My report has so far only contained experiments with a positive
outcome. There were also people who experimented on themselves in
the wrong manner and who then reported false results.
Many years ago I managed to win over for my experiments a very energetic
teacher in the former province Posen, who had an impulsive aggressive
nature. Bursting with energy, he went to bed just before 7 p.m.
and tried to force himself to go to sleep. He also did this on the
second and third day. On the fourth he wrote to me that my idea
was quite stupid and the experiment had failed completely. He did
not know that nature will not be ordered about and made to jump
through hoops and that tiredness in the evening had to be carefully
and calmly planned for in advance.
A second also very energetic gentleman undertook an experiment lasting
five weeks and then wrote to a magazine stating that in his case
the sleep from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. was the most favourable. He also
wrote that in the case of my other experiments, suggestion of some
kind must have come into play and the lack of sleep would wreak
its revenge on the subjects of the experiments. He himself slept
in a noisy room facing the street which had a negative effect on
his falling asleep punctually and also on the soundness of his sleep
- he should have slept in a silent room! If he had always gone to
bed at 7 p.m. (solar time!) and slept deeply till his awakening
time of 2:30 a.m., then he could have - perhaps with the help of
an alarm clock - attempted the earlier waking times for a longer
period.
Negative judgements based on misguided attempts and carried out
with prejudice are not of great significance. From this interrupted
experiment, one can see the circumstances on which reliable results
of the experiment are dependent.
There have been repeated cases in which those making the experiments
have set an alarm clock and have arisen immediately without having
had their sleep out. It is obvious that experiments such as this
must fail, by the second day at the latest. One cannot be denied
sufficient sleep for long. This is why the positive experiments
over a lengthy period described above are so conclusive. It is the
failure of the failed experiments that actually provides the proof
for the successful ones. It is not the length of the sleep that
is of significance but its affinity with natural rules and how sound
it is.
The experiments require a precise, well-planned and individual method.
If this was not forthcoming, they failed; however, if the above
procedure was followed, the results were invariably positive. Energy
is one of the most valuable qualities. Our experiments have the
ability to turn off one's own energy and to allow the energy of
nature to hold sway in its place. It is also necessary to immediately
reorder one's way of life as closely as possible to nature's laws,
otherwise success will fail to materialize. The law of nature is
complete, something whole. Who would hold to it must hold to it
in all essential aspects, otherwise the complete effect cannot manifest
itself.