Swami Rama directed his life towards the unification of science and spirituality. His Master suggested that he could help bring Eastern and Western science closer together by working with psychologists and medical doctors who were studying mental and physical phenomena. He came toAmerica upon the instruction of his Master. Dr. Elmer Green of the Menninger Foundation of Topeka, Kansas, invited Swamiji to be a consultant in a research project investigating the voluntary control of involuntary states. Swamiji intended to present his case to science.
“I am doing this not to show that I am a magician or a superhuman being, but to show that by controlling the mind one can control one’s bodily functions, including the so-called involuntary muscles such as the heart and lungs. This is done through control of the autonomic nervous system, which is involved in the development of most psychosomatic diseases.”
He began the synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions with his research work at the Menninger Foundation. He participated in experiments that helped to revolutionize scientific thinking about the relationship between body and mind. He amazed scientists by his demonstration, under laboratory conditions, of precise conscious control of autonomic physical responses and mental functioning, previously thought to be impossible. Under these scientific conditions, Swami Rama demonstrated his ability t o stop his heart from pumping blood for 17 seconds, to produce a ten degree difference in temperature between different parts of the palm of his hand, and to voluntarily produce and maintain specific brain wave patterns on demand. He first generated brain wave patterns that were predominately characterized by beta waves; then he produced alpha waves, which are generally associated with a relaxed state. Finally, he was able to demonstrate the production of theta waves. Theta waves are associated with unconscious states, in contrast to alpha and beta waves, which are associated with conscious states. While producing theta waves, Swami Rama appeared to be in a state of deep sleep. However, he was able to recall everything that had transpired in the room during that period.
Reports of this work have been documented in the World Book Science Annual 1974, the 1973 Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook of Science, the Time-Life 1973 Nature Science Annual, and numerous other publications. Journals and newspapers across the United States reported on the experiments. Articles appeared in Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (1970), New York Times Magazine (September 1971), Times Weekly (July 1972), Playboy (December 1972), Psychology Today (August 1974), and other popular journals such as Esquire (December 1972), Time (April 1973), Saturday Review (February 1975), and Prevention (June 1978). Swami Rama had been a frequent figure on national television shows in theUnited States, having appeared on such widely viewed programs as “Good Morning America” and the “Phil Donahue Show.”
He was the first yogi to subject himself to modern scientific methods of testing his states of consciousness while at the highest level of meditation. When questioned about these feats by an interviewer from The World Book Science Annual, 1974 Science Year, he explained that he could control his heart and blood vessels, and consciously produce various kinds of brain waves at will, because,
“All of the body is in the mind,
but not all of the mind is in the body.”
Through his work with the Menninger Foundation he helped to pioneer the use of biofeedback as a therapeutic modality, to lay the foundation for stress management and holistic health programs, and to generate interest in the human capacity to experience previously unrecognized levels of consciousness.