Silva Method 1

Silva Method
Silva Method

Terminology
Coined by José Silva

Synonyms Silva Mind Control

Definition A self-help program designed by José Silva

Signature A program claiming to be able to raise people's IQs and to give them paranormal abilities by teaching them to think with their right
brain hemisphere

Status Self-help program

The Silva Method is the name given to a self-help program developed by José Silva,[1][2] which claims to increase
an individual's IQ and sense of personal well-being through relaxation and by developing their higher brain
functions.[1][2] Proponents believe that it can improve a person's self-image, allow them to think in a clearer manner,
and that it can assist people in overcoming conditions such as nicotine addiction.[1][2]
According to notable author Arthur C. Clarke and former stage magician James Randi, the Silva method consists of
the application of positive thinking, visualization meditation, and self hypnosis.[2] Some, including Silva himself,
believe that it can be used to develop paranormal abilities such as ESP, and that practicing it can allow you to tap
into a higher consciousness.[1][2] It has been criticized as pseudoscience.[1]
The Silva Method is one of a number of therapeutic techniques sometimes grouped under the name Human Potential
Movement.

History
Jose Silva worked as an electric repairman who developed great interest for religion, psychology, and
parapsychology. Jose Silva spent much time learning about hypnosis, attempting to increase his children's IQ. After
experimenting and being convinced of his daughter's sudden clairvoyance, Jose decide to learn more about the
development of psychic abilities. In 1944, Jose began developing his method, formerly known as Silva Mind
Control, using it on his family members and friends, before launching it commercially in the 1960s.[1][2] Silva has
done a numerous amount of research on the brain based on Robert Sperry's split-brain theory to improve his method.
However, because scientists have been modifying the subject since Sperry, modern studies have proven most of
Silva's beliefs about the brain to be incorrect. Nonetheless, even though Jose Silva's beliefs about the brain were
proven incorrect, somehow his method has still been useful to many. In that case, it is concluded that Silva probably
connected on Sperry's split-brain theory after the Silva Method had been developed. The simplified explanation to
why Silva's method produced effective results is that he is training left-brain minds to think with their right brain as
well. [3]
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Early Childhood in Laredo

Silva began developing the method, formerly known as Silva Mind Control, in the 1940s before launching it
commercially in the 1960s.[1][2]
Jose Silva was born in 1914 from poor Mexican immigrant parents either in today's New Laredo, in the Mexican
State of Tamaulipas or in Laredo, Texas, on the American side of the Rio Grande. He was orphaned in early
childhood; his parents were murdered during an attack of bandits during the turbulent years of the Mexican
revolutionary war.
Jose Silva began at age six to support his family. Although he couldn't receive a formal education, he learned to read
and write on his own - in both English and Spanish.
Instead of going to school, Silva earned money for his family by selling newspapers on the streets of Laredo, shining
shoes, and doing odd jobs.
Jose Silva quickly developed entrepreneur skills. By the time he became a teenager, he hired youngsters to work
with him, going door to door selling merchandise he had purchased in San Antonio. The youngsters were earning as
much money after school as their parents earned working full-time, and young Jose was earning as much every day
as the typical adult in Laredo earned in a week.

Electronics Technical self distant education

The claim that Mr Jose Silva was a completely uneducated person is not precise, for he received basic education
indirectly from his own younger siblings whom, with his econonomic support, attended public schools in Laredo.
Jose started to study electronics by reading technical books of correspondence courses in his free time. This distant
self-education allowed him to become the owner of one of the first radio repair companies in the border. It is likely
that he received a graduate certificate as an electronics technician as fruit of those studies.
This knowledge was proven to be a considerable factor in the build-up of the largest electronics repair company in
southern Texas, in the 1940s. There is no evidence that he has ever pursued or achieved subsequent higher education
in electronics or any other branch of science. Jose Silva's career in electronics started to focus on the maintenance of
communication equipment; after a long peroid of time it switched to the maintenance of biomedical appliances,
wherewith he developed vital research skills.
Electronics and clinical hypnosis were the fields that allowed Jose to gradually enter into autodidactic research on
the potentials of the human mind. In that area the contribution of Jose Silva in key aspects is considered as original;
for instance: the development of a scientific(?) method of mind training through meditation and visualization that
induces thought at alpha frequency brain waves.

