How can Meditation, Yoga, and a plant-based diet enhance the psychedelic experience?

[Tyler_Trismegistus]

Hey everyone, It's been a while! All is well, actually just got my acceptance letter for the University at Buffalo's Anthropology program So In January I'll be finally starting the biggest change in my life! I've been extremely busy recently with a website and facebook group that write for and help run called AcidMath, and I have a question for some of you who might be able to help me with some information for a new article I'm wanting to write.

I've talked to a few of you on here that practice yoga and meditation regularly and also eat a plant based diet. Most of those who I have spoken with about this say that once their yoga and meditation practice were basically fully instilled into their daily routine for a decent period of time, coupled with a plant based diet have actually increased the effectiveness of psychedelics on them (especially the natural ones)

The reason I'm asking for personal accounts of this compared to psychedelic use prior to daily meditation and yoga, is because of this.....

As I'm sure most of you know, a lot of Gurus seem to have this anti-drug philosophy.... They for the most part don't support drug use and see it as "false enlightenment" or something like that. The Guru that pops into my mind before anyone else is Ram Dass' Guru when he went to India. Ram Dass brought with him several doses of LSD and gave them all to his guru. He "took" them and they had no effect on him and the conclusion was that he must be so naturally elevated that psychedelics cant effect him. It was later discovered that he actually palmed the LSD and didn't take it! He then put the LSD in one of his student's drinks! All of this was just a plot to make himself look like a powerful guru... Honestly, I don't care who you are, if you've never taken LSD, and you took that high of a dose (I think it was around 900 mics or something) You will DEFINITELY feel the effect, probably very very very strongly no matter how much meditation or yoga you have done.....

So now to the plant based diet thing... I'm basically drawing this from the "dieta" that shamans practice to be more in tune with the plant spirits.... So what is it guys? Those of you who exhibit all three of these things, even just yoga and meditation, or just a plant based diet. How has it effected your trips? Have they become stronger or weaker? or have they just taken on more of a full nature and have more to offer now than before? I'm looking for any answers you can give and of course will give the site credit for any of these accounts

*Also, if you use facebook, you should join our group called ACIDMATH! It's a very very active group with about 2,000 people about psychedelics, consciousness expansion, visionary art, music, and basically anything to do with the counter culture movement going on right now. The Nexus is spoken VERY highly of there and there are some really really great minds and some great discussions that go on all day, every day.... It makes facebook much less painful to use

Thanks in advance for your insight everyone!

 

[Auxin]

Meditation sensitizes the mind and senses, and serious meditators tend to naturally reduce habits that dull the senses, the overt effect could easily be a apparent increase in effects of psychedelics. One could argue the effect is the same and the mind just sees it better but experientially that difference is trivial. Sensitize the mind and intense experiences will be more intense.
In the fall of 2011 I had the thought 'just how much does music effect my mind and perceptions' so in 2012 I listened to music every day, then in 2013 I went the whole year with no music. When I was listening to music all the time my mind seemed duller, less clear. After my year of no music hearing music again was harsh and abrasive, even symphony was like blasting heavy metal and I had to ween myself back on it. Meditation has that same effect but for all perception, lol.

As for veg*n diets, on vegan forums you can easily find many threads about vegetable rich vegan diets improving the sense of smell. I can attest to that phenomena, after going vegan my smell improved so much I can tell what people are doing in their houses when I'm running down the street (not always a good thing, mind you). If it can do that to the nose neurons it doesnt seem far fetched to suspect it could do similar to brain neurons.

 

[dreamer042]

First off, I really enjoy acidmath, it's one my favorite facebook feeds. Keep up the great work. :thumb_up:

I wasn't aware of the bit about the guru palming the LSD, can you direct me to some more information on that?

I'm sure some of us have already pointed you this direction, but if you haven't read Left in the Dark yet, it's probably the best resource available for understanding the relationship between meditation, diet, and psychedelics.

