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passingover
Has anyone here ever felt a nothingness of any or all senses?


If you have not, do you think it would possible for you to artificailly create these states, to acheive this somehow in reality, yet retaining consciousness? How would you suggest doing this or acheiving this?

I know I have experienced the nothingness of all senses at once very briefly. And nothingness of all senses except feeling, longer. From the experience, the most striking things to me that I realized were with feeling/touch and sight/vision. You see, for me I saw total blackness. Not just what you see as the blackness where there is still some small amount of light. Not where you can still percieve some depth. Nothing where the mind can even draw artifical lines or shapes. Nothing at all like what you see when you close your eyes. Imagine turning in all directions, moving forever and never seeing anything different but the same blackness. No distinctions at all. If it were nto for your other senses, should you have them, you do nto know you are moving. This is total nothingness of sense. I knew nothing of it until I experienced it. I am curious if someone else can comprehend without experiencing it, or that they think they have experienced it or can duplicate it in actual physical reality?

edit: I deleted what I said more about vision from another paragraph I had but chose to lose: It is also whereby it is that nothing like depth is even percieved. No real sense of that at all. Total uniformity, solid, all encompassing darkness. Blackness with nothing but within it. Not like what you will see in even the darkest room. This is even independent of waht your mind shows you ... totally paternless. Not even specks of light anywhere. No movement whatsoever. It might as well always be the same even if it isn't. This si the type of darkness I describe and speak of.

To me the absence of vision is the most interesting of all, second only to touch/feeling. I have described it my way already, from my experience. But I have heard another describe it quite differently. To them, they say, they see white - everything white it would seem, except they still describe it as being a white room, which confuses me. Has anyione else experienced nothingness of sight. Any answers to what you think bling people see, if anything from when they are blind at birth.

Feeling, when you don't have something -- at all -- the moment of contrast between the nothingness and presence is like an eternal bliss the moment when it happens. It seems like a real contradiction and silly that this should mean so much I bet, but realise that what I speak of is absolute nothingness of touch/presence. That you can not even feel that you have hands or a body. It is as if it does not exist, you are essentially bodiless. It is hard I bet for people to appreciate this if they have never experienced it. To begin to see what I mean stand where you are and turn around. Now imagine the same thing without feeling the air as you turn or the floor as you move, nor the feeling of anything which you happen to encounter. If you successfully eliminated feeling fully (doubtful), begin to consider how you know you are moving?

Hearing. I begin to get less skilled with describing this. But it where you hear nothing at all. You are not even aware that you have any ability to hear, there is nothing at all to hear. Hard to describe, but you do not even hear the "sound of silence" which you may hear soemtimes in total quiteness. Nor of course anything like your heartbeating or the sound of your steps. With me also, I sometimes can combine touching and hearing in a wierd way where they can both be the same. If you can do soemthing like this, disregard it because iit would also be hearing or auditory perception as well.

Smell. Very bad at this. Nothing at all. Not even your normal taste, no feelign at all that you have any capabilities for this. That you have no mouth, no nose. Not even the "normal" sense of smell which you might call the smell of air. You do not feel that you breath for certain.

Taste. Nothing. Like smell, you have no capabilities for this. Really you are nto able to tell that you have a mouth. You do not taste your saliva, or the normal taste which you probably disregard out of habit. I mena nothing.

Now take all this and combine it into one. All you have is your consciousness, none of these sense, described in the way which have done...implemented now as your new world and reality.

Imagine now....or do it.

Twirl around.

What does this mean? How do you know whether you have twirled around? You feel not the air around you hit gently against your skin, you do not feel the presence of gravity, nor do you feel the floor below you. You cannot even feel your body. You do not see that you moving anywhere at all, for nothing moves thaty you see. It is all the same. No difference at all discerned in sight. You hear nothing at all. Not the even the sound the carpet makes as your shoes gently trace over it. You do not smell nothing, again not even aware that you have a nose, there seems to be no variance at all in what you smell, even if you could. Tate, nothing at all, it is as if you have no mouth, nothing at all.

How would you know that you are twirling around and what would it mean to you?

All you have really is your consciousness. In a way I guess you might see this as a prison. Some might call it hell. A reality totally devoid of all things that you can sense except for your mind - but not even that really, more only your consciousness or the essence of you. and what you are.

My experience with this shows me that consciousness is not tied into sensory perceptions. That consciousness exists independently of the senses. In a way, this might answer the question of what death might be like, without the senses, in total isolation.

