sensory deprivation

[Infinity]

Always been interested in sensory deprivation. Apparently prison guards in Tasmania placed the really naughty prisoners in cells where they could hear nothing and see nothing and within a few days they would go 'mad'.

 

Also in the book 'Papillon' Papillon says how when he was in solitary confinement he was never so free as he would meet friends for coffee and travel in his imagination vividly. Some people say this book is fake, maybe, but nevertheless sensory deprivation has these kinds of effects.

 

 

I wonder if it is utilised by the various monks in their solitary long retreats as it seems a sure fire way of getting conscious access to the unconscious without drugs, lucid dreaming without going to sleep!

 

Had a go once in a float tank but one hour was not enough. I always though if I ever get the space I would build myself a sensory deprivation box (no water) any designs out there?

 

Could be useful tool.

 

∞

Edited September 24, 2014 by Infinity

[silent thunder]

I used a simple large cardboard box to create a dark room for myself to induce third eye and open eye visions.

 

I put the box in a closet, blacked out the windows in the room with two large blankets.

Got in the box and had my wife put another blanket over the box and shut the closet door.

 

I then sat there with eyes open in the pitch black until the show started.

 

Should be able to get a suitably large box from any store that sells appliances, such as stoves and refrigerators.

 

Happy Hunting!

[Songtsan]

I have been meaning to try this...they have a place in town which charges like $60 an hour, but I always seem to have more important things to do with that kind of money..I too would like to one day build myself one of these. I also want to build a motor-powered wheel to lie down on with my head at the center, perhaps placed in a forest or what not, and have it spin me around so that all visions blurred into a spinning mandala like kaleidoscopic experience...maybe I should try to crowd fund that!

[silent thunder]

could go to a local playground like we did and have your friends spin you on the whizz n puke like we used to

[Infinity]

I have been meaning to try this...they have a place in town which charges like $60 an hour, but I always seem to have more important things to do with that kind of money..

 

My sentiments exactly, it could easily add up if you wanted to do a lot of sessions. I like Silent Thunder's idea of the card board box and blankets and may give this ago. Showed the wife and she seemed game enough to help!

 

Thanks ST!

 

∞

[ralis]

I love flotation tanks! After an hour I lost all sense of time and body awareness. The movie 'Altered States' I believe was based on John Lily's work who pioneered sensory deprivation tanks. I believe he used LSD as an enhancement to the experience. Don't try that combination at home.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tanks-Memories-Floatation-Consciousness-Classics/dp/0895560712/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411595548&sr=1-1&keywords=tanks+for+the+memories

 

[woodcarver]

I sometimes meditate with sound-canceling ear muffs/gaurds/cans whatever they're called.

 

Cheap, easy, effective

[ralis]

I would consider dark retreats a form of sensory deprivation.

[silent thunder]

There's a restaurant in Los Angeles called Opaque that I want to take my family to soon.

All the servers are blind. You enter into a dimly lit entry room where you place your entire order.

Your server then leads you into the dining area which is pitch black and you eat your meal without the use of sight.

 

Of course, this is pointless now in the days of everyone has a phone out for their meals...

Hopefully they ban phones in the dining area.

[thelerner]

Mantak Chia's group in Thailand Tao Gardens has Dark room retreats. Its fascinating to read what happens after a few days. Pituitary gland opens, senses expand etc.,

 

Here's a link to Minke De Vos's experience in it: http://www.silentground.com/VisionaryAlchemy.htm

and Dennis Huntington's http://www.universal-tao.com/dark_room/thedark.html

[Infinity]

Mantak Chia's group in Thailand Tao Gardens has Dark room retreats. Its fascinating to read what happens after a few days. Pituitary gland opens, senses expand etc.,

 

Here's a link to Minke De Vos's experience in it: http://www.silentground.com/VisionaryAlchemy.htm

and Dennis Huntington's http://www.universal-tao.com/dark_room/thedark.html

 

Thanks thelerner will read about this after work today.

 

∞

[idiot_stimpy]

Other than seeing things, how is this going to liberate you from suffering or finding the truth?

[Infinity]

Idiot stumpy wrote 'Other than seeing things, how is this going to liberate you from suffering or finding the the truth'

 

I don't necessarily see it as just seeing images but more a meditative tool to facilitate communication between myself and my unconscious and to then utilise active imagination to communicate with seemingly unconscious aspects of myself / archetypes and or guides. To what end? I guess greater harmony, joy, understanding and love.