My own experience with a plant based diet was that it significantly increased my sensitivity to psychedelics and all psychoactive substances. I think it's really more important to focus on the quality of food above any particular style of diet however. If you subsist on diet of foods that come from impoverished, monocultured, mineral and nutrient depleted soils, even if they throw some compost on it and use less toxic pesticides and fertilizers then stick an organic label on it, it will be difficult to maintain adequate physiological functioning. I would stress making sure food you eat is obtained from a local grower/producer so that you can both inspect how it has been produced and ensure it is truly as fresh as possible.

The idea of "dieta" can be a bit ambiguous. You often hear this term used to refer to the "standard" ayahuasca diet, which usually consists, as I understand it, of freshwater fish, boiled bland fruits such as plantains, boiled vegetables, and grains/legumes, all unseasoned. My research suggests, within the context of curandismo, the practice of dieta is a process in which the apprentice healer is isolated in the jungle and ingests copious amounts of a single plant medicine for prolonged periods. This is quite a bit different from the typical understanding of a plant based diet in industrialized cultures. Not to downplay the benefits of practicing such a style of diet, it's just extra important to look beyond the propaganda and understand how to ensure adequate nutrition on such a diet.

It is quite interesting that the same classes of compounds, tryptamines and beta-carbolines, that are heavily implicated in in the endogenous effects produced by practices like yoga, meditation, hypnosis, and sleep/dreaming are also present in psychedelic plants and in fruit/plant foods. Most assuredly this is an area worthy of future inquiry.

 

[universecannon]

x2 dreamer. And thanks for recommending left in the dark so I don't have to keep preaching about it . If you want to learn the specific details of why more plant biochemistry can have such an impact (or why humans are nuts) this book is essential reading I think. It also reshapes our entire view of psychedelics in many ways.

It's hard for me to talk about this topic in some respects...especially in terms of which thing has had which effect on my life and experiences. I've been eating a raw plant based diet for about 5 years now, and have been taking psychedelics and meditating and doing yoga for longer (been a bit lazy about that lately though!), along with a lot of frequent harmala and melatonin intake and so on. My life has changed radically to say the least. But because the plant foods came into the equation mostly after I began working with psychedelics and yoga/meditation, I can say that it did seem to have made a world of a difference in the regards to the overall depth, complexity, and sensitivity of my psychedelic experiences. Things started to became much more "functional" and smooth. Less negative thought-loops to, for example, but it goes well beyond that. It became easier to enter into altered states "sober", and my sensitivity to pharmahuasca was nearly doubled.

One analogy that resonates with me is that psychedelics are like high powered rocket fuel, and the brain is like a rusty old space ship built out of junk[food]. Putting that high powered fuel in there might work a bit, but definitely not that well and it might even blow the thing up in some cases. You have to rebuild it to. The brain is the most complex and sensitive thing we know, so it would make sense to build it out of the best materials present for most of its evolution in order for it to function well, which is very relevant to psychedelics because they open us up to the more subtle aspects and levels of our consciousness system. If a few mics of LSD can have such a massive effect on our perception and brain, then imagine what a complex universe of minerals and molecules and bacteria in our food literally involved in building us on a sub-cellular level has on us overall. But it can be extremely hard to quantify the specific perceptual impacts of this sort of thing. I could talk about this endlessly but I don't wish to ramble to everyone in yet another thread about all this

 

[Tyler_Trismegistus]

Thank you for these answers guys! I definitely was leaning toward the side that these things did indeed enhance the psychedelic experience in some way, even if just making it more interesting and complete. Dreamer, I'm reading the book, "Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy" And it is discussed in the book

 

[Jin]

that book is filled with speculations - fly agaric is not soma , also people don't drink their Guru's urine
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true meditation does not enhance psychedelics , instead you'll feel "no effect" , this is a fact , true meditation is being in the moment and when your being always in the moment , your senses will preserve that clear state even under the influence of psychedelics

