step 1-breakthrough

step 2-give yourself completely to the spice, relax let it go, everything is fine, more so than ever before.

repeat steps 1 and 2 if necessary

step 3- This is by far the most important step to receiving everything spice has to offer
Dont give in to astonishment, stop observing everything, no more awes or oohs, nothing, notta

The only reason im posting this is because that phrase "dont give into astonsihment" is not shared enough on this site. Its the only reason you have spice.

As soon as I reminded myself this during a session my hyperspace crumbled, falling all around the good doc and myself, as i made my ascension I could see a look of acknowledgement and satisfaction on the docs face as i was hurled through a black tunnel towards my end, only to float there for a few seconds, reuniting with old friends. Than forced to descend after encountering what appeared to me a huge all seeing eye which seemed to be a huge ass in my opinion.

I kinda like the astonishment -- but then again, I'm a total n00b.

We're all noobs..

feels good to be noob. Its amazing how much potential are species has. Being a space baby.

I think this is a huge oversimplification.

Spice can have all kinds of adverse effects and even to those that have spent years navigating it all things are often not easy within the experience or after it. Everything may very well not be fine, let alone more so than ever before.

As previously stated we are all n00bs and we will continue to be. When you think you have worked it out you may well turn a corner and find the road you were on was not a road at all.

I agree, that is by far not an easy feat, however the only thing that needs overcoming is yourself or atleast your earthly self. Your pre-programmed not to give in so of course your mind is going to throw everything it can to prevent you from seeing, if not more from the aid of whatever. I just felt it was important to stress the idea of not giving into astonishment since I dont see it around the forums enough. You are exactly right there may not be a road at all which is awesome.

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed." ~ Albert Einstein

and i think that is important... does standing (or rather, existing) gape-jawed in wonder really accomplish anything?.. probably not... but who says we have to accomplish something productive with every move we make?..

while dmt can be a very useful tool, i don't feel it has to be... i've actually been wanting to discuss this for quite some time, in part because of general attitudes that i've seen on this site... & they're not bad attitudes, but deep in my heart i feel they may be slightly incorrect all the same... dmt is a great teacher, yes... but does that mean the entertaining side of the molecule should be dismissed?.. i don't think so... i've seen it said several times here (and other places) that the spice should not be consumed recreationally, that it should be afforded a sacred role & be used only as a tool of personal growth... i personally feel that this is bullshit... yes, it is a great teacher, and yes i shall continue to consult it as such... but at the same time... milk is a wonderful beverage, full of nutrients and pretty much essential to our well-being... but sometimes you just want to drink a glass because it tastes good... as long as a modicum of respect for the power of the chemical is maintained, i don't see any reason why this exact model shouldn't work for dmt... it does for me...

Whatever works for you, it seems for me that this is not the NATURE of the experience and the drug itself. It's definitely not always entertaining, and certainly not all elf's and love.

Keeping that in mind, I would never smoke just to have a good ol' time.

I'd still drink milk for the taste.. you're comparing two things that shouldn't ever really be compared..I get the analogy you're making, but it's still irrelevant IMO.

I hear you. I appreciate this perspective. That phrase "don't give into astonishment" means so much more than it seems. It can easily be pertained to our reality. To be truthfully honest I would have to be dead if I for one second did not feel a bit astonished during the session mentioned above, although it felt natural at the same time. The choice is ultimately yours, just seems like a good technique for preparing ones mindset before a trip. I could be wrong, and most likely am.

everything is relevant... we are a product of the sum of our experiences, and every angle of life relates to every other angle in some facet...

of course we (& i mean the royal "we" are never going to agree on these subjects... it's not in the nature of the subject for excessive harmony to exist... since the beginning of "recreational" psychedelic use there have been these kinds of rifts, different schools of thought... Leary & the Millbrook folks never could really grok what was going on in LaHonda with Kesey & the Pranksters... one set was academic, one visceral... & just as in the case of us here, the true path is most likely the one that lie in between... it's part of our nature to polarize... it may be part of what we must grow past if we are to persist... the jury's still out on that one...

as far as "entertainment" is concerned, that's really too subjective of an area to say, definitively, that it's not always possible... of course it's not all elf's and love... if it were, there'd be no entertainment value to be had... when i was a little kid, late night after seeing Poltergeist in the theatre, my mother jumped around the corner in our basement with a mask on, and quite literally scared the shit out of me... that was not sunshine & smiles, but in the end it was great fun... just as some enjoy a romantic comedy, others enjoy horror flicks... entertainment comes in many forms, not all of them pretty... listen to Bob Dylan's "If You See Her, Say Hello" from the Blood on the Tracks album... the man is broken, almost dying, & it breaks me down in tears almost every time i hear it... & i hear it a lot, because i find it entertaining, even though it is sad beyond measure... to me, the overall sum of the experience is where the entertainment lies... think roller coasters, where we go to submit ourselves to one of the most basic of human fears, the fear of falling, all in the name of good.clean.fun...

another thought i'd like to throw out there is that the simple fact we have this rift is a product not of real-world concerns about the essence of the spice, but rather a product of programming we receive as citizens of the western world... we are conditioned for the most part to submit to the dogma of "you're not here to have a good time.".. work is not supposed to be fun, learning is not supposed to be fun... altering consciousness is dangerous, and shouldn't be done... all lies, all of them... the man that enjoys his work does better work... ditto learning... present a child with statistics showing that when humans pull together in an effort they can achieve greater results than they can as individuals and the child will yawn & stare out the window... set that child outside with a bat and a ball & he will band together with a team & learn the lesson you were previously attempting to teach, without even knowing a lesson is being taught... exactly what i believe is available through the spice... one man's entertainment may be reading a book, or turning on a nature program on the idiot box... he can come out of this experience with knowledge, solid concrete knowledge, when his only intent was to sit down & veg out for a while... can i not sit down with a bowl of changa, intent on just having a hallucinatory experience, and possibly gain insight from the session?.. of course i can, it happens regularly... i don't feel the need for this inherent separation of recreation & education that our world is so heavily vested in...