 

I am not a great visualiser but the freedom of a lucid dream has and does excite me and this is what draws me to it. Maybe my answer is I am seeking freedom which I guess is liberating but maybe not liberation! And I want to explore and understand my greater self.

 

∞

[silent thunder]

We are so over-sensitized in everyday life.

To sit in the quiet dark and simply be, allows deeper aspects to approach from the depths.

Very rewarding and quite beneficial for me.

[Infinity]

Totally agree, where I live in a big urban area the lights are always on. A part of me yearns for the dark silence.

 

∞

[ralis]

We are so over-sensitized in everyday life.

To sit in the quiet dark and simply be, allows deeper aspects to approach from the depths.

Very rewarding and quite beneficial for me.

 

I see you live in California. If you want quiet and no city lights, head out to 'Death Valley'. There are areas that are extremely remote where no one goes.

[silent thunder]

I see you live in California. If you want quiet and no city lights, head out to 'Death Valley'. There are areas that are extremely remote where no one goes.

Great idea!

My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in the Badlands, SD.

On one hike we got into a very remote place and stopped for a rest.

We shared an experience regarding silence that is the reason I chose my name silent thunder.

The silence we experienced was so complete, within some minutes we both heard a rushing sound, almost like water.

Extremely faint, but steady and present... it grew until it became oppressive.

The ensuing roar that came to us within the silence was truly deafening.

It changed me on some foundational level.

[ralis]

Great idea!

My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in the Badlands, SD.

On one hike we got into a very remote place and stopped for a rest.

We shared an experience regarding silence that is the reason I chose my name silent thunder.

The silence we experienced was so complete, within some minutes we both heard a rushing sound, almost like water.

Extremely faint, but steady and present... it grew until it became oppressive.

The ensuing roar that came to us within the silence was truly deafening.

It changed me on some foundational level.

 

I did a ten day retreat in the 'Panamint Valley' which is just West of 'Death Valley'. I would recommend 4wd in most of those locations. During the winter months, rattle snakes are not usually a problem.

[Infinity]

Mantak Chia's group in Thailand Tao Gardens has Dark room retreats. Its fascinating to read what happens after a few days. Pituitary gland opens, senses expand etc.,

 

Here's a link to Minke De Vos's experience in it: http://www.silentground.com/VisionaryAlchemy.htm

and Dennis Huntington's http://www.universal-tao.com/dark_room/thedark.html

 

Thanks for this very interesting!

 

∞

[GrandmasterP]

" protected room" was the asylum euphemism for a padded cell.

Patients put into a padded cell with the light switched off were in total silence and complete darkness.

It was used more for punishment than containment.

Edited September 25, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[thelerner]

Other than seeing things, how is this going to liberate you from suffering or finding the truth?

Hmnn, I don't know if there any 'single thing' you can do to liberate yourself and find the truth. But, this might be a single thing that moves you in the right direction. ie, you want to practice overcoming debilitating suffering and fear, try going blind! I'm sure its life shattering, but this is going blind in a safe environment.

 

After a while many participants have psychic episodes that aren't liberation, but might be sign posts that point towards it. maybe.. It'd be worthwhile to try, if you had the money, nerve and long time practice. I suspect we're only hearing from the successes, some people freak out early and can't go on.

[ralis]

Hmnn, I don't know if there any 'single thing' you can do to liberate yourself and find the truth. But, this might be a single thing that moves you in the right direction. ie, you want to practice overcoming debilitating suffering and fear, try going blind! I'm sure its life shattering, but this is going blind in a safe environment.

 

After a while many participants have psychic episodes that aren't liberation, but might be sign posts that point towards it. maybe.. It'd be worthwhile to try, if you had the money, nerve and long time practice. I suspect we're only hearing from the successes, some people freak out early and can't go on.

 

I think the only way to find the so called truth is to be outside the universe. I doubt anyone has accomplished that.

[idiot_stimpy]

Flotation tanks seem fun.

[Infinity]

 

I think the only way to find the so called truth is to be outside the universe. I doubt anyone has accomplished that.

Or to become and be the universe and I guess we are already part of it? However, most of us have an identity problem with who we are.

 

∞

Edited September 26, 2014 by Infinity

[woodcarver]

I went to do a float tank session and it was incredible. I wasted a lot of time just getting my muscles to relax, though. If anybody knows of a way to combat this I would love to hear it.

 

It's also difficult timing your bladder... I really had to go!