"the psychedelic experience " based on bardo thodol explains this quite precisely

true meditators will never fall from the first bardo and thus will feel "no effect" , this is the clear light of the void

if you fall in the second bardo you'll see all kinds of hallucinations , this is what happens to most people that is why people trip , because they cannot attian the clear light

if your meditation enhances psychedelics then you're not meditating , you are visualizing ,
imagination is not meditation ,

edit : ever since i started meditating which is like 2 years , earlier i was into visual and audio concentration excercises , last year i shifted to breath work totally and this has catapulted me to new heights , although the next step for me is to let go of breath work and focus on pure nothingness which i have already started ,

psychdelics and even cannbis continues to get weaker ever since

its strange yet now life does what i ask , even the weather can be controlled

i cannot still read minds or levitate , because then i would be total God

i might sound crazy yet when life works out my way , how can i really care ?

i guess i am getting closer to reading minds yet levitation is still a distant goal

edit again - plant based diets specially being total vegan will increase your sensitivity if that is what you want ,

 

[jamie]

I think ^that post misrepresents the psychedelic experience, and presents it as just some visuals.

 

[○]

Simple breath meditation, off and on, over the course of several years (much more frequent this past year) has given me a much more heightened sensitivity to the psychedelic experience; ie: much less is needed in most circumstances. And breath meditation isn't solely focused on sitting down, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath; meditation is a very broad term that can encompass quite a few scenarios - like walking through the woods, becoming completely absorbed in the rustle of the wind against the trees, or the insects/frogs/cicadas at night; a point where you shed every possible thought and just become 'experience'; nothing more nothing less - just 'that' - right now - the moment.

Yoga, which I haven't been into for too long of a time, as I never stuck with it for a huge period; that's also heightened my sensitivity to everyday life, but also to all the subtleties of myself. Even at just the basic level of yoga - stilling your breath/mind under the pressure of a specific pose/poses for extended periods plays out hugely outside of the practice - everyday life as said above - the everyday stressors of work/people/etc, especially during the early throws leading up to a deep DMT (or really any deep psychedelic experience for that matter) - learning to stay completely uncontrolled both physically and mentally yet on the same point totally in control (in some sense of the word). Of course there are much deeper aspects/subtle workings of yoga/kundalini yoga/etc, but on a broad scale - that's what i've gained from it, more or less.

Diets probably one of the biggest. I don't think 'going vegan' is the way or the best, imo; i've always figured - eat clean - close to the earth - local - and attempt to some degree some sustainability if not full sustainability. Nowhere close to sustainable myself, but working at that in small steps. Local, whole foods; preferably wild caught if you have the capability/desire to do so.

Exercise is a huge one. There's so much literature/research on the benefits of exercise, it's silly, and honestly exercise I feel is one of the most overlooked aspects to enhancing not just the psychedelic experience, but everyday life. Exercise touches so many aspects, from neurotransmitter levels to high levels of neurogenesis, etc, plus the ability of building a solid/highly functioning support system for your being; so overlooked imo. Im not saying go work out and drink protein shakes until you look like some model - just keep it simple - bodyweight exercises - 4 days a week with the proper rest; the differences you'll feel initially and long term is bar none one of the most powerful activities to enhance everything, aside from diet/yoga/etc. If you can incorporate all those things into your life - then kudos to you.

ime.

 

[Jin]

ofcourse its way more than visuals , it is all , it is life itself ,

and life is a psychedelic experience aswell,

we exist on a rock in space surrounded by a mysterious universe , we live in a biosuit which we call thee body , life is truly alien , extraterrestrial and multidiemensional , psychedelics have helped me understand this well

these tools are truly gateways into understanding of the multiverse and there is no doubt about it

and i have really narrowed the term meditation down to intense focus , perhaps this is not wise , ultimately true meditation is total absorbtion as Tattvamasi has pointed out infact it is enlightenment itself ,

yet all this still does not negate what i have experienced applying meditative and concentrative methods to the pychedelic experience , they do become weaker when i am totally absorbed in the moment in my meditative calm attitude, obviously i do trip which means i haven't still seen the clear light perhaps ,

i have yet known a three people who did'nt trip on acid for whatever reason ,i believe there are anomalies in nature , the "hardhead" phenomenon exits , we have to accept that

one of the persons is a girl i used to know , the other who did'nt trip was a simple villager , and another person was my friend father who was dosed unknowingly by his son i.e my friend , well my friends father thought he had a fever but not more than that , (i am not responsible for my friends action , people are crazy )

