Dr. Lefebure and Phosphenes

Dr. Francis Lefebure is a medical doctor and devout Zoroastrian who has studied the Eleusinian Mysteries. He saw the similarities of this technique in many ancient religions whose aim is enlightenment. According to Dr. Lefebure, this method would have produced an after-image on the retina which would have persisted for a time as the rods and cones regained their neural equilibrium. It would also have persisted in the stimulation of the brain's visual cortex -- a process he identified as "phosphenes".

In his research, he noted that when this method was combined with meditative thought and rhythm there was a dramatic psychological change. Short of achieving enlightenment, Dr. Lefebure went on to develop this discovery to improve concentration, help children study and allow troubled patients to relax. But a review of history shows that this phosphene technique is really capable of much more.

Nostradamus and the reflected flame

The phosphene method was used by Michel de Nostredame, Nostradamus, in the 1500s, to see the future. It is obvious that he did not invent this method himself but it shows that staring at a bright source of light was a legitimate way to connect with the "other side."

"Gathered at night in study deep I sat. Alone, upon the tripod stool of brass, Exiguous flame came out of solitude, Promise of magic that may be believed."

The brass tripod supported a bowl of water into which Nostradamus gazed in order to see the reflection of a candle in his dark room. Being reflected, the light reaching his eyes would have been polarized. It has also been mentioned that Nostradamus would gaze at the Moon's reflection on a silver tray -- again producing polarized light. This type of light seems to have been preferred by many ancient seers. The specific mention of the "tripod" probably echoes the Oracle of Delphi [right], who sat upon a tripod and gazed at a light, reflected in a shallow bowl of water, when she made her prophecies.

The technique is the same as phosphenes -- after staring at the light, the source is extinguished leaving an after-image that, together with meditation, results in the ability to have a vision of "the other side", from which we can "see" the true reality of our being and temporal circumstance. A bowl of water can be used, but a reflective mirror, crystal ball, a puddle of water, a stream or even the ocean can successfully reflect the light of the Sun or Moon and produce the same results with the proper meditation.

Often there is a degree of complicated ritual associated with this simple act. Nostradamus wrote of using a magic want to touch the bowl and the hem of his robe. Sometimes special incantations are said aloud or magical gestures are made. But these are irrelevant.

Zoroastrians: More Fire and Water

Zoroaster (Zarathushtra), the founder of Zoroastrianism, made reference to the mainyu athra - the spiritual fire - as one that illuminates the path of asha. Asha (enlightenment) is only available through individual choice (hence the necessity for proper meditation) and brings order to human thoughts, words and deeds. It does this by showing the initiate the real self. After this happens, a different hierarchy exists -- one which places greater value on compassion and righteousness.

Followers of Zoroaster worship fire, but not as a deity. They see fire as representing the energy of the Creator and as the messenger of truth. Devotees face the sacred flame in their ceremonies and practice the phosphene technique, mixing the light and after-image with "good thoughts". They also utilize water, which reflects the Sun and Moon. The Fire Temple of Yazd (Iran) [first above] has a large pool of water for this kind of contemplation. In Mumbai (India) [second above], Zoroastrian devotees worship while basking in the reflections of the sea, mixing meditation with the phosphene procedure.

Gazing at the Sun: Fatima

On May 13, 1917, three Portugese shepherd children spoke of experiencing a vision of the Virgin Mary in the Cova da Iria fields close to the town of Fatima. The eldest child was Lucia, aged ten, and she was accompanied by her two cousins, Francisco, aged nine and Jacinta, aged seven. They repeated the visions on the 13th day of each month until October.

On October 13th a crowd of 70,000 gathered [below] at the Cova da Iria in response to the children's claim that a miracle would occur on that day "so that all may believe." At the appointed time, in the middle of a rainstorm the clouds broke up and the sun was seen as a disk spinning in the sky, throwing off great rays of fantastic colors. As one columnist reported, "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd the sun trembled and danced."

Before the solar event the three children had continually stared directly in to the Sun when they had their visions, proclaiming that they were in communication with luminous woman they took to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. This bright apparition later gave the girls a prophecy about the future and pleaded for them to pray for world peace.

Certainly the Sun did not move. It was a local phenomenon. What happened in Fatima on October 13th, 1917 was an example of a mass phosphene. All of the necessary ingredients were present to enable thousands of people to experience the portal through which they could see their own true self: they had been staring directly at the Sun for several minutes; they were praying and meditating with good intentions; and they closed their eyes to witness the after-glow and its accompanying range of colors as their retinas and visual cortex regained equilibrium. For those that did these things it was a true spiritual and life changing event.

Thirteen years after the "dance of the Sun", the Catholic Church declared that the phenomenon was "worthy of belief."

