Namaste fellow Nexians,

So a question my cat has been pondering lately concerns things that are taught while consuming aya and spice. To provide some structure to this post I will start with a preface about my cat, then the question followed up with a description of his ceremony and a short conclusion. This may not be the only post he wants me to write but he is a long time lurker and wanted to finally post something. With that said, he will start with one question and possibly more in other posts.


Preface:

My cat has been smoking spice and consuming aya now for over 4 years and on a rather consistent basis (at least 4-5 ceremonies a month). He humbly calls himself "experienced" but that would only pertain to the consumption and frequency of use. With that said, the goal of his use is to achieve spiritual enlightenment or to be more specific Krishna Consciousness. My cat understands that not everyone shares that same religious/spiritual belief as himself but understanding his purpose may help others understand the direction he takes and may help explain why he experiences what he does.

Question:

Has anyone been taught how to "properly" inhale and hold in smoked spice? After years of consumption and experiences a certain methodology has been taught to my cat by the spice itself and he wonders if anyone else has experienced this or anything similar. When my cat reads about other's experiences he doesn't read anything about their process other than what they use to smoke the spice. From the few descriptions/videos he has read/seen it's pretty much just hit it and blast off.

Experience:

The experience starts with creating the setting, preparing the spice, body preparation (clothing and yoga) and mental preparation while getting in getting comfortable position.

Setting- incense are lit to cleanse the room and allow the his brain to clear it's mind. He puts two pillows stacked on top of each at the edge of his bed where he will sit and a water bottle is strategically placed within arms reach of the pillows. All sources of light are blocked or plugged to help create the darkest room possible.

Preparing Spice- spice is then put into a foil bowl shaped with a flat bottom and wrapped carefully around a hard plastic straw.

Body Preparation- partial preparation starts early in the day. One small meal is consumed 10-12 hours before ceremony and water (sometimes fruit juice) is the only fluid drank throughout the day. After prepping the setting and spice, he dresses into loose fitting clothing (men's loose yoga pants or shorts and t-shirt) and performs 10-15 mins of good yoga and stretching to release tension and relax his body.

Mental Preparation and getting into Position- my cat will sit on the pillows Indian style, straight backed but relaxed and adjust accordingly until he finds his most comfortable position. Once his body is settled he spends 10-15 mins meditating and clearing his thoughts while directing his attention to his intentions.

Ceremony:

Once the head space is reached and body is in place and comfortable the ceremony begins. The makeshift spice pipe placed in both hands is brought to his forehead. Whilst doing this he begins whispering his intentions: first invoking Lord Ganesh- "Lord Ganesh, remover of obstacles, I ask that you remove my ego, I don't need it, and any obstacles preventing me from experiencing Krishna. I ask that you remove all attachment to this body and the things around me.. Allowing me to transcend in spirit. I ask that you remove any fear and anxiety while I am on my journey. Allow me be present and one with spirit and one with Krishna." from there he invokes Krishna- "Lord Krishna, the beautiful, the master of love, the Supreme Reality of the Godhead, the lover of the gopis, my best friend and guru. I offer you this ceremony. I ask that you fill me with love and become one with my soul. I ask that you help me remove my attachment to ego, this body and everything around me. Make me present and at one with you in your consciousness. I ask that you allow me to experience you as the Supreme Reality. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare. Hare Rama. Hare Rama. Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare.". Once the offering is done he takes his first hit. The first hit is smaller and considered his primer. It allows his body to know what is taking place and preparing it for what is to come. The first hit usually brings the "feels" and he relaxes in the moment whispering the Maha Mantra over and over. When feeling comfortable and present in the moment it is time for the next hit. He hits play on his phone and a beautiful version of the Maha Mantra begins playing subtly in the background. On the second hit my cat takes in as much as his lungs will allow and this is when/where his body goes into a sort of yogic autopilot. As he holds in the hit, his chest and body are pushed forward like he is attempting to stand tall while sitting and align his chakras. His arms come up from their sides slowly and meet above his head. He continues to push upwards with his body and now with his hands. Again it seems he attempting to aligning his body and chakras straight and opening up deeper levels of his lungs for more absorption. After this upward stretch, his arms slowly come down at his sides but still stretched out. From there he begins slowly making fists as if he attempting pump his dmt laced blood throughout his entire body. Feeling low on oxygen, he takes in as much air as he possibly can to continue holding his breathe. After taking that breathe he reaches both arms behind his back, interlocks his fingers and lifts them up continuing to stretch upwards and outwards to expand/open his lungs even further. He releases his hands and slowly brings them back to the front of his body and puts them into the prayer position. At that point he is pretty much out of breathe and he begins to exhale and inhale in shallow breathes. It's as if he is attempting to exhale as little as possible without losing vapor and replacing it with fresh oxygen. It's like a form of controlled hyperventilation. After about 20 short inhale/exhales he exhales completely and sits back completely enveloped in his trip. With every hit after this initiation he continues with these yogic expressions mentioned and a few others. It's like a ritual where he is able to completely place his body and soul in the "dmt space" and become one with it.

