First off, I am not advocating drugs. ESPECIALLY synthetic ones. I have a theory that natural drugs which can be found in nature are a possible gateway to enlightenment. Now most people I expect are going to say "No, that's just the chemicals in your brain changing and it means nothing, stop doing drugs." EVERYTHING must be used in moderation and respected. Abuse of anything will be the problem.

So let me just say I have "tripped" twice in my life. Once by experiment, and the other by accident. I don't really have any desire to do it again, but both times were so powerful to me that they completely changed my life in the same way having a spirit visit you might. My question though is is there any knowledge to this? It makes sense to me that through nature these things are here to help us find the true knowledge. Because I feel pretty confident in saying that If I had never taken drugs before, I would not be nearly as enlightened of a person as I am today. The difference is I stopped. I took my knowledge and my experience and I didn't abuse it. I have respected my mind and my body in that regard.

I'm not going to share my experiences unless it is requested. I don't mind sharing, I just don't feel like taking the time unless someone has an interest. I'm really just curious about the link between natural drugs and the other world.

StoneColdTrue wrote on Mar 11^th, 2010 at 1:17am:

First off, I am not advocating drugs. ESPECIALLY synthetic ones. I have a theory that natural drugs which can be found in nature are a possible gateway to enlightenment. Now most people I expect are going to say "No, that's just the chemicals in your brain changing and it means nothing, stop doing drugs." EVERYTHING must be used in moderation and respected. Abuse of anything will be the problem. So let me just say I have "tripped" twice in my life. Once by experiment, and the other by accident. I don't really have any desire to do it again, but both times were so powerful to me that they completely changed my life in the same way having a spirit visit you might. My question though is is there any knowledge to this? It makes sense to me that through nature these things are here to help us find the true knowledge. Because I feel pretty confident in saying that If I had never taken drugs before, I would not be nearly as enlightened of a person as I am today. The difference is I stopped. I took my knowledge and my experience and I didn't abuse it. I have respected my mind and my body in that regard. I'm not going to share my experiences unless it is requested. I don't mind sharing, I just don't feel like taking the time unless someone has an interest. I'm really just curious about the link between natural drugs and the other world.

Hi Stone: What you say is true drugs done with some caution and skilled oversight can show you the non-physical nature of the universe thus opening you to the vastness of the otherside... the downside is dependency... if you can use drugs as Tim O'Leary did to open awareness and enable exploration and unlocking the subconscious and unconscious enough to eventually do if by natural meditative techniques that is certainly a path... albeit a dangerous one.

Because of the dependency issue.

Even TMI and Bruce Moen attempt to ween people off hemi-sync and structured forms in their exercises... drugs are not the only kind of dependency that can develope.

S.

Right. I don't trust drugs that much. I don't have much of an addictive personality, so abstaining really isn't a task for me. I get an experience and that is usually enough. And for me, I never really hallucinated or saw anything in the physical world. I'll just say it was shrooms that I had my first experience with, and most people always tell me they see things move that shouldn't move or just physical manifestations. For me it was complete exploration of my own mind and like unlocking the power of it. I felt like I knew and was a part of death, and that I had knowledge of my life and the earth's history in expanded ways. It was a feeling so powerful that it terrified me and I was convinced I was already dead.

I was having a discussion not too long ago with some friends trying to describe the feelings we all shared, and everyone could agree that it feels like you melt into the world itself. Like you are part of everything around you, your nerves don't really work so much (like I couldn't feel pain) and you are as much a part of yourself as you are the air surrounding you. It's very euphoric feeling, but it's also uncomfortable because I believe it's unnatural. It's not somewhere we're meant to be yet, so it isn't so great to invite you completely.

I read alot of Castenada as a kid and was impressed with the idea that other realms could be accessed through some ritual use of peyote.  At that time I probably would have done it, but never had any opportunity and simply reading the books kind of took me away from the drug-induced/assisted change of dimension.

