Here&Now2
Established member
Here's an interesting book I just came across relating to the use of 5-MeO-DMT specifically as a meditation tool.
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A Meditation Thread
- Thread starter DmnStr8
- Start date
I am not the best person to ask life advice from. I am a pretty screwed up and still healing and working it all out. A work in progress. That is my disclaimer brother.
I think the way you frame this is part of the problem. Your foot is already inside the door along with your whole being. There is no door. Everything that you want to live authentically is already within.
Maybe I have been watching too much Alan Watts lately but you are what you have been seeking. I think Rumi said something to that effect as well. Wait a second.. I heard Ram Dass and several other spiritual teachers say the same thing. They are all saying the same stuff. They are all pointing the same direction. Countless self-help books, ted talks, youtube videos of every guru you can name, I tried therapy once, tried talking to friends, used psychedelics and tried so many other things to figure out how to get myself out of the hell I was in for so many years. It wasn't until I started meditating that I started to see what the problem was.
You don't need psychedelics to be a springboard. You could do it without them. Choose to be authentically you. This is something I have been trying to do lately, although it feels clumsy and awkward for me at times. I really do think that you have to go to your heart to know who you really are. What really grabs you in life? What do you love in this world? Follow that and you will find yourself at the end, waiting for your own arrival if you don't mind paraphrasing Derek Walcott.
Keep on learning, growing, watch Ram Dass and Alan Watts, read those books, keep striving to expand your consciousness. But while you do that, pay attention to how you do it. Do it with love and excitement. If something is a hindrance, drop it, if it helps, pick it up.
They all helped. I don't measure help.
Watch that mind and see that is the thing getting in your way. Psychedelics can help you see this as well as many other tools. But YOU need to see it. I am still learning this myself. Not sure if this even answers your query. Don't follow the lost, I have no idea where I am going or what I am doing.
Never tried it. It's on my to-do list.
Here&Now2
Established member
Great advice, thank you. I especially appreciate and resonate with how you have an enthusiasm for all of it. I often see people refer to spiritual development using terms like "work", and I just can't relate to that mentality. For me, it's always such an exciting adventure. I'll try to keep the "already enlightened" aspect in mind when I find myself striving excessively.
Good god, man, you really should if you get a chance. Based on what I've seen of your posts, it's almost even more up your alley than it is mine. In my experience, its breakthrough state is the personification of everything you're describing, where the gateless gate is crossed and the illusion of separation is fully cast off. Low and medium doses are super helpful as well, while being much less potentially terrifying.
I want to share this book, "Mindfulness With Breathing: A Manual for Serious Beginners", by Bikkhu Buddhadasa and Santikaro (the editor). It consists on the edited transcription of a sequential series of talks that Buddhadasa (one of the foremost 20th century teachers in the Thai Forest Tradition) gave on the Anapanasati Sutta. I haven't found a more practical and thorough exposition of anapanasati meditation. It manages to explain the sutta and be faithful to it while giving specific, down-to-earth explanations and instructions. A caveat is that the editor and translator may not have always made the best choices when translating some terms, in my opinion, but they're not bad either. I think this book is relevant for anyone interested in meditation.
I would like to share how I personally managed to stop my brain from racing, and to become physically and mentally relaxed.
You can manage this by holding your breath, and observing when your CO2 levels in your blood becomes unbearable (the feeling of choking). At that point, exhale slowly, and take a minimal amount of oxygen in. If your body panics, take more oxygen in. The goal is not to feel suffocating, but to hover just above that point in a relaxed way.
You will notice your body does not need much oxygen if you don't move. And by having little oxygen, you 'tell' your body to relax even more. Soon, you will notice that the biggest user of the oxygen is your brain. With a little practice, you can disconnect most if not all thought patterns. Slow down your thinking. Slow down your feelings. Just observe.
Soon you will have minimal flow (dualism) in your body, your thoughts, and your feelings. All that will remain is consciousness. When you totally 'see', deeply understand, that 'you' ARE that consciousness, you can start using your body, thoughts, feelings again. But now from a perspective that those things (body, thoughts & feelings) are not you: but are observed by consciousness. Not 'your' consciousness. Ego does not exist, but in your brain, as a construct.
