PsiloPutty

Hard to quantify something like inner peace, but I have a good deal more of it now than I've had in many recent years. How about you?

@phoenix666 That's beautiful, man. They've been changing lives for many thousands of years. I wouldn't be on this website and pursuing this path whatsoever without the initial spark that psychedelics provided. I can't think of any abiding physical improvements right now, though. They changed me in emotional and other psychological ways.

Yeah man, that's neat, and I've had mushroom experiences like that, where I'm SURE that something is being shown to me; like a secret being momentarily disclosed and then covered up again when I come down. Sounds like a great trip.

Ha, yep that's how it's done! It's a habit, like anything else. The more you do it, the stronger the habit becomes in your mind, and you'll start finding gratitude in places you didn't before.

If you're older than say 17, I'd forget whatever your family (or anyone else) says that doesn't sound right to you. Censoring your reading material seems egregiously domineering to me. Do you come from a super religious family?

I've thought about doing OMAD a few times in my life, but I always worry about how much weight I'd lose, as I'm on the light side already.

For me, it's the seductive mystery of it.

@Michael569 That's how I try to look at it whenever someone does something that would otherwise tick me off. I've said mean things to people before, I've accidentally pulled right out in front of people in traffic, I've stolen from people in my life, I've used people to get what I want before. Any human action that hurts another person is something that I either have done or am capable of doing. I try to keep that sort of compassion/empathy in my mind as much as possible, and understand that it most likely wasn't done with the intent of hurting me. Even if I feel it's personal and malicious, I can (try to) look at it as my karma playing out.

@Nahm *golf clap*

@Solace What do you mean by "release of beliefs in separation?"

Yeah, tears of joy of being alive hit me at odd times, and music is one of them. A good classical piece especially, but shit, even a Taylor Swift song could make the tears come. I have always looked at as a positive thing, since I'm not sad or depressed, and it feels like healthy tenderness coming out in its own way.

You're very welcome.

I first started in a chair, because I thought my back was too squirrely too do an on-the-floor position, but I realized that the Burmese position was very workable with my back, especially after 2 weeks of using it daily, so that's how I sit now. Anyway, if you prefer or need a chair, move your butt forward on it, so that your back isn't touching anything. You want a nice, straight back. Hands can rest on your knees or thighs, or you can fold them together in your lap. Eyes..….Zen urges eyes open, whereas Vipassana typically suggests closed eyes. I've done both, and they're both doable with practice. I do eyes closed 95% of the time.

Ha, I have weird stuff like that, too. Sometimes it feels like I am inverted and sitting on my ceiling. Like if opened my eyes, I'd definitely find myself sitting up there.

Everyone's different, but if you're doing say a 5g+ dose of mushrooms and you're inexperienced, you should have a tripsitter. They shouldn't be hovering over you, though. Just in the same house in case you call out for them. That's it. As far as dose, if we're talking mushrooms, I think a 4g+ dose would be considered high for a relative newbie. And I was just talking to a friend about this, but make sure you dose on a day that has gone relatively well for you. You can halfway induce a good day by paying attention to small, beautiful details of things you encounter that day. Get down on your knees and look at flowers, talk to a child, give thanks for the sun on your skin, call a friend you haven't touched base with in a while, things like that. Be at peace. You're still allowed to have anxiety about the trip, so don't worry about that ruining anything. Setting: an intimately familiar room is best. A place that means SAFETY to you. Clean the house the day before. Sounds silly, but the act of straightening the house has an effect of also straightening your mind. Be hydrated all day, but stop eating ~6 hours before the launch time. That'll keep any nausea at bay. You can do this. It will be like nothing you remember seeing in your life.

That was a beautiful read. Thank you for posting the written transcript. Beautiful and confounding.

Some great advice has already been posted. I would think meditation would help to settle your mind, but you said it doesn't. What about exercise? Sounds like you're down in the dumps, and you first have to get out of that funk in order to see things more clearly. It might feel forced, but that doesn't matter.....get a kickass sweat going for 20 mins or so. Just a treadmill if nothing else. That'll put you in a better frame of mind and a better mood. Sorry you're hurting, man.

Before I got into this, I always considered that song at something akin to The Communist Manifesto, set to music. I've come now to look at it as a beautifully hopeful song about peace. Your version is nice, very creative!

Well yeah, I would think increased focus would be one of the most obvious benefits, since that's what we're doing when we meditate, at least with the breath-focused styles.

Everyday life has a way of pulling you into the mediocre. I like that line, rings true.

As with anyone trying to learn something new, you have to pace yourself and love yourself enough to allow enough time to learn at a pace that is healthy. It's true for tangible things like learning how to build a house, or learning how to fix a motorcycle, but I think it's doubly true for learning more mystical and ethereal concepts, as they are so much more abstract and nebulous. It's frustrating, and I'm right there with you. I seem to cycle through periods of having my foot mashed on the accelerator, and then I swing back to nervously applying the brakes for a few weeks. I think it's the nature of pursuing these things, especially pursuing them while living in our fast-paced modern culture, where gains are almost universally expected to happen quickly.

Yes, I understand what you're saying. I hope I didn't come off as overly pedantic or assholeish. Things can go sideways pretty quickly when you do psychedelics with other people. Your Ayahuasca retreat should be different, because they will be extremely like-minded people, all there for the same basic purpose. I hope you see and learn some wonderful things.

I did a retreat a couple weeks ago, and the teacher addressed this "How can I tell if I'm getting anywhere with meditation?" question. He said that it's often extremely subtle changes at first, but he said to ask yourself if you feel more compassionate than you did before you started a consistent meditation practice. Compassion for other people, compassion for yourself, compassion for animals, compassion for everything else making its way through life. He said that's often one of the first changes that people (when asked about it) can see. Are you doing one of the breath-focused methods? With those, I think it's easier to gauge some sort of progress by noticing that you go longer and longer between arising thoughts interrupting your focus on the breath. But with techniques like Do Nothing, it may be harder to see the small advancements you make, because there's no obvious yardstick.

Thank you, my man. I was looking under "All Videos."

Well man, it's possible to simply fall into a good, productive trip, despite having done everything to discourage that from happening, and maybe that was your strategy with the mushrooms, but I hope you get a little more serious with the ayahuasca. People don't go out on the town and try to score some strange after dosing psychedelics for personal growth. That's called recreation. I'm glad you apparently had a happy trip and learned something, but I hope you plan to treat the ayahuasca retreat with more respect.