psychedelic insights - truth or illusion?

[Billy Shears]

How can we be certain that the insights we receive during psychedelic trips are real and not illusionary?

I am really open minded concerning this topic and I believe that these realizations in fact show you the truth. But I have never tried anything harder than cannabis so I would just like to know some conclusions from our psychedelic experts here.

I am refering to mushrooms, LSD and especially 5-MeO-DMT (maybe @Leo Gura could help out). 

[Nahm]

@Billy Shears Excellent name.      How can you be certain sex feels good?   How can you know for yourself what is meant by, Sgt Pepper’s ‘Lonely Hearts Club’ Band?     (...The concept itself was birthed from a psychedelic trip)

 

[Forestluv]

@Billy Shears The self likes to be the arbiter of what is true or false. I think a better question would be “How would I know what is?” 

How does one know sadness is sadness and not anger?

[Billy Shears]

@Nahm

Yeah, thanks  I'm the one and only Billy Shears! ✌?

Indeed, what we perceive as real is just a projection of our mind.

Nothing is real, and nothing to get hung about... 

[Leo Gura]

@Billy Shears The only way to know is to do a lot of psychedelics.

You might as well be asking, "How do we really know that Australia exists? I've only been as far south as Japan."

If you really cared to know, you'd buying yourself a 1st class ticket to Australia, not sit around philosophize about it. You can't ever get to Australia through philosophy.

[Billy Shears]

@Leo Gura

I would love to try them, but unfortunately I haven't found a reliable source yet where I could purchase something. 

[Billy Shears]

@Leo Gura

But what I mean is if I finally traveled to Australia, I would ask myself: Okay, this is Australia. But is it really Australia? What if my mind is tricking me again? I know that might sound too absurd and maybe I'm too philosophical. Like you said, I need to try it for myself. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by Billy Shears

[Leo Gura]

2 hours ago, Billy Shears said:

But what I mean is if I finally traveled to Australia, I would ask myself: Okay, this is Australia. But is it really Australia? What if my mind is tricking me again?

If you were in Australia you wouldn't ask such silly questions, you'd be too busy enjoying Australia and there wouldn't be a problem.

Such questions arise precisely because you're not there.

[now is forever]

meet a kanguru

[Kensho]

5 hours ago, Billy Shears said:

How can we be certain that the insights we receive during psychedelic trips are real and not illusionary?

I am really open minded concerning this topic and I believe that these realizations in fact show you the truth. But I have never tried anything harder than cannabis so I would just like to know some conclusions from our psychedelic experts here.

I am refering to mushrooms, LSD and especially 5-MeO-DMT (maybe @Leo Gura could help out). 

A common thing in noumerous testimonies after psychedelic use is that the experience felt like the realest thing ever. Inside a psychedelic experience you feel like you have awoken from a dream and you finally can see clearly. 

The even more common thing everybody will tell you is that you have to experience it yourself to get your answer.

P.S. Most reliable source imo are shroom grow kits from well known websites. Trip safe.

[Billy Shears]

@Leo Gura

I don't think that was a silly question, you just didn't answer it properly. My question was rather hypothetical. Of course I would enjoy the trip to Australia,  but that was not my point.

[Billy Shears]

@Kensho

That's how I imagine it. The experience must be so overwhelming that it indeed feels like the realest thing ever. But like you and Leo say, I have to experience it myself.

PS: Thanks for the advice, I already thought about that but I just wasn't sure yet.

[WorknMan]

I first tried psychedelics about 5 years ago, before I found this site and knew nothing of enlightenment at the time. I had smoked cannabis before and done a lot of reading about tripping, and I still wasn't prepared for the mind fuck. I'd heard a lot about ego death, but didn't have a clear concept of what that actually meant. (IMO, people really like to over complicate it.) And then I literally experienced reality without an 'I', and was like, 'Oh, so that's what that is'

Still, I didn't really understand what self as illusion meant. I had the stage orange realization that if I could destroy the self, then I could rebuild it into whatever I wanted. I've since come to understand that doing so is a waste of time, because there actually isn't a 'self' to rebuild.

Anyway, I don't really know what point I'm getting at here... just relaying what the experience of being a new psychonaut was like If I had to give you any advice... something I wish I knew when I first started... go read the lyrics to the song 'Tomorrow Never Knows' by The Beatles, and follow their instructions.