1) Bentov article on K

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[Appendix 1. Lee Sannella, M.D. Kundalini Experience. Lower Lake CA:

Integral Publishing.]

 

MlCROMOTION OF THE BODY AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

by Itzhak Bentov

 

 

Introduction

 

In the last few years, both young and old people in the United

States and in Europe have taken up the practice of meditation. Regular

practice of meditation has a calming and stabilizing effect on its

practitioners (see Wallace and Benson 1972; Banquet 1972; Benson 1975).

With prolonged practice, many physiological changes occur in the body.

Among them is a change in the mode of functioning of the nervous system.

These changes can be monitored by the application of a modified

ballistocardiograph to a seated upright subject.

Theoretically, when meditation is practiced properly, a sequence of

strong and unusual bodily reactions and unusual psychological states is

eventually triggered. The "rising of the kundalini," as described in the

classical literature of Yoga, is a stimulus or "energy" activating a

"center," or chakra, at the base of the spine and working its way up the

spine. The stimulus stops at several centers along the spine, as it rises.

These centers are located opposite the major nerve plexuses in the abdomen

and in the thorax, which are also stimulated in the process. Eventually the

stimulus ends up in the head. Along its path, it often causes violent

motion in some parts of the body, signifying that there is "resistance" to

its passage. The rising of the kundalini may happen suddenly or over a

period of several years. After entering the head, the stimulus continues

down the face into the larynx and the abdominal cavity.

Most meditators realize that these reactions are caused by

meditation and do not become alarmed. However, sometimes this mechanism can

be triggered in nonmeditators. Our observations indicate that exposure to

certain mechanical vibrations, electro-magnetic waves, or sounds may

trigger this mechanism. It is the purpose of this article to bring this

mechanism and some of its symptoms to the attention of the medical

profession.

 

 

Summary

 

The ballistocardiogram of a sitting subject, who is capable of

altering his or her state of consciousness at will, shows a rhythmic sine

wave pattern when the subiect is in a deep meditative state. This is

attributed to the development of a standing wave in the aorta, which is

reflected in the rhythmic motion of the body. This resonating oscillator

(the heart-aorta system) will rhythm entrain four additional oscillators,

eventually resulting in a fluctuating magnetic field around the head.

Our initial experiments indicate that the five resonating systems

are as follows:

 

1. The heart-aorta system produces an oscillation of about 7 Hz in the

skeleton, including the skull. The upper part of the body also has a

resonant frequency of about 7 Hz.

 

2. The skull accelerates the brain up and down, producing acoustical plane

waves reverberating through the brain at KHz frequencies.

 

3. These acoustical plane waves are focused by the skull onto the

ventricles, thus activating and driving standing waves within the third and

lateral ventricles.

 

4. Standing waves within the cerebral ventricles in the audio and

supersonic ranges stimulate the sensory cortex mechanically, resulting

eventually in a stimulus traveling in a closed loop around each hemisphere.

Such a traveling stimulus may be viewed as a "current."

 

5. As a result of these circular "currents," each hemisphere produces a

pulsating magnetic field. These fields are of opposing polarities.

 

This magnetic field--radiated by the head acting as an antenna

--interacts with the electric and magnetic fields already in the

environment. We may consider the head as simultaneously a transmitting and

receiving antenna, tuned to a particular one of the several resonant

frequencies of the brain. Environmental fields may thus be fed back to the

brain, thereby modulating that resonant frequency. The brain will interpret

this modulation as useful information.

This paper presents a preliminary report on the possible mechanism

of the so-called "kundalini." The kundalini effect is viewed by the author

as part of the development of the nervous system. This development can be

elicited by the practice of any of several different types of meditative

techniques, or it may develop spontaneously. Research into this area is

continuing, and investigation of the kundalini effect by different methods

is in progress.

 

 

Micromotion Measurement with the Capacitive Probe

 

Small body motions accompanying the motion of blood through the

circulatory system may be measured with a capacitive probe apparatus. A

subject sits on a chair between two metal plates, one above the head, and

one under the seat, 5 to 10 cm from the body.

The two plates of the capacitor are part of a tuned circuit. The

movement of the subiect will modulate the field between the two plates.

This signal is processed and fed into a single channel recorder, which

registers both the motion of the chest due to respiration and the movement

of the body reacting to the motion of the blood in the heart-aorta system.

The resulting recording trace (see Figure 2) is very similar to that of a

ballistocardiogram (see Weissler 1974), in which the subject lies on a

platform, to which are attached three mutually perpendicular accelerometers

or strain gauges to measure the body's motion in response to blood flow.

