from: Dark Room Enlightenment by Mantak Chia
Pineal GlandThe pineal gland is the connection point for the Spirit or Soul. It is the physical center for, and transmitter
of, psychic phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance in time and space, and the actual influence of
thoughts on the physical surroundings9. (Fig. 16)
“When activated, the pineal gland becomes the line of communication with the higher planes. The
crown chakra reaches down until its vortex touches the pineal gland (Fig. 15).
Prana, or pure energy, is
received through this energy center in the head. With practice the vibration level of the astral body is raised,
allowing it to separate from the physical. …To activate the ‘third eye’ and perceive higher dimensions, the
pineal gland and the pituitary body must vibrate in unison, which is achieved through meditation and/or
relaxation. When a correct relationship is established between personality, operating through the pituitary
body, and the soul, operating through the pineal gland, a magnetic field is created. The negative and
positive forces interact and become strong enough to create the ‘light in the head.’ With this ‘light in the
head’ activated, astral projectors can withdraw themselves from the body, carrying the light with them.10
Fig. 15. Crown Vortex
“The pineal works primarily by converting the higher dimensional Light, that is constantly streaming into
your reality, into usable information for your pituitary. As it gradually activates, the pineal permits the body to
move its vibrational patterns into higher and higher levels. This process also allows your Light Body to
attach itself even deeper into your physical instrument (Fig. 17). Our process is to reset the focus in the
pineal. This chemical ‘lens’ largely disappears as you grow older. The decrease in its efficacy is one of the
major reasons for your body aging as quickly as it does. When the pituitary begins to receive the consciousness
energy packets from the Well of Dreams through its interaction with the pineal, it secretes enzymes
that permit the chemical ‘lens’ in the pineal to reappear. As this ‘lens’ strengthens, it allows the RNA/DNA
protein strings in your cells to activate your ‘third strand’.”
The pineal gland is located in one of the oldest anatomical regions of the brain. If you draw an imaginary
line from the center of your forehead, crossed by a line through the head at the ears, you have its
general location. The pineal is cone-shaped, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) in diameter, weighing from 50 to 150
mg. The gland is most active during childhood, and begins to regress at about age 7, becoming a calcified
tissue strand in the adult (Fig. 18).
There are numerous anatomical and physiological idiosyncrasies associated with the pineal. It is one of
the few solitary organs (most organs in the brain are paired, left and right). While small, the blood flow to the
gland is quite large. The pineal has been considered as a homologue of the reptilian ‘third eye’. Its
photosensitivity derives from neural connections with the retina (Figs. 12).
The Taoist practice of Orgasmic Upward Draw is very important to help stimulate the pineal gland.
Taoists regard the pineal as the second sexual gland(Fig. 19). In the Kan and Li practice, the steaming
process helps to clean out all of the organs and reactivate the thymus and pineal glands.
Fig. 19. Pineal as Second Sexual Center.
Fall from GraceNothing could be more natural than the state of Wu Chi, nothingness, or divine grace. And yet, the
realization of Wu Chi is clouded by obscurations and confusions. Consciousness streams into every body,
but only a few can see the light. Why is this so?
An essential function of the “upper brain”, the Upper Tan Tien, is to manifest the esoteric and divine
realizations of consciousness into our humanly bodies. Chi spirals through the Crown and the Third Eye
into the pineal and pituitary glands, sustaining existence and nourishing the spirit. Infants and children
bask in the glow and the power of the Chi Field streaming into, and interacting with, their bodies. The
psyche is vibrant and alive and the energy bodies communicate in non-physical dimensions.
As we grow older, however, the internal realities begin to fade and the external world begins to predominate
our existence. By puberty, the pineal gland has ossified into a calcified strand of tissue. Our
minds project outwardly, and the demands of existence (work, family, daily living, etc.) preoccupy our
awareness. Our emotions (fears, angers, resentments and all kinds of distractions to make ends meet)
reflect this outward movement of the psyche.
