Volume 3, No.

January 2003

CONSCIOUS ACTS OF CREATION:

THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW PHYSICS*
William A. Tiller
Professor Emeritus, Stanford University

Editorial introductory notes:

This special article comes from Professor William Tiller, a physicist who has been exploring the
influence of consciousness on the physical world for more than three decades. This article is a
preamble to a second article Tiller is preparing, specifically relevant to spiritual healing, for the
next issue of IJHC.
In a series of experiments, Tiller shows that conscious intent can be imprinted in materials
which can be shipped to a distant laboratory, where they bring about the intentional effect that is
imprinted on them.
These notes are provided as a summary to this technical article. Physicists speak a language
that is highly specialized to their field, including terms and formulae that require a high level of
proficiency in physics and mathematics – clearly beyond the level of most IJHC readers. If you
find yourself in this majority, you may still enjoy the thrill of skimming this pioneering research
report.
Tiller suggests that in each scientific generation we tend to presume we possess the ultimate
and final knowledge and explanations for our world – only to discover that there are deeper and
more basic ways of understanding the universe. Changing our ways of explaining the cosmos
is, however, a slow and painful process – often resisted by habitual ways of conceptualizing the
universe.
Tiller developed an Intention Imprinted Electrical Device (IIED) which can change the acidity of
water, alter the action of enzymes (chemicals that facilitate physiological processes), and
accelerate the growth rate of fruit fly larvae. “By comparing the separate influence of two
physically identical devices, one unimprinted and the other imprinted via our meditative process,
we were able to demonstrate a robust influence of human consciousness on these four
materials...”
An unexpected finding was that the laboratories in which these experiments were conducted
became “conditioned” to enhance these effects, even after the devices have been removed from
the laboratory for several months. Tiller likens this to the spiritual “field of consciousness” that
appears to fill a room where people have gathered regularly to meditate or pray together. Tiller
found preliminary evidence suggesting a validation for this intuitive “feeling,” demonstrating that
 2
the space used by a husband and wife healer team had the same “conditioned” effects as the
laboratories where the IEEDs were used.
Other experiments produced further, highly unusual results. The IIED was placed in a beaker of
purified water within a Faraday cage (shielding it from electromagnetic radiation). A number of
thermometers that were placed in a line extending radially from the IEED showed a particular
pattern of temperature gradient that remained constant despite strong fans blowing on the
thermometers. The fans would be expected to dissipate any heat differences between the
thermometers, but they did not do so. This is a highly anomalous finding, unexplainable in
conventional physics. Further anomalous effects were noted when the IEED was removed from
the room.
Recent advances in theoretical physics suggest that the space between atoms and molecules is
not inert. Tiller speculates that this “vacuum” may be where the intent is imprinted.
Tiller suggests: as human beings we are spirits dressed in “biobodysuits” that are composed of
four layers, spanning the physical and vacuum dimensions. He discusses consciousness as an
aspect of the biobodysuit, representing spirit as it exists in matter, and relates these layers to
theories of physics.
Tiller is a pioneer not only in physics but also in spirituality research.

Introduction
The experimental observations of Copernicus and Galileo eventually overcame, after great
struggle, the prevailing and deeply entrenched science paradigm of their time. Over the
subsequent centuries, what we now call classical mechanics gained ascendancy in the physics
community and, by the 19th century was deeply entrenched as the prevailing physics paradigm
of its time. By the last quarter of the 19th century, world leaders in the physics community were
advising young students not to enter this field as “there are only a few t’s to cross and a few i’s
to dot and then everything fundamental in physics would be known that could be known.” And
then a new doorway seemed to open in the universe and two new concepts, (1) the quantum
and (2) relativity, were born to account for some troubling experimental observations of the time.
Once again, the establishment science of the day strongly resisted the new concepts but, after
about three decades of serious struggle, the new fields of quantum mechanics and relativistic
mechanics had become strong enough and integrated enough to be begrudgingly accepted by
the scientific community as a serious part of nature’s expression. By the end of the 20th century
a new physics paradigm was in full acceptance and quantum/relativistic mechanics is the
entrenched paradigm of today.
From the foregoing, one should deduce that nature always has richer modes of expression than
our models and paradigmatic approximations to nature circumscribe. We should also deduce
that it is reproducible experimental data generated via a well-defined protocol, which is
inconsistent with any prevailing paradigm, that heralds a need for expansion of that particular
world view into a new paradigm. Finally, we should also deduce that the process of change
from one paradigm to its replacement does not occur easily and quickly because entrenched
mindsets cause humans to reject what they don’t understand (from their viewpoint) even in the
face of abundant experimental data. It is psychologically easier to reject the existence/validity
of such data than to go through the difficult process of changing “hardwired” mental patterns
concerning reality.
Today, we once again have abundant experimental evidence concerning nature’s expression
that is being “swept under the rug” by the scientific establishment because it doesn’t fit into the
current prevailing paradigm. This concerns the issue of whether or not human qualities of spirit,
mind, emotion, consciousness, intention, etc., can significantly influence the materials and
 3
processes of physical reality. The current physics paradigm would say “no” and indeed there
is no place in the mathematical formalism of the paradigm where any human qualities might
enter. However, the database that supports an unqualified “yes” response is very substantial
[1-10]. This article is dedicated to illustrating to this readership both why, from a scientific
perspective, the “yes” response is the correct one and, briefly, what some of its implications are
for philosophy, religion and technology.
This article is a preamble to a discussion of spiritual healing, to follow in the next issue of the
IJHC.

Experimental findings from our Intention Imprinted Electrical Device (IIED) research
The IIED device becomes the host for a specific intention designed for a specific target
experiment. This specific intention is “imprinted” into the host device via four very qualified
humans acting from a deep meditative state. The device then acts as an effective surrogate for
these humans, plus cooperating parts of the “unseen,” with respect to transferring this specific
intention to the experimental site of the appropriate target experiment.
The main target materials selected for this study were (1) purified water, (2) the liver enzyme,
alkaline phosphatase (ALP), (3) the main cell energy storage molecule, adenosine triphosphate
(ATP), and (4) living fruit fly larvae, drosophila melanogaster. By comparing the separate
influence of two physically identical devices, one unimprinted and the other imprinted via our
meditative process, we were able to demonstrate a robust influence of human consciousness
on these four materials. In particular, by just placing the designated IIED for its target
experiment about 6 inches from the experimental apparatus and turning it on (total radiated
electromagnetic energy less than one-millionth of a watt), the following has been observed:
(1a) A shift in pH (acidity) of the purified water, in equilibrium with air, down by one full pH
unit (in precise accord with the intention imprint for that IIED), with a measurement
accuracy of one-one hundredth of a pH unit with no chemical additions to the water. Thus,
the imprinted intention [asked for produced] a response 100 times higher than any
background noise.
(1b) A shift in pH of purified water, in equilibrium with air, up by one full pH unit (in precise
accord with the intention imprint for that particular IIED). Combined, these two devices (a
and b) represented a swing in hydrogen ion content of the water by a factor of 100.
(2) An increase in the in vitro thermodynamic activity of both ALP and ATP by about 15%-30%
(in complete accord with the imprints imbedded in these two IIEDs). In both cases, the
statistical significance of the data was p < 0.001, meaning that the probability of these
results occurring by random chance was less than one in a thousand and
(3) Reduced larval development time to the adult fly state by 25% at p < 0.001. This means
that the IIED increased the rate of ATP production in the growing larvae so that they were
more “fit” physically and they matured more quickly. Measurements of ATP confirmed this
hypothesis.

A totally unexpected and critically important phenomenon arose during repetitive conduct of any
of these IIED experiments in a given laboratory space. It was found that, by simply continuing
to use an IIED in the laboratory space for approximately 3 – 4 months, the laboratory became
“conditioned” and the state of that “conditioning” determined the robustness of the above-
mentioned experimental results. Our interpretation of this effect is illustrated in Figure 1.
Let us suppose that we have some generalized physical measurement, M, of magnitude, QM
(this might be pH, electrical conductivity, etc.). From Figure 1, we note that, for IIED processing
times less than t1, no meaningful change is detectable by our measurement instruments and
 4
Q M = Q MO . However, for processing times between t1 and t2, a variety of transitional
behaviors (many of an oscillatory nature) are observed for QM. For processing times longer
than t2, the space conditioning seems to have reached a stable plateau wherein, even with the
IIED removed from the space and stored in an electrically-grounded Faraday cage, the degree
of conditioning seems to remain fairly constant for very long periods of time in that locale (for
over a year and

Figure 1. For any typical physical measurement, Q,

the qualitative magnitude changes with IIED processing time

still going in one of our locales). In our purified water experiments locale, after time t1, we
began to observe oscillations in air temperature, water pH, water electrical conductivity and DC
magnetic field polarity effects on water pH. In nearby “unconditioned” locales, about 10 to 20
meters away, no such oscillations were ever observed.
Although we have not yet tried the specific experiment, we hypothesize that, if we had removed
the IIED from the experimental space sometime between t1 and t2, the magnitude of Q M would
slowly decay back to Q MO . If so, this would indicate that, whatever structural element in nature
is responsible for these oscillations, is changing through a series of metastable states and
would decay back to the ground state if the “IIED-pumping” was discontinued. Only after an
IIED processing-time greater than t2 does this structural element surmount some barrier and
reach a truly stable state (the higher plateau in Figure 1).
This seems remarkably like the general human experience wherein a group of well-intended
individuals come into a room to meditate together, pray together, meaningfully commune from a
“spiritual” perspective together, etc. Then, an elevated and tangible “field of consciousness”
seems to fill the room and one doesn’t want to leave this room. When the group eventually
leaves, a residue of the experience remains in the room and slowly disperses. If this gathering
meets daily in the same room for the same purpose then, after years to decades of such
processing, the room takes on a seemingly permanent “conditioning” that can be tangibly felt by
 5
most individuals when walking singly into the room. Some of these sites become what we
currently call “sacred spaces.”
On a more technical and theoretical level, our working hypothesis concerning nature’s structural
element involved in the laboratory conditioning process is that we are changing the degree of
order in the physical vacuum state of the room. This vacuum fills the spaces between all the
atoms and molecules of the room as well as most of the space within all the atoms and
molecules of the room. This vacuum is thought to contain “unseen” substances that today’s
science has not explored in any detail. However, its normal state is postulated to be highly
energetic, chaotic and completely random (disordered). Our IIED work suggests that human
consciousness, specifically human intention, can interact with this vacuum “stuff” and alter its
degree of order in a seemingly permanent way. As a metaphor for this process, it is much like
having a large volume of pure water at a temperature near 0oC that is being cooled slowly.
Theoretically, we know that microscopic regions of ice-like order form and disappear quickly
throughout this water and we could call this a metastable condition. When the temperature is
below 0oC, a true thermodynamic potential exists for forming ice as a stable phase in this water.
All that is needed is to have an effective catalyst present to help these microscopic regions of
ice-like order exceed a critical size and then macroscopic sized particles of ice appear and
remain stable in the bulk water.
Returning to my main technical theme, what we have created via this IIED research is a higher
symmetry state of nature wherein a richer level of physical expression is naturally manifested in
that space. From this discovery, we have learned that any measurement by a physical
instrument is comprised of two parts (1) the typical part, which we call the direct-space or
particulate part, and (2) a second part, which we call the reciprocal-space or wave part. In our
normal world (an unconditioned laboratory), Part 1 is much much larger than Part 2 and, to even
discriminate Part 2 from Part 1, we must gather careful statistics.[1] because the magnitude of
the signal is just above the noise level. However, in a fully “conditioned” space, human intention
can significantly influence materials and processes in nature so that the magnitude of Part 2 can
be much larger than Part 1. It indeed becomes a “new” reality.
To date, we have consciously created six different “conditioned” spaces for our experiments
with one having remained in the “conditioned” state for over a year after removal of the IIED.
We are now moving out to try and reproduce these remarkable results in other people’s
laboratories around the U.S. We think that they can be created in various settings, such as
hospitals (nursery, surgery), offices (psychiatrist, psychologist), churches, homes and
manufacturing facilities, with a different specified intention for each. It seems to be a practical
way to gradually raise the symmetry state of the earth to a new level of potentiality and
possibility. Of course, elevated and loving human consciousness is a likely requirement for
sustaining and nourishing that stable higher symmetry state. (A full account of this new
research is given in Reference 10).
Additional “conditioned” space experimental results
My current working hypothesis is that the conditioning process produces domains of order in the
physical vacuum which, in-turn, raises the electromagnetic Gauge symmetry of the space so
that any physical measurement in that space is comprised of two appreciably sized parts.
(Gauge symmetry is a very complex concept in physics so, here, we will just consider it as
determining the type of order present at the vacuum level of nature.) One aspect is from our
normal “direct-space” while its companion aspect is from the newly appreciated “reciprocal-
space.” The former arises from particulate structure in nature while the latter arises from wave
structure at the vacuum level in nature which, combined, comprise the wave/particle duality
concept that is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics (QM).
 6
In this section, I want to elaborate on the base of our experimental findings, provide a few
examples concerning unintentional human “conditioning” of space, and indicate the key step of
experimental validation that we are embarking upon at the moment.
At our most conditioned laboratory site in Minnesota (the IIED had been removed many months
earlier and the room maintained stable “conditioned” space signatures), we decided to set up a
“source” type of experiment which we continuously ran over a several month period. The
“source” consisted of (1) an electrically-grounded, 12” diameter (~12” high) Faraday cage (FC),
(2) a 3” diameter jar containing purified water placed inside the FC at its center, (3) a pH-
electrode and temperature-probe placed inside the water with leads going outside of the FC to a
measurement device plus a computer and (4) a linear array of air-temperature measurement
probes placed about every 6” or 12” from the center of the FC along a direction extending
across the entire room to a position 11 feet away outside in the hall. The location of the FC plus
temperature measuring probes (resolution of 0.001oC for some probes and 0.1oC for others)
relative to the conditioned office and hall is shown in Figure 2a.
Figure 2a. Forced convection experiment at site B. A mechanical fan was
positioned to perturb the air around a series of aligned temperature
measurement probes. Fan location positions (X is on the floor, Y is on the
desk) relative to the water vessel in a Faraday cage on upper left table top and
a line of temperature probes (small boxes) 6 inches apart.
 7

Figure 2b. Detailed schematic drawing of temperature probes relative to Faraday cage
and water vessel and their relationship to
true North. Position of temperature probes
shown as black circles

A detailed picture of the FC shown on the table top

(upper left corner of Figure 2a) is shown in Figure 2b.
All of these temperature probes record oscillations with
some average amplitude and we were interested to
determine (1) how the amplitude varied with radial
distance from the center of the FC, (2) how the air T-
oscillation amplitude changed when a fan was blowing
air across the array of probes and (3) how the air T-
oscillation amplitude changed when the FC plus water
jar and its instrumentation were removed from this
“conditioned” room and stored elsewhere.
Standard, normal observations (i.e. conventional anticipations under the prevailing paradigm) in
an unconditioned space for these three temperature (“T”) experiments would be the following:
(1) for an air T-oscillating source at the location of the water jar inside the FC, the amplitude
would diminish steadily with radial distance from the jar while the period of the oscillation would
increase steadily with increase of radial distance from the jar, (2) the T-oscillation amplitude
would collapse to about zero magnitude with the fan blowing air strongly about the room and (3)
the T-oscillation amplitude at all probe locations would decay to zero within minutes of removal
of the “source” from the room. Any other behavior would be anomalous!
The actual, observed behavior of the T-oscillation amplitude in these three basic experiments
was as follows:
 8
(1) The air T-oscillation
amplitude did not decay smoothly Figure 3. Composite amplitude vs. distance plot
and asymptotically to zero with for air, T-oscillations in the Figure 1 geometry
increasing distance from the FC. (between August and September 1999).
Rather, we observed the profile
shown in Figure 3.
The second maximum is distinctly
anomalous. In addition, when we
analyzed the spectral distribution
of the various T-oscillation wave
components (fundamental plus all
higher harmonics) at all probe
locations from within the FC to
out in the hall, this spectral
distribution was identical at all
probe locations. This is very
anomalous, as if one common
oscillating force of unlimited
extent (at least 11-20 feet in
radius) was driving all these T-
probes.
(2) Even with a fan blowing
directly on the T-probes (with
sufficient force to blow a sheet of
paper quickly from the table top),
although some jiggling of the T-
oscillation waves occurred at any particular T-probe location (immediately on starting the fan),
they quickly settled down and continued to oscillate with almost the same amplitude and period
as in the pre-fan case. An anomalous behavior indeed, as one would expect the fan to
distribute heat from any one location to all locations around the laboratory!
(3) When the “source” was removed from the room, the air T-oscillation amplitude did not
quickly disperse. Rather, it slowly decayed with a time-constant of ~weeks to months. What we
might call a “phantom” air T-oscillation amplitude profile existed in the room for a very long time.
(We didn’t wait long enough for it to decay fully but, after a few days, did experiment 4).
(4) We placed a large, natural quartz crystal, with its C-axis (central, longitudinal axis) pointing
upwards (perpendicular to the table top) within the area previously occupied by the FC. We
immediately noticed an increase in the phantom T-oscillation amplitude but no particularly
noticeable change in the time-profile shape of these phantom waves. However, when this
quartz crystal was rotated 90 degrees, so that one of its prism faces was now flat with the table
top and its C-axis was now pointing along the line of the T-probes, there was an immediate
inversion of the wave shape, a reduction of T-oscillation amplitude by a factor of about five, and
a reduction of the wave period by about a factor of two. This is a remarkably anomalous result!
All of this is very “odd” behavior. So what does it mean? What initial conclusions can be drawn
concerning “conditioned” spaces? What is the most important step to be taken in our future
research?
First, the experimental data are real! We are observing startling new facts bout the manifold
expressions of nature. It is a new reality for us and one must look at it with new eyes. We
presume these effects are related to a raising of its symmetry state. We learn that space is
adaptable/malleable to human intention when the coupling between the substances of direct-
space and the substances of reciprocal-space is strong. From our theoretical studies,
 9
discussed below, we have postulated that activation of a higher dimensional coupling
substance from the domain of emotion (called deltrons) is required.
There are two subspaces that are reciprocals of each other. One subspace, which we call
direct-space (or D-space), has a distance-time coordinate framework. The other subspace,
which we call reciprocal-space (or R-space) has an inverse-distance and inverse-time
coordinate framework. The latter coordinates can be looked at as frequencies and thus allow a
more natural bridge to the higher dimensional domains of nature (emotion, mind and spirit).
A word picture of the simplest composite substance would be
{D-Space Substance //Activated Deltrons// R-Space Substance}.Since the magnitude of this
coupling increases as the magnitude of deltron activation increases, we can conclude that
enhanced human intention is or includes a thermodynamic potential to increase deltron
activation. We can also conclude that it is not the dense particulate substance of physical
reality that gives rise to these new phenomena. Rather, it is the much finer wave substance of
physical reality that gives birth to these new expressions of nature. Thus, we must begin to
recognize physical reality as being composed of two parts, a dense electric matter part and a
fine magnetic matter part. Only when large deltron (from the emotion domain) activation occurs
is this magnetic monopole aspect readily distinguishable from the electric monopole aspect.
(Magnetic dipoles manifesting measurable effects in dense physical matter are thought to arise
as “images” from the magnetic monopoles in reciprocal-space).[10]
If we remove particulate substance as any explanation for these new experimental facts, we are
left with the physical vacuum as the next most simple structural domain in nature as a home for
this new class of phenomena. Since reciprocal-space is thought to be the coarsest level of the
vacuum[10] and magnetic monopoles are also thought to be the prime constituents comprising
the fine atomic substance of reciprocal-space, it is the development of domains of order in an
otherwise random background of vacuum, that is thought to be the “source” of these
phenomena.
Most people think of the physical vacuum as totally empty but, actually, it is the space between
all atoms and almost all of the space within atoms and molecules (at least 99.999+% of that
space). From theory, for internal consistency of quantum mechanics and relativity theory, the
vacuum must contain ~1094 grams equivalent of latent energy (E=MC2 units). This is a huge
number which, in more practical terms, means that the amount of vacuum energy latent in the
volume of a single hydrogen atom is much, much more than all of the mass energy present in all
of the planets and all of the stars that telescopes would detect in a radius of 20 billion light-
years[10] (provided that we can neglect the Einsteinian gravitational constant – which one can if
we have a “flat” universe - and cosmological data suggest that we do).
Before the general science community will accept this new data as a demonstrable part of
nature’s expression, we must find a way to have other experimenters around the country and
around the world reproduce the experimental results described in the introductory section of this
article. This means that they must first “condition” their experimental space. Very recently, we
have received the funds to conduct and track “conditioning” experiments in four different
laboratories around the country. As I write this article, we have already initiated this new step
in four laboratories,.
In the closing section of this article, let us consider a few examples of what are probably
partially “conditioned” spaces with which this readership may have some familiarity. For the first
example, let us consider an inventor who has worked for years in his garage to construct and
perfect a subtle energy conversion device of extremely high efficiency. Let us also suppose that
eventually, to his satisfaction, he is successful in achieving his goal. He shows it to his friends
and is able to successfully demonstrate the super-high efficiency of his device. They encourage
him to start a business utilizing the device and, as a key part of the overall business
 10

