what he and the merry pranksters did as well was really extremely irresponsible... and dangerous, and wreckless...and much of the social stigma today is due to that... but still a lot of people got turned on...

I agree, but dont blame them one bit... I ran around like that for a few years giving mushrooms to anyone who would take them with me, tripping almost every day. Was fun while it lasted..

I think that if you dont at least want to show EVERYONE after you first get into this type of stuff than you havent really had the full experience yet...who wouldnt want to share that with the world??

I later found that the best way to do it was be the change you want to see...be wacky, be you'reself...never fall into one single costume and have many masks at you're disposal...be able to shake it off at the drop of a hat and go with you're own flow. Inspire others to be themsleves.

Yeah I have alot of respect for huxley, I frst read doors of perception front to back on my first mescale experience, and it really touched me in that hightened state....him and albert were both a bit too buddhist and reserved for me though(albert mostly)...I like metzner the most..he came late to shamsnism as he was mostly into eastern mysticism, but I liek what he has to say..and he's still going strong.

I did not have a high regard for Tim Leary, however, quite recently an old book came to my attention: "Prometheus Rising" by Robert Anton Wilson. The author goes on a deep exploration of The Eight Circuit Model of Consciousness by Leary. Leary/Wilson's ideas made a deep impact on me and I'm generally quite critical of New Age thinking and radical psychology trends

A very brief presentation of the 8 circuit model is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-Circuit_Model_of_Consciousness

But the book goes much deeper and actually makes a lot of sense.

Kudos to Dr. Leary on that one. Just for that he should be remembered

^^ yes thats what first really got me hooked on leary as well(his 8 model circuit)...if you were into that you should read leary's "Exo-psychology"...I got a first edition a few years ago randomly when cheking out a used bookstore in oregon on a surf trip..it was quite rare,and written while he was in prison.. but I think there may be some upgraded versions from later on available on the net.

way true,way true
too bad the world isn't ready for such optimism...i think leary forgot about that,but at least he tried man, even when he should have done it more diplomaticly...maybe more mckenna style you know. I've got an audio file of Mckenna and there's that guy that asks him why he's not in jail. Mckenna answers that Leary often spoke to a 25000 people crowd, mckenna prefered something like 200 sometimes max 1000. He continues that he doesn't want to go political like Leary "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" but rather sticks to the intellectual/funny way.

^^Yes I have alot of respect for Mckenna and what he did. I dont think there has been another human who has influenced me more..I really like Christian Ratsch as well..wish more of his lectures on you tube were translated..he seems to have a good mind.

I like the 8 circuit model, but all the other stuff Leary spoke about doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

he talked alot about technology, the internet, gloabl culture etc..tons of relevant stuff..Granted some of it was a bit jumbled and out there, like his theories on life extension and cryogenics lol..he was going to have his head frozed before death to preserve his brain for the future ..but later decided not too..

John Lilly was a great man too..who did great things..I have seen first hand how his contributions have shaped certain fields..my dads cousin is a very giften marine biologist who wroks with dolphins in California..she does alot of dolphin communication work and trained them to put tracking devices on wild sharks to do shark research..she was on TV talking about it at one point..I went down and visited her when I was a kid and saw alot of cool things they were doing with dolphin-human interactions..I didnt know anything about LSD, Ketamine or John Lilly at the time but it's interesting when I think now about how much her work and the entire field was influeced by that man..alot of people only see him for his ketamine abuse later on and the damage ketamine has done to people who abuse it in the club scene etc..

It's sad, he was a very giften person who did alot to open up the field of psychology to metaprogramming...a bit more of an academic than leary..until his later vitamine K renegade days..

Every time I go to the beach after surfing or skimboarding now I end up swimming around snorkling more often than not, floating there, weightless with the fish...John Lilly always comes to mind..

For those who dont know of him already, check out Christian Ratsch..

Heres one his talks that is translated that I enjoy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EUHsVquKCI

Here he is at the World Psychedelc Forum..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx6vTH4EeZc

If anyone knows where I can watch more of his talks translated into english it would be much appreciated

http://video.google.de/v...amp;q=christian+raetsch#
check this out

cool, thanks alot!

I'm not behind Timothy Leary's philosophy, I am behind Terence McKenna though. The main line from Leary explains why I'm not keen on his philosophy "Turn on, tune in, drop out" it does not resonate with me at all and definitely does not inspire me to study the mind and the true nature of reality. But saying this, this is not the only reason why i don't agree or identify with Leary.


Much Peace

I think that famous quote of Leary's does get misinterpreted a bit from the meaning he originally implied, although it definitely sounds dodgey... A better quote of his maybe is "Think for yourself and question authority."

Timothy Leary was a hell of a character, a one of a kind, and I think he definitely had both a good and bad impact. He had a hell of an ego that was amped to the max by his excessive consumption of LSD. He designed the psychology test that he went through when he first got put in prison, manipulated it to seem conforming, and then managed to escape prison by crawling out on a wire, to be rescued by the Weatherman. He was also a terrible father, who put his interest in psychedelics before his family...his first wife, and later his daughter committed suicide, and his son basically disowned him in court. In this same court he denounced the entire hippy movement that he helped establish, calling them a "bunch of liars" or something along those lines. He was also, very early on, voicing his opinion of the internet as a very powerful tool, long before it had become known in the mainstream, and people thought his rantings were those of a burnt out acid head. Definitely an interesting character, love him or loathe him.

How would you interpret it then?

whats so bad about turing on, tuning and dropping out the backwards and destructive western mindset?..I mean look around..this place is fucked..Monoculture..deforestation..poisoned rivers, lakes and oceans, toxic air quality, mass consumerism supporting child slavery...fuck who wouldn't want to drop all that bullshit..

Reguardless of how he handled his family life(horribly) etc..noone is perfect..and perhaps he couldn't fully live up to his own slogan...But I still think he in part had good intentions in mind when he said it..he was an egotistical asshole alot of the time as well...I do undertand who he was alot of the time, I read his biography, most of it twice.. but his words still have some value in them to me.

Lot's of influential people with great minds have a double side to them..Look at Jim Morrison.. I consider him to one of my great heros as well..doesn't mean I intend to follow exactly in his footsteps, but he paved the way for so many of us..

People are just people, everyone has problems...thast doesn't mean ultinatily they are bad or don't really care..I dont believe that even the most egotistical people dont ever give a shit...at the end of the day, I am sure we all have something constructive to add, weather it comes out or not...