“If the words ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on.”
-Terence McKenna
Did the founding fathers experiment with psychedelics?
It’s possible.
What we do know is that many of them smoked marijuana – at least experimented with it, & unlike Bill Clinton, they inhaled it.
How free are we if we are not allowed to experiment with our own consciousness???
^This is a very legit question, as well as a concern – the concern being our freedom being taken from us through crooked & corrupt lenses of perception who are solely concerned about power & control.
…because when we experiment with our consciousness we might see through the societal illusions that blind most people, & we might become free!
… One of the sad things about power & control is that it is driving humanity into destruction. It is self-destructing.
So we need an alternative.
Here I go.
Here we go.
Here it is — psychedelics.
One of the many questions we need to consider as a human species is, “how can we legally provide safe services & substances for people to experiment with their consciousness?”
Psilocybin Stories 
5 replies on “The Pursuit of Consciousness”
I don’t see the benefit of the escapism route.
My limited understanding of psychedelics is that it eludes reality. I say to embrace reality. Embrace it, until you either crumble under its weight or work hard enough to be able to lift it as though it were a feather.
Unreality… or what you believe to be the counterweight to a self-destructive desire for power and control, being psychedelics, is opposite from reality. It is the hunger for power and control that comes from idealism, not realism.
The arrogance of humanity is idealizing and being ambitious to the point of losing control. It is because without the responsibility/accountability that one should have through their power and control, what results is the loss of the self. Until the hunger for power destroys, it first consumes the person. It’s like I quote I like to repeat, “If you consume, then you shall be consumed,” referring to survival as not only needing sustenance, though only preventing something or someone else from consuming the self for sustenance. That can be power, very easily. A person who desires power believes they are sustaining themselves with it. However, it soon becomes the case that power displays a mind of its own, even without a corporeal form, beginning to consume the power-hungry person until there is nothing left.
I believe in reality. And, I believe idealism is far more painful than embracing the truth. Even if the truth should shock, the idealist sweeps it under the rug for the sake of radical and extremist methods that are sometimes called “progress”. Avoiding the truth is more painful than swallowing it whole. Of course, when such a progressive avoids truth, it is more to the idea choosing flight instead of fight. As in, such a progressive doesn’t fight nor solve anything. It is also a known understanding that the idea of maintaining an issue can merit its profit. That’s more evidence to know that running from the truth only maintains its existence.
Simply put, psychedelics is an idealist’s approach, isn’t it?
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Thanks for your well thought out comment. I truly appreciate this. & yes I have a few thoughts…
First – your comment creates space for a wholeee long conversation, which I love, but also idk if I’ll be able to properly respond completely in this text. I will try…
What does escapism mean to you?
…A better question before that – What does “reality” mean to you?
Because I agree that we should embrace reality completely, & are not psychedelics a part of reality?
…psychedelics are a tool to help people realize the truth – the truth of reality, which is (usually) not the truth each individual person believes – because the truth is different for everyone (sometimes slightly & sometimes drastically)
^example – slavery was one of my first thoughts regarding this part of your comment.
– white European people believed slavery is the right thing to do – they obviously believed that because they followed through with it. & I don’t think that those who were (& are) enslaved believe slavery is right & good. What is the truth in this example?
The truth is relative…
(Also if we look into human history we see that slavery has been around for a long long time – in every nation. No one race is to blame, & no one race is to be victimized…. if only we could all see the bones inside of others & ourselves…)
Another example – Women & Men – We each experience life from the specific form we are in – so each gender perceives life from the view of their gender. The universe to them is seen from their form. This is true for all of us. What is true for each gender might not be true for a different gender (and yes, there are more than just 2 genders)
..Psychedelics can sometimes give people a glimpse of these truths, but what is equally or more important is integration – to put into action what we learn from these transcendent experiences (but not just any integrations – there are lots of cons so be careful. You’ll intuitively know when it’s real. The Psychedelic Trip Journal (by Psil Silva, just add link) is a great place to begin.) The second best place to begin is with The 7 Psychedelic Meditations by Psil Silva. In reality you have no need for these guides – but these guides can help you come to this understanding.