all three people were given only one hit and perhaps the doseage was too low , yet everyone incuding myself flew for over 12 hours on those hits , so i don't know

and as meditation and concentration excercises are a recent introdution in my life , just like 2 years or so which ain't much , yet psychedelics are getting weaker for me

i believe our brains have the ability to fight the effects of psychedelics , some have this already as a part of their psyche thus the hardhead phenomenon , and others may acquire this through certain practices , and many might be able to totally block the effects of psyhedelics who have been practicing their methods for extremley long periods

meditation , yoga , union , what are these spiritual practices really all about ?

this is about preparing for death , bardo thodol was written to prepare a human for death , these numerous meditative and concentration excercies in eastern spiritual literature are all these so we may improve our concentration and focus to an intense ability ,

what does this do to us is the same as what happens to a ray of light when put under a magnifying glass

why do we need such intense focus

it is said the moment of death is the most traumatic period in a persons life , this intense concentration is so that we can observe death , enjoy death , rejoice death , and instead of being confused and afraid we may be calm and peaceful

the whole life of a yogi is about preparation for death state

if these practices can keep us having a good time at death , i am sure these practices can help us have a fruitful psychedelic experience

death is greater in intensity than any psychdelic experience i believe ,

those who spent their whole life practicing and preparing for death will not be moved by the psychedelic experience that much as everyone else , the will infact enjoy it more than everyone else for they are masters , this is their thing ,

everyone does not have the same psychedelic experience , some might eat 900 micrograms and have a good time

believe..............

edit : on an off tangent node .........i can influence weather now , how does that even happen ? things like this continuously force me to wonder what can be possible and why does'nt everyone know how to do this ?

and why haven't i started reading everyones mind yet , since the weather now listens to my requests

Magick is so ......so true , its such an advanced way to use conscioussness to produce certain results , yet i am giving up on magick now ......for now i don't need it , i don't need anything , i am one .........i am fulfilled beyond any desire i had in life for i have tasted the nectar of peace .......i feel a love so great i might just explode

i don't exist , existence does

 

[universecannon]

To think that there is only one "true meditation" is an extremely left brained notion that seems antithetical to meditation itself and the eastern philosophy at its root. There is many different kinds of meditation, even if there is many commonalities.

I've been meditating for around 10 years and regular meditation and yoga seems to greatly enhance the psychedelic experience for me. They also go best if combined during it personally.

Now, I do think that it can certainly make these experiences more coherent, and easier to handle - in turn resulting in less of the overwhelming "WOWOWOWOWOW!!!" even though the experience can be more profound. Like the difference between boating off into the ocean on a calm day as opposed to a choppy day. You can get even further into the ocean on a calm day, but it won't be as rough and shocking. The wow factor is still there but it doesn't distract your focus and upset your composure and coherence of your consciousness waveform, if you will. I think things like more frequent meditation can help you learn to work with the experience instead of just being completely incapacitated and blown away by the overwhelming nature of it.

I'm reminded of the story of someone here giving a lifelong meditator in the east a high dose of smoked DMT, and how well the man dealt with the obviously still profound experience. Dealing with the experience more skillfully and calmly doesn't necessarily mean it was any less deep. Especially since meditation seems to increase things like pinoline and other endogenous MAOI which, in my experience, are psychedelic in their own way and clearly add a new dimension to psychedelic states.

Meditation may make YOUR psychedelic experiences overall weaker after your 2 years meditating, but there could be other causes to that. I think over time peoples tend to get less intense as we age unless you continue to actively work with these states, at least in my experience. And in any case, it would be a mistake to project that experience onto everyone else. If from there you conclude that they must not be doing "true meditation", then I think you need to question your own reality-tunnel more.

"imagination is not meditation"

Tell that to Jung.

You can engage in what seems like an autopoiesis over time, as if the imagination was tapping into some kind of non-local primordial fractal plasma made of consciousness that continually grew and grew in your awareness until you are it and experiencing it full blown, right in front of you, in a state of oneness and synesthesia at play with the source stream of consciousness itself. This has often been tied into what seemed like all sorts of bizarre psi type experiences in my life and others.

