Carlos Casteneda emphasized the need to continually seek "personal power".  This would be called energy by most of us.  According to Casteneda ( and many others), this surplus of power is needed for psychic abilities.

     A while back I had a problem with elevated blood pressure.  Even taking medication would not lower it below 130/89.  Most physicians would not bother to treat a blood pressure in this range.  I had a problem.  This increase in blood pressure corresponded to a cessation of all conscious projections on my part.  It did not take a great leap to link the two together.  If I wanted to continue my OBE work, I would have to find a way to lower my blood pressure and/or pulse rate.

     To make matters worse, I also had a drastic decrease in energy.  A chakra opening (middle pillar) exercise I routinely perform failed to provide the energy transfer sensations that I was used to.  My "personal power" was at an all time low.
 

     Vegetarian living was something that I knew was the best lifestyle for long life and mystical pursuits.  Unfortunately, like most westerners, I always put it off.  It was something that I would do when I got "older".

     A little research on diet and health provided me with a couple of books written by Dr. Dean Ornish on his program for reversing heart disease.  Even though I do not have heart disease, he made a few interesting points that were of interest to me.

     The first point was that the patients who followed his vegetarian lifestyle usually had to decrease or delete any blood pressure medications that they were taking.  After two weeks as a vegetarian, I noticed that I was having frequent episodes of dizziness.  I am a pharmacist by profession, so I had plenty of opportunity to have my vital signs monitored.  These episodes of dizziness were caused by a dramatic decrease in blood pressure.  The end result was that I had better blood pressure control without medication as a vegetarian than I did before while on medication.

     His next claim was that a person's energy would increase.  There would not be any more sluggish feelings like those felt after finishing a heavy meal.  I found that this was an understatement!  The energy and vitality that I have felt as a vegetarian have to be experienced to be fully appreciated.  My old abilities soon returned.

     An added benefit to vegetarian living is a decreased serum cholesterol.  There was an extensive discussion at the clinic where I work on blood pressure versus diet.  The decrease in blood pressure that I experienced was too dreastic for anyone to believe, but the proof was there.  The theory we finally agreed on to explain this decrease was linked to the viscocity of the blood. 

     An analogy to this is the force required to force a fluid through a hose.  It would take much more energy to move a viscous liquid such as molasses through a hose that it would to push plain water.  Any lab technician will tell you that they almost guess the amount of fats that a person consumes by the look their blood when it is spun down.  We are going to interchange the phrases blood cholesterol and fat for this discussion.  There are some technical differences but they are not critical for this discussion.

     The blood of a person with a low serum cholesterol will separate into  heavier, dark red particulate matter and an opaque liquid that is fairly fluid.  This liquid will increase in viscocity as fat in the blood serum is increased.  In extreme cases this will be almost the consistencey of lard when spun down.  It also has a yellow tinge to it like that in chicken fat.  Extremely disgusting.  And unhealthy. 

     My theory is that the increased pressure required to push a viscous substance is more than that required to push a more fluid liquid.  The vegetarian diet decreases or eliminates the fats in the blood stream which lowers blood pressure naturally.

     The diet regimen that I follow is called "vegan". It excludes meats, including chicken and fish, dairy products, seafood, oils and anything else that contains large amounts of fats.  It is centered around pasta, beans, rice, fruit and vegetables.  This diet provides plenty of protein while limiting the amount of fat consumed to less than 8%  per day.  In contrast, the typical American diet is close to 50% fat.  Fats are not only hard to digest, but they consume an extreme amount of body's energy to process.

     An interesting note is that some of the medications used to treat blood pressure are noted for inducing vivid dreams or nightmares.  The beta blockers such as Inderal and Lopressor are infamous in this regard.  These dreams are more like remembered lucid dreams.  One of the aspects of these drugs are the lowering of the heart rate (i.e. pulse).  This is a major point made by Sylvan Muldoon that we have already discussed. 

     In the Book "Astral Dynamics" the author, Robert Bruce, advances his theory that projection actually takes place whether we remember it or not.  He states that the physical body's memories are usually remembered while those of the astral body are not usually remembered.  If this is true then maybe lowered pulse rate and blood pressure could be the key to remembered projections.

     For those of you who have reached an impasse in your spiritual quest, a vegetarian lifestyle may be the answer to progressing along the path.  Who knows?  You may even come to appreciate the health benefits also!