The EGO & LSD, I've found my conclusion

What's up everybody new and old, tis been a long time since I've posted around here... but I figured someone may find this interesting, so here it is. Through the trials and courses of the many trips I've taken, and all the curiosity I've ever had about the ego and LSD, I think the spiritual concept of "New Thought" may best capture what state of "being" LSD may pretty much places people in. Keep an open mind and give it a read..

"Tolle's non-fiction bestseller The Power of Now emphasizes the importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being caught up in thoughts of the past and future. His later book A New Earth further explores the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. It is the feeding of the human ego that is thought to be the source of inner and outer conflict. Only in examining one's ego may people begin to see beyond it and obtain a sense of spiritual enlightening or a new outlook on reality.

In his view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace. He states that "being in the now" brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind, an awareness which helps in transcending the ego. The ego means here the false identification with forms and labels: body, mind, thoughts, memories, social roles, life-story, opinions, emotions, material possessions, name, nationality, religion, likes and dislikes, desires, fears etc. If one is present, one recognizes oneself as the space of consciousness in which the thought or impulse arises. One doesn’t lose the self in thought, nor does one become the impulse. Being present is being the space, rather than what happens. He says that the mind is to be used as a tool, but not let the mind use the person.

Absolutely awesome. Thoughts and opinions would be cool.

In his view, the "pain-body" is the emotional component of ego; it is created by the cumulation of suppressed emotions, the suffering of non-acceptance of what is. The size of "the pain-body" differs from person to person; it originates in the person’s past conditioning, usually the early childhood.

He says that our true "identity" is the underlying sense of I Am, which is consciousness itself. Awareness of Being is self-realization and true happiness. He states that we people are very important, because we are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckhart_Tolle

 

Yea who need's a watch?
Hey what time is it?
Right now...
Oh yea, thanks

 

we should not be present forever, else we would have no time to dream..

 

Bill, Bill, Bill. Your dream's take place in the present, your memories take place in the present, and your thoughts towards the future take place in the present.

 

I recently read the power of now and the concepts he touched on (sounds like the 2nd book was much more in depth) i can say have changed the way i exist in the world. I wish i could always live in the right mindset but my ego won't allow me to let go of reality and simply not care. as he says in the power of now he was very frusterated because no matter howmany times he went up he would always come down, i feel the same way. i cant stay in that higher state of being, its very frustrating and i hope that somehow i can eventually transcend my ego for the last time.

 

This is a conflict I think is taking place within myself as I speak. There are periods of time (that have been somewhat long) where I have felt I have been able to transcend my ego. I may continuously be losing touch with my ego but it's the thoughts of living in a reality of structure and schedules that can lead me to spiral far down into a pit of self loathing. I in the past week have used far more acid than I normally do in a month and I think because of it I'm experiencing such a radical detachment from the ego that through a simple session with my psychologist (whom I wish not to see) while still tripping I was reminded of the "reality" I have been living in. This "reality" seems to conflict majorly with what my conciousness has been experiencing.

I believe in balance but for some reason I can't seem to use it in the given situation. Anyone else been stuck in a similar state? How were you able to get out of it? I, right now, am just gonna give myself time and perhaps do some meditation.

Edited to Add: I think a way of becoming mentally healthy again would be to avoid seeing that particular psychologist and perhaps all for that matter. The problem with that is I can't explain this concept at FUCKING ALL to my parents. There are also consenquences for not cooperating with them on therapy such as they'll take the car they for the most part pay for.

 

Everyone is overthinking this far too much. The problem is that your brain is designed to interpret the world. This concept of "just being" goes against that very principle, which is what makes it difficult to, well, interpret.

So stop using your brain.

 

I've been having that happen to me also.

up then back down, then up and then back down...

