As I spoke in http://learningasanart.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-many-thoughts-are-you-made-up-of.html
I believe that the mind is made up of thought trees. I brought this up in a post at HighExistence and many responded, a few replied with what they thought was more appropriate: A thought "web" where thoughts are more connected to everything, rather than in chain. I do believe this to be true, but let me explain what a possible structural representation may be like.
We have very strong, deep, "Root" or "Trunk" thoughts - those which everything else stem from, one of which I am sure is "Who am I?" (for most people). This thought branches out to "What do my parents want?" "What do I love", "What am I capable of (Am I smart? Am I strong?)" etc...
But contrary to what would appear to be the case, thoughts arise from events in our daily lives, and get transferred to the very outer branches. These outer branches are much more specific like "Should I buy this for $5?" This branch thought is webbed to many thoughts, like "My friend just bought one" or "I could really use one" - these pseudological calculations are webbed to our event-induced thoughts. They are usually not important thoughts, and in eastern cultures such as buddhism, these "web" thoughts are the monkey brain - usually very little is accomplished with these thoughts, unless we can find solid proof of a logical need like "Oh its actually Tuesday and this item is free on Tuesdays".
But where does the tree structure come in?
The tree structure would come in on how you perceive the 5 dollars and the item of interest. If you believe 5 dollars is something to be considered, then this is going down towards the base of the trunk, here you believe that spending 5 dollars isn't important. Going further down the trunk you may think of how big your paycheck is, and what possibilities that gives you. Further down you may think of how your job presents yourself - (is it an elite class job? 5$ shouldn't be anything!). Even further down you may think that you believe that you should be able to take whatever you want.
So, you see, the branches on which events "land" (per-se) are governed by your tree structure.
Had you, for instance, grown a tree with branches that ask questions like "Is this 5 dollars spent going to really make me happier?" or "Is this item of quality?" your trunk may be "What really makes me happy?" "How can I get the most out of life?"
So you see, the trees you plant are incredibly important to who you are (well - they are who you appear to be!).
The next blog will need some considerable thought. I will be contemplating how to cut and grow trees, and how difficult it truly is.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
How many thoughts are you made up of?
Hey learners.
I've found this topic to be extremely interesting. How many thoughts do you think you have a day? Different thoughts, about different things? Probably thousands, right? We wonder about all kinds of things, from the present to the past to the future, constantly questioning.
These questions often bring anxiety, depression, or feelings of victimization "Why does this always happen to me!" Well it doesn't really, although your mind constructs it in such a way as though it seems to be that way.
But that isn't what this post is about. What I'm going to get into here is we're actually really only a few core thoughts. A handful of thoughts govern all our questions. I will use the following image as an example of what I mean:
I've found this topic to be extremely interesting. How many thoughts do you think you have a day? Different thoughts, about different things? Probably thousands, right? We wonder about all kinds of things, from the present to the past to the future, constantly questioning.
These questions often bring anxiety, depression, or feelings of victimization "Why does this always happen to me!" Well it doesn't really, although your mind constructs it in such a way as though it seems to be that way.
But that isn't what this post is about. What I'm going to get into here is we're actually really only a few core thoughts. A handful of thoughts govern all our questions. I will use the following image as an example of what I mean:
[Sorry for the crudeness, I made this in paint in about 25 seconds]
My thinking is, is that all of our thoughts actually stem from actions we have in the world, and then digress into a major "branch" of our logic tree. I personally do not know what the major branch point is, or whether there are many individual trees, so this is just an example. The reason I bring this post up is because although I have found that often, an individual is very complex, my own though structures are incredibly basic, when viewed from this perspective. I often think of only a few things in my life:
1. Questions of personal life; Am I happy? Am I being fulfilled? Am I making others happy?
2. More existential questions, such as; What is "God"? What is consciousness? What is reality? Am I sane? (Hehe)
3. Technical questions; What career do I want? What should I learn today/tomorrow? What is beneficial for me to read?
4. Anxious questions: Does this person like me? Is this alright to wear? Why don't I talk more? Why can't I be like him/her?
