Great reports and talks. Very familiar.
Indeed. It is not insane to wonder about ones true nature, and the possibility that things may not be exactly as they seem. Not only that, but I think every person suspects, or a part of every person hopes, that at the point of death, the true nature, or a deeper nature of reality is revealed. Oddly, people are quick to use the term schizophrenic, or crazy to those who question reality, yet I feel deep down, a lot of people know that a deeper layer of reality is revealed at the point of death. Of course, we know many religions describe a belief in a meeting with God at death.
And why should that be so? Death is supposedly the destruction of your consciousness. The breaking of you. If schizophrenia is like a malfunctioning machine, death is the break of the machine. Why should any knowledge be revealed when your brain dies and you lose the ability to have knowledge as you know it? I think deep down almost everyone knows that the world as they see it isn't an objective reality, but a world that exists within the confines, limits, and individuality, that a brain provides. People wonder what's behind the veil? What is objective reality? What is beyond the limitations of mind centered reality? I suspect people know that when the brain breaks down, something else might be revealed. Only when the brain centered reality that people are used to starts breaking down, are they able to see something else.
I think psychedelics provide a temporary cut from ordinary reality as we are used to, and are given a glimpse of another level of existence. And incredibly, it is done without damage to the person. If anything, a powerful drug experience will let you know something that you can't deny. That is, you aren't really you. You as you know yourself only exist as long as your brain has the right set of hormones and neurotransmitters, etc. Mess with any of that and your entire experience will be altered, and there's nothing you can do about it. You are a composite, a complicated mechanical construction of layers of hormones and memories, thought patterns, and behavior patterns. Only, most people have forgotten that they're like a machine.... a survival machine. A lot of people are very sure of their opinions, yet there is one question that no one has answered, and science is no closer to answering now than it ever has been or ever will be. That question is, "who am I?". Who is the one who is experiencing this life? If you understand what I'm asking, that question blasts the mind. The mind has no answer. Perhaps it is that "non answer" that the person comes in contact with at death. Only when the mind breaks down is one able to see past it.
Anyway, I think a lot of people are really hard on themselves when it comes to judging whether they're insane or not. If they have a weird experience, or feel some kind of disconnection with reality as they know it, they feel they've gone insane and can never be the same. And they also think they're the only one who's experienced a break. You aren't. People feel others will judge. People feel that what they experience qualifies as psychotic. Relax. Just go on living life. Reality isn't what you thought it was, that's all. If you thought everyday consciousness was all there is, you were mistaken. Reality, that is to say, your experience of reality, is dependent upon whatever state you happen to be in. Not talking to you directly, Lavos, just talking. Maybe if more people talked about this kind of thing, then it wouldn't be so taboo for the average person to talk about it. Maybe people wouldn't get so freaked out, and assume psychosis when people start talking about the "illusory" nature of reality. And also, maybe the people who have experiened the illusory nature of reality will stop thinking that they're only ones, and stop thinking that they have some special secret message to give that no one else knows and people need to hear about.
Looking behind the veil of ordinary consciousness isn't for everyone. Most people probably want to feel like they've got a good grasp on things, why complicate everything with the experience that things are not as they appear? Some people don't deal with it well, I guess. I just want to let people know.... look, if you've experienced some kind of altered perception of the universe, you aren't necessarily insane. If you've felt like "nothing is real" that doesn't mean nothing is real... is just means what you thought of as absolute reality isn't absolute. Your perception of reality can be altered. It isn't psychotic, that's just fact. It can happen to anyone, and it will happen to everyone when they die.
Your reality when you are a newborn is a far cry from when you're 70. Go about your regular life, go to work, do your chores, enjoy your family and friends. As long as you can function, you're not going to be institutionalized. If you freak yourself out too much about your experiences, you're not helping yourself. Reality isn't what you thought, but it's still here. All of this is temporary. I don't know how to define the word, "real", so I don't know what to say about this reality being real, but know that it is temporary, it will end. Death will be a total break from all reality as you know it. I tend to think of "psychosis" or schizophrenia as a fairly constant state in which people cannot control their actions, lack self awareness, and lack the ability to function in the world. Just saying, don't think you've gone crazy just because you question reality, and have thoughts such as, "the world is illusion". Buddhism has been talking about such things for thousands of years. It's not schizophrenic, nor are drugs necessary to experience such thoughts. I remember one day many years ago, I was looking at a tree, and for no particular reason, it just hit me like lightning.... "I am that". It was like looking behind a veil. The spirit of creation is in all things, it is in me, and it is the same spirit in all things.
Lavos said:I didn't know what to do. The real world kept slipping away like that, a facade among many, another door. And the strangest, hardest to articulate part happens here. As I'm losing consciousness in the world, like my head is being sucked back, my 'true' eyes are going to be opened. Like the eyes of god, not just in that it contained the view of my whole world, but I could feel the sheer size in comparison to that small vision in my head. And as I slipped back, it was like I, shoulder to shoulder w/ family, and other selfs, were to become the eyelashes of this god eye.
