Thread Suggestion: Guide to Psychedelics for Spiritual Development

[bmcnicho]

It occurred to me that most of us have similar goals in regards to how to use psychedelics which differ from most online communities which are more geared towards recreation.  My impression is that most people here are looking for, in descending order of importance:

1.) Spiritual Development/Metaphysical Insight

2.) Personal Growth/Psychological Understanding

3.) A Responsible Positive Experience

I think a general outline of how to go about pursuing this could be useful for a lot of people.  For example, I’ve done 8 total trips on 3 different substances ranging from low to fairly high doses, 2 of which were ego deaths.  I want to go deeper on this path, but am starting to become aware of just how radical these substances can be

There are a number of questions that arise regarding which substances to take, how often, and at what doses.  When does someone need to take a break to integrate, and when do they need to push things further?  Where is there a risk for mental instability, and when does someone need to access deeper insights? Also what sorts of intentions should people be setting at different stages of the journey?

Obviously, the answers to these questions will be specific to each individual, but I’m wondering if there’s any general guidelines that could point someone in the right direction.  I want to develop a personal philosophy towards psychedelics, but I’m not sure where to start.  The idea of “just do what feels right” seems a bit vague to me. I’m wondering if more experienced users currently have such a philosophy for themselves

Leo currently is at a much more intense level with psychedelics than most people are ready for, so I’m wondering how someone would gradually and safely build up

Edited August 22, 2022 by bmcnicho

[puporing]

You're your own guide .

Something just clicks when you're ready for an awakening. It's not a linear process... I for one can't seem to do some kind of "schedule", and because I want to exhaust the integration aspect from the trips until another.

But everyone has their own preference/way of doing things that work for them.

Edited August 22, 2022 by puporing

[Breakingthewall]

it is difficult to know when one is sanely prudent, or when one is convinced by his ego to stop, that the last thing he wants is to be transcended. I think there is a time when you have to put the pedal to the metal and get into the curvy road without a map. and there is also a time to be cautious and wait. Only your intuition will tell you which is which.

[Kamo]

On 8/21/2022 at 9:21 PM, bmcnicho said:

 

There are a number of questions that arise regarding which substances to take, how often, and at what doses.  When does someone need to take a break to integrate, and when do they need to push things further?  Where is there a risk for mental instability, and when does someone need to access deeper insights? Also what sorts of intentions should people be setting at different stages of the journey?

 

@bmcnicho You basically gotta strategically design your own course of action and ask yourself these questions. But I will give you an idea to get started, but it may be useful to hear your reply to my questions to help you out more directly.

The substance type is up to you, it depends on what you have access to. What are you planning to start with and progress into?

Dose small and work your way up slowly. 

Frequency suggestions would be no more than once a week. But generally you can shoot for 1 trip every 2-4 weeks, for a 6-12 month period. It depends on how you are responding to the trips. Some things need more time to integrate. Others your ready to go 1-2 weeks later, So base your spacing out of the trips as the time you feel you need to integrate. It can range from 1 week to 3 months to sometimes even years before something finally makes sense and is integrated, so your going to have to discover that as you progress. But a general cool down time i feel is 3 weeks on some substances. and 3 months on others. So it depends what your taking. The key is to have have a consistent method.

You may have an intuition telling you if you should wait longer than planned or not, if it arises for you follow it. GIve it another week or 2. There is no rush with this process, and you dont want to over do it. But dont let yourself scare yourself into waiting longer and and longer then never get around to it.

You can push things further at the end of each cycle of 3-4 weeks by increasing the dosage.

You may need to do repeated sessions of the same dose so you become comfortable and familiar in that particular "state"

Risk for mental instability is a risk your taking from the very first time you take any psychedelic, but to elaborate, If you feel your trips are destabilizing your ability to function and carry out your normal survival needs then you will need to discontinue your process for awhile and work through a potential ego backlash then if you restabilize pick back up where you left off or if it is quite bad then move your dose down and continue from there.

Theres never a "need" to access deeper, but there can be a general desire to do so, if thats the case then plan out a trip to go deeper by increasing your dose. 

Dose increment increases vary by substance, some move up by 5mg at a time, others by 1 tab at a time, others by 1 gram at a time. So knowing what substance moves up by what increment is important. Ill list the most common options:

Generally people like to do;

increases by 5mg of the DMT and DMT variants at a time

Increase of .5-1 gram of Psilocybin at a time.

1 tab at a time of LSD or LSD analogs.

2CB and similar variants of 5mg at a time.

These a general boosting numbers after you feel comfortable moving up from the prior dose. Only you know if your gonna handle more.

A nice method is to dose consecutively till your at a dose that is strong, your gauging what you can handle. then repeat that strong dose on the next session week but mindfully be observing the strength of that state and be preparing your mind to go further, then proceed to increase by 1 increment amount on the following session week and observe how that went for you. Then you can repeat the method at every increasing dose being careful to not overstep your boundaries and ability to handle it. But your goal is to find the "sweet spot" and "Breakthrough" dose and stick with that for the majority of your trips for that particular substance. 

For example for LSD, if your doing a 2 week protocol, then week 1 you take 1 tab, week 3; 2 tabs, week 5; 3 tabs, week 7; 3 tabs, week 9; 4 tabs, week 11; 4 tabs, week 13; 5 tabs and so forth till you find your breakthrough dose for that substance. Then when you hit a breakthrough dose give sufficient time to integrate. I like to give it at least 2-3 months. Then after that do the breakthrough dose amount from there onward if your really trying to go deep. But you may have discovered 3 or 4 tabs was a sweet spot where you were able to generate insights then good go with that. But the breakthrough is really what Leo talks about. 

This is just a general guide line. The frequency will vary by protocol, ( 2week, 2 month, sometimes even 6 Months) between dosing, But that would be the general structure.

Intentions are completely subjective, No one here can really give you that answer because we dont know what your life purpose is or what your goals are. Most people have intentions related to questions they have, so make a list of your questions and align your trips with that.

Sometimes the best realizations come when your intention is to have an open mind and let the trip show you what ever it has to offer with zero expectations. Expectation can sometimes interfere with insights. It gets all egoically co opted, imo.

Just you asking these questions at all is already a good mental frame work to be in to begin this journey using these tools, so i have no doubt you will be able to figure it out for yourself. But if you have any direct questions I can answer for you feel free to ask.

Hope this helps and safe psychic travels! 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Kamo