The questions of type 1 all fit under the question of "Who am I?", much like the picture above, while numbers 2-4 would probably fit under another thought-tree.
So, what good is knowing this? To be honest I've really not the slightest clue yet! But, I will be back with more. I hope you can relate, and feel free to let me know your thoughts if you agree or disagree.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Extreme emotions
Have you ever felt connected to everything?
Have you ever felt that your life was small, tiny, a fragment of everything's existence?
Have you ever seen your life from a bird's eye view?
I'm guessing most people have. We always see something extremely emotional - whether it be how beautiful our life is, or how terrible. But these emotions are short lived, usually no more than an hour (if soberly-derived...). Yet, most of us don't change after these, most of us act as if "wow that was crazy..." (back to work!).
Why?
Don't you ever see those movies where the person drops everything their doing, quits their job, sells their house, does exactly what they would like to? We grab that feeling (the empathy within us [See my post " A day in the life"]) for a short bit, we leave the movie theater feeling hopeful for our lives or questioning whether we're on the right path. These extreme emotions could launch us into the ideal life. It could launch us into extreme, beneficial change, improvement, evolution.
But it dissipates. Why? Why do we regress? Why do we give into societys' norms, crumbling back into the cubicle, the manual labor, we don't sell the house, we don't travel, we don't explore the world.
As I write this the feeling rises like the tide in my gut. Slowly I, too, realize I am not at my full potential. I have a future, I have plans, goals, but they aren't what I wanted when I was 5 (a pure, although immature, perspective on life). I want to build a greenhouse. I'd like to travel the world. I'd like to live for a few months in the Yukon, the Amazon. I'd like to sky dive. I'd like to write my names on the walls of all the great cities. I'd like to invent. I'd like to solve, to create. I'd like to help.
Why do we 'settle' with our lives.
If you read this, I beg you. Do exactly what you want. Feed these emotions. Strive, build, think, learn.
Be who you are.
Have you ever felt that your life was small, tiny, a fragment of everything's existence?
Have you ever seen your life from a bird's eye view?
I'm guessing most people have. We always see something extremely emotional - whether it be how beautiful our life is, or how terrible. But these emotions are short lived, usually no more than an hour (if soberly-derived...). Yet, most of us don't change after these, most of us act as if "wow that was crazy..." (back to work!).
Why?
Don't you ever see those movies where the person drops everything their doing, quits their job, sells their house, does exactly what they would like to? We grab that feeling (the empathy within us [See my post " A day in the life"]) for a short bit, we leave the movie theater feeling hopeful for our lives or questioning whether we're on the right path. These extreme emotions could launch us into the ideal life. It could launch us into extreme, beneficial change, improvement, evolution.
But it dissipates. Why? Why do we regress? Why do we give into societys' norms, crumbling back into the cubicle, the manual labor, we don't sell the house, we don't travel, we don't explore the world.
As I write this the feeling rises like the tide in my gut. Slowly I, too, realize I am not at my full potential. I have a future, I have plans, goals, but they aren't what I wanted when I was 5 (a pure, although immature, perspective on life). I want to build a greenhouse. I'd like to travel the world. I'd like to live for a few months in the Yukon, the Amazon. I'd like to sky dive. I'd like to write my names on the walls of all the great cities. I'd like to invent. I'd like to solve, to create. I'd like to help.
Why do we 'settle' with our lives.
If you read this, I beg you. Do exactly what you want. Feed these emotions. Strive, build, think, learn.
Be who you are.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Evolution: The fitness landscape
Since I often read/hear incorrect perceptions of evolution which
often causes people to misunderstand it. Giving evolution a goal, or an
end result is a quick way to misunderstanding.
