The Dual-Edged Sword of Cannabis Use

Cannabis is becoming more and more normal to talk about and use these days.  It's legalization is a hot topic on TV and potheads nationwide are becoming more and more vocal on the widely published benefits of its use.

Since this kind of talk is so prevalent I won't go into it here, but rather, will be relating a few subjective aspects of cannabis use I noticed from when I was an all day everyday user.

Cannabis use makes even the most mundane tasks enjoyable, or atleast, bearable.  Pulling weeds, taking out the trash, doing dishes, working at a call-center, etc...all become more enjoyable after a few puffs of the pot.  It seems to help one notice the "fun" or interesting aspects of any activity by giving one interesting thoughts that stem from, but, may not be even closely related to the activity.  This non-linear thinking is enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, as many a pothead who had a million dollar idea while doing laundry will tell you.

While it makes these activities more enjoyable through the addition of the [more than usual] non-linear thoughts, this aspect of the high also takes one out of the moment and into the mind.  Which is surely OK to do once in awhile, but, when it occurs constantly, it can cause problems.  The self begins to retreat into an escape within the mind and away from reality, as this happens reality becomes more dreamlike, and a sort of low-level disassociation from life occurs.  One begins chasing thoughts rather than life.  Although some choose to live in this state, once one has left it for a period it is easier to see it as the escape it is.

The other detrimental aspect of constant weed smoking is, that it makes one complacent with where they are in life.  If someone is living at their parent's house or has a dead-end job this feels OK as long as one is high.  Feeling of, "Just go with it." or "Don't make waves." come to mind and one becomes satisfied with what is, rather than striving for something higher.  I and many other potheads believe this is some kind of enlightenment and that being free of the desire to achieve anything makes one "higher" spiritually.  Feelings of disgust at those stuck in "the achievement trip" or "ego trip" may arise and one distances themselves from those who have goals or visions of the future.  Soon one is surrounded by those "holy" folk who live only for the present and have no relations with a future.

What one finds after one chooses to, or is forced to leave the pothead world, is that achievements and goals is what makes life worth living.  One needn't strive after buying sports cars or becoming a CEO[material trips], but, finding what we desire, striving after it, and achieving is one of the most rewarding parts of life.  One can decide to build their body up to a picture of health, create art, travel the world, meet new people...etc.

Although I have met people who cannabis did not slow down from engaging reality or achieving goals, me and most other heavy users I knew had these two problems, stemming from cannabis use, that really slowed their life down.

Cannabis used more sparingly can become an ally but one must watch out for these warning signs of cannabis taking away from the rest of life.

Try to find your sweet spot.

The 8 Circuit Model of Consciousness

This is a favorite mental map of mine.  This page has ALOT about it. But remember,
"The map is not the territory." and,
"The menu is not the meal."

The 8 Circuit Brain and Consciousness Model

A Conversation on LSD

Timothy Leary has a bunch of counter-culture folk over to discuss LSD.

Some More Dr. Shulgin

Awesome website with list of questions, and answers, to Dr. Shulgin on various topics.
Ask Doctor Shulgin

The Failed War on Drugs

The War on Drugs has cost us billions of dollars.  Many lives have been ruined.  Little, if any, good comes from this policy towards psychotropic substances.

My man Graham Hancock says it very well on his website.  Calling it, " The War on Consciousness".

Graham Hancock's The War on Consciousness

Culture as an Enabler

Cultures of all kinds enable us to do different things we would be unable to accomplish through our own personal will and physical ability.

The !Kung, of the Kalahari desert in Africa, tribe's culture enables human being to live and thrive in the harsh environment of the Kalahari.  A single human being would have a much harder time scratching out an existence in that environment than the millennia tested and tribally supported !Kung culture.

