I would really like to form a dialogue with everyone involved with this site. The main Idea of this thread will be to delve into the depths of our consciousness.

First let me explain why I want to do this and why I want all of your input. I think that consciousness can probably never be understood fully and it will take special tools (such as DMT and other psychedelics) to understand more of it then what we think we do understand now. Therefore it is our responsibility, as journeyers into the mind, to talk about our experiences, compare them, and relate these experiences to that of science or supernatural if at all possible. Because of our methods of conscious understanding, and psychedelic meditations, we, the psychedelic explorers, should have a slightly better grasp on consciousness then say that of the average Joe. Also this is a bit personal I don’t yet know what I’m going to do with this information, but I feel a strong urge to explore the idea of consciousness and spirituality to its fullest.

I want to start us talking, debating, and hopefully finding some kind of solid ground or similarity. There are a lot of us here, with different view point. We have scientist and spiritual scholars alike, whom I am sure have different views on the matter.

I really hope a lot of you will get involved with this. Maybe a better understanding of consciousness will bring about a better understanding of trips and vice versa.
I would also like to start a bigger project involving the same aspects talked about in this thread. The future project will include the discussion about consciousness that we have here and then relate these talks to hyperspace and the entities of hyperspace. There will be a lot of talk about spirituality and after life type shit. The focus will mainly be to understand hyperspace. What is it? Is it real? Who are the entities? Are they real? Where, if real, does it all exist and where does our consciousness mind exist? I am not a very organized person and am not too good with words so I may need some help putting all this together. If anyone is interested, and wants to be involved with this project, let me know.

Thanks, happy travels, and happy discussion

Hi psyco_nomad

Yea I agree. I've only just begun looking at reality and consciousness and am interesting in reading about other people's experiences and I will be sharing my own soon

I'll try to explain what I think reality might be.

I think the source of reality is a conscious energy field. The field is split into possibly infinite different dimension, each vibrating at a different frequency. I think that the dimensions are based on some sort of harmonic of the vibrating energy field, maybe with further sub-harmonic dimensions in between. In each dimension the consciousness is able to decode these vibrations into a holographic reality, an amazingly realistic one!

I can't remember where it was that I saw it but I seen a video about an experiment where if the surface of some water was vibrated at certain frequencies then complex geometric patterns would pop up on the surface, if the frequency was suddenly changed it would pop into a different shape. I've wondered if there could be a similar effect with this vibrating conscious energy field? Does that then give the pattern for the energy centres of the body and the shape we evolve into is designed by this? Maybe even things like the structure of atoms and galaxies are simly copying aspects of this pattern? Much like fractals and holograms.


Well. First time I've tried explaining that before and I'm quite high right now so hopefully it's understandable enough

What are your thoughts on this?

I tend to lean towards McKenna's ideas about consciousness, excluding some of the more ethereal DemiUrge stuff, with a twist of Ray Kurtzweil.

Mix liberally with string theory and a smattering of basic quantum mechanics picked up from low level college physics classes, add a large pinch of general cynicism and a dash of wonderment from the sights I have seen due to DMT.

In short, awareness is like a cake. A tasty cake.

I'll want to revisit this topic when I have more time for sure, but it's a good subject.

In short, I view consciousness as individual signatures, frequencies, or expressions of one and the same consciousness. To me, this consciousness originates in God, or the Grand Architect, if you will, as though we are all "arms" or "probes" of that supreme consciousness, experiencing its own creation directly through this link. In this manner, it is as though we have an umbilical connection to deity. I view the material universe as unique expressions of one fabric -- the spirit of the Universe, "Mother Nature", but all composed of the same substance on the purest level. Material reality is composed of "Light" or "energy" (to use such drastically insufficient terms), and what appears to be still, and solid, and tangible, is really just this energy, or light, moving at such a slow rate of vibration, or frequency, that it appears to be still, solid, and tangible. I believe that there are higher levels of awareness where higher levels of existence can become apparent, but that ordinary waking consciousness is mostly tuned and set to receive certain forms of input -- that is why we appear to be "locked in" to this material prison, if you will. But through the use of various means -- meditation and spiritual disciplines, and/or the responsible use of certain entheogens, we can sort of "adjust the tuner" the pick up on frequencies we are usually incapable of receiving.

If that makes any sense to you, great

I think everything in the entire multiverse and beyond it has consciouness..you just have to learn the mythic practice of dreaming with the universe.

