What have you gained from psychedelics?

[gammagoblin]

It's a simple question, I don't think it requires much elaboration.

So, what have you gained from using psychedelics?

Discuss.

 

[mosaicmouse]

I learned about experiencing 8)

 

[IJesusChrist]

I learned quite a bit about empathy, and to be honest, I realized quite suddenly and rapidly that I am not unique, or that is to say, there are another few billion people all that are similar in their thoughts and empathy. Suffering is everywhere. Sadness is everywhere. It was the first time that I realized truly, that my parents are real people, that they must feel guilt, pain, and sadness as well. It was hard to take in at first but to go on without that realization would be trapped in a child's world - everything revolves around me.

They also taught me about matter and energy, I realized how things work, what water is, and what science is. I realized that our perception of reality is so segmented and categorized, yet reality is infact continuous with no barriers or boundaries. A lake is not a lake, it is a hole in the earth filled with water. A tree is not a tree, it is a long line of large moss-like things, protruding from the earth, sustained by chemical events that hold energy taken from the sun.

I realized how large the universe is and how complex - yet how small I am.

I also learned a great deal about psychology, others and my own. I learned how to "read" people through their face and expressions. I "tapped" into their thoughts, so to speak, and I became extremely sensitive to changes in people's voices, pitches, tones. I became more aware of body language. I became aware of people's intentions, goals, processes.

I learned a lot from psychedelics.

 

[ararat]

A lake is not a lake, it is a hole in the earth filled with water.

sorry to split hairs here, but following your logic: no it is not.

 

[IJesusChrist]

A lake is not a lake, it is a hole in the earth filled with water.

sorry to split hairs here, but following your logic: no it is not.

?

 

[Brugmansia]

The ability to make my subconsciousness palpable during ordinary levels of awareness.

By the way I dripped 375 mics of acid last month since 15 months of absence in tripping and other than the energy boost including the distortions it did nothing at all, referring to the classical spiritual properties here for which
I once used to know LSD. Which to me proves that the spirit is naturally connected during sober states and that the opened doors are continuously present.

 

[ararat]

when you say that a lake is not a lake, then water is not water, so a lake is not a hole in the earth filled with water, because water is not water. these are all symbols, the real world is ineffable.

 

[mosaicmouse]

I think haven't learned that much that I couldn't learn from life without psychedelics... but that it has been an important catalyst to integrate the things that life offers more deeply.

I also experienced the importance of these "psychedelic brain circuits" and their role in the sober state. It's a fact that, without the human, drugs wouldn't be drugs. This is something we all have inside us wheter or not we artifically amplify it.

 

[IJesusChrist]

I think haven't learned that much that I couldn't learn from life without psychedelics... but that it has been an important catalyst to integrate the things that life offers more deeply.

I Was tempted to say this, but often I realize that psychodelics make things seem so apparent, so obvious. Yet - would I really have learned it without their use?

I cannot say.

 

[HeartCore]

I would be a completely different person if I hadn't stumbled upon mushrooms back in '92.
What have I gained through psychedelics?
What have I not!

 

[ophiuchus]

everything is true. everything is false. it depends entirely on which way and how one cares to discuss it. even this is true and false, to close the loophole. :lol:

 

[MichaelVipperman]

I gained a research speciality.

And a bunch of insights, friends, artistic talent, better taste in music, etc.

everything is true. everything is false. it depends entirely on which way and how one cares to discuss it. even this is true and false, to close the loophole. :lol:

There are indeed many ways of discussing or viewing reality... however, you need to keep in mind that many of them will agree on quite a few things.

Something which is true from 99.95% of perspectives is likely not equally true as something which is only true in 0.0001% of perspectives. If I'm in bed and am startled to notice the ominous figure of a monster silhouetted against the wall, and then, upon turning on my light see that it was merely my jacket over a chair, ought I to conclude that there is, in fact, a monster in the room? Surely from at least one perspective there is.

Further, it's also possible to parse certain ways of perceiving and discussing as more or less worth considering than others (in terms of utility, beauty, a sense of credibility, etc). So what I see in the dark while half-awake is not as credible as what I see with the light on.

 

[ophiuchus]

There are indeed many ways of discussing or viewing reality... however, you need to keep in mind that many of them will agree on quite a few things.

i do remember that. conversely, many of them also disagree on quite a few things. ..? if you are implying something here, please by all means, address it.

