Journeys into the bright world

Despite this disruption of biological rhythms I felt remarkably well. The reason for the maintanance of a high level of efficiency was that between the first and fifth of March I experienced several inner plane healing and body-repair treatments. The last was like an actual operation with semi-visible surgeons working with light energies upon my spine. It was a most peculiar rendition of an actual surgical procedure which seemed to seal some sort of etheric rent in the lower back and quiet my overstimulated nerves. However, my bad leg did not improve and there was still an unaccustomed vibratory tingling at the base of my spine.

On March fifth I underwent a triple twenty-five milligram session which ended with a "Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind"-type of confrontation during which my mind seemed to have reached the interface between planet Earth and the extraterrestrial web of informing intelligences that we have come to think of simply as "the Network." As it appeared to me, encounters of the first kind are with oneself, those of the second are with other individuals and those of the third kind are with the space brothers. It was made clear that our work had barely begun, but that my own physiological ability to stand up under the requisite pressures was in question. Accordingly, the impression was conveyed that I should desist from further ketamine usage until we had solved some pressing personal problems and wrapped up a multitude of loose ends, including this book.

The thought of foregoing our samadhi medicine for a couple of months was not as depressing as I would have expected since it was becoming increasingly evident that the body needed a respite. It was also good to know that there was some inherent quality in the substance that could signal the danger of an overload. Evidently the atoms of my inner being had been quickened to the point where the transformation could be sustained without repeated stimulation. Consequently I set aside my vials and syringes and prepared for my next trip to California.

For some time, I had been hearing via the grapevine that the person who had conducted the most research into the psychological effects of ketamine was the renowned scientist John Lilly, M.D. In mid-March I was fortunate enough to enjoy a brief visit with John and Antoinette Lilly at their charming Decker Canyon home high in the Malibu hills. This time Howard had been obliged to remain toiling away at his job at the Seattle Public Health Services Hospital while I attended to business in Ojai. Then we were to meet for an anesthesia conference in San Francisco. However, I was accompanied by my longtime friend Lynn Powell, a psychologist who is also a practitioner of ketamine therapy.

Although the Lillys' estate is only an hour's drive from the heart of teeming Los Angeles its appearance is that of an oasis in the sky set off by ranges of primeval mountains. It couldn't have felt more remote. At the same time it was a casual, comfortable sort of country place where modern conveniences blended compatibly with the accumulated memorabilia of years of full and gracious living. One could not help but think that whoever lived in this garden spot must have the best of all possible worlds.

Probably most of our readers know John Lilly as the author of many distinguished books including The Center of the Cyclone, Programming and Metaprogramming the Human Biocumputer, Simulations of God and several volumes on dolphin-human communications. He is the founder and director of the Communications Research Institute and in 1954 invented the Isolation Tank method for research into the "Deep Self."

Toni Lilly, a handsome vital woman my own age is a therapist and writer with extensive experience in teaching and filmmaking. Meeting her we could understand why John had written:

She has a maturity of viewpoint, a finish and elan, a joie de vivre, a steadfastness and a groundedness that I have seen in no other woman. She is very capable in human relationships. Male or female, businessmen, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, mystics, children-all enjoy her warmth and enthusiasm. During the year of experiments with the Samadhi domain, when I pushed most others beyond their limits, Toni stood by and kept our planetside trip together.