…I definitely agree that avoiding the truth is more painful than swallowing it whole…but what is true for one person is not necessarily true for another…the real idea of Truth is beyond human ideas & thoughts – it can never ever be put in words, because the Truth is beyond words.
Part of accepting & realizing the truth is to recognize, accept, & understand that we as humans, as beings on this planet, are inherently selfish, & that being selfish isn’t a good or bad thing – it’s just the way of biology.
Once this is understood, we are able to move into the truth of reality, which is literally beyond words. You can only experience this, you can’t think it.
Zen practice can help people realize this, but so can psychedelics…As you can see, psychedelics are far from escapism. They are a dive into reality.
In regards to your ideas about power I have one quote from Jimi Hendrix that really says it all:
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
I don’t think I answered all of your questions & ideas, so let me know and we’ll keep this fire conversation going.
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There are the differences between a truth and a lie. However, those differences are more personal, and thus, cannot be spoken of except for by what the individual, and only the individual, believes. As you said, what is true for the individual is not true for someone else. It’s since it’s understandable that each person has their own story.
However, I’ve always been one to state that empathy is the human inspiration to know another’s story. Since being kept in the dark is the ignorance of the self, clinging to the idea that the self can only know the self only prolongs the suffering one faces. If there’s a story to tell, then tell it. There are many I’ve seen who find their stubbornness (and pride) as more of a virtue than a vice. Love is something that is not an emotion, because all human mistakes are born from feelings. Love is also not limited, because it is beyond a human’s mortal and fleshly frame. It is something that transcends emotion. In a few words, love feels another’s emotions, not the self’s own.
I believe that when humans are kept alone, they face their own reality a lot slower. Much of the time, this forces them into a state of denial. Much of that denial is also extended beyond what the self comprehends of the self, towards also what another is attempting to identify with them.
There’s the notion of “gender” and “identity” that comes into this. Comprehension… which, if we are beginning to know others parts of ourselves that we were never experiencing before, being the science behinds “genders”, then the question becomes, “How far do we venture into other genders, other personalities, before we lose touch with our original selves?” Psychologically speaking, that would induce major depression. I’d like to study, one day, if this is the cause of people with such “gender dysphoria”, if the distancing of themselves from their original personality brings on their depression. It wouldn’t then be the lack of acceptance from others, as it would be more xenophobia being introduced from both the distance of the self from the self, and from other people to that depressed person.
Self-discovery is not an easy task. I even say it can be dangerous, even life-threatening. Suicide can be the end result.
I say that the only legitimate way to “soul-search” is from a non-self-inflicted pain, from a singular experience. As in, life’s natural struggles through the process of maturity and eventual conflict will force a person to understand “who they are”. It is then that I become aware that those who are meaning to “discover themselves” for their identity are doing so deliberately. If a legitimate way for a person to soul-search is in being dealt with by the trials of life, then to deliberately soul search simply reverses it to first, soul-searching, and then, life crisis. As in, those who deliberately endeavor to soul search go in the opposite of the natural direction. Again, if the natural direction is from life crisis to self-discovery, then the artificial path is from self-discovery to life crisis.
Slavery is a subject I think on, all too much. What you have described is the literal, physical understanding of it. There is also a mental form of slavery. Drugs, for example, becoming addictions, is how a person, through their denial, becomes a “slave” among themselves, merely based on the mindset of desiring this quantity (the addiction) over the understanding of their own individualism (their truth).
Currently, I am writing a 75,000-word book, centered around the concept of having a two steps to solve every problem.
In that book, I write that people have a heart and a mind, where the former (the heart) is the individualism or the truth of a person, whereas the latter (the mind) is the collectivism or the deception among many people. By my example of an addict being in denial, they would be controlled by numbers, being of a collective-based mindset. There are also those who are rooted in their hearts, by what they know best based on experience. This becomes problematic, because too much individualism can form an arrogant and prideful nature that never takes advice from others.
Although I think, I’m afraid I actually do not know much about the usage of psychedelics.