agreement, the prototype is to be moved to a testing laboratory in another city for rigorous
evaluation by others. This is done, the tests are carried out carefully by reputable people and
the super-high conversion efficiencies of the original tests are not substantiated. Only ordinary
performance is observed for the device!
Both the testing people and the potential business associates conclude from this that the
inventor was either not a careful experimenter, had a defect in his measurement system or was
practicing fraud. However, in reality, he had probably partially “conditioned” both his garage and
his device via his sustained intention through the many years of prototype development and was
probably not even aware of this possibility and its crucial relationship to his results. He had
probably created something approximating the higher Gauge symmetry state of one of our
“conditioned” spaces whereas the verifying laboratory locale was bound to be a totally
unconditioned space. The many stories (myths?) concerning alchemists from the middle ages
probably involved many of the same ingredients present in the garage inventor example above.
The last example relates to the conditioning of an external space in the office of a husband and
wife who conduct their daily professional activities in this space. They are a remarkable couple,
strongly devoted to helping and healing others and filled with love for both individual examples
of humanity and the larger collective humanity. They wanted to participate in our external site
conditioning experiment to help us and perhaps to eventually be of greater help to others in
need of “healing.” Our first measurements in their office immediately showed it to be partially
“conditioned” (surprise, surprise!). However, the “quality” of this conditioning gave a different pH
and temperature signature than we were used to and, if this means that there is already a high
deltron activation in that room, it should not take too long for the room to “learn” to generate the
signatures required by the prime imprint directive from the IIED we are using in their space. An
exciting possibility that the near-future will unfold for us!

Towards Understanding the New Experimental Data

To recapitulate, I described the many strong experimental measurement anomalies associated
with monitoring air temperature-oscillations in a particular radial direction from a “source”
structure placed in a strongly “conditioned” space. These effects could not be traced to any
particulate substance in the room but, rather, appears to originate from a physical vacuum
substance that is generally unseen and undetectable by instrumentation in normal
unconditioned space. When we removed the source to a remote location, the room still
manifested these air T-oscillations which we labeled “phantom” oscillations having a long
lifetime and described how their nature could be strongly influenced by the placement and
orientation of a natural quartz crystal at the original “source” location[10]. I also described a few
examples of unintended, intention-generated, partial conditioning in the work spaces of what
could be called focused, loving, normal people.
In this section, rather than presenting a deeply scientific perspective on the structure of the
universe and the various detailed processes that we think can account for these experimental
results, I wish to describe my present understanding in metaphorical terms.

The Biobodysuit Metaphor

My working hypothesis is that we are all spirits having a physical experience as we ride "the
river of life" together. Our spiritual parents dressed us in our biobodysuits and put us in this
playpen, which we call a universe, so that we can grow in coherence, in order to develop our
gifts of intentionality, and in order to ultimately become what we were meant to become -
effective co-creators with our spiritual parents.
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These biobodysuits come in a wide variety

Figure 4. A visualization of dual four-
space frames imbedded in three higher
dimensional frames
of colors and two unique morphologies, that
we choose to call genders. Each
biobodysuit has four main layers: (1) the
outer layer is the electric monopole
substance layer, (2) the first inner layer is
the magnetic monopole substance layer, (3)
the second inner layer is the emotion
domain substance layer and (4) the third
inner layer is the mind domain substance
layer - and inside that is a portion of our
spirit self that drives the vehicle. So think of
this multilayered suit as a kind of "diving
bell" or apparatus that our spirit self uses to
sense and experience this peculiar earth
environment. A pictorial representation of

Figure 5. An energy level diagram

embracing both classical physical
substance and “unseen” vacuum
substances.

this structure is given in Figure 4.

All of these inner layer substances function in

what we presently call "the vacuum." The more
structurally refined are these layers, the larger is
the amount of our high spirit self that can inhabit
the biobodysuit. What are known as the four
fundamental forces of present-day science all
function in the outermost layer and somewhat in
the first inner layer of the biobodysuit. What are
presently called "subtle energies" all function in
the three inner layers which are substructures of
the vacuum. An energy level diagram for this
biobodysuit structure is given in Figure 5.

It is well known that, at least at the moment, our

eyes detect only a very small fraction of the total
electromagnetic spectrum and our ears detect
only a very small fraction of the total available
sound spectrum. Thus, it is perhaps not so surprising when I suggest that we generally detect
only one band in the total spectrum of reality!

For most of us, we are presently only cognitively aware of the outer layer of our biobodysuits
and the outer layer of the world that surrounds us. However, some individuals are, today,
cognitively aware of these unseen bands in the spectrum of reality. These are people we call
“sensitives,” “clairvoyants,” “seers,” “intuitives,” and other names that indicate they perceive
information outside of the usual spectrum of conscious human awareness. This means that
such a capability is a natural part of the multidimensional human genome. It probably also
means that all of us have the latent capability for achieving these expanded levels of cognition.
 12
This generally occurs via intentional and diligent practice of self-management techniques. We
are all familiar with such self-development processes at the outer layer level of the biobodysuit –
for instance, for developing and enhancing various athletic, artistic or strength coordinations.
Now, we are becoming aware that we can extend such efforts to the emotional and mental
levels as well. This allows us to build new infrastructures at the inner levels of our biobodysuits.

At least three or more inner self-management techniques at emotional and mental levels are
readily available to us:

(1) Yoga –is the oldest and best known. It focuses on the brain in order to still the mind and
then to make significant contact with our larger self.

(2) QiGong –is the next oldest, and the basis for all the martial arts. It focuses on the Dan Tien
point just below the belly-button in order to still the mind and then make contact with our larger
self.

(3) HeartMath –is the newest, which focuses on the heart in order to still the mind and then
make significant contact with the larger self.

There are a variety of other aproaches, Sufism being one. In almost all cases, sufficient diligent
practice leads to various levels of adeptship and this naturally manifests as what we presently
call "superphysical" abilities. I prefer to call it actualizing our latent abilities, which involves
becoming more coherent and therefore more conscious.

In this metaphor, consciousness is a concomitant or byproduct of spirit entering dense matter.

If only a little can enter because insufficient structural organization exists in the dense matter,
then the individual consciousness will be low. This means that the individual's awareness will
also be low and very little flexibility will exist in the course of action to be taken in response to a
stimulus or event that occurs in the environment. However, by the diligent application of
personal effort, one can increase the structural refinement in their biobodysuit so that it exhibits
a greater capability. Thus, more of our high spirit self can enter the body and the individual
exhibits a higher level of consciousness. This manifests, in part, as greater personal
awareness, the recognition of new possibilities, more flexibility, more adaptability, a greater
ability to just love and not judge another human, the recognition that only win-win situations are
enduringly stable, the recognition of others as part of our larger self, etc. This continual
"bootstrap" process is the way we grow spiritually. And we have grown quite a bit since we first
invested a part of our spirit-selves in the biobodysuits of the mammalian ape. However, we still
have a very long way to grow before we reach home!

What we see here is that "we are the product of the process and we are built by the process!"[9]
By directed intention, we engage in activities outside of ourselves and, by the quality of our
actions there, have the possibility of building a better biobodysuit (a major experience in spirit’s
creation ability) and developing a higher consciousness - both of which greatly enrich the
human family!

At the outer layer of our biobodysuits, our neural systems function only on the basis of contrasts
or differences. Thus, our sensory systems in this layer detect only the differences between
things and this is why we appear to be separate from each other. At the level of the first inner
layer of the biobodysuit, a special kind of "mirror-type" relationship exists and the coordinates
for experience are not distance and time but are the reciprocals of these (1/distance = number
per unit distance or a spatial frequency and 1/time = number per unit time or a temporal
frequency). Thus, this coarsest level of the vacuum is a four-dimensional frequency domain
and, here, there is no separation between us. Here, we form a unity, and the events that occur
in this presently unseen domain are the precursors to all the events that materialize at the
 13
space-time level. If you like, it is the prephysical reality where we collectively create our future
at the space-time level.

At present, we don't cognitively access the vacuum domains in the reality spectrum for a variety
of reasons. Three of these are:

(1) We are seldom quiet enough at the outermost layer level in order to reliably sense the
information signals present at the more subtle levels - they are buried down in the “noise” [of our
engagement with material awareness].

(2) We have not yet developed a sufficiently coherent structural organization at these inner
levels to allow large amplitude signals to exist and be sustained in the vacuum domains.

(3) Perhaps most important of all, our mindsets are such that we believe the four dimensions of
space-time are all that exists and, therefore, we have built a cognitive jail for ourselves with
walls so high that it is almost impossible to tunnel through them and break free of this confining
mindset!

Now, let us address some of the key points in this biobodysuit metaphor:

(a) The Vacuum: Most of the general public hold the idea that the vacuum is not only the
absence of physical matter but is also devoid of anything! However, for quantum mechanics
and relativity theory to be internally self-consistent, the vacuum is required to contain an
amazingly large inherent energy density. This vacuum energy density is so large that, for a
“flat” universe (so Einstein’s Gravitation constant can be neglected), the intrinsic total energy
contained within the volume of a single hydrogen atom is [about one trillion times larger than
that contained in all the physical mass of all the planets plus all the stars in the entire known
cosmos out to a radius of 20 billion light-years. This makes the energy stored in physical matter
an insignificant whisper compared to that stored in the vacuum. Uncovering the secrets of the
vacuum is obviously a very important part of humankind's future!

(b) Coherence: To illustrate this principle, let us consider the case of a typical home-use 60
watt light bulb. It provides some illumination but not a lot of illumination. This is primarily
because the emitted photons destructively interfere with each other so that most of the bulb's
potential effectiveness is destroyed. However, if we could somehow take the same number of
photons emitted by the light bulb per second and orchestrate their emission to be in phase with
each other, then we would have constructive interference between these photons and now the
energy density of the surface of the light bulb would be thousands to millions of times larger
than that emitted by the surface of the sun. This illustrates the unutilized potential in the present
light bulb.

Perhaps the best example of the development of coherent energy emissions from humans
comes from studies of QiGong masters. They appear to emit beams of infra red radiation (1 to
4.5 microns) from their palms[9] that have healing benefits.

(c) Mindsets: One of the most striking experiments concerning the power of one's mindset was
carried out in the mid-1930's by a psychologist named Slater, who designed what might be
called "upside down" glasses. Subjects were asked to continually wear these glasses that
distorted their perception so that the wearer saw everything upside down. It was very
disorienting for the wearer but, after about two to three weeks (depending on the wearer), there
was a sudden "flip" and they saw everything right-side up. Then, if the subject permanently
removed the glasses, the world was abruptly upside down again for about two to three weeks
before the images returned to a normal perspective. Here, we see that the original mindset was
so strong concerning the upright orientation of familiar objects that, when the special glasses
 14
inverted this orientation, a force developed in the brain to [seemingly cause neural dendrites
to grow into a configuration that essentially create an inversion mirror in the optical information
path. Once this neural structure was "hardwired,” with concomitant software adjustment, it took
the old mindset several weeks to deconstruct the special signal inversion network. We now call
this "neural learning" and we humans do it all the time. It is how we build additional
infrastructure into the various layers of our biobodysuits!

(d) The Cause/Effect Process: Via specific intentions, the in-the-biobodysuit aspect of our
spirit self produces actions in the infrastructures of the various layers and these ultimately
manifest as events in space-time. Specifically, the intention from the domain of spirit imprints
an initial pattern on the mind domain (the innermost layer). The detailed intralayer connections
transfer the imprint in a correlated pattern to both the magnetic monopole layer (second layer)
and to the emotion domain layer (third layer) where it activates an important coupling
substance, called deltrons, in this layer (see Figure 6). The deltrons allow coupling between the
magnetic monopole substance of the second layer and the electric monopole substance of the
first layer (outermost layer). This coupling agent acts much like the "toner" needed in a
standard copy machine to produce a clear and legible copy. When the original intention imprint
reaches the outermost layer of the biobodysuit, it activates the built-in mechanisms for action in
the surrounding domain - physical reality.

It is via this process that we collectively and Figure 6. Illustration of one possible
continuously create our future in space-time. process path whereby spirit produces
Our individual responses to the events we action in the physical domain
perceive in space-time are in the form of
thoughts, attitudes and physical actions (and
probably reciprocal space actions). This is
feedback to the mind and emotion domains
which make incremental changes to the
patterns that generated the initial events in
space-time. The superposition of all the
responses to the initial events from all of
humankind leads to the new pattern at the
mind level that generates a new set of events
in space-time. Iteration of this incremental
step, which can be considered as a single
frame in the "movie" called the "River of Life,”
is how we collectively create our cognitive
reality and how our spirits learn the pros and
cons of applied intentionality.
To summarize the biobodysuit metaphor: This
a communication vehicle for understanding
how our spirit-self interfaces with the various
phenomena of our earth world and how, in the
process, it transforms this earth world via our
intentions. In addition, these intentions, by
manifesting a spectrum of associated actions
in our daily life, build hardwired infrastructures
and software programs (both of which are changeable by subsequent sustained intentions) into
the various layers of our individual biobodysuits so that more of our high spirit-self can enter,
thus raising our consciousness. From this model one can realize that, on other life-worlds,
although their spirit selves are composed from the same “stuff” as ours, the outer morphology of
 15
their biobodysuits will generally be quite different because their unique physical laws and their
planet’s animal life-form development may have been quite different than ours.

So I perceive it to be!

