Laughlin Charles - Psychic Energy Trans Personal Experience - Dumo Yoga Practice

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Being Changed by Cross-Culturol Encounters: The Anthropology ofExtroordinary Experience

ed. David E. Young and Jean-Guy Goulet (Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press Ltd., 1994).

CHARLES D. LAUGHLIN, JR.

Psychic Energy &

Transpersonal Experience:

A biogenetic structural

account of the Tibetan

Dumo Yoga Practice

INTRODUCTION

Mystical traditions from many cultures describe extraordinary

experiences involving the unusual movement of energy within

the body.l These experiences may be profound, may be the con-

sequence of entering an alternative phase of consciousness, and

may be culturally interpreted as both numinous and sacred. In

this paper, I wish to operationalize the concept of psychic energy

in such a way that a biopsychological account of such experiences

is possible. I will begin with a phenomenological definition of

"psychic energy" and then will offer a personal account of my

exploration of Tibetan tantric Buddhism and the experiences

that arose as a consequence of performing tantric "psychic heat"

PSYCHIC ENERGY & TRANS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE



rituals. r will then describe what I believe to be the basic struc

ture of psychic energy experiences cross-culturally, and suggest

a tentative neurocognitive and neuroendocrinal model to ac

count for the structural invariants within those experiences. But

first, I must lay the groundwork for this somewhat unorthodox

approach to the ethnography of religious practice.

THE PERSPECTIVE: BIOGENETIC STRUCTURALISM PLUS TRANSPERSONALISM

The perspective taken here is that of biogenetic structuralism

(Laughlin and d'Aquili 1974; d'Aquili, et al. 1979; Rubinstein,

et al. 1985; Laughlin, McManus and d'Aquili 1990), which is an

anthropological framework grounded in the neurosciences and

which has developed a number of formulations to account for

cross-cultural universals in the structures of experience, espe

cially the relations of cosmology, symbolism and experience at

tained in alternative phases of consciousness (d'Aquili 1983;

d'Aquili and Laughlin 1975; MacDonald, et al. 1988; Laughlin

1988; Laughlin, McManus and Shearer 1984; Laughlin, McManus

and Webber 1984; Laughlin, et al. 1986). I am particularly inter

ested in the neurophysiological processes that produce the cross

cultural invariance among extraordinary experiences in general,

and psychic energy experiences in particular (e.g., Laughlin, et

al. 1986).

Transpersonolism

Tdmspersonalism labels a movement in science toward the ac

knowledgment and significance as data of extraordinary experi-

ences that go beyond the boundaries of ordinary ego-conscious

ness (Laughlin, McManus and Shearer 1983). Roger Walsh and

Frances Vaughan in their book, Beyond Ego, use the term trans-

personal to "reflect the reports of people practising various con

sciousness disciplines who spoke of experiences of an extension

of identity beyond both individuality and personality" (1980:16).

A range of such experiences have been reported in the clinical

literature, as well as in textual material from various religious

traditions and cultures. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology

lists a number of these experiences in the preface to each issue

(see also Lee 1980 and Wilber 1980). Kenneth Ring (1976), work

ing from the research of Stanislav Grof (1976), has developed a

typology that groups such experiences into ever expanding con-

100 CHARLES D. LAUGHLIN, JR.



centric rings from normal waking consciousness in the middle

(the most narrow field), through what he terms preconscious,

psychodynamic, orthogenetic, trans-individual, phylogenetic, ex

t r a - t e r r e s t r i ~ l , and superconsciousness, to void consciousness atthe periphery (the most expansive field) (Ring 1976:127).

As formal disciplines, transpersonal psychology dates to the

latter 1960s (Sutich 1968; Boucouvalis 1980) and transpersonal

anthropology to the mid-1970s (S. Lee 1980:2; Laughlin,

McManus and Shearer 1983:141). Transpersonal anthropology is

simply the study of transpersonal experiences cross-culturally

(Laughlin 1988; Laughlin, McManus and Shearer 1983). "Tran

spersonal anthropological research is the investigation of the relationship between consciousness and culture, altered states of

mind research, and the inquiry into the integration of mind,

culture and personality" (Campbell and Staniford 1978:28).

Anthropologists have all along recorded data on extraordi

nary experiences reported by informants, as well as religious in

stitutions and ritual practices associated with such experiences

(see J. MacDonald 1981 and Laughlin, McManus and Shearer

1983 for surveys). A few researchers have even undergone spontaneous transpersonal experiences themselves while in the field

(see Gorer 1949 [1935]:131, Harner 1973a; Grindal 1983; Coult

n.d.; Chagnon 1977). Others like Katz (1982:6ff) and Stoller

(1989) have reported participating in ritual practices intended

to incubate such experiences, without actually attaining the in

tended state (or failing to report i t if attained).

But looking back over the history of the discipline, few eth

nographers have actually made the effort to incubate alternativestates themselves. This is curious in the face of evidence that

many, if not most, human cultures operate upon a cosmology of

multiple realities (Schutz 1945; Eliade 1964; MacDonald et al.

1988; Poirier 1990), the reality of which is commonly verified

through direct transpersonal experiences attained in alternative

states of consciousness (Bourguignon 1973; Ehrenwald 1978;

Laughlin, et al. 1986; Stoller 1989; Obeyesekere 1981).

However, as other authors in this volume and elsewhere giveevidence, reports of spontaneous transpersonal experiences

while in the field do seem to be on the rise. For example, Carol

Lederman reports such an experience during her investigation

of a Malay shamanic ritual. She found Malays reluctant to talk

about their experiences of the Inner Winds during trance states.