For myself, I tend to drink wine and the occasional cocktail but find that those "chemicals" have a residuary effect in clouding my meditation as much as two days later...which is a bummer because I do like a good martini and my cousin is a first-rate vintner.  Ah well.  I have to pick my times and places, but that seems to be the only ill effect on my spiritual practice. 

I don't believe drug usage is a good way to approach spiritual growth.  In some cases it might make a person more vunerable to spirit invasion.

Carlos Castaneda was proven to be a fraud, so even "if" he has some good things to say, he isn't proof that drug usage is a good thing.

Regarding shamans, don't assume that they are all connected to good spirits.  John Mack writes about South African shaman Credo Mutwah in one of his books, and Credo said that a number of shamans in South Africa (and perhaps beyond) are controlled by unfriendly beings.

Notice how Castneda doesn't speak about growing in love.

Good thing I never found any peyote!

recoverer wrote on Mar 11^th, 2010 at 4:00pm:

I don't believe drug usage is a good way to approach spiritual growth.  In some cases it might make a person more vunerable to spirit invasion. Carlos Castaneda was proven to be a fraud, so even "if" he has some good things to say, he isn't proof that drug usage is a good thing. Regarding shamans, don't assume that they are all connected to good spirits.  John Mack writes about South African shaman Credo Mutwah in one of his books, and Credo said that a number of shamans in South Africa (and perhaps beyond) are controlled by unfriendly beings. Notice how Castneda doesn't speak about growing in love.

Recoverer, you are always so eloquent in your responses. :)

I'm going to try and detail my "trips" just for the sake of getting insight on them.

So last summer, I took shrooms for the first time with my brother in our house. For the first couple of hours it just made us feel silly and good. Then it escalated to a point where I felt I could not concentrate on a particular thing. I started freaking out a little and began sobbing for probably the first time since I was a child. It's like I could feel the worst depression I had ever felt. Then I started to smile and laugh as my brother talked to me, and I told him it felt like the extent of happiness. That I felt so happy I felt stupid   ;D It calmed down and I went down to the kitchen with him. The next thing I know, I left reality and escaped inside my mind.

I began circling my house multiple times, talking to my brother but feeling like I was no longer part of the world. I kept considering the idea that I was dead. That this didn't feel like the world anymore, and it scared me. I regained myself enough to want to go upstairs to my bed and see if it would sleep off. As I lay in my bed, I saw myself as part of the entire universe and I was trying to create earth but it wouldn't work the way I wanted it to. I had to create and destroy in the way that an artist does with initial concepts. I then felt like I could visit the universe and found myself looking upon Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Tolkien's world) and then I felt like I was in Hell. That I entered a part of the universe I would never escape. I could see my entire life from outside of it, and it was being unfolded like a mirror to infinite. Like I would have to walk through this tunnel forever but it would stop where I died and it just replays over and over in incredible speed.

Then I more or less came out of that feeling and felt like I had great power. I started trying to turn into the Incredible Hulk because it was always one of my favorite fictional characters. I considered the idea that I could do whatever I wanted. My brother told me later that he actually heard me scream "I'M THE INCREDIBLE HULK" and was roaring. We laughed a good bit at that. But back to it...I could find love with any woman of my choice. I was a god. The last thing I remember is that I was in the bathroom with my brother and telling him that I was the first being born into the universe, and he was the second. He had ruled the realm of Hell, while I ruled the Universe and created Earth. I recalled that all of the Gods of every religion were created by me as a means to rule at separate points of time, but they had left the Earth and now resided in a separate realm. I recalled how Zeus had given Benjamin Franklin the lightning bolt which he made his discovery. Then I discussed with my brother different aspects of humanity and when I would bring about the judgment day, and if I would. But that to better understand humanity he and I had become humans and were now living a human existence, and then at our human death we would ascend back to our place as supreme powers. I believed all of this, and he went along with it for fun...which only made it more real to me.

So after that talk I went to sleep, and woke up back to reality as if it were all a vivid dream. It pretty much changed the way I saw life and opened me to wanting to explore this power of the mind without having to use drugs.