Raised Symmetry Spaces, The Origins of Life-Force and the Healing System
In this section, I want to expand on the philosophical modeling given previously, [9,10] to show
where our individual life force comes from, to show how we can use it to create healing spaces
and how this fits into the metaphor “the outbreathing and the inbreathing of the All.”
I mentioned above that we create our collective future via our thoughts, attitudes and actions in
the “now.” An old and popular adage in many societies is, “The end justifies the means.” With
respect to co-creating a world wherein we, our children and our grandchildren would be happy
to live, this old adage is exactly backwards! A more proper and more effective affirmation for
our collective future would be: “The means we use to achieve our goals in life actually determine
the ends we must eventually live with.” Thus, even when we have a proper set of goals, we
must be very selective in the means we utilize to achieve those goals.
A case in point is our response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That particular “wake-up”
call told us that we have a metastasized cancer in the body of humanity and that, if we want to
restore that body to health, we must both excise that cancer and seek to understand the
necessary life-style changes needed for humanity to not recreate the environmental conditions
wherein such cancers naturally grow. Choosing suitable instruments for surgically excising this
cancer with full compassion for neighboring “tissues,” and maintaining an uplifted
spiritual/mental/heart-state during the process, is a growth opportunity for all of us. We are in
the process of “becoming” and it is via this type of collective challenge that we show how
collectively inner self-managed (on average) we have become. We should both remove the
present terrorists and should examine our individual and collective inner selves to alter that
within us which creates terrorists in the first place.
The old metaphor, “the outbreathing and inbreathing of the All” suggests a vehicle for an
overview understanding of our collective path at the soul level (indestructible and eternal). This
can be thought of as a single cycle in the evolution of God wherein we individual souls may
have a multitude of re-embodiment cycles. At some point in this major cyclic process, everything
is in a state of perfect coherence and no “thing” is discriminable in the whole – we are one!
During the out-breathing phase of the cycle, a gradual unraveling of this coherence state occurs
so discriminable beings and things unfold. Initially, these beings and things have no
biobodysuits of any type to enwrap their spirit natures. As the process of decohering continues
from the highest frequency levels towards the lower frequency levels of spirit, manifestations of
individualized consciousness first enwrap themselves in a layer of mind-substance and
experience a collective social culture from that type of biobodysuit perspective. This would be a
state of very high Gauge symmetry, not cognitively accessible from our readership’s present
Gauge symmetry state. As the decohering continues to lower and lower frequency levels, more
discriminated beings and things manifest, the biobodysuits develop more layers and new social
cultures develop at successively lower Gauge symmetry levels. Some of these cultures appear
in present-day mythology and we call them “Lemuria,” “Mu,” “Atlantis,” etc. However, it is likely
that they were real cultures with their artifacts only accessible to us when we raise our Gauge
symmetry state to the appropriate symmetry level.
This decohering process, which many call the “fall of man” with “sin” overtones, has continued
through the “big bang” with biobodysuit development to its present four-layer nature and its
completely amorphous (random) physical vacuum. This has taken our spirit selves through the
“brute” stages of human development and, at some point in the relatively recent geological past,
the decohering phase of the cycle has stopped and the recohering phase of the cycle has
 16
begun. Thus, we are now in the “in-breathing” part of the process and can anticipate our
spirits’ experiencing higher Gauge symmetry states, less that four-layer biobodysuits and
advanced social cultures on our journey “home” to the state of total coherence and optimum
oneness!
I write these words because, now, we are beginning to consciously create higher symmetry
spaces in laboratories, offices, homes, etc., and we need to become aware of the opportunity
that lies ahead for all of us. The most tangible experimental evidence for this statement comes
from the observation that, in a “conditioned” space compared to an unconditioned space, when
one places a DC magnet under a jar of purified water and records its pH, as illustrated in Figure
7 [10], with the north-pole pointing upwards for 2-3 days and then reverses the magnet so that
the south-pole is pointing upwards (for 2-3 days), we find that the pH change from one condition
to the otheris large in magnitude for the “conditioned” space but is zero for the unconditioned
space (as it should be from conventional U(1) Gauge physics theory). This result can only
occur if a
“conditioned” space is at a higher level of Figure 7. Experimental set-up for
physics Gauge symmetry wherein magnetic testing changes due to a DC magnet
monopoles, as distinct from magnetic dipoles, placed under the water vessel with
are somehow influencing the measurements. either the N-pole or the S-pole axially
One consequence of this is that the and vertically aligned
thermodynamic free energy difference, ∆QG,
between a higher physics Gauge symmetry
state and our normal world’s Gauge symmetry
state is as illustrated in Figure 8.
This means that useful work can be pumped
from any of these states X,Y,SU(2),Z, etc., to
the U(1) Gauge symmetry world. Thus, if a
single organ or system of the human body was
elevated to one of these higher symmetry
states at birth and the rest of the body was not,
seemingly all functions of the body could be
driven via this energy source to exhibit what
we call life; i.e., the heart would pump blood,
nerve synapses would switch on and off,
electric currents would flow, the brain would be
activated to direct various body processes, etc.
Interestingly, experimental data shows us that
there is at least one important body system
that is at one of these higher physics Gauge
symmetry states!
 17

It is a fairly common experience in advanced kinesiology studies that a practitioner can slide a
small circular DC magnet (with a central hole) onto the tip of his/her finger and, bringing this
Figure 8. Schematic illustration of free energy
change, from the ground symmetry state, U(1), as
the degree of locale conditioning increases.
finger/magnet into the biofield of a
particular muscle group of a
patient, can either strengthen or
weaken this muscle group
depending upon which pole points
towards the muscle group. The S-
pole facing the group strengthens
the muscle’s response while the N-
pole facing the group weakens the
muscle’s response. Thus, it is the
acupuncture meridian system (in
the reciprocal space layer, or first
inner layer, of the human
biobodysuit) that is at a higher
symmetry state (probably the SU(2)
Gauge symmetry state). What the
Asian culture has called Qi (or chi)
for millennia is what flows in this
meridian/chakra system driven by
this Gauge symmetry “pump.” This
“pump” drives everything else in the
physical body and is what we call
“the life force.”

Figure 9. Schematic illustration of the five key interactive

elements involved in any human exchange
 18

The general picture that I would like to leave with the reader as I close this section relates to
how we operate in life with respect to another; whether as a minister, a healer, a medical doctor,
an acupuncturist or just a spouse and parent. This picture is illustrated via Figure 3 for the
practitioner/client interaction. Usually, all five components are intimately involved in the
interaction even though the practitioner, utilizing some physical device, may only acknowledge
that they and the client are involved. It is the practitioner’s love, compassion, devotion to
service and intent that can elicit the “unseen” assistance of the universe to co-raise the Gauge
symmetry of the intervening space, allowing the intention to be more fully empowered. For
instance, saturating the device with activated deltrons through mental intent is an important
factor in the overall effectiveness of the process. It is via being fully appreciative of this entire
operating system in all the processes of our lives that we can collectively lift the Gauge
symmetry state throughout our entire world and move us forward into the next phase of our
great adventure on our journey home.

Some {D-Space/Deltron/R-Space} Relationships and Their Consequences

I have explored the biobodysuit metaphor, its overall relationship to spirit development and how
it changes through the unfoldment of the “Great Cycle.” The “birthing” process and the “dying”
process for humans involve, largely, just the two outer layers of the biobodysuit, the D-space
substance and the R-space substance parts. The remainder is the soul which gains experience
and infrastructure via both re-embodiment cycles and the intervening interludes in other
domains of nature. Now it is time to gain some more detailed insight into the specific
relationships that exist between the D-space layer and the R-space layer. That is the goal of
this article.
These {D-space/Deltron/R-space} relationships are most easily and most clearly (for those
familiar with this language of pure thought) expressed in terms of mathematical equations.
While most of this readership will probably find reading this last part challenging, I follow that
path of clearest communication. I will attempt to articulate the essential parts in digestible words
and pictures, which the non-mathematical reader can follow.

As mentioned above, I have proposed that a more appropriate frame of reference for viewing
nature than distance-time is a framework composed of two subspaces that are reciprocals of
each other. One subspace, which we call direct-space (or D-space), has a distance-time
coordinate framework. The other subspace, which we call reciprocal-space (or R-space) has an
inverse-distance and inverse-time coordinate framework. The latter coordinates can be looked
at as frequencies and thus allow a more natural bridge to the higher dimensional domains of
nature (emotion, mind and spirit). Thus, this combined dual subspace framework, which may be
formally called a “biconformal base-space,” yields two distinct parts to any physical
measurement; i.e.,

Specific Physical Measurement = D-space Part + R-space Part

= Local Part + Non-local Part

 19
= Particle Part + Wave Part

This bottom expression has indeed been captured in today’s description of quantum mechanics
(QM). However, because QM has been formally expressed in only a distance-time coordinate
framework, these two parts are confusingly entangled and one is unable to clearly discriminate
one portion from the other. The biconformal base-space approach allows one to (1) eliminate
this particular kind of entanglement in QM, (2) make QM more understandable and (3) allow
QM’s expansion to include the effects of human consciousness and human intention on
physical reality. It is the deltron coupling between these two parts in the above word equation
that allows (3) to be possible because human consciousness and human intention appear to
interact directly with the deltron aspect. If negligible deltron activation is present then the
magnitude of the R-space part is quite small but non-zero. If strong deltron activation is present
then the R-space part can be quite large in magnitude and the physics Gauge symmetry level of
the space can be raised.
Because these two subspaces are reciprocals of each other, mathematics requires that a
particular quality in one subspace (density, form, potential, etc.) is related to its equilibrium
conjugate quality in the other subspace by what is called a Fourier transform relationship (a
unique mathematical equation). This means that, if the D-space map of that quality is known,
the equilibrium conjugate quality in R-space can be calculated and vice versa. This is a
remarkable forward step in our understanding because, now, we can begin to “see” what R-
space looks like. Just as we give infants blocks of different D-space geometries to rearrange
and play with in order to develop their cognitive capabilities and to understand geometrical
relationships, so do we need to “see,” rearrange and play with D-space/R-space equilibrium
conjugate maps to enhance our cognitive capabilities relative to this larger perspective of
nature.
To illustrate the above statement, we consider object shape as our example. In particular, we
consider the three D-space shapes: a line of length, L, a circle of radius, L, and a triangle of
side, L, as shown in the left column of Figure 10, with all being of extremely small thickness (x-
axis is horizontal and y-axis is vertical).
 20
In the middle column, the R-space
Figure 10. Comparison plots of normalized
two dimensional (kx-axis horizontal
modulus, In, for three 1-D objects vs. (kx, ky) and ky-axis vertical) amplitude
maps in the middle column and vs. a ky or kn maps of equilibrium conjugate
plot in the right column. shape are presented. And in the
right column, the normalized
amplitude (means the amplitude
divided by the D-space volume of
the particular shape) for a central
cut of this map along the ky-
direction is given. These are the
R-space results that one would
calculate from the mathematics for
these three D-space shapes.
The first important thing we note is
that the R-space amplitude is not
uniform but has a type of
undulating character in the ky-
direction, with the normalized
amplitude oscillating between unity
(at the zero frequency point) and a
minimum value at a series of
specific ky-values that are different
for the different shapes. For two of
these shapes, the amplitude of
these R-space oscillations decays
to zero as one moves towards higher frequencies (larger values of ky). However, the triangle is
unique among shapes in that the minimum R-space amplitude is not zero and that it tends
towards a constant value at large values of ky. One presumes that this would make the triangle
shape especially useful in physical devices designed to interact with the higher dimensional
realms of nature. Finally, we must always remember that it is the deltron activation that
empowers the Fourier transform and this means that, if this activation is independent of
frequency, the R-space amplitude will just scale strongly upwards to larger magnitudes without
any pattern change as the deltron activation level is increased. However, if the deltron activation
is frequency dependent (we don’t know much about this yet) then the pattern will also change.
The second important thing to note about these calculations is that, if we increase L, the R-
space normalized amplitude patterns for the different shapes stay relatively unaltered, however
the ∆ky spacing between adjacent minima in these patterns decreases inversely with the
increase of L. This is one example of the type of reciprocal mirror that operates between these
two subspaces; i.e., that which is large in size for D-space is small in size for R-space and vice
versa. Thus, very small objects like atoms will exhibit patterns that extend to very large ky-
values while very large objects like a planetary system will exhibit an R-space pattern that is
confined to the very low frequency domain. This conclusion holds so long as one takes the
centroid position of the D-space object as the origin for the (kx, ky) plot. However, if one wishes
to choose the center of the earth as the D-space origin and consider the R-space pattern of the
cosmos, the pattern for the most distant galaxies will be found in the ultra low frequency domain
of R-space while the R-space patterns for closer-in galaxies will be found at slightly higher (kx,
ky, kz)-values. Once again we see this reciprocal mirror principle in operation here. Things that
are far apart in D-space are close together in R-space!
The third important thing to note about these calculations is the observation of a special kind of
entanglement that occurs when one considers the R-space changes associated with the
 21
interaction of two D-space objects. For simplicity, we will just consider two identical parallel
lines (or thin rods) of length L separated by a distance, l, as indicated in Figure 11.
Comparing the top row patterns
with the bottom row patterns one Figure 11. As in Figure 10, the normalized
notes that, although there is little modulus, In, for a single line object and two
pattern change in the ky-direction, parallel identical line objects
there is a marked pattern change
in the kx-direction; i.e., there is
indeed a significant interaction
between the two rods even
though their D-space separation
is well beyond the range of three
of the four fundamental forces
(gravity excepted). This result
would probably not be noted
experimentally in an
unconditioned space but it would
definitely be observable if the
experiment was conducted in a
conditioned space. What we are
seeing here is the constructive
and destructive interference
connection between the wave
nature of two objects (which could be humans) as the D-space separation between them is
changed. Once again, the mirror principle shows that, although separation exists at the D-
space level, no separation exists at the R-space level so that “seeming” physical separation is
an illusion because we presently only cognitively access the D-space portion of reality. When
stronger and stronger deltron activation occurs, this R-space contribution to the experimentally
measured interaction can be huge (often easily observed between humans). It is
mathematically interesting to note that, for any particular kx-value, at rod-rod separation
distances, l, given by kx=4nπ/l (n=0,1,2, - - - ), the R-space normalized amplitude pattern for the
two rods will be exactly equal to that for a single rod whereas, at kx=(2n+1) π/l, this normalized
amplitude will always be zero! I won’t go into it here but, if one takes a single rod and displaces
it parallel to its old position by a distance, l, at time, t1, then, for all times greater than t1 a similar
R-space interference effect will be seen along the kt-coordinate direction in R-space and
suitable measurements in a “conditioned” space should reveal this effect.
Before closing this article, I wish to show you some of the wonderfully complex R-space
amplitude patterns that are associated with fairly simple arrays of simple D-space objects. The
example I choose to illustrate this is a circular array of regularly spaced circles (like holes in a
uniform solid background or solid disks in space). This result is shown in Figure 12.
What we see in Figure 12 is that the R-space interactions, from a D-space array of circular
objects, result in mandala-like patterns of considerable richness. This correlation is important
for us because many humans, while in deep meditation, often see such patterns on their
internal viewing screens. This suggests that we have “hardwired” connections in our
biobodysuits that allow us to cognitively access these two conjugate patterns. Pribram[ 11] has
written extensively on the brain processes involved in visual imaging and has developed a
holographic type of theory to explain them. He has shown that the very first place that the brain
accesses any information concerning light impinging on the iris of the eye is at the operator
neurons of the brain’s cortical columns. Further, this information pattern is almost identical with
the R-space amplitude map conjugate to a uniform D-space disc of light.[9, 10] This suggests
 22
that this information conversion to the frequency domain appears to be ideal for subsequent
brain
23
Figure 12. Composite figure of D-space-time hole patterns and
their corresponding R-space diffraction patiterns as
representatives of their intensity patterns; (a) and (b) further
illustrate increasing pattern richness as the array of holes in the 24
mask become more complex.
 25

processing and brain perception. It also suggests that some brain structure exists to operate on
this basic data via an inverse Fourier transform type of process enabling us to see light patterns
the way we think we do. [9, 10] Once again, structural elements are already present in our
brains for us to cognitively access both D-space and R-space aspects of physical reality. I
suspect that practice (a type of “muscle-building”) is all we need to eventually integrate this
latent capacity into our cognitive skills. Since the {D-Space//Deltron//R-Space} relationships are
crucial to a quantitative understanding of such topics as (1) Feng Shui, (2) remote viewing and
(3) distant healing, we should have lots of motivation for taking on this inner self-management
discipline!

References
1. D.I. Radin (1997) The Conscious Universe. (Harper Edge, San Francisco).
2. H. Benson and M. Stark (1996) Timeless Healing, The Power and Biology of Belief
(Scribner, New York).
3. S. Wolf (1997) Educating Doctors (Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, N.J).
4. M. Enserink (1999) “Can the Placebo be the Cure?” Science 284, 238.
5. R. G. Jahn and B. J. Dunne (1987) Margins of Reality: The Role of Consciousness in the
Physical World (Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, New York).
6. R. Targ and J. Katra (1998) Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal Consciousness and
Spiritual Healing (New World Library, Novato, California).
7. L. Dossey (1999) Meaning and Medicine: Lessons From A Doctor's Tales of Breakthrough
and Healing (Bantam Books, New York).
8. L. Zuyin (1997) Scientific Qigong Exploration: The Wonders and Mysteries of Qi (Amber
Leaf Press, Malvern, PA).
9. W. A. Tiller (1997) Science and Human Transformation: Subtle Energies, Intentionality and
Consciousness (Pavior Publishing, Walnut Creek, CA – To order copies call toll-free 888-
281-5170).
10. W.A. Tiller, W.E. Dibble Jr. and M.J. Kohane (2001) Conscious Acts of Creation: The
Emergence of a New Physics (Pavior Publishing, Walnut Creek, CA – To order copies call
toll-free 888-281-5170).
11. K. Pribram (1991) Brain and Perception, Holonomy and Structure in Figural Processing
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ).

* (See title) Reprinted with permission from “New Thought Magazine” in collated and modified
form from five articles that originally appeared in 2001 and 2002.

Contact
Dr. William A Tiller
909 south Pinecone Street
Payson AZ 85541 USA
 26

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 Volume 3, No. 3

September 2003

LOVE AND DEATH:

The Relationship between Altered-State Sex and Near-Death
Experiences
Jenny Wade, PhD

If I must die, I will encounter darkness as a bride,

and hug it in mine arms.
– William Shakespeare
Measure for Measure, Act iii, Ac.1

Abstract:
This paper presents the findings of the first study of adventitious, non-ordinary altered states
that occur during sex and compares their phenomenology and results to those of near-death
experiences (NDEs). Sex, in the absence of psychotropic drugs or esoteric or meditational
techniques designed to bring about altered states of consciousness, can trigger a wide variety
of altered states, most of which resemble those considered in various traditions to be signs of
spiritual attainment. Kundalini, out-of-body experiences, telepathy, and various experiences of
the Light, including unio mystica, are found in sex as well as in NDEs. The transformative
effects of these sexual experiences closely parallel those of NDEs, including increased
spirituality, personal growth, psi (psychic) experiences, improved relationships, and changed
beliefs about the nature of reality, among others. The fact that sex can bring about such
powerful changes suggests the need to reconsider what NDEs and contemplative altered states
represent.

Sacred sex is a venerable spiritual path despite its long decline as an open practice with the rise
of civilization – societies characterized by city-states and bureaucratic institutions rather than
tribal- and clan-oriented societies. Originally – and as still may be detected in the relicts of tribal-
or clan-based cultures – sex was recognized as a potential gateway to certain non-ordinary
phenomena available to adults, associated with spirituality.

The increasing institutionalization of religion has led to:

1. the specialization and stratification of social roles assigning spiritual authority to an elite class
(priests, oracles, initiates, etc.);

2. the codifying of spiritual norms under the control of the elite classes (the transformation of
taboos into legal systems with fixed penalties, such as the Hebraic laws of the Old Testament);
and

3. increasing regulation and restriction of direct personal participation in the sacred.

 2
In Eastern as well as Western traditions, the direct spiritual experience of individuals has been
discouraged outside of set forms and practices controlled by religious authorities - who alone
may sanction any person’s experience as legitimate. The hegemony of the religious
establishment today in evaluating the legitimacy of the “lay person’s” personal spiritual
experiences is a fact of life few would question – fewer still, if scientism is recognized as a
contrarian establishment also passing on the legitimacy of spiritual experiences.

Unquestionably, much of the resistance to NDEs as legitimate spiritual events comes from the
need for these establishments to maintain their authority in propounding their own metaphysics
and worldview (Armstrong, 1993; Berger and Luckmann, 1980; Pagels, 1981, 1988; Peacock
and Kirsch, 1973) – and this resistance has similarly obscured the prevalence of transcendent
sex.

A significant number of adults (conservatively,

Artwork by Andy Kalin
probably one in 17 or 18; see Laski, 1961;
Maslow, 1987; Scantling, 1990; Scantling and
Browder, 1993) experience spontaneous
personal revelations of a vaster reality during
sex, that is, without the influence of psycho-
tropic drugs or employing esoteric sexual arts,
such as Tantra, designed to create an altered
state. When those who deliberately cultivate
such states are included, the numbers are
much higher. Lovers may have profound
spiritual experiences, but the fear of social and
religious stigma has kept the vast majority of
them silent (Laski, 1961; Maurer, 1994;
Maslow, 1987; Wade, 2001, 2000a, 2000b,
1998). This secret underground parallels that
of NDEs prior to the seminal publications by

Raymond Moody (1975, 1977) and Kenneth Ring (1980, 1984) that disseminated knowledge of
NDEs popularly and legitimized them.

