Food For The Psychedelic Mind #

If you wish to explore and are stuck for places to start:

Terence McKenna #

Head directly to YouTube and find everything from his ‘Stoned Ape Theory’ to his explanation of the meaning of the ‘I Ching’. It is impossible to do justice to him in a brief introduction, but the breadth of his psychedelic subject matter, his astonishing yet plausible theories and his unparalleled eloquence have rightly elevated him to the status of legend.

Robert Anton Wilson #

As referred to in the first section, his contributions to Leary’s Eight-Circuit Model are singularly instructive. There is one interview in particular worth looking out for, which is published under a variety of titles, including ‘Techniques of Consciousness Change’ and ‘8 Circuit Psychology’.

Quantum Physics #

Have you seen the three Dr Quantum video clips from the ‘What the Bleep Do We Know!?’ documentary? These are essential viewing if you are unfamiliar with ‘The Double Slit Experiment’ and ‘Entanglement’, both of which are fundamental building blocks in the understanding of consciousness and the construct of perceived reality.

This is also an exceptionally good documentary to watch as a whole. Are you far enough down the rabbit hole yet?

Morphic Resonance #

Check out Dr Rupert Sheldrake’s theory, and its potential application to consciousness.

“Morphic resonance is a process whereby self-organising systems inherit a memory from previous similar systems. In its most general formulation, morphic resonance means that the so-called laws of nature are more like habits. The hypothesis of morphic resonance also leads to a radically new interpretation of memory storage in the brain and of biological inheritance. Memory need not be stored in material traces inside brains, which are more like TV receivers than video recorders, tuning into influences from the past. And biological inheritance need not all be coded in the genes, or in epigenetic modifications of the genes; much of it depends on morphic resonance from previous members of the species. Thus each individual inherits a collective memory from past members of the species, and also contributes to the collective memory, affecting other members of the species in the future.”

This becomes particularly relevant when developed alongside other theories and ideas. One example: given that optical illusions demonstrate a form of pattern recognition and that this occurs across the other senses too, the mind is in some ways a pattern recognition engine. Applying this to memory, your memories may be yours (rather than collective) because the morphic pattern of your last moment fits your own last moment better than anyone else’s last moment. Ditto the moment before, and the moment before that, etc. You thus co-ordinate a point-of-view (this is a McKenna-ism: check complexity and his ‘final earthbound interview’) from the morphic field, and essentially experience your individual perspective.

Dr John Hagelin #

Search and find his eloquent and informative lectures explaining quantum mechanics in understandable terms, which he further links to consciousness itself via the unified field.

Dennis McKenna #

Terence McKenna’s brother, for this quote alone:

“All experience is a drug experience. Whether it’s mediated by our own [endogenous] drugs, or whether it’s mediated by substances that we ingest that are found in plants, cognition, consciousness, the working of the brain, it’s all a chemically mediated process. Life itself is a drug experience.”

The CIA #

Eyeball this, remembering that this IS the CIA:

“This is an aspect of quantum mechanics which applies to the fact that any oscillating frequency(such as a brainwave) reaches two points of complete rest which constitute the boundaries of each individual oscillation(i.e. movement up or down). Without these points of rest, an oscillating wave pattern would be impossible since the points of rest are required to permit the energy to change direction and thus continue vibrating between rigid limits. But it is also true that when, for an infinitesimally brief instant, that energy reaches one of its two points of rest it “clicks out” of time-space and joins infinity(see Exhibit 3, next page). That critical step out of time-space occurs when the speed of the oscillation drops below 10-33 centimeters per second(Planck’s Distance). To use the words of Bentov: 11 … quantum mechanics tell us that when distances go below Planck’s Distance, which is 10-33 CM, we enter, in effect, a new worid.11 To return to our case in point, the human consciousness wave pattern reaches such high frequency that the pattern of “clickouts” comes so close together that there is virtual continuity in it. Then, a portion of that consciousness is actually postulated to establish and maintain its information collection function in those dimensions located between time-space and the Absolute. Thus, as the alrhost continuous “clickout” pattern establishes itself in continuous phase at speeds below Planck’s Distance but before reaching the state of total rest, human consciousness passes through the looking glass of time7space after the fashion of Alice beginning her journey into wonderland. The Gateway experience, with its associated Hemi-Sync technique, is apparently designed, if used systematically and patiently, to enable human consciousness to establish a coherent pattern of perception in those dimensions where speeds below Planck’s distance apply. This holds true irrespective of whether the individual is exercising his consciousness while in his physical body or whether he is doing so after having separated that consciousness from the physical body(i.e. the so called out-of-body state mentioned earlier).”

Read the full PDF [CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5] here:
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5.pdf

The Dalai Lama #

Buddhism? Meditation? Enlightenment? This Dalai Lama quote is undoubtedly a truism: “Broadly speaking, although there are some differences, I think Buddhist philosophy and Quantum Mechanics can shake hands on their view of the world." It is worth seeking out more.

If you are unfamiliar, there is more to this than you might think.

