meditation using neuro headset

[zenbooster]

The opinion of meditation practitioners on this topic is interesting. Especially those who tried to register their state with the help of a neuroheadset. This may be of interest in the context of learning meditation without a guru.

I recently bought a headset for experiments on aliexpress, and a little later I came across an android application from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU5oUm4iMG8

In general, I tested it, on the most minimal settings recommended for beginners. Among other things, the settings were such that initially, in the normal state of consciousness, white noise sounds. If you start to stop the internal dialogue and calm your mind, white noise disappears. At first it looks like there are short periods of silence, 2 - 4 seconds. After a couple of days, such periods can be increased to tens of seconds. Also, after reading that the level of meditation is assessed by headsets to a greater extent by the level of alpha rhythm, and remembering that the alpha rhythm should prevail for some time after waking up from sleep, I conducted an experiment this morning, and indeed, the alpha level in a sleepy state was much higher than in the state of active wakefulness.

In my opinion, human consciousness is not located in the brain itself. The brain is just an interface between mind and body. However, devices such as an electroencephalograph or a neuro-headset may be able to register the side effects that occur during meditation.

[Alexander]

In my opinion, human consciousness is not located in the brain itself. The brain is just an interface between mind and body.

A couple years ago I was pondering the effects of brain injury, and the debate over consciousness' connection to the brain came up. I do agree the brain is responsible for the consciousness-physical connection... I do not believe consciousness is produced by the brain. I do believe consciousness precedes the physical.

Though it is also quite complicated... The brain does physically store memory, regulate emotion (ie, physical damage can produce depression, anxiety, reduced intelligence, & anger), control motor ability and speech, control personality... And, it is entirely possible to become stuck in a body-prison, or to lose many powers, with physical injury. I recall the author of the book "King, Magician, Lover, Warrior" (very wise book on Jungian psychology) descended into a deeply demented & tragic state at the end of his life. Old age brings inevitable decline... And it is important to (try to) avoid physical injury to the brain if at all possible.

"Memory download" is another question... For example, we often forget our dreams. If dreams occur in a nonphysical domain, then the memories of these usually get overwritten by the physical brain. It seems there is a "nonphysical" memory copy and a "physical brain" memory copy. The former usually gets overwritten by the latter.

There is always something more to discover about it

[zenbooster]

In my opinion, human consciousness is not located in the brain itself. The brain is just an interface between mind and body.

Though it is also quite complicated... The brain does physically store memory, regulate emotion (ie, physical damage can produce depression, anxiety, reduced intelligence, & anger), control motor ability and speech, control personality... And, it is entirely possible to become stuck in a body-prison, or to lose many powers, with physical injury. I recall the author of the book "King, Magician, Lover, Warrior" (very wise book on Jungian psychology) descended into a deeply demented & tragic state at the end of his life. Old age brings inevitable decline... And it is important to (try to) avoid physical injury to the brain if at all possible.

It is possible that the brain is designed for the existence of "I" in this world. And if you compare "I am in this world" with "I am as it is, without any perception filters", the difference will be huge.

"Memory download" is another question... For example, we often forget our dreams. If dreams occur in a nonphysical domain, then the memories of these usually get overwritten by the physical brain. It seems there is a "nonphysical" memory copy and a "physical brain" memory copy. The former usually gets overwritten by the latter.

There is always something more to discover about it

I remember... In the book "Advanced Lucid Dreaming The Power of Supplements" (Thomas Yuschak) there is a chapter called "Breaking Down the Wall". It describes an interesting exercise that allows you to destroy the wall between the memory of the physical and dream world. It must be done in a lucid dream. In short, in a lucid dream, you need to remember events from reality.

[zenbooster]

Today I noticed that with closed eyes the required state can be maintained longer than with open eyes.

Increased the threshold from 60 to 70 (probably percent), because. above 60 I can already be most of the time.

[zenbooster]

Yesterday I meditated several times, and each time I heard a ringing in my ears, a little stronger and more distinct than usual. Once, a mixture of goosebumps and light vibrations descended from my head down my neck to my shoulders and back. In the evening, the mood was really high I also noticed that the first 5..10 minutes are the most productive. Then, if you look at the graph, a stepwise decline in the average value begins, fatigue is seen to accumulate. In 20 minutes I counted 3 such steps.

As for what I feel when I catch the state (judging by the application signal) - it's hard to say. I seem to intuitively feel more and more each time how it should be. Sometimes it’s not enough just to stop thinking and calm down. As if something else is needed... Sometimes it seems to me that the state is lost when I start looking at the inner screen, and is restored when I start to look, as it were, inside myself. But this may be a side effect of such actions, and the point is something else. This morning was again most productive when my condition was still sleepy.

The author of the application wrote somewhere that it is more suitable for the practice of shamadhi and not suitable for the practice of gamma meditation. I understand that gamma meditations include anapanasati. Today I found another application of the same author, it seems "eeg attention." It just tracks the level of the gamma rhythm. I tried anapanasati with him - it works. I realized that my attention drifts away more often than I thought, and that it works better if I say to myself: "I breathe in ... I breathe out ...".

[Alexander]

You are doing well zenbooster. The religious-induced joy (1st jhana) is a sign of your spiritual development & transformation. The next goal is to be able to silence the chattering-mind (2nd jhana). The vibrations you experience are the energy (viriya) of the 3rd jhana. These vibrations are described in the Pali scriptures as well as in modern writings like the works of Bob Monroe and other OOBE writers.

The spiritual crisis often comes between the 2nd jhana and the 3rd, so be prepared.

Note there are many shades of grey, but in the Buddhist model you will experience all of these phenomena when you practice.

[Jhanananda]

Thanks zen booster for posting your interesting discussion. We often find we need to unpack our belief systems here, because there are many concepts that are generally accepted that we find are not true. For instance it generally recommended to cultivate alpha brain waves, but we should ask the origin of this belief? It turns out this idea comes from TM meditation researchers who found people who practiced TM developed alpha brain waves.The problem here is TM never proved they understood meditation and what it leads to.

About 15 years ago I was invited to a meditation study at UCSF by a graduate student there who had followed my work. So he put me in an anachroic chamber with electrodes attached all over me and I sat in meditation for an hour. I had a very nice, deep meditation session to the 4th stage of samadhi. After an hour of recording my brain waves he came in and unhooked me and I left. He said he would spend a week analyzing my data. It turns out I didn't produce any significant alpha waves so he assumed I achieved no depth. My conclusion is the alpha hypothesis is erroneous but if researchers never study people who meditate deeply and only study people who day dream instead of meditating then no truth will be found.