Psychedelic Philosophy

[Cosm]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, but have been a lurker for some time. Happy to be here and looking forward to lots of great discussion and getting to know everyone!

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread about psychedelic philosophy. The topic is pretty general and I intend it to be pretty open and all-encompassing, so if you've got something to add, please don't hesitate to bring it to the table.

What is your philosophy on life? What do you think reality is? What insights have you gained during psychedelic trips? What insights have you gained in the days/weeks/months following a psychedelic experience? How have the insights factored into your philosophy of life and reality? What previously held beliefs and assumptions have you been forced to challenge/question during or after a psychedelic journey?

Looking forward to hearing your responses! I will do some thinking and meditating and probably contribute my ideas on the subject shortly.

 

[RhythmSpring]

What subject? The questions you asked are huge. I couldn't possibly know how to begin answering them. Take any one of those questions and I could write an autobiographical book on it. All those questions? Jeez.

Don't think too hard about it.

Just love.

 

[What 23]

Are you affiliated with COSM?

 

[Thorns Have Roses]

What is your philosophy on life?

To quote a certain Persian poet,

"Oh, threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise!
One thing at least is certain--This Life flies;
One thing is certain and the rest is Lies;
The Flower that once has blown for ever dies. "

What do you think reality is?

Philip K Dick said something like, "Reality is that which doesn't go away when you stop believing in it."

What insights have you gained during psychedelic trips? What insights have you gained in the days/weeks/months following a psychedelic experience?

What can I say? You either know what I'm gonna say already or would find my saying it profitless.

 

[dezz]

Reality for me is objective experience. What you feel NOW, what you SEE NOW, hear or smell... Basically any direct way of experience. Thought's and labels aren't reality, they are just an attempt to categorize and interpet them in a convenient way.

It's why I don't give much credit to psychedelic experiences because they are highly thought driven and archetypal and therefor merely a subjective experience about a warped reality in that moment.

The interesting insight and lesson I took from them is that I never know aa much as I think, there are a lot of different perspectives about the same thing so I guess you could say I became more open minded

 

[Ismene]

Psychedelics are like an oasis in the desert for me - they create hope, emotional catharsis and a relief from everyday mundane life.

I don't try and combine what I feel on psychedelics with real life too much - there's only so far you can carry a beautiful psychedelic experience into getting up at 5am in the pissing rain to go to fucking work.

 

[B9]

^ Beautifully phrased. I can relate.

I like em taken in seclusion in a prepared environment, maybe with friends perhaps alone. My main aim is to allow my mind to wander uninterrupted, an excursion while having a break from walking the path of life. I generally return refreshed.
I'd conclude that if I could but introduce elements of my tripped out state into my normal life that I'd prosper but normal life as I know it has little place for people who are not fiercely goal oriented.

 

[TheAppleCore]

To me, there are two distinct types of philosophy: scientific philosophy, and religious philosophy.

Scientific philosophy is the attempt to use hard logic and reasoning, and sometimes empirical evidence, to discover reality. It is driven by attitude of all scientists, and its ultimate goal is to learn for the sake of learning.

Religious philosophy is something rather different. It is the heart and soul of most concepts of God, and underlies traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Religious philosophy is also referred to as "spirituality". Rather than looking for truth in microscopes and telescopes, or quantum physics and cosmology, like the scientific philosophers, religious philosophers look for truth within their own minds. Scientific philosophy is objective, religious philosophy is subjective. Also, sometimes mystical wisdom is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, for the religious philosopher - he seeks to find inner peace, or to live in harmony with his world, and concepts like God are discovered along the way.

I would say that religious philosophy is where psychedelics really shine.

 

[B9]

To me, there are two distinct types of philosophy: scientific philosophy, and religious philosophy.

Scientific philosophy is the attempt to use hard logic and reasoning, and sometimes empirical evidence, to discover reality. It is driven by attitude of all scientists, and its ultimate goal is to learn for the sake of learning.

Religious philosophy is something rather different. It is the heart and soul of most concepts of God, and underlies traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Religious philosophy is also referred to as "spirituality". Rather than looking for truth in microscopes and telescopes, or quantum physics and cosmology, like the scientific philosophers, religious philosophers look for truth within their own minds. Scientific philosophy is objective, religious philosophy is subjective. Also, sometimes mystical wisdom is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, for the religious philosopher - he seeks to find inner peace, or to live in harmony with his world, and concepts like God are discovered along the way.

I would say that religious philosophy is where psychedelics really shine.

I get where you're coming from but is the "truth of religious philosophy" not a truth of the heart rather than the mind ?

 

[TheAppleCore]

^ The heart being emotions and intuition, and the mind being intellect? I can see that, yeah.

 

[B9]

Yes I sometimes think that the intellect gets overridden by psychedelics allowing the heart to express itself.
Apparently science has now decided that the heart has its own powers of reasoning & memory independent of the brain.

 

[kidklmx]

I would say that religious philosophy is where psychedelics really shine.

Not necessarily true, didn't those scientist from the '50s say that LSD helped them a lot with their problem solving? More to do with intentions of tripping than anything else, probably.

That said, the 2 do overlap a lot. My idea is that reality, or that what which most people see as reality (not the particles part), is subjective experience and for someone to find the truth they must really dig in to the subjective part of it. We don't know enough for that to work out in practice, but I'm sure there's a truth to this. At a basic level, it's all the same thing. (As a taoist, you must agree with this :D)

Really though, I think B9 and Ismene were rather talking about that other level of reality: Our daily lives, a place where philosophy, any kind, is not really welcomed. Some people (including me for some time) view the "philosophy" side as essential to daily life, when in reality it's just another form of entertainment. You can't just walk away from this survival thing, exactly why psychedelics are so refreshing. Because for a moment, you actually can

EDIT: This is the most meta philosophy-thread in existence. There's a joke starting with "Yo dawg.." hidden in here