 

[Tyler_Trismegistus]

Jin I do agree that the book is full of speculations, and since reading that reply, I decided to do some further research on the subject.... I found an article written by Ram Dass where he said that he had the feeling that the Yogi did not take the LSD.... He ended up going back to India to visit him and he asked Dass, "Did you give me the medicine last time?" When he answered yes, he said, "Did I take it?" And right there you'd think that it's obvious that he didnt since the dose he gave him was 900 mics and I'd imagine that anyone would at least feel it.... He then asked Dass if he had any more with him and he did. He actually watched the yogi take the LSD and he did indeed feel it this time, though he was able to handle the experience much easier.... Which brings us to the points that UniverseCannon made.....

I definitely agree with meditation maybe reducing some of the intense emotional reaction to a psychedelic experience regardless of how profound it is. I've honestly experienced this with psilocybin and LSD (not so much with DMT, seems to still always make my emotions go everywhere) while in periods of my life where I was meditating multiple times a day for long periods of time. I finally incorporated meditation into my daily routine again and since then, I haven't tripped, but I have the feeling that when I do, I will have the ability to go deeper while still being fully aware of what's happening and while keeping more of a level head to absorb as much information as possible. I definitely plan on using my own experiences as examples for this writing, but when I get information from people like you, UC who have been practicing these things for a decade, it definitely helps put some perspective on it.

 

[Intezam]

sorry, but....we (intezam) find any sort of bottomlineism is a nuisance hazard and a meaningless distraction, it may result in a set of silly questions forwarded at mullahs, lamas, shaykhs, gurus, masters, shamans and peers for further possible validation. But many of these "adepts" are embedded in the drug of institutionalized religionism/science and/or their own cults, paths or projects, and how does one truely expect an un-biased reply? Bottomlineism will more often than not result in the silly urge for crowd validation, and that shows..

 

[Jin]

of course meditation encompasses a whole lot of practices , i am not arguing with that , nor am i really arguing with anything else

i already stated in my previous post that its not wise for me to narrow the term meditation to intense focus , this was intended to convey that it can be and is much more ,

i only wish to convey that certain practices can reduce the mind chatter and thus give us a clearer experience and a more enjoyable experience , i definetly agree having a easy time does'nt make the experience any less profound

since the OP had some talk about Ram Das's guru

i hoped connecting dots with bardo thodol would shed some light on this ,

obviously i don't believe he palmed it , yet this is only my belief , this does'nt have anything to do with anyone else

people can believe whatever they want to believe - some believe in God,aliens,spirits,ghosts, and considering i believe i do influence weather , this statement holds most true - people will believe whatever they want to believe :lol:

nonetheless i hope it is understood that this is not an issue for me , as both Ram dass
and his Guru are not my associates (except in spirit perhaps)

i hoped connecting the dots with bardo thodol and certain meditative practices would shed some light on this ...........

yet we should do our own work and see where it leads us , our individual truths are good enough for us i guess ,

if what i believe helps me , i can't help but use my truth to my own advantage ,

in retrospect i ask others not to believe what i say , find out your own truth , find what works for you ..........:thumb_up:

everything is equally valid , there are no wrong answers ........only answers

edit : i hope it is understood i am not disagreeing with anyone as there is nothing to disagree about , no debate because there is nothing to debate about ,

this is the Void , nothing exists because there is nothing to exist about , all words , concepts , ideas are mere shadows ...........

 

[Rising Spirit]

The reason I'm asking for personal accounts of this compared to psychedelic use prior to daily meditation and yoga, is because of this.....

As I'm sure most of you know, a lot of Gurus seem to have this anti-drug philosophy.... They for the most part don't support drug use and see it as "false enlightenment" or something like that. The Guru that pops into my mind before anyone else is Ram Dass' Guru when he went to India. Ram Dass brought with him several doses of LSD and gave them all to his guru. He "took" them and they had no effect on him and the conclusion was that he must be so naturally elevated that psychedelics cant effect him. It was later discovered that he actually palmed the LSD and didn't take it! He then put the LSD in one of his student's drinks! All of this was just a plot to make himself look like a powerful guru...

