SpaceGandalf wrote:Hi, I See a lot of similarities between what you have written and where I am at. I want to be completely upfront and honest about my intentions, I want to help you and others, and I can only do that by being totally honest. My own Position at the moment is that I do not want to use DMT, however I do still feel the pull and temptation to “know”. I DO NOT have a negative attitude towards psychedelics or drugs. However my experience with DMT and the memories of past psychedelic experiences that have since re-emerged are making me very wary. I do not want to contribute to the “negative thoughts” you mentioned, but I can only be open and honest in discussing this with you. Please be absolutely clear that I fully accept that my experiences could simply be my own personal head fuck or me getting the wrong end of the stick. However I am not the only person to have this kind of viewpoint and it is entirely plausible that opposing viewpoints could be delusional, misguided or naive. I am NOT going to try to persuade you to see things my way, I just want to discuss where YOU are at, to see if that helps you work things out for yourself - and might possibly help me.
First of all I want to commend you on is your preparatory ritual. This kind of practice is done from the Peruvian jungle to Jewish temples. I highly recommend you continue to do it. I cannot see how in any way it could be a bad thing to do. (I did exactly the same when using DMT)
I agree with you that this is not about method or technique. DMT on it’s own is more than capable of taking you all the way, as attested many times on the nexus and there are plenty who feel other substances inhibit DMT’s clarity. IMHO once you see that spiral it’s about something else wether or not you go further. If you read the material on the subject the term “letting go” is what is often used to describe what comes next - this is something I’d like to discuss.
Why you want to go “there”, what you think in yourself might hold you back from this, and what you think “there” might be?
What were the things that you read and why did they trouble you?
You felt you were asked “are you ready?” and you responded “I am, take me”; why do you think/feel this didn’t work?
Do you have any deeper thoughts on what “are you ready?” might mean?
Have you ever experienced a request when at the spiral before, and if so what are your thoughts on this?
What do you think “letting go” means and why might you resist this?
Finally can you give some details on your philosophical/spiritual background and where you are now regarding this?
SpaceGandalf, thank you so much for your answer. I take the time you took to be that thorough as a real privilege. So thank you again.
I totally understand your cautiousness and I feel comfortable enough to face all of your questions. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna start by the last of your questions to clarify what I mean by that. I'm a 33 years old philosophy teacher and poet. I've been fascinated with psychedelics and shamanism for years and thought "one day, my fear will be small enough that I can overcome it and try".
two years ago, I started to get into non-dualistic metaphysics, namely tantrism and zen buddhism. I started to meditate daily, and it literally changed my life. Every month I got happier and lighter.
This year, at some point, something inside me said "you're ready". So I took LSD. Started with small doses, then got to more serious ones. During two of my trips, I experimented the satori. Since then, I've been even calmer/happier/lighter. I became even more spiritual. I feel like I'm not afraid of dying anymore. My sentimental despair (I've been single for a decade) is gone. Everything's fine.
At the end of one trip, I remember thinking: "I know now, there's only one thing to do, it's to love everything, and to tell everyone that there's only love and nothing else."
And I've been thinking of Alan Watts famous quote "when you get the message, hang up the phone". And I plan on posting something here about it. Because "when is the message gotten?"
As Ram Dass would say, you always come down. I didn't come
back down tho. I'm higher. But I get it now, I need to continue that process of "ego-killing" to increase my capacity to love. And I feel like it's what I'm supposed to do. What I want to do.
So, as for your other questions :
"Why you want to go “there”, what you think in yourself might hold you back from this, and what you think “there” might be?"
I want to go there because it feels natural. What holds me back might be the egotistic fear of losing myself. "There" is the place where I can be my true self.
"What were the things that you read and why did they trouble you?" Experience reports that were so incredible that I started to doubt I was ready to face them I guess.
"You felt you were asked “are you ready?” and you responded “I am, take me”; why do you think/feel this didn’t work?"
This I don't know. Maybe it was a conscious will?
"Do you have any deeper thoughts on what “are you ready?” might mean?"
I guess it means "do you really want it?" like "are you willing to let go things you're hooked on?" (beliefs namely)
"Have you ever experienced a request when at the spiral before, and if so what are your thoughts on this?"
yeah, I've felt they were asking me to come, and I remember thinking "but don't they know I can't do anything?"
and it was a very "absolute" "can't do anything", like "don't they know no one ever decides anything? that I'm a purely passive being?"
"What do you think “letting go” means and why might you resist this?"
I'm not really sure I do resist. I felt so much confidence. I wasn't scared. To me, "to let go" is to "accept whatever comes". And I felt I was accepting whatever would come.
Thank you again. I had a marvelous sub-BT tonight that I'm gonna post about in another thread if you wanna read it : )
"How Small A Thought It Takes To Fill A Whole Life"
Wittgenstein