Conclusion:

I haven't read anything anywhere about this or these techniques. It could very well be that the experience is created by his personal beliefs and intentions. My cat has never seen the elves, aliens or some of the other strange experiences he has read about. All of his experiences over the years had to do with experiencing the Godhead, Krishna, embodiment of pure love, ego death, embodiment of Ganesh and others all pertaining to spirituality. All of which he is perfectly fine with.

Let me know what you think. Has anyone else been taught how to inhale and hold? To "become" one with the molecule? Is there anything super weird that you do while smoking? He would love to hear any and all thoughts on the matter.

This is his first post. So he also appreciates any feedback on that manner also.

Thank you,

Peace

th3rdeyeopen

Hello th3rdeyeopen,

as a non native english speaker/reader some parts are hard to follow.


As fare as I understand your "cat"...I found the ceremony very interesting. I got my best results with thoroughly preparation (no meat, no alcohol a couple of days before, yoga, meditation) and with joy and thankfulness in my mind before the first take, very similar to your "cat" settings.

The focus on indian (hindu?) gods are interesting.

With inhaling and smoking...still after two years I didn't find the right way.


I will test some of your points/recommendations...

Thx

Ram Dazz

My answer will most certainly be biased by my beliefs, but also experiences.

First, mixing religions to me is like mixing water and oil. Again biased by my beliefs, for I have a jealous God. Also, you are coloring your experience by chanting and burning incense. For me smells are most offensive when I trip, not for religious reasons just experience. I would suggest at least once, completely emptying yourself and then trip; no thoughts, minimal input ie smell sight light sounds etc. I also dislike sounds, anything that can ground me can bother me. Just personal preference.

Second, but maybe more importantly, get a better pipe. If tripping teaches health, throw that foil shit away, no offense. You are breathing in serious garbage. Also, for my personal preference, one shot one kill. Clear your whole hit in one go. Tolerance builds up incredibly fast, you need to vaporize a single dose to experience breakthrough... and not waste your deemers.

Third, why hyperventilate? I personally control my breathing, if i notice it going out of whack, and take slow deep calm breaths. I stress calmness and peace when I trip, counting and generally tweaking is advised against. I am not saying you are tweaking, that happens to me when i try to set up rules or methods. Just chill and do what feels right. Empty the vessel so it may be filled.

In conclusion, you are doing absolutely nothing wrong, besides your pipe, and your intent is good. I hope you continue to be blessed in your travels.

P.S. I have attained no enlightenment from this incredible tool, and doubt it provides such a thing. That lies within you... when you need no assistance, you will then be much closer to enlightenment. God bless, as they say where I come from.

I've encountered similar questions lately, frequently asked in a querulous tone; "Yeah but what has it actually DONE for you?" To be honest I find the question mildly disturbing. It's sad to think others don't get the same value from DMT and other hallucinogens that I do. If you have to ask how hallucinogens benefit humans, you probably shouldn't bother with them.

