Approved For Release 2003/09/10 : CIA-RDP96-00788ROO1700210040-8
Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences
PRESENTS
THE GATEWAY PROGRAM
WHO ARE WE?
In 1958, Robert Monroe, a New York broadcasting
executive, began having experiences that drastically
altered his life. Unpredictably, and without willing it,
Monroe found himself leaving his physical body to travel,
via a "second body," to locales far removed from the
physical and spiritual realities of his life. He was inhabiting
a place unbounded by time or space. With some trepidation
he wrote a book about his experiences. Doubleday
published Journeys Out of the Body in 1971. Anchor brought
out a second edition in 1977. Throughout the book Monroe
maintains the stance of a careful, objective reporter who
often reports his own confusion in this unusual area. He
relies upon personal experiences for interpretation rather
than any occult, religious or spiritual framework.
In the 1960's, Monroe became interested in the possible
connection between non-verbal audio patterns and brain-
wave rhythms. From his long experience with sound, he
advanced from rotating disc circuit breakers to
sophisticated, custom-built signal generators and the
production of tape recordings in which he has as many as
sixteen patterns of sound mixed together on stereo channels.
Drawing upon his discoveries and the work of others, he
employs a system of binaural beats to create a frequency
following response (FFR) by the brain-wave rhythms. The
FFR not only gives some control over the brainwave
emission of each hemisphere, it also promotes brain-wave
synchronization between the two hemispheres. In May,
1975, Monroe received a generic patent for this method.
In 1971, the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences was
founded and located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in
Virginia. After he shared his findings with others pursuing
the same interests, an Advisory Board representing several
major scientific disciplines formed around the Institute.
The Institute then developed a highly experimental
program for the training of consciousness itself.
conscious of one's particular inner resources, inner abilities,
and, most of all, of one's inner guidance.
From Samadhi and Satori to the "Vision Quest" and the
"Cloud of Unknowing," cultures in all times and all places
have harbored a few individuals who reached and practiced
profound levels of self-exploration. Most of these individuals
practiced within a mythology, an epistem-ological
groundwork by which they could interpret and give
meaning to their experiences.
Present day Western epistemology, just recovering from
an entrancing flirtation with materialism, provides little in
the way of a ladder toward other perceptual modes. What
investigation has been done within our current theory of
knowledge has centered on the physiology of the brain and
on the possible correlation between the brain's physical
state and the subjective state of the mind. First, brain-wave
profiles and then lateral brain specialization and
hemispheric synchronization have offered potential tools
for the description of the subjective state and the mind's
operational function.
Yet, in our work, we suspect that while the tremendous
variety of subjective states may each have physiological
correlates, the ability to determine these correlates lies
beyond our present techniques. It may well be, as Elmer
Green suggests in Beyond Biofeedback, that the brain, as a
physical mechanism, cannot register "non-physical" events.
If this is the case, the Western idea of "knowledge" will have
to be enlarged. But how?
It is precisely this that we are investigating. First, we are
training interested individuals to switch their perception to
areas or fields outside the realm of our physical matter
reality. We call these, "non-physical realities." Then we
examine the "data" they "bring back." Such examination
presents problems peculiar to this investigation. Often the
experiences in these non-physical realities appear to be in
anct come irom a quantativeiy greater consciousness Man
our usual consciousness in physical matter reality.
WHAT ARE WE DOING? Therefore, in order not to miss or misinterpret important
We are instructing and training individuals in the art of patterns and information, we need to take the qualitatively
@ile at the same time, in
switching perceptuAppro~mdf*rR&I~is'te2go~bMnoy~eClAqz~bpiggege7~MiZodffto2lbU4r
order for the patterns and infor tio o be useo#ffi
ity, I rft C
in physical real 4ewyet" 94 tTe e
perspective of physical matter reality.
It would be easier, of course, if we all would switch
perceptual modes and rise into a greater consciousness.
That may be the only way we can enlarge our ideas about
knowledge itself; the only way we can create a "mythology"
sufficient for the coming years.
Our Gateway Program provides the instruction, the
training and the environmentfor makingthis transition. On
a wide scale we have no idea how successful the program
would be. On a small scale we do know that it is successful
for those who have the volition and courage and desire to rise
into the "truly" unknown.
