? If so, how does the subtle brain download to the physical brain?  most likely this is accomplished via the secondary visual platform which may already have its own mental imagery agenda.  A remote viewer has to be very discerning in eliminating unwelcome mental imagery that may have been added the physical plane image information.

            These visual image pathways may exist, and if they do, it would be most likely that once one had opened their ecsomatic visual channel, it could require a considerable learning process to become familiar with the operation of it. This could require a great deal of practice, concentration and trial and error; just as it does with newborns when they first learn to navigate their new primary visual apparatus; just as it took Robert Monroe several years to become familiar with his gift. As  previously mentioned, it may also  be that the intensity, direction and clarity of a DMT or METAtonin ecosomatic experience is determined by the particular  formula of the DMT mixture that enters the brain environment.
 
            Thus the Locale I visual experience could almost be considered a handicapped or easily misconstrued form of vision, and it should not be surprising to find anomalies and aberrations in reported images in test cases. Furthermore, the brain is quite “plastic” and it has been shown that receptor site arrangements are subject to change. It is possible that there are several types of DMT-activated neural pathways that may result in both intrasomatic (within the realm of the body) and extrasomatic (beyond the confines of the body) visual phenomena or a combination of the two.


        There is one OBE incident I heard of that did involve remote-viewing the real-time physical world as a means of survival. It happened several years ago to a friend of mine, Laura C., and it saved her life. At the time she was putting up with her "second, to soon be ex" husband, but it wasn't easy. He had a habit of beating her. In the middle of a bad session she was laying on her side with her head covered as he was raining blows down on her. She thought she was about to die. All of a sudden she found herself up in the corner of the ceiling looking down on the situation. She looked about desperately and suddenly she saw what it was that she was looking for. It was something solid, something nearby she could grab on to that she could do damage with, like a hammer or a flashlight. She immediately returned to her body, reached out for the object defended herself and made it to safety. To this day she doesn't remember what it was that she grabbed, but it saved her life. This is an example of how setting and mindset can determine the nature and goal of a transcendent out-of-body experience. The DMT-based neurohormone that her pineal secreted had a specific directive: this was to be a Locale I experience with no interference. There is no doubt that many a battle-hardened soldier and many a victim of torture has had such an experience as well. It could be said that the pineal/obe mechanism is, among many things, one of our tools for survival.

         A further variable to consider that may determine locale is the particular modes of the DMT brain penetration process, including: the topographical DMT delivery pattern, the class of DMT and the speed of the DMT cascade. Rick Strassman’s volunteers experienced a rush of chemically pure DMT delivered directly to the bloodstream with MOXI present, ayahuasca gradually delivers an organic DMT/MAO inhibitor infusion that enters the bloodstream gradually via the digestive system. There is also smoked and snorted forms ayahuasca that have their own distinct characteristics. Last, but not least, there is the METAtonin/pineal gland pathway - which is responsible for the great majority of the spontaneous ecsomatic experiences experienced by the general public, artists and spiritual practitioners. METAtonin may be just pure unadulterated DMT, but additional enzymes and co-hormones that are byproducts of the DMT methylation process may be present also. These modifiers may be generated according to specific instructions received by the pineal gland to enhance or direct the ecsomatic experience in a specific direction or at a selective sensitivity. In addition, glutamate production can further modify the outcome. It may also be discovered that out-of-body consciousness is not just limited to a modification of the brain circuitry; it may involve several centers in the body. Another possibility is the shifting of consciousness from the left hemisphere of the brain to the right.  

Peake’s Quantum Peak
             Anthony Peake, author of The Infinite Mindfield, has long pursued the concept of micro wormholes created by the brain while under the influence of DMT, basically it is his theory that the mind can access certain locales such as parallel realities via the holographic memory field that exists as a dark matter phenomena which is accessed by quantum level micro wormholes, a concept supported by Stephen Hawking and scientifically known as Einstein-Rosen wormholes. These wormholes create a segue to the Zero Point Field. The Zero Point Field is just that: it exists at close to absolute 0 degrees (-273.15 degree Centigrade) and it exists as a single point that contains no space, since all atoms collapse at zero degrees and even light slows down to a stop.  Since there is no space, there is no distance and since distance is required to measure velocity and acceleration, there is no time. Since it is a point with no other object to compare it to, it has no size and within it there resides a spaceless field, a holographic field  that when accessed gives access to everything at once, the akashic record, the realm of the Bose-Einstein Condensates where all the physical laws of our realm are turned upside down and inside out.
           The one problem in this theory that needs to be overcome is that of “thermal decoherence” as described by Stuart Hammerhoff. How can a phenomenon that requires absolute zero conditions take place in the warm moist environment of the brain? The answer is that it takes place at a quantum level in the microtrabecular lattice of microtubules. This lattice is made up of dipoles that are 7 to 9 nanometers in diameter. In 1968 Dr. Herbert Frolich discovered that these nanoscopic dipoles could achieve a Zero Point coherence at temperatures way above absolute zero known as Frohlic coherence. A full explanation of this theory is in Mr Peake’s aforementioned  publication. Further information is available at the website of Dr. Bernard Haisch  www.calphysics.org.