WWII years in the Army

Jose Silva worked in a communications group of the army during the first years of WWII, as an electronics
technician. While performing maintenance of bio-medical machines (EEG - MEG) in military hospitals and working
with army psychiatrists, Silva developed interest in the functioning of the human mind. In particular, Silva was
curious about the various types of hypnosis used at the time to help the recovering of soldiers that suffered war
emotional trauma.
It is likely that during those years Jose began to discover the paranormal properties of the alpha level functioning of
the human brain, that is induced by the regular use of certain kind of Hypnotic exercises.
Silva observed the presence of specific pattern frequencies of brain waves (alpha) in trained, conscious patients who
had been directed into a hypnotic trance. The frequency of these alpha waves (8–12 Hz) were slightly above the
frequency range of Theta and Delta waves, that is a characteristic of deep sleep while dreaming. To be able to think
in such frequencies, being not deeply slept (unconscious) was unknown, something believed impossible to occur
Silva Method 3

intentionally.
Alpha waves were discovered for the first time in 1931 by German neurologist Hans Berger, most famous for his
invention of the EEG. They were among the first waves documented by Berger, along with beta waves, and he
displayed an interest in "alpha blockage", the process by which alpha waves decrease and beta waves increase upon a
subject's opening their eyes. This distinction earned the alpha wave the alternative title of "Berger's Wave".
Berger's technique and findings did not gain widespread acceptance in the psychological community until 1937,
when he gained the approval of the famous physiologist Lord Adrian, who took a particular interest in alpha waves.

Return to Laredo after the War

After the war ended, Silva had a second important discovery, observing the incredible improvement that his
Hypnotic exercises could produce into enhance learning abilities of children exposed to the special training to be
able to study their lessons being in Alpha. According with Silva, the children were able to retain with just one
reading, an extremely large amount of information on every lesson studied being in alpha level. Moreover, strange
and fascinating psychic abilities like mind reading and telepathy suddenly emerged in the children.
This was the beginning of the development of his famous Silva method of dynamic meditation. The claim of Mr
Silva was that his method, a sequence of special hypnotic exercises using visualization could enhance the
intelligence quotient of almost anybody. His method, although was patented by him, seems to be strongly influenced
by the study of the therapeutic properties of different genres of meditation (Yoga, Rosicrucian, Zen, transcendental
meditation) among other techniques of classical hypnosis, in the way they induce certain patterns of brain waves,
that Jose studied patiently and carefully privately in his laboratory research at his own family business and house in
Laredo. His total research time was along 22 years, starting during his job as biomedical equipment maintenance
technician in Military hospitals and clinics, until the release of the method commercially.
Apparently, the Silva method inspired the US army and military intelligence research on distant or remote viewing, a
technique of telepathic communication used since late 1950s, and that it is included as part of the training in the
graduate levels of his courses.It is said that the method was already tested and working well many years before its
commercialization, but apparently there was some kind of agreement between Jose Silva and the Army to maintain
for some years as strict classified paranormal intelligence research top secret program.
It developed out of Silva's belief that the thoughts and actions of 90% of the world's population were governed by the
left hemisphere of their brain; limiting them to using only logical, intellectual, objective means of problem
resolution. Silva believed that by training people to think with both the right brain hemisphere as well as their left
they could access information stored at a subconscious level.[1][2] According to skeptical author Robert Carroll, the
Silva method appears to be based on the work of Roger Wolcott Sperry, but with Silva's own twists in it that is
claimed to make it an inaccurate model.[1]