Now the second trip was a complete accident. After the first one, I really didn't want to experience anything like it ever again. But one night I decided to smoke this legal bud called Serenity Now, which is a blend of herbs and sold as herbal incense. I had smoked it a few times before and it all did was give a similar high to marijuana. But how surprised I was when I smoked it one night to calm myself before bed, and experienced an extreme epiphany.

The drug itself was the culprit, but my mind created the spark. Just randomly thinking, I considered the idea that the mind is truly the only existence. That it is so powerful it actually masks a good deal of your consciousness, and creates your life and everything within it. I created this thought on my own, but later found it is an actual belief called Solipsism. Give it a google.

So this thought sent me into a spiral and I felt EXACTLY like I did when I was on the shrooms. Just a complete lost sense of reality. But this time I started to fight back and tried to consider that reality still existed. But the drugs fought harder. I couldn't concentrate and began to feel like I was falling into a hole. I felt I could feel both paradise and hell. Paradise because of the warm, tingling feelings and the vast power of my mind but Hell because it felt like none of that would ever end and I would never be able to rest. I called a buddy of mine to keep me in tune. We had a pretty righteous conversation about the meaning of life, the power of the mind, and the aspect of reality. But throughout it I would fade away, and at times felt like he was only a part of me. I could understand our conversation before it occurred and felt like I could sense his replies before he made them. I told him at one point that I was going to end the world in 2012 and then changed that to very powerful, very damaging things would happen in 2012 but it would be from humans and not any other force. He did a good job putting up with me between 3 and 4 am.

I struggled with trying to feel reality for a bit longer but eventually came out of it. That experience has caused me to wonder about death and the meaning of life since it happened, which was in early February or late January of this year. I haven't been able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour since then because my mind like to wander the most at the quiet of the night. But after finding some information on an interpretation of the afterlife from mediums and psychics, I feel a lot better about many of my questions.

I've always had pretty mellow experiences with 'shrooms, but I think they vary a lot.  And people's reactions to them vary even more.  I would never advise anyone to take them, but some people do and have great experiences...I just don't want to be responsible for advising they try and have it not work out.

Thanks for posting, StoneColdTrue. There are two things which are almost for certain, from what I've read and experienced. First, psychedelic drugs almost always work as a door-opener for other than the common materialist beliefs. Once you have experienced different worlds, you are open to accept that consciousness is the primary, and brain functions are merely an accompanying process. Second, psychedelic experiences in most cases, once we're back from the trip, don't give any serious hints what our life is about, what we should do, who we are etc... They are just crazy. I've read some reports of such trips (beneath my own) and it was always the same. Pretty weird, or awsome sometimes, but not really useful once you're sober.
   There are, in my opinion, exceptions. Some healers may have enough experience and whatever abilities to guide someone on such a trip for beneficial results. But normally, it's just weird. But this opening-doors effect I mentioned can be quite powerful, as it seems to be the case with yourself, StoneColdTrue. To think about Solipsism is in my opinion a necessary ingredient of spiritual growth.

Spooky

The day after that second trip I had a lot of trouble in my thinking. I wondered a lot about the solipsism theory and had to counter it with my own arguments. Later in the day I was driving and still thinking really hard about it and I hit upon something that made me feel like I was about to fall right back into that trip state. I could feel it in my brain and mind. That intense tingling feeling. I had to quickly focus on the music I had playing, anything I could do to not lose myself. From that point I just had chills flying up and down my body, and a very strong one in the back of my head. It was really weird. I didn't do or take anything but it could have been all my lack of sleep from the night before.

I definitely understand that reality does exist and each of us are individuals. I'm not god so to say, but in those states I felt like I was. I felt like I could feel at least a fraction of that power and I'll be honest...it's too much. Only god can be god for it is its nature. But for us to feel that power is so completely overwhelming it becomes uncomfortable. I hope that dying and being in the other realm does not feel like that. I want to be able to feel as relaxed as I do on my most relaxed days on Earth. I want to be able to rest.