  Setting, and the three phases of Mindset

         When Dr. Rick Strassman set up his DMT testing procedure it was necessary for him to follow the rigorous guidelines of standard National Institute of Health in all his procedures due to the controversial nature of his experiment and in doing so he had to ignore the classic entheogenic launch guidelines of “set (mindset) and setting” first described by Timothy Leary and endorsed by most experienced entheonauts, the same guidelines Strassman described in his own book,  Inner Paths to Outer Space. Strassmen had little latitude when it came to providing a supportive setting, but, as one of the participants in the movie DMT, The Spirit Molecule, Susan Blumental, stated: the DMT rush was so incredibly sudden that set and setting were unnecessary considerations. The “setting” of a typical hospital room and the presence of two or three onlookers with clipboards in their hands was hardly the relaxed, loving, supportive, protective, restive environment that is usually desired. Perhaps someday the same experiment can be launched from a proper supportive setting, it would be interesting to see if the tone and texture of the DMT experience becomes more stabilized and focused.  Dr. Strassman did have some control over the mindset of his participants, though, in that he specifically chose participants who exhibited consciousness flexibility, that is, they had previously experienced altered states of consciousness and were more accustomed to the sometimes unnerving sensation of consciousness transition. It should be noted that the complete concept of mindset involves more than just consciousness flexibility; it also includes the factors of mindvector and mindoversight.

  Consciousness Flexibility

        This is not an endorsement for people to experiment with consciousness altering substances, but it is a fact that psychoactive drugs can help open the mind to new levels of awareness and mental function.  When used wisely and respectfully, one can experience heightened levels of visual, auditory, intuitive, creative, mental and empathetic sensitivity. In the wrong hands or with the wrong intention in mind drugs can be viciously destructive – and in a great majority of situations, they are. Like any other very powerful tool, psychoactive drugs need to be handled and used very carefully preferably in the company of a guide or loving protector in a secure, stable environment. There is no doubt that the spiritual expansion of the 1970’s was mainly a result of the doors of perception that were opened to many an experimenter.  Having experienced heightened mental states bought on by external chemical stimuli many sought natural, traditional methods of mental and physical discipline that resulted in the same or similar state of heightened awareness. Thus came many sages west.

       What is also gained from being experienced with psychoactive drugs is a familiarity with the transition experience, that is, the ability to sense the onslaught of a consciousness shift without developing mental panic. This is especially acute for individuals who like to be in control, for one has to be open and trusting and willing to give up some control when the doors of perception begin to open. If the transition is not embraced, it can quickly degrade into panic and paranoia. Those who wish to experiment might take some advice from Dr. Albert Hoffman who on page 338 of The Spirit Molecule explains his fondness of enjoying the subtle effects of very small doses.

  Mindvector  

        If one is going to psycho-launch their mind into an uncharted territory with DMT, ayahuasca or some DMT derivative, it would behoove them to create in their mind an actual destination: the mindvector. The more destination-focused one is, the greater the chance of success. It’s quite probable that even a DMT launch, as explosive as it is, would benefit from some guidance. The question is how can one determine a destination when entering a realm that one has never been to? One of the most obvious destinations could be Heaven. Why not? That’s our basic concept of where we go to when we die. Unfortunately, Heaven or Hyperphysical Reality.. etc. is a very, very big place.