But in having only feeling as a sense along with consciousness was just as valuable as total nothingness save for consiousness. To be able to go from not percieving that you have a body of any sense to suddenly feeling that you have one again. Oh such a huge disparithy and sudden difference! To go from nothing to something, jsut like that. The only thing that dampens the experience is the consciousness which is always wondering, fearing, trying to ascertain what is occuring - because at first it is like a fish out of water - it cannopt help to do anything but wonder.

Time is also a curious thing in relation to this.. A lot of time is about percieving the things around you and the change inherent with them that is percieved - which largely seems to create the way you measure time, But when your world is nothingness at all - at least of your sense, there is no change for this period in this way. Yet you have your consciousness. And your consciousness creates its own time because you percieve the difference in your thoughts, the only change in the universe that you know of at the moment. It brings up a good question thoudh about the relationship between time and concsciousness and our surroundings. Say instead of sensing absolute nothingness, one "experienced" everything slowed down by a factor of three, yet thought at their normal rate. Which is the current perception of time? And if we slowed the expierenced down much more, say by a factor of 1000? Imagine your world and all you know including your body moving a hundred times slower yet your thoughts and consciousness at the same normal rate. It is an interesting question which one is more "accurate" in my opinion. It shows some things when it is considered. Some might say that the mind should adapt to what it percieves, and so "sych" in time ... yet we are not fully talking of the mind (in the sense that it is commonly used at the moment) here... just consciousness in itself.

(now the theoretical rather than experienced)

Imagine also that you have control over your consciousness, able to bring it to slow or speed up at will in relation to the rest of the world. You can experience "time" as slow or as fast as you wish. For example a year around you normally can be a second, or ten million years. Imagine further if you could actually move back and forth between future and past, retaining your consciousness the whole while with total control. What meaning has time for you then - just as the rest of the senses when they are absent? What is the more accurate measure of the time, your consciousness or the universe around you? That consciousness seems to exist independently of time as externally present, to me, I find very interesting. Great implications. Imagine living in a world like this and existing for thousands and thousands of years (in the time of your consciousness)... the amount which you can absorb, yet having access to all times as present externally -- flying through them at will back and forth. What a strange existence. The implications of consciousness being outside of commonly perceieved physical phenomenon are huge to me then. That consciousness is not really dependent on any external sense or physical body of matter as known, awesome and majestic. Opens the doors for so much......
NightVision
I'll just answer your question since it's 6 :40 am here.

Yes: before I was born, and once, when I lost consciousness one night. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again eight hours had passed, although to me it was immediate. I found it quite frightening, actually.
Episkopos
I'm not sure if it was nothingness - probably closer to total awareness - but about eight years ago someone strangled me. He let go when he realised he was almost killing me, but for the few minutes it lasted I just remember total darkness, total peace, the absence of any real conscious throught - just the vague feeling of bliss you describe - of timelessness - feeling my pulse thudding in my temples, the only thing between me and infinity - slowing - and then a rush of light and air and pain. He let me go and I fell to the ground, alive again.

I don't know if my senses were working. I don't remember any sensory input, but I was hardly in a condition to take notes...

But yes, I've been there, and I think it changed my life. I often wonder how I could go back to that state - maybe even stay there - but it would be a terribly final thing to die. Is there another way?

And may I compliment your dealing with this? Very well written.
Necurata
Did you feel this nothingness of senses during meditation or during the regular course of the day? It sounds very much like the concept of "the void" (shunyata)in buddhism. The void is that which is outside of samsara (reality) and is described as an all-encompassing nothingness, with no sound, no sight, no tactile sensations. Experiencing and understanding the void is an essential step on the path to enlightenment. In tibetan buddhism (as well as other forms i am sure) the basic principle of life is that life is an illusion. They have a saying "Emptiness is form and form is emptiness" or all is nothing and nothing is all (interconnectedness) and if one can truly experience this concept, then one can have power over it and control it. For example, there are many accounts of high lamas who can travel great distances in seconds (reminiscent of how vampires travel).

I hope this has made some sense because I havent slept in a long time so if it is confusing I apologize.

-Necurata
anarch
wow..these really,are the things that make life worth living..these brief moments which seem to last an eternity.Its really amusing how such a state of nothingness holds so much..
passingover
QUOTE (NightVision @ Dec 10 2004, 06:40 AM)
I'll just answer your question since it's 6 :40 am here.

Yes: before I was born, and once, when I lost consciousness one night. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again eight hours had passed, although to me it was immediate. I found it quite frightening, actually.