A very good way to think of evolution is “fitness peaks”. The best way of explaining this is that an organism (or a cell, or a protein, or even a molecule) has a certain amount of fitness in its environment. As a change occurs in the organism or structure, the placement on the fitness :landscape: will change. Imagine a plain, stretching out forever, and in this plain there are small bumps, hills, and a few mountains. Each of these hills and mountains represents a relatively higher amount of fitness compared to the flat plain. In an environment of water, an organism with fins will be at a hill or mountain, where as an organism with stumpy legs will probably be in a valley.
Evolution is driven, remember, by mutations, and mutations, in most aspects, are random. They are caused by radiation, and environmental influences, and sometimes simply just happen due to chance. Since this is random, we can imagine that our organisms, while undergoing certain mutations bounce and skip around this landscape. Sometimes they will go down hill, sometimes they will go up hill, but the ones that are uphill will usually have offspring that are close to the hill, and thus hills will most likely always be populated. However, once in a while, an organism can live in a valley (although perhaps difficult), but from the valley, new hills and mountains can be reached. And so evolution progresses. Humans, with brains, thumbs, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth (amongst other amazing features) are on a mountain. A very, very high mountain.
The thing with these fitness landscapes, however, is that the environment creates hills and valleys. So what was once a mountain (fins in an ocean) can turn into a valley, if say a lake dries up. Fitness landscapes also change in the predator-prey (and subsequently parasite/host + synergistic relationships). A cougar that suddenly gains great night vision will cause the deer’s relative hill to become a valley.
To make evolution more difficult, some organism mutate faster than others (for various reasons, some unexplainable). This puts a whole new spin on evolution – there is the possibility to gain the ability to change (subsequently evolve) more often – this can also cause a fitness landscape to be volatile, creating scenarios where there are no mountains or deep gullies, but nearly all foreseeable changes do little in the way of evolution.
I hope this helps understand evolution a bit more.
Real evolution has no end, no goal. The fact that we see “survival of the fittest” does not mean that changes in the genome tend to be more beneficial to organisms, statistically speaking, I’ll assume that it is quite the opposite.
At any rate, please view evolution objectively. There is no “line” of evolution – there is no thing that evolution tends to go to. Rather, it is survival, which is correlated, but not connected, that has a tendency to choose directions.
[[This post was slightly off the main vibe of my site, but it is one of my pet-peeves.]] Have fun out there!
A very good way to think of evolution is “fitness peaks”. The best way of explaining this is that an organism (or a cell, or a protein, or even a molecule) has a certain amount of fitness in its environment. As a change occurs in the organism or structure, the placement on the fitness :landscape: will change. Imagine a plain, stretching out forever, and in this plain there are small bumps, hills, and a few mountains. Each of these hills and mountains represents a relatively higher amount of fitness compared to the flat plain. In an environment of water, an organism with fins will be at a hill or mountain, where as an organism with stumpy legs will probably be in a valley.
Evolution is driven, remember, by mutations, and mutations, in most aspects, are random. They are caused by radiation, and environmental influences, and sometimes simply just happen due to chance. Since this is random, we can imagine that our organisms, while undergoing certain mutations bounce and skip around this landscape. Sometimes they will go down hill, sometimes they will go up hill, but the ones that are uphill will usually have offspring that are close to the hill, and thus hills will most likely always be populated. However, once in a while, an organism can live in a valley (although perhaps difficult), but from the valley, new hills and mountains can be reached. And so evolution progresses. Humans, with brains, thumbs, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth (amongst other amazing features) are on a mountain. A very, very high mountain.
The thing with these fitness landscapes, however, is that the environment creates hills and valleys. So what was once a mountain (fins in an ocean) can turn into a valley, if say a lake dries up. Fitness landscapes also change in the predator-prey (and subsequently parasite/host + synergistic relationships). A cougar that suddenly gains great night vision will cause the deer’s relative hill to become a valley.