HOW IT WORKS
In appearance the Gateway Program presents a puzzling
facade. A group of twenty people stand around talking,
stretching. Then they all enter a large room, lie down on
individual mattresses, pull blankets over them, put on
padded stereo headphones, and become motionless. The
room is darkened. For the first five minutes slight coughs
and rustlings can be heard. For the next forty minutes there
is not a sound or movement save an occasional snore. Then,
all at the same time, everyone sits up and looks around. Soon
they resume their talking, stretching and running outside.
This happens several times during the day, evening, and
sometimes at three in the morning. Retreat center
personnel often ask, "What is going on here?"
These individuals are practicing and participating in a
progressive series of Frequency Following Response
recordings. The major component of these recordings is a
series of non-verbal audio patterns, most of them masked by
a "pink sound" similar to waves rolling along a beach or
wind slipping through the trees. There may be several
patterns going on at once, or only one. The patterns may
change slowly or rapidly. They may be complex wave-forms
beating against each other, or a simple wave in one ear only.
For the brain and mind are complex, and it appears that
they must be coaxed into certain formations by an
orchestration of complex audio patterns rather than by a
static mix of audio frequencies. It is, indeed, an art. And, by
drawing from much practice and from hints we receive, we
have approached it from an artist's, or creative engineer's,
view. Whatever works, we use, and attempt to improve.
Verbal instruction carefully synchronized with the audio
patterns in the recordings demand that the listener not wait
passively on his mattress for new experiences to overtake
him. He must use a large amount of volition and
concentration in order to cooperate with the verbal
instructions in the conducive environment generated by the
audio stimulation.
From long experience, we know that the brain and mind
do respond with great regularity to shifting FFR patterns.
Some researchers have studied the brain's response. They
have noted, in the brain-wave profile, strong and regular
shifts in the frequency, the power, and in the amount of
synchronization. For the most part, we have restricted
ourselves to the study of the mind's response. Our interest
lies here.
THE GATEWAY PROGRAM
We call it this because this series of techniques do lead to a
gateway, a gateway into different modes of perception.
From our observation, the individuals who become involved
in this Program find it both deeply disturbing and deeply
satisfying. From time to time, one response outweighs the
other.
Some participants run into what we call the "fear
barrier" particularly if they try to advance too fast. One way
or another this manifests as a fear about the potential loss of
the self as they know it. For this reason the Program
develops along carefully controlled steps, each with a strong
and positive base. This permits a self-protective mechanism
to work. Hundreds of times we have observed that when an
individual begins to stimulate himself more than his level of
adjustment will allow, he blanks out the experience. He
feels either that he went to sleep or that he "clicked out" for a
period of time. Perhaps the next time, or the fifth time he
repeats that exercise, he will remember the experience and
then edge his level of adjustment, his homeostatic network,
into a larger awareness.
But we also see that as individuals advance through these
stages, they develop a deep sense of self-worth. Much as a
child proclaims his new worth when he shouts, "Now, I am
seven!" so they feel that vital sense of growth and of
enjoyment from new levels of ability, creativity, and self-
control. Best of all, their interior sense of direction
strengthens. For most, all of this takes re-adjustment,
dedication, time, and occasionally, courage. Yet, as this
inner process begins, as they learn to cooperate with it and
encourage it, they often experience a sense of lightness,
deftness, even a great playfulness.
Focus 10 - Deep Relaxation
In order to avoid the connotations often associated with
names we use numbers to designate different levels of
.1
'onsciousness.
The first series of exercises in the Gateway Program
instructs and trains the participant in the art of deep
relaxation. Most types of interior exploration depend upon
reaching profoundly relaxed levels. Even many of those who
practiced this art for years have found that they need to
reach yet deeper levels before the Program becomes
effective. The level needed is close to the lucid dream state.
Our key phrase is "body asleep; mind awake." At this level,
the mind focuses on interior events in a different and more
concentrated perceptual focus than in our usual waking
Approved For Release 2003/09/10 @t(5fA-_k&*L6b@@IV0024004!0-8
The training attbi level I 6@fi&tPTtyV6rffg4
advantageous M 'V RIT
to thAWRA Ves n most
powerful is the FFR stimulation. We have found that most
individuals who listen to these masked audio patterns, with
no instruction and no other stimulation, can reach and
maintain a level of relaxation beyond any conscious level
they have had previously. (It is for this that the patent has
been granted.) The second is a standard progressive
relaxation technique. Counting slowly from one to ten the
participant relaxes in the environment generated by the
FFR and tells his body to relax part by part. The third
technique is suggestion. After several repetitions of this
process, the participant finds that he no longer needs the
FFR or the progressive relaxation exercise to reach Focus 10.
