Raves, Festivals and Pure Hedonism

[Phil777]

Hey people,

I was wondering if any of you go to festivals, especially the electronic kind and what Influence it had on your life. To this day I am baffled with the amazingness, beauty and magnitude of these events. I listen to hard dance and recently found this video of the dubstep artist excision:

I mean the reactions of the people there tell it all. It's such a crazy experience. How do you guys think this extreme massacre of qualia and sensual stimulation fit's into the big picture of living the good life? Because I honestly have yet to find any downside to simply going to these festivals as much as possible other than that you basically get addicted to that lifestyle. Mind you, this is some extreme stuff right here and there are softer more traditionally beautiful aspects to festivals of course, not even mentioning going there with friends. 

I have this inkling that as consciousness evolves it sets itself up to experience more and more peak states like that? What's your guys opinion and how do you think these experiences compare to a more reserved, contemplative, meditative lifestyle? If someone forced me to chose between spirituality and the festival lifestyle I think I would chose the latter (doesn't even make sense I know but is just a point to accentuate how significant I think these events are). If God is infinite and infinitely intelligent, doesn't it make sense to ramp up the magnitude, frequency and variety of such experiences into ever more crazy and overwhelmingly beautiful forms for itself.

@Leo Gura

And a question specifically for Leo, watching this video, how does a peak state of enlightenment or god realization compare to it? Asking as a complete naive noobie who doesn't authentically see the value of what you call "this work" over pure hedonistic fuckery like you see above. 

I know this is all off the cuff mental hip fire but these thoughts have been lingering for a while and I would like someone else's perspective.

 

 

 

 

[Phil777]

Also from the world of hard dance. More filthy hedonism. Hope this doesn't get flagged as sexually explicit considering the level of filth shown there.

 

[Thought Art]

Personally think the would be cool but I don't like the sounds

[Preety_India]

I would be okay if there's a decent festival. 

 

[blackchair]

cant wait

[Phil777]

The intro. It definitely seems like the people that go to these raves as well as the artists are more or less aware of the non dual, illusory, dream like nature of reality. I have even seen artists answer in QnAs that they regularly "meditate on the nature of non duality". 

[Willie]

Daaaaaaaamn, that looks and sounds amazing! I’ve been to a couple small raves with 50-100 people on the floor. Never been to a festival. Too many people for me. It’s sensory overload.

[tuckerwphotography]

That looks fucking incredible. What a masterpiece of art and performance. The lighting is next level. 

[Ry4n]

On 2/7/2021 at 5:45 AM, Phil777 said:

The intro. It definitely seems like the people that go to these raves as well as the artists are more or less aware of the non dual, illusory, dream like nature of reality. I have even seen artists answer in QnAs that they regularly "meditate on the nature of non duality". 

Really?!? I'm curious about these non dual artists aha, can you tell me some?

[Leo Gura]

On 2/6/2021 at 10:14 AM, Phil777 said:

And a question specifically for Leo, watching this video, how does a peak state of enlightenment or god realization compare to it? Asking as a complete naive noobie who doesn't authentically see the value of what you call "this work" over pure hedonistic fuckery like you see above.

It doesn't compare at all.

The bliss of awakening cannot be compared to any material pleasure.

[LfcCharlie4]

@Phil777 Awakening only enhances these experiences & places even more. 

It means you go to them as a celebration of life & enjoyment, instead of as an escape for life and coming at it from a sense of lack. 

As you say, enjoy these events, the music, the people, the experience, and if you are going to use Drugs recreationally (including Alcohol in this) make sure to do so safely, sounds so cliché but less is more & the best experiences I had were on lower doses, if you feel the need to get 'completely fucked' every time you go out, it's probably an inclination something is wrong! 

So, in summary, life is for celebrating and enjoying, so go enjoy these events! Luckily you don't have to choose between the two, and in fact integrating spirituality just makes them wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more fun, at least in my experience  

[Aaron p]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

It doesn't compare at all.

The bliss of awakening cannot be compared to any material pleasure.

?

[Dingo]

I had one low LSD dose at a small-scale psytrance rave in nature. That environment was much more friendly towards psychedelic states (mellower, trippier music, people and design), yet still once I started came close to the peak, I saw through all that illusion happening around me and chose to rather sit and meditate there for 30 minutes. It all felt fake, perfectly described as "chasing the dragon" and I spent the rest of the night as far as possible from the stage, where there was a bit less distraction, so I could enjoy the bliss coming from within. I would literally had a more ecstatic experience, if there was no rave at all... that is how these "sensory-overloads" compare to (tiny) peak experience.

[Hugo Oliveira]

There are many types of parties like these. I went a lot in the past. I recommend the most underground and less popular ones. Even though there are many huge festivals that are amazing like Burning Man, Universo Paralello (here in Brazil) Boom (Portugal), and so on. You have to try it out and see how much you connect. For a while, these parties were part of my spiritual exploration. With a bit of LSD (of course). 

