Psychedelics, Consciousness, Spirituality And Enlightenment

[Self]

I recently consumed about 5g of psychedelic mushrooms. It was the most intense experience of my life. Never had I ever been aware of so many things running through my brain at the same time. It was as if my consciousness had spread to all parts of my brain and that I could actually observe the inner workings of my mind. I experienced ego death. I stopped being myself and adopted the consciousness of "my universe". I became the data that my senses were perceiving. I became my memories and my thought processes and I forgot that there actually was a person housing all of these phenomena. 

There was a moment where I felt as if I could see a higher being. It looked like a giant, silver, gyroscopic, spinning being that shined with a brilliant energy. It felt as if I had to look through the world I exist in in order to see it. One way I could try to explain it is that the shrooms made me become fully aware of my world. The thing is that my world exists entirely in my brain so I was busy shuffling through all these concepts that I have created in my brain. I imagine myself as this bundle of energy in my brain that forms my consciousness and that when this consciousness of mine expands I become aware of other processes in my brain that I am not conscious of. Maybe this higher being that I saw through my world was actually a complex program of my sub-conscious. This could mean that the "God" of my reality is actually sub-conscious programs of my brain that I have no control over. These programs synthesize the data my senses receive in a coherent way that my conscience can comprehend.

I am not saying this is true. This is just my thinking of what might be. I just watched Leo's "Why Rationality Is WRONG! - A Critique Of Rationalism" and it really resonated with me and this experience I had. I will also love to here your thoughts on this topic and of any trip reports you might have. My entire universe is a map created by the higher powers of my brain. I will never be able to experience the territory for what it really is.  There was a time in my trip where I was aware of a timeline of data stored in my brain. It kind of represented a movie reel. This experience felt like I was feeling the fourth dimension as I was experiencing a string of moments in time all at once. I believe that psychedelics can really show people how their maps are definitely not the territory.

[nbolt]

I very recently took shrooms for the first time as well. It was a great experience. I had been watching Leo's videos and thinking a lot about enlightenment and self-actualization, and I felt like I intellectually understood a lot of these ideas, but was having trouble truly resonating with them and turning them into practical results in my life. I felt like I was onto something but couldn't really pinpoint it. The trip is what gave me much more of an experiential perspective. It induced an ego-death state and allowed me to actually experience all of these concepts.

I read recently on reddit someone else's experience with psychedelics and enlightenment, and think it makes a lot of sense. He described enlightenment as a cabin in the woods. Most people just wander around the forest all their life, never even realizing this cabin exists. What psychedelics can do is give you a tiny glimpse of it. If you're able to intuit that this cabin could possibly exist somewhere, they can give you a lens in which to glimpse a tiny portion of it- through a small window somewhere maybe. You can see a small corner of the house. But this is as far as psychedelics will take you- from there you need to have the wisdom to translate this experience into your sober reality so you can actually find the cabin, walk through the front door, and fully explore every room and all the nooks and crannies.

[Self]

I recently watched a video of this guy's trip report. He had done it in a different context with 7.5g.

[Azrael]

SWIM's first acid trip last summer resulted in an ego death experience for about 5 hours. It started 45 minutes after he took his dose and was very different from the visuals that kicked in a little later. It was so nice that he cried several times because the act of breathing was too complete, too whole to experience.

After that initial experience he explored a lot of the DMT territory and this is serious stuff. He had several realizations about death, his nature and everything that is around him with that stuff. However, he'd say that even trained psychonauts should be careful with this because it is so intense. It's like a thousand hits of acid, you flying through the universe plus aliens.

SWIM also took a lot higher doses of acid after his initial trip that resulted in ego death experiences. All these experiences had in common that he was way more self-confident while tripping, completely out of his head and grounded in his body and surroundings and he always was aware of a presence, like something watching him. But he always felt deep love and passion in every situation he was in. It's beautiful.

He'd say that this experiences really got him bound to his enlightenment work and made it first priority in his life because now he knows for what he is shooting for. He also always integrated the experiences with a lot of meditation and direction in and after the trip. Use what is happening to you.

And to all the unstable people out there: Don't fuck with this shit if you are personally unstable, have no meditation experience, no training of letting go, no idea where this can lead you and so on.

SWIM loves psychedelics and especially in the context of spiritual work they are like the candies of the whole game. However, they are no shortcut and they won't help you if you aren't able to integrate and direct the experiences. SWIM had his first spiritual experiences before ever doing acid or DMT and kinda knew in which direction this would go. This is serious stuff.