"They told me that the only way I could know would be to ex

perience it myself" (Lederman 1988:805). Eventually, her sha

man/teacher sat her down and began a ritual that led to her

PSYCHIC ENERGY & TRANS PERSONAl EXPERIENCE 101



gaging cogmtlOn, cogmtlOn ~ c t i v e l y engaging perception. Cog

nized reality is thus in part an entrainment of cognitive and

perceptual networks which is designed to portray an unfolding

world of experience to the organism. The functional space within

which cognition and perception are combined into a unitary ex

perience is the sensorium.

A significant feature of sensorial activity is that it normally

forms a total field of experience as it unfolds each and every

moment. Perception does operate to differentiate percepts, at

tentional structure operates to assure a point of view, and cog

nition may perform operations upon percepts, but the world of

experience tends to remain "stuck together" within sensorialspace.5

Dots: the basic unit of experience

There is another significant feature of sensorial activity that is

a bit tricky to talk about, for it may seem contrary to naive

introspection. This is one reason that evidence derived fromtrans personal introspection is so important to our work. Most

westerners, including most scientists, are very poor pheno-

menologists. They are not trained to anything like the level of

transpersonal sophistication to be found in certain other cultural

traditions. As noted earlier, the mature contemplative is a "state

specific" scientist who has undergone training sufficient to ex

amine the internal features of his or her own mentation while

exercising an uncommon degree of tranquility and vigilance.It seems apparent to the mature contemplative that experience

ar.ising within the sensorium is comprised of innumerable, al

most infinitesimal and momentary particles ("sparks," yods, bin-

dus). This is because the process of contemplation inevitably

leads to the lodging of awareness in the ongoing present moment

with a dropping away of anticipatory cognitive processes (the

"future" component of cognition) and of memory of cognitive

processes (the "past" component of cognition).6 What is left isan intense awareness of, and perhaps absorption in, the pheno-

menological components of experience. These particles manifest

and dissolve in epochs, and epochs in temporospatially compact

series ("heaps," "chunks") that are recognized as objects (see Ma

hathera Nanarama 1983). This fact is commonly missed to naive

introspection simply because people are not trained to concen-

trate upon the mechanisms of their own perception; as it were,

to perform a "phenomenological reduction" (Husserl 1960; Mer-




leau-Ponty 1962:xi). But with training, it is quite easy to become

aware of the activity of these tiny and momentary sensory events

and their organization into cognitions. They are found to com-

o prise phenomena in all sensory modes, and are especially easy

to confirm as the building blocks of objects and movements in

the visual field. Labeling these particles of experience after their

visual form, I will call them sensorial dots.

Thus, the sensorium is experienced as a field of dots that is

perceptually and cognitively distinguished into sensory modes,

and within sensory modes into distinct forms and events. The

basic act of perception is the abstraction and reinforcement of

invariant features in the unfolding field of dots (see Gibson 1969,

1979). It is the job of the sensorium to portray an internalized

world of phenomena by ordering dots into recognizable configu

rations. The notion of dots is thus equivalent to Lonergan's

(1958:442) concept of "prime potency." Potency is the raw "ma

terial" of direct experience that is to be known, Husserl's "life

world." As such, potency exists as a set of primitive limitations

upon form and action. Thus, prime potency is "the potency of

the lowest level that provides the principle of limitation for the

whole range of proportionate being" (Lonergan 1958:442). Dots

are the prime potency of the cognized world without the mani

festation of which the whole intricate fabric of form, anticipation

and action would cease.

Where our construction differs from the many Eastern cos

mological and Western philosophical notions of a fundamental

particle is that we make no claims about the constitution of ob

jects in the world apart from perception of them.7 Furthermore,

experience is comprised of dots whether or not the stimulus

triggering neurocognitive processes is external or internal to the

organism. Both the perception of a car "out there" and a car

"in a dream" involve the forming of phenomena within a field

of dots. The field of dots in perception is analogous to the par

ticles that make up the image on a TV screen, or in a newspaper

photo.

We are ordinarily not aware of these particles, but they are

there. to be seen if we look for them. Dots are introspective

events that are momentary to perception, and yet which contrib

ute to much more enduring events such as forms, patches of

color, textures, etc. It is apparent to the contemplative mind that

all verbalized thoughts, images, percepts, and even perceptual

space, the edges of forms, and colors in all hues (including black)

are comprised of dots. Yet dots are seen to have no permanent

form or enduring substance. They are transitory, impermanent,

PSYCHIC ENERGY & TRANSPERSONAl EXPERIENCE 105



and without stable structure, but are vibrant, scintillating, and

alive. They provide the finest grade of sensorial "texture" of

which awareness is capable of resolving within any sense modal

ity.It is true to say that without dots there can be no phenomenal

form, and that there are phases of consciousness in which the

only awareness of form is awareness of a field of dots. There

are also phases of consciousness that transcend awareness of dots

and dot-comprised form, but this is. a matter beyond the scope

of the present discussion.

Psychic energy

The word "energy" derives from the Greek energeia which means

"activity," the concatenation of the two roots en, "in," plus ergon;;

·"work"· or "action." And, of course, the word "psychic" comes

from the Greek psyche which means soul or mind, and which is

also associated with the principle of life, or breath. Thus the

term "psychic energy" connotes the activity of (or occurringwithin) consciousness, mind or soul. Operationalizing the term

within the present transpersonal framework, we may say that

psychic energy refers to the experience of the activity of dots within the

sensorium. The direct perception of psychic energy, as usually

described in higher psychic energy experiences, may be inter

preted as the perception of the movement, unfoldment, trans

formation or flow of dots and patterns of dots in consciousness,

whether or not the existence of dots per se is recognized by theperceiver.

;7 It is presumed in this definition that the activity of a field of

dots is a pan-human universal. It is universal because the physi

ological structure of the sensoria and perceptual systems of all

humans is the same. As a pan-human universal, the activity of

fields of dots comprising the experiential component of cog

nized reality will produce a recognizable pattern in the reports

ofintrospection

cross-culturally.This presumption amounts to

astrong form of W.T. Stace's (1960:29) "principle of causal indif

ference":

The principle of causal indifference is this: If X has an

alleged mystical experience PI and Y has an alleged mys

tical experience P2, and if the phenomenological charac

teristics of PI entirely resemble the phenomenological char

acteristics of P2 so far as can be ascertained from the de-




scriptions given by X and Y, then the two experiences can

not be regarded as being of two different kinds.