          This is like saying “Oh, just drop me off on Earth” – you could end up in Borneo, Siberia, the Sahara or downtown Missoula. Heaven, too, is a vast place peopled with tens of thousands of tribes and localities – many of which have been described by artists, mystics and fantasy and science fiction writers throughout the ages. The question remains, where does one choose to go? The answer may lie in the concept of the Extraphysical Hometown, as developed by Dr. Waldo Vieira who is mentioned later in this article

           The concept is quite simple: each of us has arrived here at boot camp Earth from a specific hyperphysical home base that is peopled by a specific hyperphysical root race and it is this hyperphysical homeplace that we will return to when we have finished our tour  here. Basically its hOMe, it’s where we come from. Many individuals who have returned from OBE’s and NDE’s describe how they had felt” at home” in an extremely profound level never experienced before. Perhaps you have seen an illustration of a place that you felt extremely familiar with, such as a painting by Maxfield Parrish or have met someone that you immediately resonated with effortlessly at a very deep level, keep these impressions of place and personality in mind and cultivate them for they will help you construct the concept of your very own Extraphysical Homeground, Campo Spiritual, or Place of Eternal Origin. It may be a destination that has been experienced in a lucid dream.

          Concentrate on this locale; maybe even give it a name,  Avalon for example. For visual inspiration there hundreds of heavenly and fantasy landscape images and meditation videos available. If you need inspiration on a mental/logical level you can read the descriptions of the Superuniverse, Havona, The Sea of Glass, or Paradise in the Urantia Book. If you seek inspirational thought imagery, you can read The Final Frontiers section (p.189+) of Multidimensional Man by Jurgen Ziewe, or visit: http://www.multidimensionalman.com.  Any and all of these will help you build your very own concept of your Heavenly Homeplace.

 Mindoversight

           Thousands of people have written about their hyperphysical adventures and in doing so many have also commented on how difficult it was to maintain the delicate balance of being conscious of events while not becoming too conscious – whereupon the excursion would end with a sudden return to the physical body. Just as an athlete must repeatedly practice to perfect physical performance, the entheonaut must develop a mental over-coach who observes the play of mental activity and moderates the intensity of the thought process. For when one moves above the physical plane they enter the mental plane where conscious thoughts have the power to mold reality. As Ziewe says “one is moving from the level of matter-over-mind to the level of mind-over-matter.”

            Just like taming a wild horse, taming the mind/thought process takes patience and persistence, there are no short cuts and no one other than you can do the work it requires. We are not born with the overseer, we have to consciously make the effort to claim it – and it may be one of the most important challenges of a lifetime. The mental muscle that needs to be developed doesn’t even exist when one first starts trying, but it develops with effort. The exercise is not complicated – yet it lasts a lifetime. The exercise is deceptively simple: stop thinking. That’s it. How long can you stop a new thought from entering your mind? ten seconds? The problem is… that the harder you try, the worse it gets! Welcome to the seemingly ridiculous practice of meditation.

           Why would anyone want to stop their mind? Don’t we spend our waking lives travelling down an endless river of thoughts and sensations? Why would anyone want to control the flow? And how is it done?  One has to mentally think the words “stop thinking” in order to begin the process of stopping thinking, if that makes any sense. However, it can be done and has been practiced for thousands of years and is actually the keystone of the Buddhist practice. There is a way to do it and many methods available. One can read about meditation, even conceptualize it but this is worthless, basically it just has to be done and then it begins to work. The result is that one slowly develops control of the thought process – of thought speed and thought progression…. and, more importantly, one also gains control of the non-thought process. The process of meditation encourages the development of a "quiet zone" neural environment in the brain structure and the cultivation of unstructured time. Once suitably developed, the consciousness feedback loop can be encouraged to circulate within this neural zone. In this calmed neural state the ego is quieted and consciousness is able to access background information here to fore inaccessible.

       Mantras are a useful mindoversight tool as well.  Just as the mindvector destination image enhances the direction of the hyperphysical launch, mantras can also prove to be an effective stabilizing tool once one has arrived at a higher level of consciousness.  Mantras are also one of the basic tools of meditation as well. Take care in choosing a mantra, in fact it is best to be given one by a sage and experienced practitioner. There are hundreds of musical and theta vibrational sound meditation CDs available also, but they should not be played too loud. It is important to silence the mind, this silence does not need to be filled with external sound, it needs to manifest on its own. It is out of this silence that the first whispers will be heard.   
 
