David1

If i kick you in the groin...i doubt that you want to debate if its real or not. You'll know that it's real. Whether you believe it is existing as a hologram or warped perception or whatever. It all doesn't matter. It's a real experience for you at that time.

Is a 15 year old right when he tells you a rollercoaster is a hellish experience and it's the work of the devil? If that is his experience, than who am i to deny that? The only thing i can say is 'it isn't for me'. You can say to me...hey, there are much greater experiences...do this and this. And i believe you. See the example of the rollercoaster. What is a great experience for one person, can be a terrible experience for another person. Who is right and who is wrong? Same experience, different interpretations. Your experience is real. If your experience of a rollercoaster is terrifying. Then that's real for you. Nobody can tell you...nono you're wrong. It's not scary at all.

I agree with you Henri. We can blab all day long about this and it won't get us any further. But if there is one thing you can't accuse psychedelics of, is that its not 'real'. You know...i can dress myself up in a red toga and shave my head and cite the Vedas, give seminars and talk about enlightenment and blablabla...and its all bullshit. Its a story, a role. I can sit for a month fantasising about porn, and then tell you i got enlightened. There is no way for you to tell if my experience is real or not. All religions, money, countries, borders, politics, tv, books, drama, self developement...all stories. Nothing is real. The only thing that's real is your experience. And that's what psychedelics give...a real experience. Undeniable. If you take 5 grams of dried psylocibine mushrooms, you will have an experience. That's guaranteed. Its real. Like taking a kick in the groin. No need for prayer, or meditation or believing in anything. Like Terrence Mckenna sais...'You don't need to adjust your opinion to suit it'. That being said,...talking about psychedelics is like whispering past the graveyard. Its pointless. Talking about any experience basically is...I can talk about that time i got kicked in the groin for ever. If you were never kicked there...you won't understand

In my opinion, you can see strategic thinking in various different ways. But you always have to have an oponent. You can see life or society as an oponent, or your colleagues, or your competitors in business. With life as an oponent, you just have to figure out where things can go wrong and take measures against that. For example, you can get ill, your house might burn down, you can have a car accident...you'll have to insure against that. In your work enviroment, when you compete for a higher position your colleagues will likely try to make you look bad infont of your boss, they will want you to make mistakes. You have to be aware of that or you will step into their traps. You will have to think very strategic, make sure you have the right allies, think ahead etc. In business for example, when your competitor shows signs of weakness...you can have one of your friends or another company place a big order with them...and then stall the payment to make them topple over. Or the same thing can happen to you if you're not careful. It basically comes down to setting up a trap for an oponent and try to lure them in with some kind of bait. In chess, you can use a horse or a bishop as bait, in life you'll have to figure out what your oponent wants, play his ego. How to become a mastermind at it...learn how to fake. Faking weakness, faking strenght. Read!! Literature is full of stories about strategy and deception. People love that shit. Study psychology and behaviour. Learn how to divert attention and use the element of surprise. Study marketing...

İ read somewhere on this forum about Anki, so i downloaded Ankidroid. İts a flashcard app and its pretty awesome. İ use it alot during those short dead moments in a day...10 minutes here , 5 minutes there...it adds up.

Quite an old book but still a very interesting read. Zoologist Desmond Morris compares human behaviour with that of captive animals in a zoo and reveals some striking similarities between them. I believe there is also a bbc documentary about this book. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Zoo_(book)

Almost done? Like in June? If it's just these three months...i'd say try to pass anyway, even if you're not interested in pusuing a career in the field. If you ever want to study something else, you might get some exemptions...

Don't let anyone tell you what or who you are. That is your privilege alone. It would be weakness to allow that. It is very disempowering. That doesn't mean you can't use critisism to grow, but only if you agree with it.

Make someone happy, then you will be happy too. Try to really help someone...very satisfying.

