Advaita, as I understand it, is a teaching that points seekers to find for themselves the truth. It doesn't have dogma in the sense of "this is so" or "this is how it works," it just asks questions. For the past month, the questions it raises have consumed my thoughts and daily perceptions. The extent to which it reminds me of the realizations I had on Salvia are uncanny.

Basically, it questions whether we, self-perceived individuals, are actually free-willed entities who have creative power, ie. we are the source of our thoughts, actions, words, etc. What it seems to point to is that these apparent individuals are in fact pre-programmed phenomenal experiences that exist within a singular experiencer, in which all else is contained. In other words, nondualism.

For me, when I smoke Salvia (at least based on my memories after the fact) consciousness gets stripped of all conditioning, as far as time, space, personal history, etc. are concerned. It certainly doesn't feel like a drug, like something experienced within MY (personal) self, it feels bigger than "ME." It feels like what I'd been thinking was myself has been revealed to be contained within a much larger whole.

It certainly scares the hell out of me, why I keep doing it is beyond me (perhaps literally ).

BTW, I love your avatar. "Say, what time is it?"... "Now, it's always here & now, in the present, this very moment."


Anyway... I too, have had experiences with this powerful plant ally, Salvia Divinorum, which leave me in a similar state of mind (or the lack therein). Having been an enthusiastic student of Advaita for over 30 years, has prepared me (to some extent) for the self-evaporation which Lady Salvia causes within one's subjectivity.

Of course, one cannot necessarily compare the peak of a Salvia trip with Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi (Atman in union with Brahman), let alone Sahaja Nirivikalpa Samadhi (Atman awakening to actually being Brahman, unbroken within myriad forms of diversity)...
as entheogens are temporary views into these exalted realms. No Medicine, however Sacred and truly illuminating, can bridge the journey for the earnest seeker (even the mind-blowing. expansive force of psychedelics). But there exists a radical expansion and profound transformation of one's view of "reality" and the nature of oneself. And that's the understatement of the century!!!



As Advaita emphasizes, philosophically, DUALITY IS AN ILLUSION. There is no self and other, here and there, before and after. There is only The Eternal Now and it has nothing whatsoever to do with time, which is a construct of mind. Intertwining with Salvinorin A certainly can lead one's perception to this point and from what I can clearly recall of my voyages, little of the "enlightenment" can be easily transferred to this side of the looking glass. As if the self which initiates the journey, is not the exactly the same self which returns. Sure, we metamorphose as we gain experience sailing within The Salvinorin Seas.

As with yourself, I also feel that I have awakened from the dream of myself as an individual, into a rationally paralyzed witness to something more ungraspable and far greater in scope of awareness. More interconnected to The Cosmic and perceptually, much less subjective in nature.

That being said, the neurological functions of my physical brain do seem to be firing rhythmically, in an almost disjointed manner. Or is it that my awareness of the duality within my cognitive thought process is revealed to be this seemingly bizarre undulation of mental charges, firing in a symmetrical fusion of polarized, biological energies?

I personally believe that the looping and folding-over sensation arises from the two hemispheres of the brain, firing their mental pulses in a heightened, Salvianated manner. Ultimately, this draws the focus of my attention to the spaces BETWEEN the rhythmic throbbing of this raw, flowing forceful energy current. Beyond and within the dynamic of this wildly oscillating energy phenomenon, I perceive a still silence in the emptiness between beats.

Just as with the practice of Zazen, when we still our breath, there becomes an awareness of the emptiness between the inhalation and the exhalation. Furthermore, there exists a silence between each beat of the human heart. Now this becomes obvious after prolonged meditation and is brought to our attention by entheogens. Within such an infinity of no-thingness, all is void of characteristic and completely free of form or perceivable substance.

In this state of being, the individual is no more a functioning part of the universe of duality. Zen Buddhists refer to this as NO MIND. No thought, no self and no separation betwixt the one and the many, for there is but one current and one being. All is Oneness. This force is composed of waves of light particles, vibrating throughout all of existence, hidden from our mechanical rationale but recognizable when one is attuned to another level of this existential paradigm.

Deep, deep, deep within the peak of my Salvia voyages, there is a palpable understanding of this indivisible reality, existent within the illusion of ordinary, dualistic reality. So much so, that my inner pilot always tries to seize the meaning of the eclipsing of individuated self with Godself... that my isolated ego gets truly frustrated, when trying to remember the essence of the realization. Such is the paradox of our temporary awakenings within the Unified Field (or what has been called, The Godhead).

And then I am once more, back to myself, cognizant of everything I have been programmed to understand as "normal" waking consciousness, on this side of the looking glass. Truly mysterious and aptly named, "The Diviner's Sage". All-in-all, a remarkably dissociative, yet highly psychedelic experience for the game Psychonaut to explore further. Another gross understatement, that's for sure!!!

Awesome post Rising Spirit.