To make evolution more difficult, some organism mutate faster than others (for various reasons, some unexplainable). This puts a whole new spin on evolution – there is the possibility to gain the ability to change (subsequently evolve) more often – this can also cause a fitness landscape to be volatile, creating scenarios where there are no mountains or deep gullies, but nearly all foreseeable changes do little in the way of evolution.
I hope this helps understand evolution a bit more.
Real evolution has no end, no goal. The fact that we see “survival of the fittest” does not mean that changes in the genome tend to be more beneficial to organisms, statistically speaking, I’ll assume that it is quite the opposite.
At any rate, please view evolution objectively. There is no “line” of evolution – there is no thing that evolution tends to go to. Rather, it is survival, which is correlated, but not connected, that has a tendency to choose directions.
[[This post was slightly off the main vibe of my site, but it is one of my pet-peeves.]] Have fun out there!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Urban Shaman
I'm a shaman. I'm not afraid to say that, for any of the various reasons one could be.
I've tripped only a handful of times and have really learned little after my first experience, but I have learned. The first experience was as much of a opening of new doors as would be getting sucked through a high pressure hole inside out. It was not comforting :).
But what I have learned was incredibly valuable. On my way down to the darkest abyss one can experience, I climbed my way to the top again. Remembering every foot hold and pathway I took. I've been able to go back and forth from complete desolation of the soul and mind, to euphoria, and with such an ability have used to to "save" some people. I've had a handful of people email me, responding to various messages, about the words I've put out, that "saved their life".
Due to the fact that this happens, and probably will continue to happen, I never outright condone the use of psychedelics. I know their intensity, and I know the fragility of some perspectives of reality, and mixing the two can have catastrophic effects. People must show a great deal of understanding, education, and self-improvement, which is incredibly important when dealing with these substances - with an intent of spirituality, or at least something beyond "Getting high" and laughing at colors.
I've been able to help only because I have been there. I know the steps one needs to take, rather than the leaps that one wants to take (or others impose). The road from an intense, bad trip, can be a terrifying experience, with a rewarding ending.
Beyond that, however, I have realized a special ability that comes and goes - the ability to see sickness. While I was on a very low dose of ayahuasca I was able to see what was ailing people. For weeks after wards my ability to give back massages was incredibly rewarding, and actually very psychologically stimulating (as I could literally "See" the pain).
This ability to see sickness, is what I believe a true shaman holds. It is a learned trait, not something born into. It is not genetic (I don't think), so I'd hope others may be able to gain this as well.
Shamans of the brazilian rainforest are known for their ability to "see" parasites and sickness long before the conscious mind sees symptoms. Often times, weeks before one would normally go into the hospital. This is not some magical trait, or some divine information - this is simply an extremely acute sense of non-verbal communication. Our brains are extremely similar across the globe, the make up, the neurology, even the psychology - we all have very relate able (conserved) portions of the brain. A shaman knows these like the back of his or her hand, and can see when these portions are acting odd.
The stomach may seem loose, the eyes may be slightly drooped. The shoulders sunken, and heavy. The steps may be rigid, or unbalanced. Our minds adapt quickly to pain & suffering, so many times we may not even know we are in pain at all! Yet to the trained eye, all ailments become highlighted like neon-signs. Curing, is something I do not understand, and have much to learn about. Much has to do with placebo (sorry, I'd like another word) and much has to do with things beyond my understanding. Often the shaman will go into the forest, and plants will "speak" to him or her, presenting themselves for the healing process. Here the shaman takes plants which he knows to be familiar, but really has no understanding of medicinal action, and cures.
I hope to one day obtain this kind of hospitality, this ability to heal, cure, and help beyond some internet-arm-chair-psychology.
I've tripped only a handful of times and have really learned little after my first experience, but I have learned. The first experience was as much of a opening of new doors as would be getting sucked through a high pressure hole inside out. It was not comforting :).
