Forestluv

That's a good question. I've only considered the relative human perspective. It's challenging to imagine consciousness from the relative perspective of a tree. . .

Hmmm. . . I am imagining there is One Consciousness, that fragmented itself into trillions of smaller consciousnesses and each has a self identity of that is separate from the whole. Then the name of the Game is that each fragment realizes it is within the whole. Perhaps a higher Intelligence, or Big Brain, set up that Game. I think it would be challenging to attain due to the evolution of the human brain and hundreds of years of infrastructure supporting separate self identities. But who knows, perhaps Enlightenment will "go viral".

Nice. . . Sometimes I ask my students: what percentage of the day are you immersed in stories of past and future? And what percentage is spent present with what is actually happening in the present moment? Then, I ask them to decide what percentages they would like their life to be like. So, if they say 90% past/future and 10% present moment - perhaps consider what life would be like if it was 50% past/future and 50% present. Always "being in the now" just doesn't resonate with them. It's some abstract idea that is impractical and unattainable. Yet, going from 10% in the Now to 50% in the Now is attractive to them. It's a start. . .

Yes, kind of like being an observer to multiple perspectives and being aware of relative truth in each perspective - without getting attached or identified with any perspective.

Could both be true? It seems paradoxical, yet can both perspectives coexist in the mind peacefully?

For me, being on this path of introspection and self realization has reduced a lot of my mind-body neuroses including anxiety, mild ocd and add. I’m much relaxed overall and when symptoms arise, I’m much better at calming my self down.

@VioletFlame How would you recommend someone with no artistic experience get started with creative expression? Perhaps drawing, painting or creative writing?

Psychedelics will take you 1-2 levels of consciousness higher than your current baseline level. In SD lingo that like getting rocketed from Green to solid Turquoise. . . And then the person returns to their lower base level. Then, integration is key.

Nice examples. My mind is trying to come up with another one. Perhaps, if your awareness experienced another person’s mind-body. Or, if you were transported back to 1945 and had to navigate your way around. Yet, it’s still not radical enough, because the mind can still sort of imagine it. I don’t think the mind can imagine what a psychedelic mystical experience would be like. My mind couldn’t have.

@Wisebaxter Oh my! That is not a good setting! Especially for a novice ? You could do it out in nature. I just wouldn’t want to be around lots of people. If you have anxiety issues, I would consider having a benzo or etizolam on hand. I’ve never actually used it, yet even having it handy and knowing I coukd kill the trip if I needed to, settled me down and gave me confidence.

That is beautiful, poetic. ? ?

I’m going to go back to the 1980s and say Dungeons and Dragons. When I was a teenager, I would play with my Uncle and cousins. We would play all day, all weekend. We would go really deep into imagination and character development. Each player wants to protect their own character, yet places the welfare of the group higher. Our group played as One. I still remember losing a really high level cleric in an epic battle that went on for hours. It was so stressful. We had to really pay attention and think hard to come up with the best strategy. We lost half our characters in that battle. It was mentally and emotionally draining. And when our senior cleric died, our group was devastated. That cleric took years to develop. We had so many memories with her. There were tight connections within gaming groups in the 80s. There was no internet, so we always had to get together in one person’s house to game.

@Pat Pagano I thought you might like this Ted Talk on humor:

That’s what it’s all about. ?? It sounds like there were lots of other pilgrims. Did you get a sense that they were genuine, serious seekers? Was there a sense of community or comraderie?

What a wonderful adventure! Thank you for sharing. During your long solo walks, was your mindspace mostly contemplative or simply observing/being with the environment?

@helenaoftroy Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you have a solid spiritual foundation. I started a CIM course, yet it didn’t resonate with me. To me, it had an odd religious/spiritual mix. Yet, I know people that got a lot out of it and if it resonates with you, follow your desire and go for it.

Become conscious of the "I" that cannot let regret go. Within this consciousness there is stillness - regardless of whether or not the "I" and regrets arise within the mind.

