Overload

Listening to sound and music

Category: Actions

Type

Involuntary and voluntary

Introduction and description

Listening to sound and music can have an influence on us – one influence is via the emotions and I have described this activity - Listening to music - within the suppression section as its overall effect is to invoke the parasympathetic nervous system - it relaxes!

The use of both sound and music within the context of the overload section is different. Its objective is to stimulate via resonance.

Thus you are using music here as a source of energy not as a source of emotion! It is a physical mechanism not a functional one.

By listening or being ‘immersed’ in sounds which resonate your body and your head, various organs can be stimulated and something – pleasant or unpleasant can happen. The sound can be whole body resonance, or it can be targeted to the head. It can be musical or simply a single slightly varying pulsed note.

If you resonate your head – the skull, brain stem and inner organs – or your body, the aim is to find your ‘resonant frequency’ – the frequency that gives you a spiritual experience.

Although I have placed it in the overload category because it stimulates rather than suppresses function, it can vary from relatively benign to a bit risky. It depends a lot on the particular method used. I will explain the risks within the context of each alternative technique.

Background

All musical instruments are symbolically part of the human body. The pipe for example is symbolically the penis. Reeds also have a symbolic significance. The reed is the spinal cord– symbolically the source of the kundalini experience – thus if one ‘blows’ through the reed then one is symbolically invoking a kundalini experience because breath is spirit.

Moses was found in ‘the bulrushes’ – reeds - and Anatolian festivals of the Great Mother in 3^rd and 4^th century AD had reed bearers carrying reeds into the sanctuary. All is not what it seems.

Thus one can symbolically ‘play’ the human being to get an experience. There is thus an overlap between this activity and that of sexual stimulation. This means that one has to be careful when looking at the myths and stories, as they may have two meanings. That listening to music can provoke a spiritual experience is to me clear, but so can playing with someone’s body!

Be aware that some observations I have included, taking them at their face value, may not be all they seem!

Method

For any of these to work you really need to be there with the instruments, as all work via resonance. Thus ‘being there’ is the most effective. Failing this I suppose a recording with extremely high quality surround sound that has captured all the complex tones and undertones is a possibility [hence the inclusion of the speakers on the list]. I have no observations that show this latter approach works. All the observations are from experience of the sound at source.

I have experiences from all the following methods- anything from visions to hallucinations and out of body.

The key is the use of pulsed sound, thus a beating sound which repeats over and over again. Even Rachmaninov’s 2^nd piano concerto throbs. Ideally it should not be of high intensity of long duration. The following are all options

Hearing large scale sub woofer speakers - this is untargeted sound, it affects the whole body and relies on surround sound. It is extremely high intensity and thus inherently dangerous. I did wonder whether Bono and U2 who employ these types of speakers know this? I suspect not, as who would want to be responsible for cardiac arrests and miscarriages! Wonderful demonstration of resonance and another one that I hope gives food for thought - we are mostly water
Hemi-sync and binaural beats –this is targeted sound as one can listen to it through headphones and there is a fair amount of science behind the scenes in the frequencies employed. It is low intensity, as such it would work via completely different organs to those affected by high intensity. High intensity knocks out the functions the organ supports, low intensity would stimulate them. There is an inherent risk in these techniques because the size of people's organs in the brain may be different and you could over stimulate the wrong ones. If you go to a reputable provider it is likely to be safer. Note that this is the only technique on this list which is targeted to specific frequencies and to specific organs in the brain, as such it is the only ‘semi-reliable’ technique on the list
Here is Robert Monroe talking about hemi-sync and out of body
Hitting obelisks and columns - this is untargeted sound and relies on surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary. It may be high or low intensity depending on how close you are to the column. Quite an interesting piece of background on lithophines can be found here
Hitting rock gongs, cups and rings and stalactites- this is untargeted surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary [unless the stones have been 'tuned']. In an enclosed space like a cave, the sound is likely to be of high intensity. In effect it probably works by knocking out your functions of reason and intellect! Rock gongs in open spaces may work via low intensity and thus affect different organs.
Listening to timbre music this is untargeted sound, it affects the whole body and relies on surround sound. But its effects need not be arbitrary. In the hands of a skilled musician specific effects can be provoked. And it is low intensity, as such it is safer than the high intensity approaches.
Listening to cathedral organs this too is untargeted sound, it affects the whole

