diving
Tomorrow morning is the last chance I'll have the opportunity to Dive the West Shinjuku basement during rush hour. Shinjuku station is my favorite place to Dive, probably because it's a simple matter of running a short gamut, shooting down the center for the ticket gates and out again. Much easier than attempting Takadanobaba all the way from Waseda. That gets pretty tiring.

Diving is an ability which I've always had, or at least been aware of the potential of, but something that I truly developed since coming to Tokyo as a matter of necessity. To understand what Diving is, you first need a few stock images.

1) If you've seen Donnie Darko, you're almost set. Remember the clear "tube-worm" things that came out of people and represented their preconscious intentions? Keep that in mind, except as a more metaphorical "sense of direction."

2) Imagine being able to visualize information flow, particularly in a networked setting (like a 3D VR grid, if you will) and being able to both see and comprehend the numbers of the matrix which you are in and the flow of binary of which you are a part.

In yogic terms, I would say that Diving is simply three-hundred-sixty expanded consciousness. Even more basic than that, it is a feeling very similar to letting one's eyes relax to view those "Magic Eye" pictures.

I only Dive when I listen to music, whether by choice or perhaps because that is the only time enough of the world is blocked out for me to accomplish the proper state. At the very least, I have little doubt that Diving is linked at least somewhat to my minor Synethesia or at least the brain processes (misfirings?) that make it possible for me to see music as shapes and colors.

My personal metaphor for Diving is "jacking in" (to a network of movement). When I "jack in," the world drops out from around me and I am centralized. It is as if I am moving suddenly very very slow while everything else whirs around me. Except that one major thing has changed: when I Dive, my consciousness is expanded such that I sense the movement patterns of the people and things around me and seem to be able to precalculate their speed and trajectory. It seems logical that this is a basic function of the brain but one that people don't normally use when focused too much on something.

In Diving, there is no focus. The most basic way I initiate a Dive is to relax my eyes (like for the Magic Eye books) and simply project my destination. In that way, I become a natural part of the flow. To Dive is to walk through a crowd unscathed, parting the seas on either side. To Dive is to float down the corridor that is always there and never seen, meant for path and purpose.

Since I've come to Tokyo, I've been utilizing Diving to walk in the city. Some days I don't Dive because I prefer to walk Open... but it takes a lot of confidence and a really good day (although I've had a lot of those recently!) for me to brave the sensory-assault of Tokyo streets without Diving as a backup.

It occurs to me that before I came here, I could already Dive, I just never did it in an outside setting. But I frequently did it while exercising as a method of visualization and automatic breath regulation. Diving with active endorphin release increases my perception of energy flow and the visual aura of my own spinning cycles. [Please for God's sake don't ask me to explain what I just said.]

Today I actually broke down the pattern visually into code. When I was halfway to the turnstile, the world faded even further from the muted colors of Diving into the gree-grey of the network itself. I think for a moment, before I swiped my Suica and passed through the gate, I actually saw the binary of life.

The reason I rarely attempt to explain my visions/visualizations is because they always end up sounding like so much New-Agey bullshit. The truth is, they do make me feel just about as good as drugs, so I keep them my little secret. But as before, I didn't know that there were other Synethesics out there and so it's quite possible that other people can Dive, too.

What about you?