Fear is the oldest negative emotion. It is felt by all animals, and is even stronger among humans since
they have so little power to protect themselves, especially the newborn. The longer history required for
organic development makes fear the basis of the entire civilization process: to protect ourselves and
achieve our highest potential. Fear is closely connected to the kidney Chi (via the adrenal glands), and
when the kidney Chi is diminished, the brain slowly begins to pull back and disengage from the fantastic
worlds of the Divine. The upper brain becomes the observing brain, dedicated to the worldly tasks of
sending, receiving and processing sensory signals related to daily living.
Inhibiting the Divine
The transition from an internally focused awareness of the Divine, the natural state of infancy, to an
externally focused awareness of the adult World, requires significant shifts in the chemistry of the brain.
The tissues and molecules which normally manifest the consciousness of Wu Chi must be “turned off” or
inhibited. Chemically, the inhibitors are enzymes such as MAO (monoamine oxidase) which rapidly
convert seratonin into inactive by-products, thus disabling the synthesis of the spirit molecules. The
enzyme MAO breaks down seratonin before it can be converted into melatonin, 5-MeO-DMT and DMT
(Fig. 20).
Our usual perception of the world in waking consciousness is, in fact, a state of waking ignorance.
The brain must inhibit our true nature and divine connections to survive in the physical world. In everyday
life, we see everything back to front, as it were. We perceive the primary actions of the brain as providing
us with sensibility and cognitive awareness. In fact, the brain’s mechanism is to filter and shut off the flow
of divine consciousness, making possible survival on Earth, but obscuring all transcendental realities.
Dark Room meditations remove the obscurations. The inhibitory functions of the brain are lifted, and we
revel in the experience of Oneness, Wu Chi, the Original Source.
Reawakening – Spirit Molecules
Waking consciousness satisfies the demands of physical existence, but severs the connection from the
Divine. Thus, each night we must disconnect from the outer world and reconnect with our divine source,
thereby sustaining life and nourishing the soul. In adult life, the experience of Wu Chi is relegated to the
unconscious domains of deep sleep and the supernatural worlds of dream. In Taoist Inner Alchemy, we
reawaken the soul to the Immortal Tao, the Wu Chi, the Original Source, and bring back the Divine into our
conscious awareness.
Chemically, the reconnection to the Divine occurs by inhibiting the enzymatic actions of MAO and
INMT, so that seratonin can convert into melatonin and melatonin into the spirit molecules 5-MeO-DMT (5-
methoxy-dimethyltryptamine) and DMT (dimethyltryptamine) (Fig. 21). The enzymes are inhibited by substances
secreted in the pineal gland, such as harmaline and pinoline. The “spirit molecules” allow us to
reconnect to divine consciousness. They cause “color imagery, out of body experiences, lucid dreams,
visions of beings and/or animals, mystical states, subjective “other realities” and experiences of “being
somewhere else.” These states are the language of dream.
Fig. 21. Tryptamine Synthesis
In the Dark Room experience, the “spirit molecules” pinoline, 5-MeO-DMT and DMT alter the receiving
qualities of the brain. The brain “tunes in” to invisible worlds and parallel universes, like a television tuning
in to different channels. Mystical and near-death, out-of-body experiences reflect dynamic equilibria between
“channels” in which we experience the essential energy that courses through the receiver15.
When you reach the ‘DMT state’ you begin to function consciously from the various psychic centers or
chakras. The bodily processes of ‘Healing Love’ combine the human states of true compassion and sexual
arousal to create a new chemistry and a new vibration within the body. This ‘special’ vibration occurs at a
frequency of 8Hz. ‘As in the macrocosm, so it is in the microcosm’; hence if we make love, then all the cells
and DNA actually make love as well. The DNA crosses over, like two serpents intertwined in an erotic
embrace. You need the orgasmic vibration to arouse this crossover process which leads to the ‘two giving
birth to three’; the conception of new cells. The two vital states are compassion and arousal leading to
orgasm. Both are inextricably linked to love.
Immortal Body
Rick Strassman, based on several years of intensive medical research, proposes that the release of
DMT from the pineal gland at 49 days after conception marks the entrance of the spirit into the fetus. This
49-day prenatal period corresponds to the first signs of fetal pineal tissue, the differentiation of the gonads
into male and female, and the time between the death of an individual and its soul’s next rebirth according to
the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He suggests that the individual’s life-force enters the body through the
pineal gland and leaves it through the pineal gland at death (see “DMT, The Spirit Molecule”, by Strassman,
and16. The infant’s brain is flooded with 5-MeO-DMT, secreted from the pineal gland and the brain is 40%
more active and open.