body and relies on surround sound. It is high intensity and as such carries with it an element of risk, probably not quite as high as subwoofer speakers but....Its effects also need not be arbitrary. In the hands of a skilled musician specific effects can be provoked and there is the advantage that cathedrals were often designed to be acoustically magnificent
Listening to drones and bagpipes this is untargeted sound, it affects the whole body and relies on surround sound. Again, its effects need not be arbitrary. In the hands of a skilled player specific effects can be provoked. It may be high or low intensity depending on how many pipes are being played and how close you are to them. The player probably experiences the effects the most! A non Scottish example for a change
Listening to didgeridoos -untargeted sound, it affects the whole body and relies on surround sound. Again, its effects need not be arbitrary. It may be high or low intensity depending on how many didgeridoos are being played and how close you are to them. The player is the closest. This example is quite good
Listening to lutes, lyres and fiddles these may also work via the simple mechanism of emotion and those seen in Listening to music. Where any resonance is in operation it affects the whole body. Even with a whole orchestra of fiddle players it will never reach high intensity levels. Its effects need not be arbitrary. There is a tradition of healing achieved via lutes lyres and fiddles as well as visionary experience. The higher notes of the violin in particular are extremely effective at invoking bliss and high emotion
Listening to flutes or pipes this is untargeted sound, it affects the whole body and relies on surround sound. Again, its effects need not be arbitrary. The pied piper of Hamlyn used pipes. There is a very long tradition of quite complex effects from these instruments. The area is muddied however, because of the alternative symbolism of the pipe. The intensity would normally be classified as from low to medium - even for the player. They may also work via the simple mechanism of emotion and those seen in Listening to music.
Singing bowls - this is untargeted sound and relies on loud surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary. Singing bowls can, however, be tuned as such if they are, a more targeted response should be expected. Depending how close you are to them they can be high or low intensity. This example is not going to be the same as being in the presence of a bowl but is nice.
Using bells and gongs- this is untargeted sound and relies on loud surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary. They can, however, be tuned as such if they are, a more targeted response should be expected. The intensity can be high or low. Example 1 and example 2, note the pulsing
Using bull roarers -this is untargeted sound and relies on loud surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary. Intensity may be high or low. This example shows just how resonant the sound can be
Using the Aeolian harp - this is untargeted sound and relies on surround sound. Its effects are arbitrary, but it tends to be of low intensity. An example
Using naturally reverberant acoustic space - this is untargeted sound and relies on surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are generally arbitrary. But you can sing and thus produce more targeted sound. Acoustic space produces echoes and echoes can interfere acoustically creating very complex sound patterns some of which may be very low frequency. The intensity will depend on the space. A cave may produce extremely high intensity sounds, a rock face may be more gentle.
Visit the singing ringing tree - this is untargeted sound and relies on loud surround sound affecting the whole body. Its effects are arbitrary.

How it works

Stimulation via resonance - see this section for a detailed explanation.

We are like a musical instrument. All our organs are like individual strings within our bodies. We can be ‘played’ by sound impacting us. Loud sound knocks out functions, gentle sound stimulates them - especially pulsed sound.

Sound can thus heal, it can reduce us to tears, it can make us euphorically happy, or send us into deep despair, it can open the door to the composer by knocking out or stimulating just the right combination of organs in our brain. Whether it does or not is largely unpredictable – what works for one will not work for another.

Resonance, particularly at high intensity and low frequency – infrasound level – can be inherently unsafe. The effects will be entirely unpredictable because the resonant frequencies of each person’s organs may be different. At high intensity and in uncontrolled settings, one person may get as high as a kite, another may experience fear of an almost unbearable nature.

Again, if uncontrolled, you might resonate the pituitary gland by mistake, in which case you might suddenly find one or more of the following go haywire

Growth (Excess of HGH can lead to gigantism and acromegaly.)
Blood pressure
Some aspects of pregnancy and childbirth including stimulation of uterine contractions
Breast milk production
Sex organ functions in both men and women
Thyroid gland function
The conversion of food into energy (metabolism)
Water and osmolarity regulation in the body
Water balance via the control of reabsorption of water by the kidneys
Temperature regulation

So inadertent stimulation of this gland could lead to the stimulation of the functions it controls with things going very wrong – changes in temperature [hot cold] rise or lowering in blood pressure, water balance going all wrong and so on.

You have to be supremely careful with all low frequencies – the inaudible ones. You could become quite ill because they affect your body functions.

There are some frequencies that can ‘churn your stomach’. The sound may affect the body or it may affect the mind.

