Consilience

Maybe try listening to emotionally provocative music next time. Having your emotions cracked open can help gain insight into what you really authentically care about in life.

Ive experienced awakenings into love outside of what Leo says. In fact, the deeper I go into myself the less I follow Leo or any teacher’s content. You get to a point where you begin to outgrow the need to conceptualize about things like Love or Truth and realize that the embodiment, integration and awakening are your responsibility. Independent of Leo or any other teacher, Love is a word I would use to describe the nature of existence. This is not something an ego or mind will ever understand. Get off a forum philosophizing about it, get out of your mind conceptualizing about it, and do the work. Side note - if you use Leo’s work correctly, it falls more into facilitation rather than teaching. Don’t believe a word he says. Just learn from numerous sources and figure it out for yourself in your direct experience.

You’d be surprised... The ecstasy is a lot calmer and clearer than a trip but its pretty mind blowing what happens when you commit to this work. Tripping helps give you contrast to a state heavily steeped in mind vs a state where mind is gone. The contrast helps when we return to our sober state.

Ive certainly felt biological changes, mainly Ive determined these changes to be a relaxing of my CNS across the body and the loosening of muscles around body. However Ive never felt a change at a DNA level. My immediate response is that this is entering into superstitious wishful thinking. Of course your nervous system, which spans across your ENTIRE body, could change as a result of consciousness work. This of course can result in a very radical shift in how you feel moment to moment. I see no reason this change must mean DNA is going from a double strand to a 12 strand.

@Meta-Man Thank you ??

The blog post discusses the “non dual state,” but Ive seen you explain in other posts enlightenment is not a state. In this context, what is the difference between a non dual state and enlightenment?

You dont need a psychedelic or drug to realize reality isnt made of material nor to see how love imbues all of existence but yes, for someone who isnt serious about pursuing awaking this will all sound crazy.

Very interesting! Even though i don’t specifically perform shadow work, through regular consciousness work Ive definitely become increasingly conscious of my shadow and psyche... Ive felt similar feelings regarding being more bipolar. It’s as if everything is just felt more deeply because of the increased awareness. What does a shadow release in a dream look like?

Beautiful

@TheUniverseIsLove I should conserve the logs, you’re right. Damn now I gotta chop more wood (and carry water). And back at you, you are an amazing source of love and spirit as well. Thank you for your words and reminder.

@James123 Your projections continue dude, except now aimed at me. Incredible. Alright well Im done replying. All judgements, projections, and criticism are a projection of your ego. Too bad you aren’t willing to acknowledge that

@James123 So because Ive heard Ralston point blank tell me in person “I know because of my level of consciousness.” I should assume he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Yeah that’s horrible reasoning and would get you know where trying to learn from others. No thanks Ill pass. @remember your “sense” that should is struggling could very well be your own projections. I remember getting into disagreements with an ex girlfriend Id introduced Leo to. Literally exact same line of reason “Something about him just feels off, I don’t trust him.” Thank god I didnt listen to her. If she doesnt resonate that’s fine, but own up to the fact that all your judgements are projections of your mind you DON’T know. Perhaps she’s deluded, perhaps not. But her message is solid. It’s literally just Advaita Vedanta type material. The fact that someone is spreading that type of philosophy and not some new age bullshit or religion is a win as far as Im concerned. And her audience gets a lot of value from her if you read the comments. Like damn you guys are haters haha. Of course she still has ego, but we all do. Not sure why you’d automatically assume she’s manipulating her audience.

You know, Ive heard a lot of similar “I don’t like this guy, my gut is telling me something is off” about Peter Ralston before and I consider him to be a great resource. Anna is great if you’re willing to listen. I think she’s a bit energetic and eccentric but... why not? Truly none of us know how awake she is, but her message is spot on. Ive been moved by multiple of her videos and I have nothing but respect for someone who is pursuing their purpose and spreading an authentic, no bullshit, non religious message of spirituality. I get a much better vibe from her than most of the big new age youtubers.