It's not so much that most answers to such questions will of necessity be subjective to individual experience that concerns me. More that I'm surprised that anyone who has had similar experiences to mine could ask such a question.

The defining characteristic of spice (and hallucinogens in general) for me is the re-awakening of wonder. I come away from each encounter with a new appreciation for the vibrance and novelty of existence. I think most people experience something like this with DMT and suspect it has much to do with the effectiveness of therapeutic uses of hallucinogens. Spice is INTERESTING. In my personal experience depression, suicidal thoughts and lack of motivation are all characterized by a profound "lack of give a f**kcs". Few things capture my interest the way the taste of a sunrise or the sound of purple can.

Therapy is one of the few areas where I think the positive effects of hallucinogens are at least partially quantifiable, however I don't need studies to tell me that hallucinogens, particularly DMT, can have strong and lasting anti-depressant qualities.

I was able to overcome a decades long opiate dependency with the help of a combination of LSA, DMT and harmalas. (I'm happy to discuss this in depth via PM) I make no claims of a miracle cure and I have no idea what if any physical changes occurred as a result of hallucinogen use other than relief of both cravings and physical need for opiates. I did not suffer the interminable humiliation and agony of physical withdrawal. It's been almost two months since my last dose of opiates. I'm technically deep into post acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) now. I have very little of the brain fog and depression associated with PAWS. I do have some insomnia but nothing like the literal days of sleeplessness usually associated with PAWS. I'm far less irritable than I was when I was using opiates and I function better in society than previously.

I can't take credit personally for these changes, not completely anyway. It's impossible for me to quantify exactly what benefits DMT and hallucinogens in general have provided me but it's very clear to me that their use has been a major factor in my personal journey through opiate habituation.

From mainly sub-breakthroughs it tought me that

* thought is pre-linguistic in nature and is heavily influenced by the ideas one listens to on a daily basis... the style, intonation, vocabularly, complexity of ideas etc all impact that.

* the mind is far more powerful than i once thought it to be.

* vision is all just recognition of patterns that can be either inverse or obverse which ever way you want to look at it (IE night sky can be blackness with white holes in it rather than little white dots over the top of blackness). Bit scared to go in to this one more as I am afraid it could caus some serious hppd.

* the pretty bland natural fauna in my country is actually beautiful because it has a certain "style" i never picked up on before.

* everything in the universe is seen and accounted for (supposedly).

Its taught many things but in strange ways that dont make sense really... I quit a pack per day habit of smoking after a few sessions with dmt and changa. So many positive things have happened for me in the past few years and I thank in part "psychedelic" drugs.

One of my trips was about bacteria (I could see myself at the microscopic level) and the war in my body between good and bad bugs... it was really intense and thought provoking. Made me thing a bit more about who I am feeding

I do that same inhale, hold, inhale more, breathe in out, in out, short breaths, then Woosh!, big exhale.

Spice is amazing no doubt, so are many of the other substances in the hallucinogen category.

If I take small doses of Amanita I literally get visions and thoughts pointing me in the right direction (usually health choices).

Its all so amazing and I dont really try to understand it. I just take my time on my journey and grow as much as I can as a human.

Maybe its not the spice but the user...

Who knows...

Peace

My experiences and thoughts of the benefits of DMT very much echo those of Entre nous'.
I too managed to kick a near 20 year opiate habit while using DMT. I also do not the quantifiability of the effects of DMT in relation to my stopping the heroin as i had moved to a new country and embarked on a very drawn out methadone program , tapering off to about 0.5mg every 2 days at the end. The intense tapering i think helped with PAWs but i have very little to no mental craving for opiates.

I haven't taken heroin for 5 years nearly and i stopped the methadone over 3 years ago. I now have regular work and a family. I would never have thought that these things would be possible 10 years ago.

I don't think that it is a coincidence that my DMT use coincided with me stopping. A combination of prolonged afterglow, renewed wonder and thoughtfulness with no apparent negative side effects resulted in a long term obsession with DMT which replaced my unhealthy obsession with opiates.

I love the paradox that there is something that i am rather scared of that makes me happy.

