John C Lilly - The Center of the Cyclone (1971)

John C Lilly - The Center of the Cyclone (1971)


Lilly: "The center of the cyclone is that rising quiet central low-pressure place in which one ca learn to live eternally. Just outside of this Center is the rotating storm of one's own ego, competing with other egos in a furious high-velocity circular dance. As one leaves center, the roar of the rotating wind deafen one more and more as one joins this dance. One's centered thinking-feeling-being, one's own Satoris, are in the center only, not out­ side. One's pushed-pulled driven states, one's anti-Satori modes of functioning, one's self-created hells, are outside the center. In the center of the cyclone one is off the wheel of Karma, of life, rising to join the Creators of the Universe, the Creators of us."

"Here we find that we have created Them who are Us."


Lilly was a physician and psychoanalyst. He made contributions in the fields of biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer science, and neuroanatomy. He invented and promoted the use of an isolation tank as a means of sensory deprivation. He also attempted interspecies communication between humans and dolphins. His work helped the creation of the United States Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Lilly's eclectic career began as a conventional scientist doing research for universities and government. Gradually, however, he began researching unconventional topics. He published several books and had two Hollywood movies based partly on his work. He also developed theories for flotation. Lilly published 19 books, including The Center of the Cyclone, which describes his own LSD experiences, Man and Dolphin, and The Mind of the Dolphin which describe his work with dolphins. In the 1980s Lilly directed a project which attempted to teach dolphins a computer-synthesized language. Lilly designed a future "communications laboratory" that would be a floating living room where humans and dolphins could chat as equals and where they would develop a common language. Lilly envisioned a time when all killing of whales and dolphins would cease, "not from a law being passed, but from each human understanding innately that these are ancient, sentient earth residents, with tremendous intelligence and enormous life force. Not someone to kill, but someone to learn from." In the 1990s Lilly moved to the island of Maui in Hawaii, where he lived most of the remainder of his life. Lilly literary rights and scientific discoveries were owned by Human Software, Inc., while his philanthropic endeavors were owned by the Human Dolphin Foundation. The John C. Lilly Research Institute, Inc. continues to research topics of interest to Lilly.


audio-books: The Center of the Cyclone - 7.6 hours


text-books: books included


specs: MPEG audio file, 52 kbps (VBR), 22.050 kHz, Mono, ID3 Tag v2.2, duration 7.6 hrs, Mac computer voice


comment: This is one of the most important books ever. Lilly may well be the smartest person you'll ever meet. Lilly is the guy shown in the great movies Altered States (1980) and The Day of the Dolphin (1973). Watch both of them.