Namaste nexians,

I'm interested in reading a book by Dr. Lilly called "Simulations of God," which shall arrive soon.

It seems he approached the mystical experience with a more scientific mind than most. I resonate with much of his experiences, including the vision of computers taking over the Earth a la Terminator.

Part of me thinks that it's just our orientation which determines the experience. I.e. if I want to have a divine/heaven experience I will. If I want to have a crazy theorizing experience, I will.

In other words, the ultimate truth is interpretable in innumerable ways. I guess I just have to decide on the way I wish to interpret it. Kind of ironic, no?


I hope that by reading the book I don't become like him--frantically calling the White House to warn the President of the computer apocalypse when I trip...

Years ago his books were a strong influence on me. I visited him in Malibu for a few days in 1985 and he was pretty strange at that time. The best thing to come out of my reading Lilly's books was to become acquainted with the far more profound books of Franklin Merrell-Wolff, "Pathways Through to Space" and "The Philosophy of Consciousness-Without-An-Object."

http://www.merrell-wolff.org/

I really like Lilly but i haven't gotten around to reading his books yet

I've read through his book,The Deep Self. Good stuff. It's about floatation tank journeys with plans on how to build one. Lilly himself experimented with the tank on LSD and ketamine.

When I was back in Art school, I enjoyed John's books, The Center of the Cyclone and Simulations of God, although it's been over 30 years since I've read them. It was through his remarkable influence, that I began to explore flotation tanks and other sensory deprivation methods. I was fortunate enough to have some Oregon Liberty Caps for my first voyage within an isolation tank (and it was a doozy).

I also found some of the writings of R.D. Laing to be fascinating. The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise, in particular. I had expected that this type of research would continue, with increased scrutiny and snowball into new realms of scientific inquiry. Sadly, "The War On Drugs" has made much of this kind of clinical research into entheogens and the states of mind they facilitate, a largely underground effort.

Thanks Empty Hand, for the reading recommendations! Any others along this same line?

I bet it was! I once took just a small hit of acid prior to a tank session and it was intense. Sensory deprivation+psychedelics=

John C. Lilly and his books got me interested in dolphins and flotation tanks and inner exploration. Also turned me on to Terrence McKenna. He got a bit weird (weirder than normal) toward the end of his life, but show me an eighty year old who is not a bit weird. Especially one who has done as many substances as Lilly did.

Merrell-Wolff comes out of the Advaita tradition. "Advaita" means "nondual" or "not two". Since the 90s there have been many western teachers of nonduality springing up all over like John Wheeler, Francis Lucille, etc., and you probably won't have any trouble tracking down lots of them. I've attached books from the two giants of nondual teachings from the 20th century, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Ramana Maharshi.

eH

I read everything I could find online about him, and I bought and read "center of the cyclone"..Lilly had a big influence on me a few years back, and was the main reason I had any interest in ketamine. I never did try ketamine though or any of it's relatives. I am still very much interested in NMDA antagonists but iboga alkaloids are where that curiousity sits now.

You might find this interesting..hard to find vids of the guy it seems..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVf81iwSXT4

I read all of his books, except the second dolphin book (just never got around to it). Simulations of God is great, and I really loved Autobiography of a Dyad. Really influential on me.

He's been on my radar for some time. I bought one of his books, but didn't read it yet.

His autobiography entitled 'The Scientist' is an excellent read.