It took awhile, but I finally found the study I had been looking for a couple of days ago, about the oculocardiac reflex and measured decreases in heart rate: Physiology of Oculocardiac reflex.
It’s not much of a study, with no attempt at randomization, placebo-control, or blinding. And maybe only one subject? But if you’ve read the Autobiography, you’ll recognize a lotta references to it in the text. Hell, they even got permission from SRF to quote from Yogananda’s God Talks with Arjuna—no mean feat, that.
Plus, a reference to Sadhu Haridas. And yet—
Though the people of the Punjab seemed to accept the fakir’s miracle without question, the Scottish physician was dubious. If the man had been where he could be observed rather than shut in an inaccessible place, McGregor might have shared their wonder. As it was, he believed the fakir had access to food and drink, though as to how this was managed he would not “hazard a guess”….
Haridas’ life above ground was not one of holy self-denial. So many complaints about his roisterous behavior reached Ranjit Singh that the Maharajah planned to issue orders that the fakir leave Lahore and never return. Haridas beat him to the punch. He took off to the mountains with an attractive woman and lived in the Himalayas until he died and his body was burned….
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way ya do it….
Too bad this paper quotes very extensively from Yogananda’s words. The Doctor who carried out the test must have been an SRF devotee. And it appears that only one person was tested, which is pretty poor investigation. Still, if there is truth that the oculocardiac reflex does indeed slow down the heart, even a little, this could give credence to the theory that kriya yoga as a whole can significantly reduce the heart rate. Not sure i want to practice it though – don’t know the contraindications. Aspiring yogis can get their armrest out though!
I’ve seen a paper somewhere online before that does mention how Haridas went into trance but i don’t recall if he used the same methods as Hamid Bey. It would make slightly more sense if he did considering that he seems to have been something of a troublemaker and not your average haloed guru.
I think i need to apologise for making your work on the book suddenly a lot more. But i think this kind of information is sorely needed as the internet seems to be a ghost town where this is concerned. It could help a lot of people understand their meditative experiences in a different light and perhaps help people break free from cults. It would be interesting to find out how many people who get involved with gurus who teach all these similar techniques actually read the Autobiography. Sant Mat, Radha Soami, Elan Vital, Eckankar and so on. These people seem to be familiar with Yogananda.
LOL! Yeah, it’s work I hadn’t explicitly known I’d have to do, but that’s still a very good thing. Because I again hadn’t even been aware that this whole area of research existed, much less that so much work had been done on it (by Peters in that ReVision article, and independently by yourself).
And I’ll be packing all those hard-to-find references into a single intensively-researched website and book, just like I did with STG. A “ghost town” no more….
Yep Geoff, hopefully we can add some discrimination into the ghost town, and perhaps kick around some stale tumbleweed. The internet is like a blister on your feet from wearing really cheap plimsoles – once worn always worn, and if someone else comes along and disagrees they are satan’s love child.
Well, you get the idea… LOL