Quote StoneColdTrue:
"Later in the day I was driving and still thinking really hard about it and I hit upon something that made me feel like I was about to fall right back into that trip state."

Yeah, that happens. It's called "State Specific Memory" (or, in case of drugs and trauma, "flashback"). Sometimes, when we think of something of the past, it's working like a magnet for associations, and it happens that the overall feeling of the past event reappears, and with it all the details of this event.

About Solipsism, the hardcore version actually is you are the only entity that is. The more fruitful version is to realize that everything that you experience is in your mind. Including what you experience as your body. This plays a major role in Buddhism.

Your drug experience has amplified your thoughts. You know, I've studied philosophy. I noticed that most of my fellow students just learnt what they've got to learn, and simply repeated what they've read. But then there were a few who were earnest and really thought about it all, wholeheartedly. I think your drug experience (despite it's crazy aspects) added quite an earnest intensity to your thoughts. Making you realize that some thoughts are not "just" thoughts.

Spooky

I think so too. I can also admit that I never considered myself as much of a thinker until I was doing drugs. I used to spend many a day just me and marijuana and many realizations occurred for me and I've been doing a lot of thinking ever since. The bigger psychedelics of course just had much more powerful effects. They kind of did make me think that my world and my life was all that existed. Even as I type this the idea sends chills through my body and mind. I don't like the idea of it because it makes me feel more alone. I want to know people are all individual people and we will be together in this life and the next.

I was discussing with someone just last night that I think there are blocks in our minds that keep it constrained and organized, and that some of those drugs can break those gaps and not only show you the true power of the mind but also give you epiphanies and realizations to the meaning of life and the "true knowledge" which once the drug effects ware off we seem to always forget as the blocks return. The person I was talking to completely agreed with me as he felt the same thing, and was a large reason why he used psychedelics so much because he wanted that knowledge while I disagreed as said we aren't supposed to have it yet. I don't remember feeling very comfortable with whatever I realized. I remember feeling scared and wanting to be back to normal. But I just can't place what it was I really understood, or if it was only a false realization brought on by the drug.

I also believe the entire concept of it and the realization can be reached without drugs...but I'm not sure if I want to do that. Not if the truth is something I'm not ok with. But if I had not done the drugs at all and seen what they showed me, I do not believe I would be here or searching for any answers.

I should also say that the experience with solipsism gave me a larger understanding afterwards that reality and all of this is certainly real and not created by me, but that everything I do experience in reality is pulled into my mind and stored there. "Memory" as we call it is actually just the experiences of life trapped into the soul and carried with you. Everything trapped there is what makes you YOU and what makes your life after this one have purpose and direction.

Yes, what you say about memory is a way to interprete our existence; there are other ways of interpretation, but this is a personal thing. Everyone who thinks about the self, the world and their relationship is faced with those questions.

And I agree, as well as your discussion partner, with this "block" theory. Drugs can be quite effective in destroying the routine of the way we normally think, coming from normal practice and habit. All of a sudden we're look at it from a totally different angle. This makes us more open for walking new paths. But drugs do this brutally and mindlessly (when we're not prepared), so most trips remain weird. It's possible to have similar experiences without drugs. I once was about to have an out-of-body experience, my body was in my bed, I still felt it, but my mind somehow was standing inmidst the room and a tremendous fear suddenly came over me, the overwhelming thought that I'm totally alone. I quickly came back fully to my body. There are deep fears, and sometimes we are tested. Drugs can put one right into those fears, and that's a horror trip then. But they can be an eye-opener as well.