Spice helps me find and stay on the path, a path some call Dhamma, the path towards liberation and enlightenment. Spice allows me to contact my spirit, and that contact is the finding of the path. In these moments of contact, my spirit teaches me things. When I put these teachings into action, I move forward on the path.

For inhaling technique: I toke as long and as slow as possible until my lungs are completely full. Then as I release I don't let fully out, I let out a little and re-breathe, then let out a little more and re-breathe, again and again until I am breathing just fresh air. I dunno why I like it, but it's a nice little ritual and seems to make the most out of it.

The only thing I'm sure I've learned from DMT is that nothing in that realm can truly harm me. All other things are just supposition. I know nothing.

what do psychedelics really do for me?

They are fun.
They are fascinating.
They give me another reason to live and tell me, there is more going on than meets the eye.
They show me how my "hallucination," like anyone's reality can yield Truth. Ex. They fascinate Me and I want to share about them.
They give me huge motivation to stay on a spiritual path.

Shall I tell you more?

Oh this is nice, I would love if there was a breathing techniques guide - however useful and weird.

I envision lots of possibility for rituals. In my one experience with Changa, I did pray to the moon and the spirits that had guided me there (I don't forget you Star Dancer!) and had little humming and breathing before I dived in. Now I would like to experiments with body positions and hands positions, to link certain positions to certain intention. I guess Yoga is just a far more develloped form of this.

Spice has taught me nothing. The only thing I could say afterwards were "impossible, beyond sens" and "I know nothing". But I had some learnings arising from it still, like think slowly, think like you chew, slowly. And recall with feelings. Also when I was still tripping I did some vibration chant and got onto a peculiar state, a depth of some sort, I don't think I experienced that before but since then I can go back to that very deep vibration, very amplified and wide. It feels like it's not me anymore.

For me there is a difference in smoking DMT and drinking ayahuasca.

Smoking DMT is in the first place something I do because it is so much fun and gives such beautiful visuals. Did I learn something from my trips? Not really. I would say it more opened my eyes for something else. Having seen so much entities, witches, castles, ancient clothed Chinese women in temples, Roman chariots, dragons, etc. this brought me to a conclusion. Back in the days they knew about the existence of DMT and their whole mythology and believes and cultural expressions were based on experiences in hyperspace.

But ayahuasca ? That’s another story. It gave me a lot to think over, in fact the trips were very much instructive, giving insights, helping me to see things from another point of view.

Hello 3rdeyeopen - I didnt look to see how old this post is but I wonder if your cat still practices this...My pet wilderbeast is an aspiring devotee of Krishna hisself and was doing something similiar the other year but with 5meoDMT.He was basicly using it to practice hardcore meditiation-is-the-practice-of-death-drug-yoga-Deity-worship.He had a little Deity of Lord Nityananda, Who of course is the most merciful incarnation and it is not possible to offend this Deity (other Deity murtis he would be leary about smoking toad poison in front of cus he observes some of those Vedic temple ettiquites)..So he would load up a clean light bulb of wich he used a rolled up paper straw to suck the smoke,take as big'a hit as possible and just focus his eyes on Lord Nityananda as the near-death-like-experience would occur and he would mentally cry out hardcore to Lord Nityananda..and he likely cried out to the Holy Names of Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare as well and perhaps Jaya Radha/Radha-Krishna,etc.... Of course with 5meoDMT it was just these blank-void-like mini-death-trips wich seemed to him like just an exciting way to practice leaving his body(dying)...He was doing this several times a day....Kudos to you on praying to Lord Ganesh to remove obstacles to Krishna.While traditional pure Vaisnavas usually dont pray to most demigods and even suggest against it - at the same time the Vedic scriptures explain that it is bona-fide for Vaisnavas to pray to demigods to help them with their servive/Love for Krishna..Your prayers gave me goosebumps reading them especially the prayer to Krishna Lord of the gopis.You rock.(Also my wilderbeast has tried plant based DMT several times with no effects and the 5meoDMT didnt provide any visual effects or entity visitation,etc. either)...