But what I have learned was incredibly valuable. On my way down to the darkest abyss one can experience, I climbed my way to the top again. Remembering every foot hold and pathway I took. I've been able to go back and forth from complete desolation of the soul and mind, to euphoria, and with such an ability have used to to "save" some people. I've had a handful of people email me, responding to various messages, about the words I've put out, that "saved their life".
Due to the fact that this happens, and probably will continue to happen, I never outright condone the use of psychedelics. I know their intensity, and I know the fragility of some perspectives of reality, and mixing the two can have catastrophic effects. People must show a great deal of understanding, education, and self-improvement, which is incredibly important when dealing with these substances - with an intent of spirituality, or at least something beyond "Getting high" and laughing at colors.
I've been able to help only because I have been there. I know the steps one needs to take, rather than the leaps that one wants to take (or others impose). The road from an intense, bad trip, can be a terrifying experience, with a rewarding ending.
Beyond that, however, I have realized a special ability that comes and goes - the ability to see sickness. While I was on a very low dose of ayahuasca I was able to see what was ailing people. For weeks after wards my ability to give back massages was incredibly rewarding, and actually very psychologically stimulating (as I could literally "See" the pain).
This ability to see sickness, is what I believe a true shaman holds. It is a learned trait, not something born into. It is not genetic (I don't think), so I'd hope others may be able to gain this as well.
Shamans of the brazilian rainforest are known for their ability to "see" parasites and sickness long before the conscious mind sees symptoms. Often times, weeks before one would normally go into the hospital. This is not some magical trait, or some divine information - this is simply an extremely acute sense of non-verbal communication. Our brains are extremely similar across the globe, the make up, the neurology, even the psychology - we all have very relate able (conserved) portions of the brain. A shaman knows these like the back of his or her hand, and can see when these portions are acting odd.
The stomach may seem loose, the eyes may be slightly drooped. The shoulders sunken, and heavy. The steps may be rigid, or unbalanced. Our minds adapt quickly to pain & suffering, so many times we may not even know we are in pain at all! Yet to the trained eye, all ailments become highlighted like neon-signs. Curing, is something I do not understand, and have much to learn about. Much has to do with placebo (sorry, I'd like another word) and much has to do with things beyond my understanding. Often the shaman will go into the forest, and plants will "speak" to him or her, presenting themselves for the healing process. Here the shaman takes plants which he knows to be familiar, but really has no understanding of medicinal action, and cures.
I hope to one day obtain this kind of hospitality, this ability to heal, cure, and help beyond some internet-arm-chair-psychology.
Monday, March 26, 2012
2 Weeks of happy trials
Well Hello!
After completing 14 days of the happy trials I am glad to say this really does work. The effects are subtle, but over all I have gained positively from the experiment. The breakdown of what I did:
Every day when I woke up I would smile. With 2 days of exception, this would give me great joy and I would be happy for at least an hour without trying. As I drove to work, prepared the day, or arrived at work, things just seemed more beautiful, more captivating.
Nearly every day I went outside I was awe-struck at the beauty of the sky (even cloudy days!) and found myself nearly mystified by my surroundings. Some days I continued the smiling throughout the day, and would usually giggle or laugh a little to myself at how great I felt, and often, too! This caused me to be even more happy, and just was wonderful. Enjoying an hour or so of utter content with myself and where I was.
A few days I did not attempt to be happy on purpose but found it was nearly unavoidable. Friends seemed funnier, events seemed more intense/exciting. Dancing was easier, talking was smooth, there were no negative affects.
The two of the 14 days however, I got little or very bad sleep. I woke up and attempted to smile but it did nothing, no goodness came out of it, and merely felt like muscles in my mouth were moving (that was the extent). But these were towards the beginning of the experiment.
Today, I am not trying to be happy, but as soon as I think of any emotion, I trigger a memory of this study and all the happiness and joy attributed to it, and I cannot help but smile!