But methods ofcross-cultural

comparison must besensItIveto the invariance embedded in the seemingly variant, culture

specific, traditional modes of symbolic expression.8 In short,

there is the immediate perception of sensorial events, and "there

is the interpretation of them vis-a.-vis traditional symbolism and

cosmological understanding (Stace 1960:31); and of course there

is the interaction between the two.

EXPERIENCING THE DUMO "HEAT"

The Tibetan tantric Buddhist conception of the psychophysical

body is similar to that of the Hindu view. The body is made up

of a system of channels (Skt.: nadi; Tib.: rtsa ) through which

psychic energy passes. This psychic energy (Skt.: prana; Tib.: sugs)

may be experienced as breath and as psychic heat, or dumo

(Tib.: gtum-ma; see Govinda 1969 [1960]:137-186; Evans-Wentz

1958:172-208; Chang 1963:55-81 for discussions of dumo). Psy

chic energy, and thus dumo, may be experienced as concentrat

ing upon distinct centers in the body, the so-called chakras. Rec

ognizing that the work of contemplation requires energy, there

are ritual techniques for generating and distributing psychic en

ergy in the form of dumo for the purpose of energizing contem

plation. In other words, the minds tate requisite to mature con

templation (Skt.: mahamudra; Tib.: phyag-rgya-chen-pa; a term used

both for the work of contemplation and the realization of the

Void, or sunyata, Tib.: stan-pa-nid; see Wang-ch'uk Dorje 1978) is

only possible when the psychic energy is active and appropriately

distributed throughout the psychophysical body. When the ener

gies are thus active and appropriately distributed, the minds tate

of the mature contemplative spontaneously arises.

In the discussion that follows, I will be mainly concerned with

the experience of dumo, and only indirectly with the appropriate

use of those energies to attain insights into the nature of mind,or the state of contemplation itself. However, I should emphasize

that in Tibetan Buddhism, as with all sects of Buddhism, the

transpersonal experiences that may accompany the generation

of dumo are not the goal of the practice and, if made the goal

and thereafter clung to, are considered hindrances of the worst

kind relative to the real goal, the realization of mature contem

plation.




Dumo techniques

T h ~ r e are specific ritual practices in Tibetan tantric Buddhism

designed to evoke experiences of psychic heat. What follows isa considerably simplified _ ersion of the yoga of psychic heat.

The practitioner is directed to sit quietly and calm the mind,

and then to imagine the body as an empty vessel. He then v i s ~ alizes an energy center located in the area of the navel (Skt.:

manipura; Tib.: lte-bahi hkhor-lo). He visualizes a small but intense

flame in the navel center and then imagines a drop or radiant

bubble in the energy center located at the crown of the head

(Skt.: sahasrara-padma; Tib.: hdab-ston). While doing breathing exercises designed to bring the breath down through the two main

side channels (Skt.: ida and pingala) to feed the flame in the

navel center, the practitioner imagines the flame entering the

central channel (Skt.: susumna; Tib.: dbu-ma rtsa). The flame

starts out as a thin thread of iridescence and then becomes more

intense as the breathing continues to fan it . It becomes larger

and longer until it reaches the crown center. The flame melts

the drop in the crown center which becomes a bliss-nectar that

flows down to permeate the entire body. The flame also is imag

ined to fill the entire body. Awareness of the body is eventually

lost and all of consciousness is a sea cif dumo. The kinds of

experiences that arise doing this meditative work may also arise

spontaneously, or during other meditation practices, especially

those involving the visualization of central channel or energy

center images.

DU}JlO experiences.v

Wind is mind moving.

Breath is the inner wind.

I am fearful of movement,

Of change.

I scream at the wind!

Wind passes me by,

Too pure for comment.

By author

Numerous visual images have spontaneously appeared during my

practice of dumo or related meditations. My impression from

discussions with other meditators is that some meditators are




more susceptible to experiencing these images than are others,

but that among those that do experience them, their motifs are

frequently universal.9 Those suggesting energy centers include a

sphere floating in space, suns radiating energy, and spinning

planets with Satumian rings. Those suggesting movement of en

ergy through channels include a radiant sun over a torrential

waterfall, tubes spewing smoke, bubbles or streams of energy.

Any of these may be experienced as inside or outside of the

body. For example, the body may be perceived as an image of

myriad tubes through which pass energies moving away from or

toward radiant spheres, spinning spoked' wheels or planets lo

cated up and down the central channel.One of the earliest and most profound experiences I had of

psychic energy was during a weekend "loving kindness" retreat

in 1979. Part of the work was to imagine a rose in the heart

region while repeating the famous mantrum, Om Mani Padme

Hum, associated with the deity, Chenrezig. Numerous visual im

ages spontaneously arose during this retreat, including a rose

colored sun emitting radiant rays of rose-colored light, two rose

colored planes, one above me and one below, formed by conjoined bubbles, a bush sprouting innumerable red roses, blue

tubes spewing rose energy, and a long lake between mountain

peaks with a golden mountain at the end of the lake.