There is some research that shows that the frequency that causes vibration of the eyeballs, and therefore distortion of vision, is around 19 Hertz. At this frequency you might get a visual hallucination – but at what cost!

"In one of the scenes in Master and Commander where canon blasts are surging from everywhere, …. the grille cloth was moving in sync to the rhythm of the woofer diaphragm; like an hallucination. What about the thunder of the waves hitting the sail boat, literally making me seasick?"
-- Robert Lussier, Quebec Audio Video

According to the Working Paper on Infrasound Weapons produced by Hungary for the United Nations in 1978, the frequency that is thought to be most dangerous to humans is between 7 and 8 Hertz.

At low intensity short duration little harm is done, [it says] but at high intensity it can provoke heart attacks – and I am not joking, as one commentator noted.

“.if 8 hz stops your heart from beating normally, it, ahem, sounds quite physical to me”

Remember that the military already know this.

Advantages

It is proven - The binaural beat technology has a proven track record, but if we simply use the number of rock gongs regarded as sacred places as a guide, for example, I think we can see that there is every reason to believe that rock gongs along with all the other sources of sound are very effective at promoting spiritual experiences.
Legal
Generally free, or at least it does not have to cost much.
Natural settings - If you like the idea of natural sources of sound, you are spoilt for choice, the sites are often in extremely beautiful locations. Any granite landscape is a good starting point
Listening to music - [and just music] is not going to make you vulnerable to brain washing or any interference from third parties.
Simple to use - You have no need to be taught any techniques, you just listen.

Disadvantages

Our heritage is being lost - We are also losing many monuments that have produced experience at an alarming rate from erosion and man made activity such as archaeological digs, badly advised reconstructions, wall building and other acts of sacrilege [sorry got emotional here].
Unpredictable effects - The effects will be totally unpredictable, you may get nothing at all because the frequencies and which organs resonate cannot be predicted.
Can be unsafe - Resonance particularly at high intensity and low frequency – infrasound level – can be inherently unsafe. The effects will be entirely unpredictable because the resonant frequencies of each person’s organs may be different.

References and further reading

Gig Tr Prof Zabol. 1983 Sep;(9):35-7. [Mechanism of the effect of infrasound on the body of animals and man (review of the literature)]. [Article in Russian] Alekseev SV, Mozzhukhina NA. PMID: 6357958

Gig Tr Prof Zabol. 1979 Mar;(3):9-15. [Effect of infrasound on bioenergetics processes, organ ultrastructural organization and on regulation processes]. [Article in Russian] Gabovich RD, Shutenko OI, Krechkovskiĭ EA, Shmuter GM, Stechenko LA. PMID: 428781

Gig Sanit. 1979 Mar;(3):19-25. [Effect of infrasound of varying intensity on the body of experimental animals]. [Article in Russian] Shutenko OI, Gabovich RD, Krechkovskii EA, Murashko VA, Stechenko LA. PMID: 422035

Vrach Delo. 1975 Oct;(10):133-6. [Combined effect of low-frequency noise and infrasound on the body of workers]. [Article in Russian] Sanova AG. PMID: 1231210

Observations

Some of these observations show the very specific connection between music and spiritual experience, others explain the idea of man as a musical instrument – a resonating instrument capable of being ‘sung’ and played by the spirit world.

I will reiterate the fact that it is extremely difficult sometimes to tell whether the observation concerns the literal or the symbolic – as all these are musical instruments, then all the older observations may be relating to sexual stimulation.

I have included what appear to be a very large number of observations from Robert Monroe. As a pioneer of out of body travel and one who achieved extraordinary levels of exploration using hemi-sync technology, however, I felt that more observations were relevant, as they may prove invaluable to anyone attempting this level of exploration.

WHAT AND WHERE IS HEAVEN?

VISIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS

Navigation

Sub Navigation

Overload

Listening to sound and music

Type

Introduction and description

Background

Method

How it works

Advantages

Disadvantages

References and further reading

Observations

Related observations

WHAT AND WHERE IS HEAVEN?

VISIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS

Navigation

Sub Navigation

Overload

Listening to sound and music

Type

Introduction and description

Background

Method

How it works

Advantages

Disadvantages

References and further reading

Observations

Related observations

Healing observations

Hallucination

Wisdom, Inspiration, Divine love & Bliss

Out of time

Enlightenment

In time

Prophecy

Environmental Influence

Other observations