It's been a long time since I got into some
pot. The last time would have been New Year's
Eve 2001, as I recall. This was obviously some fairly potent stuff (a joint was being passed around at the back of the (very crowded) bar, and I indulged myself with a couple of tokes.) It is a known fact that today's maryjane is a LOT more potent than the stuff I messed around with back in the 80's...
Within a half-hour, I recall time seeming to distort... I might have walked
a block or two, and it seemed to go by in an instant,
with me forgetting most of the details...
Or time might extend. I remember 15 minutes seeming like an hour that night.
Now, in the "astral dimension" it is said that time is distorted, with an hour "there" being equivalent to a few minutes here in C1, or what have you.
Could it be, that (good) pot causes you to "phase" in and out of C1 (into C2 through C10) or something like that, causing the subjective distortions of time? If so, maybe I should get back to smoking some every so often...

B-man

I would look at it this way.  A goal of having a mystical or astral experience is to retain one's sense of conscous awareness and rational mind.  Marijuana or drugs cause a loss of the rational and calm alert mind to one exent or another.  Therefore, you will have less control and more distorted perception.

No doubt that drugs can bring about altered states of consciousness.  However, if fear, anger, confusion, or other negative emotions surge along with distortions caused by the drugs, it is likely to be not an enlightening experience.  Some strong minds may be able to use drugs and maintain sanity, and perhaps gain insight, but in general, I wouldn't recommend it.

M

I totally agree Bruce. Thank you for your comments.

Love, Mairlyn

Hi all,
I had this too, this state specific memory, I had (seemingly) great ideas during on pot, but couldn't remember thereafter, but the next time I was on pot, I remembered it again! It was like two worlds, and I wished it would be possible to build a bridge between those states, but I couldn't achieve it.

Using drugs can be seen as a technique, an art. Just look at the rituals and knowledge which is involved by doing a traditional peyotl session. If you take it on your own without this ritual, it can be a totally different thing.

Personally, I don't take pot anymore. I was getting more and more sensitive, and now it seems to cause very bad trips when the euphoric state is over. Personality fall-aparts and those things. I agree, it's difficult to control. Only if you're tough and like the hard, challenging way, or if you pretty superficious it might be appropriate. It's just confusing I think.
Spooky

Hi B-Man-

Remarks in this thread lead me to suggest re-reading Bruce's remarks about "state specific consciousness".  He is making a point about a very valid concept. I think that he speaks best toward your initial thoughts.

I have a Cannabis Card and occasionally use pot to quiet my IBS, but being stoned certainly isn't anything with which to do the business of everyday commerce, nor psychotherapy. It's useful for meditation if you're too lazy to do the preliminaries yourself, or if you have neurological or mental conditions that make meditation difficult.  Hindus have been using it for years for just that purpose. BUT you still have to meditate. Pot is only a catalyst.

Pot is a useful tool to unstick a constipated mind and get the ideas loosened up a bit. But it has a few drawbacks as well.

Typically,  you toke up, get all goggly eyed, trip out on the pretty colors and blinky lights and pretty soon that kind of tripping becomes the target of your activities. What happened to the spiritual goals? At best you are now the repository for a dozen or two entities who want to share your fun, and at worst, you redirect your life pointlessly.

SO you rethink it all, toke up and meditate and you have a fantastic experience of unity with God. Then you try to understand it. That is difficult so you get some peyote, LSD, mascaline, peyote, ayahuasca or whatever and REALLY trip out. And again you have a fantastic experience - perhaps with God or perhaps you get to realize your frailties and talk yourself into going to hell for 8 hours or more.  And you still can't analyze it.

I very methodically did all the above, and had my share of really wondefful experiences, none of which can I convey to you. There are no words, and most of the concepts are still "stored in a state specific place". Then I started to learn how to understand what I had experienced and to explain it. That was over 30 years ago. I discovered that I needed kinds of math that I didn't know existed when I was a grad student, plus a good background in physics, electronics and so on. I'm still working at it. There's a lot more stuff about dimensions, wormholes and on and on, right on into magic etc and it's all locked away in that SSM.  (It's like self inflicted S&M.)

Had I initially chosen solely to use meditation, to study math, physics and related areas, I'd be farther ahead by roughly 6 years, by my estimation. The actual awareness I have seems to have come, not so much from my exotic drug trips, but progressively meditating my way through the universe.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras agree that there are a very large numberof paths to enlightening experiences, including disease, emotional trauma, drugs, meditation and so on. What they don't say is that meditation is by far the best path if you can learn it.  Bruce has done a very decent job with his books to describe a method of meditation that is easy, useful and rewarding. It's not the only one, but it's good. My only other preference is Tantra, but that's another story.

d

LSD is a powerful hallucinogen.  Problem also is the trip lasts half a day or at least 6-8 hours.  That is a long time if things go wrong. 

The problem with hallucinogens is that visual perceptions, auditory and even motor skills or changed.  Time seems changed.  If you have a strong disciplined mind, you can watch all that occurs in mild amusement and know that the experience will end, sometime.  If you indulge in paranoid ideas or fears, they become magnified to a high degree.

Most young people who do LSD do it in a friendly atmosphere with supportive friends around, in an area where they can't get hurt (if they are smart).  The commradery and sharing experience maybe especially helpful. 

Brendan, I would not recommend it for you.  You tend to explore your dark side way too much. And 8 hours of a "bad trip," is too much.  Mushrooms also are quite intense but last about half that time.  Even they can be disorienting.  Meditation, hemisync are much longer paths to enlightenment, but much more controlled.  Drugs seldom should be considered enlightening.   

I think the main difference is, that with drugs, a foreign substance is introduced which changes your perceptions in almost any way conceivable, whereas with Bruce's methods, meditation, kundalini, yoga, etc., you have a conscious intention of practicing a method and you bring your normal perceptions and rational mind with you.  Then, usually, you turn off your sensory perceptions yet keep your rational mind while you explore.  For me, this is a key difference and the reason why drugs will never be a way to figure things out.

Matthew

   I would like to add a comment about psychedelic drugs based on my own experiences. I haven't had any for years now, but I don't regret in having done them back when I was younger. I found them to be a great tool to open the mind up for achieving awareness in ways that aren't available through standard meditation. Being a highly curious individual, I like to find new avenues of adventure beyond the physical world. However, I found it best to think of psychedelic drugs as a tool only, and not to overindulge. Since those days are gone, I'm back to traditional meditation, which is fine with me. I just recently quit smoking pot as a New Year resolution, in which I mentioned about in another thread ("The Entrapment and Downward Spiral of Fear").

Sincerely,
Ralph

Dave,

I'd be fascinated to read a do-it-yourself approach to hypnosis and past life regression.  Especially by you.  A fantastic idea.


M