At one point while in a steady state of absorption and blissful

peace, the image of a beautiful blond female figure dressed in

a red schift appeared walking away from me in my left visual

field. At first, I intended to ignore her as I routinely did with

all other distractions from the object of my meditation, but thenI intuited that "she" was an archetypal expression of my "anima"

(the Jungian term for a male's female aspect). So I sent her a

blast of loving feeling visualized as a laser beam of rose-colored

light emanating from my heart. Both the figure and my bodily

self-awareness instantly exploded -into a rapidly expanding sphere

of rose-colored energy. Within a split second, my consciousness

was in a state of intense absorption upon boundless space filled

with pulsing, shimmering rose-colored particles and ecstatic bliss.There then followed the eruption of a soundless scream and

another energy explosion from the depths of my being that cul

minated in the awareness of the visual image of a tunnel or birth

canal. When corporeal awareness gradually returned, I spent a

couple of hours in complete tranquility, either contemplating the

essential attributes of mind, or in absorption upon this or that

symbol as it arose before the mind's eye.




A similar experience led to what I came to call the Rue

d'Ecole insight, named for the fact that it occurred while I was

meditating in a small hotel on that street in Paris. I had beendoing breathing meditation and had shifted to meditating on

the myriad sounds around me. In a sudden shift of conscious-

ness, I became aware that the entire sensorium - and not just

the visual sense - is made up of particles. Sight, sound, touch,

taste, feeling, pain emotion, somesthesis, all of these are the way

the mind has of chopping up an essentially undifferentiated field

of dots (remember that I have generalized the concept of "dot"

to all sensory modes). The entire world of phenomena became

a single monad of vibrant sensation. Only much later did I learn

that this experience has been called the coincidentia oppositorum

in the Western mystical tradition.

I discovered early in the dumo work that the practice was

associated with increased sexual arousal. Feelings of lust would

increase in both waking and dream states. I began to understand

why psychic energy is often called "psychosexual" energy or "li

bido." There came a point in the work, however, when I discov

ered that the energy activated in the central channel could be

willfully switched from a lateral, outward direction which was

experienced as sexual arousal to an ascending direction which

was experienced as intense, but non-sexual bliss. I eventually

learned during dumo practice to rapidly flip the direction back

and forth so that one moment I was sexually aroused and the

next in a tranquil, centered, and blissful state. The energy in the

central channel felt much like a hot fluid that was being shunted

one way or the other at a "valve" or juncture in the system of

channels. I realized that this experience accounted for why Ti

betan yogis equate semen with the ascending fiery energy of

dumo. It also became apparent why Freud initially conceived of

the libido in sexual terms and later as referring to the entire

field of life energy.

Practice of dumo often led to an expanding and focusing of

consciousness. The energies in the navel region would initially

ascend into the head and the entire sensorium would seem to

catch fire and discorporate into its constituent dots. This was

always associated with intense rapture. Then as this intense ex

perience subsided, the entire field of consciousness would have

expanded and at the same time cleared of discursive thought,

fantasy, desire, and other distractions. Subsequently, and for

some period of time, the mind was free of distractions and could

focus upon any object it desired to contemplate (an idea, a ques

tion, an image, an aspect of the sensorium, etc.). Concentration

110 CHARLES O. LAUGHLIN, JR.



was exceptional and there was a free flow of insight related to

whatever was the object of meditation. As a consequence of many

such expeJ;"iences, I recognize the essential similarity of these

with the !Kia experience described by Katz (1976; 1982) for the

Bushmen of southern Africa.

PSYCHIC ENERGY AND HIGHER PHASES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Although psychic energy as defined here is apparent in a quite

ordinary way and at any time to mature contemplation, I am

primarily interested in certain regularities in the reported experiences of psychic energy had while practitioners in various cul

tures are in what they report to be extraordinary phases of con

sciousness (or "trance"). As I have described for my own expe

riences with dumo practice, these experiences are frequently

dramatic in description and exhibit a number of invariant fea

tures which should hold for cross-cultural comparison. The

reader should, however, remain aware that we· label these

"higher" phases only because they are coded as such in theirrespective traditions. We make no claim that such dramatic ex

periences are in fact the highest form of mystical experience -

indeed, there are mystical traditions such as Zen and Tibetan

mahamudra that code such dramatic experiences as major hin

drances on the path to mature spiritual awakening and associate

them with low level awareness and immaturity, the healing or

untangling of "energy blocks," and even neurosis. These tradi

tions would hold that the very dramatic quality of these experiences signals the fact that the practitioner is spiritually off-bal

ance relative to the goal of perfect awakening - a view inciden

tally with which C.G. Jung would have agreed. But it is again

beyond the scope of this paper to discuss these issues.

Flow

The experience of a greater flow of energy in the body/sen-

sorium seems to be an inevitable consequence of the exercise

of sustained concentration, be that upon a physical task such as

racing, dancing, swimming, and the like, or upon some object

of contemplation:

Flow is the holistic sensation present when we act with total

involvement, a state in which action follows action accord-




ing to an internal logic, with no apparent need for con

scious intervention on our part. Flow is experienced in play

and sport, in artistic performance and religious 'ritual.

There is no dualism in flow. . . . Flow is made possible by

a centering of attention on a limited stimulus field, by

means of bracketing, framing and often a set of rules.

There is a loss of ego, the self becomes irrelevant. Flow is

an inner state so enjoyable that people sometimes forsake

a comfortable life for its sake.

(Turner 1979:154; see also Csikskentmihalyi 1975)

Flow is an experience that may be associated with the unfet

tered release of all bodily and mental tension. Total flow is the

experiential polar opposite of total; "up-tight" stress. Depending

upon how blocked the energy resources are under stress condi

tions, flow mayor may not involve the experience of a marked

release or upsurge of energy which may be interpreted at the

time as "floating," "bliss," "ecstasy," "exhilaration," etc. Full flow

may be characterized by the cessation of verbal chatter and fan

tasy. Consciousness is notably clear of worry, defensiveness and

ego-centeredness. Entering flow is commonly reported to be like

"breaking through" to another plane of consCiousness, as "attain

ing one's second wind," and as if the "bottom had fallen out

from under" the normal range of consciousness. During the ex

perience of full-on flow, there may be a sense of access to an

endless source of energy, and the awareness of bodily movement

as smooth, effortless and blissful (Csikskentmihalyi 1975).

