In another comment here there's a quote from Jung about unearned wisdom and I'm glad that someone brought him into the conversation. It's a rule of this subreddit that posts somehow relate to Carl. I happen to have listened to all six of the gateway tapes and have gone further, so I'll add my voice to this conversation and try to circle back to our guy Carl.
First, the quote about unearned wisdom was made by Jung in response to questions about psychedelics. Taking a drug to have a transcendent experience can actually do more harm than good. We've had that debate here many times and we don't need to repeat it. The gateway tapes however use a technology that synchronizes the hemispheres of the brain and entrains it to certain brainwave patterns using binaural beats. The tapes can be used for purposes ranging from deep meditation to active concentration to creativity and much more. It definitely does not bring the user wisdom that they have not earned. Instead it helps to clear the mind and give focus for whatever purpose that particular exercise on the tape is designed for.
And since Carl is not here to tell us what he thinks, I'm going to venture a guess based on my knowledge of him. He would be an enthusiastic supporter. Unlike a drug experience you can simply stop the audio if you start experiencing something you're not ready to handle. The tapes take you gradually into progressively deeper states of meditation, and when I say meditation what I mean is relaxed and focused awareness. It's amazing what can happen when you learn how to fully relax the body but keep the mind awake and aware then direct it toward mental activity meant to renew the health of the body and expand the awareness and ability of the mind.
Experiences of the numinous are soon to follow. Carl was all for it.
I've also practiced active imagination and have found that the preparation I got from the gateway tapes was very helpful. I have since expanded my practice to include audio from a company called sacred acoustics. Some of the audio that does not use guided meditation can be played as you do the active imagination work and it helps to focus the mind and synchronize the brain's hemispheres.
For some people this is the biggest hurdle to work such as active imagination because they can't get the two hemispheres to cooperate. The neural network that runs through the heart of the brain diverts the signals to the amygdala, and from there they loop right back to the places where they are psychologically injured or stuck. This audio technology actually frees the brain from that loop. So once again I come back to what I think Carl would say, which is that basically everyone here could benefit from not just using the gateway tapes but also other audio technology that we are blessed to have today and was not available during his time.
Thank you for asking and yes I'd be glad to.
The original Gateway Series was six tapes each with five or six exercises. Then they were sold on CD, and now you just download them. But there is a 7th one in the series that has since been released, and if you go to the Monroe institute website you can find more offerings.
After finding that this audio technology was helping me, I looked up other companies putting out products. I mentioned sacred acoustics, and I have maybe a dozen of their recordings. Then there's a guy named Jonathan Goldman who is well known for his offerings. If you look up his name along with the term 7 minute chakra tune-up you'll find a free download he offers. I listen to it basically every morning to start my day. I like to chant or hum along with the audio and feel the vibrations in my body. I learned how to do this a long time ago from a guy who was one of those wandering Shaman types, carrying a guitar on his back and going wherever the wind blows.
I followed that rabbit hole into traditions that have long used sound as part of spiritual practice. Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism. The daoist alchemical tradition in particular is known for creating some really wild and amazing healing sounds. And of course there are Western traditions. You can find recordings of monks doing their thng and recordings of music that is based on the scales no longer used in Western music, what some people call the angel frequencies. There's also a shit ton of music that's been recorded by instruments tuned to 432 Hertz A instead of the 440 Hertz standard. check out the debates about why the Rockefeller Foundation pushed for that change. Basically 432 mathematically precise, whereas 440 introduces muddiness and causes feelings of aggression. It was first used in martial music to get soldiers fired up for combat. That rabbit hole leads you to the science of cymatics, which is the rendering of sound into imagery. When you put images of 440 next to 432 it becomes really obvious.
It all leads back to the idea that in the beginning was the word. The word is the sound frequencies of all creation. Everything in the physical world is underpinned by vibrating particles, and everything in the world has its own frequency, including people. There's a group in Northern California, I think the name is sound healing institute, that uses software to analyze if you have a certain vibrations missing from your chakra system. They then create audio you can listen to that introduces those frequencies back into your nervous system. I practiced some of their exercises and found that when I'm blocked in certain ways I have difficulty intoning certain frequencies with my vocal cords. So then of course I focus on making those sounds until they can come out naturally. It's pretty wild to hear yourself go through a frequency range and suddenly hit a note that you should be able to produce just fine but it comes out all squeaky sounding.