I respect your skeptical perspective, Tyler_Trismegistus. Honestly I do. And please don't get me wrong, as I am not currently fixedly invested in any particular lineage of Indian Yogic, Tantric or Buddhist tradition (well at least at this point in my life, 35 or so years ago it was a different story). But you have posted something here, accessible to potentially multiples of thousands of curious readers, which is quite erroneous in accuracy of content and most distorted in point of true, factual sequential occurrence.

Seriously, this hastily misjudged rumor of Ram Dass/Dr. Richard Alpert's beloved Gurudev, as passing genuine LSD-25 along to someone else in his entourage, is utter nonsense at best! Are you suggesting that this by all counts saintly personage, was some kind of cheap slight-of-hand con artist on an exalted ego trip? Okay, I can fully understand how you might. Indisputably, there are a lot of fakes, charlatans and stinkers out there in the world of religion and esotericism. While I never met this advanced, sagely being, I used to hang out with some of his students, Baba Ram Dass included.

He was a honered as a very great soul, who was himself a joyous, compassionate and healing teacher. He never even once condemned psychedelics or their usage. He insisted that meditation would lead eventually to a more constant degree of heightened conscious-awareness. An integrated union of inner and outer balancing. In my world the two are conjoined and are not at all mutually exclusive.

Say, have you ever read Ram Dass' book, Be Here Now? It sounds as if you have not. Given that direct knowledge is power... said rumor is something altogether different and we are at odds in this regard. That aside, you raise some very valid, significant and worthy ideas. Aside from the sound skepticism you express, the only bone I have to pick with the tone and attitude of your thread, is that you paint a false portrait of a kind, blissfully detached personage. I feel that it's just plain uncool to spread gossip that has little if any foundation in quantifiable factuality, my friend.

Honestly, I don't care who you are, if you've never taken LSD, and you took that high of a dose (I think it was around 900 mics or something) You will DEFINITELY feel the effect, probably very very very strongly no matter how much meditation or yoga you have done.....

Fair enough. In your experience of existential being and the parameters of what is and what is not... a feasible possibility within the realm of reality, as we collectively share it, this is so. And that's cool. One must never abandon critical thinking nor some grounding in sober objectivity. I sincerely applaud your conviction but you are missing the mark with some of your projections and conceptions. Frankly, you are most incorrect about dissing an esteemed Sat Guru, one who you do not even know the name of. His name was Sri Neem Karoli Baba. His students referred to him as, "Maharaji" (great and loving king).

Please take the time to fully read, skim through or even glance at for a wee spell, Be Here Now. This may well clear up the relevant data you vaguely allude to in your unabashed, accusatory fashion? Pardon my firm directness but you are spreading blatant falsehoods here and the Nexus is a highly intelligent and keenly alert collective. Slander is just plain wrong to perpetuate, especially on a site like this one. It's just bad JuJu... :!:

I truly do understand how anyone would doubt that a humanoid could ingest an epic dose of a potent psychedelic and show no sighs of extreme changes in behavior and/or outward appearance. It's not so much that Maharaji was immuned to the LSD, rather, it was that his level of consciousness was already heightened and expanded to a psychedelic degree, as a continuum. More so, I believe that if the Plant Teachers and the lessons we travelers learn of the sudden expansive, shift in attention, alternate frequency of perceptual field of subjective reference in our interaction with reality... as having any lasting transformative value at all, they powerfully show us that we already are wholly cosmic in nature We are universal, we ARE the universe and we are unified in our mutual epicenter of being. Our mind, perception and very own selfhood, are manifesting for no other reason than because we freely can and surely, do so.

On a number of levels, this kind of reasoning herein presented and the kind of extreme skepticism taken to debate, grievously disappoints me. Are we not evolving towards levels of conscious-awareness which clearly have propelled human intelligence and intuition, into a much higher, more attuned degree of focused attention? Maharaji took the pure Sandoz LSD-25 and this is documented by Dr. Richard Alpert with fluent specificity and honest clarity of scientific procedure. Ram Dass had given this very same pure acid to many "spiritual" individuals within the Indian subcontinent and actually taken it himself, to prove it's psycho-activity and effective potency. Only his guru displayed no apparent changes, for he was already sky high.