(note: sometimes i sound like a dick... i never, ever mean anything personal by it... like Kerouac, i feel that going back & editing my words is essentially gutting my truest, most honest thoughts, so i don't to it...i know some of what i just typed comes off condescending, it is not meant that way... i come off blunt, yes... last week i really let loose on a real-world friend, then went off & consulted the teachers about the whole thing... i received the message "if yr going to go through life talking to people like you just talked to Danielle, you may as well just jump in the lake.".. so this is one of the thing's i'm personally working on, even to the point of consulting the teachers when i'm not just blasting off for fun... )

i enjoy other substances than dmt regularly, albeit in moderation for the most part... most of them are plant-based... i consider them all somewhat sacred, guaranteed... i don't really hold dmt any MORE sacred than any of the rest of them, however... yes, it's effects are PROFOUND... but go back to the first time you ever smoked cannabis (properly, with effect.).. i'd be willing to bet that was a pretty balls-to-the-wall experience as well... unfortunately, cannabis doesn't enjoy the benefit of being non-tolerance-building, so the amazement of it wears off & it becomes just getting stoned... we're lucky that the pharmacology of dmt is different, and thus it remains a profound experience time after time... i don't think this fluke of bio-chemistry affords it any more "sacred" status than any of the other plant teachers, which are pretty much accepted as "ok" for recreational usage (namely cannabis & mushrooms)...

& yes, i do acknowledge the possibility of having a terrifying experience on dmt... i've had my share... but this can happen even when the spice is used "properly.".. of course basic guidelines of set & setting are going to be observed... as they are with any psychedelic... i love to eat acid & go see live music... but if i happen to have a sprained ankle on the day of the show, the acid gets saved for later... common sense must dictate, in all situations...

@Scudge: thanks man... i think a lot of the time when trapped in a dark corner, we tend to focus on the dark... sometimes you can find a light to shine on something from a completely different direction... even if the new way doesn't work for you, it may show you the way to something that does...

@Scudge: thanks man... i think a lot of the time when trapped in a dark corner, we tend to focus on the dark... sometimes you can find a light to shine on something from a completely different direction... even if the new way doesn't work for you, it may show you the way to something that does...

Interesting thank you, very insightful. What I've learned throughout my years is there is no way. no end. no point. just us. Therefore if nothing exist surely light nor dark does not exist. all a matter of opinion. You get to the point of mental implosion after a while, so i learned its best to revert back to basics. Data overload. useless information in the end. A Drop in the bucket. Safe Travels.

One of the best Mckenna quotes.

Yes we're all n00wbs here but I don't like that advice. Why not be astonished? Especially during the first journeys I think that's all about astinishment and if one is simply "no I'm not astonished", what's that all about? What's the problem with being astonished? Witnessing hyperspace is quite accomplishment by itself and being astonished doing that is natural, even after hundreds of blastoffs. If you mean not being astonished by not screaming "Whoo momma look at thiiss!!" for example then I agree
Basically if one means by astonishment something that totally distracts oneself from the experience, I would also try to advice against it. But if one is there and astonished it's only natural and I think it's even good as one can know that the brain is functioning normally

Socrates said it a long time ago "I know I'm a noob, therefore I am wise ".

I'm a noob and like sub-breakthrugh rides sometimes... I hope it's ok to be different

"look, scoob..a n00b!"
"ruh roh...uh heee hee hee hee hee!"

Actually, that quote comes from the elves

On mushrooms, I was in an environment that showed no astonishment so I had nothing but crazy thoughts (Just posted the story in hello everyone). It was absolutely the most valuable mushroom experience I've ever had. It was very stressful and at times I just wanted it to end. However the realizations I made were by far greater than any I had during a trip of crazy visuals.

I just wanted to shed some light on not giving into the astonishment in another aspect. I've never experienced DMT so I have nothing to say about that. However with mushrooms, I'm usually nice and astonished with overwhelming feelings of love, but when I'm not my mind is racing and the thoughts are usually useful to my personal growth (with the exception of the thoughts causing overwhelming anxiety)

I know that Terrence McKenna is the patron saint of DMT, and that we're all expected to genuflect over every half baked rambling, but honestly, I've always found this to be a pretty inane and inapplicable directive.

There is nothing about a DMT breakthrough that isn't completely astonishing. If you don't want astonishment, you should do something else - and if for some reason you're less than astonished, you simply ain't doin' it right.

I've never seen a self-dribbling basketball and my world ain't made out of language. When I'm in that place I give in to everything, astonishment included. When I don't, that's when shit gets rough - so my intention every single time out is to simply flow like water. If that puts me at odds with the Bard of Hyperspace, I guess that's something I can live with.

Nahhhh...it just makes you a n00b.