What a great day. I love everything :)
After completing 14 days of the happy trials I am glad to say this really does work. The effects are subtle, but over all I have gained positively from the experiment. The breakdown of what I did:
Every day when I woke up I would smile. With 2 days of exception, this would give me great joy and I would be happy for at least an hour without trying. As I drove to work, prepared the day, or arrived at work, things just seemed more beautiful, more captivating.
Nearly every day I went outside I was awe-struck at the beauty of the sky (even cloudy days!) and found myself nearly mystified by my surroundings. Some days I continued the smiling throughout the day, and would usually giggle or laugh a little to myself at how great I felt, and often, too! This caused me to be even more happy, and just was wonderful. Enjoying an hour or so of utter content with myself and where I was.
A few days I did not attempt to be happy on purpose but found it was nearly unavoidable. Friends seemed funnier, events seemed more intense/exciting. Dancing was easier, talking was smooth, there were no negative affects.
The two of the 14 days however, I got little or very bad sleep. I woke up and attempted to smile but it did nothing, no goodness came out of it, and merely felt like muscles in my mouth were moving (that was the extent). But these were towards the beginning of the experiment.
Today, I am not trying to be happy, but as soon as I think of any emotion, I trigger a memory of this study and all the happiness and joy attributed to it, and I cannot help but smile!
What a great day. I love everything :)
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Psychodelic Info - DMT
Due to a great post by Jordan at http://www.highexistence.com/discussions/topic/my-best-explanation-of-shrooms-lsd-to-a-non-user/ I will take the topic of DMT as well.
(Why is this here? When I have taken psychodelics, I have had strong motivational improvements overall, as well as a diminishing in my anxiety. I have felt clear-headed and clarvoyant for weeks if not months after taking psychodelics, and they often stimulate learning as well. It is scientifically proven that psilocybin induces both neurogensis and synaptogensis!)
What is DMT?
-DMT is a naturally occuring compound in many plants as well as in humans. The function in humans is unknown and debateable but has been thought to control Near-death-experiences, dreams, and other extreme senses. Its chemical structure is similar to Psilocybin and serotonin. It is also reportedly the strongest hallucinogen (not by dose, but by intensity obtainable).
The experience:
The experience is very quick when DMT is inhaled by vaporization, and lasts around 15 minutes. The first sensations are often an overwhelming weakness of the body, and a struggle to stay standing or sitting up, and a need to lie down. Your vision usually will either begin to tremble, or massive amounts of kaleidoscope images will begin to appear, ever increasing in their intensity. The visuals will morph around the 45 second mark into actual hallucinations – images of people, creatures, or structures will appear. The shapes will at first seem abstract, but can become increasingly real. These will last for approximately 6 minutes, followed by a weakening in intensity, and a revelation that you are actually in your room (or wherever you started) and that the trip wasn’t taking place in reality. The visuals will last for a while and usually look like crystals or veins with extravagent colors.
The feelings:
As with psilocybin, any feeling you encounter will be incredibly intense. I often think of DMT as the “awe” drug, because every time I have taken it, I have been awe-struck by beauty and the sheer vastness it creates. Any emotion you feel can be amplified, from sheer terror to utter bliss, and visuals to match.
The perspective:
The difference between psilocybin and DMT is that psilocybin is much slower. It builds and builds and the slight changes that constantly occur in your awareness of reality allow you to truly understand what is happening. DMT on the other hand blasts far beyond psilocybin’s perspectives and in a fraction of the time, often giving the user forgetfulness of the events that took place, or the revelations that s/he had. Often, however, the user is shown (analogy owed to Jordan) the play in which we are all actors, but exactly what is controlling it. DMT, in my experience, often explains what is truly behind human kind, and how we think, why we think, and what exactly reality is. The problem, of course, is the intensity and duration of the trip. It is incredibly hard to comprehend what is shown to you in the very limited amount of time.
Since DMT is so short here are the only precautions you need:
1. Never do DMT when you are anxious, stressed, or depressed. If you get nervous before doing it, ease your mind, you will thank yourself! Many people meditate before taking this substance.
