From:
david.j.worrell@gmail.com
Wrt a 'fixed self' - the keyword is 'fixed'. But it's almost a
no-brainer, since ultimately there is no fixed... anything.
Is there? :) So of course, there is no fixed self.
I'd have to conclude that observation with: so what? :)
To share my own personal findings, I'd say there are *several*
different substances that can have effects like psilocybin.
And they're all slightly different. The point being:
don't just stop with one. Try 'em all. Collect the whole set. :)
Unless you're too unstable to handle that.
If I was to make just one more little point, it might be:
You can "see beyond your individual consciousness, minimize suffering
and interpersonal strife, and get a sense of interconnectedness
and peace" WITHOUT using any of those drugs. But no doubt they can
help some people, especially if one gets in a rut.
I think the real trouble with such drug studies is what to use
for "controls". Because one could use so many different situations
as possible controls. And I'm not sure they're fully realizing this.
Hints:
Think Woodstock, minus the drugs.
Think Burning Man, minus the drugs.
Think two-weeks canoeing in the Canadian wilderness, w/ no drugs.
Think attending a week-long Castaneda workshop, no drugs required.
Think 12-hour sensory deprivation experience with dolphins.
(Okay, I'm just making shit up now...)
And of course, as Slider might say, think extensive LD experiences.
etc.
If you insist, you could do any or all of those "in conjunction with" meditation training, or not.
The point is that yes, powerful drugs can work well to shake things
up and give you a real attitude adjustment on life, but... so can
many other things. In fact, LOTS of other things. Including immersive experiences related to music, poetry, literature, art, nature, etc.
And why do they always have to associate these experiences with
religious people and gurus? It certainly does not have to be.
Why don't they try having people encounter these more unusual
aspects of being OUTSIDE of any 'religious' perspectives?
Maybe we are just prone to treating any such 'meaningful' experiences
as 'religious' in nature. But I don't consider that absolutely
necessary.
I also keep returning to the importance of unconscious functions,
many of which CONTINUE even while one is conscious, indeed, they
are occurring ALL the time. I think it could be beneficial to
give people an entire COURSE on the subject of their own
"unconsciousness". :) It's just as important as consciousness.
Evolutionarily, anything beyond "rudimentary" consciousness
may well be "the new kid on the block".
Unconscious functions and the BODY itself are perhaps the most
neglected aspects whenever we talk about our "selves".
I think it's an unnecessary gimmick to refer to consciousness
as 'hallucination'. It's also an unnecessary gimmick to even
imply that our 'stories' DON'T begin with our conception and
end with our deaths. Because 'dust in the wind' isn't really much
of a "personal story". And our feelings and perceptions of
universal connection are still happening *within* our own
individual beings.
And anyone who has thought even a little bit deeply about 'reality'
is already well aware that we are in fact NOT 'directly conscious'
of *numerous* aspects of reality. This is true above and beyond our
own unconscious functions. Are you directly conscious of protons?
The full range of the electromagnetic spectrum. etc. Of course not.
I think it's equally important to realize that a "shifted sense of
self" is no more "THE self" than is your ordinary sense of self.
That's the part many people tend to miss. No self can ever be
'fixed' or 'complete', simply because... nothing is.
“We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it,
as leaves from a tree.”
That's one of the few quotes I really love by Alan Watts.
I'm sure he thought it was really clever when he came up with it. :)
And yeah, I kept pointing to the importance of the default mode
network over and over. I've posted at least 2 or 3 articles here
before on it. I think it's vital in an understanding of consciousness.
I also think the default mode network is NOT the whole of our
normal sense of consciousness; I think it's merely ONE major
important aspect of it. It is kind of like a basic "monitoring program"
always running, monitoring everything we consider to be normal aspects
of "ourselves". But any time anything really out of the ordinary
happens, such happenings are instantly farmed out to the attentional
networks of the brain, and later any 'new developments' get fed back
into the "default mode".
In other words, I think that any insights one has in novel
experiences eventually can BECOME part of of the default mode.
The personal Unknown gradually becomes the personal Known.
I think this happens NATURALLY, any time anything unusual happens.
It doesn't have to be drugs, or meditation or religion.
It could happen if a cop runs into the room and fires a gun. :)
Nor do think it is necessarily just an "inhibiting" influence,
nor even entirely "a narrative". It is more like just 'a monitor'.
A monitor of ... "who am I now?" And no, that isn't ever fixed;
it's always changing (although for people with boring lives it may
seem it doesn't). It's a little like "the construct" in the
Matrix, ready to 'load in'... anything that might happen
to eventually incorporate it into... "the conceptual self". :)
But don't forget: one's conceptual self includes the physical self,
and vice-versa. A big aspect they are kind of neglecting here.
TONS of different kinds of experiences can "jolt" people out of a
cognitive rut. I'd be more than fine though if they made psilocybin
and half-a-dozen other good chemicals legal...
Ironically, in *reverse* of the way this article puts it,
it's also true that things like "Travel, Dance, Nature Immersion,
a Love Affair, or other cultures" could create an openness that
makes a person want to have a psilocybin experience. :)
See what I did there? :)
And of course, permanently 'dissolving' the ego doesn't happen.
It would be bad if it did. We use our 'egos' (so to speak,
it's just a cognitive model after all) to function in the world.
And we INCORPORATE 'alternative states' into our egos as they occur
(to some extent) naturally.
But "we" are not merely "our imaginations", either. Again, we are
also PHYSICAL beings. Go without food for 2 months if you doubt this,
and find out what it does to your "sense of self". Or, if you want
to do it more quickly, just seriously try not breathing for 10 minutes.
.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)