 

I like the physiological model of ego. If you take consciousness as just a ball of energy you can place anywhere in your body... or world for that matter. Then transcending ego is simply when you have it focused in the heart, rather than in the brain. I think this works better than thinking 'transcend ego' because, transcend and ego are still both words, you need your brain to operate with words. So just by thinking 'transcend ego' to transcend something your inhibiting your actual transcendence of it because your still needing your brain to process the intention.

I believe you can only hold the transcendence of ego when you know the feeling of it, no words, no technique. Just the feeling of holding your consciousness in your heart. When you know that feeling clearly and are aware of it separate from any words, actions, thoughts, ideas, events etc. Then you can always hold it there as holding it there is dependent upon nothing but it simply being held there.

 

this is what I recently realized. I realized I was totally living inside just my own brain, when in fact my consciousness exist throughout my whole body. I fee more even now, and try to live through my heart. It's gotten rid of a lot of the bad effects I used to have, and has eased my anxiety.

Also, a wise member of the forums told me to focus on the awareness, not the enery. That's some of the best advice that has ever been given to me.

 

ya i should try to do that more... sometimes the feeling of energy amuses me just by itself way too much

 

I would say that too, but the premise of this thread is a distinction between living in the present moment and living in a conceptual one of thinking about a moment in your mind. this moment may be in the future, past, same time, or might not even relate to our current place.

you can of course say that even when thinking of teh future, we still are thinking these things IN the present.

but then there is no distinction between the present and the imaginary, which is a useful discintion to make. the present can be defined by your engagement with elements that are external to us, be it considering something in front of us, using a tool, coordinating something socially. but we often loose our engagement with things outside in replace for things inside.

in order to acheive well and live happily, we must spend our time engaged with the world, living presently.
but if we only did this, we would not develop our inner understanding of things, we would be more like an animal, living on and on without considering random things in their minds that arent directly related to their present.

in order to understand the world fully and have a grasp of our place in it, we need to let go of our engagement and swim around in our conceptual ocean...

but it is easy to get stuck in our minds, and this leads to sadness, this leads to desires, to considering too far from teh present that we are left constantly looking toward the problems that we may face, and can never look to those that face us now in order to deal with them.

we need a balance, obviously. But optimally, I believe, we should aim to engage as much as we can because it is doubtful that we will manage to constantly maintain focus and engagement with the present all the time. there is always time to think about things.

LSD very much blurs the lines between the present and the imaginary. we can flip between them so smoothly that we might not notice. or perhaps exist in both states simultaneously, instead of being one place or teh other.

 

Omg I'm so glad someone else read this
This is great

What I find particularly interesting that most people take for granted are when one identifies him/herself with an object or hobby to the point where if someone insults the object/hobby, the person takes that as an insult to him/herself

Also even more crazy, how the human body reacts equally (heart racing) when you are face to face with a flesh eating lion and when you are in front of the class embarrassed to death trying to say a speech aloud.

Oh and everyone saying 'oh well its not all about the present moment' bullshit, stop posting and read the book

Because you are wrong
Sure humans can use memory to their advantage, but the point is, the human mind manifests itself bringing present emotions out on regrets of the past and doubts of the future

The guy who wrote these books struggled with thoughts of purpose in life. He was at terribly depressed moments in his life and finally realised that this person he calls himself that he constantly looks down upon is not really him. He is who he is the present moment. He is the very definition of time inside his flesh and bones.
Eckhart Tolle has studied all the major religions to find patterns of purposeness and human nature.

I recommend you guys either read the book "a new earth" or watch the oprah episodes featuring him

Oh and the TS didn't mention how this ties into LSD. Some, including myself believe that lsd brings you to a mindset that is egoless, one with the universe. The person you called I that was a list of constraints tying you down to each action you make and how you think you fit in the world dissappears and you are just another life form walking the earth amongst the trees, the dirt, the plants dropping seeds to continue life, the water flowing to support life.

 

The point is that even when considering random things in your mind and devolping an inner understanding of nature, occurs now. The problem, is that there is no such thing as past and present outside of the mind that perceives it as such. This is one of the most difficult concepts of existence to transcend, only to be topped by the illusion of space. The balance is only a balance because that is all there is, there is right now, and the now that the mind expects to understand happens so quickly that the mind can never truly experience it. So if you are hung up on your desire to think about the future, it makes no difference how you approach your act of thinking because it is indeed occuring in the moment called right now. It's something that is impossible to get away from, and something impossible reach out to, due to the screen of the mind and the sense organs.

"Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.

In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what does not exist;
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name silence;
Follow it, it has no back,
Meet it, it has no face.

Attend the present to deal with the past;
Thus you grasp the continuity of the Way,
Which is its essence."
- Lao Tzu

 

Isn't it awesome though?

(1)
The only time you need to consider these "random things" are when they are brought up, or are needed to be attended to. That ofcourse, can only be right now. Not now in the sense that it has to be done at this very time, but in the concept of "being" (that the only time you will ever have is this moment).

(2)
Honestly, you understand the things happening around you better when your mind is still, as you will be aware, and not distracted by thoughts that could be dealt with or should be dealt with at a later moment. Your inner understanding of "these things" best comes when dealt with neutrally/happily "even mindedly" instead of losing your focus in an emotion (like something coming up that you may take personally), like anger or rage just for example. Hence the whole idea of awareness. Not thinking in general doesn't render you stupid, lazy, brainless, or less aware, any of those coming from this would contradict the benefits of living in the now anyway. And as they say, thinking is only a "part" of consciousness, not consciousness in itself.

(1)
Why does there need to be a distinction between the present and the imaginary? How are the two even relevant to eachother? I'm not trying to argue, simply understand what you mean.

(2)
The ego in the 'theory of the "now"' is whats making you lose engagement with whats going on around you, when that happens. Hence why through awareness we try to break these patterns. Not by looking at the whole concept and trying to understand it and the universe and everything there is to know, but simply remembering that in the swing of things, everything, the best thing you can ever do is be at peace and content with what is going on, "what is".

Learn about the pain body, I guess this must be the area where your ego is not transcended. Learning to deal with "what is", is a good first step. Accept and understand that not everybody will transcend their ego, and some may even be bound not to in this life time. Accept and understand that most people will find you crazy and wacked out for believing in most spiritual concepts, especially in the Western civilizations like America where things like being cool may just matter most. Accept and understand that people are, can, and will be ignorant, and just live your life. These concepts and understandings are to make you happy, and content. If they aren't doing that, either drop them or follow/understand them more carefully.

"Is there peace, joy, and contentment in what I am doing?"

(1)
The right mindset is an even one. Your ego is still perceiving certain conditions as "good" and "bad" when you are trying to break that whole pattern in general, by rising above the good and bad, and being content with "what is". Stop thinking there is some type of reality to let go of or to be learned, all of what is around you is all that will ever be.

-----


Hopefully I cleared any confusion for some of you guys. The concepts are beautiful to live by once you actually understand them (to a point where you don't have to try and understand them, it just becomes 'awareness', and then being.. becomes).

 

Our thoughts always exist now. I agree once again with this. But in our minds we can either be attending to thoughts and perceptions that are synchronised with our senses, or alternatively with our inner creative engine. This engine is our imagination. It is involved by any thought that deals with concepts that are based on assumptions that have not been percieved in our 'reality'. this can involve many things, but they all involve existing outside of the moment, for we generally cannot think both states simultaneously (though we can flick between them very quickly indeed). Remembering, Imagining, Hypothesising, Dreaming, dwelling, all these things and more encompass the imagination.

but when we exist in the present moment, we tend to do these tasks instrumentally (as opposed to states of mind), and if we are engaged, we can quickly act [seemingly] in flux between our sensing and considering.
The present is important because it is the only realm we can trully control - and the only real that can trully control us.

And the best preparation for the present is simply to have been present before, so it is best to be present as much as possible so as to make each moment more prepared and comfortable in whatever action it is.

