Caffeine Intake

[wanna155]

Greetings, I was just listening to Leo’s recent video on how psychedelics work and he was explaining consciousness through the analogy of knobs. He mentioned that something like modafinil would  increase consciousness as meditation would. My question is: is caffeine a consciousness increaser or decreaser, in the knob analogy?

 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Caffeine doesn't touch the consciousness knob, it touches some physiological knobs like increasing your metabolism, up-regulating your central nervous system, which can be useful in certain situations like exercise or fasting. There are so many factors to consider when using caffeine, like in what form you are consuming it in. Are you consuming it in the form of a chemical-infused energy drink, or in a natural form of matcha green tea powder in a smaller quantity which is paired with other beneficial, calming amino acids like L-theanine, antioxidants and phytochemicals to aid your overall health. 

All in all doesn't have anything to do with expanding your consciousness unless you actually pair it with a spiritual practice like contemplation or meditation. 

[wanna155]

Thank you for the response!  I personally haven't touch caffeine in about a year since I started using modafinil. I also attached negative feelings towards caffeine as I read somewhere that it actually "lowers your vibration" --> whatever that might mean. So, I wanted to see others perspective on caffeine in relation to spiritual development. 

[See]

Caffeine has a long half life in our systems - on average about 6 hours for most people. Because it hinders quality sleep I've heard the sleep expert Matthew Walker recommend that you cease significant consumption 14 hours before you expect to be sleeping. This doesn't offer a very big window for enjoying strongly caffeinated drinks, does it?!

This is going slightly at a tangent to the topic, but might be helpful information for some.

[outlandish]

In my opinion, caffeine does subtly increase consciousness, but not in the way that psychedelics do at all.

Caffeine amplifies Orange resonance within Spiral Dynamics, and to a lesser extent Yellow. It de-resonates Blue and Green. So it can potentiate the transition from Blue to Orange because the wakefulness and alertness that it promotes is conducive to analytical/rational thought. It helps "wake up" from the slumber of dogmatic thinking and begin stimulating rational investigation.

Caffeine powered the renaissance in Europe, and today you can see that heavy caffeine consuming cultures tend to reside in stage blue orange. 

Tea is an important component of Zen. In East Asia tea is often attributed mystical properties.

Psychedelics are more potent for the transition to Tier 2.

@See that's a good thing to remember - really good idea to keep caffeine consumption to the early part of the day!

Edited February 19, 2020 by outlandish
I meant "orange"

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

6 hours ago, wanna155 said:

Thank you for the response!  I personally haven't touch caffeine in about a year since I started using modafinil. I also attached negative feelings towards caffeine as I read somewhere that it actually "lowers your vibration" --> whatever that might mean. So, I wanted to see others perspective on caffeine in relation to spiritual development. 

Careful with all those blanket statements like "x lowers your vibration" that you see with a lot of other spiritual dogma, anything can raise or lower your "vibration" depending on tons of nuanced factors. You just have to find out in your experience what works and doesn't work for you, directly. 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

3 hours ago, outlandish said:

In my opinion, caffeine does subtly increase consciousness, but not in the way that psychedelics do at all.

Caffeine amplifies Orange resonance within Spiral Dynamics, and to a lesser extent Yellow. It de-resonates Blue and Green. So it can potentiate the transition from Blue to Orange because the wakefulness and alertness that it promotes is conducive to analytical/rational thought. It helps "wake up" from the slumber of dogmatic thinking and begin stimulating rational investigation.

Caffeine powered the renaissance in Europe, and today you can see that heavy caffeine consuming cultures tend to reside in stage blue. 

Tea is an important component of Zen. In East Asia tea is often attributed mystical properties.

Psychedelics are more potent for the transition to Tier 2.

@See that's a good thing to remember - really good idea to keep caffeine consumption to the early part of the day!

This is an interesting perspective on it, I agree on this.

I feel stage Orange abuses caffeine using it in an unhealthy way in many cases, to make artificial energy so to speak, to drive their endless survival effort of "doing".

Stage Green is a backlash against this use of caffeine, and demonizes it as a whole saying it "lowers vibration" and things of that nature.

Stage Yellow realizes its a substance that can be used intelligently, integrating it in a healthy lifestyle as a whole where it is not relying on caffeine as their main source of energy but uses it strategically and does not deny the simple pleasure it can bring if one enjoys it. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[outlandish]

Good way of putting it @TrynaBeTurquoise! I like this discussion because you extended from a thought I had in a way that I didn't think about. I guess that's what makes this forum interesting.

BTW above I meant to say "today you can see that heavy caffeine consuming cultures tend to reside in stage orange" not blue, although you could probably say they usually have pretty strong blue too.

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

18 minutes ago, outlandish said:

Good way of putting it @TrynaBeTurquoise! I like this discussion because you extended from a thought I had in a way that I didn't think about. I guess that's what makes this forum interesting.

BTW above I meant to say "today you can see that heavy caffeine consuming cultures tend to reside in stage orange" not blue, although you could probably say they usually have pretty strong blue too.