It is my personal experience that that consciousness is 'in the background': everywhere. Our bodies/thoughts/feelings are just point of views: for the One Consciousness that permeates through all things: humans, animals, plants, rocks, the sun. Perhaps I can make an analogy with paper (consciousness), and the molecules, the body/feelings/thoughts that 'write' on this paper: manifesting themselves on this paper, in this universe. Our ego thinks that we are the drawing. But we are the paper. And there is no 'we'. There is only paper. And things manifesting on that paper. Which we then call 'me'. But in the core: its only paper: the cosmic background consciousness.
Its hard to talk about the experience in words. I hope this makes any sense to anybody.
You can manage this by holding your breath, and observing when your CO2 levels in your blood becomes unbearable (the feeling of choking). At that point, exhale slowly, and take a minimal amount of oxygen in. If your body panics, take more oxygen in. The goal is not to feel suffocating, but to hover just above that point in a relaxed way.
You will notice your body does not need much oxygen if you don't move. And by having little oxygen, you 'tell' your body to relax even more. Soon, you will notice that the biggest user of the oxygen is your brain. With a little practice, you can disconnect most if not all thought patterns. Slow down your thinking. Slow down your feelings. Just observe.
Soon you will have minimal flow (dualism) in your body, your thoughts, and your feelings. All that will remain is consciousness. When you totally 'see', deeply understand, that 'you' ARE that consciousness, you can start using your body, thoughts, feelings again. But now from a perspective that those things (body, thoughts & feelings) are not you: but are observed by consciousness. Not 'your' consciousness. Ego does not exist, but in your brain, as a construct.
It is my personal experience that that consciousness is 'in the background': everywhere. Our bodies/thoughts/feelings are just point of views: for the One Consciousness that permeates through all things: humans, animals, plants, rocks, the sun. Perhaps I can make an analogy with paper (consciousness), and the molecules, the body/feelings/thoughts that 'write' on this paper: manifesting themselves on this paper, in this universe. Our ego thinks that we are the drawing. But we are the paper. And there is no 'we'. There is only paper. And things manifesting on that paper. Which we then call 'me'. But in the core: its only paper: the cosmic background consciousness.
Its hard to talk about the experience in words. I hope this makes any sense to anybody.
thanks a lot! just by quickly going through the contents it seems to be truly a masterpiece
It does make sense and I really like what you wrote. I feel the same way.
Thank you!
Namaste
Nice! Thank you for this. I will give it a read.
I like this guy!
He has a great channel with lots of meditation content, including some free meditation courses.
He has a great channel with lots of meditation content, including some free meditation courses.
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northape
Guide
I remember him. He's Russian from a Hare Krishna like sect. I didn't know that they went international.
There are quite a few hardcore yogis in Russia. But they are too into it, imo.
A lot of absolute truths without considering other points of view.
Still, from the yogic perspective, everything is by the book. Tantra would be more fluid in comparison.
Check out Satya Speaks on YouTube. He speaks about spirituality in general, but I like his down-to-Earth approach.
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I kind of got that impression of absolute truth you are talking about. That sort of thing does not really bother me. I like to borrow from any place I can to support my meditation practice. I have learned much from many cultures around the world. This was the first time I saw this guy and I like his happiness and friendly demeanor.
I like the Satya video. We have some beautifully wise people walking with us in this world! Very grateful that they choose to share with us.
One day, Master Roken led Tetsuo to a small pond near the temple. The water's surface reflected the surrounding pines and flowering plants with startling clarity. “Sit and watch,” the master instructed, gesturing for Tetsuo to take a seat on a smooth, flat rock at the water's edge.
Tetsuo lowered himself, resting on the rock, and gazed at the pond. He saw fish gliding beneath the surface. Little by little, he noticed the reflection of the sky, the clouds, and even his own expression mirrored in the water. For several minutes, he simply observed. Then, with no warning, Master Roken picked up a small stone and tossed it into the pond. A series of ripples spread across the surface, distorting all reflections. The once-still mirror of water became a wiggling pattern of shifting circles.