I think there are intentions, strong energies, strong connections in these environments. The high level of music and art can be amazing, mainly if you are open-minded. It doesn't need to be a lifestyle. But I consider that it can be very significant and MUCH MORE than a "party". 

[molosku]

just party until you get tired of it, you'll find it won't ultimately satisfy you, only relatively to the mundane boredom you might be experiencing. Try to acquire a taste for festivals/concerts, you will quickly realize how most of the popular ones are waste of time and money, underground is where it's at. Or maybe partying is your life purpose, I couldn't know. Maybe you will be the most legendary party animal there ever was

[Igor82]

My ex used to go to alot of these festivals. That was her lifestyle in her 20's, traveling the world, tripping hundreds of times on LSD while attending festivals.

Here is a research paper I read about Dark Psytrance: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282185848_Pushing_the_Boundaries_Investigating_the_Musical_and_Social_Aesthetics_of_Dark_Psytrance

This article describes in similar words the way my ex described her experiences.

Darkpsy was her favorite. She told me that dancing to it felt like a constant orgasm, especially on LSD, where the bass is the thing that causes the physical pleasure. Then, I can imagine, the collective thoughts, while all others are tripping.

She described a peak experience she had on a darkpsy festival that caused her to roll in the sand, crying in bliss.

Another experience where she took 600ug of LSD without tolerance, just to dance in the front row on a certain festival, where she described the experience as being "SOOOOO DEEP". Hehe, I kind of tried to pick her mind on these stuff, but still to this day, when I am high, I get urges just to listen to some psytrance so that I can uncover the "blissful mystery she described".

But sure, if festivals feel like home for you, if you just have successfully opened a yoga studio, if you have not gone to a festival for 6 months, seeing all your friends there and stuff, dancing with them under the sun, high on LSD, maybe you would roll in the screaming with tears of bliss. I don't know dude. And not knowing this is kind of frustrates me. Makes me feel lower than my ex. lol.

She told me that she once danced for 24 hours straight on "just one drop of acid". Here is one of her favorite festivals: 

Some of those people look quite high quality if you ask me. I would definitely cold approach all of the girls on that festival, I promise ... but watching the vid, I want to teleport away from this winter, right around that bonfire where the girls sit 

Personally, as I sometimes feel jealous and inspired, remembering my ex's stories of her experiences, as I yearn to have a memory of just epic bliss for some reason, I experimented with the darkpsy and psytrance. I have not tripped on a festival though, but I have went to a 3-day festival with 100+ people, and that was quite cool, but no peak experience, just felt as good as a workout with friends. So far for me, I judge the darkpsy lifestyle based on what I perceive from my ex, that it seems destructive. I mean, she danced for 24h straight!?! To Darkpsy?! If you ask me, I'm a classical pianist, I think darkpsy has a lot of room to improve in terms of harmonics. I like to think that the darkpsy is bad for the inner child. But I have not experienced it and have some negative emotions towards my ex so please take this with a grain of salt.

I mean, the main issue is that the festival lifestyle doesn't really teach you the Leo things, so, my Ex had some emotional issues.

But I am sure that an actualized person would really enjoy a festival with epic darkpsy and stuff, if only it doesn't hinder the self-actualization. 

 

To answer your point: For me, festivals seem to be only positive, as a way to invest "travel time" and if it doesn't ruin your self-actualization work. There are peak experiences to be had, comparable to how "there are peak experiences to be had in terms of taking mushrooms". Treat festivals like a giant trip, but don't get lost in the tripping. I think so many get lost in the tripping, so many turn to festivals to fill their holes and find their homes. But if you are self-actualizing, festivals would probably be quite a fun vacation, ideally used as a way to fuel your main lifestyle and purpose. The main thing about festivals is the collective consciousness. 

[Ry4n]

Seems like according to this forum having fun is no longer ok

[nistake]

I used to listen to hardstyle a lot. I even went to the Netherlands 3 times, just to participate hard dance events.

Back then, I wasn't into spirituality and I didn't know anything about self-actualization. I only knew one thing: I loved hardstyle. Those parties and festivales are fond memories. I clearly remember when I was in the crowd and my favorite tracks came on, it was pure bliss. I danced and jumped around like a madman. Nothing mattered, there was no past/future, just the glorious present moment. Almost like a quasi flow oneness state. And the funny thing is that I was completely sober.

I may not enjoy hardstyle that much anymore, I kinda feel like I grew out of it. Although that doesn't mean that it's "high-consciousness" or not. Who cares about labels anyway. Actually, I think I'll go to a hardstyle event just for the fun of it when the this whole covid stuff blows over (if ever).

[blackchair]

uf 2h of pure rave will be heaven for me

[The Buddha]

I don't have anything to say, just wanted to tell that I enjoyed so much this post and all the answers