2. Set your mind up for happiness, trust me, its rewarding.
3. Since the duration is so short, a sitter is not always necessary, but make sure that you are not somewhere where you can knock things over, or where if you lay down something may spill, catch fire, or any other dangerous scenario.
Here are some trip reports (Ranging from Euphoria to Terror – its always benefitial to see both sides, right?):
Me- After a 5 minute calming of meditation, I think about love and warmth, and how I would greatly enjoy a trip with such emotions. I inhale and lay down, a slight warming in my stomach materializes. Suddenly I am rained down on by hearts and pink and purple rays. I am cuddled, and held in the bosom of life, like a baby and his mother. I cannot hold back laughter of sheer joy. A tunnel appears in front of me, and oddly a marijuana bud appears (I don’t smoke marijuana often). I have no idea why it appears, but it is incredibly benign.
Me – After discussing with a friend, he decides he would like to do it with me, if I do it first. After an appreciation for the substance (mentally preparing myself) I inhale. I lay down, and suddenly everything becomes alive. All things have veins and arteries, pumping neon light everywhere. I am connected to all things by these vessicles of life. I am catapulted into the thought of how society influences all of us. I stare at all the materials in his apartment and my clothes and start laughing at how silly all these purchases are. I stand up, still very intoxicated, and begin pacing the room, laughing histarically at how stupid we all are! I couldn’t believe I had ever bought name brand clothing, or some stylish sheets for my bed, or any trinkets to put in my house. All of my influences seem so ridiculous. I slowly come down, and the real revelations disappear. I feel very confident in myself.
A friend – Takes an inhale in his room. His dog appears through the door, and says to him “I know you’ve taken DMT. I’ve alerted the police.” My friend responds “You’re my best bud and you’re doing this to me? Why?” but his words come out as garbbled noise, and he realizes he can’t talk because he is so high. Two policemen come inside and ask him to slowly get off the bed when he is sober so they can arrest him. He nods his head and attempts to ride out the high, waiting for his arrest. As the high wears off, he realizes he is actually face down in his pillow. He tosses himself upwards and sees nobody in his room, his dog in the far end of the house.
A friend – An inhale while sitting on a porch outside. He is launched into interstellar space. Floating, unaware of anything. A man who looks much like mythical zeus, and the size of trillions of galaxies in length approaches him. He grabs his face, rips it off and stretches it to the end of the universe. The diety winds up and starts to throw the face back onto my friends head but right before my friend’s face is to be reunited with his body, the god explains: “Never come back here”, an astronomical clapping sound occurs and my friend is dumped back into reality, sober as a clam, sitting on the porch.
(Why is this here? When I have taken psychodelics, I have had strong motivational improvements overall, as well as a diminishing in my anxiety. I have felt clear-headed and clarvoyant for weeks if not months after taking psychodelics, and they often stimulate learning as well. It is scientifically proven that psilocybin induces both neurogensis and synaptogensis!)
What is DMT?
-DMT is a naturally occuring compound in many plants as well as in humans. The function in humans is unknown and debateable but has been thought to control Near-death-experiences, dreams, and other extreme senses. Its chemical structure is similar to Psilocybin and serotonin. It is also reportedly the strongest hallucinogen (not by dose, but by intensity obtainable).
The experience:
The experience is very quick when DMT is inhaled by vaporization, and lasts around 15 minutes. The first sensations are often an overwhelming weakness of the body, and a struggle to stay standing or sitting up, and a need to lie down. Your vision usually will either begin to tremble, or massive amounts of kaleidoscope images will begin to appear, ever increasing in their intensity. The visuals will morph around the 45 second mark into actual hallucinations – images of people, creatures, or structures will appear. The shapes will at first seem abstract, but can become increasingly real. These will last for approximately 6 minutes, followed by a weakening in intensity, and a revelation that you are actually in your room (or wherever you started) and that the trip wasn’t taking place in reality. The visuals will last for a while and usually look like crystals or veins with extravagent colors.