But in the capacitive probe measurements, gravitational forces and the

elasticity of the skeleton and the general body build play important roles.

 

FIGURE 1: Mass on a spring.

 

As an analogy, a seated subject can be represented by a mass on a

spring (see Figure 1): The spring is the spinal column and the mass is the

weight of the upper part of the body. Upon the ejection of blood from the

heart, this mass is set into motion and starts oscillating at its natural

frequency when the person is in a deep meditative state.

 

FIGURE 2: Baseline resting state record.

 

Figure 2 shows a baseline resting state record, in which the

micromotion of the body is superimposed over the motion of the chest caused

by breathing. These are the large slow waves of about a 3-second period, or

20 breaths/minute. The first 7-Hz wave is caused by the ejection of blood

from the left ventricle, which makes the body recoil downward and sets the

body oscillating. The second wave corresponds closely to the action of the

blood flowing through the aortic arch, lifting the body up. The third wave

occurs at about the same time as the closing of the aortic valve and the

slight backflow of the blood, called the dichrotic notch. The first and

third waves correspond closely to the first and second heart sounds.

 

FIGURE 3: Deep meditative state record.

 

Figure 3 shows a recording in which the subject is in a deep

meditative state, a few minutes after the baseline reading. Breathing is

very shallow, as shown by the practically even level of the 7.5-Hz waves.

The irregularity that characterized the baseline behavior (see Figure 2) is

gone. Large amplitude regular waves--practically pure sine waves--are

present. An almost pure sine wave is what characterizes this state. The

body moves in a simple harmonic motion.

Figure 4 shows the return to baseline of the same subject.

 

FIGURE 4: Return to baseline resting state record.

 

Breathing is deeper again; the irregularity of the wave pattern is back,

but is not as irregular as before. Total elapsed time for the recording was

about 20 minutes.

We have noticed that the regularity in rhythm is obtained at the

expense of breathing. The subject can stay in the shallow breathing state

for a long time without having to compensate later by deep rapid breathing.

This is a state in which the body's demand for oxygen seems to be lowered.

If one stops breathing for a while without being in a deep meditative state

(see Wallace and Benson 1972), the same regular pattern will be achieved.

However, oxygen deficiency builds up quickly and overbreathing will be

necessary to restore balance, whereas in the meditative state this

overbreathing does not occur.

 

 

The Development of a Standing Wave in the Aorta

 

The regular movement of the body indicates that a standing wave is

set up in the vascular system, specifically in the aorta (see Bergel 1972).

This is the only feasible explanation of the regular sine-wavelike behavior

of the body. This standing wave, as will be shown later, has far-reaching

consequences and affects several other reso-nant systems in the body, which

are all driven by this large signal.

 

FIGURE 5: Comparison of the aorta to a stretched vibrating string. The length

of the stretched aorta is equal to one half the wave

length of the

string.

 

FIGURE 6: Collision of the oppositely traveling pressure pulses causes a

destructive interference pattern and vibration of aortic

walls.

 

The aorta is the major artery of the body. When the left ventricle

of the heart ejects blood, the aorta, being elastic, balloons out just

distal to the ventricle. Under these conditions, a pressure pulse travels

down along the aorta. When the pressure pulse reaches the iliac

bifurcation, part of it rebounds and starts traveling up the aorta (see

Figures 5 and 6). When the timing of the pressure pulses traveling down the

aorta coincides or is in phase with the reflected pressure pulses, a

standing wave is achieved. This standing wave of approximately 7 Hz will

cause the body to move in a rhythmic fashion, provided the aorta is

properly tuned. Presumably, a feedback loop is set up between the

bifurcation and the heart, which then regulates the breathing so as to make

the lungs and the diaphragm contact the aorta and regulate its impedance.

This allows the pressure pulse to be in phase with both the ejection and

the dichrotic notch. This is an entirely automatic process during deep

meditation.

 

 

Acoustical Plane Waves in the Body

 

The movement of the body is relatively small, 0.003 to 0.009 mm,

but the body and particularly the head are very dense, tight structures. By

moving up and down, the skull accelerates the brain with a mild impact in

both directions (see Figure 7). This sets up acoustical and possibly

electrical plane waves reverberating within the skull. The brain may be

considered as a piezoelectric gel, converting mechanical vibrations into

electrical vibrations, and conversely.

 

FIGURE 7: Acoustical plane waves moving through the brain.