Surprise... a white wall works just as well

Bodhidharma founded Chan Buddhism. Rejected by a local Buddhist monastary, he sat in meditation, staring at Shao Lin's whitewashed monastery walls, every day for years. Bodhidharma eventually became an enlightened master and discovered that the brightness and contrast coming into the field of vision could also produce enlightenment.

Modern psychologists have found that wall-gazing is a great way to induce alpha in both its upper and lower (and even upper theta) frequency ranges. It was the first hint at what was likely going on in the mind of the initiates and what these phosphenes were actually doing.

In this technique, called 'ganzfeld' -- a German word which means complete field -- alpha waves are generated by staring at a blank, preferably white, bright visual field and holding the eyes steadily upon it. A white-wall fulfills this condition. All that is necessary is that the wall occupy the complete field of vision so that distractions are eliminated. Once the vision of the bright wall has saturated the retina, the eyes are closed, revealing the phosphene. At this moment the appropriate meditation is introduced and the mind's eye becomes full of visions. This technique is so powerful a generator of alpha that it is practiced by monks even today. [right].

So what's going on here?

If you've read the Dan Eden's article on Left Brain : Right Brain http://www.viewzone.com/bicamx.html, you'll know that your brain is divided into two sides or hemispheres which are slightly different from each other. Each hemisphere can function independently and processes information in different ways. Our personality depends on which hemisphere is dominant, depending on the activities it is processing.

Here is a list of traits associated with each human brain hemisphere:

When you measure the brain waves generated by both sides of your brain, you'll find that they're slightly out-of-sync or out-of-phase from each other. Scientists know that the more one-sided our brains are, the more erratic and higher the frequency will be.

In the 1970s, psychologists were experimenting with brain waves and discovered that "enlightened" individuals (i.e. Buddhist monks and Gurus) had a remarkable synchronization of their brain waves in both hemispheres. As a result, their overall brain wave patterns were slower.

As brain wave synchronization increases, the two sides of your brain communicate more with each other -- and that's what is important. If your brain waves slow down enough, you'll eventually enter Theta (a bridge to the subconscious and insight and creativity) and maybe even Delta brainwaves (a deep dreamless state or extremely deep meditation).

Further brainwave synchronization will lead to both sides of your brain being so balanced that your brainwaves will merge into a single coherent brain wave pattern. Some people believe that at this point, the normal conscious mind is bypassed and you finally achieve the "it", the "oneness" or enlightenment -- the awakened mind.

The theory makes sense because in order to know (left brain function) our real self, we must experience or feel it (right brain function).

"...it is like Aristotle's view that men being initiated have not a lesson to learn, but an experience to undergo and a condition into which they must be brought, while they are becoming fit (for revelation). -- (Synesius Dio 1133)

Others have described brain waves as like ripples on a pond. Only when the pond is smooth can it reflect the light like a mirror. Only when our brains are quiet can our real self be remembered.

Phosphenes and Enlightenment

As the knowledge about brain wave synchronization became known, an assortment of different apparatus were developed and marketed. Bio-feedback machines allowed the user to experiment with different meditation techniques to lower their brain waves and audio CDs promised to synchronize the hemispheres with subliminal sounds. A few apparatus tried to use blinking lights to do this visually -- but the results have been abysmal.

It makes sense to use visual stimuli to synchronize the hemispheres for a number of reasons. Humans rely primarily on their vision to survive. Our consciousness and attention is primarily in visual language and the brain devotes a significant portion (visual cortex) of its neurons to process the sensory data from our eyes. Just close your eyes for a few seconds and you will experience a dramatic change in your consciousness.

Each retina in our eyes is connected to both the left and right hemispheres of our brain. The left field of vision goes to one hemisphere while the right goes to the other. This division is un-sharp and a narrow strip of the visual field midline is represented in both hemispheres. This overlap of the visual field is important to our discussion.

Because depth perception requires the coordination of both eyes, communication between the two visual centers is usually made through the corpus callosum -- a bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres like a network cable. Recent experiments have shown that this inter-hemisphere communication is not necessary for visual data coming from the midline of our visual field, or macula. This central point in our retina is the focus of our vision and its information is hard-wired to both sides of our brain.

It is well know that our visual system has a high degree of specialization. Neurons in some areas of the visual cortex process information only from a restricted range of features. Things like form, color or motion are analyzed independently by separate processing systems. All of these processing activities require excitation of the brain waves as they try to interpret changes in our field of vision.

So here it is: The phosphene method saturates the midline visual field with intense light. It is almost an overload. Visual data is sent to both hemispheres simultaneously. The visual cortex stimulates the entire hemisphere. The visual data is coherent, with minimal variation in form, color or motion and the involvement of both hemispheres in synchronous. By closing the eyes, attention is shifted from the external world to the inner one and, with pre-requisite meditation and preparation to be receptive of the truth, the real self is experienced as light.

A Warning To All