On occasion I find myself meditating, but not quite getting the blissful open feeling. I recently tried Salvia Divniourium, In the following paragraph you will read about the mind, body, and effects this simple plant has on the human psyche.

I happen to come across Salvia from my uncle, who like me, is also a Buddhist. I slowly become intriuged with salvia, but having never done it before i was timid about it.

So I lay down at night on the beaches of Oak Island, waves crashing against the curbs of sand. As i prepare myself for meditation, I notice the moon is a feint orange, something about the night didnt sit well with me. Completely bypassing my concious awareness of the strangness I felt, i resume to put the mat down, laying it flush to the sand.

Now, I come to the realization that I am ready for the herb. I had previously meditated for 15 minutes to prepare myself. I had used my favorite bowl that i had recieved from my uncle whilst in California. I took an intese hit, held in for about 10 seconds, and quickly preceded to take another, when all of the sudden I lost all cognitive reasoning and any control of self. I felt as if on the edge of our dimension and another alien dimension, as if dimensions had a line seperating them, my body was split down the middle, everything felt evil as if everyone was looking at me, beaming the intolerable eyes into my forsaken heart. As the effects wore off i continued to meditate about what i had experianced, but have yet to knowingly discover what my mind was really telling me.

I guess my question is, what could this be telling me, is that normal etc?

Any psychedelic can provide a vast range of experiences, so "normal" is hard to define. It is very common, though, for people to have darker experiences on salvia. It sounds like your set/setting contained a shadow of doubt, which can feed into these kinds of darker trips.

There are many psychonauts who use DMT and other substances regularly but steer away from salvia because of this dark tendency. But others have had amazing experiences with it.

Thank you, Guyomech! I have noticed that after a few tries it still manages to have dark effects. Thanks for youre insight, I was really intruiged with Aya, might that be a better alternative for meditation?

Hello, Holocene (and welcome to the Nexus!),

I have some experience with Salvia. Anytime I can, I always recommend chewing plain leafs, not smoking, especially when one is a "beginner" (Salvia can be as weird as DMT, if not even weirder :-). If one prefers smoking, then I would suggest starting with plain leafs, not enhanced leafs.

Trust me: properly chewed, and held in mouth for 20 minutes... will get you there, but much softly and more friendlier (start with 6 leafs, and make your way up gradually...)

Also... do you know about this research on Salvia Divinorum and meditation?
http://www.maps.org/rese...salvia/sdmeditation.html

Safe journeys...

Regarding the lack of bliss during your meditation:
Do not develop cravings or aversions towards certain sensations.
Realize that everything is in a constant state of change.
Impermanence is the only universal law.

So if you feel neutral, or sad:
Remain aware that you are feeling this way; and recognize it's impermanace.

Do not react to the sensations.
This would be playing mental games.

Anicca, anicca! Everything is Anicca!