Google "dreaming awake" by Mckenna.

Concidering I just typed for 20 minutes only to hit backspace and have it all deleted, I will add more later.

YES. I've known this intellectually and philosophically for a long time, but spice brought me face to face with this fact, and does every time I visit hyperspace. I sense and readily recognize the consciousness all around me and a great sense of presence envelops me.

I'll have to check out that McKenna stuff. I always enjoy reading or listening to him.

I believe consciousness is fundamental to reality. Consciousness creates our reality and all others. I believe time, space and matter are simply perceptual habits of consciousness in the physical field. I believe everything down to subatomic particles have consciousness to some degree. If you read some of the interpretations of quantum theory, it is clear that consciousness is knocking quite loudly on the doors of physics, and possibly other disciplines. Even though many interpretations of the theory specifically seek to avoid it, in my opinion, it is impossible to ignore that physics has at least encountered consciousness.

I think the debate between dualism, idealism and materialism is rather silly because I believe that consciousness is a nonphysical force that has made itself physical. There is nothing in our universe that is not a part of consciousness. "[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts." -Walter Heisenberg. I strongly feel that consciousness is behind all of our experiences. There is cannot be any real separation between the perciever and the object perceived. Experiencing this first hand is what is known in zen Buddhsim as a Satori enlightenment.

I think trying to develop strong AI is completely misguided because it is the attempt to fit a fundamentally non algorithmic non physical "thing" into an algorithmic physical thing. I think it is impossible. All it will end up end accomplishing is the "if then therefore" machines we have now instead of a self aware being. I believe that life creates the universe, it is not, and has never been the other way around.

As for our ability to know about consciousness, its greatest ability is to turn itself inside out and examine its own contents, so I think saying that we will never truly understand consciousness is premature.

I believe all consciousness that exists, just as everything in nature, is organized in a "nested hierarchy." The existence of myriad individual consciousness implies the existence of a "God" or singular pantheistic being, just as the existence of that same pantheistic being implies the existence of myriad individual consciousnesses, and there cannot be one without the other, because each one implies the other. Honestly I don't think I could say it better than HermeticShaman (though I must say, in my case, I don't like the term "prison" for the material world. I've been convinced that physical existence is meaningful and good even if it doesn't appear that way sometimes I can't believe there could part even the tiniest part of reality that wasn't meant to be )

I recommend these books: The Quantum Enigma, The Physics of Consciousness and Biocentrism for a scientific take on the intersection of consciousness and physics.

"The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment." -Bernard d'Espagnat

I know that replying to this thread will take some time and I am glad to see some of you are interested. Thank you to all who have posted and to all who are working on posting. I do have a pretty firm hold on my belief of conscious awareness, and am in the process of forming it into words. When I do be sure it will be posted. I am not looking to this post for answers, but rather insight into something that involves all of us. I hope this can be an ongoing discussion and we can all learn something from it.

Looking at the views given to us by Digi123 makes me reflect on the work done by Dr. Masaru Emoto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8 Interesting stuff!! You all should check it at. When people tell you to speak your intent when brewing Aya or going into DMT hyperspace, you probably should do it. Our minds affect everything around us.

Hyperdemensional cuttlefish,
I am definitely going to look into what you said. I know a bit about Mckenna’s view but have never read or seen anything about Ray Kurtzweil. I too, have been influnced by both, string theory and quantum physics.

Hermeticshaman,
Let me just say I agree with a lot of what you said, and am very eager to hear more when you revisit.

I can’t wait for more input!!

This resonates with the subject matter.

Fratral,
Thanks for the advice about the McKenna lecture. I just finished the twelve parts on youtube, very interesting. Of course McKenna is always so fascinating.

I have a lot of McKenna’s lectures and interviews in audio format on my computer, and I had heard exerts from the dreaming awake lecture in some other things I have.

Every electron is the yawning mouth of a wormhole that leads to quadrillions of higher dimensions that are completely beyond rational comprehension.
Mater is not lacking in magic, matter is magic. – Terence McKenna
Fantastic!!!

Because McKenna is the best. What I love about him is that he is on point in so many ways, very informative, intriguing, but extremely funny to listen to. It's impossible not to chuckle a bit at the way he expresses just about anything.

I remember the first time I heard him say, "jeweled self dribbling basket balls", or "Come in, little green men! Come in, little green men!", I just about laughed to death.