@Razorback you’re right Im pointing to something along the lines of his incompleteness theorem although in my humble opinion, it’s a fairly basic observation of logic. I havent studied the theorem in depth. The thing, absolute truth does not require axioms. Even if there were a material universe, what grounds the existence of material? In other words, what is it that is allowing there to be the existence of material at all? That is Truth. That is Enlightenment. Find that, but not as an intellectual notion, find it in your direct experience. Materialism, even if true, has nothing to do with Absolute Truth. But please understand materialism is just a belief. The manifestation of perceptive experience is not and the “truth” in which existence itself is derived “out of” is not a belief either.

What is misidentification exactly?

@Razorback You’re technically correct. What you’re describing is scientific materialism which is a model of reality that is *can be* supported by logic and reason as well as evidence regarding things like brain states correlating with perception. This is not proof though. We have to be very careful with observation. What do we observe? Perception or material? Even if materialism is the correct answer, we observe perception. As such, perception is undeniable. It’s totally in our face. Yet this idea of material requires extra steps. The idea of material reality must always be concluded out of that which we are aware. In other words, the only way to even conceive of a material world is to first have consciousness and a perception. Now all of this doesn’t “prove” that there is no such material world; what it does prove is that we are directly experiencing perception and critically, that “material” requires us to conceptualize about our perception, as perception is all we truly have access to. We must perceive and then conceptualize about perception to conclude the existence of physical material. When it can finally click that materialism is a concept about perception, you must then begin to investigate the metaphysical nature of concept. What is a concept? Strictly speaking, a concept is made of mind. Literally, without a mind, there could be no such thing as concept. Mind and concept are one in the same. Yet even concepts are perceived and as such perception. So literally materialism is a perception explaining perception. We might then ask, well what gives rise to these perceptions?? Doesn’t material reality give rise to them? I.e. brains. Well... funny thing about concepts: all concepts require axioms. Just like our math example. All concepts require a priori beliefs or assumptions in order to be true. At some level if you examine ANY, and I mean ANY line of reason, you’ll find an axiom/assumption required in order for the premise to hold true. These axioms must either have more lines of reason to prove they’re valid or must be acknowledged as BELIEFS. This either turns into an infinite chain of regressing rationality, having to prove out every single possible axiom infinitum, or we admit we are taking something on as faith. Truth, enlightenment, absolute reality, has nothing to do with beliefs or faith. It is absolute and therefore absolutely true under any and all circumstance. Perception as itself, Being itself, is true. The existence of perception being is unfalsifiable and thus more fundamental than any idea like materialism or a simulation theory of reality. Not perception as a product of the brain, the actual being of the perception, the actuality of it. Concepts are relative, direct experience is absolute. Now I know this is all very complex stuff. If you are still concerned with the question, “well what if there is a material reality outside producing perception??” You still haven’t become conscious of what beliefs are driving this idea nor what the metaphysical nature of a belief really is. I hope this helps in your contemplation.

Math rests on the axiom of duality. 1 + 1 = 2 requires that there are distinct sets of objects “1” and “1” which may come together and be “2.” Yet if it were true that there was no such thing as separate or distinct objects, there was only ONENESS, one unified conscious field without separation or room to create the objects “1” and “1” all math completely dissolved and loses meaning. In other words, if existence is indeed non-dual, math loses all meaning. The fact that math requires axiomatic assumptions at all is a big red flag as to math being fundamental. Absolute truth must be so true, it requires no axioms hence why it is absolute. Also just look at your direct experience. What comes first? Conscious perception, or math? Math arises out of your perception, this is a direct observation of reality.

Been going through a similar energetic shift actually.. The past week has been a massive shift in this direction. It's like the thing that keeps pushing me to pursue a purpose is itself being seen through.... There is nothing to do, no where to go. Reality is right here, perfect. The striving for success is just so... empty. I'd be curious what other forum members think about this. I get wanting to escape wage slavery and live a life where you're contributing your highest strengths to humanity, but then again, that is more ego speaking so it's odd. Yet on the other hand, the ego will use any excuse to succumbing to fear and resistance, so it's difficult to know what is authentic and what is ego projecting a hidden fear.

Been following her videos for the last month as well. About a month into the lockdown Ive started doing yoga and the channel is GREAT. I really resonate with her femininity, the beauty of the channel, and her voice.