Samadhi #

Along similar lines there is an excellent video on YouTube called Samadhi, This comes in four parts, Part 1 being “Maya, the Illusion of the Self”. It is definitely worth finding the time for.

Documentaries #

Internet search can be your friend. There are countless documentaries to be found on the psychedelics themselves (both botanical and chemical*)*, pioneering individuals (like Shulgin, Einstein and Hoffman) and on a vast array of related topics (such as space-time and relativity).

Finally #

Here is something to dwell upon: aren’t all these great names fundamentally saying the same thing?

Buddha: “The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment”

Lao Tzu: “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present”

Eckart Tolle: “The Power of Now”

Terence McKenna: “The felt presence of immediate experience – this is all you know. Everything else comes as unconfirmed rumour.”

Alan Watt: “I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is”

Ram Dass: “Be Here Now”.

The Last Word #

As fascinating as all this is, don’t spend all your trip time engrossed in it. If you are able to, go outside (safely) and integrate with nature.

PSYCHEDELIC MUSINGS #

Many people use trip time to muse about the nature of self-aware consciousness and what is commonly referred to as reality. I am no different and I always make an effort to engage such contemplation, via one thread or another. In the prior section of this book I provide a number of potential avenues for exploration, chosen more or less at random. One I don’t refer to is time-deflation, upon which I will pontificate here as a further example, as hypothesized via my own deliberations.

The Dictionary of Obscures Sorrows defines a word for the impression that time accelerates as you get older: zenosyne. This is a common manifestation of the human condition. It can be field tested quite easily; for example, by asking a number of randomly selected elderly persons whether their last 10 years appeared to pass more slowly or more quickly than their 10th to 20th years.

Why does this happen? Can I do anything about it? These are questions I have contemplated often, whilst tripping with a number of different psychedelics. I have reached some theoretical and tentative conclusions.

To explore this I would first invite you to consider how your experience of life is constructed. With respect to this I will refer again to Timothy Leary’s eight-circuit model as further developed by Robert Anton Wilson. In a nutshell, you project your reality based upon previously made imprints on your individual psyche. On an ongoing basis your imprints are created via sensory inputs (sights, sounds, etc), with the strongest being made during the imprint vulnerability stages of your life (largely childhood). The overall structure frames your personal interpretation of everything around you, whatever that may be.

At a superficial level I would exemplify this using a simple but well known optical illusion:

[Source: Jastrow, J. (1899), via Wikimedia Commons]

What do you see in the first instance? Some people see a rabbit and others see a duck; in each case this is based upon instant comparison of immediate sensory input versus existing imprints from earlier life experiences. This idea embraces all five senses, not just vision, and it applies similarly to thought. All this occurs sub-consciously.

Behind the scenes your brain is hallucinating and projecting your conscious reality by virtue of a pattern recognition process (current input / already existing imprints).

Having digested and embedded this concept, let us consider the boundary between conscious and sub-conscious.

I contend that repetition breeds subconscious. If you do something often enough you will stop thinking about it and it will become auto-pilot (subconscious) as its existing imprints strengthen. Driving a car is a good example of this.

I walk to a swimming pool on most evenings, yet I cannot tell you anything particular to last night’s walk. However, if you beam me to Timbuktu for a 1k walk I will recall every sight, sound, and smell from that specific walk long into the future. The latter walk will create a sequence of new imprinting whilst the former walk won’t. In Terence Mckenna’s terms it is perhaps a form of habit v novelty, and I should also cite a potential connection to Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of morphic resonance.

My proposition is that fresh imprints are the reference points around which we build our future perception of past time. A lengthy period of habitual tedium and thus no or little imprinting will retrospectively have passed quickly; having been consigned largely to the subconscious. Conversely, frequent exposure to novel or partially novel events during a period will invoke a commensurate level of new imprinting, forging conscious awareness and influencing longer-term perspective; and will thus, retrospectively, have passed more slowly.

If we take this idea into a six month timeframe and compare a period of habit with a period of regular novelty, the retrospective human perception of the latter will be that the time passed much more slowly than the former. This is certainly how it has always worked out during my own investigation and testing.

Over a lifetime it is inevitable that the older you become the less novelty you will encounter and the more habit you will embrace. This is fundamental to the perceived acceleration of time (zenosyne). It follows from this that the intentional introduction of novel episodes at purposely chosen intervals will decelerate time and will extend your life experience, at least retrospectively. Try it.

It’s also worth pointing out the obvious: unless you are a regular long term psychonaut, psychedelic trips themselves are likely to constitute novel episodes. This too is a phenomenon I have personally observed.

Convinced? Probably not, but I invite you to take some of these ideas and strands and consider them for yourself, perhaps whilst tripping. You might be surprised at where it leads.

Finally, Roman philosopher, Seneca, considered that the worthiest use of time was spending it on philosophy and in particular on itself; vis-à-vis considering time, its properties and how to best use it. Whether or not I am abbreviating him with absolute accuracy, this certainly provides further food for the psychedelic mind.

*[Note that, I am well aware that there will be a number of other factors in play which influence the perceived passing of time, but I submit that in the long term the above is a prime driver.]