Part 1
As already noted, Alyce and Dale Walters and I began research in self-regulation of autonomic processes in the mid-1960s. Through a publication of the Menninger Foundation, which is sent to psychiatric alumni, our voluntary controls program came to the attention of Dr. Daniel Ferguson, at that time, chief of the medical hygiene clinic of the Veterans Administration Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the fall of 1969 Dr. Ferguson telephoned me and said that he had become acquainted with a yogi named Swami Rama, who had demonstrated in the hospital an ability to obliterate his pulse. Dan suggested that with our psycho-physiology equipment it might be possible to obtain a record of what the Swami was actually doing. Would we like to conduct such a project? If we were interested, he would take the responsibility of bringing Swami Rama to the laboratory for a couple of days. Our lab schedule was fully booked at the time, and Swami Rama tended to travel only “when the spirit listeth,” but arrangements were finally made and over the Easter weekend, March 28-30, 1970, a number of experiments were performed.
During the first day we familiarized the Swami with the routine of being wired up and had a chance to become acquainted with him. He was forty-five years of age, tall and well built. He reminded me of an Italian Renaissance nobleman. At six feet one inch and one hundred and seventy pounds, and with a lot of energy for debate and persuasion, he was a formidable figure. Uncertain about what he intended to demonstrate and not wanting to upset him with demands, we asked him to tell us what he would like to do.
On the second day, Sunday, we attached a minimum number of transducers to the Swami’s body in order to minimize the laboratory-induced “electric chair” effect. The Swami said he would cause the left side of his right hand (hypothenar eminence) to increase in temperature several degrees above the right side (thenar eminence). Thermistors were attached to the palm of the right hand, and an electrocardiographic signal was obtained from between the right ear and the left wrist. Alyce and I remained with the Swami in the experimental room (located about fifteen feet from the polygraphy room) and noted that during this demonstration he did not move his hands. They were placed palms up on a board in front of him.
The Swami increased the temperature difference between the left and right sides of his hand in two stages. The first began shortly after the arbitrary zero time and the second started when he said, “Be attentive, I will do something.” The thermistor on the little finger side of the hand (labeled “W” for warm) started at a temperature of 90 degrees F. and after a few minutes had drifted up to 91 degrees F. The temperature of the thermistor on the thumb side of the hand (labeled “C” for cool) started at about 88 degrees F. and after a few minutes had drifted up to 89 degrees F.
The Swami and I had been talking about blood-flow control just before the zero time of the graph. I said that it was about time for us to start this experiment, and he answered abruptly. “I have already begun.” Associated with our polygraph record was a voice-actuated relay which made a mark on the edge of the record so that we could identify places where talking occurred. When we later looked at the record, we noticed that where he said he had already begun, deviations had started in the record. In the first minute the temperature dropped in both thermistors. Then the W thermistor reversed and went up to its original reading and the C thermistor continued to drop. After three minutes they were about 7 degrees F. apart.
to be continued . . .