Peter Ralston on Psychedelics in more detail

[Display_Name]

14 hours ago, Nak Khid said:

Ralston spent thousands of hours in Zen mediation

He was in a Zen environment but always contemplated directly. I’m only repeating what he himself said in an online satsang just a couple weeks ago. He doesn’t see himself as Zen.

Anyway, doesn’t really matter. I like Zen.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Display_Name

[Meister_Eckhart]

@Leo Gura I just read through this interesting thread, and I wonder:

How can you be so certain of the truth of your insights through psychedelic experiences? Sometimes I wonder if you are actually considering that (some of) those insights could just as well be your own fantasy interpretations which may be false. Couldn't that be ego being so deceptive that one doesn't see it? This is not an attack but a genuine inquiry.

Informative on this topic: Quoted from the book 'consciousness dialogues' by Ralston:

''First, drugs don't increase consciousness; they only shift one's state of mind. Such shifts can be dramatic and might assist someone who is otherwise completely stuck or close-minded to open up. But when all is said and done, whether an "insight" is accompanied by a drug or meditation or bumping your head, you need to ask: what are you actually conscious of now that you weren't conscious of before? In other words, beyond the phenomena, what you believe, thoughts you have, visions you might have had, etc., what are you actually and presently conscious of?
The answer is frequently: nothing. Meaning there is no increase in "consciousness"; there is simply the memory of dramatic experiences. Dramatic experiences come and go. Some are really neat or fascinating, some are very pleasant, some are frightening, but a perceived experience means little more than itself. In other words, it is what it is: a dramatic episode in one's mind and perceptions. From these we sometimes have new thoughts or make conclusions, which may or may not be useful, but they are not anything more meaningful than that.
It is possible to have a real insight or even an enlightenment experience regardless of the circumstances (the word "experience" in this case is not accurate, but it is used to hold the place of a true increase or awakening in consciousness that does not occur as a perception). And if this is the case, it does not disappear when the drug does or when you stop meditating, or you recover from your concussion, or whatever. The ability to conveniently interpret our perceptions - and so virtually "create" a world that we believe in or wish to be so - is very strong in humans. We do it all the time, especially with " spiritual" pursuits. It is a much more powerful direction to strip as much belief and fantasy from our experience as we can. I recommend doing so without replacing them with more assumptions or beliefs about what is true. Try instead to float in a sea of not knowing for a while, being open to an experience of whatever is actually true."

[asifarahim]

@Leo Gura do u get your kundalini risen to sahasra chakra permenently