Cemeredness

A more refined, and presumably more advanced, form of flow

involves the movement of energy toward (or into) or away from

(or out of) the central axis1 0 of the body. The centering of bodily

energy in a vertical axis may be experienced directly as bodily

(i.e., proprioceptive) sensations and symbolically in visual im-110

. . .h f ·agery. ne may see In a VISIOn t e movement 0 energy In a

central tube or shaft, the trunk of a tree, a vertical stream of

water, etc. The sensations of energy movement ("bliss") may ra

diate outwards to encompass the entire body, even the entire

perceptual world. The variations are endless, and undoubtedly

are related to the axis mundi motif in cosmological myth (Eliade

1964).




Circul(]tion

Centered psychic energy is often ·experienced circulating

around the. body axis, and often concentrated at one or morepoints along the axis. The classic example of circulating, concen

trated energy is the chakra, a Hindu term that literally ~ e a n s "wheel" (Kakar 1982: 201; see also discussion below). Again, a

discrete center of psychic energy may be experienced somaes

thetically as a sensation of heat, bliss or movement at a particular

place in the body, and symbolically as .a scintillating bubble or

sphere, a rotating wheel, ball of fire, "space station," lotus or

other flower, rings around a planet-like sphere, etc. Referencesto "circulation of light" within the body and cosmos to be found

in the ancient Chinese meditation text, The Secret of the Golden

Flower (Wilhelm 1962), would seem to provide one example of

such experiences.

Circulation of energy may be experienced as moving centri

fugally away from the center, or centripetally toward the center

(Woodroffe 1974:7). The center may feel like a spot of intensely

hot and blissful energy that is radiating outwards from the bodyand into the world. One may perceive a radiant "sun," "moon,"

or other astronomical body emitting rays of light outwards into

the world. On the other hand, one may feel energy moving in

wards and concentrating upon a particular spot in the body. One

may see the image of an inwardly spiraling vortex of light, per

haps condensing at a particular spot.

Ascending (]nd Descending

I t is not uncommon for the report of centeredness to emphasize

the ascending and descending direction of energy flow. Energy

may be experienced as originating from below and moving up

the body axis, originating above and moving down the axis, or

both. Once again, the experience may be somaesthetically one

of a flow of energy from above or below, producing bliss or

ecstasy in the body. The experience may also have a visual com

ponent such as radiant light from a source above or below (see

Eliade 1965; Bucke 1961 for various descriptions), a waterfall

down the central visual field, a shaft of light, tube of flowing

particles, movement of a mist or cloud of energy, movement of

consciousness up or down a shaft, stairwell or hole, etc. Move

ment of energy up and down the central axis is frequently asso

ciated with emotional outbursts and the spontaneous release of




expressive 'mode) will be determined by various factors, including

whether or not the process is conscious, the perceptual frame

of reference in which the symbol is embedded, the intensity of

evocation, the state of arousal of the organism, the duration of

peripheral stimulation, the degree of novelty involved, and so

on. The range of intentionality to which a symbol or sensorial

field may penetrate is vast and multileveled. Yet it is a process

integral to the functioning of the human nervous system and is

a principal mechanism by means of which different parts of the

organism communicate with one another.

Symbolic processing is often completely internal to the physi-

ology of an organism. The organism is a community of cells

organized into multiple physiological systems and into multiple

levels of hierarchy. And these various somatic systems must com-

municate with each other in order that their discrete functions

remain organized in a manner that maintains their adaptation

within the context of the activities of the organism as a whole.

The nervous system is only one system in the body, and it carries

out its activities in intimate concert with other physiological sys-

tems. The brain acts by moving muscles, it is fed by metabolic

processes and the circulatory system, and it controls many vital

functions by regulating endocrine activities and hormone levels

in the body.

This intimate entrainment between the nervous system and

other somatic systems, and between one neural system and an-

other, entails penetration. That is, the activities of one system

produce effects upon another system. For example, a disorder

in the colon may produce generator potentials in nociceptors inthat organ that in turn penetrate into the central nervous system,

ana the organism experiences abdominal pain. The effect pro-

duced by one system upon another will not be the same as the

change of state in the original system. The change of state of

system B will be only partially isomorphic with the change in

system A that produced it. This is because each system must

manifest its responses to inputs in keeping with its own unique

organization. A change of state in some somatic system pene-trating to, say, the visual cortex can only produce a visual effect.

Thus, although the systems of the body intimately interpene-

trate via entrainment of their functions, the effects they produce

upon each other vary with the particular functional organization

of the systems involved. We can say, therefore, that a morpho-

genesis (a change in form or organization) occurring in one so-

matic system may produce a morphogenesis in other somatic

systems, but that the various changes of state are only partially

116 CHARLES 0, LAUGHLIN, JR.



isomorphic with each other. Penetration between the various

parts and levels of the body may therefore be said to result in

"homeomorphogenesis." 14

Symbolism and Homeomorphogenesis

Homeomorphogenic interactions between entrained neurocogni

tive systems, or between neurocognitive systems and other so

matic systems, can have an expressive, symbolic quality when any

of the neurocognitive systems involved mediate sensorial events.

A quite common situation is one in which a transformation ina s'omatic system that does not mediate experience produces a

transformation in a neural network that does mediate experi

ence. In this case, the sensorial event may be understood as a

symbolic expression of the other non-sensorial somatic event.

For example, the colonic disorder mentioned above produces

the experience of pain. The pain is not the disorder, but rather

signals the disorder. A physician may palpate the abdomen and

ask for reports of any overly sensitive spots. Healers in all cul

tures use experiential events to diagnose the causes of disease,

causes that are usually unconscious to the patient. Diagnosis,

whether by self or healer, is always an interpretive process be

cause of the homeomorphogenic relationship between the dis

order and the symbolic expression of the disorder in experience.

