Brother
Professional
- Messages
- 2,590
- Reaction score
- 511
- Points
- 83
Grof (Stanislav) is a well-known Czech psychiatrist in specialized circles, one of the pillars of the crème de la crème of psychological counseling, transpersonal psychology. One of the most prominent specialists in psychedelic psychotherapy (when it was still legal), a researcher of altered (holotropic) states of consciousness.
Grof uses the term "holotropic" states of consciousness because these states can be achieved by more than just psychedelic drugs. Grof himself has not been able to engage in LSD psychotherapy since 70, and some of these states can be fully achieved with the help of meditation or "holotropic breathing", the physiological principle of which is very similar to breathing in the Wim Hof method.
We all know the level of intensity of the psychedelic experience according to Shulgin:
- - no effect;
- + - something indefinite;
- + signs are obvious and pronounced, but rather weakly, conventionally "museum" level;
- ++ the signs are strongly expressed, but you can still socialize and, if desired, you can function with these effects without any problems;
- +++ very intense experience, normal activity is difficult, one can incompletely dissolve in the effects only through tremendous efforts of will;
- ++++ a special level of experience that is difficult to repeat simply by repeating a dosage or sequence of actions; a rare mystical experience comparable in strength to or superior to +++.
Grof, the scale of holotropic states of consciousness
- Aesthetic level;
- Psychodynamic level;
- Perinatal level:
- Pregnancy;
- Contractions;
- The beginning of labor;
- The appearance of the fetus
- Transcendental level
If you recall, psychoanalysis postulates that the roots of our psychological problems lie in childhood. Therapy, thus, will be reduced to "regression" to the original traumatic experiences and work with them.
It is for this reason, in my opinion, that Grof compiled such a "psychoanalytic" gradation, which not only takes into account the strength, but also the content of experiences. When each subsequent level is a kind of regression to the origins of our consciousness.
Aesthetic level
Changes in perception: color, sound, geometry. There may be hallucinations, but there are no deep feelings. Viewing paintings by Van Gogh and Seurat reveals their dynamic part and the true depth of the artists' talent. Music sounds different and leads to deeper aesthetic experiences.
Psychodynamic level
The level of deep personal experiences. Grof uses the term COEX (specific constellation of memories consisting of condensed experiences), a specific kaleidoscope of memories consisting of concentrated experiences (or fantasies) of another stage in a person's life.
I would leave the psychoanalytic interpretation and say that these are very personal and deeply concentrated experiences. I am not abandoned by the thought that the "regression" back in time was partly modulated by the "shaman" -psychoanalyst.
In Chapter 3 of Book 2 from the list below, Grof cites the case of Renata, who had something from the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders, with which she was periodically hospitalized. It was very difficult for her to be intimate with men. In the course of psychotherapy with the use of LSD, she relived her childhood rape by her stepfather: hence [presumably] she had an obsessive suspiciousness of illnesses (she was carefully pawed by an unpleasant man, deprived her of innocence and forced oral sex - now it seems to her that she is dirty, sick, not so) and the difficulty in communicating with men, especially when it came to sex.
Grof has an amazing syllable (I can only compare with Jung in the degree of fascination from reading), but while reading, the thought did not leave me that these experiences could be directed towards childhood trauma by an observing psychologist.
The fact is that thought in this state directs experiences and hallucinations in one direction or another. From a separate negative / positive thought, personal Hell / Heaven can very quickly "unfold". Qualia (subjective sensations from the process) strongly depend on the thought, word, your mood.
Once I entered a holotropic state, recalling a case from my youth, where one girl claimed a relationship with me, but I did not want this and just spent time with her in view of the sensuality of bed scenes. She understood everything perfectly, but I clearly did not indicate my position, but rather played along with her "legend", imitating a nonexistent harmony of views. I remembered this episode, and I strongly disliked my behavior. I communicated with a person who was completely alien to me in spirit for the sake of beautiful bed scenes. It was a momentary thought that became obsessive. The thought eventually moved me into a dark, lifeless and cold room. The place I unambiguously identified subjectively as Hell and the place of death of my soul, which now I will slowly tear apart demons. And I saw a long, elongated dark figure (like a slender man) approaching me. At that moment I said in a voice: “STOP! I do not want this, I did not come here for this experience. I came here to study, not to suffer. "Without music, without a sitter (shaman), alone in a dark room, I was thus easily able to change my experience first from good to bad, then from bad to good.
Grof's patients relive scenes from the past with suspicious consistency. In my experience, these may be abstract experiences related to your ego, but not in any way related to past incidents. The rape of Renata from her childhood could well have been a qualification (subjective sensations) of the essence of her experiences / trauma, which the psychoanalyst sitting next to him put on such a hallucination. Moreover, we know that LSD uses a larger (than normal) part of the brain to process visual information.
