I've noticed that after doing a psychedelic, particularly shorter lasting ones I suppose, I am deeply enthralled in crystals and eternity in every moment, divinity in every particle, and all is light and spirit, for about 2-3 weeks tops, and then it is business as usual.

When I first noticed this, I just did more, I "went to church" every 2 weeks for about 4 years to keep up/maintain spirituality, or the Gaian mind. Maybe this occurs more and more over time, but I just feel that the long term effects are not lasting enough on me lately to keep finding time to go back over and over and over again for the rest of my life, even though I wouldn't mind.

Basically, if the majority of the beneficial effects go away almost completely in 2-3 weeks after partaking, then what's the use?


*I am still blown away every time, maybe even more than the times before, it is what we should be doing as human beings, but I just find it frustrating how the effects or benefits disappear like smoke after a certain amount of time almost as though it never even happened…

Any advice?

Thanks my beautiful beings!

I would suggest learning to apply those things into everyday life. Psychedelics show you the door, it is up to you to walk through it. In other words, those benefits you speak of need to be integrated into your life while you feel it so that its long lasting.

Yes,i t has been my experience that the magic only lasts for a while. It gets worse and worse over time for me. While some of the benefits have shaped me positively, it is much better to take a psychedelic semi-regularly. At least several times a year.

I too have noticed the same. Things just seem so clear during/immediately after/some days/weeks at most after a particularly good experience.

But eventually the insight fades, the experience is but a memory (and how remote it seems!) and I find myself pretty much back to where I was before.


It is almost a cruel joke, that in a psychedelic-inspired moment I'm able to see exactly what to do and how to get there, and have the motivation and determination to move in that direction .. and do it effortlessly (no resistance) only to revert back to normal after, at most, a couple of weeks.


But overall, I'd just the impact of psychedelics in my life to be largely positive.

These experiences inspire, and, besides the moments of extreme beauty, help showing what else is possible, and how I might have been ignoring other perspectives due to ego attachment.


Maybe it is how it is supposed to be. I guess I wish the transformation would be faster

I know this. And for me...I'm pretty sure what the problem is.

The intention to change is'n strong enough. Cause it's more convinient not to change.

...lazyness, basically.

Why don't I pic up meditation and practice it daily? Why don't I start working out...doing something for my body too, instead only working on my mind? Why don't I stop habbits which are bad for me, even if I know they are?

Cause the effects of the psychedlics fade away?

No.

It's cause I'm a lazy ass.

Not changing is always easier, there is always some resistance involved in changing one's entrenched habits / patterns. It requires consistent effort until the new thing becomes the new default.

One of the examples that's always stuck with me is that how some 6 years ago I made the decision to start running regularly. For months and months it was a chore, something that I had to push myself into and often skipped.

And when I went, my mind would be throwing thoughts like "this is too hard", and "oh so tired, let's stop", which of course made the whole endeavour even harder than what it was to begin with.

I remember I used to fight that with playing music to distract myself from the present moment and ignore my negative thought patterns (basically, music as a distraction..)..

Something changed eventually. It might have been a mixture of having gained enough conditioning and having been doing the activity for many months by then. I dropped the music, and actually felt off if I didn't go for my daily run. It became this 1 hour of no thought, just being in the moment, and it felt great.

Point being, something that was so uncomfortable in the beginning became effortless and a motivation by itself after several months of practice.

Laziness (or more accurately, I think, procrastination) is no doubt a big factor, I can empathize. But clearly we have the desire to change, and if we're taking mind altering substances and coming face to face with our deepest flaws and biggest fears, I suppose this desire to change is indeed real.



I believe in the end it is a mixture of not believing in ourselves, thinking we are not worth enough, and a dysfunctional (unconscious) belief that 'there will be moar time in the future' (except that future never quite arrives).

When we take the psychedelic and see how things could be, that uplifts and inspires us, and while our ego (with all it's usual notions of not believing in ourselves, etc) hasn't fully reassearted itself, we move forward, unhindered by these negative thought patterns.