Is this self-hypnosis? It depends upon definition. if
hypnosis is a generic term given to all altered states of
awareness and all use of suggestion, then this is a form of
hypnosis. So would be many other areas of life, such as
watching television. We do know that the brain-wave profile
of an individual in Focus 10 differs greatly from that of an
individual in a standard "hypnotic trance." What this
difference means, we do not know.
In Focus 10, individu-aIs fi@n&_them_selv_e_s thin-king more
with images than with words. Though we all do this in the
dream state, few non-visualizers have achieved that level of
relaxation that permits them to do it in the waking state.
They find it a peculiar experience. Strong energies can flow
in Focus 10, energies similar to electrical or vibratory
sensations. We call them "non-physical energies." To
establish more control in this state, the next series of
exercises concentrate on building and using very simple
"image-inary" tools for the gathering, focusing, and
distributing of these non-physical energies. To their delight,
the participants find that these energies do affect the
physical reality.
This particular non-physical energy system appears to be
connected with the channels between the mind and body, for
it is especially useful in healing and in preparing the body
for stronger use. It also appears to be the system responsible
for much of the "psychic" attunement between individuals
some distance apart. One of the most important exercises at
this level involves "distant viewing," the discernment of the
emotional and, perhaps, the physical state of a familiar
individual not in the immediate vicinity. Anyone in Focus
10 finds this to be a relatively simple exercise.
Focus 12 - High Energy
After the participants have explored and used Focus 10 to
their satisfaction, they advance to the next stage of the
Gateway Program, Focus 12. Occasionally, an individual in
Focus 10 feels a sudden or gradual heightening or
expansion of his mind and possibly of his body. He also feels
a strong vibration or a charged feeling. He knows,
unmistakeably, that he is in a different state of energy.
Many people have this experience in "high dreams" or
accompanying out of body experiences. We call this
expanded, high-energy state, Focus 12.
The next series of FFR recordings instruct and train the
participants in the creation of a device that will, in the Focus
10 state, generate energy from this new energy system, then
transport them to Focus 12, help them acclimate to this new
world, and finally, bring them back to Focus 10. After a
gradual, carefully controlled introduction to Focus 12, the
participants learn to stay there longer and then to use it.
ClArFZ609bv07Z&1W&Mt2 WO,4&8 discovered. The first is
self-patterning. In this state, they can project changes they
wish to have in the various aspects of their future being. An
apparently larger self of each individual does appear to help
bring about those conditions needed for making these
changes.
Also in this state comes more direct contact with this
apparently larger self. It appears, usually, in the form of an
external guide or guides, or as an inner voice, an internal
movie maker, or as an inner knowing. One can ask questions
from the most mundane to the most profound; and often this
source will answer from an apparently larger perspective.
This opens the door to great creative expression. With this
resource, the participant's life increases in both
responsibility and complexity. At the same time, he feels a
corresponding increase in his ability to handle the new
situations.
After much practice in intensifying Focus 12, some
participants have found that they can control out of body
experience. They become identified with a second body,
apparently composed of non-physical energy, and leave the
physical body. After they have reduced their cultural shock
through more practice, they then find themselves able to
roam through other energy systems.
Focus 15
Much as Focus 12 appears to rise naturally out of Focus
10, the state we call Focus 15grows naturallyoutof astrong
and stable Focus 12. Yet a different energy level, Focus 15
leads into a different set of energy systems marked most of
all by the nonsignificance of time. In fact, time as we know it
no longer exists. Our explorers have reported that in one
area of Focus 15, they have some ability to manipulate time.
One To One
At the Institute we have done much investigation of one
phenomenon that can appear in Focus 12 and Focus 15.
With great care and compassion, a strong and guiding
figure will lead an explorer out of the body, place him in a
comfortable position, and watch over him while talking to
us, using the explorer's vocal cords, thought patterns and
vocabulary. The onset of this phenomenon in several
explorers, each without knowing about the others, has been
astoundingly similar. Even more fascinating is the fact that
the information these sources give, all of it being of a gentle
and instructional nature, has a high degree of correlation.
We have no way, of course, to remove all possible
contamination or leakage between each explorer and
between them and ourselves. While we do not promote this
information nor make any claims about its authenticity, we
have been most impressed with its quality.