Otherwise, this is an intriguing thread and is most provocative. Many gurus have been quoted as to speaking disparagingly of psychedelics and their use, while others have not done so. Bhagwan Rajneesh (AKA Osho) wrote a 100 page booklet in the early 1970s entitled, LSD: Shortcut To False Samadhi. A friend lent it to me and I read it prior to, during the onset and after a highly profound and transformative experience with clean blotter acid. And I hear you loud and clear... sometimes it's such total bullshit, this disturbingly anti-entheogenic attitude. It's called Medicine for a reason! 8)

Let's face it, the Rig Vedas were the result of psychedelic intoxication and the interphase with meditative austerities. Teaching is teaching, spiritual growth is the same, no matter what the avenue nor the methodology. In short, the human organism is capable of accessing multiples of ascending levels and degrees of attunement in consciousness.

I feel that we can and will continue to evolve and expand, exponentially and bloom perceptually. It's all good, right? :thumb_up:

 

[Jin]

for anyone interested to know more about "maharaji" i recommend this page neem karoli videos – Awaken

if "maharaji" was a fake then why would Ram Dass call him his Guru ?
why would Krishna Dass call him his guru ?
why would Raghu marku call him his guru ?

and ofcourse millions of others

Ram Dass Gives Maharaji the “Yogi Medicine” - this page directly from Ram Dass.org describes what happened and is written by Ram Dass

And then we waited. After some time he pulled the blanket over his face, and when he came out after a moment his eyes were rolling and his mouth was ajar and he looked totally mad. I got upset. What was happening? Had I misjudged his powers? After all, he was an old man (though how old I had no idea), and I had let him take twelve hundred micrograms. Maybe last time he had thrown them away and then he read my mind and was trying to prove to me he could do it, not realizing how strong the “medicine” really was. Guilt and anxiety poured through me. But when I looked at him again he was perfectly normal and looking at the watch.

At the end of an hour it was obvious nothing had happened. His reactions had been a total put-on. And then he asked, “Have you got anything stronger?” I didn’t. Then he said, “These medicines were used in Kulu Valley long ago. But yogis have lost that knowledge. They were used with fasting. Nobody knows now. To take them with no effect, your mind must be firmly fixed on God. Others would be afraid to take. Many saints would not take this.” And he left it at that

When I asked him if I should take LSD again, he said, “It should not be taken in a hot climate. If you are in a place that is cool and peaceful, and you are alone and your mind is turned toward God, then you may take the yogi medicine.”

– Ram Dass

this is about the second time Maharaji took the medicine , Maharaji not only took the LSD but also told us how to take it , his instructions about cold climate and firm fixation on God holds most true , and also he mentioned fasting

also numerous times its mentioned he was reading minds (how does that happen ?)

Maharaji if was'nt familar with the effects of LSD would never prescribe Raghu Marku's father the medicine (there is a tale about it in the video page )

and most importantly why would Ram Dass and other sages of our time glorify him , what are they getting out of it ? if Maharaji is only tricking them why would they go all the way to glorify him , i mean a Phd glorifying someone who is tricking him does not sound right does it ?

Maharaji was reading minds , stopping trains and controlling all of nature

we may try to kill the myths , yet we forget where we live or what we eat or who we are ?

we live on a rock flying in space revolving around a star at tremendous speeds , the solar system exists in a multidimensional universe ,all plant life produces food from the light of the sun which inturn is eaten by animals , you may be vegan , vegetarian or a meat eater , yet you're only eating condensed light energy ,our body simultaneously controls thousands of functions in our nervous system and other physiological functions aswell ,we use technologies like the computer,mobile phone , pda , and stuff which might appear alien to someone 500 years back

we are living the impossible , we are already living the myth , we just don't know it yet ?

for we think its normal to be sitting on rock flying through space as we munch on light and use alien devices

there is no impossible , its only in our minds

the day we come out of our self imposed nonage we will realize not only are great things possible , infact they are happening all the time , every moment is a miracle of impossibility - this is what DMT showed me

wake up to the myth ..............
believe the impossible for we are living it
we are experiencing eternity right now ,
we just don't know it yet

 

[jamie]

experience > things I read

That is all.