But eventually, as we've experienced, without firm opposition, they come back. And we're phased because just a week ago it all seemed so easy.


Case in point, I have a very important project to deliver in 2 weeks, and I'm on the nexus writing about procrastination If that ain't quality procrastination, I don't know what is.


For best results I think we need to address the underlying issues first, whatever they happen to be. Discovering and understanding what/why these are is a quest in itself.

Alternatively, something that I've been exploring recently is the notion that motivation doesn't matter that much, what is absolutely necessary is discipline.

Looking back to that younger version of me, it resonates deeply. Many times I didn't want to (lack of motivation) go running, but I forced myself to (discipline).

In the end, doing the activity became a motivation of it's own, as it grew to become very enjoyable.. and in the odd day where I didn't feel the mojo to go out there and run, I still went. Usually (> 90%) , after 10 minutes of starting, I was actually enjoying it again..

DMT is no magical fix for anything just like anything in this life effort has to be made to maintain progress.

^ that sums it up.

No offense but could wanting to get a quick fix be an attribute of modern western culture?

First of all, if eating a plant could permanently change you, it would mean every plant is able to change our psychological behavior and neurological trades, obtained through evolution over many years. Would you want that? Or should we be happy our brain has the power and capability to return to equilibrium? Without it, we wouldn't survive as a species.

Second, I understand one would like a positive feeling to last. But what about a negative one? I ones smoked DMT, it didn't work out great. The effects were not (as strong) as I expected. I felt disappointed. This feeling grew. Then I felt guilty feeling disappointed. That grew too. It left me with a weird empty feeling. Guess how long? Exactly, around 2 weeks. Meaning: positive feeling disappear, but so do negative ones. Be glad.

Third, be glad you are shown the way. Now you know how to develop. It will take hard work to change who you are. But that's needed, without it reality won't bent.

And finally, I disagree with all effects being lost. Drinking Ayahuasca has truly changed my outlook on life. I feel physically fitter and mentally more relaxed. These are subtle feelings. Less than the post amazement which lasts around 2 weeks. But it is there non the less. Also, I believe Ayahuasca inserts a lot of information in you which you can't be processed consciously at the time. But gets extracted throughout your life when the moment is right. An ongoing process.

What about this example:

http://mmajunkie.com/201...rson-and-a-worse-fighter

This mma flighter lost his agression after taking aya and can't flight good anymore because of it. Will he obtain his fighting skills back after 2 weeks? Personally I think its permanent.

My personal advice is simple: put down the tools, and sit. That's it, just sit. Meditation is what you are looking for, not crystals, not drugs, not anything else but what you can already experience as you are already. I've tried the whole new-age thing, and it only leads to more grasping... The need for more this or that to satisfy the desire of not being content with this present moment.

Don't get me wrong, drugs are great tools to get started, but you can't function in today's society constantly on a trip or high.

Good one isaaczibre!

In my opinion the process you are describing is the return of our ego. It takes regular prayer and meditation for me to keep "the magic" going. Though the drugs aren't enough by themselves they give glimpses.
The moment I think that I have it that I know, my mind closes like the class a safe at the pharmacy when they run my ID. Just kidding I don't go to a doctor or have any prescriptions.



"Further up and Further in"
Aslan

I think that psychedelics and their use can breed a kind of dependence if solely (or largely) utilised to capture that sense of miraculous splendour towards the processes of existence. And yes, whilst this splendour pervades all things whether or not we can tangibly appreciate it, the fact remains (IMO) that our biological responses through emotions and perceptions are such that the essence of existence is a state of impermanence and flux as maintained most directly by the Buddhist tradition. Clinging to that awe-struck state runs counter to this and perhaps this is why the sense of it fades.As others have stated the ability to sustain the beneficial outlook these agents impart is best achieved through other complementary practises such as meditation.

Some time ago I felt I had some work to do on a foible or two I had allowed to evolve and I devoted a weekend to the necessary 'work'. This consisted of a small dose of psilocybin, approximately 135mg of MDMA and, the day after, 25mg MXE. The dissociative element brought the fact that these chemicals alone can not bring the desired results to the fore, and any expectation that they would was just going to have me treading the same ground again ie a desire to change without realisation.A bit like "How many bloody times do you need to be shown this?".

