snowleopard

I can't speak specifically about panic attacks while using psychedelics -- having only ever tried mescaline -- but I did go through a panic attack phase when younger, for which I was prescribed tranquilizers ... of course just a band-aid solution. The real solution was delving into some shadow issues, and the fear related to those issues, most especially the fear of death. So it doesn't seem that psychedelics are going to bypass that stuff. Indeed, as @Nahm points out, being the plant medicines that they are, they may actually be revealing exactly what needs to be revealed, and the lesson that facing this fear can't be avoided indefinitely.

Case in point, the word 'individual' ... ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [indivisible] ): from medieval Latin individualis, from Latin individuus, from in- ‘not’ + dividuus ‘divisible’ (from dividere ‘to divide’ ). In other words, 'not divided' ... how paradoxical is that?

@Nahm Hey, I can even love the Donald ... albeit, I'm in Canuckistan

@Nahm lol ... who knows, maybe there's some method to this madness. Let's all support Trump ! Thank you Donald for being the perfect shadow projection of what egoic delusion looks like, and being yet another encouragement to WTFU !!

Once upon a time, I dreamed up such a sad story too. And it took much inquiry to realize that one wasn't born with a story -- although, of course, the indoctrination into a story starts very early. Not being a child anymore, at least the story-making is optional. But whatever the story, it is constructed: like a chain, link by link by link, until it is an entanglement; like a wall, brick by brick by brick, until it is a confinement; like a belief system, thought by thought by thought, until it is an entrapment. Eventually it can be unraveled, but meanwhile, adding to it just makes it all that much more inquiry to do. Why wait?

@John Iverson Wow, what a sad story you just dreamed up. If you must dream up a story, can't you dream up something more upbeat than that?

@AleksM What else could possibly be channeled through this body-form, other than That which one is in essence ... However, it appears to have an unlimited amount of identity flexibility

@How to be wise That's a curious belief ... How so?

@AleksM Yeah, I try to keep an open mind about such phenomena ... I've experienced far too many inexplicable paranormal events, to just simplistically dismiss it all as naive nonsense. Thanks for the links, will definitely check them out.

@nahtanoj Yes, it appears that science is gradually shifting away from the materialist paradigm -- even if it has some ways to go to recognize the profound implications of this -- and it is long overdue. And there are now more than a few serious, sciencentific types, even former hardcore materialists, who are now making the case for the primacy of consciousness. To name just a few: Bernardo Kastrup (one-time CERN scientist and computer engineer); Donald Hoffman (cognitive scientist); Stuart Hameroff (anesthesiologist); Bruce Lipton (cell biologist), and the list goes on. But it may have to wait for a few more institutional, tenured 'dinosaurs', teaching the same old materialist dogma, to be put out to pasture, before the shift can really gain momentum. I remain cautiously optimistic, especially given how many bright young minds are appearing in forums like this, with a willingness to throw off the shackles and the blinders, and dare to dream of something beyond what those dinosaurs are preaching.

@Joseph Maynor The comment wasn't intended to be flippant. Just showing that there are valid, if rather severe, alternatives to language as a way to point to Reality. But I totally agree, if we're going the language route, as obviously we must in this text-bound forum, then clearly understanding the power of language, and the problems with language, and the importance of clarity and refinement of language, and not dismissing it lightly, is surely paramount to its effective expression. I'm a poet at heart, and a deep lover of language, and playing with it, but also take it very seriously, and so I very much respect what you're getting at here. Speak as if the world entire were but a single ear, intent on hearing what you say; for so, in truth, it is ~ The Book of Mirdad

@ADD Now you can also be grateful for those gossip-mongers, without whom you may not have inquired into this valuable insight ... teachers appear in mysterious ways.

@Joseph Maynor How about a whack from a zen master's stick instead !?