         Meditation sessions usually last 35 to 55 minutes while sitting with a straight back.  Within 15 minutes the experienced practitioner begins to experience a vertical energy field that is centered in the third eye area and extends upward and downward. In time the field expands and a sensation of inner space begins to prevail. This is not a visual or auditory sense; it is an entirely new and different sense: space is felt as having its own beingness. In a way space becomes visceral and one becomes part of that solidity that is bonded in stillness.  The breath slows and takes on greater significance as well; the cool air reaching into the upper passages of the nasal cavity energize the base of the brain much in the way a gentle puff of air on an ember causes it to glow. This in many ways describes the beginning phases of Tibetan maitri meditation that focuses on space consciousness 
and universal compassion, http://www.shambhala.org/maitri.php.

        Contrary to conventional thought, space is not empty.  The FedEx motto is: “The World on Time”, well, the motto for meditation is:" The World on Space".  From the quantum perspective, space is absolutely full. Space is like the ocean and physical reality is a wave that travels on it. When a wave is moving across the ocean surface, nothing is really moving, the water molecules are not moving forward or backward, they just momentarily rise and fall back to their original state – the wave is a temporary perturbation and then it is gone. Space is the background and physical reality is the foreground that ripples on it. This concept is extremely hard to grasp and yet it is one of the fundamental cornerstones of quantum theory that is being brought to forefront by writers such as Ervin Laszlo, Bernard Haisch and many others, for further information visit http://www.mindmattermapping.org/, a project sponsored by Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Institute.
The grounding in space that meditation promotes is what provides grounding for our consciousness.

       In light of this perspective, one might consider the next question: what creates the ripples on the surface of space? The animating principle seems to be consciousness itself; the breath of life that gives form to the physical plane. This universal animating field of life consciousness fully potentialized space and then reverberated through it in the great selective subtraction that we call the big bang. Before the big bang, every potential future was present, after the big bang, which was actually a big subtraction, only primal matter and energy remained. This raw material is destined to evolve through time into the many futures that were fully present before the big subtraction. These futures are being molded by the unfolding of the ever pervasive field of universal life intelligence rippling through space – which some might call God. The concept of the universal field of life consciousness intelligence is being promoted by Robert Lanza his book, Biocentrism (http://www.robertlanza.com/), and by David Wilcox and his Source Field Investigations (http://divinecosmos.com/), Rupert Sheldrake and many others. The big subtraction is a concept promoted by Dr. Bernard Haisch in his book The God Theory (http://www.thegodtheory.com/). The inspiration for his conception may have evolved from a passage in the second book of the Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch (http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com/) series in which God explains why it created the physical universe: a platform for existential reflectivity evolving through time.

          Further evidence or the benefits of meditation has been verified by British Scientist, Maxwell Cade (http://www.mindmirroreeg.com/w/MaxwellCade.htm) who developed of mindmirror biofeedback technology and the resulting brainwave therapy (http://www.brainwavetraining.com/brainwave.htm). Dr. Cade discovered that in addition to the four standard brainwave patterns there was what he called the "5th state" or awakened state of mind that synchronizees both sides of the brain.  This state of consciousness synchronicity can be attained through meditation. 

        There may be other methods of developing mindoversight besides meditation, but they all involve mental discipline of some sort. If you plan to engage in a DMT based voyage, it would  serve you well to make one of these preparations, but do not become enamored with your accomplishment. Please don't think that by being a long time meditator that you have accomplished anything - only the ego keeps these kind of scores. If the METAtonin is going to do all that it can, the ego must begone.

“Ember” meditation for the pineal gland

        As mentioned earlier, one method of meditation enhancement is to focus on the upper nasal cavity while meditating. As cool fresh air enters the innermost cavity of the upper nasal cavity, there is a cooling sensation. Though the effect is cooling; it can also be felt as energizing – as in a gentle puff of air on an ember. As the air blows the ember glows. Keeping this image/sensation in mind, one can direct this energy in a way that can energize the pineal gland, but first the pineal gland needs to be located so that there is a directive for the ember energy.

       It is very difficult to “feel” the pineal or feel where it is, in fact there may be no sensation nerves in the central brain at all. However the pineal gland is located just below and central to the paired lobes of the thalamus; and something centered there can possibly be “felt”. We’re talking about “feeling” consciousness, for it is quite likely that the thalamus is the main resting place for consciousness. So how does one go about feeling consciousness? It is a slow process but not so difficult once one begins to try it. While meditating just concentrate on the body and search for the thinking process. Where exactly are thoughts coming from in the body?  In the head, of course, but go one step further – try to pinpoint the exact location in the brain as to where each next next thought is emerging from.  It can be done. Trace each thought as it emerges and create a location in the matrix space of the brain. “Feeling” thoughts seems, indeed, a strange concept, but it can be practiced until one can “feel” the origination point of thoughts in the geography of the brain space. With practice it will become easier to locate this exact point. Just below this locus of consciousness rests the pineal gland.  This is pineal space point where the “ember” energy needs to be projected.