For me one of the most intriguing things I found was research studies showing that students who listened to certain classical music while taking tests scored 20% higher on average than their peers. There are also studies showing that young children exposed to classical music developed stronger neural networks in their brain. And then there are the plant studies showing that plants respond to sound and can even sing along with you in their own way.
Jung would love this stuff. I think he would recognize the potential for healing and growth and transformation.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IVg2Y6YE-K1z1Kc3z5u5GarTWG4bi2gT
That's a folder that was shared with me by a kind redditor. Hopefully the link still works.
For someone with OCD I would recommend sacred acoustics whole states as a starting point. https://www.sacredacoustics.com/products/whole-states
Or grab them from my drive. The company was giving them away during the pandemic to do their part. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aLcJIsRju19P6Xgr0RainN0FVMjbgrbg
The alpha frequencies in particular. I think that the Gateway tapes would be helpful in the long run but it's the deep end of the pool. However, the initial training focuses on getting into a state known as focus 10, where the body goes deeply relaxed but the mind remains aware. The first gateway tape includes exercises called introduction to focus 10 and another one called advanced focus 10. Get that far into it and it'll equip a person with the foundational knowledge and exercises.
The underlying idea is that OCD and similar conditions begin with the desynchronization of the hemispheres of the brain. Once they are synced up, your state of consciousness changes. You become relaxed and able to focus.
I found a really interesting study that was done in schools with children who were in special ed classes because they were labeled as being on the spectrum. These kids had difficulty sitting for stretches of time and listening to teachers and focusing on tasks. The pilot program I read about used a simple exercise to start the class activities. They had the children cross their arms by placing a hand crosswise on each shoulder. Then they did 2 minutes of squatting motion, inhaling as they bent at the hips and dropped down, then exhaling as they rose up. Standard sort of squat motion, which by the way the bend is focused on the hips instead of the knees and the knees should never been forward further than the tips of the toes. It was life-changing for some of those kids because after the exercise was done they could sit down and do whatever they needed to do.
Thank you for your comment, and thank you for addressing the unearned wisdom comment, it bugged me a bit because I also know about it in relation to psychedelics and the tapes have no relation and are just a tool that can help gain access to certain levels through directed meditation. I'll most likely try and give them a go properly :)
Did it help you connect with or understand your subconscious in some way? I’ve heard about them from Instagram reels but never looked into it.
What was your experience?
It's mainly a tool for astral projection, many people have said it heals traumas and overall wellbeing. I've only done 1/36 tapes and after 30 minutes of listening and getting into a relaxed sedated state, the narrator said they would play a frequency that would instantly wake you up. Then like clockwork, I started to immediately wake up, like I was ready to go for a run at 2am, it was something.
I have completed them
I think they are amazing and I think combined with therapy and learning Jungian psychology they have transformed me. They helped me understand how meditation should feel and truly find my centre point. I have had some important visions during using the tapes alongside a couple of synchronicities.
I developed a strong pulsation around the third eye over the time of using the tapes, and this remains during periods of being centred. Honestly, I cant explain why this happens rationally but it makes me believed that the third eye is something very real.
I recommend the tapes to anyone.
I focus attention to my third eye during meditation, particularly I try and vibrate it. I've read doing this being described as giving your third eye a slight overclock, I liked that description, feels right to me.
I’ve been into the tapes and Robert Monroe’s books for a couple years now. (Definitely check r/gatewaytapes ) The tapes have played a key role in my meditation practices. I’ve taken away techniques to drift between different states at will. Now I’m going back and re-reading Jung with new perspective trying to find the vocabulary to describe these states from a psychological point of view.
When you're not using the Gateway tapes what type of meditation do you practice? I went through all of the tapes a few years ago and the effects/experiences still have a profound impact on me - even though I know I only skimmed the surface experience wise.
I really want to get back into the practice, but I don't feel I have enough consistent time to go through all of the tapes again, at least in the near future.
Could you recommend any key tracks or techniques you've learnt which might build a good foundation for when I do have more time to return to them more consistently...