Commercial Method
Silva method was first time offered to the public in the second half of the 1960s. Initially was only known by the
people of Laredo and its surroundings. In 1966 word of his activities soon spread beyond Laredo where he was
teaching his method to more than 100 people every week. Soon after, he was asked to teach groups who were willing
to pay him for his knowledge.
Thus at the age of 52 Silva began the work that would make him famous throughout the world. In fact, he has been
called the most famous Laredo resident of all time. After a couple of years of teaching the method throughout Texas,
Silva began to train other instructors to do the same throughout the world.
In 1975 Jose Silva began his world famous career as lecturer to export his method internationally traveling to
Mexico city. He taught his first instructors in that country in seminars at the prestigious Association of Jesuit Alumni
in the traditional neighborhood of St Maria La Rivera, home of many important figures of the intellectual life of the
Silva Method 4

Mexican Capital. One of his first Mexican graduates was the physician Dr Ignacio Becerra, President of the Center.
In 1980, Silva met Burt Goldman, and in 1989, they co-wrote the book The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental
Dynamics.[4]

Acknowledgement from the Academic, Editorial and Scientific Circles

Medical doctors such as cancer specialist, Dr. O. Carl Simonton, who studied with Jose Silva, taught patients how to
use visualization and imagination in treating cancer. Professional artists, sculptors, athletes, business executives,
scientists and people from all walks of life have benefited from the program. The greatest contribution of the Silva
Method, in words of its own founder, is in teaching people how to actually develop and use their intuition to get
information and correct problems.
Jose Silva published numerous books about his method and they have been translated into more than two dozen
foreign languages. Some of his books are The Silva Mind Control Method, published by Simon and Schuster in
1977, Sales Power, the Silva Mind Method for Sales Professionals, published by Putnam in 1992, The Silva Mind
Control for Business Managers, published by Prentice Hall, The Silva Mind Control Method for Getting Help From
Your Other Side, published by Pocket Books, You the Healer, published by Kramer, and The Silva Method: Think
and Grow Fit by Career Press. He also came to hold several patents; including one which was the first patent ever
issued which states that, “Human concentration turns on an educational device.”
Dr. Robert B. Stone a world-renowned author, teacher, and counselor, published the Silva method Nightingale
Conant self-study course in the late 1990s, giving credit to Jose Silva's years of research in the functioning of the
human mind.
Dr. Stone was author or co-author of 87 published books, some with sales of over a million copies, as well as scores
of magazine articles. His non-fiction books, ranging from New Age to diet books, were published in 19 languages.
Such titles such as Martinis and Whipped Cream, You the Healer, Celestial 911, The Silva Method, Anatomy of a
Teacher Strike, Jesus Has a Man in Waikiki, Hypno-Cybernetics, Parade of Homes, and Life Without Limits
demonstrated his creativity and powerful communication skills on a wide diversity of subjects.
Dr. Stone was an internationally known lecturer on human potential. He taught for many years at the University of
Hawaii on activating the powers of the mind. A MENSA member and graduate of MIT, Dr. Stone was elected to the
New York Academy of Science. A Silva Method lecturer for 20 years and Ambassador-at-Large, he introduced the
Silva Method to five nations and was honored with many Silva awards. He counseled hundreds of individuals around
the world in self-healing, human relations, and problem-solving. He served as a volunteer advisor with SCORE of
the U.S. Small Business Administration, President of the Honolulu Lodge of the Theosophical Society, and member
of the Good Samaritan Advisory Board. He started a public relations practice on Long Island, New York, serving
Boards of Education, businesses, and non-profit organizations, and was Editor of the Huntington Times.
Dr Robert Stone was born on Feb. 26, 1916 in New York and died on January 8, 1999 in Thailand.

Silva Method Publication Statistics

According with statistics published in the official website of the Silva method organization, The Program first taught
to the public in 1966. At present, the method is being taught in over 30 languages in 111 countries, At last count,
over 13 million people have graduated and benefited from the Program.
Jose served as Chairman of the Board of The Silva Method until his death in 1999. His legacy remains spread in the
teaching activities of five different corporations that he founded and that are now managed by his sons and relatives.
Currently, there are more than 1,000 licensed Silva Method Lecturers throughout the U.S. and in more than 100
foreign countries. The Silva Method is offered in 29 different languages in the following countries. Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria,
Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Czech Republic Cyprus, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Dubai,
Silva Method 5

Eritrea, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras,
Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Mayotte,
L’Reunion, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua N. Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of Lesotho, Republic of Mauritius, Russia, Santa Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland,
Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, & Tobago,
Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Al Ain, Falaj-Al-Moalia, Fujairah, Ras-Al-Kahaimah,
Sharjah, Umm-Al-Quwain), United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia Zimbabwe.