     There are further aids as well. The ”baragan” stick can be used to support the arms while the fingertips point to each temple  The yoga posture of Khecari Mudra can be practiced: http://www.aypsite.org/108.html. A drop of niacin or other enhancer on the third eye location will also help with stimulation. There are also many multimedia pineal stimulation presentations on YouTube as well as sound presentations using the Solfreggio scale: http://www.somaenergetics.com/forgotten_in_time.php

        Please consider donating to pineal gland research, see research section at this end of this article

  Out-of-Body Conciousness and the Evolution of the Human Race

           Can the phenomenon of the Out-of Body Consciousness be a contributing factor to the evolution of the human race? According to Brazilian researcher and writer Dr. Waldo Vieira, the experience of lucid consciousness projection is absolutely essential, and he speaks with some authority for he has experienced and documented several thousand OBE’s since the age of nine and has made a thorough study of consciousness in and beyond the body. He calls the study of consciousness in all its manifestations conscientology, and the study of of  lucid consciousness projection projectiology. In his massive book, Projectiology,  he draws on over 2000 references and creates his own vocabulary to describe the many aspects of his knowledge. In 1981 he founded the Center for Continuing Consciousness which later evolved into the International Institute of Projectiology and Conscientiology (IIPC) in 1988. There are now 58 offices of IIPC throughout the world with their Center for Higher Studies of the Consciousness at Iguassu Falls, Brazil and the International Academy of Consciousness (IAC) in Portugal. The IIPC has over 74 research projects, over 100,000 members, several education centers and it has printed over 43 books and periodicals. Visit: http://www.iacworld.org
   
      Conscientiology is not a dogma, in fact, Dr.Vieira exhorts: “ Don’t believe in anyone or anything, including the information you receive here at the Institute. Experience. Have your own experiences”

        Among the many topics Dr.Vieira covers, he talks about thanatology which is the study of psychological, social, cultural and religious impact of the inevitability of death. Most certainly our attitude towards death plays a major role in how we view the meaning of life.  However, when one has experienced the continuity of consciousness and its indestructibility….when one has consciously traveled beyond the confines of the physical body and returns to their extraphysical hometown which is the original hyper physical residence of fundamental personal consciousness, their understanding of the significance of our conduct here in this physical lifetime and how it affects our future lifetimes will enrich our experience of every moment here and now in this physical lifetime. As more individuals become familiar with this knowledge and experience, it is Dr. Vieira’s firm belief that human society and the human race will evolve to a higher level.

           Dr. Vieira does not believe that there is any kind of physical mechanism related to consciousness projection, that it is a purely energetic phenomenon. He does not recognize the role of the pineal gland as part of the support mechanism of  OBC.

          As Captain Picard in one of the Star Trek series  said when commenting on human existence: “Our very life is defined by our mortality”. It looks like Dr. Vieira is trying to change that definition. 

The Pineal Gland and Reincarnation

           The pineal gland's higher function indirectly supports the existence of reincarnation in several ways.  The METAtonin secretion at time of death escorts our individual/eternal consciousness as it separates from our transient ego/body consciousness on its return higher consciousness and in reverse manner  during gestation and early childhood it eases the introduction  of our eternal being to the material world and human society at a gentle pace all the way up to age 8. Why would such an endogenous neurochemical segue exist if there was not a higher consciousness to revert to? One must also consider the similar life after death insights reported in Near-Death-Experience studies. Reincarnation pioneer Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia Department of Psychiatry, Division of Personality Studies interviewed over 2000 individuals who had accurate verifiable memories of  past lives. Not surprisingly, the subjects who had the clearest memories were those between the ages of 3 and 8; see:  http://reluctant-messenger.com/reincarnation-proof.htm or read Life Before Life by Jim Tucker M.D. who worked with Dr.Stevenson. Author Deepak Chopra  in his Life After Death: The Burden of Proof is an inspiring book about the afterworld and David Wilcock in his latest book The Synchronicity Key provides several arguments for reincarnation. The Judeo-Christian culture does not generally accept reincarnation although Jesus was never known to directly denounce it, in fact some of his references supporting reincarnation can still  be found in the New Testament.  It is believed that biblical scholars deliberately obliterated any reference to reincarnation, and especially ignored the writings of Greek philosopher Origen, due to political pressure from the church for obvious reasons.