NDEs are probably the most documented adventitious non-ordinary experiences today, and the
best researched. Though closely related to NDEs, deathbed visions (Osis and Haraldson, 1977)
and bereavement apparitions (Vargas et al 1989) are other widely reported adventitious altered
states that include spiritual experiences, but these have not been as extensively studied.
.Abduction experiences, while achieving a certain notoriety and attracting some serious study,
are not as universally productive of the spiritual interpretation accorded to NDEs (Ring, 1992).
For one thing, the abduction and NDE experiences are phenomenologically distinct, leading to
different interpretations. For another, until now, the spiritual interpretation of NDE
phenomenology has arguably been attributed to the existential crisis represented by death and to
cultural conditioning and religious beliefs concerning an afterlife (Kellehear, 2001, 1996;
Knoblauch, Schmied and Schnettler, 2001; Murphy, 2001; Zaleski, 1987). Another argument
supporting a spiritual interpretation of NDEs concerns their positively transformative effects
Flynn, 1986; Grey, 1985; Musgrave, 1997; Ring, 1980, 1984; Sutherland, 1992; Tiberi, 1993),
especially as compared to abduction experiences, which may or may not promote a similar
change in values. Ring (1992) advances the argument that the effects are similar, but even in
his sympathetic research, there are notable differences between the results of abduction
experiences and NDEs.

Spontaneous, non-volitional sexual altered states occur during conditions notably lacking the
existential issues associated with NDEs – and are often completely at odds with religious beliefs
about holiness. Yet some produce similar experiences to NDEs, most evoke spiritual
interpretations, and virtually all of them yield the same kinds of positive transformation as NDEs.
 3
The fact that sex can replicate the transformative effects of NDEs tends to affirm the positive
interpretation of both types of experience. Though it can “prove” nothing about their spiritual
validity in any objective way, it also detracts from the prominent status NDEs have enjoyed to this
point as unique adventitious openings to “spiritual” realities and catalytic insights.

This paper provides an overview of the first phenomenological study charting the range of
transcendent sexual experiences, highlights their similarities to the structure and content of
NDEs, and compares their reported aftereffects.

A brief history of sacred sex

Although full treatment of the history of sacred sex cannot be presented here, suffice it to say
that the association of sex with spirituality and transformation is nothing new (Brown, 1988;
Coakley, 1997; Faure, 1998; Parrinder, 1996; Tannahill, 1980; Weisner-Hanks, 2000. Sex is one
of the first attributes associated with deity, and among the earliest recorded creation myths are
stories in which the Creator forms the two sexes out of his or her own hermaphroditic body.
Examples include Ymir, in Norse mythology; the giant from whose body the cosmos, gods and
humans were made, T’ai Yuan, the Great Original of the Chinese who combined the principles of
masculinity and femininity in her being and arranged the workings of the universe according
these principles; and the first version of creation in the Bible, in which God is represented as
encompassing male and female principles and blessing their sexual union (Genesis 1:27-8). The
enduring importance of sex in religion is still easily discernible in the yoni and lingam, yin and
yang, and the mystical unions of Jesus as the bridegroom of the church, of Shekinah and
spiritual aspirants in the Kabbalah, and between Allah and spiritual seekers in certain mystical
Islamic sects, to name only a few.

That these expressions are not merely metaphors for abstract metaphysical concepts is
apparent from what little is known of the fertility rites and sexual mystery schools of the ancient
world, including the cults of Isis, Ishtar, Bacchus, Serapis, Priapus, Dumuzi, Inanna, Ceres,
Venus, Aphrodite, Fortuna Virilis, Pan, Dionysis, Liber, Cybele, the Baalim, and Mithras in
Western European history (Carr, 2003; Partridge, 1960; Roberts, 1993; Tannahill, 1980; Young,
1964). The oldest known human document, the Epic of Gilgamesh, first recorded about 3,000
years ago -in Mesopotamia from a much older oral source about an eponymous historical king of
Uruk who lived about 2700 BCE, contains an explicit account of transformational sacred sex. At
the command of a goddess, a high-ranking sex priestess seeks out Enkidu, a bestial subhuman
who ranges in the wilderness, grazing alongside other animals. She arouses his lust, and the
two enjoy a week-long sex binge. When Enkidu pulls himself together afterward, he first notices
that the other animals now shy away from him. He then “drew himself up [walks upright?], for
his understanding had broadened,” and the priestess announces, “You are beautiful, Enkidu, you
are become like a god” (Kovacs, 1989, tablet 1, 9, 184-188). Through sex, Enkidu has evolved
and become one-third divine.

The belief that lovemaking can involve humans directly in personal and cosmic spiritual
transformation still exists today. Despite the asceticism, celibacy and other restrictions on
lovemaking for spiritual seekers and laity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam all also have branches that recognize sex as a path to realization. Tantra is perhaps the
best known (although most Tantric forms familiar to Westerners are fairly corrupted). Vajrayana
Buddhism, which incorporates elements of ancient Tibetan and Indian indigenous religions,
combines sexual and meditation practices. Broadly speaking, within these traditions, human
lovemaking represents one level of the existence of the individual soul in the World Soul (Atman)
and the presence of nirvana in the world of life and death. Taoism advocates sex as the path to
health, cosmic harmony, and immortality.

As for the religions of the Bible, Jews are expected to enjoy sex regularly as a blessed
responsibility of conjugal life, and sex on the Sabbath certainly is not considered work to be
avoided but a sacred duty. It is also a way of participating in the divine male and female forces
 4
sustaining the universe. This is especially true in mystical Judaism, where Kabbalistic texts with
explicit sexual imagery, such as the Zohar and The Book of Splendor, are supported by a
tradition affirming marital sex as one of the most powerful spiritual practices for transformation
(Ariel, 1988; Hoffman, 1992; Schacter-Shalomi, 1991; Scholem, 1974). The Jewish
Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic gospels and Christian Apocrypha all present a divine
sexual couple with Sophia as the feminine counterpart of God. Saints like Teresa of Avila were
known for their lover-like yearning for union with God, including orgasmic altered states (Laski,
1961).

Sexuality is not only consecrated in the Qu’ran, but Mohammed’s extraordinary virility was
considered a sign of his spiritual realization. Mystical forms of Islam frequently liken the
relationship between the seeker and spiritual guide, between Allah and Mohammed, and
between Allah and the seeker to the love between a man and a woman “whose body is the
temple of Allah and within whom is the unwritten Qu’ran” (McDaniel, 1989, p. 164). Ali Rajah, a
Baul mystic, maintained that ritual spiritual practice could not be performed without a woman.

Over time, however, the establishment versions of all these religions came to view the body,
especially sensual pleasure, as a potential distraction from the spiritual path which was
regarded as increasingly mental and noncorporeal. The distance between a distraction and a
hazard was but a short step. Today, most Eastern religions are characterized by well
developed ascetic and monastic expectations for spiritual attainment, as well as high levels of
bodily regulation during sex for the average householder (Collins, 1997; Faure, 1998; Kripal,
2002; Eskildsen, 1998; Tannahill, 1980; van Gulik, 1974; Williams, 1997) This is also true of
Western religions (Parrinder, 1996; Schimmel, 1997; Tannahill, 1980; Weisner-Hanks, 2000;
Brown, 1988). Even Judaism, which has retained the broadest consecration of sex, today
restricts its frequency and advises against its prolongation for pleasure (Schacter-Shalomi,
1991).

With the exception of “Westernized” versions of Tantra or Taoist sex marketed as paths to more
and better orgasms or ways to enhance relationships, the vast majority of sexual spiritual
practices are largely unknown to the general public. Most are restricted to initiates with high
levels of attainment in spiritual practices, and many still derive from arcane oral traditions. As a
result, the notion of “sacred sex” has little meaning in contemporary Western society – except
that spiritually transformative lovemaking keeps popping up in studies of any size concerning -
either -sex (Maurer, 1994; Scantling and Browder, 1993) or adventitious altered states (Laski,
1961; Maslow, 1987). The study outlined below is the first to investigate the phenomenology of
these ubiquitous transcendent experiences.

An exploratory study of altered-state sex

A recent study (Wade, in press; Wade, 2000b) was designed to identify the quality and range of
adventitious altered states occurring during sex using a combination of heuristic and
phenomenological inquiry. The sample consisted of self-identified males and females of any
sexual preference who said that they had had a “non-ordinary, altered-state, mystical, or
transcendent experience within the context of lovemaking or sex with a partner” during a time
when they were not using psychotropic drugs or engaging in Tantric, Taoist or similar erotic
techniques designed to produce an altered state. Some of these experiences started before
penetration began, others started just afterwards. The study did not define sex as occurring
during penetration (meaningless anyway considering the lesbians in the sample). In some cases
penetration never took place, even among heterosexual partners.

These subjects were solicited by word-of-mouth and referral through professional venues at
institutions of higher learning.

Narrative records were obtained from 91 men and women aged 24-70 that met the clinical and
noetic parameters for alterations in the standard perceptions of time, space, and agency that
 5
represent consensus reality in Euro-American culture. They were analyzed using a heuristic
phenomenological approach, and the results were integrated into exhaustive descriptions that
were then synthesized into fundamental structure, content, and meaning areas. Once the data
became clearer, they were compared to phenomenological descriptions in the altered-state
literature. Since details of this study have been reported elsewhere (Wade, in press, 2000b),
only those elements relevant to NDE studies are reported here.

Forty-two (46%) had been brought up Protestant; 22 (24%), Roman Catholic; 18 (20%), agnostic
or atheist beliefs; and 7 (8%), Jewish. One person each (1%) had a background that was
Buddhist and “eclectic,” respectively. As adults, most had shifted their spiritual orientation –
some as a direct result of their non-ordinary sexual experiences, even if this took several years
– to follow less traditional paths, a finding that may mirror sociological trends but is also
consistent with research on NDErs. Forty-three (47%) now consider themselves to be spiritual
but to have an “eclectic” orientation. Only 16 (18%) are Christian. Thirteen (14%) consider
themselves atheist or agnostic, though 6 of these used theistic references throughout their
narratives in describing their experiences, and another 3 talked of spiritual meanings or causes
for their episodes. Eight (9%) are Buddhist; 4 (5%) Hindu/Yogic; 3 (3%) Pagan/Nature mysticism;
and 1 (1%) each follow Islamic , “New Age,” “Jewish mysticism” and Transcendental Meditation
paths, respectively.

Just as with near-death experiences, demographic factors – sex, age, sexual preference, race,
profession, etc. – had little or no bearing on the kind of sexual experiences reported. Nor did
spiritual beliefs or practice. Non-Christians felt the “presence of the Holy Ghost,” long-term
Buddhist meditators had kundalini effects, agnostics who had never meditated had kensho
experiences of the Void. However, spiritual affiliation did change, in many cases as a result of
the sexual experiences, though it was often not possible to isolate transcendent sex as the
single or primary factor. The vast majority of the sample had mainstream Judeo-Christian
backgrounds, many of them sexually repressive.

The frequency with which people stand a chance of experiencing transcendent events during
sex, a very common experience, greatly exceeds the frequency of NDEs, which occur as
isolated experiences, only occasionally repeated in relatively few people’s lives. Seventeen
(19%) had had a single experience in a lifetime of sex. Like NDEs, these events were often
recalled vividly even after 20 or even 30 years had elapsed. In increasing order of frequency of
the events, 16 (18%) had had altered-state sex on a few occasions. The largest proportion, 29
(32%) typically experienced transcendent sex within the context of a single relationship,
followed by 15 people (16%) who were able to invite the experience successfully, regardless of
partners, with some degree of frequency. Seven (8%) enjoyed transcendent sex with some
regularity in multiple relationships. Another seven rarely have “ordinary sex” (and do not enjoy
it).

By definition, these sexual experiences were characterized by participation in an altered state

that could not be ascribed to the use of chemicals or deliberate techniques. The ordinary sense
of time, space, and/or agency was disrupted and transformed. Typically sexual altered states
included an awareness of the lover, if only as a conduit, and were rooted in the union of the two
whether or not actual intercourse occurred. The partner need not have been human, although
there must have been a sufficient sense of a living presence that the participant did not construe
the event as a solitary, autoerotic experience.

Sexual altered states are more or less independent of orgasm, which is considered a discrete
state of its own. Men and most women entered an altered state that had no relationship to the
timing or duration of their climax. For some women, however, orgasm was almost constant
(chaining, multiple climaxes), although the transcendent events they described had little or no
(subjectively) discernible relationship to orgasm. Orgasm was either a non-event, or could be a
nuisance, a distraction - a problem that shatters or ends the much deeper altered state
altogether.
 6
Another factor that differentiates transcendent sex is the felt experience of a cosmic force
engaging one or both lovers in the context of their lovemaking. The tendency to associate such
experiences with the supernatural was marked. This cosmic force is most often described in the
terms reserved for Spirit – God, the Divine, the Oversoul, the Void, etc. – but it was also
described spatially, as a place of cosmic power, intelligence, and love or as an implicit power
that makes the other realms possible, or causes non-ordinary events in consensus reality.

It is beyond the scope of this article to dwell on the complete range of altered-state experiences
that occur during transcendent sex (Wade, in press, 2000b). Only those with the most direct
parallels to near-death phenomenology are discussed below. However, the full range includes,
in order of descending frequency of occurrence: merging with the partner (43; 47%); kundalini
(31; 34%); the Third Presence (27; 30%); past lives awareness (20; 22%); out-of-body
experiences (23; 25%); becoming one with nature (17; 19%); visions (13; 14%); clairsentience
(13; 14%); unio mystica (11; 12%); the Void (9; 10%); shapeshifting (9; 10%); channeling (8;
9%); transports (7; 8%); magical connections to nature (7; 8%); trespasso (6; 7%); and deity
possession (5; 6%). Of these, kundalini, visions, out-of-body experiences, telepathy, and unio
mystica are the most similar to phenomenology reported in NDEs.

Other phenomena share some commonality with NDEs but remain too distinct for comparison.
Prominent among these is the memory of past lives, in which lovers were transported back in
time and space as other individuals who could “see” or feel themselves moving through scenes
belonging to previous eras and different locations with a fairly complete knowledge of the
biography of the past-life personality. Although past lives condensed an entire lifetime to a few
scenes that clearly highlighted an individual’s tragic flaws and the way they played out in
relationship, these experiences were quite different from the holographic sense of time
compression flashing through a person’s own, recognizable life events with personal
awareness of the effect of the actions on all parties involved reported in NDEs (Ring and
Valerino, 1998).

Another category of experience with some resemblance to NDEs is what I term clairsentience.
In lovemaking, clairsentience refers to a sudden preternatural knowledge of “the truth,” but this
truth is typically limited to subtle, complex, previously hidden dynamics of the lovers’ relationship
– not the omniscience sometimes reported by NDErs in which the secrets of the universe are
revealed.

Finally, in transports, lovers describe spatial dislocation to idealized worlds usually unavailable to
humans (underwater realms, the microcosm, the sky, idealized cityscapes, and outer space), but
these environments never were described in terms of the idealized pastoral or urban landscapes
reported in the near-death realms of light. Instead they seemed to retain a recognizably quality
as normally unfathomable outer reaches of this world rather than another dimension or order of
existence.

The Energy of Life and Death

In Eastern religions, the life energy that animates all organic matter is considered a sacred force
emanating from Spirit (however understood). This life energy is known by many names: shakti
in yogic traditions; chi and huo in Taoism and related schools; tumo in traditions with indigenous
Tibetan roots, etc.

Western religions and esoteric societies also recognize this energy by a variety of names. Yoga
concerns the awakening of this energy, traditionally depicted as a Snake Goddess named
Kundalini coiled at the base of the spine, and teaches to actualize its potentials through
increasingly subtle levels until the ultimate spiritual realization (popularly enlightenment, samadhi)
is attained. The works of Gopi Krishna, widely available in the United States since the 1970s
(1971, 1972a,b, 1974, 1975) made the yogic tradition describing this energy as kundalini a
relatively well-recognized phenomenon in the West. Titles like Kundalini: Evolutionary Energy in
 7
Man and The Biological basis of Religion and Genius indicate the vast powers attributed to this
force, including creativity, sex and procreation, health, vitality, longevity, inspiration (literally and
figuratively), genius, transformation, and also, of course, life itself.

Tantric yoga, a countercultural religious movement based on “reverse spirituality,” employed

“opposite-perverse” practices to reach enlightenment in the Eastern crazy-wisdom tradition
(Tannahill, 1980; McDaniel, 1989). Instead of ascetic practices, dietary taboos, and sexual
abstinence, deliberately sensual techniques, including the eating and drinking of forbidden
substances, and cultivation of bodily pleasures, especially sex, became the spiritual path in
Tantra. Libidinal energy is cultivated through sexual practices that raise kundalini through higher
and subtler energy vortices (chakras) and meridians in the body until the individual’s life energy
completes an unencumbered circuit with the cosmic life force of the Oversoul (Brahmin-Atman).
Krishna’s modern theory of kundalini (1971, 1972a, b, 1974, 1975) is congruent with traditional
sources identifying the sex organs and parts of the nervous system as the physiological
repository for kundalini.

Awakening this powerful life force is a risky business because it can seriously destabilize one’s
psychological equilibrium, so yogic traditions stress carefully supervised cultivation of kundalini
states, but a significant number of Westerners, experimenting with a smorgasbord of esoteric
and spiritual practices since the 1960s and 1970s, are believed to have accidentally activated
kundalini, often with such disturbingly non-ordinary percepts and so little preparation that they
have been considered psychotic (Adler, 1995; Sannella, 1981, 1989; Grof and Grof, 1989;
Greyson, 1993b). It is these unusual percepts (rather than the larger experiences attributed to
kundalini) that are defined as a distinct altered-state category in the sexual study.

In the present study, kundalini was defined as the non-ordinary percepts of energy fields,
especially sensations of heat, subtle force fields, light, and liquefaction, in the absence of any
discernible stimulus (congruent with descriptions in various spiritual traditions). According to this
definition, kundalini experiences occurred in the here-and-now without significant alteration in
the usual sense of self. They were sometimes accompanied by involuntary movements (mudras
and kriyas), copious female ejaculate (amrita), and glossolalia – all signifying some degree of
realization in different religions – but, with the exception of glossolalia, unknown to the study
participants who tended to describe them in naïve ways.