Cultures, (or sub-cultures), don't have to be beneficial though; there are numerous examples of cultures that permit their members to partake in things that are painful or dangerous to the individual.  A crack-house is a good example.  All the members in a crack-house form up a specific sub-culture, based on, obtaining, dealing, and using crack cocaine.  The users in the house have their desire for crack enabled and put on a pedestal within their own sub-culture.  In a sub-culture like this, even a distracting and life-draining habit like crack is accepted and made as the norm.  Humanity's herd mentality need not always be used beneficially...

On a lesser degree of destructiveness individually, but, more so, globally, Western consumerist culture enables people to feel accepted working 40+ hours a week in order to purchase lots of goods and services that they don't really need.  People accept 5+ hours of mind-numbing TV as normal and wonder little about the effect advertising is having on their life.  These people's workaholism and product fetishism is accepted as the norm even though working most jobs provides little good for the individual or society other than enabling them to partake in being an avid consumer.  

Although the crackhead culture enables individuals to harm themselves; consumer culture enables individuals to piddle their life away in trivial pursuits, while, focusing on distractions or apathy towards the damage their culture is causing to Earth and its biosphere.

Big Ol' Page on Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin

Alexander Shulgin creator of thousands of psychedelic compounds which he compiled in his opuses, PiKHal and TikHAL, is an interesting man to say the least.  He also rediscovered MDMA and popularized its use for psychotherapy leading to it later becoming a popular club drug.  He was truly a visionary and an evolutionary agent for our species.

                                                           young Shulgin in the lab

I have personally tried a few of his novel psychedelic compounds and they are unbelievable to say the least.  It is amazing to think that a man created these substances on purpose. My personal favorites...

4-ACO-DMT
-Similar to psilocybin mushrooms with alot of personal insight and pure absurd fun.  Has a 3 hour peak compared to mushrooms' almost instantaneous peak.  Visuals reminiscent of DMT.

2-CE
-UNBELIEVABLY visual.  The sky was a morphing visualizer, my posters came off the walls and conversed with me, I could see individual bugs upon all the individual blades of grass in my lawn, with eyes closed felt like I was riding a train through alien beings' living rooms, they were not pleased.  Also with eyes closed felt like I was experiencing periods of evolution from the past.(becoming a slug, gorilla, etc.)  Has to be experienced to be understood, changed my life.

Here are some collections of interviews with Sasha Shulgin and sometimes, his wife Anne, on a range of topics.

Shulgin 1995 in LA Times on Psychedelics, Government Interference and his life

Vice Magazine visits Aging Shulgin's House, listens to him Rant

Shulgin, YouTube, "Why I Discover Psychedelic Substances"

and my personal favorite...

Terence McKenna and Sasha Shulgin walk and Converse

MMMMM.....new psychedelics

Artist Page - Larry Carlson

This guy, Larry Carlson, has some real trippy flash videos and other art.  His sit is definitely worth a visit.

Wonderful World of Larry Carlson

The Dream Machine

"The Dreamachine was conceived by artist painter and writer Brion Gysin, along with his friend Ian Sommerville, in the early sixties. It is the first object in history designed to be viewed with closed eyes.

The Dreamachine simply consists in a cylinder with holes cut into his sides and placed on a turntable. A lightbulb is suspended on the center of the spinning cylinder, and the rotation lets the light to pass through the holes at a constant frequency, situated between 8 and 13 pulses per second. This frequency range corresponds to the 'alpha waves', electrical oscillations naturally present in human brain when the eyes are closed and no stimuli are processed, e.g., when there's a relaxed and effortless alertness, and while meditating."(importantrecords.com)

Created in the 1960's they were used by William S. Burroughs and thousands of other psychedelic pioneers to induce visionary states without chemicals.

Dream Machine Plans

Buy One Premade

Interview with Albert Hoffman, inventor of LSD

Albert Hoffman Interview

Insightful questions with the man behind the molecule.  Goes into the problems that occurred in the 60's and the recent resurgence of research on hallucinogens.

