Psychedelics and the God Neurons

[TimeN'space]

Hello all,
So recently I had this idea flowing through my mind and was wondering if anyone else could relate.
I'll illustrate my point using my own experience:
Every time I trip I find that my reality, and therefore my notions of reality, shift greatly. Beliefs I hold to be true while sober come crumbling down and are replaced by a newly perceived set of truths. And while some of those newly found ideas gain ground and become part of my sober reality later on, many other ideas come to be recognized as products of an inebriated mind.
The most notable change of perception I experience is god. I became an atheist the day I learned to think for myself. God is just not present in my reality, whether rationally or emotionally. In fact one big thing I used to grapple with was how come people believed in god? Like, seriously, how stupid can you be?
A big change for me came along when I first started tripping. The Idea of god, that basic experience that seemed to divide me from most human beings, suddenly became alive and real. During the trip, just being present in this world became irrefutable proof that there must be a god. How could such a thing be denied? I felt the protruding existence of god with every cell of my body and every gasp of air I breathed. Needless to mention, those emotion first evoked a very confused reaction from me. I was sure what I was experiencing was a message from god telling me I was to be the redeemer of humankind or something. I felt I was awoken from an endless slumber and thrust into the glory of the divine. I decided to recant my atheism and had the stark conclusion that even when the trip will be over - I must continue to seek god.

Surprisingly -or not so surprisingly-, the next day saw all those feeling dissipate completely. I was fully back myself - and god was again just this silly human fantasy, clearly emanating from the need to sweep away existential anxiety in the face of a harsh and meaningless reality. I rationalized the experience of the day before by saying that what I experienced was what most everybody else experience naturally - the ability of the mind to project a much soother reality than what is actually evident.

The experience has repeated itself ever since in every trip I had. It wasn't always the focus of my thoughts, but very clearly every time I 'tuned in' god just becomes real to me.

The reason I'm bringing this up here is because I was wondering if anyone else can relate to this. Have you ever had earth shattering realizations during a trip, only to lose the essence of those experiences upon coming down? How do you integrate such a conflict between the sober and the tripping mind, and does it change after years of tripping? And what is your conclusion - are spiritual feelings activated by neuron centers in the brain, or do you believe tripping heightens the senses and in turn allows us to pick up on things that are always present?

 

[RobotRipping]

yeah all the time. I integrated these ideas into my life by tripping more and really trying to soak up everything about the psychedelic experience as possible. I do believe that tripping heightens the senses but i don't think that will allow you to sense a god, it's more like a realization that you are part of something bigger, kind of ego softening thing. It doesn't really answer any questions, it's just a feeling and maybe it's purely the product of a certain part of the brain having a drug affect it, who really knows.

my beliefs align quite well with Bill Hick's and his experiences, i think there are many commonalities that are experienced with psychedelics which make them so special but whether any of it is real or not is tough to say.

it does change with years of tripping, you may end up permanently changing your thinking, i think i achieved this. I also feel like i opened up that door and cannot really close it now too though as i definitely have HPPD or some other visual issue. I'm interested to hear how others feel on this as well.

 

[zn13bt]

I find it helpful to do something during the trip to concretize the insights I'm having. Such as making notes for myself in a trip report, or drawing diagrams of the ideas I'm experiencing, etc. Usually it's easier to do this during the plateau or the come-down than to try to do it during the peak.

After years of tripping, for me the boundaries between the two states of mind have become a lot more permeable and information flows freely between them.

 

[EntheoDjinn]

................................. and does it change after years of tripping? And what is your conclusion - are spiritual feelings activated by neuron centers in the brain, or do you believe tripping heightens the senses and in turn allows us to pick up on things that are always present?

Well, first of all it's maybe not the type of experience that one can draw a conclusion from. The opportunity for change as a result of a trip seems (at least to me anyway) to always be there. The trips become part of the longer life journey.

As for the answer to your dilemma about whether it's a neuronal or sensory acuity issue, might I suggest its both, neither, none, some other combination or something else. I think the existing (orthodox) "not-alone-in-the-universe" versus the "mind-materialism" arguments are notoriously difficult to integrate into the psychedelic experience and vice-versa (although many people have attempted, often with very interesting ideas).

Maybe the learnings are often of the non-rational sort. I often think that the look in someone's eyes and smile can tell you a lot about these types of learnings in the sense that materialistic arguments couldn't. I encounter quite a number of people like this in the creative arts and psytrance communities, but also outwith.