“Observe how the ripples change what you see,” Master Roken said softly. “Though the water was perfectly clear before, one stone can scatter the reflection. That is like the mind. You have a natural capacity for clarity, yet small 'stones'—the worries, fears, and concerns—disrupt the surface.”
Tetsuo watched those ripples until they faded and the pond returned to tranquility. “So, if I stop throwing stones into my mind, I'll be calm?” he asked, a spark of hope in his voice.
“Indeed, but remember: you are not always the one throwing stones. Sometimes life hurls them at you. Sometimes old memories do. Sometimes the mind itself does. Stillness is not about controlling the entire world. It's about learning to let the water become still once again, no matter how many stones get tossed in.”
Tetsuo lowered himself, resting on the rock, and gazed at the pond. He saw fish gliding beneath the surface. Little by little, he noticed the reflection of the sky, the clouds, and even his own expression mirrored in the water. For several minutes, he simply observed. Then, with no warning, Master Roken picked up a small stone and tossed it into the pond. A series of ripples spread across the surface, distorting all reflections. The once-still mirror of water became a wiggling pattern of shifting circles.
“Observe how the ripples change what you see,” Master Roken said softly. “Though the water was perfectly clear before, one stone can scatter the reflection. That is like the mind. You have a natural capacity for clarity, yet small 'stones'—the worries, fears, and concerns—disrupt the surface.”
Tetsuo watched those ripples until they faded and the pond returned to tranquility. “So, if I stop throwing stones into my mind, I'll be calm?” he asked, a spark of hope in his voice.
“Indeed, but remember: you are not always the one throwing stones. Sometimes life hurls them at you. Sometimes old memories do. Sometimes the mind itself does. Stillness is not about controlling the entire world. It's about learning to let the water become still once again, no matter how many stones get tossed in.”
I enjoyed this article. I copy and pasted it for ease of use.
For such a simple activity, meditation is notoriously complicated. You need nothing to meditate: no special garb, no esoteric trinkets, no supervision. Yet, when the time comes to just sit, to calm and observe the mind, many are stunned and overcome by the inevitable flood of thoughts.
Thoughts of worry, thoughts of self, and thoughts of thoughts, all spring to the front of your attention. Perhaps the first real challenge of cultivating a meditation practice is realizing what exactly you are trying to do.
Embarking on a psychedelic experience, on the other hand, is overwhelming in a different way. If meditation sets you on the arduous path toward the center of conscious experience, psychedelics transport you directly into the thick of it. Psychedelics, after all, are often considered a shortcut to some of the insights reached through meditation.
There is some truth to this idea of psychedelics as a shortcut, but it carries misconceptions about both psychedelics and meditation. Consciousness is an elusive yet ever-present phenomenon that can be explored in many ways—using one method to skip another overlooks the compounding effect of using both, together.
Before discussing the neurological overlap of psychedelics and meditation, we must first explain an area of our brain known as the default mode network (DMN). The default mode network is aptly named. This part of our minds is active when we remember, plan, and self-reflect. It helps constitute our sense of self. By no coincidence, the DMN is often overactive in depressed patients, who struggle to stop thinking about themselves in a negative light.
The DMN accounts for our normal, everyday thinking patterns that protect our sanity. At the same time, the DMN confines us to our everyday insanity.
A comparative study examined different brain scans of people using LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca, and compared them to brain scans of people in meditative states. In psychedelic and meditative brain states, the researchers found similar alterations in the DMN. While not all psychedelic substances and types of meditation interact with the DMN in the same way, the brain scans have demonstrated that both techniques consistently disrupt our DMN and sense of self.
From a subjective perspective, the changes in the DMN related to meditation and psychedelic use are accompanied by feelings of peace, moments of insight, and internal transformation. They are also consistent with findings that meditation and substances like LSD or MDMA can be used to treat depression and anxiety. If the experiential anecdotes aren’t enough, now science is joining the argument that psychedelics and meditation are two sides of the same coin.