Awesome Interview Program on YouTube

I found this the other day on YouTube, this psychologist, Jeffrey Mishlove, interviews some of the best minds from this half of the century and asks them some really deep questions.  People such as, Terence McKenna, John C. Lilly, Ram Dass, and Nick Herbert.  Awesome...check it out.

Thinking Allowed

A Great Book by Ram Dass

This book is a great read and can be finished in less than 2 hours.  Makes one happy to be alive.

Be Here Now

Fighting the Good Fight

It is obvious that Western Society is sick.  And in no country is this sickness more apparent that the USA.  Most of our populace is drugged out, either on prescriptions that fill pharmaceutical company coffers, or through their own effort to use whatever drugs are at hand to escape.  The average USA citizen watched 5+ hours of TV.  While drugs or TV are not bad in of themselves, there can be no excuse for this mass numbing of the American populace.  It is obvious that the populace is allowed, even encouraged, to remain this way because it allows those in control of government and money to do what they wish with little opposition.  I myself often feel trapped by this system, and, although, I have given up TV and drug addiction I find it hard to fight back without feeling hopeless.  Much like a fly caught in a giant web of a much larger spider; the harder we fight the system the more easily it absorbs us.  So I have assembled a small list of things that don't feed into the system and fight FOR positive things, rather than, against the negative.

Dropping Out
Leaving greater society to join various countercultures, either permanently or temporarily, helps one feel free to live without feeding into the machine.

• Attending music festivals such as Burning Man help one to see how humans can create culture in new ways even if its for as little as a week....A video on the meaning and effect of festivals...Transformational Festivals
• Joining communities which attempt to be as self-sustaining as possible and have different cultural values....List of intentional communities of this nature Intentional Communities Network

New Media

Find, create, and support new modes of expression

• Create more media than you consume.  A great way to generate your own media and opinions and make sure you are an individual person with their own artforms
• Use the internet more than TV...Internet, although not free from it, has much less brainwashing propaganda and advertising than TV
• Don't go with the crowd trends...seek out community arts that YOU enjoy...
• Local theatre and music
• Support local visual artists by buying their productions rather than factory made object
• BLOG!...it is free and is a great way to verbalize your views and get them out into the public.  Some people even make a living off their Blog

Avoid Corporate Entanglements

Certain things are offered my big business to make your life easier yet swell their profits and end up hurting you in the long run

• Give up credit cards, or use them minimally.
• Make your own fun through support of local arts or by exploring nature
• Try to avoid big debts of all kinds
• Get only the insurance and other monthly expenses you need
• Don't pay for music make or find your own
• Most books are available free online

Self-Improvement

Be the person you always dreamed of

• Learn something new everyday, go to the library, use the internet, or talk to someone knowledgeable
• Exercise!  Just ten minutes of walking or running a day can make a huge difference in quality of life
• Give up addictions...don't let a chemical run your life more than your own willpower...You are always stronger...The internet has tons of methods and support groups for dropping any addiction
• Create your own art...every person is an artist even if you start small...if you do something you enjoy it will snowball into something bigger and better
• Organized religion does little for people but make them Sheep to a belief system(Just look at history to see the evidence)...Give up BS(Belief systems) and form your own opinions of the world.  Pick and choose from the thousands of religions on earth and create your own  cut and paste view of reality.
• Use yoga, meditation, and psychedelic drugs as a personal practice of self-discovery and relationship with spirit.  These methods are much older than any organized religion and their belief in Dogma from written word

Don't try to change society, that's impossible, just CHANGE YOURSELF!

The Final Frontier

During the 1950's and 60's Outer Space was being heralded as the final frontier for man to conquer.

We had emerged out of the trees and onto the grasslands.

We had left the grasslands of Africa for lands unknown.

We had built sea-sailing vessels to cross the great oceans.

And we had mastered aeronautics and created airplanes, blimps, and helicopters.

The next logical step was outside of our planet's atmosphere and into the great black abyss.

Baby steps were made, we landed on the moon and sent out hundreds of probes.