So ineffable. 'I' Was falling back, but it felt like doing so was going to make something else rise up. Me, on the tip of a gods eye. I thought if I did that I'd never see my fantasy again.
And now in deep retrospect, who can know? This world would not exist, to me, if I were not here. If I had let go, would I have received beautiful visions? or been initiated into something altogether different, left a vegetable or mere memory to those in this world. Besides, it all felt made up in my head, who would be left behind if you are all a figment of a very divided and partial imagination? That belonged to a much larger, much more knowledgeable being?
It's deep and schizophrenic, but for me, deep salvia space makes you admit, it could be true. I've read other reports where people felt like they were creating the people around them, and vice versa.
Indeed. It is not insane to wonder about ones true nature, and the possibility that things may not be exactly as they seem. Not only that, but I think every person suspects, or a part of every person hopes, that at the point of death, the true nature, or a deeper nature of reality is revealed. Oddly, people are quick to use the term schizophrenic, or crazy to those who question reality, yet I feel deep down, a lot of people know that a deeper layer of reality is revealed at the point of death. Of course, we know many religions describe a belief in a meeting with God at death.
And why should that be so? Death is supposedly the destruction of your consciousness. The breaking of you. If schizophrenia is like a malfunctioning machine, death is the break of the machine. Why should any knowledge be revealed when your brain dies and you lose the ability to have knowledge as you know it? I think deep down almost everyone knows that the world as they see it isn't an objective reality, but a world that exists within the confines, limits, and individuality, that a brain provides. People wonder what's behind the veil? What is objective reality? What is beyond the limitations of mind centered reality? I suspect people know that when the brain breaks down, something else might be revealed. Only when the brain centered reality that people are used to starts breaking down, are they able to see something else.
I think psychedelics provide a temporary cut from ordinary reality as we are used to, and are given a glimpse of another level of existence. And incredibly, it is done without damage to the person. If anything, a powerful drug experience will let you know something that you can't deny. That is, you aren't really you. You as you know yourself only exist as long as your brain has the right set of hormones and neurotransmitters, etc. Mess with any of that and your entire experience will be altered, and there's nothing you can do about it. You are a composite, a complicated mechanical construction of layers of hormones and memories, thought patterns, and behavior patterns. Only, most people have forgotten that they're like a machine.... a survival machine. A lot of people are very sure of their opinions, yet there is one question that no one has answered, and science is no closer to answering now than it ever has been or ever will be. That question is, "who am I?". Who is the one who is experiencing this life? If you understand what I'm asking, that question blasts the mind. The mind has no answer. Perhaps it is that "non answer" that the person comes in contact with at death. Only when the mind breaks down is one able to see past it.
Anyway, I think a lot of people are really hard on themselves when it comes to judging whether they're insane or not. If they have a weird experience, or feel some kind of disconnection with reality as they know it, they feel they've gone insane and can never be the same. And they also think they're the only one who's experienced a break. You aren't. People feel others will judge. People feel that what they experience qualifies as psychotic. Relax. Just go on living life. Reality isn't what you thought it was, that's all. If you thought everyday consciousness was all there is, you were mistaken. Reality, that is to say, your experience of reality, is dependent upon whatever state you happen to be in. Not talking to you directly, Lavos, just talking. Maybe if more people talked about this kind of thing, then it wouldn't be so taboo for the average person to talk about it. Maybe people wouldn't get so freaked out, and assume psychosis when people start talking about the "illusory" nature of reality. And also, maybe the people who have experiened the illusory nature of reality will stop thinking that they're only ones, and stop thinking that they have some special secret message to give that no one else knows and people need to hear about.
Looking behind the veil of ordinary consciousness isn't for everyone. Most people probably want to feel like they've got a good grasp on things, why complicate everything with the experience that things are not as they appear? Some people don't deal with it well, I guess. I just want to let people know.... look, if you've experienced some kind of altered perception of the universe, you aren't necessarily insane. If you've felt like "nothing is real" that doesn't mean nothing is real... is just means what you thought of as absolute reality isn't absolute. Your perception of reality can be altered. It isn't psychotic, that's just fact. It can happen to anyone, and it will happen to everyone when they die.
Your reality when you are a newborn is a far cry from when you're 70. Go about your regular life, go to work, do your chores, enjoy your family and friends. As long as you can function, you're not going to be institutionalized. If you freak yourself out too much about your experiences, you're not helping yourself. Reality isn't what you thought, but it's still here. All of this is temporary. I don't know how to define the word, "real", so I don't know what to say about this reality being real, but know that it is temporary, it will end. Death will be a total break from all reality as you know it. I tend to think of "psychosis" or schizophrenia as a fairly constant state in which people cannot control their actions, lack self awareness, and lack the ability to function in the world. Just saying, don't think you've gone crazy just because you question reality, and have thoughts such as, "the world is illusion". Buddhism has been talking about such things for thousands of years. It's not schizophrenic, nor are drugs necessary to experience such thoughts. I remember one day many years ago, I was looking at a tree, and for no particular reason, it just hit me like lightning.... "I am that". It was like looking behind a veil. The spirit of creation is in all things, it is in me, and it is the same spirit in all things.