The integrative mode is equally important to our discussion

in that a sensorial system may produce a non-sensorial effect

upon some other somatic system. For example, one can elicit a

stress response from various bodily systems by merely imagining

a dangerous, shocking, or painful experience. One may suddenly

imagine cutting one's finger and evoke motoric and endocrine

activities appropriate to actually cutting a finger. Many societies

utilize symbolic means in healing under the presumption that

in some manner or other the symbols penetrate to the disorder

and effect a cure.

The usual state of affairs is a continuous feedback interaction

between sensorial neural and non-sensorial neural and somatic

systems. Causality is usually systemic and thus recursive - oper

ating in both directions. But emphasis will be laid here upon

which system initiates the interaction, for it has much to do with

the role played by the symbolic process in cognition. It is thus

fair to ask whether the symbol is an expression of unconscious

processes in the organism, or whether the symbol is the pene

trator to unconscious processes. This bidirectional communica-




tion between discrete systems is crucial to the maintenance of

whatever degree of fragmentation or integration of systems is

characteristic of any particular individual. Much of the 'intent of

the Tibetan tantric system is to evoke integrative homeomorpho

genesis during the process' of maturation.

TUNING THE ERGOTROPIC AND TROPHOTROPIC SYSTEMS

We agree with]. Davidson (1976:359; see also Fischer 1971) that

there exists only one theoretical formulation in the

neurosciences that can effectively be used to account for the

experiences that arise in meditation and higher experiences of

psychic energy.I5 That perspective is Gellhorn's theory of auto

nomic-somatic integration (Gellhorn 1967; Gellhorn and Loof

bourrow 1963; see Lex 1979 for a summary). According to Gell

horn's model, the somatic system that controls the distribution

and utilization of metabolic energy in the body is comprised of

two complementary (sometimes antagonistic) systems, each of

which entrains functions located in cortex, core brain, lower

autonomic and somatic structures. One system is called the er

gotropic system and the other the trophotropic system.

The Ergotropic System

The ergotropic system subserves our so-called fight or flight re

sponses; that is, the physiological components of our adaptationstrategies to desirable or noxious stimuli in the environment.

Matomically, the ergo ropic system incorporates the functions

of the sympathetic nervous system (one-half of the autonomic

nervous system), certain of the endocrine glands, portions of the

reticular activating system in the brain stem, the posterior hypo

thalamus, and portions of the limbic system and frontal cortex.

The principle function of the ergotropic system is the control

of short-range, moment-by-moment adaptation to events in theenvironment. It is designed to come into play when the possibil

ity of responding to stimuli arises. It is so constructed as to shunt

the body's metabolic energy away from long-range developmental

activities and into initiating and carrying out action in the world

directed either at acquisition or avoidance of stimuli of interest

to the organism.

Under generalized ergotropic arousal, a number of organic

responses may be experienced, including shivering, constriction

11 B CHARlES D. LAUGHLIN, JR.



TABLE 1: ASummary of Some Functions of the Trophotropic and

Ergotropic Systems

TROPHOTROPIC SYSTEM

Storage of vital resources.

Digestion and distribution

of nutriments.

Bronchi leading to lungs

constricted and coated

with mucus.

Heart rate and blood

pressure reduced

Collection of waste

by-products.

Constriction of pupils.

None.

Synchronized EEG.

r i ~ c t i o n of penis and

clitoris.

Increased salivation.

Respiration slower

and deeper.

120 CHARLES D. lAUGHLIN, JR.

ERGOTROPIC SYSTEM

Expenditure of vital

resources.

Digestion stopped.

Bronchi opened.

Heart rate and blood pressure

increased

Endocrine system releases

chemicals that increase

efficiency of muscles.

Dilation of pupils.

Erection of body hair.

Desynchronized EEG

Ejaculation.

Decreased salivation.

Respiration faster and

shallower.



patterns (indicating harmonized higher cortical functions). Re

laxation (reduced arousal) and its c;oncomitants are commonly

associated .either with disinterest in events in the environment,

or with dispassionate concentration upon some object. Judg

ments as to desirability or undesirability of the object are sus

pended. The relaxed person is typically experiencing a comfort

able, warm, womb-like indifference to, or enjoyment of, the en

vironment. The fundamental function of relaxation is' perhaps

less obvious than that of ergotropic arousal, but is nonetheless

crucial to the survival of the organism. It is mainly during re

laxation, and particularly during undisturbed sleep, that the body

processes nutrients and uses these to repair itself and grow. Inother words, when the body is not finding food and avoiding

becoming food (ergotropic reactivity), it is reconstructing and

developing itself (trophotropic reactivity).

Complementorily

The ergo ropic and trophotropic systems have often been described as "antagonistic" to each other. This means that the in

creased activity of the one system tends to produce a decreased

activity in the other. This is the case because each system is

physically designed to inhibit the functioning of the other under

most circumstances. If a person gets excited about something

(angry, anxious, afraid, strongly desirous, etc.) the ergotropic sys-

tem not only produces the requisite physiological, emotional and

behavioral responses, it also puts a damper (via reciprocal inhibition) on the trophotropic system which was previously subserv

ing digestion and other metabolic activities. Likewise, when a

person relaxes (say, after a heavy meal), the trophotropic system

actively dampens the activity of the ergotropic system. A sum

mary of the reciprocal functions of the two systems may be stud

ied in Table 1.

The relationship between the two systems would be better

described as complementary, rather than antagonistic, for eachserves the short- and long-range well-being of the organism. It

is really a matter of the balance of functions, the trophotropic

system maintaining the homeostatic balance so necessary for

health and growth while the ergotropic system facilitates the mo

ment-to-moment adaptation of the organism to its environment.

As such, they are not anatomical mirror images of each other.