Benefits of Dark Room Experience
The Dark Room meditations will influence each person uniquely, depending on their maturity and stage of spiritual development. However, most people, even beginners, will receive great benefits, which
may include:
1. Relaxation. This is one of the foundations for all other work. During the first days of the retreat, catching up on sleep, allowing the eyes to recuperate from the over-stimulation of our visual world, releasing the grip of mental concerns, plans, and a agendas and simply letting the energies settle creates the best vacation you may ever have.
2. Once relaxed and feeling at home in the dark, the Inner Lights may appear as well as possible images of space teachers, deities, colors, and shapes. Imbalances in one’s energies can manifest as dull colors.
3. Over time, as one becomes more open, balanced and awake, images clear as day may appear, not inside the mind’s eye but outside in the space of the retreat.
4. Advanced practitioners may experience some of the following: Dreams and sleep become more lucid. A state of continuous consciousness arises in which there is no break in conscious awareness; meditation can continue during sleeping and non-sleeping hours.
5. The Taoist Secret of Love and the Healing Love become very active, so that working with sexual energies and engaging in creative work become easier and more powerful.
6. Dreams will often take the form of teachings or participation in great mythological stories.
The Dark Room enables the body and mind to undergo a series of profound transformations. The ‘states of consciousness’ appear correlated with the organic synthesis and accumulation of psychedelic chemicals in the brain, especially melatonin (Days 1 to 3), pinoline (Days 3 to 5), 5-MeO-DMT (Days 6 to8), and DMT (Days 9 to 12). The pharmacology of these states is as follows.
‘Melatonin Stage’ (Day 1 to 3)
Complete isolation from external light causes the pineal gland to flood the brain with the neurotransmitter melatonin (average 2 to 5 mg/day), manifesting initially as the need for sleep and rest. The eyes
recuperate from the over-stimulation of the visual world, releasing the grip of mental concerns, plans agendas, and letting the energies settle. Melatonin is essential for maintaining the hibernation state, which facilitates the emergence of spiritual consciousness. The person retains a child-like biological condition where melatonin is conserved and recycled, not wasted in biological continuation. When this substance works together with the yellow marrow in the bone, the reddish firing reaction will activate a gentle interaction between the sacred water and the light. The sacred waters are the inner fluids that are responsible for
producing bone marrow and other bodily fluids. The waters run not only in the in the center of the bones, but also in the spinal connections between the Crown and Perineum Points.
‘Pinoline Stage’ (Day 3 to 5)
After about three days, when melatonin concentrations reaches sufficient levels (15 to 20 mg) the body then begins to produce the superconductor pinoline, whereby a greater fluidity of thought and healing of the body starts to occur. Pinoline induces cell replication (mitosis) and intercalates with DNA molecules. The ‘pinoline stage’ is normally activated only in the womb, in lucid dreaming, or in near death experiences.
Within this state we can metaprogram the brain to the Unity of Self, heightening awareness of the pathways with which we filter reality. At this stage, the nervous system becomes aware of itself. We become aware of the hologram of the external world that we create constantly in our head24.
When the pinoline is triggered you activate your clairsentient and clairaudient powers. You may see light and visions, hear music, and gain phenomenal insight. A decoding of the DNA then begins to take place. Cosmic particles are attracted to us and decoded in the form of sound, light, knowledge and realization. The particles, which have the same cell structures as humans (and from which the Tao believes you evolved), are attracted to you magnetically. The body has approximately six trillion cells, which correspond to the universe ‘without’. Each of these cells can be seen as a computer with unlimited power and potential.
Each cell can become a super conductor, able to receive information from space. You are able to decode this universal information carried from outer space, which may be as old as nothingness itself. When you enter this primordial state or force you are reunited with the true self and divinity within. You literally ‘conduct’ the universal energy. You may see into the past and future, understand the true meaning of existence, and begin to understand the order of things. You return to the womb, the cocoon of our material structure and Nature’s original Dark Room.
