Is Terence McKenna underrated as a guru?

[Bodhitree]

I was just listening to his ‘weirdest stories’ on YouTube because it is a great way to loosen up the mind. It made me think that perhaps the world is a bit more magical than I thought. Anyway it started me reading through his quotes on Goodreads, and I came across this quote:

“Chaos is what we've lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control.”

And that put me in mind of a story that Da Free John used to tell, about how enlightenment is like the unclenching of a fist that has been clenched for such a long time that it’s gotten stuck in that pose. Put the two together and suddenly Terence McKenna is talking about enlightenment!

It makes me wonder that maybe the Mushroom is something like a Buddha’s rainbow body, existing beyond in the multiverse...

 

[Vibroverse]

There is no Terence McKenna. He says "hi messed up elves" with his multidimensional messed up voice. 

[Tim R]

Terence is and was no guru. First of all because he himself didn't really understood enlightenment and second because he abhorred the idea of "guru-ship". 

I think he said about enlightenment "it's an act of rational apprehension" which is of course not the case. And he was also famous for "no method no teacher no guru". 

He's great if you want to get lost in mind, the weirdness of the world and crazy concepts, which really can be a lot of fun, but depending on your goal this might not be the right approach. 

[BipolarGrowth]

I think he is underrated, but he never really gave a shit about enlightenment in the normal sense of the word the way we use it here. He said, “I’ve been through the whole spiritual supermarket and rigmaroll, and I find nothing there to interest me on the level of five dried grams of psilocybin mushrooms in silent darkness.” I have to agree with him tbh. For most people, spiritual practices will never match what a high-dose trip can produce. If you see Terence as a guru, the path is simple. Take mushrooms and N-N DMT at high doses your whole life until you die and share your unique ideas with the world while doing so. I think that’s quite a good way to live. Is enlightenment better? Maybe, but only for that 1% or less who seek it who actually get there. The 99% spend their lives doing boring spiritual practices getting less of a robust experience than just doing mushrooms. Of course, I think the best thing to do is to mix both. 

[Bodhitree]

@BipolarGrowth Hmm. Some people have no choice but to follow the enlightenment path. After all, the mystic swims in the waters where the madman drowns, which would you rather be.

[Megan Alecia]

Terence is too fucking great, I feel like nobody should be allowed to talk about him unless they've reached the amount of books this amazing man read.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Megan Alecia

[Preety_India]

I think he was more about psychedelics..