Thank you, that is a great point. I've also found mini doses, or weaker psychedelics like Al-lad, to yield insights. My sensitivity has increased over time. A quarter tab can send me into a nondual reality and it is much less intense on the mind-body. As well, many people have found microdosing helpful.

For the mind-body, physical/mental addiction risk is very low. Psychedelics don't trigger the mesolimbic reward system like addictive substances do. As well, they have very low habit-forming potential. There is extensive anectodal experiences online and several studies conducted that support this low ranking. After a few trips, one can be excited and intrigued about the novelty of the experiences, yet this isn't addiction. I can imagine someone getting overzealous and tripping a bit too much recreationally - which interferes with their life. Yet, psychedelics are soooo much easier to moderate or discontinue compared to alcohol, cannabis, nicotine or caffeine. The highest risks of psychedelics come from inexperience, disreputable dealers, and not respecting the substance. . . It is the newbie that doesn't "feel anything" 45min. after taking 100ug LSD, so takes 200ug more. Someone who eyeballs their dose of 5-meo-dmt. A newbie who has never meditated or done any introspective work that finds themselves over their head as they lose control of reality at a concert - and freaking out. I would tell newbies to consider entering psychedelics like you would scuba diving. Trying to scuba dive on your own, without any training and knowledge is reckless and dangerous - as it is with psychedelics. Do research, start small, integrate lessons and get experience before diving into ego death and breakthrough experiences. To the op - I concur with others regarding once a month usage - coupled to integration with meditation, contemplative journaling etc. I did twice a month for about 6 months - I found it to be unsustainable.

For me, plugging is much more comfortable and efficient than snorting. On a mostly empty stomach, plugging just gives me minor gastrointestinal discomfort.

This looks like a transition into higher levels of awakening that haven't matured and been fully integrated. I've been in the space many times.

@mandyjw A beautiful insight . Whatever arises, arises. There is no escape from what IS. Any attempt to escape becomes what IS.

@Charlotte I love this! Sometimes just awareness can dissolve a problem. It's like shining a light into the twilight of delusion and being able to see clearly again.

Sort of. This is a great partial truth analogy. When we watch a movie, why can we relax? Because we don't identify with any of the characters. What if it was a horror movie and the person watching the movie fully identified as being the character in danger? It would be a horrific experience. Yet, if the person watching the movie does not identify with any characters, they can remain relaxed. In such an "observer" analogy, in "real life" there is a sense of observing awareness that does not identify with the character "Lynnel". There is a relaxed observing awareness always present, regardless of what happens to the "Lynnel" character in "real life". This gets at why suffering dissolves. Suffering is caused by the character identifying with stuff. The character identifies as being stuff like: intelligent, kind, unmotivated, too jealous at times, ageing, having knee pain etc. It often desires things to be different "a better job, my partner to be more attentive to me, my spouse to stop nagging, the rainy weather and my knee pain to go away, etc. The mind-body may still experience joy, anger, frustration, fear etc. Yet, there is a non-identifying awareness that is peaceful stillness, emptiness. Even when the character returns, there is no identification that all the thoughts and stories running in the mind - hence no suffering. IME and from what I've witnessed in others, there can be a lot of discomfort and resistance during the dis-identification process. It can feel like dying to the self. Yet, as self identification dissolves - fear, anger, anxiety, frustration etc. is often reduced. It can still arise, yet the baseline foundation awareness shifts from fear/anger/anxiety/frustration to peaceful stillness/emptiness. It's like the energy of the horror movie isn't so threatening and scary anymore. Quite often, the entire context of the movie changes. Not only may one realize they are not the character in the movie, yet the entire movie may get recontextualized. One may realize "wait a minute, with this new perspective, this isn't even a horror movie. That character is just acting scared within a movie that is actually a comedy, or love story, or touching story of the human spirit. Then, the entire relationship to reality can change. This is just one type of relative awakening within a holistic reality. It's like seeing and becoming aware of a hoof of the Ox - it is not the entire Ox.

A self likes to negotiate for relevance.