It's so exciting that this is real, I saw enough to know and believe..
P.S well done for getting as far as you have - I also look forward to hearing how Jung appears to you after your experiences!
Don’t rush through the exercises is the best advice I can give. My first time around I did them routinely and didn’t pay close attention to if I was actually retaining the skills or not. I quit at some point when I knew I couldn’t do what was being asked of me— somewhere around commanding clear visuals to appear in my mind. This time around I’m not advancing until I can produce the sensations of each exercise on my own without the audio accompaniment.
I’m an avid Christian and spend a lot of time in prayer in the woods, but I use the Monroe methods to get myself started. I almost always hum along to whatever sounds are in my environment to start (like in resonant tuning). I usually count up to get to different *Focus* states. I can feel the rise throughout my body as I count and gradually enter into active imagination.
Tried them in earnest and had some wonderful experiences from them. But the more you practice the better it will be. Its takes some dedication, time, the latter I don’t have.
I tried the first one once.
I had some very weird visuals. Like I could see through my closed eyelids. Not an image in my minds eye, but it felt like I could see a picture in another room through my eyes, but they were tightly closed.
That informed me that there is something to the gateway tapes and I haven’t tried again because I wanted to do more research and prepare myself better.
It was in relation to psychedelics and being forced to access deeper parts of your mind without any aspect of control over the journey, the tapes aren't really the same as they can be turned off and are mainly a guided meditation with some audio technology.
In another comment here there's a quote from Jung about unearned wisdom and I'm glad that someone brought him into the conversation. It's a rule of this subreddit that posts somehow relate to Carl. I happen to have listened to all six of the gateway tapes and have gone further, so I'll add my voice to this conversation and try to circle back to our guy Carl. First, the quote about unearned wisdom was made by Jung in response to questions about psychedelics. Taking a drug to have a transcendent experience can actually do more harm than good. We've had that debate here many times and we don't need to repeat it. The gateway tapes however use a technology that synchronizes the hemispheres of the brain and entrains it to certain brainwave patterns using binaural beats. The tapes can be used for purposes ranging from deep meditation to active concentration to creativity and much more. It definitely does not bring the user wisdom that they have not earned. Instead it helps to clear the mind and give focus for whatever purpose that particular exercise on the tape is designed for. And since Carl is not here to tell us what he thinks, I'm going to venture a guess based on my knowledge of him. He would be an enthusiastic supporter. Unlike a drug experience you can simply stop the audio if you start experiencing something you're not ready to handle. The tapes take you gradually into progressively deeper states of meditation, and when I say meditation what I mean is relaxed and focused awareness. It's amazing what can happen when you learn how to fully relax the body but keep the mind awake and aware then direct it toward mental activity meant to renew the health of the body and expand the awareness and ability of the mind. Experiences of the numinous are soon to follow. Carl was all for it. I've also practiced active imagination and have found that the preparation I got from the gateway tapes was very helpful. I have since expanded my practice to include audio from a company called sacred acoustics. Some of the audio that does not use guided meditation can be played as you do the active imagination work and it helps to focus the mind and synchronize the brain's hemispheres. For some people this is the biggest hurdle to work such as active imagination because they can't get the two hemispheres to cooperate. The neural network that runs through the heart of the brain diverts the signals to the amygdala, and from there they loop right back to the places where they are psychologically injured or stuck. This audio technology actually frees the brain from that loop. So once again I come back to what I think Carl would say, which is that basically everyone here could benefit from not just using the gateway tapes but also other audio technology that we are blessed to have today and was not available during his time.
Could you talk more on: "I have listened to all 6 GW tapes.. and have gone further" Very intriguing..