The feelings:
As with psilocybin, any feeling you encounter will be incredibly intense. I often think of DMT as the “awe” drug, because every time I have taken it, I have been awe-struck by beauty and the sheer vastness it creates. Any emotion you feel can be amplified, from sheer terror to utter bliss, and visuals to match.
The perspective:
The difference between psilocybin and DMT is that psilocybin is much slower. It builds and builds and the slight changes that constantly occur in your awareness of reality allow you to truly understand what is happening. DMT on the other hand blasts far beyond psilocybin’s perspectives and in a fraction of the time, often giving the user forgetfulness of the events that took place, or the revelations that s/he had. Often, however, the user is shown (analogy owed to Jordan) the play in which we are all actors, but exactly what is controlling it. DMT, in my experience, often explains what is truly behind human kind, and how we think, why we think, and what exactly reality is. The problem, of course, is the intensity and duration of the trip. It is incredibly hard to comprehend what is shown to you in the very limited amount of time.
Since DMT is so short here are the only precautions you need:
1. Never do DMT when you are anxious, stressed, or depressed. If you get nervous before doing it, ease your mind, you will thank yourself! Many people meditate before taking this substance.
2. Set your mind up for happiness, trust me, its rewarding.
3. Since the duration is so short, a sitter is not always necessary, but make sure that you are not somewhere where you can knock things over, or where if you lay down something may spill, catch fire, or any other dangerous scenario.
Here are some trip reports (Ranging from Euphoria to Terror – its always benefitial to see both sides, right?):
Me- After a 5 minute calming of meditation, I think about love and warmth, and how I would greatly enjoy a trip with such emotions. I inhale and lay down, a slight warming in my stomach materializes. Suddenly I am rained down on by hearts and pink and purple rays. I am cuddled, and held in the bosom of life, like a baby and his mother. I cannot hold back laughter of sheer joy. A tunnel appears in front of me, and oddly a marijuana bud appears (I don’t smoke marijuana often). I have no idea why it appears, but it is incredibly benign.
Me – After discussing with a friend, he decides he would like to do it with me, if I do it first. After an appreciation for the substance (mentally preparing myself) I inhale. I lay down, and suddenly everything becomes alive. All things have veins and arteries, pumping neon light everywhere. I am connected to all things by these vessicles of life. I am catapulted into the thought of how society influences all of us. I stare at all the materials in his apartment and my clothes and start laughing at how silly all these purchases are. I stand up, still very intoxicated, and begin pacing the room, laughing histarically at how stupid we all are! I couldn’t believe I had ever bought name brand clothing, or some stylish sheets for my bed, or any trinkets to put in my house. All of my influences seem so ridiculous. I slowly come down, and the real revelations disappear. I feel very confident in myself.
A friend – Takes an inhale in his room. His dog appears through the door, and says to him “I know you’ve taken DMT. I’ve alerted the police.” My friend responds “You’re my best bud and you’re doing this to me? Why?” but his words come out as garbbled noise, and he realizes he can’t talk because he is so high. Two policemen come inside and ask him to slowly get off the bed when he is sober so they can arrest him. He nods his head and attempts to ride out the high, waiting for his arrest. As the high wears off, he realizes he is actually face down in his pillow. He tosses himself upwards and sees nobody in his room, his dog in the far end of the house.
A friend – An inhale while sitting on a porch outside. He is launched into interstellar space. Floating, unaware of anything. A man who looks much like mythical zeus, and the size of trillions of galaxies in length approaches him. He grabs his face, rips it off and stretches it to the end of the universe. The diety winds up and starts to throw the face back onto my friends head but right before my friend’s face is to be reunited with his body, the god explains: “Never come back here”, an astronomical clapping sound occurs and my friend is dumped back into reality, sober as a clam, sitting on the porch.
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