That happened to me soemtimes when I was younger, particularly when sleep deprived. I would go to sleep for an unusual amount of time, like 18 hours, wake up and then be confused about how it was still dark outside and actually earlier than I went to sleep. I didn't realize it was actually dusk, the next "day" -- night. :) Same thing in the oppoite, I would feel I was sleeping for a long time - like somehow I slept a day, and that I missed school (then) but really I would find out that I only slept for like ten minutes. Perception of time and sleep can be really strange soemtimes. this does not happen much any more to such extremes though.

QUOTE
I'm not sure if it was nothingness - probably closer to total awareness - but about eight years ago someone strangled me. He let go when he realised he was almost killing me, but for the few minutes it lasted I just remember total darkness, total peace, the absence of any real conscious throught - just the vague feeling of bliss you describe - of timelessness - feeling my pulse thudding in my temples, the only thing between me and infinity - slowing - and then a rush of light and air and pain. He let me go and I fell to the ground, alive again.


When just about "passing out" I had same the same thing with vision going first, then the hearing went out shortly thereafter as things degenerated into a sort of gentle "riiiiiiiing". I was at first thinking largely, "okay, I will just stay calm and let things return to me." - at that point I heard the people around me "are you okay?", then they began to fade away as the gentle "riiiing" took over. Then just as mysteriously and suddenly as it happened, my vision came back to me but clouded white around the edges. The whole thing I suspected then was hypoglycemic shock combined with over exertation and not being used to the heat here. The weird thing was that the vision came back just as soemone brought me something to drink, the moment right before it seemed they were going to place the cup in my hand. What happened, was that when someone asked me if I was okay, I had told them that I just need them to get me something to drink. That was before the riinging came though. What was strange too was that the amount of time between asking them to get something to drink seemed so sudden. I couldn't beleive they were able to do that so quickly. This experience too, I find interesting as well.

QUOTE
I don't know if my senses were working. I don't remember any sensory input, but I was hardly in a condition to take notes...


For the above instance, I don't think that I was conscious for at least a brief moment as the "riiiiiing" started taking over, but the interesting thing to me also was that I never fell at all. I guess I was leaning on a counter, but still, if you loose consciousness, you will usually fall.

QUOTE
But yes, I've been there, and I think it changed my life. I often wonder how I could go back to that state - maybe even stay there - but it would be a terribly final thing to die. Is there another way?


The incident above (seperate from the OP) made a huge impact on me also. For starters the idea of being blind and what it means, second, the idea of mortality coming to mind. :) I actually started learning braille, now having an interest in it as a result of this (but i admit my interest was much greater during that following month). I still honestly beleive in the least that I was helped with this in a way, given my sight back at the very moment I needed it, able to drink to stop it from becoming something worse - maybe even dying. Part of me also wonders wether the experience as a whole was largely given to me jsut for the experience and understanding that it brought and how it affected me. I do not beleive that death is the only way to begin to experience such things, but it is just that this is the natural means that often comes into play.

QUOTE
Did you feel this nothingness of senses during meditation or during the regular course of the day? It sounds very much like the concept of "the void" (shunyata)in buddhism. The void is that which is outside of samsara (reality) and is described as an all-encompassing nothingness, with no sound, no sight, no tactile sensations. Experiencing and understanding the void is an essential step on the path to enlightenment. In tibetan buddhism (as well as other forms i am sure) the basic principle of life is that life is an illusion. They have a saying "Emptiness is form and form is emptiness" or all is nothing and nothing is all (interconnectedness) and if one can truly experience this concept, then one can have power over it and control it. For example, there are many accounts of high lamas who can travel great distances in seconds (reminiscent of how vampires travel).


the one mentioned specifically was had in the transitionary dream state (other names for this too). Coming from dream to reality.

Yes what you describe seems largely the same and is extremely interesting to me. When I first experienced this though, again my consciousness was still active and it was like being a fish out of water as I was wondering things "like where am I?" , and trying to figure this out and beign unsucessfull. When I later felt soemthing, the only thing I felt like someone was now holding my hand my thoughts then turned to "who is this?". So in this instance, my mind was not quieted at all I will admit, only the senses. If it went on for longer, I can see where the quietness can come about or ne made to occur. I will work on this for next time.

Thank you very much for bringing this up. :) I am largely ignorant on indian and buddhist philosophy and spirituality other than some basic exposure to it. This, in the way you presented it I see as very interesting. I was reading where largely they beilieve this state is the root state, the essence or source from which everything springs. Also, like a place in time that is timeless. True also, since time is one of the places where it is possible to express nothingness. I find this to be very interesting and will look into it more. Thanks again. :)

QUOTE
I hope this has made some sense because I havent slept in a long time so if it is confusing I apologize.


It makes a lot of sense, no need to appologize at all. I notiice many people haven't been getting much sleep lately, I too am part of this club as well unfortunately.
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