I havnt read the book, but I still think that we must remember the power of the imagination, the power of considering our past situations, and the power of reaching toward a place in the future. regardless, that they should never supercede our tendancy to engage in the present. that is, for a healthy life and mind

 

The present is important not because we can control it, but because it's the only reality. I just dont think your approaching the subject with the right frame of mind Bill, it is not instrumental when you are totally aware of your moment.

 

Yeah, I guess you may just be misunderstanding what the book is trying to teach, or help you achieve anyway. But I'll attempt to explain,

With the power of now it is basically attempting to make you understand the ego and how it works. The ego being the thinker in your mind, you being the observer, the watcher. With no past, the ego has no future (in simplest terms), nor anything to really think about. With no past problems and no future goals, the ego has nothing to identify itself with, like a label. That label may be good, bad, slut, ghetto, needs a job, evil, genius, whatever. So, without the ego controlling the basis of your thinking styles.. labels on the current situation aren't needed, but still can be formed and still are formed for later reflection if it should occur.

Past instances/problems may have occured in your life as they do for all but they do not make you who you are, they are only things that happen to you, then which you may continue to build your own understanding/experience from, negative or positive. Your goals and your past will never make you who you are, in the essense of understanding death and impermanence.

You may notice some people label themselves accordingly to their lifestyle, or some people may carry firm unshakeable negative beliefs due to past circumstances or other problems they may have had. This is them building from their own understanding and experience. If their ego taints the understanding, what they may be building for themselves may not be positive.

Instead of thinking in terms of "I am this /or/that", it is trying to make you think in terms of "I am".. your state of being before hopes/wants/goals and dreams came into play.. (before the ego took over), for most this state dies in early childhood. Basically.. the book is attempting to get you back to a feeling of deeper completeness rather than a deeper feeling of incompleteness due to the ego's constant needs and desires to perceive the current conditions around you as "good". To make you understand that some of your hopes and dreams are just derived from others hopes and dreams, and may not even be you. This ego isn't always a good thing, it can be the key problem to anything majorly wrong with you, whether it be personal or personality.

Now, through this it is simply trying to make people feel a deeper contentment, not make people ditch their life style / activities or to make them think they have been wasting their time all along (though they may have been)... and then "literally" only focus on whats going on "now". Simply to make people feel complete no matter what the situation may be, or what they may have, even mindedness.. to feel good/even within every moment "Now", as now is the only time there ever will be. To transcend in the sense that happiness and contentment isn't derived from sense gratification itself. To stop thinking positive or negatively simply due to possessions, whatever they are. As in to stop waiting for things to be good, just feel good, as you can, as you should.

And then from this, once learned and understood, comes the increased focus/ awareness/ contentment/ consciousness/ energy flow/ etc. All this in the sense that, you don't waste your time worrying about what you shouldn't be.

Hopefully I got it down for you. I am only going off of what I remember from the teachings.. and I think I've explained it by now to the best of my ability. Feel free to inquire about anything if you still don't understand or still have something to say about it.

 

Well, lets not start declaring which approach is 'right' or 'wrong'. just because you do not agree, does not mean that I have plenty of my own reasons that lead to my interpretation.

the fact that 'the present is the only reality' is what means that it is the only controllable and controlling thing. the points run from eachother, they do not oppose eachother at all.

You might have your own ideas about what 'controlling' entails, but it does not have to be sinister in any way, in fact, having a grip on reality and being perceptive is a form of control.

As for this POwer of now book, i dont think it is saying much different either, but the terms we all use can mean very different things to eachother.

 

Can you acknowledge any of what I explained? , it would be nice as I've been trying to help you understand better. And I just got down "partially" in a nutshell as what the book was trying to explain for you. It definitely reaches a lot more area's in spirituality than we could ever possibly cover here, aswell as ties togethers and interprets many misinterpreted quotes and truths from many religions and even the bible. It speaks from no established sets of beliefs or religions.