The "wiring" of the ergotropic system is designed to arouse the

entire body forpotential.

responseto

threat. Under normalcon-




ditions, . when the ergotropic system is activated, the entire

body/mind become aroused. Properly functioning, it is a turned

on/turned-off kind of system. By comparison, the tr6photropic

system is "wired" for the fine tuning of organs in relation to

each other as the demands of internal maintenance shift and

change. Its 'resources can be activated for one organ or body

part, or it can turn on globally as during sleep when the entire

skeletal musculature is "turned off."

The point to emphasize is that whereas the trophotropic sys-

tem is designed for continuous activity, the ergotropic system is

designed for sporadic activity. We are "wired" for short, infre

quent bursts of adaptive activity interspersed with relativelylonger durations of rest, recuperation and growth. Prolonged

ergotropic reactivity may cause depletion of vital resources

stored up by the trophotropic system in various organs, and may

cause fatigue, shock, body damage, and, in extreme cases, death

(Selye 1956; Antonovsky 1979).

Tuning.

The particular balance of ergo ropic and trophotropic activities

under particular environmental circumstances is susceptible to

learning, and there is evidence that their characteristic balance

under stress is established as early as pre- and perinatal life. The

learned (conditioned) ergotropic-trophotropic balance relative to

any environmental stimulus is called tuning (Gellhorn 1967:110

ff).16 When we say that someone "gets up-tight around authorityfigures," we are referring in part to a discrete ergotropic-trophot

:topic tuning relative to people in authority. Or i f we say that

someone "calmed down when he got a back rub," we are refer

ring to a different discrete tuning relative to being stroked.

A learned change in the characteristic ergotropic-trophotropic

balance relative to a stimulus is called retuning (Gellhorn 1967).

Events like football games, rock concerts and combat patrols that

previously elicited excitement (ergotropic reactivity) may afterretuning be met with a relaxed response (trophotropic reactivity).

Some authorities have argued that ritual control of ergotropic

trophotropic balance forms a basis for primitive healing tech

niques and for evoking alternative phases of consciousness (Gell

horn and Kiely 1972; Lex 1979). There are a number of ways

that ergotropic-trophotropic retuning may be accomplished:

122 CHARlES D. LAUGHLIN, JR.



in other instances produce metabolic events in the body. One

feels pain when a finger is cut, but one can also produce somatic

. responses characteristic of injury by merely vividly imagining a

cut finger. The causality between sensorial and non-sensorial somatic events is interactional.

Furthermore, the sensorium, like the rest of the nervous sys

tem, participates in the ergotropic-trophotropic balance. That is,

the sensorium registers somatic events energized by the bicam

eralergotropic-trophotropic system, and is thus a part of their

organization. Simply put, an excited somatic system produces an

excited consciousness, and vice versa. A calm consciousness is

mediated by a calm body. There is no such thing as a calm mindin an excited body. When tuning is in favor of trophotropic ac

tivity, this activity includes a predominance of trophotropic ac

tivity within the sensorium. The same may be said for predomi

nantly ergotropic tuning. An ergotropically tuned sensorium may

be a welter of rapid, even confused, thoughts, sensations and

images, whereas a trophotropically tuned sensorium may be fairly

clear, even blank.

HIGHER PSYCHIC ENERGY EXPERIENCES

Homeomorphogenic relations between sensorial and non-senso

rial ergotropic-trophotropic events hold as well for higher phases

of consciousness and experiences of psychic energy encountered

during them. From the model presented above, we may hypothe

size four categories of ergotropic-trophotropic events and theirsensorial concomitants that may occur during extraordinary

phases of consciousness:

1. Hyper-trophotropic tuning

Trophotropic activity is tuned exceptionally high resulting in an

extraordinary state of relaxation. This happens of course in nor

mal sleep, but may paradoxically occur during meditative statesaccompanied by keen alertness and vigilance. In extreme form,

hyper-trophotropic tuning may be experienced as a sense of oce

anic tranquility and peace in which no thoughts or fantasies in

trude upon consciousness and no bodily sensations are felt. The

meditator feels like he is floating on a calm and waveless sea.

In Buddhist psychology such a state might be termed "access

concentration" (upacara samadhi).




dancing of the !Kung Bushman adept which brings about the

arising and ascension of enhanced psychic energy (n/um) may

be interpreted as an example of hyper-ergotropic activity driven

by rhythmic motor activity, resulting (under proper conditions)

in a trophotropic eruption during which the !Kia minds tate

arises. The dancing is a bottom-up driver, as it is operating in

itially upon the lowest level of ergo ropic-trophotropic hierarchy.

Another common bottom-up driver is fasting, a practice often

preceding or accompanying other more active ritual procedures

(e.g., North American Indian vision quests). Fasting is known

not only to reduce caloric and other nutriments available to cells,

but also to decrease the amount of important hormones such asT3 in the blood, as well as their receptor cell sensitivity, thus

providing a probable mechanism of energy conservation

(Schussler and Orlando 1978). Fasting may thus be interpreted

as a bottom-up driver of trophotropic activity, for it tends to

have a tranquilizing effect upon the body.

The two systems may be driven as well from the top down.

This is frequently accomplished by concentrating upon imagery,

which we have already noted may produce an increase or a decrease in somatic arousal, depending upon the content. Pro

longed and intense meditation ("devotion") upon a lotus above

the head, or upon a Sacred Heart in the chest, may first result

in an ever more enhanced concentration leading to hyper-tro

photropic activity, and under the proper conditions, to an ergo

tropic discharge - perhaps a minor discharge at one or another

of the sympathetic plexes, or a full-on discharge throughout the

system as described in Pandit Krishna's "kundalini awakening"in the Hindu tradition (see also Woodroffe 1974; MookeIjee

1982; Prabhavananda 1963; Sarandananda 1978; Vivekananda

1982) or St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's (Tickell 1869) sustained

"rapture" in the Christian tradition (see also Stierli 1957 on St.