I can only speak to my experience. Ive gone similar experiences, so shocked at the gravity of Truth that my sense of purpose and direction felt lost, confused. Even if I felt like I har clarity on purpose, what was the point? Nonduality shows very starkly that life is completely void of meaning. What I noticed though is that this apathy and confusion was still my ego. Because to truly go hard at my purpose requires a level of fearlessness I wasn’t capable of. The resistance, the apathy, the lethargy towards working on my purpose was a manifestation of fear, not a manifestation of authentic understanding. Be very, VERY, careful when examining your resistance to purpose. Is it really because you’re embodying the lack of meaning in life, or is your ego just freaked out and operating from a state of fear? Because Id wager it’s another way for fear to manifest.

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Shrooms are much more powerful than weed, so just be aware of that. They are similar in some ways different in others. I find shrooms to be more healing and intelligent than weed. I love weed and have had amazing insights from it, Ive also used weed as an integration tool for my psychedelic trips with great success, but truly shrooms are on another level. Shrooms are anti addictive whereas weed is extremely habit forming. Weed muddies the mind after you come down, shrooms leave you with a sense of openness and clarity, at least for me. It seems that whatever you’re subconscious is feeling, shrooms can manifest. The last 3 times Ive done shrooms, the fear of death has surfaced and strong negative energy has risen. But it’s always been cleansing and releasing. It’s terrifying in the moment but if I surrender, breakthroughs have occurred. Maybe mamma mushroom will go easy on you, but she also can be fucking brutal. Even if strong negative energy surfaces, it can be transmuted if you open yourself up. If you have mental health problems, you may need a trip sitter or might not be ready for mushrooms. It seems to me the fungi has an intrinsic intelligence to it such that when you’re tripping you are in communion with this life force. Weed isnt like this. If you treat the fungus with respect, gratitude, and love, even a dark terrifying trip will give you direction, insight and breakthroughs. Listen to your intuition with shrooms, and take action after your trip. The mushrooms will help if you are open to receiving their wisdom. They will punish you if you’re arrogant and abusing them. They can be kind and loving, but can equally show you the harsh nature of reality. If you are afraid, either way the fear must be faced with or without mushrooms and weed.