‘5-MeO-DMT Stage’ (Day 6 to 8)
At this stage the pineal gland starts to produce the neuro-hormone 5-MeO-DMT (aka ‘akashon’). This
psychoactive tryptamine is highly luminescent and also extremely phosphorescent due to the amount of
phosphene that it transmits onto the visual cortex. 5-MeO-DMT switches on 40% more of the cerebral
cortex and awakens the nervous system to become aware of itself; ‘beingness’ results. Hence, the possibility
of metaprogramming the nervous system’s bio-computer - activating healing and conflict message assortment
of the nervous system. 5-MeO-DMT is the empathogenic neurotransmitter that expands the emotional
body between ‘infinity and zero’. It gives rise to telepathy in the emotional and intuitive bodies. It
engages the awakening of the ‘Flower of Life’, the spine, which begins to glow in a state of beingness and
peace.
5-Meo-DMT discharges the darkness from the darkroom. A bright light is activated and one experiences
a born-again mentality. This Great White Light, the manifestation of the astral body, enables the self
to project externally. At this point, some degree of ‘N-Methyl-D-Aspartare Inhibition’ (NMDA-I) usually
occurs. This is a ‘soft form’ of the slowing of the glutamate input signals into the cells. This makes it easier
for the nervous system to cause electrons to stop flowing within the cells, allowing for profound meditative
trance states. 5-MeO-DMT intercalates with messenger RNA. One can see in 3 dimensional Holon pictures,
as the thoughts behind language.
“Techniques taught in the Dark Room enable one to read and go beyond the matrix, by unifying all
directions, and externalize the soul computer so that one can start to interact with ones own genetic code
of the Tree of Life. In this intensive process 5-MeO-DMT activates the entire spine, the Tree of Life. The
spine is activated and reprogrammed and you can start to process the illusion of the dream from its binary
code into the unified translated Self: the Unity Self. Through 14 days of total light isolation your consciousness
can be expanded to the wider range of wave emanations and transduce the core hologram of reality
that is coherently programming ones nervous system to the Unity Self25.”
Many exercises will be practiced during this period: compacting Chi, consciousness and awareness
into the nervous system, working with the Silent Self and anchoring the Immortal Body.
The 5-MeO-DMT prepares the nervous system, through its empathetic state of being and self
awareness of the nervous system, for the DMT or dimethyltryptamine production of the pineal gland, in
psychoactive milligram doses.
‘DMT Stage’ (Day 9 to 12)
When DMT levels reach more than 25 mg, one’s experience can become very visual. DMT is the visual third eye neurotransmitter. It enables the energy body and spirit to journey into hyperspace, beyond third dimensional realms of time and space. It is intensely energizing. “After some 10-12 days one starts to see in infra red, and ultra violet, one can actually run across the room and touch a person, by seeing their heat patterns. The Holon Images exteriorize and one is walking in a Virtual Reality, which appears to be the DNA language macro uploaded, and interactive.”
When you reach the ‘DMT state’ you begin to function consciously from the various psychic centers or chakras. The bodily processes of ‘Healing Love’ are then combined with those of the Dark Room. The human states of true compassion and sexual arousal create a new chemistry and a new vibration within the body. This ‘special’ vibration occurs at a frequency of 8Hz. ‘As in the macrocosm, so it is in the microcosm’; hence if we make love, then all the cells and DNA actually make love as well. The DNA crosses over, like two serpents intertwining in an erotic embrace. You need the orgasmic vibration to arouse this crossover process which leads to the ‘two giving birth to three’; the conception of new cells. The two vital states are compassion and arousal leading to orgasm. Both are inextricably linked to love. When this ‘love-vibration’ reaches the pineal gland a new hormone is produced, which in turn creates whole body conductivity. Only when you feel the waves of orgasmic vibration and unconditional love for the self and others can the process be activated and the essence of the darkroom is magnified. At this stage of the Dark Room Retreat, the required amount of sleep tends to diminish dramatically.
Although the day may last 24 hours, 3 hours of sleep can seem like 12. During this period we will engage in further practices; psychic games and interactivity, Taoist Dream Yoga (advanced levels) and Imagination Expansion.