Spooky

spooky2 wrote on Mar 13^th, 2010 at 11:54pm:

Yes, what you say about memory is a way to interprete our existence; there are other ways of interpretation, but this is a personal thing. Everyone who thinks about the self, the world and their relationship is faced with those questions. And I agree, as well as your discussion partner, with this "block" theory. Drugs can be quite effective in destroying the routine of the way we normally think, coming from normal practice and habit. All of a sudden we're look at it from a totally different angle. This makes us more open for walking new paths. But drugs do this brutally and mindlessly (when we're not prepared), so most trips remain weird. It's possible to have similar experiences without drugs. I once was about to have an out-of-body experience, my body was in my bed, I still felt it, but my mind somehow was standing inmidst the room and a tremendous fear suddenly came over me, the overwhelming thought that I'm totally alone. I quickly came back fully to my body. There are deep fears, and sometimes we are tested. Drugs can put one right into those fears, and that's a horror trip then. But they can be an eye-opener as well. Spooky

Hi I have also had this terrible fear experience like some demon is looking at your body. I used to OBOOE a lot but found it made me depressed for some reason. I now use the Bruce Moon methods which is much easier on the psyche

Thank  you Rebecca. I'm glad somebody thinks so. :)


Rebecca wrote on Mar 12^th, 2010 at 12:32am:

recoverer wrote on Mar 11th, 2010 at 4:00pm: I don't believe drug usage is a good way to approach spiritual growth.  In some cases it might make a person more vunerable to spirit invasion. Carlos Castaneda was proven to be a fraud, so even "if" he has some good things to say, he isn't proof that drug usage is a good thing. Regarding shamans, don't assume that they are all connected to good spirits.  John Mack writes about South African shaman Credo Mutwah in one of his books, and Credo said that a number of shamans in South Africa (and perhaps beyond) are controlled by unfriendly beings. Notice how Castneda doesn't speak about growing in love. Recoverer, you are always so eloquent in your responses. :)

spooky2 wrote on Mar 13^th, 2010 at 11:54pm:

Yes, what you say about memory is a way to interprete our existence; there are other ways of interpretation, but this is a personal thing. Everyone who thinks about the self, the world and their relationship is faced with those questions. And I agree, as well as your discussion partner, with this "block" theory. Drugs can be quite effective in destroying the routine of the way we normally think, coming from normal practice and habit. All of a sudden we're look at it from a totally different angle. This makes us more open for walking new paths. But drugs do this brutally and mindlessly (when we're not prepared), so most trips remain weird. It's possible to have similar experiences without drugs. I once was about to have an out-of-body experience, my body was in my bed, I still felt it, but my mind somehow was standing inmidst the room and a tremendous fear suddenly came over me, the overwhelming thought that I'm totally alone. I quickly came back fully to my body. There are deep fears, and sometimes we are tested. Drugs can put one right into those fears, and that's a horror trip then. But they can be an eye-opener as well. Spooky

Right. I was pretty uncomfortable both times and felt lonely and afraid. I don't care to feel like that again.

One thing I've come to understand from talking with several people now is that a large difference about the block memory thing, is that apparently LSD will allow the person to carry those realizations and understandings back. Like the blocks don't return. Multiple people have understood this and my friend had a lot of insight and understanding on the afterlife and aspects of reincarnation. He said that he understood we all knew each other in a past life and always will (I didn't start becoming friends with him until 2008, but we also attended elementary school together and have been around each other here and there up until now being friends) and that people will continue to reincarnate until their soul has evolved to the point of understanding love and life before standing before the creator.

We shared both of our beliefs on the afterlife and it wasn't so different. He wasn't sure about the concept of people being there to guide you upon death and was very happy to hear me tell him that was something I've found to be understood among many.

Despite what I have been told of dropping acid, I really don't think it's something I ever want to do. I honestly want to find my answers without the use of drugs.

I, too, haven't taken LSD. Two friends of mine told me independently of their experiences with it. Both said they could communicate through telepathy. Both said they had physical abilities beyond physical laws. About the deeper insights you told of, yes, it might be. But it can happen that people become obsessed by these insights and frustrated, because they find themselves unable to continue on this level of mind when they're sober. Some then take it regularly, and start to behave very strange, and no one understands what they're talking about anymore.