Never underestimate mushrooms... Set – To become conscious of God Setting – My backyard/Room on a sunny day Intro How can I even truly articulate what I experienced yesterday? There have been these mild intellectual skirmishes on the forum lately talking about the role psychedelics play in enlightenment or lack thereof. For the most part, I’ve stayed off the fence because I truly DON’T know what role these substances play with awakening. You’ve got the Ralston camp going on about how Enlightenment, Truth isn’t an experience and therefore taking a psychedelic which changes experience cannot deliver the truth to you and then on the other end you’ve got the Leo camp ignoring these claims and seriously pursuing psychedelic work. Yet after this trip, I just don’t know how one could ever argue they don’t play a role unless they lack the direct experience of God realization on a psychedelic. I have no doubt meditation, contemplation, and yoga can facilitate these insights to a massive degree, but it will take a massive amount of time to deliver what these mushrooms showed. Let me explain. It’s odd because normally mushrooms get really twisty, kind of funny and confusing with the way they deliver insights. Yet this trip, my mind was sharp, clear and open in contrast with the usual twisty nature. There were no real visual effects other than a mild increase in sharpness to objects and colors. To be quite honest I hardly felt like I was tripping at all up until the peak. Fear Opening the Mind So over the course of 4 hours there was this subtle anxiety and fear that was accumulating in my mind. I started feeling all of these insecurities and fears bubbling up. I felt overwhelmed by my college debt, I felt weak from my chronic illness, I felt like my life purpose was going to be a complete failure. It was interesting watching these emotions build slowly, slowly slowly… I was able to sit with the pretty successfully and just watch unattached to them using basic mindfulness principles. I don’t think I was aware of how deep rooted they were in my subconscious though, but it seems I really believe myself to be a failure. Yet as this fear grow bolder (presumably as the psychedelic effects grew stronger) the fear’s root began to surface – The fear of death. Oddly enough these ‘surface’ level fears all stemmed ultimately from my fear of death. Death I remember just sitting outside alone contemplating my own death, contemplating the meaninglessness of my individual life, feeling the reality that in a thousand years all of this life would be gone. Humanity will have long forgotten me, and in all likelihood, all of my contributions will be but a grain of sand to the transformation of the species. Of course my life plays a pivotal role in the infinite chain of causation, however it is utterly impermanent. My mind then started scaling not to thousands of years, but millions of years in this universe’s lifetime. I was somehow able to conceptualize into a higher tier of time and not merely think, but FEEL the emptiness of my life in reality’s lifespan. A great sadness washed over my being. At this point I went into my room and laid down in silence, just staring into my ceiling. A Glimpse of God As I was staring into this empty ceiling feeling the void of my life, all of my loved ones, of humanity itself, I was struck with the most powerful nondual insight of my life. I burst into tears whaling as I realized how I am all beings, every last perspective of consciousness in all possible realities, my being was coming to terms with the enormity of what these implications really meant, that I was responsible for this Universe, that I was this moment of eternity, and that I would experience every last possible variation of possible perspectives. Not only will I experience lifetime after lifetime after lifetime, I’ve done this for eternity. Fucking eternity. I felt my self violently explode into awareness, tears where streaming down my face, and I literally started drooling because of how much infinity I became conscious of. It was heart wrenching, terrifying, utterly absolute Love and terror. It felt like I was going through some sort of childbirth process where I was contracting and releasing into fear and love simultaneously. It was utter infinity, utter emptiness. I was whaling in ecstasy, sadness, love. My body temperature rose and began sweating everywhere. My hands, face, legs, feet, where all damp, all muscles where firing and releasing energy as I felt the enormity of what I am. My body would scrunch up into a child’s pose and then open back up in release. It was the most powerful experience I’ve ever had of God and it only lasted around 10 minutes total. I don’t think such a body reaction is necessary, but if one is not prepared for the enormity of Truth, there’s no telling how the ego-body-mind structure will react. Mine reacted in some sort of hurricane of psycho-physical-energetic contraction and release BECAUSE I’ve never truly seen this shit. Not to the extent of yesterday. I’ve had glimpse of God before both sober and tripping, but nothing like this. Nothing even close. I then spent about an hour just chilling in this massively increased state of awareness processing what the fuck I’d just gone through. Take aways: I realize now that the mind shields itself from the Self to colossal degrees. I already knew the mind acts a shied from Truth, but I really only yesterday felt the power of this mechanism firsthand. If the mind where truly able to remain in this state forever, I’m not sure survival would be possible. This is why I am unsure of whether Ralston’s perspective is correct. Yes you can awaken to yourself while sober; in fact the majority of my awakening process has been from meditation and contemplation. I see very clearly the illusory nature of self, the will of the Universe playing out in every moment, the love and compassion I authentically feel for life and all beings. Yet after this trip I see now the distinction between awakening to your true self and UNDERSTANDING your true self. I see now why Leo talks about understanding. I’m not sure this level of understanding is possible without psychedelics. The thing is, this was only 2g of mushrooms, never mind 5-MeO or a higher dose. As horrific and amazing as this understanding was, I intuited very clearly that this was only the tip of the iceberg. The depth to Truth is kind of terrifying to consider and until one has a heavy dose of themselves, they won’t understand. Was this “experience” temporary? Yes. As new aged as this may sound though, I feel an energetic shift in my being. I’ve felt this from all the trips I do. They truly change one’s energy system and the experience stays with you, changes you. It’s similar to how once you’ve had sex, you forever have an understanding about a facet of reality that no amount of masturbation, porn, or foreplay can replicate. Today I feel at peace, and ease. I feel happy and equanimous. I feel strong and I feel incredible fortunate to have been given this gift, this level of understanding. Another thing I wanted to mention – My intuition tells me that my meditation and hatha yoga practice played a key role with how I was able to receive such a powerful breakthrough on such a low dose of psychedelics. I see a lot of people questioning the effectiveness of more traditional consciousness practices, but from what I can tell, they all feed off one another. So if you’re reading this and are interested in pursuing psychedelics, but don’t have a strong, grounded sober practice, I would encourage you to begin there. 1 hour of meditation a day will radically change your life.

The mind hides itself from Truth by placing attention on perception and conceptualizing about it. When attention is completely stable and mind empty, attention evaporates and God shines through.

@Leo Gura Thank you for such a thorough response, truly. I'll keep contemplating, i'll watch the perception video. Next time I trip I'll keep the focus and intention on direct consciousness.