Catherine of Siena; Herambourg 1960 on St. John Eudes; Anony

mous 1871 on St. Gertrude; and Jeremy 1962 on St. Mechthild

and St. Gertrude).

CONCENTRATION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF HOMEOMORPHOGENIC

RECRUITMENT

Psychic energy is usually felt as bodily sensations, or "seen" as

visions of energy flows as described above. Occasionally, there

may be auditory or other sensory modal components to the ex

perience. The point to emphasizeis

that the sensorial compo-

PSYCHIC ENERGY & TRANS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 127



again, an empirical concept. The bindu is directly experienceabie

- at least by yogis - as the building block of phenomena from

the most gross object such as a table or a planet to the ~ o s t sub

tle like the breath or spirit.

Empirical dots and theoretical "atoms" are undoubtedly at least

partially linked. Indeed, we suspect that early atomist theories in

Western metaphysics and science, as well as eastern ontologies,

are examples of projection by inquiring minds of their own essen

tial organization upon the world. The notion of something like

the monad as the ultimate building block of the world goes back

to the early Greeks, and is specifically referenced by that term in

metaphysics in the 18th century by Leibnitz in his Principles of Na-

ture and Grace. Many philosophers over the centuries (e.g., Kant,

Husserl, and Whitehead) have developed monadologies. The term

"monad" derives originally from the Greek root meaning "one" or

"unit," and is used in most cases to refer to a simple, irreducible

particle of reality from which all composite things in the universe

are constructed. The monad is frequently conceived as a source of

power in its own right, and, as in the case of Whitehead's "actual

entity," a point of consciousness.

The concept of monad seems closer to a mental particle than,

say, the notions of atom or molecule, but it is usually not clear

(and this is the crucial point to me) to what extent the monad is

intended in these philosophies either as an empirical, descriptive

term, or strictly to apply to consciousness rather than the whole

universe. The "atomistic" views of pre-Socratic Greek philosophers

like Heraclitus and Empedocles were almost certainly partly based

upon intense mystical introspection (see Edwards 1967:477 ff, 496

ff). Empedocles (a physician and in the latter part of his life a con-

;:firmed mystic) in particular saw the world of the senses as in con

stant change, being comprised of a perpetual remixing of tiny, per-

manent entities (Edwards 1967:497). However, the views of many

later philosophers such as Descartes, although also positing atomis

tic metaphysics, seem more based upon rational analysis than

upon introspection. A major difference between the early Greek

and later views of monads is that the early view - and the onemost akin to direct perception of dots by contemplatives -

stressed the active nature of these particles (often associated with

the subtle element fire), whereas most later philosophers took the

mechanical view of their nature (see Merchant 1980). An interest

ing exception was the seventeenth century philosopher Pierre Gas

sendi, who tried with some success to introduce the early Greek

conception of the atom as an active particle into science (Mer

chant 1980).

132 CHARlES D. lAUGHLIN, JR.



8. The author practiced one of the preliminary meditations (ngon

dro) carried out by Tibetan yogis which is termed dkyil-'khor, or

"mandala offering" (Beyer 1973:433ff). This practice involves the

construction of a mandalic form out of rice atop a round, mirror-

like surface and then wiping the surface clean. The yogi concen-

trates on the operation of assembling and disassembling the rice

form while repeating a chant that speaks of the construction of

the mystical cosmos surrounding the mythical Mount Sumeru.

This operation is repeated, often hours at a time, at least a hun-

dred thousand times during the basic introductory work prior to

advanced tantric practice (MacDonald, et al. 1988 for a more com

plete description of this practice). As with any meditation, many

experiences may arise during the course of this work. One of the

main insights that will inevitably arise is that the mirror practice

is a symbolic replica of the sensorium, and that the rice grains

are dots, the mandala the totality of forms that arise in the sen

sorium via the organization of dots, and the wiping clean of the

mirror is the flux of sensorial events, including the dots making

up the events. Full realization of the essential impermanence of

sensorial events is considered in some Buddhist traditions to be a

principal watershed in the psychological development of a being.

9. For a detailed discussion of the significance of these images, or

"universal signs," see Laughlin, McManus and d'Aquili 1990:200-

202.

ID.lt is interesting that the word "axis" comes from the Latin for

axle, thus denoting a center around which something turns.

11.The author had a relevant experience while participating in Mau

lave (Sufi dancing) in which the task was to spin around to music

while visualizing a central crystal-form axis running up the center

of the body and colorful energy streams flowing out of the

palms. There came a point in the dance when concentration be

came extremely intense and a shift of consciousness occurred dur

ing which energy seemed to center in that axis and the entire

world of phenomena seemed to be spinning around the center of

energy movement in the axis. This was associated with intense

and blissful energy movement in the axis. A moment later concen-

tration was broken by thoughts about the experience, and the

author fell down as a consequence.




12.The concept of symbolic penetration has been worked out with

great care. For further discussion see Laughlin and Stephens

1980; and Laughlin, McManus and d'Aquili 1990.

13. "Entrainment" is a technfcal term in neurophysiology referring to

the interconnection of different neural networks into a single func

tional array. Just like combining different railroad cars into a

train, different neural networks may be combined and recom-

bined to perform different functions.

14. Homeomorphogenesis is a neologism required by the fact that Icould find no currently used term in either systems theory or

mathematics, much less in the neurosciences, for the kind of rela

tion we wish to emphasize. The term combines the concept mor-

phogenesis out of certain biological formulations with the root ho-

meo- (as in the word "homeomorphic," meaning of similar form

or structure) to denote causally linked transformations of a simi

lar, but not exact, kind in two or more structures.

15. For a more complete critique of the psychophysiology of medita-

tion systems, see Laughlin, McManus and d'Aquili 1990:307-333.

16. Gellhorn and his associates have worked within the theoretical for

mulations first outlined by W.R. Hess (1925).

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