For instance, combining marijuana with meditation may be markedly different than MDMA meditation. The dosage amount, too, will significantly alter your meditation. While a low dose of marijuana combined with meditation is an experience you can direct and control, a full-blown ayahuasca trip is an entirely different type of meditation that may have to control you instead. At some point, the lines may even blur between the two practices.
Maintain a consistent meditation practice beforehand. Without a healthy practice, someone trying to meditate with psychedelics will be in two unfamiliar territories, instead of just one. A lack of preparation may end up frustrating or derailing you.
You can take additional steps in your diet and lifestyle. For example, it is common in ayahuasca ceremonies to refrain from sex, drugs, alcohol, and even certain foods. There’s a physical reason for this, but these steps also frame the experience and bring it to focus.
In your first attempt to meditate, a full dose of LSD may be too much to handle. You can lower the amount, or even try to use another substance instead. Marijuana edibles are common to pair with meditation. The delayed onset of effects and more regulated doses makes it easier to manage than many other substances, which is especially helpful with mindfulness meditation.
MDMA, for example, strongly influences your physical senses. Instead of meditating on some internal, mental processes, it may work better with meditation that involves external stimuli. For instance, you can meditate upon a piece of music, some visual stimulation, or even incorporate a physical practice like yoga or breath work. These types of meditation bring out the effects of a substance like MDMA, highlighting them as the intentional focus of the trip.
Marijuana or lower doses of psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, or ayahuasca can work well with directed types of meditation. They can enhance meditation techniques like mindfulness, contemplative meditation, and mantra repetition without hijacking the experience.
Depending on your substance and personal meditation practice, adapt and adjust your approach to what you think will work best.
If you have company during the experience, make sure they aren’t trying to lead you to any particular conclusion or end. If you are going alone, the same idea applies to yourself. Maintain focus, approach it lightly, and don’t force yourself.
Too many goals and intentions can become a roadblock to learning and growth. It is essential to observe and define your desires from psychedelic meditation, and perhaps to abandon them entirely. While there are techniques that can help with your psychedelic meditation, you should not regard them as ways to “get you there.” Instead, use these techniques and considerations to get out of your own way.
thethirdwave.co
For such a simple activity, meditation is notoriously complicated. You need nothing to meditate: no special garb, no esoteric trinkets, no supervision. Yet, when the time comes to just sit, to calm and observe the mind, many are stunned and overcome by the inevitable flood of thoughts.
Thoughts of worry, thoughts of self, and thoughts of thoughts, all spring to the front of your attention. Perhaps the first real challenge of cultivating a meditation practice is realizing what exactly you are trying to do.
Embarking on a psychedelic experience, on the other hand, is overwhelming in a different way. If meditation sets you on the arduous path toward the center of conscious experience, psychedelics transport you directly into the thick of it. Psychedelics, after all, are often considered a shortcut to some of the insights reached through meditation.
There is some truth to this idea of psychedelics as a shortcut, but it carries misconceptions about both psychedelics and meditation. Consciousness is an elusive yet ever-present phenomenon that can be explored in many ways—using one method to skip another overlooks the compounding effect of using both, together.
Psychedelics, meditation, and the default mode network
Thanks to advanced brain scanning technology, researchers have been able to observe and map neurological changes in altered conscious states. Some of the most interesting results come from studies where patients use psychedelics or entered meditative states. These studies confirm the common anecdotal reports of both experiences and provide a scientific explanation for the feeling of ego dissolution.Before discussing the neurological overlap of psychedelics and meditation, we must first explain an area of our brain known as the default mode network (DMN). The default mode network is aptly named. This part of our minds is active when we remember, plan, and self-reflect. It helps constitute our sense of self. By no coincidence, the DMN is often overactive in depressed patients, who struggle to stop thinking about themselves in a negative light.
The DMN accounts for our normal, everyday thinking patterns that protect our sanity. At the same time, the DMN confines us to our everyday insanity.
A comparative study examined different brain scans of people using LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca, and compared them to brain scans of people in meditative states. In psychedelic and meditative brain states, the researchers found similar alterations in the DMN. While not all psychedelic substances and types of meditation interact with the DMN in the same way, the brain scans have demonstrated that both techniques consistently disrupt our DMN and sense of self.
