Philosophical Speculations

Look, guys, none of what Cleric is writing will make sense if you don't choose to have a little bit of humility, self-awareness, open mind, and see how your egoic prejudices are influencing all of your thoughts on this topic. Adur, you are especially projecting your own egoism onto Cleric here - &q...

This situation reminds me of William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell , where devils and angels discuss their respective lots, and what to the angels seems like Heaven looks like Hell to the devils, and vice versa. Of course, the question remains: who is here the angel, and who the devil? :)...

No need for apologies, Adur. I very well know that what I say about psychedelic experiences don't seem to fit well. But it really is about what we try to extract from the experiences. Even when towards my 18-19s I tried cannabis, my own experiences already were 'outlandish' in the eyes of my peers....

I also know it happened because I remember myself sitting on the floor of my bedroom, feeling my awareness dissolve ... Yes indeed, any personified, i.e. 'my', awareness is dispelled, and what remains is irreducible Awareness. To say that the fundamental nature of that Awareness is 'nothingness', i...

Adur, my interests were truly sparked by cannabis but I have experiences with psilocybin too. I grew both cannabis and mushrooms back then. Gradually I began to feel certain inner division. It's more than clear that any substance is a physical substance and as such affects primarily the physical bo...

Adur, although I find what you say fascinating and cannot dispute it, I would like you to explain how you think Consciousness arises from Absolute Emptiness. The reason I ask this is that it strikes me as an incorrect use of the term, since by normal definition and use of English, something cannot ...

Adur, although I find what you say fascinating and cannot dispute it, I would like you to explain how you think Consciousness arises from Absolute Emptiness. The reason I ask this is that it strikes me as an incorrect use of the term, since by normal definition and use of English, something cannot ...

Hi Hedge, I didn't see this thread until today. I've had many psychedelic experiences, spanning three decades of my life, involving mainly psilocybin mushrooms, and I have some ideas about what bad trips actually mean. These are original ideas, based on my own experiences and the experiences of peo...

Adur, thanks for the response. You're right, I was having this experience with eyes closed. My previous trip had been (on a lower dose) with open eyes, and that had also been a very interesting experience, but there I didn't even reach ego death, it was just to feel my way around. The reason I did ...

From your answer, it's not clear to me if you address these psychological issues (mainly coming from early childhood) in spiritual science. You seem to talk a lot about karma, past lives, "beings and forces that are active in us". All these things do exist, but in the DA the main focus, e...