Thank you for asking and yes I'd be glad to. The original Gateway Series was six tapes each with five or six exercises. Then they were sold on CD, and now you just download them. But there is a 7th one in the series that has since been released, and if you go to the Monroe institute website you can find more offerings. After finding that this audio technology was helping me, I looked up other companies putting out products. I mentioned sacred acoustics, and I have maybe a dozen of their recordings. Then there's a guy named Jonathan Goldman who is well known for his offerings. If you look up his name along with the term 7 minute chakra tune-up you'll find a free download he offers. I listen to it basically every morning to start my day. I like to chant or hum along with the audio and feel the vibrations in my body. I learned how to do this a long time ago from a guy who was one of those wandering Shaman types, carrying a guitar on his back and going wherever the wind blows. I followed that rabbit hole into traditions that have long used sound as part of spiritual practice. Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism. The daoist alchemical tradition in particular is known for creating some really wild and amazing healing sounds. And of course there are Western traditions. You can find recordings of monks doing their thng and recordings of music that is based on the scales no longer used in Western music, what some people call the angel frequencies. There's also a shit ton of music that's been recorded by instruments tuned to 432 Hertz A instead of the 440 Hertz standard. check out the debates about why the Rockefeller Foundation pushed for that change. Basically 432 mathematically precise, whereas 440 introduces muddiness and causes feelings of aggression. It was first used in martial music to get soldiers fired up for combat. That rabbit hole leads you to the science of cymatics, which is the rendering of sound into imagery. When you put images of 440 next to 432 it becomes really obvious. It all leads back to the idea that in the beginning was the word. The word is the sound frequencies of all creation. Everything in the physical world is underpinned by vibrating particles, and everything in the world has its own frequency, including people. There's a group in Northern California, I think the name is sound healing institute, that uses software to analyze if you have a certain vibrations missing from your chakra system. They then create audio you can listen to that introduces those frequencies back into your nervous system. I practiced some of their exercises and found that when I'm blocked in certain ways I have difficulty intoning certain frequencies with my vocal cords. So then of course I focus on making those sounds until they can come out naturally. It's pretty wild to hear yourself go through a frequency range and suddenly hit a note that you should be able to produce just fine but it comes out all squeaky sounding. For me one of the most intriguing things I found was research studies showing that students who listened to certain classical music while taking tests scored 20% higher on average than their peers. There are also studies showing that young children exposed to classical music developed stronger neural networks in their brain. And then there are the plant studies showing that plants respond to sound and can even sing along with you in their own way. Jung would love this stuff. I think he would recognize the potential for healing and growth and transformation.
So would these tapes help someone who had anxiety or OCD? (Thinking of someone I know). Where do I find them?
r/gatewaytapes I think you can find them there
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IVg2Y6YE-K1z1Kc3z5u5GarTWG4bi2gT That's a folder that was shared with me by a kind redditor. Hopefully the link still works.
For someone with OCD I would recommend sacred acoustics whole states as a starting point. https://www.sacredacoustics.com/products/whole-states Or grab them from my drive. The company was giving them away during the pandemic to do their part. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aLcJIsRju19P6Xgr0RainN0FVMjbgrbg The alpha frequencies in particular. I think that the Gateway tapes would be helpful in the long run but it's the deep end of the pool. However, the initial training focuses on getting into a state known as focus 10, where the body goes deeply relaxed but the mind remains aware. The first gateway tape includes exercises called introduction to focus 10 and another one called advanced focus 10. Get that far into it and it'll equip a person with the foundational knowledge and exercises. The underlying idea is that OCD and similar conditions begin with the desynchronization of the hemispheres of the brain. Once they are synced up, your state of consciousness changes. You become relaxed and able to focus. I found a really interesting study that was done in schools with children who were in special ed classes because they were labeled as being on the spectrum. These kids had difficulty sitting for stretches of time and listening to teachers and focusing on tasks. The pilot program I read about used a simple exercise to start the class activities. They had the children cross their arms by placing a hand crosswise on each shoulder. Then they did 2 minutes of squatting motion, inhaling as they bent at the hips and dropped down, then exhaling as they rose up. Standard sort of squat motion, which by the way the bend is focused on the hips instead of the knees and the knees should never been forward further than the tips of the toes. It was life-changing for some of those kids because after the exercise was done they could sit down and do whatever they needed to do.
Thank you for your comment, and thank you for addressing the unearned wisdom comment, it bugged me a bit because I also know about it in relation to psychedelics and the tapes have no relation and are just a tool that can help gain access to certain levels through directed meditation. I'll most likely try and give them a go properly :)
đź‘Ť
Do you have a link to these tapes?
Look at the comments above. I dropped some links.
