Do our belief's affect insights from psychedelics?

[Matthew85]

At one point in my journey to understand consciousness I became very interested in near death experiences. I read every online story and book I could find on the subject. One apparent pattern I noticed was often the NDE's were shaped and colored by the persons religion and culture. It was obvious the belief's of the people were affecting what they experienced. Eventually I discarded most of the religious and cultural aspects of the experiences and looked mostly at the other consensus themes that were commonly experienced. 

Could a similar thing be occurring when we use psychedelic's to gain insights? For instance, Leo has had many insights that have shown him reality works in a very similar way to video games. He has a background in video game design. Could that have had an affect in a similar way that peoples religious belief's or culture influences their near death experiences? I am not saying this negates the truth or validity of his insights. This is not meant as a criticism of Leo, I have nothing but respect and admiration for him. I just find it an interesting coincidence and worth exploring. 

How much do you feel your own belief's may have affected or colored the insights you have had from psychedelics? If our belief's or culture are affecting our insights, is there a way to circumvent this? 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Matthew85

[BipolarGrowth]

You can have a psychedelic level of consciousness just by having a strong belief with a lot of personal meaning behind it. 
 

Beliefs have a lot of power. 

[Matthew85]

2 minutes ago, BipolarGrowth said:

You can have a psychedelic level of consciousness just by having a strong belief with a lot of personal meaning behind it. 
 

Beliefs have a lot of power. 

Yes, belief's are very powerful and can often color our insights. I am interested in discovering truth beyond what my personal belief's are. 

[BipolarGrowth]

31 minutes ago, Matthew85 said:

Yes, belief's are very powerful and can often color our insights. I am interested in discovering truth beyond what my personal belief's are. 

You might get something out of this video I made about this topic last year. 

 

[JuliusCaesar]

Your entire "sober" experience of reality is affected by your beliefs. But ordinary human perception is such that most of what I'm describing here is outside of your awareness. The distortion(what you would call as a law, like the distortion of universal gravitation) at play here follows the logic of the world is whatever you think it is. And as such, if you think it's something other than what you think it is, it must be that also because the world is what you think it is. The paradoxical nature of the human experience often eludes the species because it appears illogical to them.

Edited March 6, 2022 by JuliusCaesar
My mind is faster than my hands

[Matthew85]

59 minutes ago, JuliusCaesar said:

Your entire "sober" experience of reality is affected by your beliefs.

@JuliusCaesar True, are you saying there isn't a way to circumvent this, it's just one of the inherent challenges of using the lens of mind to comprehend mind?

1 hour ago, JuliusCaesar said:

The distortion(what you would call as a law, like the distortion of universal gravitation) at play here follows the logic of the world is whatever you think it is. And as such, if you think it's something other than what you think it is, it must be that also because the world is what you think it is.

You don't feel there are absolute truths?

[JuliusCaesar]

26 minutes ago, Matthew85 said:

True, are you saying there isn't a way to circumvent this, it's just one of the inherent challenges of using the lens of mind to comprehend mind?

Circumvention isn't necessary, you're creating reality regardless of whether you're directly conscious of it or not. It's possible to become conscious of what you're doing, and it's even possible to drive this process deliberately and use it for your own purposes.

 

28 minutes ago, Matthew85 said:

You don't feel there are absolute truths?

Absolute truth is the same as existence. I call what you might call natural laws distortions because there is only one law. And under it, all things are one.

[Matthew85]

@JuliusCaesar I want to understand consciousness, reality and how it is being constructed as clearly as possible. Often it seems our belief's and culture can color or influence the insights we have. If that is happening with me as well, that is what I would want to circumvent. 

[JuliusCaesar]

2 hours ago, Matthew85 said:

@JuliusCaesar I want to understand consciousness, reality and how it is being constructed as clearly as possible. Often it seems our belief's and culture can color or influence the insights we have. If that is happening with me as well, that is what I would want to circumvent. 

You're referring to the delusions of the human species. The wrong beliefs that humans tend to have are often not informed by direct experience in any way, but by ideology given to them by others. So the way to avoid that kind of deception is very simple, you just form your worldview based purely off experience. The alternative is blind faith/dogma, either in religion and/or science which are structurally identical. Of course, the deception is far more complex and also goes much deeper than I've articulated here. But taking into account for the kind of deception which refers to humans holding incorrect views about reality, sheer reliance on direct experience solves about 90% of the problem. The remaining 10% can be gradually resolved via the practice of radical openmindness.

 

 

[Matthew85]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:19 PM, JuliusCaesar said:

The wrong beliefs that humans tend to have are often not informed by direct experience in any way, but by ideology given to them by others.

@JuliusCaesar Very true. This is why I have always verified for myself through direct experience as much as I can. 

On 3/6/2022 at 7:19 PM, JuliusCaesar said:

But taking into account for the kind of deception which refers to humans holding incorrect views about reality, sheer reliance on direct experience solves about 90% of the problem.

It seems we can still have some coloring or distortion even with direct experience, like we see in NDE's for example. Perhaps that is one of the challenges of using the mind to understand the mind and reality. There could be a way to become so conscious that you transcend all human belief's and concepts. I think Leo may have achieved this. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Matthew85

[Matthew85]

@BipolarGrowth Thank you!