But, unlike all other arenas of human technology, space exploration did not have an explosive acceleration, but rather, withered and came to a virtual halt.  Why was this?

Some say it was lack of competition with the Russians, or, impossibly large budgets.  My bet was that the engineers and scientists along with the upper echelons of American government realized that Space travel had little to offer present day man.  The ships and programs were prohibitively expensive and the programs themselves seemed to produce little of scientific or material value.  A combination of these drawbacks caused man to withdraw his full effort from space.  Technology and resources went towards communications(The Internet, TV, music) and to an ever more powerful military technologies.  Leaving man without an [obvious] frontier.

The hidden frontier is within our own minds.  The same hyperspatial reality that was plumbed by Shamans, medicine men, and mystics throughout history.  It can be accessed with meditation, yoga, breathing, and any number of hallucinogenic substances.  Isn't it strange that the very government that was so for Space Travel is against this other alien frontier?
     In Space Travel they saw possible material gain and strategic military advantages.  The only treasures that one can plunder from the interior of the mind are new ideas or modes of being.  These are of no interest to those who hold our material lives in check.  This is why they have begun an inquisition and repression of the exploration of this new interior frontier.

Good luck psychonauts.

Godfather of Molly(MDMA) Interview

An interview with, "The Godfather of Ecstasy", Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin. Summer show/festival season is starting up.....

Shulgin Interview

Ketamine and Imprinting Zen

The art of Zen is ancient and derives from mainstream Buddhism.  It focuses less on doctrine and practice and puts the focuses directly in the present on normal actions and through increased consciousness of one's normal actions one's self begins to see reality for what it really is.  The stages of Zen are well communicated in this Zen haiku.

First there is a mountain
Then there is no mountain
Then there is

One first becomes conscious of their interior verbalization and categorization of the outside world.  Then one slowly comes to realize that they are in control of their interior response to the outside world and may reduce it to nothing if they wish.  Finally one realizes the inherent intercourse between these two perspectives then, the objective outside world and reality can then be seen as an alchemical union between the inner creative subjective experience and the objective material experience.

Ketamine is a dissociative analgesic that has long been used in surgery yet in the last few decades has gained prominence as a meta-programming chemical.  Meta-programming refers to the self-directed programming of mind that occurs when one is able to abstract their thinking processes above their normal consciousness in order to re-arrange and streamline one's conscious train of thought.  Ketamine numbs the self from the signals sent from the body and in doing this stretches out time as the mind attempts to fill in the holes of sensory information that the body is numb to.  In relation to the dose of Ketamine administered one may enter a reality that is more their own mind coupled with reality or they may experience a "K-Hole" where they are completely physically incapacitated yet their mind remains active within their own imagination.  These peak K-hole experiences feel as is they last for an eternity as time breaks within the subjective inner realm.  In reality the experience rarely lasts more than 45minutes to an hour.
In order for Ketamine to aid in Zen practice one must have a working Zen practice before dosing Ketamine.  During the experience the mind will not be able to control the body.  The mind and body will operate independently yet autonomously.  Any attempt to use top-down control of mind over body will result in a comical OCD-like repetitive physical action.  A friend of mine on his first Ketamine experience attempted to climb over the railing on his porch, an action he performs several times each day.  Because he had no knowledge of Zen and still operates from a mind controlling body perspective he hilariously attempted to move his leg over the railing a dozen times before he was aided by nearby onlookers.
My first experiences of K I was paralyzed but as I became acclimated to my mind and body operating independently I realized the body's inherent knowledge in navigating the environment only needed directions from the mind, not constant guidance.  The dissociative properties of K also aid in one realizing the Is-ness of the world without relation to thought patterns or preconceived notions.  When one returns from the hour long sojourn into the imagination they find that the world is more beautiful and complete than when they left it.  Goes to show that one cannot appreciate something until they lose it.  In this vein Ketamine is an aid to die before you die so that upon your return you may appreciate the world for what it is in all its glory without covering it in ideas.  Ketamine also gives one time to organize information from more conventional mushroom or acid trips because when removed from the body and embedded in the mind absorption of this information is more easily performed.  A truly interesting chemical.  The most famous K-head ever was an extremely interesting man, John C. Lilly. 