Individual Tests
On the way to Focus 10 and Focus 12 most participants
encounter a few obstacles. A small percentage develop
physical symptoms. If these persist, we recommend they
leave the Program for a period of time and concentrate on
physical health and on a mind-body integration technique
such as Reichian therapy, Yoga asanas, or Tai-Chi.
Almost every participant, at first, has some difficulty
maintaining waking consciousness. What triggers the loss
of consciousness before they reach the lucid dream level of
We give them sever I exerci with t S t rgotb4ho:Ferk-qRN;,ggeodyBWKO]MqeogeOU48now that when the
wpproXaWrRelt S@
participants practice iAppildvediFiorL~et6aief2dOWDWID
learn to enter Focus 10 consistently.
Some who have great difficulty with physical and mental
relaxation may have minds held tense to keep unwanted
material repressed, a natural self-protective mechanism.
At first, in the Focus 10 exercises, they either sleep or
remain wide awake at what we call the Focus 1 level. Then,
as they repeat the exercises many times, they learn to relax
more deeply while maintaining consciousness. Bit by bit, in
a self-regulating process, they begin conscious assimilation
of repressed material. For some, this process is a matter of
hours; for a few, it is a matter of months. At times, they
express and release a great deal of negative emotion. If an
individual should pass our screening process who does have
a great deal of repressed material and little ego strength, we
do not permit him to continue. We are not practicing
psychotherapy. Our task is notto repair, but to build on solid
foundations.
Homeostasis impedes most participants at times.
Physicians use the term, "homeostasis," for the tendency of
the body to establish an equilibrium of functioning between
all the body systems. This equilibrium sets up an inertia,
somewhat like a spinning gyroscope, that resists any new
method of physical functioning, even if the new method is
beneficial. Elmer and Alyce Green have remarked that
the term also describes the resistance of the mind to any new
mental system. In the Gateway Program this resistance
manifests as the thought and feeling that Focus 10 and
Focus 12 may be interesting but that they are just
imagination inside the head and have little to do with "real"
reality. Interest wanes, and the mind keeps its homeostatic
network intact.
The homestatic network may be threatened by
existentially disturbing experiences. In this Program,
experiences of a larger awareness do come. Often they are
overpowering in a way not previously conceived by the
participant. They can be ovetpowering to the extent that
0AYRb#96bO&%wo6,r lipt of who he is; his
homeostatic network is t "reateen4ef-With guidance from
himself and others, the participant can assimilate the new
level of awareness. If he does not wish to assimilate it, he can
push the experience into the background and preserve his
present homeostatis.
Deep relaxation with the intent of personal growth
appears to trigger an internal process toward better
physical and mental health. Some participants find
themselves spontaneously giving up tobacco, alcohol, drugs,
even television. Others may go through an over-due divorce,
change jobs, or move to another State.
But, as the participant approaches Focus 12, his contact
with this source of direction becomes clearer, setting up a
feedback loop about his particular path. All he has to do is
pay attention to these inner directions and exercise the
volition to follow the changes.
The Gateway Affirmation
"I am more than my physical body. Because I am
more than physical matter, I can perceive that which is
greater than the physical world. I deeply desire to
Expand, and to Experience, to Know, to Understand, to
Control, to Use such greater energies and energy
systems as may be beneficial and constructive to me and
to those who follow me.
Also, I deeply desire the help and cooperation, the
assistance, the understanding of those individuals
whose wisdom, development and experience is equal to
or greater than my own. I ask their guidance and
protection from any influence or any source that might
provide me with less than my stated desires."
BOARD OF ADVISORS
James Beal
Lawrence Davis, M.D.
Robert Ellsworth, Ph.D.
David Francis
Arthur Gladman, M.D.
Alyce Green
Elmer Green, Ph.D.
Steven Henderson
For an application write to:
Monroe Institute of Applied Science
P.O. Box 57
Afton, Virginia 22920
Approved F
=4e 206%6K&PblA-RDP96-OO788 ROO 1700210040-8
Fowler Jones, Ed.D.
Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.
Mary Jane Ledyard, Ph.D.
E. Stanton Maxey, M.D.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, Ph.D.
Bill Schul, Ph.D.
Charles T. Tart, Ph.D.
Stuart Twemlow, M.D.
PRINTED IN U.S.A.