Spooky

When I was a college sophomore, I remember my first encounter with a classmate who regularly took LSD.  I was secretly envious of his adventures in consciousness.  So imagine my dismay when he had to be committed to a psychiatric ward by the end of the semester.  In grad school, I had a friend who regularly smoked weed.  Again, I was secretly envious of his mellow ecstasy as he got high.  But I met him 10 years later and his memory ws shot to the point of apparent borderline dementia.  Of course, many drug users are not that adversely affected, but I feel compelled by the destructive impact I've witnessed to urge caution.

Don

The key to anything is respect and moderation. Abuse and misuse will 9/10 times lead to problems. It's like anything else. Though I do view alcohol as more of a destructive force, I found no qualms limiting it to a weekend thing. My father and the majority of my friends are abusers and it is very easy for me to see how negatively it affects them. That urge of caution should be there for every substance. It's just teetering in gluttony and can bring no good.

Marijuana I will admit though was something I used to partake in daily but I never felt it was abuse. I will however admit that I misused it during points that were unnecessary. I felt like it was a very healing drug which worked as a great crutch if I used it wisely. But there it is. The whole key is moderation and respect for both the substance and yourself. I'm of course speaking specifically about less harmful substances. 

StoneColdTrue wrote on Mar 16^th, 2010 at 2:19am:

The key to anything is respect and moderation. Abuse and misuse will 9/10 times lead to problems. It's like anything else. Though I do view alcohol as more of a destructive force, I found no qualms limiting it to a weekend thing. My father and the majority of my friends are abusers and it is very easy for me to see how negatively it affects them. That urge of caution should be there for every substance. It's just teetering in gluttony and can bring no good. Marijuana I will admit though was something I used to partake in daily but I never felt it was abuse. I will however admit that I misused it during points that were unnecessary. I felt like it was a very healing drug which worked as a great crutch if I used it wisely. But there it is. The whole key is moderation and respect for both the substance and yourself. I'm of course speaking specifically about less harmful substances.

I have tried acid many years back and the trip was pleasant and very similar to the state of ecstasy I used to go into when I was in the very hight state brought on by my bipolar disorder in the manic state. What people don't realize that extreme mania opened the psychic world more than any drug.

I had a near death experienced due to attempted suicide and that is the source of most of my knowledge of the life beyond death

Alan McDougall wrote on Mar 16^th, 2010 at 2:41am:

StoneColdTrue wrote on Mar 16th, 2010 at 2:19am: The key to anything is respect and moderation. Abuse and misuse will 9/10 times lead to problems. It's like anything else. Though I do view alcohol as more of a destructive force, I found no qualms limiting it to a weekend thing. My father and the majority of my friends are abusers and it is very easy for me to see how negatively it affects them. That urge of caution should be there for every substance. It's just teetering in gluttony and can bring no good. Marijuana I will admit though was something I used to partake in daily but I never felt it was abuse. I will however admit that I misused it during points that were unnecessary. I felt like it was a very healing drug which worked as a great crutch if I used it wisely. But there it is. The whole key is moderation and respect for both the substance and yourself. I'm of course speaking specifically about less harmful substances.  I have tried acid many years back and the trip was pleasant and very similar to the state of ecstasy I used to go into when I was in the very hight state brought on by my bipolar disorder in the manic state. What people don't realize that extreme mania opened the psychic world more than any drug. I had a near death experienced due to attempted suicide and that is the source of most of my knowledge of the life beyond death

Hm. That's pretty interesting. I'm glad to know you found a new respect for life. I was diagnosed with depression so perhaps it plays a part in my trip experiences.

An excerpt of my struggle with manic depression

Note; The reason I posted this article was because so called mad people were considered holy both in biblical Scripture and in primitive peoples society they are called the wise man.Mania opens your mind to many wonderer's of the psychic and metaphysical paranormal world.One the doorway is opened it never closes again , if great men who were bipolar had been medicated we might have being living in a much poorer world

Please note that what I am describing is not the mild beneficial hypo mania of high performing persons of history who also had this disorder. This mild form of mania existed in a large number of great and creative persons. It was there that one saw the enormous energy of Winston Churchill , Ludwig Van Beethoven, William Blake, Napoleon Bonaparte,, Charles Dickens, T.S. Elliot, Robert Frost, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln, Jack London, Robert Co well, Michelangelo,, Mozart, Isaac Newton, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, King David, King Saul. To name a very few of the countless great personalities that suffered in different degrees from a milder form of this disorder.