It seems what manifests from infinite potential, is whatever is compatible with one's core beliefs, conditioning, expectations and identifications. However repressed and subconscious they may be, they can only persist here and now. So if there is a core belief that there must be some karmic accounting for 'past' deeds ... well guess what. Inquire, inquire, inquire ... Fuck karma

@Joseph Maynor I'm reminded of the old zen metaphor .... Once a boat has been borrowed to cross a river, there's no need to hoist it on one's back, or drag it around. I'd only add, perhaps push it back into the current of the Tao, where it may be discovered and be of use to someone else ... Freedom is another word for no-thing left to lose.

@Joseph Maynor I've always been attracted to solitude and quiescence -- hence the snow leopard avatar -- as it seems to be so conducive to the creative process and inspiration, putting one in touch with the intuitive, the subliminal, the deeper or greater source of all creation. As for attaining some purely still and silent state, while it may be possible, I'm not sure that it is ultimately sustainable. I feel that it is the creative imperative of the Source of creation to manifest this dream. And so there is no avoiding it or preventing it. There is only inevitably coming to terms with it ... and likely why we're all inquiring and creating in this forum.

@Wyatt I'm not sure that there is intrinsic meaning in the phenomenal construct -- i.e. Buddhism's 'emptiness' includes being empty of meaning. But I don't intuitively feel that this is as nihilistic as it initially seems. Because, paradoxically enough, as others here have said, it allows for the unconditional creation of whatever meaning one may read into it, and thus the meaning of it all is to create the meaning of it all, which now seems the most profoundly meaningful reason of all. And if taken full circle, it is seen as emptifullness, all that is ... That which one is in essence, which needs no meaning other than to be That which manifest this wondrous dream, and then seemingly wonder what it all means.

I would gossip about them in a discussion forum ... sorry, couldn't resist Seriously, if you truly want to hang out with them, then you're probably just going to have to accept them, warts and all. I doubt that they're going to be receptive to your moral judgment of their behavior, which will alienate them enough that you won't being hanging with them much longer. You surely can't force them to change. Perhaps best to just try to be a clear example of what the alternative to such ego-driven behavior looks like, and trust that those who resonate with that example will quite naturally be attracted toward it, while those who don't, will quite naturally turn away. It's kind of the way of the Tao

@iTommy Yeah, I think I get what you mean, and it's actually an idea that has been given some credibility in the so-called 'many worlds' or 'parallel universe' theoies in quantum physics -- the idea being that, to some degree, every probability plays out. So, for example, if Tomminess is undecided about hanging with friends at a movie tonight, or staying home and reading a good book, then both events are played out in different 'worlds.' I'm not sure how plausible this is, or if it can be extrapolated into infinite versions of Tomminess playing out infinite probable events. In any case, I agree that, by whatever name, there are unlimited, unique individual points of view, experiences, expressions of That which one is in essence. And who knows, in its infinite creative potential, maybe even unlimited dreamed up realms in which each unique expression explores every possible path

You could also try a natural stain remover, like baking soda mixed with some hydrogen peroxide. I mentioned this to my spouse who is a nurse, who says if it doesn't fade away in a day or two, with normal bathing, or becomes inflamed and painful, then seek medical attention.

As it's your first time handling shrooms, it may well be related, and may be some mild reaction. Who knows. Unless it gets worse, or painful, I wouldn't worry about it.

Looks like some mild allergic reaction. Are you sure you weren't handling something other than mushrooms. My son gets something like that from touching latex products. Some are allergic to certain detergents, etc. To treat it, you can try an over-the-counter anti-histamine.

@RossE Beautiful, heart-felt, moving ... Again, I continue to be amazed at how psychedelics pull this off, revealing deep insights that took a long time to come to terms with here, without the benefit of such a powerful tool. Divine pychonauts of the world unite in cyberspace and spread the Logos !

Short answer, no.

If 'Reality' is referring to That which one is in essence, then all descriptors are like disposable answers to a koan. Are there infinite potential relative points of view and experiences? It's sheer speculation, but probably safe to assume yes. Which are real, and which are illusory, seems very much a question of consensus. Are there infinite 'Tommys'? Well, the case has been made that there isn't any Tommy at all, except insofar as it is imagined to be so. In which case, infinite Tommys seems a moot point.