[Self]

Thank you so much for that @Arik . The perspective you have given has really shed some important light on this topic, light that would be very critical for anyone new to these practices. Speaking of being unstable, do you have any advice on how to handle bad trips? I personally believe that a trip can never truly be "bad" because it is just a manifestation of a deep insecurity that someone is guarding and this allows for true growth. Can one use bad trips to overcome their deepest fears and insecurities?

[SkyPanther]

Kind of a "not here nor there" comment, but, Alan Watts was a huge proponent of using psychedelics to dislodge the ego.  However he also suggested that once you "find the door",  to stop using the drugs to get there.  Basically use them as a way to understand what Leo is talking about, but once you reach that, you can get there without the drugs.

Mostly because at some point, you might be abusing the drugs, versus trying to get to the goal of actualization, etc.  

Quote

"Psychedelic experience is only a glimpse of genuine mystical insight, but a glimpse which can be matured and deepened by the various ways of meditation in which drugs are no longer necessary or useful. If you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic drugs are simply instruments, like microscopes, telescopes, and telephones. The biologist does not sit with eye permanently glued to the microscope, he goes away and works on what he has seen..." -- Alan Watts

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by SkyPanther

[Henri]

Used to work on parties on the beach and was always asked to give a helping hand when someone was having a bad trip.

I took them to a relaxed place and forced them to imitate my breathing which I did close to their ear. Just a pranayama technique to get out of it.

[Self]

Haha that's a great technique. It reminds me of when my two-year-old twin siblings cry. I just give them this huge smile that some might consider psychotic. These tiny human beings just crave positive energy and when I flood them with it using my psycho-smile they can't help but forget that they were crying in the first place. I get the idea that someone who is tripping kind of assumes the mind of a child and this is where @Henri 's technique resonates with me. Taking someone out of a bad trip is no logical matter. We have to communicate with them emotionally, like with breath, to guide them to a more positive mindset. 

This also shows how important meditation is during an intense trip.

[Azrael]

14 hours ago, Self said:

Speaking of being unstable, do you have any advice on how to handle bad trips? I personally believe that a trip can never truly be "bad" because it is just a manifestation of a deep insecurity that someone is guarding and this allows for true growth. Can one use bad trips to overcome their deepest fears and insecurities?

First of all, I'd like to state that bad trips are highly over-exaggerated in the media and public. If you talk to someone about shrooms or acid they instantly think about bad trips. In my opinion bad trips are rare and also depend more on your inner state and surroundings. The best help for bad trips is to learn to let go. Meditation is your best friend with this.

SWIM's bad trips never were bad by design but always connected to his inner state. So, if you feel shitty and take acid - you maybe will feel more shitty in the trip. What I would do than is to lay down and focus on my body - how it doesn't feel good. Than I would repeat the mantra "How can I give you [the bad feeling] the most authentic experience right now". I have this trick from Matt Khan and it works like a charm not only with trips but with bad feelings / pains in general.

This turns your perspective and lets you enjoy your own suffering. In the situation the best thing that you could do. When SWIM had to do such a thing he needed maybe half an hour and then turned the "bad" trip into a good one. Also, putting on relaxed music - or an Alan Watts lecture - can turn it around.

But as I said, SWIM never had a bad trip because the substances are so bad. It's more like when you feel a little shitty and take 450mg LSD you will have to arrange the trip a little bit.

SWIM always used bad trips to overcome fear and insecurities. That's why he would trip while feeling deeply sad. However, he can do this because he is very experienced and knows what he gets into. I would never recommend that to a beginner or complete newbie. Do your research. For more experienced psychonauts and people on a spiritual path - this is completely mind-opening.

SWIM had experiences with DMT that were hell-like and showed him how everything he saw and felt was just himself and so couldn't harm him in any sense. I could go on and on. It's powerful stuff.

[StephenK]

Psychedelics can be a great eye-opener when it comes to the ego and personal development. However, a lot of people are all too easily fall into the 'romance' period with psychedelics (myself included) -- I like to call this the "Why isn't everyone doing this?" phase. I see psychedelics as a rite of passage; it's a path that needs to be walked by some. In fact, psychedelics very often get people (particularly in the Western World) into meditation and personal development. But they can set you off-track for a while (which is not necessarily bad thing, but it is a thing).

Although largely safe for the majority of people, psychedelics can be profoundly damaging to certain individuals. There can sometimes be a blurry line between curiosity, recreation and escapism -- I found that after several psychedelic experiences, it started becoming a deeply escapist experience for me, and it was not helping me in any way.  But that was my experience and also what I happened to observe with those around me.