If only I had not listened to the piece
on the morning radio about the former asylum
whose inmates were kept busy
at wooden benches in a workshop
making leather collars and wristbands
that would later be used to restrain them.
And if only that had not reminded me,
as I stood facing the bathroom mirror,
of the new state prison whose bricks had been set
by prisoners trucked in from the old prison,
how sweet and free of static my walk
would have been along the upland trail.

Nothing to spoil the purity of the ascent —
the early sun, wafer-white,
breaking over the jagged crest of that ridge,
a bird with a bright-orange chest
flitting from branch to branch with its mate,
and a solitary coyote that stopped in its tracks
to regard me, then moved on.
Plus the cottonwood fluff snowing sideways
and after I stood still for a while,
the coyote appearing again in the distance
before vanishing in the scrub for good.
That’s the kind of walk it might have been.

For me...this perfectly encapsulates much of the turmoil of the comedowns of my most beautiful profound experiences on mushrooms.

It tends to manifest most clearly on mushrooms...the fact that these experiences present the perfection of the moment. Yet...the reconciliation of the fact that my perfect moment, as afforded via mushroom consciousness is, in large part, directly due to my privileged position in the world is inescapable, for me.

I cannot avoid these facts. That my ability to have this experience is directly due to the fact that I am easily able to obtain food, clothes, and shelter, thanks to an oppressive and domineering system that secures these components and makes them available to those of us lucky enough to be in a position to play the current "game" that allows us to acquire them...that I have had the luxury to secure the time/money to acquire the skills needed to render these compounds available to myself...that thanks to the slaughter of people abroad, the slaughter of people at home is generally relegated to those less privileged than myself...that my realization of the perfection of the universe only reflects a perfection of the universe experienced by one being, privileged enough to make the spacetime to enjoy it.

To those who say that the present is perfection, that everything is as it should be, that we are exactly where we should be, I have nothing but the utmost disdain. For, in that utterance, the plight of millions (if not billions) is rendered inconsequential. What a perfectly poetic way to disconnect from the world in which we find ourselves. What a seemingly blissful way to deny the relationships that are currently being razed on a daily basis. How wondrous a mechanism to abdicate all agency behind the facade of spiritual maturity or dharmic righteousness. Perfection, in such cases, is only experienced through privilege. To refuse to acknowledge that privilege and the foundations for its existence is to be willfully blind to the suffering of all that we are intrinsically connected to, in the most fundamental sense.

For me, this presents the foundation for a radical application of psychedelics. For me, this is why psychedelics and "radical politics" or "activism" or whatever term you may choose to apply to the concepts presented are inherently interwoven. For me, this is why it is not enough to have these experiences, acknowledge the perfection of the universe and then wander back into the consumer culture(s) that surrounds us, merely glad to have "Escaped" and found some divine reprieve for a few hours. If these experiences of perfection and divine unity do not serve to inform our actions in waking life...to transform us from mere spectators in our lives to conscious actors, they are no better than any other form of escapist entertainment. As many are aware, they can allow for so much more. We owe it to ourselves not to forget that.

In that vein, I'd like to re-post a publication shared by Aegle not too long ago:
Indigenous Struggles 2013

I agree that if this is used as a justification for beings like us (who live with the illusion of free will) to ignore the struggle of others, then this is simply wilful ignorance. In an objective sense removing human emotion or opinion, in terms of universal cause and effect, the statement is absolutely true.

Back in human reality, on our level of thinking, with emotion, opinion and general day to day plight, we can't afford to be so ignorant. But enjoying ourselves at the same time ? Sometimes it seems like an impossible juggling act where you are constantly picking up what you drop to make a difference.

It's a dilemma, no doubt about it. I think the only cure is discipline of your mind, committing to virtues but somehow enjoying the bliss available. I think not spending enough time simply enjoying can actually turn people into somewhat of a dick... and hey presto, they become part of the problem.

Precisely...this is the turmoil of the comedown for me.

Short of acting on that, I don't know how else to engage with it.

I wholeheartedly agree that the enjoyment is important, even vital. Ecstatic states can be profoundly therapeutic, if for no other reason than the fact that feeling ecstatic is...well...ecstatic!

But, are we acting on these experiences? Are we at least attempting the juggling act? Or is it merely escapism? Obviously these are largely rhetorical questions, the answers to which will vary based on the person/community answering them.

But to my mind, to some extent, as a whole...to invoke the oft loathed catchall of "The Psychedelic Community"...we are not. I do not see, on a large-scale within this (perhaps somewhat imagined) community, the recursive relationship between these experiences and meaningful real-world actions that I feel when I dose (especially on the comedown). I rarely see engagement with radical concepts for social/geopolitical change...change that would fundamentally change our relationships to each other as well as the earth. And perhaps I'm simply looking in the wrong place.

What I do see is a lot of "new age" belief in some great savior (see: the whole 2012 elevated consciousness/paradigm shift ordeal) or unrealistic hope that things will just change, without acknowledgement of or engagement with the necessary mechanisms. Is it that I'm simply looking in the wrong place(s)? It doesn't feel that way to me...but I can hardly say I know all of what's going on across "the psychedelic community." I guess the resounding question to my mind is, if these compounds are catalysts, why do I feel like I'm seeing more escapism than social catalyzing?