From a subjective perspective, the changes in the DMN related to meditation and psychedelic use are accompanied by feelings of peace, moments of insight, and internal transformation. They are also consistent with findings that meditation and substances like LSD or MDMA can be used to treat depression and anxiety. If the experiential anecdotes aren’t enough, now science is joining the argument that psychedelics and meditation are two sides of the same coin.
What are you trying to do?
There are different psychedelics and different types of meditation. Before pursuing psychedelic meditation, you should consider where you are and where you want to be. Depending on your individual experience, one psychedelic may be a better option than another.For instance, combining marijuana with meditation may be markedly different than MDMA meditation. The dosage amount, too, will significantly alter your meditation. While a low dose of marijuana combined with meditation is an experience you can direct and control, a full-blown ayahuasca trip is an entirely different type of meditation that may have to control you instead. At some point, the lines may even blur between the two practices.
Techniques for Psychedelic Meditation
No matter how you decide to approach psychedelic meditation, there are a few techniques that can support the experience.Mise en place
Preparation is key when using psychedelics. Psychedelics are more enjoyable and manageable when you enter with an open, ready mind. When you add meditation to the mix, that mental lightness is even more critical. With adequate preparation, when the time comes to surrender to the experience, you will do so with ease.Maintain a consistent meditation practice beforehand. Without a healthy practice, someone trying to meditate with psychedelics will be in two unfamiliar territories, instead of just one. A lack of preparation may end up frustrating or derailing you.
You can take additional steps in your diet and lifestyle. For example, it is common in ayahuasca ceremonies to refrain from sex, drugs, alcohol, and even certain foods. There’s a physical reason for this, but these steps also frame the experience and bring it to focus.
Ease in
There are psychedelics, there is meditation, and there is psychedelic meditation. If you are concerned about a substance taking over your meditation, ease into your dosage, cut it down to less than you think, and work your way upwards from there. Find your balance.In your first attempt to meditate, a full dose of LSD may be too much to handle. You can lower the amount, or even try to use another substance instead. Marijuana edibles are common to pair with meditation. The delayed onset of effects and more regulated doses makes it easier to manage than many other substances, which is especially helpful with mindfulness meditation.
Mind your meditation
Some substances may be more suitable for your preferred type of meditation.MDMA, for example, strongly influences your physical senses. Instead of meditating on some internal, mental processes, it may work better with meditation that involves external stimuli. For instance, you can meditate upon a piece of music, some visual stimulation, or even incorporate a physical practice like yoga or breath work. These types of meditation bring out the effects of a substance like MDMA, highlighting them as the intentional focus of the trip.
Marijuana or lower doses of psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, or ayahuasca can work well with directed types of meditation. They can enhance meditation techniques like mindfulness, contemplative meditation, and mantra repetition without hijacking the experience.
Depending on your substance and personal meditation practice, adapt and adjust your approach to what you think will work best.
Take a cue from the experts
Many therapists who treat with psychedelics use the same method, which is simple and effective. They provide a comfortable physical setting, put on relaxing music or ambience, and then get out of the way. Find yourself a welcoming place to sit or rest; somewhere you can imagine settling into for a while. Having an unobtrusive soundtrack or background audio can help you anchor your attention.If you have company during the experience, make sure they aren’t trying to lead you to any particular conclusion or end. If you are going alone, the same idea applies to yourself. Maintain focus, approach it lightly, and don’t force yourself.
Tantalus
Trying to harness the mind in meditation is a bit like holding a water wiggly—those tubular, slippery, jelly-filled toys that leap out of your hand whenever you try to hold onto them. With the addition of a psychedelic state of mind, it could be like grasping with a greased hand.Too many goals and intentions can become a roadblock to learning and growth. It is essential to observe and define your desires from psychedelic meditation, and perhaps to abandon them entirely. While there are techniques that can help with your psychedelic meditation, you should not regard them as ways to “get you there.” Instead, use these techniques and considerations to get out of your own way.
How to Combine Meditation with Psychedelic Use [2023]
Psychedelics and meditation produce similar changes in consciousness, but can you combine the two? Here are some tips that might help you.
thethirdwave.co
CommonConduit
🎨 ‘Los Amantes’ by Remedios Varo
I enjoyed this article. I copy and pasted it for ease of use.