 

The acoustical plane waves reflected from the cranial vault are

focused upon the third and lateral ventricles of the brain, as shown in

Figures 8 and 9 (see Ruch and Patton 1962). High-frequency acoustical waves

generated by the heart are also reflected from the cranial vault and

focused upon the third and lateral ventricles.

 

FIGURE 8: Lateral cross section of the brain, showing acoustical standing

waves.

 

FIGURE 9: Frontal cross section of the brain.

 

 

Acoustical Standing Waves in the Ventricles

 

A hierarchy of frequencies couples the 7-Hz body movement to the

higher frequencies in the ventricles.

The body can be considered as a bag of elastic skin containing

stiff gel and supported by a rigid armature. The motion of the heart-aorta

system sets this gel vibrating in different modes. Assuming the velocity of

signal propagation to be 1,200m/sec, the fundamental frequencies for the

different parts of the body would be along the vertical axis of the body:

(1) the brain, 4,000 Hz; (2) circumference of the skull, 2,250 Hz; (3) the

whole body length, 375 Hz; (4) the trunk and head, 750 Hz; (5) heart

sounds, 35 to 2,000 HZ (see Stapp 1961). The high-frequency component of

the heart sounds, although very low in intensity, may be able to drive the

ventricles directly. The stimulus will be conducted by the left side of the

neck, up into the skull, and reflected back from the cranial vault to the

ventricles.

 

FIGURE 10: Frequency distribution of "inner sounds" heard by meditators.

 

Frequency distribution measurements of "inner sounds" reported by

156 meditators were made by asking each meditator to compare the sounds

heard during meditation with sounds produced by an audio-frequency

oscillator through an earphone in one ear. The subiect rotated the

oscillator frequency control to match oscillator tones with those heard or

remembered as the "inner sound." The frequency distribution is not smooth,

but shows several sharp peaks, harmonics of the fundamental frequency, and

possibly beat frequencies produced between the third and lateral ventricles

of the brain, which are connected by a fluid bridge. In the frequency range

below 1 KHz, acoustical standing waves running through the entire body

appear, as do the higher harmonics of the heartbeat and the heart sounds.

 

The Circular Sensory Cortex "Current"

 

Figure 11 shows a lateral or side view of the brain. A cross

section of the left hemisphere, along line AB through the sensory cortex,

is shown as Figure 12 (see Ruch and Patton 1962). The labels in Figure 12

show sensory cortex areas corresponding to specific

 

FIGURE 11: Lateral view of the brain, with section line AB.

 

sensory functions and to three pleasure centers that elicit pleasurable

sensations when stimulated. These are: (1) the cingulate gyrus, (2) the

lateral hypothalamus, and (3) the hippocampus and amygdala areas.

Just above the roof of the lateral ventricle starts the medial

fissure, the cleft that separates the two hemispheres.

When a standing wave is present in the ventricles, the roof of the

lateral ventricles acts as a taut skin on a drum that moves rapidly up and

down, as shown in Figure 9.

The roof of the lateral ventricles is the corpus callosum, a

bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres (see Ruch and Patton

1962). The vibration of the corpus callosum and of the brain mass in

general may serve as a pacesetter in the phase synchronization that occurs

between the two hemispheres during meditation (see Banquet 1972).

 

FIGURE 12: Cross section of the left hemisphere of the brain, through section

line AB of Figure 11.

 

When the sensory cortex is stimulated electrically or

mechanically, paresthesias occur in the area of the body corresponding to

certain points on the cortex. These points are mapped out on the surface of

the cortex as shown in Figure 12.

As the roof of the lateral ventricles vibrates, it stimulates

first the toes, then the ankles, then the calves and thighs, and, as the

stimulus rounds the corner of the hemisphere, the pelvis is stimulated. As

the stimulus spreads along the cortex, it will affect the trunk, moving

along the spine toward the head.

The cortex has different acoustical properties from the white

matter and the cerebrospinal fluid. The white matter consists mostly of

myelinated fibers, a fatty substance that will tend to damp out an

acoustical signal. The cortex may be viewed as a water-based gel that

conducts vibration well.

Thus, an acoustical interface exists between the white matter,

the cortex, and the cerebrospinal fluid. The cortex will therefore

preferentially tunnel the acoustical signal.

This mechanical vibratory action is assumed to cause electrical

polarization of the tissue of the cortex, to allow enhanced conductivity of

the tissue to the stimulus moving along the cortex. This moving stimulus

may be viewed as a current. According to our hypothesis, this current is

responsible for the effects of the "awakened kundalini" on the body (see

Bucke 1970; Krishna 1974).

 

(Continued in Part 2)