          Beginning with Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea in 325AD any references to reincarnation were thoroughly expunged during the finalizing of the New Testament. Furthermore at the Second Council of Constantinople  in 533 AD the Roman government officially outlawed the concept of reincarnation on pain of excommunication, even death; this was reaffirmed twice again at Councils in Lyons and Florence in 1274 and 1439. There is no doubt that the Christian church chose to thoroughly expunge the concept of reincarnation from Western consciousness to keep firm control over the gates that lead to  Heaven or Hell - the only possible destination for the afterlife. Due to this bias, it is quite possible that acceptance of the implications of the higher functions of the pineal gland may meet with some resistance. Coming to terms with reincarnation is coming to terms with the ecology of spirit; nothing is wasted.

 Endogenous DMT and the establishment of Religion
         
        Dr. Steve Barker of Louisiana State University and member of the Cottonwood Research  Foundation (http://www.lsureveille.com/legacy/article_4a851c42-036d-11e2-b3fb-0019bb30f31a.html) has been investigating the neurotheological paradigm.  He recognizes, as most of us do, that the tendency to be religious is an innate human trait, but he takes this supposition one step further, he sees a reason behind it – a neurochemical reason. Most religions  are founded upon and are continually supported by founders and members who have witnessed a religious experience.  Religious ecstasy, rapture and religious revelation are part of the common vernacular, and sometimes the stated goal of many religious sects.  Once a member has had such an experience, they graduate from being a “believer” to becoming a living endorsement.  Dr. Barker suspects that the source of this experience is not due to some outside religious avatar as most religious belief systems would ascribe it to; instead he points to endogenous DMT,  METAtonin, which is found everywhere in the human body -  in every bodily fluid: blood, spinal fluid, urine etc.
         This ubiquitous psychedelic or enthoegen is created in many organs and glands including the lungs, kidneys, the retina and, as is suggested in this paper and is being verified by recent research, the pineal gland. A likely societal consequence of  this phenomenon is the emergence of religion in society and the study of this phenomenon is known as neurotheology, a term that first appeared in the novel Island by Aldous Huxley. 
         According to Johnathan Parajasingham (http://nirmukta.com/2011/10/26/the-god-of-mind-exploring-the-implications-of-neurotheological-research/), psychopharmacological research has investigated the effect of DMT and other serotonin-based neurochemicals that  act on one specific type of neuroreceptor called serotonin 2A (or 5-HT2A) receptors, which are found all over the cortical surface of the brain. 5-HT2A receptors are stimulatory, which means when these drugs act on them they increase production of serotonin in the brain, and this gross overstimulation of the 5-HT2A receptors leads to what are interpreted as religious, i.e. neurotheologic, experiences.
       In terms of neurotheologic activity, religions that perceive God-as-without tend to encourage their members to converse or appeal to God as an outside being, such as in the act of praying, are mildly neurotheologic institutions. Religions that perceive God-as-within such as Buddhism or Sufism pursue active mental (meditation) or physical  (dancing) exercises to awaken the God-within  are more neurotheologically active for they intentionally shape their mental/physical state in such a way as to stimulate neurotheologic perceptions. Then there are societies that live each moment in a constant religious state, waking each day to a wholly uncertain future but faithful that if they read the signs of God with the sensitivity of their mind in each moment, they will be lead to safety each night. Many aboriginal tribes lived in this manner - embracing a fully neurotheologic reality.  These societies were easy prey to their less neurotheologic brethren and were usually completely misunderstood and decimated in a short time. One such group are the Australian Aborigines and there are many others long gone. (see page 4)
            Several other authors including Laurence O. McKinney, Dr. Andrew B. Newberg and Eugen Drewermann have published books on neurotheology. 
            There is also the theoneurological approach, which the subject of Dr. Rick Strassman's latest book entitled The Soul of Prophesy to be published by Inner Traditions. Theoneurology is a theological perspective that investigates the various pathways that God has endowed humans with so that they may mentally (neurologically) experience their creator. One of the most profound forms of God communication in the human experience is the phenomenon of prophecy and one of the most detailed historical records prophesy and prophets is the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Dr. Strassman makes a modern day exploration of the historical prophecy and how it parallels the recently discovered Spirit Molecule experience. 



 Pineal Gland Research