Personally, I do not know, nor do I really even care what the validity of anyone's guru is. This is not something that I feel is worth spending my time here pondering. I know what is true from my own experience, for me. This is all that concerns me.

From my own experience, the idea that meditation and yoga can make me immune to the psychedelic experience, is not a true idea. I do yoga every day and it only enhances psychedelics. For all I know some random yogi could just be an incredible hard head, or really good at sitting still in a high dose acid trip. I dont know, and really it means nothing to me. What relevance could that even have for me? The world I move through is not the world a yogi in india moves through.

My impression of much of what I read above, is just a big wall of idea's. Idea's that have not necessarily even come from the self, but from the words/writing of another. This is not bad, but it can be limiting.

To each they're own.

 

[Jin]

i also believe experience is greater than things i read

however my experience is pointing the other way but i am doing a different practice

i don't do yoga or any excercise involving postures , nor do i focus on the third eye , nor do i use my imagination much and no excess focus on vision , sound or any other senses either (atleast not anymore since i learned this )

i exhale , i exhale again and again ,the exhale should be gentle without force , sometimes long sometimes short depending on the flow , i never control the inhale , sometimes i exhale ten times without single inhale , sometimes the inhale is very short other times its long yet it has to be uncontrolled and automatic ,

if the inhale is controlled it leads to anxiety and can definetly increase the effects of psychedelics and becomes more like holotropic breathwork ( which can cause a trip without needing any entheogens) , never control the inhale or try to inhale , let it be automatic, just exhale with least effort possible

once mastered the exhale can be also somewhat left on auto mode when focusing on work and other things with some gentle attention on the exhale , all this should be done with an attitude of calm without too much forcefullness on the breath

i encourage people to master this and find out for yourself if i am speaking any sense or just nonsense , also i am not immune to psychedelics , however i am having a easier time since i started this

 

[Aegle]

Tyler_Trismegistus

Thank you for such a fascinating thread, for me personally I don't see any harm in combining entheogens with meditation practice as the more tools that you have in your belt the better. My meditation practice is interconnected with my entheogen practice and I don't think I could practice one without the other. As meditation aids me very much not just during my journeys but also with integration and being able to have the discipline to incorporate what I have learned during my experiences into my every day life.

I would be unable to say whether incorporating a plant based diet has enhanced my entheoegen journeys as I have been vegetarian for much longer than I have been taking entheogens. But I have found fasting or eating a very basic diet before embarking on a journey definitely enhances the strength of an experience.

Practicing yoga or head stands during my Mushroom journeys very much enhances the intensity and the depth of my experiences and for some reason I always feel incredibly fluid while journeying with Mushrooms in particular. Mindfulness meditation is also a powerful tool for integration and discipline. My mindfulness practice has made an incredibly profound impact on my life and my perspective.

I have attached a really intriguing paper which explores the distinction between temporary awakening experiences and permanent transformational experiences.

Wishing you all the best and safe and happy travels...


Much Peace and Respect

 

[Tyler_Trismegistus]

Jin after reading some of the comments here I actually found that article you cited before I checked back here. I was actually checking back to say that I read an update on that entire thing. I really did not mean any disrespect by this thread.... I approach pretty much everything with somewhat of a skeptical attitude but I will always admit when I am wrong and that being said I am sorry if I offended anyone by what I assumed above. It's still very hard for me to believe that NOTHING happened though.... I mean he mustve felt some sort of effect from it, but maybe was just able to handle it very easy due to his training? Again I do not mean any disrespect and I apologize for the assumptions.

 

[jamie]

I dont know why some people get so offended that that guru LSD story is questioned. It's entirely reasonable to question it, and be skeptical. There is nothing wrong with discernment and discrimination. Both are essential for a true path of gnosis. What drives people to get almost defensive over it? Why? does it matter?