For such a simple activity, meditation is notoriously complicated. You need nothing to meditate: no special garb, no esoteric trinkets, no supervision. Yet, when the time comes to just sit, to calm and observe the mind, many are stunned and overcome by the inevitable flood of thoughts.
Thoughts of worry, thoughts of self, and thoughts of thoughts, all spring to the front of your attention. Perhaps the first real challenge of cultivating a meditation practice is realizing what exactly you are trying to do.
Embarking on a psychedelic experience, on the other hand, is overwhelming in a different way. If meditation sets you on the arduous path toward the center of conscious experience, psychedelics transport you directly into the thick of it. Psychedelics, after all, are often considered a shortcut to some of the insights reached through meditation.
There is some truth to this idea of psychedelics as a shortcut, but it carries misconceptions about both psychedelics and meditation. Consciousness is an elusive yet ever-present phenomenon that can be explored in many ways—using one method to skip another overlooks the compounding effect of using both, together.
Psychedelics, meditation, and the default mode network
Thanks to advanced brain scanning technology, researchers have been able to observe and map neurological changes in altered conscious states. Some of the most interesting results come from studies where patients use psychedelics or entered meditative states. These studies confirm the common anecdotal reports of both experiences and provide a scientific explanation for the feeling of ego dissolution.
Before discussing the neurological overlap of psychedelics and meditation, we must first explain an area of our brain known as the default mode network (DMN). The default mode network is aptly named. This part of our minds is active when we remember, plan, and self-reflect. It helps constitute our sense of self. By no coincidence, the DMN is often overactive in depressed patients, who struggle to stop thinking about themselves in a negative light.
The DMN accounts for our normal, everyday thinking patterns that protect our sanity. At the same time, the DMN confines us to our everyday insanity.
A comparative study examined different brain scans of people using LSD, psilocybin, and ayahuasca, and compared them to brain scans of people in meditative states. In psychedelic and meditative brain states, the researchers found similar alterations in the DMN. While not all psychedelic substances and types of meditation interact with the DMN in the same way, the brain scans have demonstrated that both techniques consistently disrupt our DMN and sense of self.
From a subjective perspective, the changes in the DMN related to meditation and psychedelic use are accompanied by feelings of peace, moments of insight, and internal transformation. They are also consistent with findings that meditation and substances like LSD or MDMA can be used to treat depression and anxiety. If the experiential anecdotes aren’t enough, now science is joining the argument that psychedelics and meditation are two sides of the same coin.
What are you trying to do?
There are different psychedelics and different types of meditation. Before pursuing psychedelic meditation, you should consider where you are and where you want to be. Depending on your individual experience, one psychedelic may be a better option than another.
For instance, combining marijuana with meditation may be markedly different than MDMA meditation. The dosage amount, too, will significantly alter your meditation. While a low dose of marijuana combined with meditation is an experience you can direct and control, a full-blown ayahuasca trip is an entirely different type of meditation that may have to control you instead. At some point, the lines may even blur between the two practices.
Techniques for Psychedelic Meditation
No matter how you decide to approach psychedelic meditation, there are a few techniques that can support the experience.
Mise en place
Preparation is key when using psychedelics. Psychedelics are more enjoyable and manageable when you enter with an open, ready mind. When you add meditation to the mix, that mental lightness is even more critical. With adequate preparation, when the time comes to surrender to the experience, you will do so with ease.
Maintain a consistent meditation practice beforehand. Without a healthy practice, someone trying to meditate with psychedelics will be in two unfamiliar territories, instead of just one. A lack of preparation may end up frustrating or derailing you.
You can take additional steps in your diet and lifestyle. For example, it is common in ayahuasca ceremonies to refrain from sex, drugs, alcohol, and even certain foods. There’s a physical reason for this, but these steps also frame the experience and bring it to focus.
Ease in
There are psychedelics, there is meditation, and there is psychedelic meditation. If you are concerned about a substance taking over your meditation, ease into your dosage, cut it down to less than you think, and work your way upwards from there. Find your balance.
