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Occultism and Hypnotism · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  Scientists and medical practitioners have studied
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  hypnotism and even applied it in various situations.
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  They raised some doubts due to studies that did not completely
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  follow the highest double-blind standards used in medical
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  research. Nevertheless, hypnotism has been
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  found to have some very clear practical uses and benefits and
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  is utilized in a variety of situations including treatment
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  of anxiety, stress, helping to overcome addictions such as
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  smoking, sleep disorders and chronic pain, as well as
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  providing benefits to reduce pain in acute situations.
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  Given the serious potential side effects of pharmaceutical drugs
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  for pain relief, such as the use of highly addictive opioids,
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  more practitioners in fact are turning to the use of hypnosis
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  in an increasing number of situations to reduce or avoid
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  the need for opioids. Hypnosis provides insight into
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  the link between the mind and the body and the ability to gain
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  a measure of control over the body and its functions,
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  including some of the autonomic functions.
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  Through use of non physical techniques, a state related to
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  trance is created in which the active control exercised by the
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  conscious mind is reduced. The individual becomes more
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  suggestible and is able to dissociate himself from anxiety,
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  pain or fear reactions that otherwise would have a great
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  impact on him. We know that certain yogins in
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  the state of Samadi, a spiritual trance state, are not actively
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  attending to the circumstances in the external world.
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  They are able in some cases, to pass days at a time without
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  experiencing hunger or thirst. They can sit on beds of nails or
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  walk across nails or hot coals without any sensation of pain.
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  Legend has it that some ancient yogic practitioners would sit in
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  such a deep state of samadhi that they had anthills grow up
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  on and around them without noticing.
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  They have successfully moved their conscious awareness away
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  from the body, vital being and mind into an entirely different
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  realm of awareness. The experience of yogic
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  practitioners in samadhi shed some light on the experience of
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  individuals undergoing treatment with hypnotism.
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  A similar state of separation from the external body and its
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  senses and the nervous system reactions and the response of
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  the active mentality takes place.
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  We are normally aware of and involved in the events and
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  circumstances in the world around us and our reactions to
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  them. In the hypnotic state, the
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  awareness must be withdrawn from active reaction and response to
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  such things. The interactive functioning of
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  the senses, the nervous system and the mind must be suspended
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  and the patient must be in a state where suggestions can be
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  made that operate on certain parts of the brain without first
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  being filtered through the analyzing and deciding parts of
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  the mental consciousness. Most people have had an
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  experience where they were so deeply absorbed in something
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  that they lost track of the passage of time, did not feel
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  hunger or thirst or any discomfort at all.
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  This is a brief taste of the deeper status of hypnotic
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  immersion or yogic trance, the Mother notes quote.
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  Now they are finding out that they can replace anesthetics by
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  hypnotism with infinitely better results.
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  Well, hypnotism is a form, a form modernized in its
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  expression of occultism, a very limited, very small form of a
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  very tiny power compared with occult power.
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  But still it is a form of occultism which has been put in
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  modern terms to make the thing modern.
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  And I don't know if you have heard about these things, but
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  they are very interesting from a certain point of view.
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  For instance, this process of hypnotism has been tried on
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  someone who had to have a skin graft on a wound.
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  I don't remember all the details now, but the arm had to remain
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  attached to the leg for a fortnight.
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  If the person were immobilized by plaster and bandages and all
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  sorts of things, at the end of the fortnight he wouldn't be
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  able to move, everything would become stiff and he would need
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  weeks of treatment to recover the free use of his arm.
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  In this case, nothing was tied up, nothing was physically
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  immobilized, No plaster, no bandages, nothing.
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  The person was just hypnotized and told to keep his arm in that
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  position. He kept it for a fortnight
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  without any effort, any difficulty, without any
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  intervention from his will. It was the will of the
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  hypnotizer which intervened. It was perfectly successful.
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  The arm remained in the required position.
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  And when the fortnight was over and the hypnotism removed and
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  the person was told, now you may move, he began to move.
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  Well, that's a step forward. They are soon going to meet.
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  It will be nothing more than a question of words.
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  Then if they are not too rigid, they can agree on the value
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  given to the words. End Quote Reference Shriuru
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  Bindu and the Mother The Hidden Forces of Life Chapter 5 Occult
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  Forces pages one O 7 to one O 8.