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A Mind Expanding Religion

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Ragnar2

Rising Star
I believe that the desire of the psychonaut, to have religious experiences through using substances, results from the lack of a convincing established religion. There is no experiential wisdom to be found in, for example, Christianity, but apparently some to be found in DMT.

As a religious missionary I have found the following sort of person to be a viable target demographic: intelligent, open minded, and, depending on your interpretation, either mentally screwed or mentally enhanced by the use of certain types of drugs.

For, to many, the religious doctrine I am about to introduce is: difficult to understand (ameliorated by intelligence), offensive and bizarre (ameliorated by open mindedness), and "dry". This "dryness" is only superficial, and in fact, to one whose mind has been opened/screwed by certain drugs, the inner divinity can be discerned so as to make it very interesting.

The doctrine in question is Templism. One can read about Templism via the Templist Canon, which can be located as a PDF here: Templist Canon (grey) : The Author of TC : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Perhaps the gods who write it are malicious gods, but who knows.
 
You may be overgeneralizing the goals and intents of many psychonauts. Many aren't interested in "religious" experience necessarily.
If we look at the definition of psychonautics, wherein one who is a psychonaut practices or is a part of psychonautics in some way, we see the following:

"refers both to a methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness, including those induced by meditation or mind-altering substances, and to a research cabal in which the researcher voluntarily immerses themselves into an altered mental state in order to explore the accompanying experiences."

One love
 
Ragnar2 said:
I believe that the desire of the psychonaut, to have religious experiences through using substances, results from the lack of a convincing established religion. There is no experiential wisdom to be found in, for example, Christianity, but apparently some to be found in DMT.

As a religious missionary I have found the following sort of person to be a viable target demographic: intelligent, open minded, and, depending on your interpretation, either mentally screwed or mentally enhanced by the use of certain types of drugs.

For, to many, the religious doctrine I am about to introduce is: difficult to understand (ameliorated by intelligence), offensive and bizarre (ameliorated by open mindedness), and "dry". This "dryness" is only superficial, and in fact, to one whose mind has been opened/screwed by certain drugs, the inner divinity can be discerned so as to make it very interesting.

The doctrine in question is Templism. One can read about Templism via the Templist Canon, which can be located as a PDF here: Templist Canon (grey) : The Author of TC : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Perhaps the gods who write it are malicious gods, but who knows.
Click to expand...
I had a brief look at the document, and there is a lot of good there. It broadly aligns with the spiritual goals of ancient traditions - the developement of virtue and ending the cycle of rebirth which was shared among ancient Greece, India, Egypt and others and the broader pagan world.
I do personally think this is the way reality functions and we are subject to its laws whether or not we want to 'believe' in it, and I have had several confirmations of this through psychedelics as have many other explorers like Grof documented in his work. However the specifics of it and working models are yet to be fully understood. Others may have different models.

That said, the aims of psychedelic use are many and not all are spiritually inclined. While the term psychonaut comes from psyche which means mind or soul, in the modern context unlike the ancient Greeks, the fields of psychology, philosophy and spirituality or religion have been seprated so people may persue any of these endeavours as separate areas in themselves. A lot of people in the West are also jaded of religion due to an orthodox religious upbringing based on faith and obediance which psychedelics stand in stark contrast to - the path of direct experience.

Some use psychedelics for recreation, some for psychonautics, some as entheogens and some as a combination of all three so it depends on your intentions.
 
One of the easiest ways to taint a beautiful psychedelic journey is to put some spicy religious dogma on top of it. Thanks, but no thanks. If it is something you enjoy and are being helped by, then by all means go ahead and practice its customs.

But to me the psychedelic experience is so much more than just a religious experience. That's not what I'm looking for when I go in, and it's not something I seek while I'm in there. And every time I come back, it's reiterated upon me how absurd it is to believe that holding a single, dogmatic perspective upon things can offer anything but a thin sliver of illusory understanding. It's never that simple. But that's just my opinion. Yours might differ, and that's perfectly alright.

Also, before this gets out of hand, I want to kindly remind you about one specific point in our Attitude page - No preaching. You know, just in case.

I'm actually interested in the more agnostic side of things - what have psychedelic experiences given you, which can be ideologically separated from religion, and you still find valuable?

Cheers! (y)
 
In the 70's, I took acid trying to see God. When I saw God, he told me to quit taking acid.
Joking.
I figure that many people are trying to find God with psychedelics.
However, I do think that what each person might define God as might vary quite a bit.
I'll say that, for me, God and religion are quite different things.
"Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters"
 
" Elitism | Due to #5, combined with the fact that virtuous qualities are differentially attainable for different people according to genetics: some people are better than others, and those lesser are obligated to serve or otherwise be utilized by those better, so as to advance virtue by proxy. "

Seriously?!? Get out of here with this. A cute appeal to slavery.

We're equal by virtue of being different. So instead of elitism perhaps we need equity so that those that are lacking in  some ways can be elevated by those that aren't lacking or hindered in the same ways (economically for example). We can't help what we're born into, so it seems silly and cognitively limited for one to take credit for what they have that others don't.

One love
 
Voidmatrix said:
" Elitism | Due to #5, combined with the fact that virtuous qualities are differentially attainable for different people according to genetics: some people are better than others, and those lesser are obligated to serve or otherwise be utilized by those better, so as to advance virtue by proxy. "

Seriously?!? Get out of here with this. A cute appeal to slavery.

We're equal by virtue of being different. So instead of elitism perhaps we need equity so that those that are lacking in  some ways can be elevated by those that aren't lacking or hindered in the same ways (economically for example). We can't help what we're born into, so it seems silly and cognitively limited for one to take credit for what they have that others don't.

One love
Click to expand...
I didn't even read the document because I can't read religious dogma without feeling ridiculous about it. Had no idea it contained such senseless drivel.
 
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