I can't speak for Rob's reasons but most meditations these days are layered with Binaural Beats which are only effective with headphones.

That's not the case, however, with the Abraham-Hicks meditation CD, as far as I am aware. There is a background musical track to focus upon but there are no embedded binaural beats that have ever been mentioned.

I have used the Abraham-Hicks meditations with loudspeakers, instead of headphones, and they seem just as effective to me.

Hi Kakaboo, Another reason for headphones is to remove other distractions and noises so that you can give your all and pay attention without disruption to the CD you are listening to.

The meditation CDs I have use something called Hemi-sync technology. The Mind-Tek CDs from Dane Spotts. These CDs use different sounds in each ear to induce the deepest meditations you can get. The right brain and left brain respond differently to different sound effects and hence when each has its own sounds that are totally isolated from each side of the brain this produces the best results for the desired meditation.

Now we all know you can not do this while driving so then if you are listening to them you need to not use the headphones because you need to be aware of what you are doing a little more. But even still I would recommend the thought programing CDs over the deep meditation CDs while driving because the effectiveness of the meditation would be deeply hindered while distracted driving. Not to mention the possibility of accidentally driving into a tree because you zoned in on that meditation a little too deeply while driving.

I do not know of the Abraham/Hicks meditation CDs or the Treb Bor Yit NE meditation CDs but I am guessing these could be similar with the right and left brain separate noises for each ear.

The dominant brain frequency of normal waking consciousness is about 23 cycles per second. In meditation this brain frequency slows to about 14 cycles per second. Deeper levels with slower brain frequencies produce different states of consciousness.

These levels are the result of practice in the art of meditation, as the meditator deepens his state, his brain begins to produce lower frequencies. He slows his mind and his body follows, but as we know, this takes time and disciplined practice.

Entrainment seeks to help you change your brain frequency by harmonizing with a sound that the brain could perceive as being the Brain frequency a trained meditator exhibits. This makes it easier and quicker to achieve deeper levels as you align with that slower frequency. Here, instead of the practiced mind leading the body to slower frequencies, the entrainment leads the body to slower frequencies with the mind happily following along. Much faster and easier.

But the problem is that the human ear does not hear sounds very well at those low frequencies. But if you have headphones with discrete left and right channels, you can pump in one frequency at 210 cycles per second to the right ear, while the left ear is hearing at 200 cycles per second. The mind aligns at 10 cycles per second, or whatever frequency you desire.

This is why you hear the term Binaural associated with entrainment.

I do not hear any "entrainment beats" whether through earphones or speakers. I sense the difference in my mind. But I do know that the earphones are important to have two different frequencies playing crisply into my ears in order to have the desired frequency decoded by the brain. A matter of auditory focus.

Entrainment sessions can be very focused and purposeful. I have sessions that take me to a certain level where I am most susceptible and have personally recorded affirmations that play for a certain time while I am at that state. Then I can have the frequency change to a different level of consciousness and have a different experience like hearing a mantra for a while.

I can make a one hour session beginning with a ten minute guided relaxation, gradually slowing from normal waking consciousness to a level common to trance mediums where I can input affirmations. I can stay there for 20 minutes and segue to a more creative level and hear one or various mantras for another period of time. Then I can have the frequency slowly change to bring me back to normal waking consciousnesses. Each part of the session can also have different music or sounds depending on what I want to achieve.

There can be many tracks in an entrainment session. Music, affirmations, woodland noises -- sounds that can change as the sessions progress. Whatever you desire. The software is simple.

I don't know if the Vortex Meditations have entrainment or not. I have added them to mine.

A friend is putting together a meditation where he has attached electrodes to Zen monks, mediums, people who reach deep states of consciousness. He is tracking their brain frequencies as they meditate, as they slow down from a normal waking consciousness to extremely deep levels. This can be imprinted on a CD. You could literally follow in the mental footsteps of a master.

Is this a great world, or what?!?!