Self Study versions of the Silva Method

In 1989 and 2006 Hans DeJong, one of the most awarded and famous lecturers of the Silva method organization,
published through Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC in conjunction with macmilian
audio, a release of 3 hours 57 minutes audiobook of relaxation exercises that are part of the basic training of the
method.
In 2002, Ed Bernd Jr., coauthor of some of the most famous books of the Silva method, published through
Nightingale Conant, a 8 Compact Discs/CD-ROM Workbook of the Silva ultramind effective sensory projection.
These material claim to be a training for developing of remote viewing skills that supposedly correspond, at least in
part, to a research project in which the US government spent $30 million training people to spy or influence others
from a distance, detect hidden information, to locate objects and information, using methods that claim to be part of
the science of psychometry.
In 2006, also through Nightingale Conant, it was published another set of 8 compact Discs of the Silva Ultramind's
Remote Viewing and Remote Influencing [Audio CD] by Dennis Higgins and John La Tourrette Ph.D .
Dennis Higgins took the Silva training in 1971, then was trained as a salesman shortly after. He used his Silva
techniques to help him actually do the things he was supposed to do as a salesman, and as a result he became one of
the top sales people in the company. In 1983, out of gratitude, he authored a Sales Manual for Silva lecturers to use
and helped develop The Silva Sales Lecture Series and the Silva Sales Power Program. He is a gifted Silva presenter
to the public and had worked closely with Jose Silva to develop his craft.
John La Tourrette, Ph.D., has been a Silva instructor since 1985, and in March 1998, he was in the very first
instructor training session for the new Silva UltraMind ESP System. He has written 18 books and produced 247
videos about martial arts and sports psychology. He is recognized as the nation’s leading expert in the field of mind
training for martial arts. John has a doctorate in sports psychology and founded his own publishing company in
1978. He is a widely sought after lecturer and instructor and presents his programs throughout the world.

Technique
The technique aims to reach and sustain a state of mental functioning, called alpha state, where brainwave frequency
is seven to fourteen Hz.[]:p19-20 Daydreaming and the transition to sleeping are alpha states.[]:p19-20
José Silva, founder of the Silva Method, claimed to have developed a program that trained people to enter certain
brain states of enhanced awareness. He also claimed to have developed several systematic mental processes to use
while in these states allowing a person to mentally project with a specific intent. According to Silva, once the mind is
projected, a person can allegedly view distant objects or locations and connect with higher intelligence for guidance.
The information received by the projected mind is then said to be perceived as thoughts, images, feelings, smells,
taste and sound by the mind. The information obtained in this manner can be acted upon to solve problems.[]
Silva Method 6

Controversy
In her book "The Beautiful Side of Evil", Johanna Michaelsen describes her negative experience with the
technique.[5]

References
[1] Carroll, Robert Todd (2003) "The Skeptic's Dictionary", Wiley, ISBN 0-471-27242-6
[2] Randi, James (1995)"An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural", St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN
0-312-15119-5
[3] www.skepdic.com/silva.html

External links
• Official Web site (http://www.SilvaMethod.com) - Official Silva Method site
• The Skeptic's Dictionary (http://www.skepdic.com/silva.html) - Silva Method
Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and Contributors

Silva Method  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=569421172  Contributors: Albertkang7000, Alexbrn, Alfons van Vorden, Ammodramus, Amplifying Life, Anomie, Arbustoo,
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Rrburke, SWAdair, Sam Spade, Sapphic, Sidelight12, Sietse Snel, Silva Mind Control, Smee, Sparkit, Sylvain1972, Tpicco, Tranzid, Tronno, Ward3001, Will Beback, 107 anonymous edits

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