Consciousness (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, October 06, 2010, 13:06 (5162 days ago) @ dhw

TONY: As a side note to the hypnosis conversation, I am curious as to how comparable hypnosis, self-hypnosis, and meditation are. They seem to be shades of the same color, closely related, but I wonder to what extent.
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> DHW:Self-hypnosis and meditation are self-induced, i.e. the mind shuts off certain areas of itself, whereas in hypnosis it appears that someone else's mind causes the loss of awareness. This to me suggests electrical waves passing from one mind to another, which raises the whole question of ESP. I don't know enough about that to launch an inquiry here, but perhaps you do or someone else does. -
By the criteria you have suggested for the differences between meditation and hypnosis, one could posit that guided meditation is a form of hypnosis. The way you framed it however, called to mind my time as a music major in college, and in particular, the practice of tuning a band. -A single person can tune a instrument to itself quite readily. In fact, it is probably the most common skill among musicians. Rare individuals possess a gift call 'perfect pitch' which allows them to tune the instrument to scale without any outside assistance, no matter what instrument or tone it has as its base. However, an instrument being in tune with itself is not the same as an instrument being in tune with the band, and likewise, a band that is tuned together is not the same thing as a band that is in tune with a particular musical scale. -In order to get everyone in tune with the scale, a single individual tunes to the scale, and then the rest of the people tune to the individual who is already in tune. -I see the concepts of meditation and hypnosis the same way, and even self hypnosis to a lesser extent. Some rare individuals are able, without assistance, to achieve a sense of 'tuning' with the prevalent energy in the world. Other people need a little help to achieve it(guided meditation). Still more people are so out of tune with themselves, that without outside intervention they have no hope of ever getting in tune with the band(other people), or with the scale(prevalent energy). These people can manage this in one of two ways. Small, incremental changes in themselves through outside influence(self-hypnosis), or through the use of a tuner(hypnosis). Note that hypnosis will not put a person in tune with anyone or anything else, it will just put them in tune with themselves.-And since the topic here is of consciousness, energy, and(now) sound, we can argue that all three have a vary fundamental element in common. All three are comprised of waves(brainwaves in the case of consciousness), and all three are a form of energy. The fact that they all function as a wave actually reinforces the tuning analogy somewhat, and provides room for some http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397873&section=1.5.2 based on that. Particularly in the areas of wave enforcement and negation of waves at opposing frequencies.