Totally, I would have never had made the connection with caffeine and spiral dynamics if not for your post.

Touching on stage blue, in some religions like mormonism, they ban its use equating it to a "mind altering drug" just like alcohol. Always thought that was extremest, not only banning all use of any substance but even just equating caffeine with alcohol, 2 radically different things. 

And another thought on green, I think its important to mention that a lot of people immersed in green are avid caffeine users, albeit in more natural forms like coffee and tea. I think the higher one goes in green, in some cases one may fall into the trap of renouncing it for themselves because it doesn't resonate with them and pushing that agenda on everybody else. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[pluto]

I am actually finding lately that no supplements are making me feel more sharp and pure than my natural state when i am fasting and only drinking water and consuming very light foods, fruits ect.. more so for pleasure rather than hunger. Especially when i am out in nature, i noticed substances actually make me feel less clarity, more heavy and messy vibration but when i am meditating in the forest, i am crystal clear, substances or supplements only dull my true eternal state that is perfect in itself. Mushrooms feel quite natural to me though, other things seem like a false-enlightened state. Who knows, just some observations lately.

Edited February 20, 2020 by pluto

[Preety_India]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:09 PM, See said:

Caffeine has a long half life in our systems - on average about 6 hours for most people. Because it hinders quality sleep I've heard the sleep expert Matthew Walker recommend that you cease significant consumption 14 hours before you expect to be sleeping. This doesn't offer a very big window for enjoying strongly caffeinated drinks, does it?!

This is going slightly at a tangent to the topic, but might be helpful information for some.

So true 

 

 

[wanna155]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:07 AM, outlandish said:

In my opinion, caffeine does subtly increase consciousness, but not in the way that psychedelics do at all.

Caffeine amplifies Orange resonance within Spiral Dynamics, and to a lesser extent Yellow. It de-resonates Blue and Green. So it can potentiate the transition from Blue to Orange because the wakefulness and alertness that it promotes is conducive to analytical/rational thought. It helps "wake up" from the slumber of dogmatic thinking and begin stimulating rational investigation.

Caffeine powered the renaissance in Europe, and today you can see that heavy caffeine consuming cultures tend to reside in stage blue orange. 

Tea is an important component of Zen. In East Asia tea is often attributed mystical properties.

Psychedelics are more potent for the transition to Tier 2.

@See that's a good thing to remember - really good idea to keep caffeine consumption to the early part of the day!

Wow, I find this very interesting, it makes sense that caffeine has created a shift into orange for modern societies. Thanks for your response.

[calibrate]

O coffee! By the mighty Name of Power do I invoke thee, consecrating thee to the Service of the Magic of Light. Let the pulsations of my heart be strong and regular and slow! Let my brain be wakeful and active in its supreme task of self-control! That my desired end may be effected through Thy strength, Adonai, unto Whom be the Glory for ever! Amen without lie, and Amen, and Amen of Amen.

[Gili Trawangan]

Coffee will be the last addiction I ever let go of. It's too good, it's a source of tremendous pleasure. And yes, sometimes it creates restlessness as well, but hey, karma.

[Jonac]

3 hours ago, calibrate said:

O coffee! By the mighty Name of Power do I invoke thee, consecrating thee to the Service of the Magic of Light. Let the pulsations of my heart be strong and regular and slow! Let my brain be wakeful and active in its supreme task of self-control! That my desired end may be effected through Thy strength, Adonai, unto Whom be the Glory for ever! Amen without lie, and Amen, and Amen of Amen.

nice

[calibrate]

2 hours ago, Jonac said:

nice

Not my quote though

[remember]

i like good coffee, tried to stop drinking it but there are so many fair trade coffee shops in berlin where people roast themselves and i get this vibrant feeling there. this is where people wake up in the morning completely and start their day. there are not much other places to hang around for a while without having to pay much. except maybe libraries.

where do you get your coffee from?

Edited February 22, 2020 by remember

[Nahm]

On 2/19/2020 at 9:54 AM, wanna155 said:

I also attached negative feelings towards caffeine as I read somewhere that it actually "lowers your vibration" --> whatever that might mean

The ‘lowered vibration’ is a way of saying... the coffee is just the coffee, the feeling is in response to the thought about coffee.

[Moreira]

caffeine triggers adrenaline, dont confuse it with consciousness

[Lynnel]

On 19/02/2020 at 7:07 PM, outlandish said:

Caffeine amplifies Orange resonance within Spiral Dynamics, and to a lesser extent Yellow. It de-resonates Blue and Green. So it can potentiate the transition from Blue to Orange because the wakefulness and alertness that it promotes is conducive to analytical/rational thought. It helps "wake up" from the slumber of dogmatic thinking and begin stimulating rational investigation.

Excuse me but how in the world did you come to those conclusions ?

Yes it sounds coherent on paper but how would anything you consume amplify resonance with a certain spiral dynamic stage ? Isn't that too far-stretched ?