Hi guys. I am having real trouble reconciling what I perceive to be a grating dissonance in two aspects of the psychedelic community. Perhaps you can help me make sense of it. These observations do not apply to all of the community here, if you feel like either point I am about to make is an unfair description of you then it is probably not meant to describe you at all. I think these are very common qualities in the psychonaut community at large, though.
The first relates to the reasons we use consciousness-expanding drugs. Unlike the tourists who might try mushrooms or acid to "get high" and "trip balls", as committed psychonauts we seek out something more lasting from the ephemeral psychedelic experience. Call it enlightenment. Call it inner peace and tranquillity. Though we may disagree on the fine details, we can all agree that it can be a lasting, positive experience - something that materially improves our mental well-being. We wouldn't do it otherwise. These feelings manifest in peculiar ways, but I think the common element is a kind of harmony with the universe. It's a form of optimism.
On the other side of the coin I see some clear undercurrents of deeply entrenched disharmony and bitterness towards the parts of the universe we actually have to deal with. In the most extreme forms it shows up as elaborate conspiracy theories and hopelessness, but more commonly it appears subtly as a general misanthropy that kicks in about two degrees of separation from the your immediate group of friends and family. It's the attitude that people (often in the context of 'voters') are mostly stupid. That politicians are mostly corrupt. That executives are mostly greedy. That conservatives are usually closed-minded. The term 'consensus reality' seems particularly disharmonious with humanity: it suggests that virtually everyone else in the world is wrong about their perception of reality itself. It's a form of pessimism.
I don't understand how the same person can hold these two beliefs at the same time. What does inner tranquillity mean if you're not at peace with the world?
The first relates to the reasons we use consciousness-expanding drugs. Unlike the tourists who might try mushrooms or acid to "get high" and "trip balls", as committed psychonauts we seek out something more lasting from the ephemeral psychedelic experience. Call it enlightenment. Call it inner peace and tranquillity. Though we may disagree on the fine details, we can all agree that it can be a lasting, positive experience - something that materially improves our mental well-being. We wouldn't do it otherwise. These feelings manifest in peculiar ways, but I think the common element is a kind of harmony with the universe. It's a form of optimism.
On the other side of the coin I see some clear undercurrents of deeply entrenched disharmony and bitterness towards the parts of the universe we actually have to deal with. In the most extreme forms it shows up as elaborate conspiracy theories and hopelessness, but more commonly it appears subtly as a general misanthropy that kicks in about two degrees of separation from the your immediate group of friends and family. It's the attitude that people (often in the context of 'voters') are mostly stupid. That politicians are mostly corrupt. That executives are mostly greedy. That conservatives are usually closed-minded. The term 'consensus reality' seems particularly disharmonious with humanity: it suggests that virtually everyone else in the world is wrong about their perception of reality itself. It's a form of pessimism.
I don't understand how the same person can hold these two beliefs at the same time. What does inner tranquillity mean if you're not at peace with the world?
