a quote form "Heaven and Hell", the sequell to "Doors of Perseption":
"in yet other cases carbon dioxide transports the subject to the Other World at the antipodes of his everyday consciousness and he enjoys very briefly visionary experiences entirely unconected with his own personal history or with the problems of the human race in general. In light of these facts it becomes easy to understand the rationale of yogic breathing excercises. Practiced systematicly, these excercises result, after a time, in prolonged suspension of breath. Long suspension of breath leads to high concentration of CO2 in the lungs and blood, and this increase in the concentration of CO2 lowers the efficiency of the brain as a reducing valve and permits the entry into consciousness of experiences, visionary or mystical, from "out there""
this idea of Mr Huxley might go a way to explaining that ineffable, so called spiritual quality of freediving that we find so hard to explain to non-divers.
"in yet other cases carbon dioxide transports the subject to the Other World at the antipodes of his everyday consciousness and he enjoys very briefly visionary experiences entirely unconected with his own personal history or with the problems of the human race in general. In light of these facts it becomes easy to understand the rationale of yogic breathing excercises. Practiced systematicly, these excercises result, after a time, in prolonged suspension of breath. Long suspension of breath leads to high concentration of CO2 in the lungs and blood, and this increase in the concentration of CO2 lowers the efficiency of the brain as a reducing valve and permits the entry into consciousness of experiences, visionary or mystical, from "out there""
this idea of Mr Huxley might go a way to explaining that ineffable, so called spiritual quality of freediving that we find so hard to explain to non-divers.