Hello there fellow Dutch speaking neighbour . Thanks for your concern and reaction. But salvation...wow. The saving of the soul from sin and its consequences....I don't expect any substance to save my soul. I'd like to think my soul doesn't need saving in the first place. I'm not even sure if i have a soul. I feel reluctant to believe that anyone's life was ever ruined by a psychedelic substance. I can believe that lives are being ruined by alcohol, heroine, cocaine and even tobacco. But not by a psychedelic. I'd like to refer to this study from 2006 Link. Among the top 5 most spiritual significant experiences...that means it must be right up there together with having a child or having sex... And since you live in the Netherlands...you can go to a smartshop, buy a growkit and have this experience for under 2 euro. . That's what i call value for your money. You just gotta love Holland!!

A report of the meetings and conversations of the author Hank Wesselman with the Hawaiian kahuna Hale Makua. Interesting read because of the insights in Hawaiian (Polynesian) shamanism and traditions, and there certainly is alot of wisdom in what the kahuna has to say. Other than that, i think Hale Makua puts too much emphasis on lineage and tradition wich, in my opinion, taint the spiritual message in this book. The author conviently discovers his own royal lineage, so that he becomes a worthy recepient of Hale Makua's knowledge. I expected more from this book, so i'm a bit dissapointed. I give it a 6,5 out of 10.

@cetus56 Thanks for your concern, but i'm not likely gonna do salvia anymore. Like i said, it is too dissociative. I didn't remember anything of my life anymore...nothing. I didn't even remember i was a human being. It seems to totally wipe your memory. It is very different from shrooms. On shrooms, ego loss is more mild and gradual and you have to surrender and let go. Not with salvia...that just grabs your ego and shreds it to bits. Scary. You have to have big balls to do salvia more then a couple times.

Yeah, a whole range of things can go wrong. Sometimes people can (unwillingly) trigger a bad trip. It can be very small things like saying something that gets misinterpreted, trying to engage in conversation at the wrong time, putting on the wrong music or just giving off a bad vibe. I'm not going to take an unfamiliar substance for the first time alone...Ayahuasca is very different than smoking DMT as i understand. I've read some DMT reports and it sounds more like a salvia trip to me. It only lasts 10-15 min. I've never done it though. I did do salvia a few times, and that is most certainly not something you want to do alone. The ego loss comes on so fast that i had the tendency to panic. It's very dissociative...not for me.

İ've had some bad experiences in the past, doing psychedelics with friends. İ can understand taking a recreational dose with buddies, but for the real deal, i prefer to do them 'the Mckenna way', or at least with people who know how to handle a person under the influence of psychedelics.

@cetus56 No, never read anything by him. Any recommendations?

@cetus56 not to arrive...to be under way

After doing some research, i've decided to do a shorter retreat in The Netherlands first. Much closer to home and probably more safe.

The laundry?

İ'd say...make sure your body is in check before anything else. Make sure you're fit, no overweight, no addictions. A healthy mind in a healthy body.

Do it rarely, but when you do...slam it . Terence sais once a week, but i'd say...do it even less. Like once a month, in silent darkness in combination with meditation.

I think you're focussing too much on 'money'. Money is really not something you want...you want the things that money represents. Like freedom or power or whatever. Also, i usually never visualize owning anything, but rather experiencing something. For example, owning a Ferrari is not an experience, not an emotion...The 'experience' can come from really anything. Earning your first dollar can be just as rewarding.

Atoms don't take predictable routes. Quantum physics make that very clear. They take probable routes. At that level, everything is explained by probabilities. There isn't even an atom, unless we measure it. And that is litteraly. You can think...'well there actually is an atom, we just don't know where it is...' That kind of thinking is wrong. There litterally is no atom.

Learn more!! Language, coding, drawing, acting, writing... You can never have enough skills.

"The things you own will end up owning you" Tyler Durden. İts not about things at all, its about experiences. You'll notice that when you examine your desires closely, you don't really want things, you want an experience.

- What can i afford? Some crafts are really expensive in materials or equipement needed. Some music instruments eg. Can i practise every day? Can i do it at home? What will i get out of it? Most crafts will increase intelligence, but in a different way. Drawing will increase spatial reasoning or visual memory, while music, writing or dancing will enhance some other part of your brain. Does my location suit the craft? If you want to do something in nature or gardening etc. then living in a big city is not ideal. If you want to do ballet, you might not find a good teacher or school when you're living in the middle of nowhere...