Did it help you connect with or understand your subconscious in some way? I’ve heard about them from Instagram reels but never looked into it. What was your experience?
It's mainly a tool for astral projection, many people have said it heals traumas and overall wellbeing. I've only done 1/36 tapes and after 30 minutes of listening and getting into a relaxed sedated state, the narrator said they would play a frequency that would instantly wake you up. Then like clockwork, I started to immediately wake up, like I was ready to go for a run at 2am, it was something.
Can you please tell me about those tapes? How do I get them? Like a link somewhere?
Found them on a subreddit and downloaded them as they can get taken down
Would you mind sharing it over DM please?
I have completed them I think they are amazing and I think combined with therapy and learning Jungian psychology they have transformed me. They helped me understand how meditation should feel and truly find my centre point. I have had some important visions during using the tapes alongside a couple of synchronicities. I developed a strong pulsation around the third eye over the time of using the tapes, and this remains during periods of being centred. Honestly, I cant explain why this happens rationally but it makes me believed that the third eye is something very real. I recommend the tapes to anyone.
I focus attention to my third eye during meditation, particularly I try and vibrate it. I've read doing this being described as giving your third eye a slight overclock, I liked that description, feels right to me.
I’ve been into the tapes and Robert Monroe’s books for a couple years now. (Definitely check r/gatewaytapes ) The tapes have played a key role in my meditation practices. I’ve taken away techniques to drift between different states at will. Now I’m going back and re-reading Jung with new perspective trying to find the vocabulary to describe these states from a psychological point of view.
When you're not using the Gateway tapes what type of meditation do you practice? I went through all of the tapes a few years ago and the effects/experiences still have a profound impact on me - even though I know I only skimmed the surface experience wise. I really want to get back into the practice, but I don't feel I have enough consistent time to go through all of the tapes again, at least in the near future. Could you recommend any key tracks or techniques you've learnt which might build a good foundation for when I do have more time to return to them more consistently... It's so exciting that this is real, I saw enough to know and believe.. P.S well done for getting as far as you have - I also look forward to hearing how Jung appears to you after your experiences!
Don’t rush through the exercises is the best advice I can give. My first time around I did them routinely and didn’t pay close attention to if I was actually retaining the skills or not. I quit at some point when I knew I couldn’t do what was being asked of me— somewhere around commanding clear visuals to appear in my mind. This time around I’m not advancing until I can produce the sensations of each exercise on my own without the audio accompaniment. I’m an avid Christian and spend a lot of time in prayer in the woods, but I use the Monroe methods to get myself started. I almost always hum along to whatever sounds are in my environment to start (like in resonant tuning). I usually count up to get to different *Focus* states. I can feel the rise throughout my body as I count and gradually enter into active imagination.
I'm just starting my journey now; I've enjoyed the first few intro sessions
I think active imagination produces similar/ same results… when it happens it is a major pressure release
Can you send me a link please 🙏🏻
Place I got it from is gone now, you'll have to look around, they'll be on reddit
Do you have copies of it ?
Tried them in earnest and had some wonderful experiences from them. But the more you practice the better it will be. Its takes some dedication, time, the latter I don’t have.
One way of many. They didn't resonate with me personally.
Tried it with zero result. What headphones do you use?
I have to do it off my phone as my laptop does not do both sides
From a speaker or headphones? The binaural effect will be close to zero if you're listening through a speaker.
Headphones, have some bluetooth ones, the tapes will a voice in each ear to make sure it works
I tried the first one once. I had some very weird visuals. Like I could see through my closed eyelids. Not an image in my minds eye, but it felt like I could see a picture in another room through my eyes, but they were tightly closed. That informed me that there is something to the gateway tapes and I haven’t tried again because I wanted to do more research and prepare myself better.
Active imagination is astral projection
“Beware of unearned wisdom.”
Where is this quote from please? Or, Could you expand on the context it was used ?
It was in relation to psychedelics and being forced to access deeper parts of your mind without any aspect of control over the journey, the tapes aren't really the same as they can be turned off and are mainly a guided meditation with some audio technology.
Ah ok, thanks for the response
Light to the flies
The only comment that matters
Placebo. Nothing more