Something which is true from 99.95% of perspectives is likely not equally true as something which is only true in 0.0001% of perspectives.

is this ^ that "it"? you aim at applying an objective truth that moderates between the "99.95% perspective" and the ".0001% perspective" in the subjective reality that we live in, if i am not mistaken? if this is to be true, who decides the objectivity of the moderator? surely not the majority, as it is a part of the thing being moderated. (P.S. where is the .0499 during this? )

Further, it's also possible to parse certain ways of perceiving and discussing as more or less worth considering than others (in terms of utility, beauty, a sense of credibility, etc). So what I see in the dark while half-awake is not as credible as what I see with the light on.

it should be noted that what you feel about that "monster" is related to an archetype, mind you. i think that archetypes are worth discussing. however, i can also respect that not everyone may agree with me, if you wish to imply anything of that nature.

:lol:

i don't wish to quarrel with you good sir. my (can hardly claim it as my own. "the") point is remaining intact if in fact you had wished to contradict it. there were a few points in your post that made me unclear as to what your aim was. clarity always appreciated, thanks.

 

[darkwolfunseen]

i learned that few human actions are not the direct or indirect cause of fear or apathy, and those remaining are the purest form of life on Earth.

 

[MichaelVipperman]

Allusion,
My point is that talk of truth being relative is misleading. Full consideration of its embededness will lead to truth continuing to be a meaningful concept. Trying to arrive at it "objectively" is doomed to break down, but it's hardly the case that nothing can be known, which is where people making claims like "everything is both true and not true" tend to go with it.

(as for the .0499, I never said the two facts were directly opposed. They might be totally unrelated)

 

[zezt]

WOW what a question. It is an infinite question which deserves and infinite answer so I ask you to read between the lines lol

I am A-MAZED when I have been on forums and some say stuff like (I have never experienced like my first trip). EVERYtrip for me is profound. LIFE is profound. I see tripping in continuum with the Mystery of life. OK, my very first trip I saw BODY language very clearly--I was only 15 year old kid, but saw clearly how people will put a mask on in social situation but EXPOSE how they really feel with their whole organism. Now some people sssume only people with a psychology degree know this shit---they imagine you have to read books and study body language, and I am not putting that down, BUT you can experience this directly.
I vew psychedelics help us see, feel, sensually interconnect with reality directly.
I have learned how to sing deeper with more soul with psychedelics. I have recorded myself chanting and singing and very notice there is more breath! This tells me that for many of us we are made to feel so oppressed that this has effect of us holding in---breath, etc --tensing up. We do this to protect ourselves form the hostility that is evident in our culture which is built on violence and greed, and its myths support this violence. So psychedelics RELEASE.
I have played music on psychedelics and recorded meself and notice there is an abadnoned creativity, and this can be integrated into our day to day life of course.

I have been inspired through psychedelics to look VERY closely at mythologies. A profopund book that began this proper for me --BECAUSE it involves ancient use of psychedelics--is The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, by John Allegro
I see two kinds of myth---benevolent and toxic. The former is for the good of us, community, other species, and Earth, and the latter is manipulative, enslaving, and divisive. Psychedelics have helped me see through propaganda.

This is just a small taste of what psychedelic experience has inspired in me.

 

[Sticki]

I gained a true inisght into myself and others and maybe, Quite Possibly, The Spirit we call God

But really, I gained far more then I could of ever imagined and would ever be able to convey in mere words. 8)

 

[ophiuchus]

Allusion,Trying to arrive at it "objectively" is doomed to break down, but it's hardly the case that nothing can be known, which is where people making claims like "everything is both true and not true" tend to go with it.

well they musn't have thought it all the way through. :lol: to say or derive that "nothing can be known" from the statement that "everything is both true and not true" is only half of it! :lol:

both of our statements go hand in hand, you know. everything that was posited after the "everything is true. everything is false." post merely illustrates that. i see no problem here. the only problem may arise if one tries to define, which is to measure, or divide...

 

[MichaelVipperman]

Exactly. Existentialism is a two-fold process... rejecting the absolute validity of everything, and then proceeding to construct that which can still make sense without absolute validity.

 

[ophiuchus]

ehhh, careful, that's still one sided you know...


:lol: