LSD, human beings, and the future...

After a summer of plentiful and quality acid trips I've began to wonder about what is in store for us as humans and society in the near future and the stream of rapid change we are currently living in.

There is much to be learned from LSD and it really puts life into perspective as a whole and the direction it has taken. I would like your thoughts on this short excerpt, especially from psychedelic users.

How many hours a day do you spend in front of a television screen? A computer screen? Behind an automobile windscreen? All three screens combined? What are you being screened from? How much of your life comes at you through a screen, vicariously? Is watching things as exciting as doing things? Do you have enough time to do all the things that you want to? Do you have enough energy to? Why? And how many hours a day do you sleep? How are you affected by standardized time, designed solely to synchronize your movements with those of millions of other people? How long do you ever go without knowing what time it is? Who or what controls your minutes and hours? The minutes and hours that add up to your life? Are you saving time? Saving it up for what? Can you put a value on a beautiful day, when the birds are singing and people are walking around together? How many dollars an hour does it take to pay you to stay inside and sell things or file papers? What can you get later that will make up for this day of your life?

How are you affected by being in crowds, by being surrounded by anonymous masses? Do you find yourself blocking your emotional responses to other human beings? And who prepares your meals? Do you ever eat by yourself? Do you ever eat standing up? How much do you know about what you eat and where it comes from? How much do you trust it? What are we deprived of by labor-saving devices? By thought-saving devices? How are you affected by the requirements of efficiency, which place value on the product rather than the process, on the future rather than the present, the present moment that is getting shorter and shorter as we speed faster and faster into the future? What are we speeding towards? Are we saving time? Saving it up for what? How are you affected by being moved around in prescribed paths, in elevators, buses, subways, escalators, on highways and sidewalks? By moving, working, and living in two- and three-dimensional grids? How are you affected by being organized, immobilized, and scheduled rather than wandering, roaming freely and spontaneously? Scavenging? (Shoplifting?) How much freedom of movement do you have--freedom to move through space, to move as far as you want, in new and unexplored directions? And how are you affected by waiting? Waiting in line, waiting in traffic, waiting to eat, waiting for the bus, waiting to urinate--learning to punish and ignore your spontaneous urges? How are you affected by holding back your desires? By sexual repression, by the delay or denial of pleasure, starting in childhood, along with the suppression of everything in you that is spontaneous, everything that evidences your wild nature, your membership in the animal kingdom? Is pleasure dangerous? Could danger be joyous?

Do you ever need to see the sky? (Can you see many stars in it any more?) Do you ever need to see water, leaves, foliage, animals? Glinting, glimmering, moving? Is that why you have a pet, an aquarium, houseplants? Or are television and video your glinting, glimmering, moving? How much of your life comes at you through a screen, vicariously? If your life was made into a movie, would you watch it? How do you feel in situations of enforced passivity? How are you affected by a non-stop assault of symbolic communication--audio, visual, print, billboard, video, radio, robotic voices--as you wander through a forest of signs? What are they urging upon you? Do you ever need solitude, quiet, contemplation? Do you remember it? Thinking on your own, rather than reacting to stimuli? Is it hard to look away? Is looking away the very thing that is not permitted? Where can you go to find silence and solitude? Not white noise, but pure silence? Not loneliness, but gentle solitude? How often have you stopped to ask yourself questions like these? Do you find yourself committing acts of symbolic violence? Do you ever feel lonely in a way that words cannot even express? Do you sometimes feel yourself ready to LOSE CONTROL?

I sit back and wonder when I was young and we didn't even use computers in school. Now technology and all these gadgets coming out are influencing us to rarely leave our homes, could this be the cause of the increase in pharmacuticals such as anti-depressants or even anti-anxiety medications? Are we all just normal and sub-counsiously slowly learning how to not communicate with each other in person, rather we are more used to things like e-mail and cellular phones?

Could this be the era and stream of change that will eventually swallow us completely?

Your thoughts are appreciated..

Cheers.

 

I am very much with you on this one, the development of technology has led to many people living much more isolated lives. The result of this however, can we really know?

Television, swallowing and filtering your thoughts...

A part of me believes that as mankinds technology grows, so does its spirituality. The boundaries we percieve as being created by such technologies like the internet, could infact be mere stepping stones to a more sophisticated and creative collective consciousness.

Of course this depends on whether you view mankind as essentially progressing, in spiritual terms towards god. Or towards something else.

Everything is in constant transformation, just because we havent fully adjusted to certain technology doesnt neccesarily mean its bad, but i agree it does sap certain human particulars.

 

my mind is pure, i am my own god.

and so can you

 

I think humanity is rotting. The veil is so prominent for so many people, its even blocking out Love. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE LOVE!?

 

Think about this. EEG, biofeedback devices, things that output the frequency of brain activity. Visual hallucination is represented in that frequency.

I really don't think it will be long before a person will simply be able to move the pointer on a screen without moving a muscle, just holding the image of it moving and it will move. I don't think it will be long before a person can hold the visual of a keyboard in their brain, typing on it with imaginary hands, to type on the actual screen. I don't think it will be long before you don't even need a screen anymore... but rather have your whole entire internal UI designed and employed by the visual hallucinatory function of the brain, that is picked up and put to use as a technology interface through biofeedback.

 

As humanity has evolved there have been the obvious breakthroughs in technology and our relation to the physical laws that govern our world. We have learned to solve all sorts of problems, and we have so many solutions that are not even put to use. But the one thing that history shows through all time is a complete lack of any sort of emotional evolution. Despite religious popularity which you would think would stop violence, hatred, and negativity. These institutions still have countless misconceptions, prejudices and close minded views on acceptance of one another. We are lacking a single entity of humanity, we are trapped in our world of separateness. A world where we believe we are all different, where we actually believe in a self. We are DOOMED by the fallacy of race and the socio-economic stairs of achievement. Now as shocking and utterly humiliating as this reality is, it makes sense as reality. It has played out this way ever since the beginning. There is a majority of spiritually lame and materialistic people and there is the minority of the spiritually evolved and contemplative minds who are liberated from the suffering of life through understanding.

So I guess in short, life is as it has been and life will remain where it is. I don't believe as a whole we ever wanted to create reality to be what we already are, a whole. Some of you may understand this and some of you may not, but you both exist and you are a part of it.

 

it's a great time to be alive...big changes are coming : )

 

Yes I argee, humanity is at a crossroads. The balance is being forced: HUGE positive change or HUGE negative change.

 

This does excite me though

 

We've always been alive, and changes have always been coming and passing. Big ones, small ones, they all happen all the time. The only constant is change. Impermanence is stricken to each and everything. There is nothing to wait for and there is nothing to fear. There is no light at the end of the tunnel that we must reach as a group or as humanity. What is good for one may be bad for another. Coming changes implies that we are not perfect now and that we are lacking something that the future can provide for us, but the future technically is just a fabrication of expectations or brainstorms of ideas on how we would like to live our life. So I say the answer is here, in the now. The stillness of the moment of life. There is no past or future that is not expressed in the now. When we recall something it is recalled in the now and reflected upon in the now so it has happened before but it's existence(the thoughts of it) are still expressed in the now. We don't need to strive for anything because that gives us the idea we are not complete. All of life in it's existence is divine and complete, we already have the power to understand we just don't know how to utilize it and change our life for the better.

 

I think humans barely ever know where their society is going to head.

The future is in our hands. The youth of today dont realise what they mean to the world.
People are afraid to speak out because we know that people who speak out are silenced.

Does anyone here think they could change the world? Or at least be aknowleged for influencing it? What about anonymously?

How many of you would like to change the global sphere, but dont think you can?

 

I really wish I could change the world, but have doubts about myself. Maybe it's low self esteem, but I feel like the best I could do is get involved in a movement that was envisioned by some other, smarter, more charismatic, more confident people. I can hold my own in a group of people, and I'm witty and even smart sometimes, but I don't have the understanding of the dynamics to really convince most people...and I feel lazy.

Sometimes I think things could be great, other times I'm not so sure. I think the struggle is really what life is about. In a spiritual sense, to me, life if an artificial separation of a universal spirit. We are all together, but life is the perception that we are separate. In some ways it seems cruel that we are separated, but, instead I like to try to see the beauty in that struggle of life. When I'm not in an atheist mood, I think that when we are no longer living, we may rejoin the universal spirit. When we are born, some portion of the universal spirit perceives itself as separate again. I think parts of us may be re-incarnated in a sense into a lot of new beings, and that we don't have individual past lives, but that we are parts of many past lives.

One thing that always makes me feel better when I think that humanity is going down hill, or that humans might screw up the planet, etc, is that we aren't the chosen ones. We could do great things, and I wish I contributed more to help that happen....but, even if humans screw things up on this planet, nature will always prevail. The process of nature is really what prevails.

There will be other opportunities for other beings to do a better job. If you look just at the length of time the Earth was around, the time that humans were here is so insignificant.

I think George Carlin used to talk about how humans are so arrogant that they even thing they can screw up Earth. If we screw things up too much, he said, Nature will just wipe us off and start over. It will just be a little blip in the big scheme of things.

 

Peacegrow, don't give up so easily! The time of change that is upon us is a wonderful thing and we need to continue to make the reality of a better tomorrow possible. You can do that without lifting a finger, if you so choose. Everyone here has experienced that universal consciousness at one point or another, what some may call "enlightenment". Even if you didn't realize it. I'm not speaking about acid trips. Those are actually bad representations of that state of consciousness. The reason for that is because the ego gets way too involved. That's why you see "trippy" things when high. Now, not everyone experiences this, but I feel the majority of people who trip let there egos get involved and totally miss the true reason for those drugs. That reality is experienced every time your mind is still for a moment. Maybe it was a beautiful painting, or a new experience that totally took you in and for a moment your mind stopped thinking. You were in the now. If you want to help the world, start from there. Go from that place where you are still and your mind is not controlling you. It is really not as difficult as it seems. Where ever you are, watch yourself completely. Watch yourself lifting a coffee mug, taking a sip of the coffee and putting it down. Watch yourself at work, wherever you are be there. I find it most helpful to realize that all there is has space and is surrounded by space. Sound, for example, comes from silence, is suspended in space for a moment, and returns to silence. Find your true Self, the spirit of the universe as you put it, from there.

Shadygrove, you got it when you said that the future is a fabrication of our minds and that the true reality exist here in the now. People who use psychedelic drugs tend to have a greater awareness, but unfortunately they are often misguided and don't know how to use this awareness effectively. I believe now more then ever more people are gaining this greater awareness and that our world is changing. We are "growing up" as a species, so to speak. Psychedelic users, yogic practitioners, anyone engaged in any sort of spiritual practice will have an easier time adjusting to this changing awareness because they will have already experienced it to some degree. I urge each and everyone of you to seriously consider working on yourselves, for our future.

Here are some suggested readings to help you gain this awareness in everyday life.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and his other book A New Earth: Awakening to your life's purpose

He put it in better words then I did.

Oh, and peacegrow, relying on other people for help is what has hindered us for so long. People are always looking for their "savior" to come and free them. This is delusion and it will not happen. The change must come from within and as corny as that sounds, it is true.

 

What's wrong with the world, mama
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin'
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all

People killin', people dyin'
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'
Where is the love (Love)

 

So true

I read that book and seriously became enlightened, or at least a few steps closer to enlightenment
Its all about ego and how we must dissolve our ego that is a result of placing judgements on things and influences from childhood and such

A great example of this ego thing is this:
Think about a time when someone insulted a band you liked, YOU GOT MAD
You took the insult of the band, someone elses opinion and you identified yourself with it. Chances are, the person that insulted the band also has a ego problem and critisized to make him/herself feel better. Ironic eh?

Another really important moment in my life was when I was having a bad weed trip, and yes I regard weed as a psychedelic, as mentally powerful as acid or shrooms. (its subjective I kid you not it is a tRiP for me) Anyways so I was getting paranoid and anxious thoughts.
Thoughts like I am too self conscious, my dad corrupted my life by complaining about his love life too much to me, I was raised wrong, the world is on its way to destruction
...
THEN I remembered something from Eckharts book A New Earth
Some quote about a Zen story of someone who was going through depression and anxiety (much like myself at the time) and his Zen master told him to open his eyes, literally and listen to the water trickling down rocks on the mountain. To witness the through all your senses the present moment. The Zen master said he was so focused on what was directly in front of him that he missed the beauty around him.

While I was stoned and paranoid beyond belief I though 'holy shit I am literally only zooming in on one thing.

It was amazing, I was so anxious and paranoid that my eyes were seriously straining to zoom in on whatever I was looking at
Of course this was weed-induced, but when I am carefree and happy I just stare out and not zoom in, just observe with my peripheral vision

Its like a perfect correlation to and metaphor for enlightenment

 

That's awesome that you've read those books and got something from it. And I remember that story, too. The Zen master was explaining that to become "Zen" or "enlightened" one must enter it from wherever one is at this moment. For that young monk, it was listening to the waterfall.

Oh, and I agree that weed is a psychedelic as much as anything else. Abeit, not as strong, but still psychedelic none the less.

 

It's coming...

 

So many people misinterpret Eckhart though, it's quite sad. No wonder he's always laughing when he's talking about problems, they are so useless to dwell on.

Thinking is synonymous with resistance to "what is", bottom line. Some people use their mind and their thinking to justify and understand what they do not like, or rather try and see why it is, rather than just accept it for what it is, in the most simple logically put way of explaining it. They 'learned' their own basic 'needs' and 'wants' and started judging the present moment as bad when they did not get them. Because they can not accept the moment for what it is, they deny it, they rather be somewhere else, think of something else, think of their goal, or where they are getting too. Their quest to be complete, makes them incomplete. The truth is on the inside, the truth is all around you, the truth is our life is already complete.

Everything we know, learned, even the words we use, were taught to us. They are not "who we are". We "learned" how to "communicate". We learned what to want, what to need, what behavior is acceptable around others, .. pretty much "how" to be, rather than just being. We learned what to place our attention on; and what is, or "should be" important. Shit, lifes damn fine when you can just be. Then that child like joy, inner peace, and happiness arrises. Ever notice laughter is contagious? When you can be like that all the time, you and almost everybody you come into contact with is just as happy, for at least the moment being.

Egoic-thinking is even more of the problem, especially when it is negative, repetitive, useless, harmful, etc. It's like some of us went into survival mode full time, basically. Some of us always ready to defend ourselves, prove something, withdrawal from the problems, attack somebody. We just need to end the relationship with ourselves and be ourselves.. It may be correct that people are to blame for starting us with this infliction, but we need to stop placing the blame, and learn to forgive and move on. We lost ourselves through our own innocence, and that's why in the long run it's not needed to blame somebody else. Life can be challenging, but it doesn't need to be a problem. Thinking is meant for practical purposes, not for experiencing life.. matter of fact is it's the greatest obstacle for most people in experiencing life.

Our words are our power in expressing ourselves.. and yet some people start using words to condemn and judge themselves and others to no end. True justice is not paying more than once for the same injustice, though your mind might never know that, it'll just make you hate yourself for the same mistake for as long as you let it.

Man, it's so weird to know virtually everybody you know is inflicted with the burden of continuous thought. Step out from wherever you are. There isn't any concepts, interpretations, and dynamics to understand.. you don't need to understand anything to be complete. Understand that there isn't anything to understand. Your life is as it is, your life is. If you can't stop thinking, then you are going to need to take the necessary steps in reattaining your own presence again, and for most it's a difficult journey.. but nothing that can't be done. If you think it can't be done, it's your mind stopping you. Paradoxical, but no other way to be conveyed.

Compulsive thinkers are unconsciously investing lots of vital energy into their thoughts which gives their thoughts a sort of momentum which causes the person to unconsciously "identify" with their thoughts, and not really even be aware that they started thinking of something almost automatically. Weird shit, make the choice to start defragmenting the mind now, if you want anyway

So for the future.. So if almost everybody is inflicted with this problem, and society and culture represents such infliction, and the pervasive and collective negativity amongst the average person displays it, one could only imagine by the same law repeating the earths future might be even more futile.. unless one day it all collapses onto itself and people are forced to become more conscious through their own suffering. Through are very own suffering did it not lead us to enlightenment, or to clearer understanding, or at least teach us a valuable lesson? The same might apply to the earth as a whole, but there are no guarantees. Eckhart basically states the same thing, and it seems pretty logical.

LSD... is a wonderful tool to defeating these compulsive mind patterns, but if you spend most your time thinking of what your trip may have meant, you are already missing the point. Some thinking and rationalizing and applying to the past may be relevant and useful, but constantly doing so will only make you miss the point and thus be back to where you began, and probably with an even more complex, busier, and fragmented mind. Some people report an afterglow that shortly goes away a few days after the trip, though it doesn't really ever need to go away, you can keep it... LSD helps root us back into ourselves, we literally feel what it means to be at one with ourselves and others.. It's something that doesn't ever have to go away. Ofcourse the visuals might, but the well-being doesn't have too. We just need to stay present.

Anyway, that's my 2cents. I don't wanna go on forever. Peace&Love

 

Yes, but what a bumpy ride it is.


And Swoosh, I agree with everything you said. I'm glad more people feel this way.

 

For the last time, it's not coming. It's already here.