In addition to the close association of kundalini with the life force, especially sex, it has also been
associated with death (Radha, 1985; Krishna, 1975), especially through its unskilled awakening
and the potentially dangerous conditions it can create. Greyson (1993) conducted the first study
of the relationship between NDEs and physiological kundalini effects – pursuing Ring's lead
(1984) and following speculation by other writers that NDEs activate kundalini (first as the body’s
attempt to remain alive and then a way for the life force to escape its confines). Greyson’s
research (1993, p 287) indicates that NDErs, in comparison to controls, are more likely to exhibit
some of the conditions associated with kundalini activity, including: assuming strange postures,
becoming locked into a physical position, experiencing alterations in breathing, having
spontaneous orgasmic sensations, experiencing a progression of sensations ascending up the
body, feeling unexplained heat or cold in the body, hearing internal noises, having a sudden
positive emotion for no discernible reason, seeing the self as if from a distance, and
experiencing unexplained changes in thought processes.

Lovers in the sex survey reported mudras and kriyas similar to the postures reported in
Greyson’s study, as well as ascending progressions of sensation, increased body heat and
bliss. Since they were already engaged in sex, orgasm was not an out-of-context event for
them. Out-of-body sensations are considered below.

Greyson also reported three items rare among NDErs and controls that did not differentiate the
two groups but that were quite common among participants in the sex study: noticeably high
 8
body heat, perceptions of internal lights or colors, and lights emanating from inside that were
bright enough to illuminate a dark room (p. 287).

Ring’s (1984) speculations, Greyson’s research (1993a), and various classic kundalini sources
were developed by Yvonne Kason (1994) into a theory that at the time of death, kundalini energy
awakens, rises to the crown chakra (an energy center located at or above the crown of the
head), and moves the spirit out of the body. According to this thinking, such a kundalini
awakening is responsible for many of the perceptions during NDEs, including experiences of
light, expanded consciousness, mystical experiences, etc. Morse (Morse and Perry, 1992) and
Kason (1994) speculate that NDErs who see the Light, indicating a relatively higher level of
kundalini arousal, are unable to shut this energy down completely afterwards, permitting residual
openings and effects, including greater degrees of personal transformation.

Since seeing bright lights is characteristic of sexually-induced kundalini experiences in the study
(and of course with the rechanneling of sexual energy upwards in the body in traditional Tantra),
it would be reasonable to expect that even adventitious kundalini arousal during sex would
produce transformation, and perhaps lead to other non-ordinary phenomena. Indeed, it seems to
do both. However it is not true that kundalini perceptions preceded other non-ordinary events,
such as visions, transports, etc. Moreover experiences of light could vary considerably, as
discussed below. Kundalini “indicators” as identified by Ring and Greyson correspond to those
in the sex research. Their relationship to other non-ordinary phenomena, such as mystical
visions, is not clear in either NDE or transcendent sex experiences.

“Little death” and Near-Death similarities

Of the other altered-state phenomena produced during sex, those having the most direct
parallels to the phenomena reported during NDEs include: OBEs (especially those with telepathy),
visions of other beings, the experience of the Light approaching and unio mystica

In sexual OBEs, subjects maintained an intact sense of ego in the here-and-now but experienced
the personal sense of agency leaving the spatial confines of the body, which was still identified
as part of the self. Ego was experienced continuously, without any break at the time of
dislocation so that lovers were startled to find themselves outside their bodies. Displacement
lacked a sense of locomotion and was discerned through a realistic change in visual vantage
point to a location outside, and usually above the body. Imagery was not merely realistic but
often extremely sharp and clear. OBEs sometimes featured telepathic awareness of the
partner’s unspoken thoughts and feelings. There was virtually no difference between sexual
OBEs and those reported in the NDE literature.

Like near-death OBEs, sexual OBEs were usually accompanied by euphoria. This is an
extremely important finding for two reasons. First, in NDEs, the euphoria could arguably be
attributed to escaping the pain and malaise of a dying body, which is not true during sex. This
suggests that OBEs by their very nature may be blissful (Gabbard and Twemlow, 1984).
Second, previously most reports of sexual OBEs came from the trauma literature, and were
attributed to dissociation. It is common for people who have been raped as adults or children to
dissociate during sex in an attempt to escape horrific events happening to the body or,
retrospectively, to keep the ego intact by distancing from memories that evoke the original
trauma. Such dysphoric dissociation is a clinical commonplace.

In this study, all respondents were engaged in consensual sex. (The sample included people
with histories of sexual abuse, but none reported OBEs during the abuse. In fact, during their
transcendent sexual experiences, they were surprised by their ability to remain in their bodies
and in the present.) While it might be possible to argue that the intensity of the orgasms reported
during these mostly post-coital OBEs was somehow threatening to the ego, the fact remains that
the OBEs were subsequent to orgasm and neither fear nor a sense of being overwhelmed was
reported. It may very well be that the adventitious OBEs of sex and NDEs are both quite distinct
 9
from dissociation and depersonalization. This view was advanced early in the NDE literature by
Ring (1980, 1984).

In a typical case from the sex study, a man who was the middle-aged director of a non-profit
organization who had been reared in a traditional Jewish household, reported an incident that
had occurred when he was in college. He had never had a non-ordinary experience, nor was
he a believer in them. His worldview changed significantly as a result of his experience:

It was an extraordinary sexual encounter, and immediately afterwards I suddenly found

myself having for the first time what I would call a transcendent kind of experience. I was
out of my body, observing me and my lover lying in bed from above, perhaps near the
ceiling. I’d never heard of such a thing and didn’t know how to explain it, but it was a very
strange phenomenon suddenly looking down at the two of us.

I wasn’t upset. I was in a state of euphoria. I moved from feeling a sense of ecstasy and
connection to that person, to the experience itself, and gradually to a calm curiosity about
what was happening….

I really didn’t know what to make of it. In later years, I was able to hear other people put
into language what I’d experienced when they talked of out-of-body experiences. It
affirmed what I had gone through…

It did establish an openness in me to the possibility that we are really not our bodies, that
we have abilities beyond our bodies, that reality might be different from what I believed
about the physical world. I became more open to exploring those greater possibilities.

Most lovers, like NDErs, are disoriented, not exactly knowing what happened or how, though it
seems much easier for the lovers to look back and recognize their own bodies. Terry, a writer
who lives in the South, says:

I thought, ”I’m going to rise up” in the usual sense that my body is going to do that. And then
the next thing I was aware of, I really was about two or three feet up off the bed and
looking at me. It was as if my brain was rising up, and what I was seeing was my body
and my partner on the bed. It was weird, really weird.

Just as some NDErs become frightened and want to try to get back into their bodies, so some
lovers are afraid. Sandra, a devout Roman Catholic, actually thought the intensity of her orgasm
had turned from a little death into actual death when found herself rising above her body:

I was initially a little frightened because I didn’t know. My God, am I dying? Am I floating up
to heaven? I was panicking a little. But then I could see my body, that I was breathing and
that everything was fine, that my boyfriend was holding me. So okay, I’m not dying, but in
the back of my mind I was still thinking why am I up here?

Likewise, Alice panicked because her only knowledge of OBEs was from reading about NDEs,
which made her think she was dying:

I started to go higher, and I was frightened, so I just sort of demanded to re-enter the
connection, and it happened. And I couldn’t do anything but just tremble, I was trembling
like crazy once I got back in my body, and holding onto [her lover] for a kind of an anchor.
So then he told me it was okay, that this happens to other people. One reason I was
scared was because I’d only really ever heard of out-of-body experiences in connection
with near-death, and that wasn’t very reassuring. My panic over that definitely contributed
to the terror I was feeling.
 10
Although none of the lovers reported the 360-degree vision associated with some near-death
OBEs, going out of body seemed to grant them greater objectivity and discernment than their
normal body-bound vision. Sandra was dismayed to see herself the way others did:

People always said, “Oh, gosh, you’re really thin,” and “You should gain weight,” and “You
look anorexic” and that kind of thing. And then when I actually saw myself, I realized, oh
my God, I really am thin. That was the first thing I noticed. In a mirror, it’s different. But
when you actually see yourself like this, you really see yourself.

While out of their bodies, some lovers became aware that they were telepathically reading the
unspoken thoughts and feelings of their partners, just as NDErs have reported awareness of the
unspoken thoughts of loved ones, hospital workers, and rescuers (Moody, 1975, 1977; Ring,
1980, 1984). Telepathy in lovemaking is no different. As in NDE records, telepathy in lovemaking
accounts was often, though not always, accompanied by being out-of-body. Respondents who
reported telepathic insights indicated that they had verified them with the person involved,
usually the partner.

Telepathic information received during lovemaking could involve present or past thoughts. One
respondent said,

Some of the impressions were songs, like the sounds of bells, or I’d hear a word. I’d ask,
“What significance does this have for you?” And he’d say, “Oh, yeah. That was real
important to me at such-and-such a time” or “That was a symbol that was important to me
for awhile”

Esteban, while making love with his girlfriend at a party, suddenly received a clear message that
his best friend, who had accompanied them to the event, was in trouble. He started throwing on
his clothes as he ran down the street away from the party, unerringly locating his friend, who
was being beaten by a thug.

Supernatural beings
Another transcendent sexual experience with parallels in the NDE literature concerns the here-
and-now visions of humans or supernatural beings who are usually understood by percipients
to be angels, demons or deities. Visions were defined as subjective, non-volitionalimagery
superimposed on the here-and-now and experienced by someone with intact ego boundaries.
Visions usually consisted of other beings appearing in the room located at a distance from the
partner (and thus distinct from trespasso). At times they occurred with unusual vividness and
intrusiveness in the mind’s eye, but appeared to be distinct from the person’s deliberate
mentation, though they did not overtake the psyche in the way a sense of being possessed
seems to do. Lovers saw human or supernatural entities interpreted variously as angels,
demons, or deities.

In NDEs, visions of humans may occur in the here-and-now, and in death-bed visions they may
occur in the transition from the here-and-now to otherworldly realms. Virtually all these human
images are identified as predeceased loved ones who may greet, comfort or guide the dying
person (Moody, 1975, 1977; Ring, 1980, 1984). The humans who appear in sexual visions are
also dead and may function in somewhat similar ways.

For example, Armand’s little sister, whose 6 years of earthly life had been one long process of
dying, had appeared to him formerly in his prayer and meditation practice wordlessly heralding
spiritual breakthroughs. This had made sense to him because he always thought of her as
“close to God” from her short life of innocent suffering. He was therefore astonished when she
appeared while he was having sex. But within moments, he was engulfed in the Light. (More of
his story appears below).
 11
Keiko, on the other hand, had a frightening vision of an intriguing stranger who was a nodding
acquaintance but not someone he actually knew. In the vision, the stranger, instead of smilingly
greeting him, aggressively challenged Keiko with an enigmatic question that, at the time, seemed
threatening. Totally unnerved, Keiko was unable to go on making love. The sinister encounter
haunted Keiko’s thinking for two or three years, and at some point during this interval he learned
that the man had died. Shortly after that, Keiko resolved his lingering uneasiness, deciding that
this had been a catalyst for his personal growth.

The other supernatural beings who appear to lovers are presumed to be angels, demons with
non-human features, or deities. They appear superimposed on the here-and-now. Those
definitely identified as angels were reported to have wings and more or less conform to cultural
expectations, although they do not seem to shine with light or to resemble the light beings of
NDEs. Their presence is passive and soundless but connotes a blessing to those who see
them. Demonic descriptions are more difficult to obtain since they do not match anything
recognizable. They do not appear threatening but have a frightful appearance. This is a parallel
with such beings in NDEs who, if angelic, generally function as guides and protectors leading the
dying into the afterlife, especially in Western medieval records (Zaleski, 1987). If demonic, they
fetch the dying to sinister otherworldly realms (Bailey, 2001 Murphy, 2001; Osis and Haraldsson,
1977).

The deities who appeared to those in this study, interestingly enough, are not contemporary
ones, and certainly not the popularly recognized avatars of Western NDEs, such as Mary or
Jesus. Instead, they are the ancient gods of long-forgotten cultures. These may represent the
shadow elements of the participants’ psyches. They present an ambiguous image that the
participant may interpret positively or negatively. For example, a woman with a phobia of snakes
described seeing Quetzalcoatl, the rainbow-feathered serpent (although she did not know this
god’s name or provenance). The vision appeared as the room around her seemed to darken and
the earth cracked with a wrenching groan to reveal the primordial sea, and in it a gigantic,
iridescent snake whose coils slipped in and out of the waves and whose visage was almost
immediately hidden from her. She was awestruck by its splendor and venerable age but,
surprisingly, unafraid. Zebediah, who was visited by a half-stag, half-human figure, took some
time to recognize the antlered one as Cernunnos, the Celtic lord of the forest who is still
sometimes featured as the Horned God of Saturnalia (which was familiar to Zebediah). The first
thoughts of this gay man (who had rejected and been rejected by the Roman Catholic church of
his upbringing) were that this was a Satanic visitation, something he needed to exorcise.
Performing a ritual brought him some peace, but it was only later that a second, and quite
different visitation by the same god seemed to indicate that both experiences were part of a
healing process helping him reconcile his sexual preference and spirituality in a completely new
way.

In sexual experiences, the gods do not serve as spiritual guides but as entities whose self-
revelation may serve as a catalyst for the resolution of an existential or psychological issue.
While the near-death entities appear to be strongly culture-bound and contemporary, the sexual
entities come from temporally remote, foreign cultures that somehow represent a personally
meaningful image to the individual.

The Light
No Beings of Light appear in transcendent sexual experiences, but lovers find themselves going
into the Light just as NDErs do. In his initial research, Ring (1980) identified a number of different
ways the Light is experienced in NDEs which have remained constant in later studies: as a
vision (seeing the Light); as a field that, when entered, seems personified as a visual
manifestation of Spirit; and as a transitional space from some darker period to the celestial
realms. For a few lovers, the Light also appears as a transition from a previous state that was
somehow darker, but it does not lead to another place. Rather it goes on to manifest as
personified Spirit. According to Alice, whose period of darkness lasted while she attempted to
 12
“pull out” of a frightening OBE that threatened to carry her so far from her body that she feared
she would die, the reassurance of her lover allowed her to settle back and open herself in a
way that changed the experience:

There was just this intense but very soft, beautiful, beautiful, brilliant light. It was light but
kind of all colors, like a prism reflects different colors but isn’t a color… I was just washed
over with joy, complete and intense – the most beautiful joy you could ever feel, the joy of
being united, like the joy you feel when you see your parents after a long time away… It
could be broken down into a whole bunch more individual sensations afterward, like awe
and a sense of the understanding of God, understanding how completely, infinitely
precious we all are, how amazingly precious you are and I am.

Such experiences are beatific, ecstatic. In them, just as in NDE accounts (Ring, 1984, p. 83)
people feel pure love, total acceptance, forgiveness of sins, homecoming, instantaneous and
nonverbal communication, and a sense of absolute truth). However, for the most part, such
experiences still suggest duality.

Although the Near-Death literature does not appear to contain fine-grained phenomenological
distinctions between dualistic and non-dual experiences of the Light, suggestions of non-duality
exist in at least some records. It may be that this moment is so fleeting that it either is relatively
obscured for the individual whose unfolding personal drama is more compelling, or that near-
death researchers have not attached the significance to this state that most contemplative paths
(and phenomenologists) do. For example, Mellin Thomas-Benedict fleetingly mentions what may
be one in his lengthy NDE narrative:

The interesting point was that I went into the Void, I came back with this understanding that
God is not there. God is here [laughs]… People are so busy trying to become God that they
ought to realize that we are already God and God is becoming us. That’s what it is really
about. (Ring and Valerino, 1998, p. 289)

In the majority of sexual experiences, duality in the Light is merely a preliminary for the formless,
boundarilessness of unio mystica, a state in which nothing exists but the infinite Absolute. Unio
mystica in the sex study was defined as the non-dual dissolution of time, space and agency
sensed as a complete identification with the absolute principle that represents All Being (usually
described as God). It is a formless, dimensionless, infinite awareness typically suffused with
light, love, and ecstatic bliss as described in Western mysticism. Aspects of this experience
resemble strongly NDE reports of “going into the Light.”

All categories, including the observer and observed, shatter. As Esther says of the transition,
“I’m content in the Light because I’m also there observing it. I love it when this happens, but there
is that moment when it begins, and I step in it without that awareness. It may be non-dual for a
few seconds, and then I’m there observing it, so it’s not there.”

Or as Armand relates, the self completely disappears and must be reconstituted. It is only
afterward that the experience can be constructed and realized:

I felt myself disappear. It was like nothingness, in the sense that I wasn’t as I am now. I
couldn’t feel that normal sense of myself. My sense of my body was gone, completely
absent. There’s a point at which I wasn’t...

I remember that after I came back to myself, it was totally dark, and I was in this room, and I
had to recall all that had happened. But what especially brought me back to my senses at
some point was that [my partner] noticed that something was wrong with me... He asked
me what had happened, and I said something like, “I was just with God,” something about
God.
 13
Then I realized that I remembered my little sister, and I started having this reaction. I
remember sobbing, actually sobbing after I came back, one of those instances where
sobbing felt like joy and sadness both at the same time, and I couldn’t tell which was which.
I was laughing hilariously and really crying at the same time.

For one woman, no preliminaries existed at all. She only remembered lying down. A formless
state that could have lasted a second or hours enveloped her in which there was nothing but
Light, and only afterward realization:

There was nothing to focus on because that was all there was. There were no thoughts.
I didn’t have any cognitive processing … just this engulfing white Light. That was all I was
aware of, and this incredible sense of compassion and love. It was just that Light, and this
overwhelming feeling of love and compassion...There was an experience of the actual
radiation of the Light, the energy of that going out and flowing out, and I was very aware
of being that sensation. I can’t say I was having a sensation. The sensation was just
what was.

Transformation
The transformative effects of NDEs have been extensively documented by Moody (1975; Moody
and Perry, 1988), Ring (e.g., 1982, 1984; Ring and Valerino,1998), Sabom (1982), Flynn (1984),
and others. In fact, Ring’s Life Changes Inventory, developed for and from his Near-Death
research, has been so extensively used that its categories have effectively driven the results of
many altered-state studies. The primary areas of transformation resulting from NDEs are:
increased spirituality in a universal and personal sense, though usually not in conformance with
mainstream religious beliefs; greater sense of personal purpose and meaning; increased
concern and compassion for others; enhanced paranormal abilities, including changes in the
body’s electromagnetic field; decreased materialism and concern for appearances; decreased
fear of death; and increased belief in an afterlife.

By contrast, the questions concerning the aftereffects of transcendent sexual experiences

were completely open-ended (“Did this experience affect you? If so, how?” “What did this
experience mean to you? If a spiritual meaning was ascribed, “What seemed spiritual to you
about this?” and “What learning, if any, did you take from this experience?” Nevertheless, they
elicited reports remarkably similar to the categories reported by NDErs, with the exception of the
last three, which may be artifacts of death. However, certain “sexual artifacts” are parallel to
these “death artifacts” showing how the context may shape results.

Forty lovers (44%) reported a radical shift in their religious or spiritual beliefs as a result of their
sexual experiences. Some self-identified atheists or agnostics became convinced that Spirit
(however understood) is a real force in the cosmos, many of them taking up spiritual vocations,
undergoing long-term spiritual training, or adopting formal religious beliefs and practices. Others
converted from a previously held belief system to a new one, as indicated in the demographic
data. For example, one self-described pragmatic, hard-core materialist, a physician who
dismissed all forms of spirituality as misguided wishful thinking, characterized life after his sexual
episode this way:

I felt that I had just awoken from a dream that…had been so realistic that I had never before
realized that all my previous memories were merely an illusion of wakefulness... I remember
saying to myself that all those Bible stories were correct and there really is a God...

I understand what happened to me by now but have felt a need, as I grow older, to
transmit some of this to others who suffer so much with their needless fears and doubts...
I have a bad case of what Alan Watts labeled the “divine madness” and I never want to be
cured... In some mysterious way, I was touched by God... I’m embarrassed, but mostly I
consider myself the luckiest man alive.
 14
The next most frequent outcome was personal growth, cited by 39 people (43%). This included
all manner of positive changes in an individual’s life or way of thinking as a result of a
transcendent sexual event. For many, this involved discovering unusual, even paranormal,
capacities, such as the ability for sensing subtle energies, or conducting intuitive diagnostics and
healing through visualization and laying on of hands. Indeed, a number of people took up
vocations as professional healers and body workers subsequent to their sexual experience.
For others, personal growth involved the strength and determination to make positive alterations
in their lives, such as changing professions, shedding limiting relationships, ceasing
dysfunctional behavior, and discarding self-limiting beliefs, often despite formidable hindrances.
One woman whose livelihood had depended on a business partnership with her husband (with
whom she had these transcendent experiences but whose marriage was dysfunctional)
ultimately divorced him and took up another vocation:

Those experiences did change my life. I felt more confident and more clear about who I
was and where I was going in my life even though my marriage was not good. More
secure about myself as a woman, which was a very big surprise to me that that would
happen from lovemaking alone... I never came into myself until that happened. I felt more at
home, confident, at one with my life and myself as a woman. I became more coordinated
physically and maintained perfect weight and fitness.

That experience led to me doing spiritual work with a hands-on healer, and now I’m an
apprentice to someone who had a vision of me as a healer. I think the sexual experiences
helped trigger or mature the energy that now comes through my hands.

Twenty-three (25%) reported significant improvements in their ability to relate to others,

especially a capacity for greater compassion. The primary relationship enhancement occurred
with the partner, characterized by increased feelings of love and tolerance so that differences
and irritating foibles no longer impeded a full, abiding appreciation of the other. It was as though
lovers could “hold” a beatific yet unvarnished vision of the partner’s totality of negative and
positive attributes. Additionally, many find that this tolerance and compassion radiates to others.
They were more loving in everyday transactions, a quality that was often related to greater self-
acceptance in their reports. According to Elaine,

Your other relationships are enhanced by the experience also because you have changed.
Somehow a string of that love experience is woven throughout your other relationships,
career, etc. [You gain] tolerance for others who are not so knowing… and great
compassion for them as well as others.

Sixteen persons (18%) said their understanding of reality had changed drastically. This outcome
category included a number of persons who were reluctant to ascribe a spiritual motive force to
their experiences, but who frankly said there was no known way of accounting for what had
happened short of the supernatural. They reported a sense of awe and mystery about the
workings of the universe in the wake of transcendent sex, regardless of attribution. Betty
observed:

It lent a credibility to the idea that tangible reality isn’t all there is. It’s that sense that the
world is sure weird and mystical and powerful and all those things. That wasn’t my reality
before. And I have this different way of defining the other now, noticing now that I have
more of the Buddhist definition of compassion, of experiencing pain that the other carries
with them as part of me instead of something else. I’m amazed at how I experience this
kind of connectedness to everything, not just people. Everything has more of a shared,
connected feeling, it’s all one thing, so I can feel your pain in my heart and at the same time I
can feel the joy that is there in all creation.

Just as NDEs cause people to revise negative ideas about death and the afterlife, transcendent
sex changes attitude toward lovemaking. Twelve (13%) said that their experiences had
 15
convinced them that the act of sex was holy in and of itself. This finding was associated both
with people who were promiscuous and casually transient about sex as well as those who
were repressed. The former began to limit their relationships out of respect for the sacredness
of the act. An example of the latter comes from Norberto, a former Jesuit priest from South
America:

It really is a way… to recognize that, really, life is a continuum and that nothing is a lower-
level type of thing or higher-level type of thing. There is a connection between Spirit and
the body.

There is a poem or song in Venezuela… about a farmer talking with a priest and saying,
“Well, Father, forgive me, but I think the skies are in the eyes of [my lover] and every night
after I pray my Hail Mary, I find God in [her] womb.”

I found this to be true. God is not only to be found in the solitude of your prayers or in
doing social justice among poor people, but can be found in the womb of my partner. That
song and that experience is my hidden music that I can always remember, like an overture
of God’s love for me.

Finally, 8 people (9%), including all 7 in the sample with histories of childhood sexual abuse, said
they had achieved dramatic levels of personal healing concerning sexual issues. They reported
an absence of previous pathologic symptoms, including vaginismus, dissociation, and numbness,
as well as a greatly increased ability to enjoy sex, remain present and engaged, and have
orgasms. In fact, one of these women ultimately became a sexual surrogate and healer as a
result of her transcendent experiences. In the words of Bengt, whose arousal formerly caused
him to be “out of here, long gone, far away... very split off and very dissociated:”

I can be very present and feeling my body and be present to this other person, looking into
my lover’s eyes, looking at her, feeling her, and moving together, and feeling this thing very,
very deep in me that I call my essence, feeling it is becoming transparent to my lover,
feeling that here are two people who are so present and so relaxed and so open to each
other that that they are part of a whole spiritual understanding, that they can be naked,
shed their egos and just be right there with each other in the most intimate way, from
essence to essence... I believe that sex is sacred, that it is a gift, and that it can be an
occasion for grace.

Love and Death

In NDE studies, it has been suggested that the deeper the experience – that is, the farther the
phenomena proceed beyond the here-and-now into the subtler experiences of the Beings of
Light, Light, and celestial realms – the greater the transformation (Morse and Perry, 1992). This
may be somewhat true for sexual altered states, as well. People whose experiences occurred
mainly in the here-and-now were slightly less inclined to attribute a spiritual source or
interpretation to them than those who were transported to other realms or times, who sensed an
otherworldly presence, or who experienced the formlessness of the Void or unio mystica.
Nevertheless, sometimes even here-and-now experiences, such as OBEs and the like, had
profound effects that radically reoriented people’s beliefs and their way of being in the world.
And although this may seem like a matter of only passing interest, it is one of several threads that
goes to the center of the knotty matter of spiritual revelation and realization.

To take up one of the threads suggested by the kundalini proponents, clearly some theorists
(Krishna, 1971, 1972a,b, 1974, 1975; Keiffer, 1994; Kason, 1994) would be inclined to attribute
both sexual and NDE phenomena and transformation to kundalini awakenings, especially in those
cases where kundalini was supposed to have reached the crown chakra with strong visions of
the Light. Indeed, these theorists also seem to attribute virtually any evolutionary process,
including all those found in the indigenous and contemplative literatures, to kundalini. There is an
 16
elegance and parsimony to such a theory: it can provide an explanation that instinctively feels
right concerning the life force as sacred, as the basis for whatever source of individual agency
might be considered a person’s soul or spirit, and it could provide that elusive link with material
reality that has dogged scientific-religious debates. In other words, this kundalini argument
seems another hopeful holy grail, a theory adequate to explain a lot of puzzling data while
according with many people’s spiritual beliefs and desires.

Of course, even its proponents admit that as yet no empirical basis for kundalini exists (at least
as described in the classical and contemporary literature). Furthermore, as the present
arguments are configured, it seems curious – to state it mildly – that proponents somehow can
make kundalini awakening the cause for virtually any non-ordinary experience, including those
brought about by contemplative or other approaches that deny and repress the body, especially
its sexual energies, for almost exclusively cerebral activity (Zen meditation, for instance). At a
minimum, considerable research would be necessary merely to ascertain whether something like
kundalini is activated during NDEs, much less to determine whether it can be adventitiously and
casually activated during sex to levels comparable to that of the highest yogic attainment (or that
it can be activated by contemplative techniques that repress bodily energies).

Whether the source for all spiritual experiences is kundalini or something else, the fact that
adventitious, everyday events may provide profound spiritual openings flies in the face of much
of the accepted spiritual tradition. This is the confounding idea. “Real” kundalini awakening is
supposed to be attained only by assiduous aspirants, and of them, only one in 1,000 is likely to
become realized (Woodroffe, 1974/1919). Until now, it has been believed that only NDErs who
go into the Light may have a momentary experience of the Light – with its residual access to
activated energetic power. These beliefs closely parallel established beliefs about spirituality
and contemplative paths: only years of dogged spiritual practice, a rare miracle of divine grace,
or a terrible existential crisis like dying permits people to “see the Light.” Salvation can never be
easy or democratic.

Without confusing full realization with profoundly transformative spiritual openings, the fact that
mystical revelations need not be “deserved” or earned through practice has challenged some
believers (even those who nominally believe in grace). Already the NDE has been attacked by
religious traditionalists (Rawlings, 1978; Grootius, 1995), who insist there must be something
terribly wrong about NDEs because “obviously undeserving” experiencers (“sinners,” whether
they be suicides, homosexuals, criminals, unbelievers, etc.) should not have beatific episodes
that rightly belong to the “good” or the hard-striving faithful. Going farther than that, saying that
NDErs are no longer an enviable, “lucky” elite, or that the profound exigencies of dying are not
required for a glimpse of the farther shores would surely overturn more applecarts.

It may be that any event that makes here-and-how reality seem less solid will suffice, and that
such events can be as simple, quotidian, and ubiquitous as making love. It may be that Spirit is
truly everywhere upon the land, so that the beatific vision can be found – and is still being found
– by ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.

What would it mean to believe – really to believe – that, as virtually all the paths teach, Spirit is
right here, right now, and only our conditioned blindness keeps us from its recognition? What
would it mean to the established traditions with their rules, teachers, and centuries of cherished
teachings? What would it mean to the prevalent interpretation of NDEs as a means of personal
realization that is won through the confrontation of mortality and death? What would it mean to
consider the NDE’s mystical visions and transformation as “merely” experiences of the Spirit all
around us everyday, not of an afterlife in an “otherworld,” but a realization of what is present
here all the time? What would it mean to think that embodied life is not something to escape for a
somehow ravishingly exquisite “spiritual” existence? What would mean to the kundalini theorists
who traditionally seek to transform “gross, genital” sexual energy into something that is non-
physical? Why must spirituality be hard, and embodied existence the hellish audition for heaven?
 17
Civilization has tended to separate sex and Spirit and denied that the potential for direct spiritual
experience is universally distributed among humans. Earlier cultures did not make this separation.
It may be that “discovering” NDEs and now transcendent sex represents, not an increasing
number of extraordinary paths of access or the increasing enlightenment of humanity, so much
as a return to a more integrated sacredness of personal experience and of this life in the here-
and-now that the ancients knew and that is still observed in many traditional cultures. As
astonishing as these sexual openings are, it is the way they hallow “ordinary” life that seems
truly important, something that some NDErs seem to remember but that many forget in their
yearning for what appears to be a spiritual realm far beyond this world. The comforting
message of both some NDErs and realized spiritual adepts actually agrees with what lovers who
have these transcendent experiences say, if we can resist the need to make it difficult and
other. At its simplest, it was put by one participant in the sex study this way:

I hold those moments as truly enlightening states that allow me to come back with a sense
of wellbeing and groundedness. Everything is perfect and peaceful. And there are no
doors and no years, nothing but this place and this moment you are in. All is right with the
world, and I just rest in that.

Glossary
Agency – Sense of active, decision-making self, the intentional aspect of awareness.
Aphrodite – The Greek name for the goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, a multifaceted deity
from the land of Canaan, who was originally associated, among other things, with prophecy and
battle. In Greece, probably owing to the sexual rituals closely associated with her identity as
Astarte and Ishtar in Canaan and Babylon, she came to represent erotic love. To the Greeks her
worship became a mystery cult of eroticism, especially the love of women, and the priestesses
who served her took lovers from the men and women came to worship her.
Apocrypha – Writings of unknown authorship, in this case, the sacred writings that were an
integral part of the Greek version of the Jewish Bible (known as the Septuagint) and of the King
James Bible – until Puritanical influences largely removed them from the Western canon. The
Apocrypha represents an important extension of the Old Testament and a link between the Old
and New Testaments.
Baalim – Plural form of the Mesopotamian gods name Baal, which means Master. Baal was a
young, warlike sky-god associated with seasonal son-lover consorts of the Great Mother
goddesses and with the bringing of rain to the earth. Baal is associated with kingship in
Mesopotamia, and the role of Baal is thought to have been enacted and assumed by the priest-
kings of the major temples and city-states for enacting the cult rituals associated with the New
Year, including ceremonial battles, sex with his sister Anath (another form of the many
goddesses who were also mothers/lovers), and resurrection.
Bacchus – The god of wine and other fruits of the vine, also known as Dionysis, who taught
humans viticulture. Beneficent and terrible by turns, Bacchus was worshiped by the Maenads
or Bacchantes, women who were frenzied with wine. The cult of Bacchus as it developed in
Rome combined freedom and ecstasy with the brutality that drunkenness can also create. It
was extremely widespread in Italy and featured unrestrained homosexual and heterosexual
licentiousness. The Greek Dionysian revels were quite different from the license of drunken
frenzy and sexuality of the bacchanals.
Baul – From Sanskrit roots associated with the words for crazy and confused, the Bauls are the
madmen of God, the mad lovers of Bhagava who lives within them. They are considered crazy
 18
by outsiders, who consider their behavior and spiritual practices to be a reversal of normal
religious actions, and they themselves seek to be crazy with divine madness. One prominent
form their divine madness takes involves sexual ecstasy.
Ceres – The Latin form of the Greek goddess of cereal Demeter, associated with the earth’s
fertility, especially the harvest and with Demeter’s daughter Persephone, the maiden of
springtime. Ceres’ worship formed a central part of the Eleusinian Mysteries, times of holy
processions, dances, sacrifice and most probably sexual rites. Like most fertility goddesses of
the ancient world, Ceres is touched by sorrow, not from a lover-consort who dies and must be
resurrected, but by the abduction of her daughter to the underworld, during which time the
mourning mother withholds her gift of fructification from the earth.
Chakras – Energetic centers or vortices in the body recognized in Eastern medicine and
metaphysics. They are located along the primary energetic meridians along which the vital or
sacred life energy flows, and their activation or cultivation is a goal in various forms of yoga,
especially Tantra.
Channeling – The sense of having the psyches, especially the emotional experiences of a
nameless group of people pour through the individual (similar to Grof’s (1975, 1985) group
identification or group consciousness). Such experiences occur in the here-and-now without
disruption of the ego but with a sense of identification with the group’s experience and
awareness.
Clairsentience – Closely related to past lives in terms of the information contained in the
experience. Though phenomenologically distinct, clairsentience refers to a sudden preternatural
knowledge of “the truth.” In clairsentience, a revelation that seems to come from nowhere arises
fully developed without any apparent relationship to the passing events or any stimulus in the
environment. People variously described this as “knowing everything,” “realizing the truth,” and
having the “scales fall from their eyes.” Typically the knowledge revealed concerns previously
hidden dynamics of the lovers’ relationship, and a sudden ability to comprehend exactly what is
going on, however subtle or complex (“the true nature of things”), which is usually construed in
a negative light (“it will never work”). Despite the fact that the revelation is typically saddening –
indeed, often hopeless – people simultaneously sense an inner strength and resilience that
enable them to make “the right decisions.”
Cybele (also Kybele) – An ancient goddess of many attributes, probably of Anatolian origin
closely associated with Ishtar and Inanna in Mesopotamia. One of the central stories associated
with this complex deity involved her giving birth to Attis, her son who also became her lover but
who later, either through accident or in order not to be unfaithful to her, was emasculated. In her
sorrow, she lamented the dead youth every spring in the renewal rituals that became associated
with Easter. Male initiates castrated themselves and used their blood in a three-day mourning
ritual until Attis was said to have risen again when spring and fecundity came back to the earth.
Deity possession – A sense of being possessed by divinities who overtake and displace the
psyche in the here-and-now. These forces are invisible, but they carry a distinct sense of
supernatural personification identified with fierce archetypal beings, such as Kali, Pan, Dionysis,
and the like.
Dionysis – A somewhat more refined and later version of the Greek god Bacchus, the god of the
vine who dies and is resurrected. His primary worship was an annual five-day feast involving
plays and poetry as well as an association with the Eleusian mysteries of the death and
resurrection of the earth, which seemed to become more subtle and refined over time until
eventually some worshippers did not even drink wine. Earlier versions of Dionysis stressed his
wild side, which today is more associated with Bacchus.
Dumuzi – A shepherd deity who was the son and lover of the Great Mother goddess Inanna of
Mesopotamia. A representative of Dumuzi was selected every year by the high priestesses of
Inanna to serve in this capacity, and so essential was this role that the kings of Sumeria were
known as Dumuzi. Only by demonstrating his prowess as a lover in pleasing the goddess could
 19
Dumuzi ultimately win her, no matter how many gifts he brought her. He became the ever
renewed and ever dying consort of the life-giving Lover-Mother, with the vicissitudes of his
existence in relation to her embodying the seasonal patterns of the earth’s fructification.
Glossolalia – Speaking in tongues. This typically refers to a state in which individuals in a
religious trance or ecstasy begin spontaneously vocalizing complex combinations of sounds that
seem to have the patterns of a language not known to the person in a normal state.
Gnostic gospels –Sacred texts discovered near Nag Hammadi in Egypt relating to the life of
Jesus, Jewish and Christian spirituality, especially mysticism, that have been routinely
suppressed and excluded from the canonical gospels by what became the church
establishment.
Grace –The free, undeserved or unearned favor of God conferred upon a human being,
associated with a state of exemption from the normal vicissitudes of life or salvation.
Inanna –.The Mistress of the Heavens in ancient Sumerian culture, Innana regulated heaven and
earth, including the other gods. Over the centuries of her worship, her identity changed, but she
was associated with the fructification of the earth and the generation of all life. This role was
enacted by the high priestesses in a sacred new year’s mating ritual every year with a lover of
their choosing known as Dumuzi who represented Inanna’s son and consort. Their mating
brought joy and fertility to the land, but later Dumuzi appeared to usurp Inanna’s throne and to
enjoy her absence while she was away, causing her to kill him. His death brought her sorrow,
and draught and famine to the earth until he was restored in the next year’s sacred mating
festival.
Isis – “The goddess of many names,” Isis is actually a Greek name for the primary goddess of
ancient Egypt. Regarded as the creatrix of all life, fate, the heavens, the earth, and healing, she
restored life to the body of her lover Osiris and conceived a child from him. She represented the
productive powers of the earth and the primary aspects of woman as wife and mother, lover
and mistress, and beautiful virgin. Under the centuries of her worship by the Greeks and
Romans, her identity became fused with that of Astarte, Ceres, Demeter, and other fertility and
sexual goddesses. The later mystery rites associated with her cult are thought to have been
primarily sexual renewal ceremonies associated with the coming of spring and involved
priestesses who made love with worshipers on such a regular basis that in Rome the cult of Isis
was closely associated with prostitution.
Ishtar – Probably the best known name and figure of the Great Goddess in Mesopotamia also
known as Astarte and Inanna, she was the Queen of Heaven and Great Mother associated with
the star Venus. She had a son-lover Tammuz, virtually identical with Dumuzi, and her worship
was closely associated with sexual love and pleasure. Priestesses of Ishtar took lovers from
her worshippers, and male devotees castrated themselves to serve her. The expression of
sexuality as a sacred act was a central feature of her cult.
Kabbalah – A collection of mystical Jewish writings dating from medieval times but originating
beliefs extending probably to the time beyond the Dead Sea scrolls. This collection of traditions
forms the basis for Jewish mysticism to this day, including a metaphysics that has influenced not
only Jews but Christians and Western esotericism generally.
Kali – Kali, the Hindu deity whose name literally means Time, is the dark goddess of many names
who is another manifestation of the divine feminine principle Devi. She is the Terrible Mother, the
goddess from who is constantly giving birth and devouring her babies, from whom comes all life
and all death, whose loins are constantly producing life and who pours forth and drinks blood.
Kensho – A state of formlessness, or of the Void in Zen Buddhism, this word is often
considered synonymous with enlightenment or satori.
Kriyas – Certain spontaneous gestures or movements associated with deep meditative states,
especially in yoga.
 20
Kundalini – Nonordinary percepts of energy fields in the absence of any discernible stimulus,
especially sensations of heat, subtle force fields, light, and liquefaction, congruent with
descriptions in various mystical traditions. These experiences occur in the here-and-now
without significant alteration in the usual sense of self. These include sensations of heat, light,
energy, and liquefaction, and forces that cause involuntary movements (mudras and kriyas),
copious female ejaculate (amrita), and glossolalia – all well documented in various spiritual
traditions.
Liber – The Roman version of Bacchus but almost exclusively regarded as a fertility god. He
was associated with various phallic cults, and his rites were celebrated at crossroads where
phallic shrines were set up and where worshippers engaged in sex. Liber’s magic penis was
considered not only a source of sexual pleasure but a disperser of unhappiness.
The Light – A bright illumination usually experienced as the Absolute, or Divine Force usually
personified by Westerners as God. Recent common references to the Light come from Near-
Death Experiencers describing seeing or being enveloped by a beneficent radiance
characterized by an all-encompassing and omniscient source of love.