I dunno, I think melding our minds with sentient computers is the next inevitable step in our evolution. A symbiotic relationship of sorts, a chance to meld with something completely alien and become better than our separate parts... Unbound by constraints of time or our frail mammalian bodies.

Just as long as it doesn't end up like the Borg.

Here’s a very good lecture on The Primacy of Consciousness by Peter Russell.

I used to say “The only thing we know for certain to be real is that ‘something’ has conscious experiences, and we ordinarily call that something ‘self’”, but now I’m not so sure.

Let me first say thank you to everyone who has responded. I really hoped for a lot more discussion to happen from this thread. I really wanted this to be an ongoing project but have found that I cant even begin to put in word my theory I will attach a microsoft works and word doc. of my theory so far which really isn't much but thought maybe some might be interested. I've been working on it for a week now with NO success I've earased everything and started over about 5 times and I'm just done.

I hope all of you will enjoy it even though it isn't even 1/10th of the way completed. sorry.

Thanks everyone

There is allot i write about consciousness and related. Very often inspired by the dmt nexus. These short textfiles are most often deleted though. I am never able to write a cohesive theory. Because i dont get the whole picture, i think, it is impossible. and i loose immediate interest. Still the picture grows and i realize what i wrote or thought has been integrated already.

There is still an open end, but my understanding of consciousness has at least become bigger and more beautifull, intricate, and more personal too : )

we can think about consciousness in different ways, it's such a broad topic that I'm not surprised we can't come up with a cohesive theory. Additionally we have no way to verify claims about consciousness other than empirical/subjective ones. I think this is the first thing we must come to realize. Consciousness is not something that can be treated objectively. It does not exist objectively (or at least not solely objectively).

As something subjective however, one way to verify and explore it is through inter-subjectivity - by communicating and sharing the experience of consciousness.
It is through reflection that consciousness becomes known to itself and it is quite an interesting experience to feel this kind of resonance during a conversation, feeling like something sentient is in the dialogue.

There are several tools for exploring consciousness and I guess we can develop some interesting exercises - trying to shift your idea of your consciousness from your physical body to the experiencing of the moment for example. E.g. if you are in a room then try thinking of it not as "I am here" but "this here is". If you are in a room with a lot of people or at least one other person this already becomes very different if you can extend this idea- two entities sharing the same experience, but only one experience, only one consciousness.

We can also try to focus on the idea of consciousness existing within communication, or emerging from it. Try to see how it feels to do this with some people. Let the conversation become a living entity that you as participants in it are an organ/agent of.

We might want to consider differentiating different states and levels of consciousness as well. I think there is most definitely a hierarchic/holonic structure involved starting out from the consciousness or subjective experience of inanimate matter (or energy) and moving up the ladder rung by rung from replicating molecules to mono-cellular life to highly complex mammals and humans. All these objective existences have subjective and conscious sides to them. Additionally the human consciousness alone can be differentiated again into different levels, that can be looked at historically or developmentally (check Ken Wilber's or Spiral Dynamics' stages of consciousness).

Some people believe that consciousness has an impulse to develop. And indeed similarly there seems to be an impulse to develop in the objective realm as well (biological evolution).

Some people believe consciousness is not something subjective at all but a wave that our bodies tune into like receivers/antennas.

The question is, how can we study consciousness? Considering it to be subjective thing, how can we access for example the subjective experience of something we can not as readily communicate with as another human? What is the subjective experience of the river? Of a star? Of a fungi? ... How can we say that computers or the internet don't already have a consciousness, but that this type of consciousness is so different from ours that we cannot harmonize with it or detect/reflect it.

With pharma I often feel like I am witnessing the sentience or consciousness of beings that are so different from myself - some of them are entities with a certain circumference of presence, others are ubiquitous. Properties of the very space. Or invisible growths of anemone-like stuff spreading out. The common theme for me is that I am always able to establish contact with these sentiences. Acknowledging their subjectivity. Communicating in any way I can. I don't know if there is a purpose to this, but I suppose it is good practice either way to try to harmonize with other forms of subjective realities, such as other species or (imagined or real) spirits/entities...

I still don't really know how to study it properly other than what we are already doing- exploring different states and stages though psychedelics, meditation, thought experiments and exercises, communication, etc. I think in terms of tools there is still quite some potential for developing techniques for altering consciousness especially in combination with psychedelics. Say some kind of ritual-like thing.