These compounds are facilitators rather than effectors; the latter requires other methods to be employed, IME.

hehe, that's quite an interesting combo. how was the comedown?

Negligible, benz.

For DIY-psychotherapy the beauty of this combination was due to receiving 3 different perspectives in a relatively short time-span which cumulatively were greater than the sum of the parts. The disso depth really hit the spot and kind of gave a deeper significance to the initial mind-opening of the psilocybin followed by the gentle persuasion of the MDMA. Inspired thoughts are great but ultimately nothing changes if nothing changes ie unless one makes a firm effort to apply oneself to making the required changes which the compounds have highlighted, there will be no lasting benefits. After that weekend it was actually a pleasure to act to rectify myself. Very very therapeutic, IMO/E.

wow, sound intriguing

My favorite analogy is the one of the mountain and the helicopter.

Enlightenment (or salvation, or happiness or whatever), is like a mountain that has to be climbed. You can have a guidebook, you can have a crew of people to climb it with you, but ultimately, you must walk to the top.

Taking a psychedelic is like getting in a helicopter and flying all the way, or part of the way up the mountain. You can get up there, walk around, do whatever, but at the end of the day, you have to get back inside and fly back down to where you started. You can't fly to the top and stay there.

This might suggest that psychedelics are useless, since it's only 'temporary' enlightenment, but I think the important question is what you do on your ride up (and back down). I think taking that ride can be very therapeutic: when the mountain seems too big to climb, it's a good reminder that there IS a summit.

If you're in the helicopter, you can also get a big-picture sense of what the mountain looks like: you can see where the rough and easy spots are and can more effectively plan your rout. Your guidebook (or guide) may tell you to turn right, but you might know, from your helicopter ride, that that way lies a boulder field and that it might be better for you to turn left.

Ultimately, you walk the mountain yourself. But how you walk it can be informed by what you see on your ride up and back.

Blessings
~ND

Ah Nathanial I love the mountain analogy too and I think it is very appropriate here.

As to the OP's original questions, I too have noticed that for the periods after using most psychedelics I have very strong gestalt fields inspired within my mind. I became obsessed with Indian temples, ice palaces, shivas, Buddhas, sacred geometry, and things of that sort. I will see these things inside my own mind, but for as long as I can remember I have had these powerful fields inside my mind. Even when I just see a really Asian person my mind is inundated with thoughts of small Asian villages and the Chinese countryside (despite the fact I have never seen it in person).

So I can understand your attraction to the new-agey type stuff after your trips. If you really feel like there is something deeper within yourself pushing you to those things then it is worth exploring. Like many have said here, it's better to avoid using the spice as a magical cure, but rather as a way to identify how you need or want to change yourself and your life. Good luck.

This is interesting, because for me magic doesn't go away at all. Since I tried psychedelics for first time, I'm permanently changed since then. I look at everything differently, world is no more what it seemed to be.

Although, maybe for me, magic lasts longer, and it will fade away maybe. But it still lasts, and if psychedelics are indeed keeping it in place, I don't see it going away anytime soon.

Just because the 'magic' fades doesn't mean you aren't changed. I have definitely been changed by my psychedelic experiences, but at the same time, I do not always feel the way I do in the aftermath of a profound trip.

I remember sitting on a swing two days after my last trip and being enraptured with feelings of understanding the ultimate reality and thinking "this is what prophets must feel like." That faded, and while I haven't lost the insights themselves, they are less emotionally salient. I've returned to a baseline.

I think this may be a survival mechanism: if we spent our entire lives in that state of rapture and awe, we'd never get anything done. I remember thinking that I could spend my entire lift sitting and thinking about how amazing I felt and that it wouldn't be a life wasted at all. To be functional and pass on your genes (which is the evolutionary imperative), you need to be able to be bored.

Blessings
~ND

Hmm...you do have a point there.