Lightly edited transcript Filler words and caption errors removed by machine; the meaning is unchanged.
Delson talks about nirodha, a cessation state entered by intention and ended at a set time, and about early research suggesting that long sessions lower heart rate, metabolism and blood pressure, possibly tapping an evolutionary hibernation process. He discusses a proposed six-day observation of himself, the ethics of such a study, and how the reported brainwave changes compare with deep absorption and ketamine. He explains that the ability to time the exit comes from a regimented training given by Bhante Vimalaramsi, which he describes as developing an internal clock.
Key points
- Delson describes nirodha (cessation) as a state entered on purpose, with the length set beforehand by intention, and exited at that time with no sense that time has passed.
- He reports early research, which he has heard about secondhand, suggesting that longer sessions lower heart rate, metabolism and blood pressure, and says researchers are speculating about a link to an evolutionary hibernation process.
- He says a six-day observation of himself has been proposed, but that it depends on his schedule and raises ethical concerns about keeping someone without food and water while drawing blood.
- He compares the reported brainwave synchronization in nirodha to what is seen in deep absorption and in high doses of ketamine, drawing on a neuroscientist he spoke with.
- He credits Bhante Vimalaramsi with a rigid, regimented training that he says develops an internal clock, so the practitioner still comes out at the set time even when the experience feels like nothing is happening.
Themes
Transcript
Nirodha and the biological reset
And the utility of this process of going into Nirodha is primarily to attain that state of nirvana, but also it gives total rest to the entire biology. Because the longer periods, because this is what's being found out through the initial research that had been conducted, I think in Netherlands and at Harvard or Massachusetts, Federal Hospital, which is that as you start to do this for longer periods of time, it actually lowers the heart rate, it lowers the metabolism, it lowers the blood pressure into where now the researchers are starting to speculate and starting to develop, I suppose they're developing a hypothesis that this might be tapping into some evolutionary human evolutionary hibernation practice or process where we actually might even stop or slow down the process of decay of the cells and so on.
Because the heart rate starts to diminish, everything starts to diminish, the metabolism starts to diminish, so the cells have to work less for their energy and so on. So the case studies, or case use cases, of this practice. But within the context of meditation, within the context of mental development, the whole purpose is to revitalize the senses so that you are much more attentive and mindful to how reality actually works. And so I'm talking to some friends about this conversation, and talking about this experience of, I've heard things like six days of just basically cessation, and people are like, well, what's the point? Like, why would you do that?
And obviously, Nirvana sounds compelling, but so does this notion of kind of just a full biological reset, which makes a lot of sense. And, especially in our longevity-obsessed world, that's really, really interesting. And yeah, I mean, for this field of research, what, do you have any perspective on kind of what's next and what people are trying to figure out here? Yeah, they definitely want to put me under observation for those six days just to get a sense of what actually happens to the biological processes.
If it happens, it's just depending upon my schedule and when I can be available, and the ethics of it too, because the idea of keeping somebody locked up for six days without any food and water and then drawing their blood and not all of these things, it's a bit of a challenge ethically. But if it does happen, I think it would be very interesting what the findings, the initial findings, can result in. And another aspect of it is very, very interesting. Very interesting. And I make light of that initial finding, which is they talk about how, when you go into the state of Nirodha, the brainwave patterns, the brainwaves actually synchronize visually, like when you're seeing the output of brainwaves, they synchronize, which usually happens, according to one neuroscientist I spoke to, or she had mentioned it, is that it's very similar to people who go into colon.
And it's also very similar to people who have high doses of ketamine. So you could probably have that experience of ketamine without the ketamine by going into it. Your own inner technology is always a good thing. And just to clarify, so when you go into that experience, you do not experience, or you kind of just wake up as if you just got anesthesia or something. Exactly. Exactly.
So it's like, I've gone in. So I know that I went in, and then the next time I come out, it's like no time has passed, but an hour has passed or six days has passed, whatever it might be. And the way it is done is you set the intention beforehand and you say, I will be in this place for, or in this state of mind for no more than an hour or no more than two days and 24 hours, 23 hours and 15 minutes or something like that. And so the process of developing that practice is very regimented, very rigid.
And I had to go through that process as was given to me by Bhante Vimalaramsi. And I think what it does is it develops the internal clock. So even if the subjective experience is like nothing's going on, there's still something going on, there's still something happening behind the scenes that allows the mind to know, come out at this point.