I read through your first few paragraphs of this and wanted to comment on them:

Personally I don't think the mind would exist if it was not for the more fundamental forms of existence such as inanimate matter. Atoms, molecules, cells etc. they all existed BEFORE human perception and without them more complex forms of existence as we know them would not be possible. It is my understanding of physics that it is not human consciousness or perception of things that determines the behavior of energy/matter but the type of interaction used to detect/perceive it.



Ken Wilber's theory of holons and the four quadrants can maybe help answer this question. He says that all things are so called holons (parts within parts and wholes within wholes - like an atom is a whole, but also a part of a molecule)
Every holon has a subjective, and an objective (, an inter-subjective and a collective-objective) side/aspect to it. Sound is not one or the other - "just vibrations" or "sound". One is a subjective experience (by you) the other is an objective observation. They are different aspects of the same thing.

Consciousness is very capricious by nature, like enoon said, it is hard to be objective about a subjective experience because in the end, it is consciousness trying to study consciousness... you always end up chasing your own tail in circles! Not that it isn't fun trying or none of us would be on here

I have always liked the radio/transmitter analogy, consciousness is out there in the universe and it is our own hardware (ie; brain) that tunes into it and creates individual human consciousness. That might mean that altered states of consciousness is just human consciousness getting closer to universal consciousness. I must admit, I only have a fairly limited experience with psychedelics, my most mind bending experience in regards to altered consciousness came from a naturally occuring state which I will explain below:

"Basically I was having a dream and in it I was at a friends house when someone in a panic mentioned there was a tiger on the loose. I ran downstairs and all of a sudden was in the storage room at my family house when out of the dark appeared a pair of glowing tigers eyes! It rushed towards me and as it passed me I was suddenly in a hyper aware, out of body state and hurtling through a pitch black vacuum at tremendous G-forces! I was no longer in a simple dream state and felt as conscious as I do right now typing this if not more so. Eventually I slowed to a halt and was in a quiet void and slowly my bedroom became visible around me but at no time did I wake up in a traditional sense as you do from a normal dream (usually in a startle)."

I guess the most logical explanation is there are many more gradual states/channels/transmissions to consciousness other than simply awake, sleepy and asleep. I must have had a first class tour through the many states between awake and asleep and dreaming. You could even liken this to experiencing the many different transmissions of consciousness available to the human brain, something that might explain what happens on psychedelics as well.

My beliefs are constantly changing on the nature of human experience and consciousness but the transmitter theory feels right to me (but I may also be completely wrong). It would basically mean that the universe is consciousness itself and it is the union of human brain with universal consciousness that creates the human experience.

I hope I made some sense and didn't go too off topic and just on a weird side note from my experience: I told my mum about my experience and she was taken aback as she remembers my late father many years ago telling his nephews to stay out of the storage space as there is a tiger in there! I never knew this story personally before the experience but what a strange coincidence/synchronicity!

I'd like to start by saying that it is nice to see so many new minds joining the Nexus, who are keenly intelligent and clearly, quite spiritually receptive. Kudos to everyone, Gang, for embracing the quest for the mystery of hidden knowledge and/or enlightenment!!!

Initially, when one contemplates such profoundly fundamental aspects of awareness, like consciousness, mind and self... we do need to clarify what our semantics truly mean. A word like consciousness, covers a mind-blowing degree of variegation and multiplicities/ levels of individuated, subjective perception. On a universal plane, consciousness is the core principle of being. I believe this is so with human consciousness, as well. There is arguably a significant symbiosis between the personal nature of human consciousness and the collective whole, the supraconscious plane or The Godhead. For we essentially co-create reality by our very existence and interpret the myriad dreamscapes of other sentient souls, and so weave a fantastically intricate pattern, collectively.



Nice! I see manifest existence through a similar window (or lens, if you will). I am of the camp that adheres to the concept that the very quantum fluctuations, which propelled the creation of the known universe, are initiated by the Indivisible Spirit itself. I have a predilection for using the word GOD, as no other seems as accurate to me. My "God" is not a Supreme Deity in some celestial plane or Heavenly existence, rather, that which can be labelled as God... is the Oneness. I propose that is is not only possible but imperative that we understand as much about this field of interconnected being, for we are right in the center of it, now. Of course, this smacks of non-dualism and echoes many of the ideas inherent in Indian Advaita, Taoism and Chan/Seon/Zen Buddhism. I also agree, other than the use of psychedelics/entheogens/Sacred Medicine, we can utilize meditation as a vehicle of access greater degrees of attunement to consciousness in it's purest internal state. Of course, this necessitates to stilling or stopping of the mental dialog which we habitually propagate with our unique, personal brain waves. No mind.