Lingam – The penis, especially as a sacred symbol of the mystical masculine principle, in
Hinduism.
“Little death” – Euphemism for orgasm, attributed to Shakespeare.
Magical connections to nature – Magical connections with entities in the natural world concern a
sense of non-ordinary relationship to plants, animals, and natural forces, especially an ability to
participate in shared agency with those entities beyond the normal limitations of encapsulated
egoic awareness. Plants and animals are experienced as having their own intelligence, which
can now be entrained with that of the participant. Natural forces, especially the earth, may be
perceived to be animate.
Merging with the partner – Merging is defined as a dissolution of spatial boundaries, particularly
the familiar somatic sense that the self is contained within the skin, accompanied by some sense
of self-dissolution (loss of ego boundaries) to include the lover but not other objects in the
environment. Merging includes a blending of agency into a state of unity and oneness, so that
individuals are unable to say which person is causative. Frequently the here-and-now shrinks
so that environmental cues vanish and the blended lovers become the focus of experience.
Meridians – Energetic pathways of the body recognized in Eastern medicine, especially
associated with the movement of the vital energy or sacred life force called chi or prana.
Mithras – An ancient Persian deity whose worship became a serious rival to Christianity during
the Roman era. Mithra was associated with the sun, bulls, cereal and the precession of the
equinoxes.
Mudras – Certain spontaneous postures or positions of the body, especially of the hands,
associated with deep meditative states, especially in yoga.
Noetic – Having to do with consciousness or the study of consciousness.
One with nature – A sense of becoming one with all of creation. This diffuse state involves a
limited melting of ego boundaries to become a part of the fabric of all nature, usually described as
a blending with all the flora, fauna, and life-forces of the terrestrial world. Individuals remain in
the here-and-now with an observing and active self that feels blended with other creatures and
natural forces so that the “separate” quality of or status of humanity apart from other living
beings vanishes.
Out-of-Body Experiences – OBEs involve retaining an intact sense of ego in the here-and-now
but having the personal sense of self and agency leave the spatial confines of the body, which
is still identified as part of the self. Ego is experienced continuously, without any break at the
time of dislocation. People in fact are startled to find themselves outside their bodies.
 21
Displacement lacks a sense of locomotion [of the body] and is discerned through a realistic
change in visual vantage point to a location outside, and usually above the body.
Pan – Part goat, part man, Pan was one of the earth gods of the Greeks representing the wilder
side of humanity, sexual love and sensual pleasure, especially dancing and music. Pan was
always pursuing nymphs and presiding over revels. He was the patron god of shepherds and
goatherds. His possession of goat’s hooves and horns and his association with ecstatic
sensual pleasure may have led to his demonization by later Christians as the appearance
attributed to the Devil as a tempter.
Past lives – Perception of being transported back in time and space as other individuals in past-
life experiences. There is the sensation of “seeing” or experiencing oneself moving through
scenes belonging to previous eras and different locations. These experiences may be disturbing
because the events of those lives that are perceived often had unhappy outcomes.
Psi (psychic) experiences – A collective term for paranormal phenomena.
Priapus – Originally a Roman vegetation god, the erotic qualities of this garden figure came to
dominate his cult and his representation, which became an immense phallus. Sometimes he was
represented completely as a penis or as a penis with a tiny human head or human features. He
became a totally sexual deity, and his phallus was sometimes conceived of as a weapon or
instrument of sadistic sexual acts or even punishment.
Pseudepigrapha – A collective term referring to writings given a false title or attribution; in this
case, a collection of writings collectively known as the Jewish Pseudepigrapha dating from the
beginning of the Christian era but spuriously ascribed to Old Testament spiritual leaders and
prophets.
Scientism – A belief in the omnipotence of scientific knowledge and methods, especially as the
only source of truth or legitimate knowledge.
Serapis –The Egyptian god more commonly referred to in modern times as the Apis Bull, which
comes from the Greek. Worshiped in Memphis, Serapis was associated with Osiris as a
manifestation of the dead fertility god alive and powerful on earth. Under the Greeks and
Romans, the ancient Egyptian associations with this god were largely transmuted into sexual
rites.
Shapeshifting – A form of possession, in which individuals in the here-and-now have an
alteration in their sense of self so that the ego seems to be taken over by another, typically an
animal, but sometimes a plant. Mentation is altered with such vividness that the body itself is also
experienced as changing in form, sensation, and appearance.
Shekinah – The divine feminine principle in Hebraic lore, especially in the Kabbalah, the Bride of
the Sabbath, God’s female and manifest or immanent aspect.
Tantra – A mystical form of Hinduism (and associated with some forms of Buddhism) dating from
about 5000 BCE that involves the awakening and purposeful channeling and refinement of
sexual energy through various practices to participate in the unification of the god Shiva and the
goddess Shakti whose sexual embrace sustains the universe. Although in classic Indian Tantra,
male initiates originally used female partners, the aim of the practice was gradually to replace
these surrogates of the Divine Feminine by meditating on the Goddess and moving sexual energy
in the body up the spine and through the mystical partner until it completed a circuit through the
worshipper’s male and female energy meridians with the macrocosm, thus embodying the
mixture of male and female principles sustaining the cosmos. Most Western and known versions
of Tantra are fairly corrupt; it remains a mystery cult with a largely oral and experiential tradition
known only to initiates in its pure form.
Telepathy – The ability to access the unspoken thoughts and feelings of others.
The Third Presence – An experience of the Third is defined on the basis of a phenomenological
distillation provided by Jungian analyst John R. Haul (1990). It is a felt sense of an autonomous,
 22
invisible, impersonal field or force that seems to exist between the two lovers and to arise from
their mutuality. The Third is to some extent co-created by their union, but it is also impervious to
deliberate manipulation by either partner, and cannot be reduced to them or to their relationship.
It seems to exhibit its own transpersonal intelligence. The sense of the Third in this study was
variously described as a nameable entity, such as the Holy Ghost; a hallowed atmosphere that
produced beatific sensations and emotions; and a beneficent state of mind, likened to a state of
grace. The Third was always experienced very positively and with some degree of volition in
terms of the participant’s willingness to engage the state.
Transports – Transports describes spatial dislocation in which someone with intact ego
functioning seems to be displaced to another location through a combination of altered visual
imagery and somatic sensations of relative weightlessness (floating) or forward motion. During
lovemaking, transports are typically accompanied by feelings of bliss.
Trespasso – An involuntary, here-and-now vision of another head, or a succession of heads
(usually but not always human) superimposed on the lover’s head. The hallucination, a
recognized phenomenon in many traditions, typically does not extend below the partner’s
shoulders.
Unio mystica – The non-dual dissolution of time, space and agency sensed as a complete
identification with the absolute principle that represents All Being (usually described as God). It
is a formless, dimensionless, infinite awareness typically suffused with light and ecstatic bliss
as described in Western mysticism.
Venus – An alternative form of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty who entranced
humans and gods. She is the epitome of feminine wiles, sexual love and the power of seduction
as well as the goddess of virgins.
Virilis – Also known as Fortuna Virilis, this Roman god was worshipped by women who
performed their worship in men’s public baths where their bodies, especially their genitals, were
on display and accessible for sexual activity.
Visions – Visions in this study are limited to subjective, non-volitional imagery superimposed on
the here-and-now and experienced by someone with intact ego boundaries. Visions usually
consisted of other beings appearing in the room, located at a distance from the partner (and thus
distinct from trespasso). At times they occurred with unusual vividness and intrusiveness in the
mind’s eye, but appeared to be distinct from the person’s deliberate mentation though they did not
overtake the psyche.
The Void – Impersonal non-duality or Void experiences constitute a non-dual dissolution of time,
space and agency sensed as the primordial emptiness that underlies and also constitutes the
cosmos. It is a formless, dimensionless, infinite awareness that may or may not be accompanied
by of light and bliss, as described in Eastern spiritual traditions.

Yang –The active, projecting, masculine, positive primal force in Taoism, associated with male
sexuality, especially semen. It is the complement of yin; yin and yang are strengthened and
energized by contact with, and absorption of the other. Humans are considered to have a
mixture of yin and yang in their natures.

Yin –The passive, receptive, feminine, negative primal force in Taoism, and the complement of
yang. In Taoist sexual practices, the yin force is represented by the woman’s sexuality,
especially her vaginal secretions, which are considered extremely powerful.

Yoni –The vagina, especially as a sacred symbol of the mystical feminine principle, in Hinduism.
 23

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Jenny Wade, PhD

235 Uplands Circle
Corte Madera, CA 94925
415 927 0131
jwadephd@yahoo.com

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 Volume 4, No. 1
January 2004

DARKNESS AND LIGHT

Daniel J. Benor, MD

Introduction
In the middle of winter, with the darkness of night longer than the light of day, our inner selves mirror
the world outside and we are given to brooding over dark and sometimes negative thoughts.
While most of us are not happy when dark clouds of negative thoughts and moods cross – or even
cover completely – the skies of our awareness, and some become downright cross or even seriously
depressed, with a shift in focus the darkness can often be experienced as the good teacher it is,
because darkness is necessary in order for us to appreciate light.
Figure 1 This discussion will explore some of the balances in our lives that exemplify
the contrasts of light and darkness, suggesting lessons we may learn from
these apparent polarities.
The yin and yang touch upon surface awareness and reach into deeper levels
of shadow (those parts of ourselves which we hide from the light of our
conscious awareness) and into our collective consciousness.
The pairing and contrasting of the polarities of darkness and light has been a
major theme in Chinese awareness, as illustrated by the classical symbol of
yin and yang – which will be a focus for this discussion.
Yin – yang contrasts can be identified in every aspect of our lives. Within the cosmology of Chinese
medicine and acupuncture, Yin and yang are polar opposites that must be balanced in order for life to
proceed in harmony. The term yin denotes the shady side of the slope and may be associated with
qualities of femininity, openness, passivity, receptivity, introversion, diminution, repose, weakness and
coolness. Yang is the sunny side of the slope and may be associated with the sun, masculinity,
strength, brightness, assertiveness, movement, extroversion, growth and excitation.
In the body, the front is yin relative to the back; the upper portions of the body are yang relative to the
lower parts; the inner organs are more yin than the outer aspects such as hair and skin. In matters of
health, yang disorders are characterized by fever, hyperactivity, heat and strong movements; yin
illnesses include weakness, slowing down, feeling cold and lethargy.
Yin and yang complement each other. If yin is excessive, then yang will be too weak, and conversely.
In Chinese cosmology, causality is unimportant. It is the pattern of relationships which defines reality
and any part of reality is relative to the context which is under consideration.
I came to this discussion through the invitation of a friend and colleague to discuss at a conference the
masculine within the feminine. In preparing for this presentation, I searched for a yin-yang symbol to
illustrate my lecture, and was led to a world of discovery about darkness and light through the
 2
variations on the theme of the circle of yin and yang. I share parts of that ever-growing awareness
here.
The balance of polar opposites in our awareness
Without darkness, we would not understand or appreciate light.
I lived in Los Angeles during the years of my high school, university and medical school education. I
truly enjoyed the balmy weather, being able to bicycle and play tennis most days of the year (when
smog was not at levels that were dangerous to my health). Four days after I moved to Kansas City for
my internship, we had a sudden thunderstorm in the late afternoon. The skies were rapidly covered
with clouds, which became dark to the point of forcing me to turn on the lights to see enough to read a
patient’s chart, even standing by the window of her room where I was doing the admission history and
physical examination. Then came the rumble of distant thunder, soon followed by flashes of lighting
and then deafening claps of thunder. The skies opened up and the heavens poured water on the
pavement and buildings outside our windows.
I found the thunderstorm exhilarating. I was born in New York City, and had known this sort of weather
years earlier – but had totally forgotten its majestic reminder of the mighty forces of nature on our
planet, and the challenges that modern science and engineering have overcome so successfully.
The storm passed in less than an hour, the clouds parted and started to dissipate, just in time to catch
the rays of the setting sun, which turned them into magnificent Rorschach shapes tinged with oranges
and yellows, then reds and purples, and finally shading into the darkness of evening and night.
While I sometimes still miss the opportunity to pursue my outdoors hobbies that Southern California
weather permitted more regularly, I find I prefer the changing seasons. They help to remind me of
being alive, to appreciate the contrasts that are the human condition.
I realized that without darkness, I would not understand or appreciate light. In being limited at times by
the weather from riding my bicycle, I appreciate much more those times when I can pedal to the
market rather than driving my car.
The yin and yang are as essential in our inner, metaphoric world to appreciation of our being alive as
they are in the world outside. Without disappointments, we wouldn’t appreciate the blessings in our
lives; without failures we wouldn’t celebrate our successes nearly as joyously; without sadness and
depression, our happiness would be flat and without the thankfulness for its blessings; without illness
and pain, we would not appreciate health and the freedom from pain.
A lot of our happiness is tied to linear expectations:
– If I behave well, my parents will accept and love me.
– If I live a clean life, I’ll avoid illness.
– If I work hard (at school; tending my home and children; in my employment) I will reap my just
rewards.
– If I bring home the pay check, I’ve done my duty to my family and have earned the right to sit in
front of the TV when I return from work.
– If I remain in my work position, I’ll be able to retire with a secure pension assured.
– If I drive carefully, I’ll never have an accident.
Accepting that a negative experience is a helpful, perhaps even an occasionally necessary part of our
human condition can lessen our frustration with the negative.
A poor farmer in China had only one horse, which was the mainstay of his farm – essential in
hauling loads, providing transportation and plowing. When the horse ran away, his neighbors
commiserated with him over his bad luck. He replied enigmatically, “Maybe so, maybe not.”
 3
A few days later, the horse returned, at the head of a band of wild horses. His neighbors
congratulated the farmer on his unusual good luck. “Maybe so, maybe not.” was his reply.
His eldest son took it upon himself to tame one of the wild horses, but was thrown and badly
fractured his leg. His neighbors again commiserated with him over his bad luck. He replied, as
before, “Maybe so, maybe not.”
The local warlord, threatened with attack, sent his soldiers around to conscript every able-bodied
young man. The farmer’s son was spared, due to his broken leg. His neighbors again marveled
at his good luck. As always, the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not...”
This is not to say that we should be passive and not do our best to actualize our lives, to maintain and
build our interpersonal relationships; to secure our current and future livelihood; and to persevere in
peeling the never-ending onion of psychological and spiritual awareness which is one of the greatest
challenges of our existence. It is to suggest that our attitude towards all that we do can make our lives,
and those of others with whom we interact, much more pleasant, rewarding and growth-promoting.

