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David Bernstein's avatar

Back in the 90's, I was hanging with a buddy, listening to some Santana. It had very heavy latin percussion and almost an African shaman vibe. I went into a spontaneous trance. It was if time stopped and I began rocking. My friend was watching me and when I came back, he asked me what the hell happened. I tried to explain to him something that I had experienced for the first time.

While I grew up a jazz fan, I became interested in "world" and classical music in college because I was reading about how the music effected the psychological and spiritual well being and the effect of the music. For example, I read that they used different scales in Indian classical music to produce different states.

One esoteric book, I was reading talked about how the great classical composers were influenced, and used by a higher force and the author went on to describe the visions he had while listening to different music. Some music was great for better left and right brain coordination like Bach.

So I figured the guy was visualizing many of the inner scenes he described in the book. So my first test was listening to slow pieces of baroque music and imagining I was out of the body. I was lying on the couch listening to the slow section of Mozarts Piano Concerto #21 when I was taken to this beautiful country road wtih a tree and a very peaceful/remote country area.

I went and bought me some tickets to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie hall and tried the experiment while I was listening to Loengrin Prelude and found myself in a field with large swaying grass. These weren't just figments of my imagination. The imagery was as real as watching a movie.

Then I learned that drum and flute were used by many indigenous cultures to produce out of body experiences. Native American flute and drum, you have the Bodhran Irish and many, many African cultures that have intense drum traditions that they used for ritual. I had been listening to Native American drum and flute music and I felt this energy move through my body that was very healing.

But the day I was listening to that Santana cd, was the first time the music just took control and I was brought into the experience without intention.

Suffice to say, I can confirm from my personal experimentation that music can be used to experience altered states. Visions and/or Out of body experiences.

I don't think everybody can do it, not because it's not available to everyone, but because of our social contracts, religious dogma and beliefs put onto us by family, school and culture. We're not taught about this stuff. So we close down this ability.

Most people listen to music for entertainment, relaxation etc... Nothing wrong with it. I do too. But few use the music to have an experience, an altered state or expanded state.

I've been going through Ted's archives in search of new music especially experimenting listening to his list of immersive music. I have used John Luther Adam's music to do very deep healing on an energetic level.

This subject is a rabbit hole and the last thing I'd expect to read on a popular blog. But are we are. Give it a try. Listen to the music with your body, with your eye's closed and just allow yourself to have an experience.

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Su Terry's avatar

"That is the cup of a carpenter"..."You have chosen wisely."

Don Juan told Carlos Castaneda that they were not equals. Carlos reassured him, condescendingly, that of course they were equals (even though Carlos was a sophisticated scholar from the States and Don Juan was a lowly Mexican Indian).

No, repeated Don Juan. You are a self-indulgent, weak man driven by absurd emotions and clouded thinking. I, however, am a powerful sorcerer.

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