It is very interesting to me how so many psychedelically-inclined folks become so interested in simulation theory. I theorize that it has to do with both a broad interest in philosophical matters and a feeling of breaking into unseen realms.
I myself am a big advocate of this theory and have more or less totally accepted that we are just in some kind of mass virtual reality/video game. However, I think there is very little we can do on a mass scale to break into whatever higher order is out there, and I do not think it would matter that much.
If living beings could create simulations of living beings who can eventually create their own simulations, then we would have an infinite rabbit hole of simulations creating other simulations. As Elon Musk pointed out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KK_kzrJPS8 if this is the case it is extremely unlikely that we are in base reality. From this, I think it is equally unlikely that we are in the first simulation either. If there is an infinite rabbit hole of simulations, then we are most likely in the middle of the chain.
If this is the case, I do not think breaking into the higher up reality or creating another simulated world (like we are doing with VR and AI) really gets us any closer to "the real." Essentially, if we are the 8,700,392,938th level down, I do not think we will find anything particularly interesting in the 8,700,392,937th level.
Where does this leave us? I still think it is important to explore these levels to try to understand the origin of life, consciousness, and our universe, but I do not think that this search should necessarily envelop our existence. I think we can still be happy and pursue "the real" of our existence without pursuit of this knowledge, and I think that to a certain degree our happiness actually necessitates ignorance about it because of our point in history. While we live in a revolutionary time, it would be too depressing to learn that we might not fully understand the nature of the universe for another 1,000 years.
Here are my questions for you: why do you think that psychedelics and meditation allow us to transcend our current reality? By what mechanism of consciousness do you think this is possible? Why would such a mechanism exist and what could it tell us about a potential base reality?
"Think for yourself and question authority." - Leary
"To step out of ideology - it hurts. It's a painful experience. You must force yourself to do it." - Žižek