Albert Einstein, you and me couldn't be more in agreement about this Unified Field of Energy (more or less). At it's heart, it seemingly appears to my subjective perception, to exude a degree of intelligence and awareness. Such a degree of consciousness is so vast in scope and intensity... that we are unable to contain an awareness of much more than a tiny fraction of it's Cosmic Being. That being said, we don't really need to contain the totality, for we are contained within said totality. We are better off cultivating methods to attune to it's perceivable vibrational frequency. After all, we cannot prove through procedural method, that this unity exists, now can we? thankfully, we are able to tap into this force by direct immersion within it's insubstantial essence, by accessing our own light. From my windowsill, light is consciousness, as is existence,... as is Spirit. :idea:



Amen to that!!! Isn't this why we are psychonauts, to a very large degree? Are we not the most curious of species? We strive to expand our fundamental understanding and learn to find ways to engender a heightened level of consciousness. On this journey, we are often taken to places beyond our comprehension or habitual mode of awareness. This is quite miraculous and with the help of psychedelic/entheogens/Sacred Medicines... we are shattered by the expansion. Yet, even when the ego temporarily dies, we find a NEW sense of self and a more universal Self, at that. We may not agree about the semantics or the conceptual paradigm we perceive but we all have found that awareness does exist beyond the boundaries of our "normal" consciousness. Like you so wisely said, we do need to learn ways to "dream with the universe". There is a distinct a pragmatic path which we follow to be schooled in this mythic process. This is a perpetual cause of fascination and I honor all of you who voyage into the unknown reaches of said consciousness.




One of the definitions used for the concept of consciousness, it awareness trying to see itself. This is a fairly anthropomorphic description, granted. Even so, if we are truly parts of the greater whole, we are microcosms within the macrocosm and mirrored reflections of the Divine. This can literally be taken as an esoteric equation, about spiritual states of consciousness, for when one reaches into the infinite expanse of insubstantial void to find ones true Self... there is STILL awareness without ego-identification or habitually perceived, manifestation of physical form. This profound revelation can be termed, The Awakening of the Omniself, for when we merge within the Clear Light of the Void, we arrive to find "our original face". In other words, we SEE that even in the insubstantiality of the unmanifested level of consciousness, awareness seeks to know itself via the vehicle of consciousness. Well, at least that's what I have come to believe, in over 50 years of dreaming my own existence.



A profound insight, my friend. How do we make a science out of a subjective experience? Now granted, almost everything we routinely do as humanoids is essentially subjective... we do rise to the challenge of comparing notes about what we perceive. This is why I visit the Nexus. I get high off of the interaction with other sentient beings. When we reflect what we have learned form our Sacred journeys, we naturally want to share it with like-minded peoples. Yes? somehow our uniqueness gets in the way but I don't feel this is a bad thing, for each mind has useful insights and we can learn much from the interactions of our consciousnesses.



Your thoughts point towards a most fascinating idea... that the source of said transmission, is inherent within each one of us and we are, at our core of being, receivers to this vibratory frequency of consciousness. Now if the original initiation of life is truly based on a Divine source, we are surely hard-wired to access this frequency of awareness, despite the subjective interpretations we project upon it, upon returning from spiritual/transcendental states of mind. So, as you suggest, it is through our union that we merge within this supraconscious level of awareness. We might label this state: Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Nirvana, Satori or Divine Rapture. We quintessentially, co-create God and the universe, even as God and the universe create us. A synchronicity of intelligence. Ultimately, when everything else is stripped away... we are, forevermore, awareness seeking to know ourselves through the very parameters of our own consciousness. True enough or am I completely nuts???



Peace, love & light

..hi, would like to wade deeper into this thread in the future,

for now just want to ask: we have (at least) two different words here, Consciousness & Awareness.
do these two words mean the same thing, or does the fact we have two words mean they must have differences in definition?

thanks for the discussion...

"Language is the edge of the envelope of reality...the 'shaman' is the language maker..." (Terrance McKenna 1992)

...