From Sleep Consciousness to Pure Consciousness
Lucidity-Witnessing Relationship:
I shall now consider on a physiological level of analysis this relationship. Meirsman (1989) studied six advanced TM meditators (TM-Sidhi techniques) who reported witnessing sleep on the average of half the night. He argued that the practice of the TM-Sidhi's results in the "maintenance of ... alertness even during the inertia of deep night sleep" and that further " 'witnessing' of one's own sleep during the night seems to be the subjective experience of a physiologically more efficient (REM) sleep." Meirsman examined the incidence of an eye movement ratio (high frequency REM's/low frequency REM's [HF/LF]) from uninterrupted REM sleep, that is no prearranged eye movement signals were required. This ratio had been shown to be, "associated with cerebral maturation (age, intelligence, learning ability) and endocrinological maturation (age, second half of ovulatory cycle, second half of pregnancy)." Meirsman points out that this measure can be "defined as the capacity of the brain to structure 'order' from the 'noisy stream' of information." This researcher found that the REM sleep of the meditators who were conscious during it was more order-creating (higher HF/LF ratios) then that of the "unconscious" nonmeditators. He describes this as "a reflection of the higher intensity of the assimilation of information in the brain during REM sleep." This finding was further supported by the shorter REM sleep time among the meditators in his study when compared to his controls.
Unfortunately meditation practice in this study is confounded with reports of witnessing. According to the teachings of this meditation practice, a result of the practice will be sleep consciousness. Although spontaneous occurrences at this frequency (half the night) may occur, they are so rare as to be virtually nonexistent. Whereas Gackenbach, Cranson and Alexander (1987; 1989) have repeatedly shown that such high rates are not as infrequent in groups of TM meditators. Thus it may be nearly impossible to separate sleep consciousness at this rate from the practice of meditation. I will now fold the Meirsman study back onto the physiological analysis of lucid dreaming reviewed earlier. The most reliable physiological finding in the lucid dreaming literature is the association of high REM density to the lucid state in REM. Likewise, Meirsman reported that the total REM density, regardless of frequency, was also significantly higher for the TM-Sidhi group when compared to controls. LaBerge (personal communication, March, 1989) compared the REM density of twelve lucid dreamers to that of Meirsman's six meditators. Although the means were the same the variability among the lucid dreamers was quite high whereas it was virtually nonexistent among the meditators. In other words, although both lucidity and witnessing (as a product of meditation) evidence the same increase in REM density the meditators were more stable, on a physiological level of analysis, in their experience.
Further in terms of the work of the Ogilvie and Hunt group who reported alpha in prelucid and early lucid episodes, so too Meirsman reports a large amplitude and lower frequency of alpha activity as associated with a higher HF/LF ratio and thus witnessing sleep. And more recently in pilot data on a long term TM meditator who reported witnessing sleep Travis (Fred Travis, personal communication, July, 1989) notes that high amplitude 7 to 9 hertz bursts (alpha/theta) were observed as "riding on" 1 to 2 hertz delta. This superimposition did not vary as a function of stage of sleep. In fact Travis commented that the EEG sleep record of this meditator looked like one of a meditator while transcending during waking meditation and experiencing breath suspension. LaBerge (1985) failed to find this alpha presence as did Ogilvie et al. in their 1988 study. However, in both cases the failure was associated with the disruption of REM sleep by the eye movement signal. There is some indication that when no signal was demanded or before a signal occurred alpha/theta is associated with consciousness in sleep of both the lucid and witnessing varieties.
I cannot say if the Meirsman subjects also evidenced more somatic arousal, such as respiration and heart rate, as has been shown with LaBerge's lucid dreaming subjects. The single witnessing and signaling subject of Gackenbach et al. provides mixed data. On the one hand he was somatically less aroused but on the other hand his eye movement density was significantly less than two lucid dreamers who did not signal in the lab. Furthermore, when his heart rate, respiration and eye movement density were compared for pre and post eye movement signal differences, we found no significant pre-post signal differences for any of the dependent variables from stages 2 or REM. However, for stage 1 eye movement and respiration showed significant pre-post signal differences. Eye movement density went up after the signal while respiration went down which would be indicates of the classic restful alertness claimed to occur as a result of the practice of TM.
Work on physiological associations of these states of consciousness in sleep is just beginning but early data show some physiological similarities and thus delineating the association of lucidity to witnessing consciousness in sleep becomes important. Some understanding of this relationship can be found on psychological and phenomenological levels of analysis.
Go to: Psychological Analysis of Lucidity-Witnessing Relationship (Next Section)