In your first attempt to meditate, a full dose of LSD may be too much to handle. You can lower the amount, or even try to use another substance instead. Marijuana edibles are common to pair with meditation. The delayed onset of effects and more regulated doses makes it easier to manage than many other substances, which is especially helpful with mindfulness meditation.
Mind your meditation
Some substances may be more suitable for your preferred type of meditation.
MDMA, for example, strongly influences your physical senses. Instead of meditating on some internal, mental processes, it may work better with meditation that involves external stimuli. For instance, you can meditate upon a piece of music, some visual stimulation, or even incorporate a physical practice like yoga or breath work. These types of meditation bring out the effects of a substance like MDMA, highlighting them as the intentional focus of the trip.
Marijuana or lower doses of psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, or ayahuasca can work well with directed types of meditation. They can enhance meditation techniques like mindfulness, contemplative meditation, and mantra repetition without hijacking the experience.
Depending on your substance and personal meditation practice, adapt and adjust your approach to what you think will work best.
Take a cue from the experts
Many therapists who treat with psychedelics use the same method, which is simple and effective. They provide a comfortable physical setting, put on relaxing music or ambience, and then get out of the way. Find yourself a welcoming place to sit or rest; somewhere you can imagine settling into for a while. Having an unobtrusive soundtrack or background audio can help you anchor your attention.
If you have company during the experience, make sure they aren’t trying to lead you to any particular conclusion or end. If you are going alone, the same idea applies to yourself. Maintain focus, approach it lightly, and don’t force yourself.
Tantalus
Trying to harness the mind in meditation is a bit like holding a water wiggly—those tubular, slippery, jelly-filled toys that leap out of your hand whenever you try to hold onto them. With the addition of a psychedelic state of mind, it could be like grasping with a greased hand.
Too many goals and intentions can become a roadblock to learning and growth. It is essential to observe and define your desires from psychedelic meditation, and perhaps to abandon them entirely. While there are techniques that can help with your psychedelic meditation, you should not regard them as ways to “get you there.” Instead, use these techniques and considerations to get out of your own way.
How to Combine Meditation with Psychedelic Use [2023]
Psychedelics and meditation produce similar changes in consciousness, but can you combine the two? Here are some tips that might help you.
@purrpuss
purrpuss
Feed me!!
This is very interesting! Do you have any experience breath training from the sport diving? I've been learning and practicing some of this as a means to cultivating deeper stillness during meditation (super low heart rates, breathing rates, and systemic metabolic rates).
Also have you ever tried any 3-4 hour meditations? I'm very curious whether you would feel like your mind slowed down after 3-4 hours of sitting.
As for myself, I don't really have intrusive thoughts, so I cannot speak to this predicament but I do seem to meet people that express having this. It's inspiring to me that you found this to be clarifying or calming in some way. I feel like that is worth exploring and exercising.
This was great. For some reason the two cultures tend to oftentimes be very separate, except perhaps some shamans who have a long history of practice asceticism, diet, and various disciplines alongside the plant psychedelics. I feel that it must also be noted that Meditation is embedded in the context of one's way of life. What your way of life is, affects your meditation, and vice versa. They are deeply intertwined. As such, anyone whose interest is meditation, also naturally takes an interest in every other moment of the day. Should you make your way of life healthy or unhealthy, you will see that reflected in your meditation. As such I feel like there are also some more extend, general guidelines to psychedelic meditation beyond this image we have in our mind of a lotus posture:
Some elements to Psychedelic Meditation:
-Healthy social relationships, or a healthy way of relating with those around us. (Unhealthy relationships can have a great effects on our psyche, as can very healthy relationships.)
-Deep Restorative Sleep (Extremely powerful, and particularly worth mentioning for modern society in my opinion)
-Healthy Food/Drink/Consumbale habits (this can dive into timing and fasting as well)
-Physical ability and skillset to sit with a balanced ease (yes, it's a high skill thing to do)
-Curation of the time & space in one's life for these deep experiences.
(of course there many things but these are a few that came to my mind just now!)
anxiously awaiting your reply,
purrpuss out