I begin to see visions, hallucinate, sometimes-beautiful visions of other worlds, universes, heaven and see and perceive colors that do not exist on this earth. I feel I was in constant communication every being in existence as I was truly God incarnate. I was convinced I was god. I feel that I am the incarnation of the sublime, wanting to remain in this state forever.

I continue to have vivid visions and dreams, so real that I still do not know if I was communicating with some higher intelligence. I can see the future flashing before my eyes in rapid non-stop visions. My eyes dart back and forth, back and forth, become red, and inflamed and terrifying to look into.

I am in another reality beyond space and time an alarming altered state of consciousness. No loner feeling glorious, I am becoming more and scared, terrified of this uncontrollable state and everything starts to go out of contra.

My body begins to die from the unrelenting drain off energy on it by this completely abnormal state of affairs. I became paranoid fearful, horrified, terrified desperate to escape the horror that has become

Maybe so, Alan, and I do agree with your point. It is important to note, however, that this results in great difficulties at times for friends, families and partners of those who are interacting with them. For people around them, who are not strong of mind, it can be an overwhelming and sometimes extremely negative experience, no matter what the value of the benefits gained along the way. It is important for all of us to keep our perspectives in balance, no matter who we are, and to recognize the contributions  of the 'smallest' among us, as well as the 'greatest'. This is not an easy balance to maintain at times, but worth the effort.

wrote on Mar 16^th, 2010 at 8:26am:

Maybe so, Alan, and I do agree with your point. It is important to note, however, that this results in great difficulties at times for friends, families and partners of those who are interacting with them. For people around them, who are not strong of mind, it can be an overwhelming and sometimes extremely negative experience, no matter what the value of the benefits gained along the way. It is important for all of us to keep our perspectives in balance, no matter who we are, and to recognize the contributions  of the 'smallest' among us, as well as the 'greatest'. This is not an easy balance to maintain at times, but worth the effort.

Thanks for the response, now that I am balanced much of my psychic abilities have been lost

Blessings and light

Alan

I can see how that might be a little troubling to you, if you feel that way, Alan. I simply felt it was important to make a mention that anyone who is thinking about going off of any important medication so that they might be closer to their own spirituality...or they might have more powers in some way...it's probably something to think about, not for people to choose to do indiscriminately. I was just worrying around that particular thought is all I meant, friend, because I have met some people who sometimes go waaaaaaaay out there, and it takes them a long time to reel themselves back, not that they really want to, once they get waaaaaaay out there. :)

wrote on Mar 16^th, 2010 at 9:26pm:

I can see how that might be a little troubling to you, if you feel that way, Alan. I simply felt it was important to make a mention that anyone who is thinking about going off of any important medication so that they might be closer to their own spirituality...or they might have more powers in some way...it's probably something to think about, not for people to choose to do indiscriminately. I was just worrying around that particular thought is all I meant, friend, because I have met some people who sometimes go waaaaaaaay out there, and it takes them a long time to reel themselves back, not that they really want to, once they get waaaaaaay out there. :)

You are absolutely right the whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayy out state while it can be wonderful it can be horrifying. I am better off in the present well balanced state. And I have a bonus of not losing all my gifts

Blessings and Light

Alan

Hm. That's pretty interesting. I'm glad to know you found a new respect for life. I was diagnosed with depression so perhaps it plays a part in my trip experiences.

I would guess that you are right.  A bunch of friends and I, back in our college days, used to do quite a bit of acid, and none of us every had any issues with it.  We used it both for play and for serious exploration.  I hadn't thought about it before, but the people outside our little group that we knew, that *did* have issues, often also had issues with depression and/or anxiety.