Right and wrong

Those who devise and administer systems of justice tend also to view the world in black and white,
either/ or terms. A person is right or wrong, innocent or guilty.
I’ve testified a number of times in courts regarding the psychiatric condition of people who had been
charged with various breaches of the law. I was asked, “Is this person able to tell right from wrong?”
and “Was this person able to know right from wrong at the time s/he broke the law?” The first is
always easier to answer than the second. The courts were not happy when, on occasions, I indicated
the answer was in the gray zone of maybes rather than in either black or white, guilty or innocent
zones of knowingly or unknowingly having committing the crime.
In interpersonal relationships, particularly when we disagree with someone, we often feel we are right
and they are wrong. If we feel strongly about it, we may extend this to feeling we are all right and they
are all wrong. In racial stereotyping, people tend to do the same.
In our national policies there are many who judge people as being on our side or against us; friend or
foe; good or bad – international variations on the theme of black and white. In times of war, or when
pursuing imperialist goals, it is handy to vilify the enemy or those we seek to exploit
We tend to vilify others as bad (painting them all black) and paint ourselves as good (coloring
ourselves, perhaps whitewashing is a better term, pure white). In this way, the yin and yang could be
misleading, promoting separation and divisiveness. In the west, we suggest that the world is, by far,
more a place of shades of gray, rather being divided into blacks and whites.
The yin-yang symbol is often drawn with a dot of the opposite color in each of Figure 2
its polarities. This serves to remind us that we hold contrasts of opposites
within each polarity – as with joy within sorrow and sorrow within joy; the light
of day being brighter for its contrast with the darkness of night that precedes
and follows it. Nothing is all black or all white. Even evil, which I believe exists
as an actual force in the world, carries within it at least contrasting point of
good – in addition to its contrasting with good outside of itself. For evil is often
born out of deep hurts – out of disappointment in not having experienced good.

Most discussions about yin and yang stop here – with just the mention of elements of yin within yang
and yang within yin, In exploring these images, however, I realized that darkness and light have more
complex relationships.
Figure 3 Within our conventions of writing in black ink on white paper, it is in fact
impossible to depict the wholeness of an entity that is made of black and
 4
white without using black to define its contour. Without the contrasting
black border, the white loses its boundary.
It is the same within each of us in metaphoric terms. Our light will not
have a shape without darkness to define it – not just to contrast with it. It is
not just that the masculine is known in its dissimilarity with the feminine,
nor with the reminder of the black dot representing masculinity in the white
yin. Masculinity needs to interact with femininity in order to have its
essence defined and expressed.
The same is equally true if we reverse the colors. The darkness loses its Figure 4
shape when not bounded by light.
I see this often in my practice of psychiatric psychotherapy, particularly with
children and families. If not given the light of their parents’ living examples to
follow – in developing their relationships with the other people and with the
community at large – children’s darkness tends to be without boundaries. They
misbehave and push the limits of behavior until other, outside authori-ties help
them find the boundaries to their shadow selves. As adults, it is also helpful to
have reminders from the light, to help us contain our shadow impulses
The mirror problem can occur with the light. When people do not acknowledge the darkness within
themselves, they can also get in trouble. I have seen people who feel that their lives must be pure light,
and that any darkness must be denied its expression. Yes, we ought not to act out of darkness – from
places of anger, fear, hurt, hatred or their kindred negativities. But we all have some of these feelings
within us, from the inevitable disappointments and injuries we sustain in our interactions with others. If
we simply deny them and cover them up, they fester and seek expression outside of our conscious
awareness – through the shadow sides of our personality.
I see this in children bullying weaker peers in schools and on the streets. The hurts within the bullies
have not found their expression in words, nor their release in acceptable feelings. So they vent their
hurts on others. If people do not learn to express their feelings in appropriate ways, particularly their
hurts and angers, they grow up with habits of blaming others for their hurts. This blaming justifies (in
their minds) attacking “others” whom they identify as unworthy of their compassion and understand-
ing. This is the way we behave when we do not acknowledge the darkness within ourselves.
In families, societies and nations, such behaviors become institutionalized. The collective angers are
then vented on “others” who are different in cultural or religious beliefs and practices.
Rocks have been thrown by Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, in protest of non-observant
Jews driving through Orthodox neighborhoods. In one case a driver was killed – in the name of
defending the light of God’s words, as interpreted by the Orthodox. Blacks and Native Americans have
been murdered by whites, Hindus by Muslims, Palestinians by Jews and Jews by Palestinians.
Much of this negativity comes from responding to others from our heads rather than from our hearts.
Examining our shadow only from the perspective of logic and reason leads to intellectual understand-
ings, but may leave us still driven by the darkness of buried feelings we have not cleared. The heart is
a much better channel for appreciating contrasts of light and dark – both within and around ourselves.
Western society has invested so heavily in developing the head (to the exclusion of the heart) that we
may not be moved to recognize the darkness within us, much less to deal with it. Our schools develop
and hone our thinking, our personal goals are often focused on material gains and power. We set our
sights on targets (note the military terms) on achieving successes in school and work, often pushing
ourselves and sacrificing our emotional life to attain these.
In the process, we lose touch with our feelings – to the point that these denied aspects of ourselves
get buried deep in the shadow within ourselves. We then live lives of form without feelings. In this
 5
context, great darkness can result in our lives and in the greater world around us.

Yin and yang, light and darkness in modern incarnations

An appreciation of polarities is as relevant today as it was in the dawn of history when the yin and yang
were codified in Chinese traditions. I find it both refreshing and instructive to examine today’s
transformations of this ancient symbol. I find that the healing and CAM community in particular has
been resonating with the yin and yang, as the wave of spiritual awareness swells.
The wider world that is now so easy to reach through the internet and media is also opening to these
awarenesses. Google has brought me worlds of information and images to illustrate many of these
and other items of interest in my writings and public presentations.
Figure 5 The yin and yang symbol has been used often to promote martial arts
practices, as in the example at the left. This illustrates the yin of attack and the
yang of defense and acknowledges the eastern origins of martial arts.
It ignores the inner contrasts of yin and yang. The white dot within the
darkness is depicted as a fist. This would indicate that either the light in this
darkness image is a negative light (a contradiction in terms) or that the
darkness has transformed the light into negativity. However, within the martial
arts community, a good, strong fist is a positive – so in that sense the symbol
is congruent with light. The dark spot within the light is an open hand in black,
which is not a characterization of darkness.
Globalization of imagery brings about fascinating variations on this theme.
The image at the right was developed by Harry Reid for the Libertarian Party Figure 6
at its National Convention in Chicago in 1991. It “symbolizes a positive
attitude towards peace and money instead of a negative attitude toward
government.”
The peace sign highlights that Libertarians advocate for acceptance of
social diversity and oppose wars and that their methods are nonviolent.
The dollar sign (following the imagery of Ayn Rand) symbolizes a free
market, advocating for “having money, making money, caring about money.”
I quote from Reid’s website:
“The yin-yang symbolizes a duality where two concepts or aspects each support and enable the
other to exist as in night & day, black & white, male & female, etc. Libertarian duality has been
expressed in many ways: left & right, peace & prosperity, harmony & abundance, liberal &
conservative, free minds & free markets, toleration & responsibility, personal freedom &
economic freedom, freedom of expression & freedom of enterprise, etc.
Both are necessary for either to exist. Harmony and scarcity are exclusive, so are abundance
and conflict. Where there is no peace, there is no prosperity; where there is no prosperity, there
is no peace. The symbol joining the peace sign and the dollar sign shows this duality.
… The peace sign, the dollar sign, the yin-yang, all represent general ideas, not specific groups.
The libertarian duality symbol stands for an idea, not a group.”
While this emblem brings out the harmony of the yin and yang, it ignores the polarities inherent in its
symbolism. The pairs cited by Reid (starting with left and right and continuing to the end of his list, are
not mirror opposites.
In contrast with the last two, the next modernization of the yin and yang symbol preserves its fuller
meanings.
 6
If we do the inner work of exploring our shadow, at the same time honing our Figure 7
being so that the light can come through more easily and clearly, we are
addressing the shadow and light in ways that are growth-promoting.
The images at the right speak of these practices.
In the light - Qigong and T’ai Chi Ch’uan exercises tone the body and at the
same time are meditations that open into spiritual awareness. (These
practices are peaceful transformations of martial arts.)
In the darkness: Meditation on the light that is within the darkness; examining
the shadow within ourselves.
Another modern application of yin and yang: This and related images are available on T-shirts.
Relationships
It is through our close relationships that we come into awareness of our contrasts with another being
of light and darkness.
Each of us has an automatic pilot for screening and interpreting our Figure 8
perceptions and for smoothing and integrating our behaviors. When we come
into a close relationship with another person – who has his or her own set of
programs for perceptions and behaviors – we have the challenging work of
blending the two sets of programs so that the relationship can work
harmoniously.
A relationship forces us to re-assess many of our basic assumptions, as
these come into focus through the negotiations for setting up the combined
rules for navigating through life. When the two parties are from similar
backgrounds and have similar personalities, the negotiations are easier. The
sparks can really fly, however,
A good relationship will bring out both the light and the darkness in both parties, so that they can be
perceived more readily and cleared. There is great comfort in having another person who explores
these dimensions with us.
Figure 9 Close relationships also bring out the worst in us and help us to acknowledge
this darkness and deal with it. The challenge is to hold onto the awareness of
the positive within the negative, when the darkness of our shadow is
expressing itself. Where a couple can do this, then the inevitable arguments
that come within most relationships end up being good arguments. That is,
even though the disagreements may be marked by frustrations, angers and
arguments, the process of expressing our strong feelings in the relationship –
which continues despite the outbursts that punctuate its growth and evolution –
brings about an acceptance that the negative can be processed and
transformed.
Moving beyond the sorting out of individual relationships, we have the challenges of bridging much
greater differences between cultures.
Figure 10 The yin-yang symbols transformed into dark and light Figure 11
colored hands speak of bridging cultural differences –
which often polarize and can lead to conflicts, but
which can equally stimulate awarenesses of cultural
shadow and lead to great inner healings – just a
marriages of individuals do.
With just minor modifications, Figures 9 and 10 could
 7
represent birds’ wings as well, and the eyes could
round out the polarities within the opposites.

Perspectives and interpretations of yin and yang are as varied as human imagination.
Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14

Thinking outside the box

Figure 15 Most yin-yang images are two-dimensional and Figure 16
follow the initial yin-yang circle pattern. These yin-
yang images challenge us to begin to think outside
the box – or, more accurately, outside the plane of
two dimensions, beyond the creations of man –
outside the circle of our limitations, whether they be
limitations of beliefs, habits or conventional
practices.
The image at the right is a computer fractal image
created on a computer by a mathematical formula.
While this fanciful snake has no obvious symbolism as depicted, the snake has been used as an
image of kundalini energies rising up the spine, which is associated in many cases with spiritual
awakenings. The caduceus symbol from the mythological staff of the god Mercury has two entwined
snakes. This has been adopted in modern times as a symbol for the medical profession.
Paired fish, one light and the other dark colored, are sometimes used Figure 17
instead of the classical yin-yang symbol. Figure 17 is the most elaborate
example of this variation that I’ve found.
I like this symbolism, as it takes the yin and yang from the abstract and
purely symbolic into the real world of the seas, where light and dark forces
are currently embattled over preservation of endangered species vs
exploitation of the few remaining members of fish and cetaceans.
The surrounding design also resonates with Celtic knots and Hawaiian
quilt patterns, and speaks to me of the collective consciousness as it
expresses a cross-cultural awareness the transcendent.

Multiple levels of relationships

 8
Figure 18 As rich as the traditions of the conventional yin-yang symbols are, the world of
human experiences and interactions is more complex than dark and light
contrasts, as suggested by this extension of the basic yin-yang to a tri-color
version.
The equal sharing of the space by the major hues, within a circle that could
represent the globe that is our planet, might suggest a coming together in
harmony of peoples of different color. The red and brown spilling over into the
other colors might hint at the disseminations of cultural elements across the
boundaries that initially divide.
The focus on yin and yang in the west has been largely on the inner psychological light and darkness,
as has this discussion,
Figure 19 The Chinese view everything in the world as Figure 20
having yin and yang relationships with
everything else. Some of these creative
images remind us of this cosmic
interrelationships.
Sky and sea; waters and earth have yin-yang
relationships. The circle of the yin and yang
reflects the globe that is our planet. The
circle is also symbolizes the repeating
cycles of the seasons, of fortune and
misfortune, of birth, death and the beyond.
It is fascinating to learn from Allen Tsai that this symbol was originally derived from charts that detailed
the shifts of the stars in the skies with the seasons.

Collective consciousness
In a world where the relationships of elements to each other is a major focus, collective conscious-
ness readily becomes a part of awareness. Everything is related to everything else. There don’t have
to be causal connections for elements to be related. They just are.
In this totally interrelated world of yin and yang, each of us is connected to everything else in the
cosmos. Within this awareness it may be easier to sense that one has a spiritual aspect to life.
Western thinking focuses on linear constructs and either-or reasoning. We are taught that we are
separate and individuality is emphasized. Our interactions with the world are through physical actions,
reactions and interactions, rather than merely through our beingness and the contrasting beingness of
other people and inanimate elements in the world. Within this way of conceptualizing the cosmos, it
may be harder to sense our relationship with the All.
Within collective consciousness there is a shared awareness in all of nature. Western science, in its
linear way, has nibbled at the edges of collective consciousness through psi research (Edge et al;
Nash; Radin). There is excellent evidence, from numerous, replicated studies of telepathy – confirming
mint to mind communication; of pre- and retro-cognition – confirming awareness that transcends
linear time; and of clairsentience – confirming mind-matter awareness. With research in
psychokinesis (PK) and spiritual healing (Benor 2001a; b) there is evidence confirming that mind can
influence matter.
These are not simply of academic interest. They confirm Chinese world views that each of us is
intimately interconnected with the cosmos.
There are many ways in which collective consciousness can manifest in our lives. I will discuss only a
few here – which are directly relevant to the theme of the yin and yang symbol.
 9
Figure 21 A fascinating aspect of historical Chinese cosmology is the I Ching. This is
based around eight sets of three full and broken lines called trigrams, as in
the diagram at the left. In this picture, the trigrams are positioned around the
yin-yang symbol.
Each trigram is keyed to ancient Chinese texts (available in a variety of
translations, e.g. Wilhelm/ Baynes). By tossing coins or yarrow stalks, pairs
of trigrams (hexagrams) are selected while you hold a question in your mind.
The text related to the hexagram may be used to suggest answers or
directions for action related to your question.
I have occasionally used the I Ching to suggest new perspectives on a difficult or unclear situation. The
most striking experience I had was when I was applying for work and three openings were available.
Two were at clinics within the same mental health system. I got the identical hexagram for these two
and a completely different one when I threw the coins for the other. Since there are 64 possible
combinations of lines in the hexagrams, it is highly unlikely to get the identical results twice.
Another fascinating manifestation from somewhere in the collective consciousness is the apparance
of crop circles in many countries, but particularly in England.
The figure at the right is about 200 feet across. It appeared Figure 22
on 21/6/2003 in Walden Hill, Wiltshire. It is the only one
through all the years, as far as I know, that contains a yin-
yang symbol.
No clear hypothesis has been proposed, much less
confirmed, to explain these enormous patterns, which
appear overnight and have been growing in complexity
over the decades. I highly recommend a visit to a site that
catalogues these images: http://temporarytemples.co.uk.
Karen Douglas (2003) is speculating that these are
cosmic mandalas, somehow manifesting as archetypal
messages for our troubled times.
It is widely suspected that these have been nothing more than hoaxes. However, their numbers, size
(often 600-800 feet in diameter) and complexity, very rapid construction, and physical changes in the
crops (e.g. bending crop stalks without breaking them, in highly complex, woven patterns) make it so
highly unlikely that these could be the creations of people as to make the hoaxter hypothesis
untenable.This particular configuration could lend itself to hoaxing, consisting as it does of straight
lines and circles. Other crop circle patterns are of so far greater a complexity and intricacy that it is
inconceivable they could be produced as hoaxes. Rather than suggest that believers in a cosmic origin
for the crop circles disprove the hoaxter hypothesis, it seem incumbent on those who hold to the
hoaxter hypothesis to suggest how these would be created, where the manpower required for such
creations could be mustered, and what motivation could possibly lie behind such a proposed hoax.

Nothing is as simple as it seems Figure 23

 10
Our inner worlds
contain contrasts of
dark and light, as do
our relationships with
significant others; as
do our family’s
relationships with
other families; and
our community’s with
other communities’;
our nation’s with
other nations’; our
generation with
generations past and
future; and so on in
many nested series.
Contrasts and inter-
relationships are
nested within other
contrasts and
interrelationships
We are one with the
All.

References
Benor, Daniel J, Healing Research: Volume I, (Popular edition) Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing
Revolution, Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, 2001(a).
Benor, Daniel J, Healing Research: Volume I, (Professional Supplement) Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a
Healing Revolution, Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, 2001(b).
Douglas, Karen. Healing the inner landscape, Crop Circle Year Book 2003, Gosport, England: Temporary Temple
Press 2003.
Edge, Hoyt L. et al, Foundations of Parapsychology: Exploring the Boundaries of Human Capability,
Boston/London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1986.
Nash, Carroll B, Parapsychology: The Science of Psiology, Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas 1986.
Radin, Dean I. The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena, New York: HarperCollins
1997.
Wilhelm, Richard (Trans Chinese to German)/ Baynes, Cary F. (Trans German to English). I Ching or Book of
Changes, New York: Viking/Penguin 1967.
Image credits
I am grateful to the many artists and website owners who have given their generous permissions to reproduce the
images in this article.
Figures 1-4; 21. Variations on the original Chinese yin-yang and I Ching symbols
Figure 5. http://www.olemiss.edu/orgs/karate/ajinstructors.html
Figure 6. www.atlantic.net/~dwatney/reid/reid06.htm
Figure 7. www.bodymindharmony.com/TSHIRTS.HTM
logo of the Taijiquan Club, designed by David Chen
 11
Figure 8. www.s2kitty.com/kittens/9-8-01_yinyang.jpg:
Photo credit: Shereen E. Deemer s2kitty@yahoo.com
Figure 9. http://internets-future.com/images/yinyang_sb.jpg
created by Rev. Neil Colton
Figure 10. http://taijiquanclub.com/images/Yinyang.jpg
Logo of the Taijiquan Club designed by David Chen
Figure 11. http://lycto.gomen.org/about.htm
Figure 12. http://upscale.utoronto.ca/mo
Figure 13. http://graphics.elysiumgates.com/tao.html
Design accessories for this image courtesy of Crystal Cloud Graphics
Figure 14. www.padillataekwondo.com
Figure 15. http://jimchamberlain.com/yin_yang_snake_web.jpg
Figure 16. http://cosy.sbg.ac.at/~gwesp/fractals
Figure 17. http://cornerstone-works.com/poetry/whales.html
Barbara Eckstein barbara@cornerstone-works.com
Figure 18. http://www.sektenberatung.ch/Kir_undSek_Korea/reisebericht%20korea.html
Figure 19. http://appellcore.internations.net/ch1.htm
Figure 20. http://sidsrigging.com
Figure 22. http://temporarytemples.co.uk
Figure 23. http://www.pegtop.de/gallery.htm

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