The way I perceive reality is to how we know ourselves, to then be empathetic to others for matching connections with similar histories/backgrounds. Pain (life crisis) is what defines those backgrounds of people. However, less understanding of ourselves and more of a desire to know “more” about ourselves involves less action, since there’s no life crisis to act upon. I believe that when a person is comfortable enough, they can afford to complicate their identity when there’s no life crisis to handle. However, with a PTSD war veteran or a schizophrenic, whose suffering seems beyond their control, there is more of a reason for self-acceptance when self-discovery comes after the blow of trauma. That is mainly because those histories/backgrounds cannot be changed, and so a person cannot possibly forget what they’ve done or what they’ve witnessed. They have no choice but to come to terms with that, and thus accept their scars.
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Empathy is the answer for sure.
Yes, lots of people think being stubborn & prideful is a virtue – well, idk if they really believe it or if they just unconsciously act this way.
Yes, love is much more than a feeling, but it includes feelings – it’s all inclusive, yet love also has different meanings to each person.
Your thoughts about exploring identity & gender – you think this would cause major depression & that we’d lose touch with our original selves…I agree with half of this – I agree that we would momentarily lose touch with our original selves, but that we are always transforming anyway – like are you the same person you were when you were 1 years old?? Are you even the same person you were a year ago?? 5 years ago?? Ya know….What I’m trying to express with psilocybin & psychedelics is definitely very different from any of today’s ways of thinking. & many people won’t understand it, but some already do, and they love it. They are with it, with me, with us. Together…Also, great actors – the best actors on this planet are already doing this when they play characters…& like Shakespeare said, the whole worlds a stage…
Anyway, you are correct in saying self-discovery is not an easy task. It’s one of the most difficult things any of us can do. But it’s worth it.
You say that suicide can be the end result of this, but what is wrong with suicide? – yea, it’s frowned upon. Highly frowned upon, but if people are in such pain – why go on living? Society has such a negative view of suicide, & assisted deaths too – some old people want to die because they are in so much pain but it’s illegal in so many places!! That is insane to me!! Insane!!!! If it’s their time to go, let them go. No one should force someone to live who doesn’t want to anymore.
In the end, what really matters is what each individual believes.
Like, people shouldn’t try to force their beliefs on others, they should just live them – and often it’s the people who try forcing their beliefs on others who are the biggest hypocrites. But yea, like this conversation, I’m willing to & love discussing these deep topics.
About slavery of the mind – you are correct. Millions if not billions of people are conflicted with mental slavery. I think we all experience it from time to time – some more than others.
I like the way your book is headed – with heart & mind – although I’m sure it will be difficult to write because of how complex the heart & mind are – & how they differentiate from person to person.
Your thoughts & ideas are philosophical no doubt, and they are yours.
One day, maybe in the next 5-10 years when psychedelics are legalized & are used correctly, people with PTSD & other mental health diseases & life experiences may be able to recover. I truly believe it is possible, but it will not be easy.
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I will only comment on your point on suicide.
My GF attempted suicide 4 times over, after we broke up for the first time. The break-up was mutual. However, I lashed out at her, because of the grief it still caused. I tried, for 7 months, to be friends with her. But, it was like looking at her like a lifeless doll. As in, from depthless love to inanimate object. It furthered the anger, until I admitted to her that I was forcing myself to be friends, forcing my compassion… and this caused her to cry.
For all I’ve done for her, I would have labelled myself a murderer if I had left her to her doom. I ignored my own pain, cried buckets for her, only to keep her moving. I lashed out at others, whenever they believed this love wasn’t worth it. Then, I began to weep, once more, because I’ve always loved her more than myself. In simple terms, I am ready to die for this woman, if it means she can live for another moment in this world.
Do you know how many people are seen as “courageous” for attempting suicide, or even successfully doing it? My father was a 9/11 first-responder. After his death, he was given commendations for his heroism in saving other’s lives. I wonder… would my GF be given a separate ceremony for her “courage”, because no one saved her life?
On my blog, I have written close to 2,000 poems based on all the pain both her and I have dealt with, throughout the years. Too much of it, and yet, I cannot let her out of my mind.
So… according to what you said, I’ll say that life is only ever chosen to end, of the self, through the punishment that is deemed to be the greater gift than the one of forgiveness. When a person is loved, they will be forgiven. When a person is said to be hated, they will punish themselves if only to end the pain that hatred, born from love, has caused.
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