Perinatal level
Grof, as a talented psychoanalyst, understood that the initial trauma and the cause of all personal problems could be birth trauma. Further down the timeline, the psychoanalyst has nowhere to retreat. And the experiences of the past life can be attributed to the previous level.
Perinatal Grof segments into perinatal matrices. This is described in most detail in the second book from the list, I will allow myself only a short description.
Matrix 1. Initial union with mother
Being in the mother's womb. It can be a feeling of cosmic harmony and blissful peace, if the womb is “good”. Intrauterine paradise will always be like a state of religious enlightenment and bliss. Relaxation, harmony, lack of needs and desires, a sense of satisfaction and security. The negative course of this phase will be associated with the feeling of an "infected world", an impending threat.
Despite the general harmony, there is a realization that this stage cannot last forever.
Matrix 2. Beginning of rejection with the mother
The onset of contractions with the cervix still closed. Experiences of unbearable torment, panic fear, a feeling of complete hopelessness. Torment and hopelessness. Physical and spiritual suffering, existential crisis, eternal Hell.
Suffering with the loss of a sense of linear time and the feeling that this suffering will last forever.
Matrix 3. Synergy with mother
The contractions continue, but the cervix is already open. Meeting your darkest and worst qualities face to face. The first "sexual experience". Sexually aggressive images from the unconscious.
Matrix 4. Birth
Birth. All possible feelings of birth / rebirth. The feeling of a renewed and reborn self.
I would like Grof himself to draw the conclusion for me [3]: “If you look at the perinatal sphere from a personal position, it appears as the basis of our individual unconscious, as a repository of "undigested" fragments of experiences that most of all threaten our life and the safety of the body. From this point of view, we perceive the perinatal process and the violence that it entails, primarily as a threat to your individual existence. From a transpersonal point of view, identification with the bodily ego is a product of ingrained ignorance, a dangerous illusion that is responsible for the fact that we live our lives in an unproductive, destructive and self-destructive manner. As soon as we begin to understand this fundamental truth of being, perinatal experiences, despite their violent and painful nature, become for us, albeit radical, harsh, but at the same time compassionate. attempts to destroy the prison of our false identity and spiritually liberate ourselves . We do not collapse, but we are born into a higher reality, where we reconnect with our true nature . "
Transcendental level
The feeling of death of one's own self and reunification with God / Universe. This stage is essentially a deepening continuation of the 4th matrix.
My closing comments
“Perinatality” I consider to be strongly influenced by psychoanatilitics. Since Grof created matrices rather than experiencing childbirth as an initial trauma, but as a description of the process of working with the essence of oneself in altered states of consciousness. On the perinatal topic, this is clear and quite understandable.
As an example:
Matrix 1: you sit / lie (meditation or psychedelics) in complete harmony and comfort, but you understand that the "cosmic" show and your journey into the depths of yourself will soon begin;
Matrix 2: upon a change of consciousness, the first reaction of the body is panic and / or physical discomfort: whether it is sensation of the soul leaving the body with shaking during meditation or nausea / vomiting while taking tryptamines: physical discomfort on the verge of collapse (according to sensations), a feeling of eternal agony, intense fear, panic. This moment must be able to work out well or pass with the help of an experienced observer; In the case of meditation, a lot of experience is needed so as not to interrupt the experience in this place.
Matrix 3: Feelings that you have been split into molecules and that all your "shit" comes out of each one, all the flaws; or a visual hallucination that plays out all your flaws in an artistic form; both in meditation and in the case of psychedelics at this moment there will be a feeling of "very slow time", and you will have time to sort yourself out properly. Travel through all the dark and dirty nooks and crannies of your soul with detailed examination.
Matrix 4 : Feelings of your purified molecules joining in a new you. Feeling the unity of your soul with the cosmos.
Let Grof describe the perinatal matrices, but he very accurately described the processes / stages that will take place in your head when you deeply immerse yourself in "holotropic" states (in any way).
The end of everything for him is the symbolic death (of your ego, the old you) and the rebirth of the new you with the feeling of yourself as a part of something transcendent, primordial and eternal.
Personally, I consider subjective experiences of death and rebirth (in God or eternal, if you like) the keys to spiritual (if you like personal and human) growth.
The final word will still be said by Grof: “It is important for the future of humanity that we overcome this denial and come to terms with transience and frailty. There are ancient and modern methods of in-depth self-exploration that can help us face the fear of death, fully understand it, and overcome it. We have already seen how “dying before death” opens channels to the transcendental dimensions of being and sends us on a journey that ultimately leads us to discover our true identity. In this process, we experience mental and psychosomatic healing, and our life becomes more fulfilling. This deep psychosomatic transformation raises our consciousness to a completely new level, when life for us is no longer a burden, but a reward."