Obsession versus Self-Realization

What keeps most people mired in worldly pursuits without ever paying heed to the spiritual side of life is obsession.  In order to better the self-consciousness one must train and better the organism holistically, body, heart, mind, and soul.  Most people's obsessions are a misdirected attempt to better their own consciousness by only heeding the desires of one part of their psyche.  Heeding one aspect of the self over all others always causes problems for the self.  For example, an alcoholic seeks happy emotions and escape from his mind while at the same time poisoning his mind and body.  A collector of objects amasses toys yet languishes in the areas of interpersonal relationships and personal growth. 
Because our society considers true self-infatuation narcissistic people divert their natural obsession to better themselves into activities society deems appropriate such as entertainment addiction(TV, internet, and videogames)  These single track obsessions do not serve to better the person as a whole spiritually.  There is nothing wrong with TV, alcohol, or collecting inherently but, pursued single mindedly they eventually lose their luster and begin to instill more unconscious compulsions in the self. 
If people could realize the futility of narrow-minded obsessions and would rather, seek to better their selves in every conceivable aspect then society would begin to spiritually grow.  Obviously those who amass wealth and power do not wish people to grow holistically but would always rather them pursue paths that lead to more purchasing and economic growth.

Translator for Experience

Many people live as if their personal train of thought acts as the engine for experience when its operation is more akin to that of a translator.  If thinking stops experience doesn't stop.  One's thoughts are brought forth from what one perceives, yet, thoughts try to describe experience even though, because of their very essence, thoughts cannot encapsulate  true and full experience.  When one thinks endlessly it is as if one thinks in an attempt to explain and unravel the secret of existence.  The secret is that there is no secret to find, only more and more experience to be had.  The function of the mind is to translate this experience into a communicable form so it can be understood by other experience engines.(people)

MXE Methoxetamine or "Robot Kittens"

Research chemicals arrive at a faster and faster rate in order to keep one step ahead of the DEA and their scheduling system.  MXE OR Robot Kittens, as the dealer called it, is one of the newest chemicals out on the market.  It is a near analogue of PCP and Ketamine and has similar yet reportedly safer and cleaner effects.  I tried it once during after a night of mephedrone bingeing when it was new on the market and had a strange yet unquestionably enjoyable experience.  My roommates and I ended up being the life of an alcohol filled party next door while also being able to enjoy a trippy experience of watching the visualizer while listening to electronic music.  It was strange how at the party we attended our minds felt utterly empty yet we always had something witty to say to each other or to any drunken reveler we engaged.  The strangest part of the night was our short trip to 7-11 4 blocks away where we descended into giggles, walking aimlessly in the aisles, and ridiculing the drunk or stoned people frequenting the Sev at the early morning hour.  The 7-11 guys didn't care as we were frequent inebriated customers.  But damn were we having a blast just walking around 7-11.  Everything was so familiar yet so new at the same time.  It was as if the MXE made us aware of new sensations and feelings about occurrences and locales that we already had frequent experience with.  The subjective feeling gravitated between extreme inebriated disassociation and an almost godlike sensation of obvious yet encompassing omnipotence.  At some points in the night I was sure my companions and I were bound to take over the world shortly before I realized we were experiencing our usual AM stoney adventures albeit in an extremely warped and exaggerated perspective.
 After this first occurrence I did not locate another source for  a few months.  When I did I went on a respectably large binge of MXE with some LSD and 4-ACO DMT thrown in around it, this lasted for about 2 weeks.  During this time I felt as if I was on the verge of some kind of cosmic realization that only needed one more trip to break through.  I eventually came back to reality when I realized I was accomplishing little except for snorting large quantities of MXE.

Trippy Song of the Day