psychonaut65
Bluelighter
trying to keep the thread going; i find that nitrous oxide plays a major part in whatever form of philosophy my mind has formulated on psychedelics. In studying philosophy A-level i have just come across to william james examples of the four main characteristics of mystical experience:
ineffability- they are states of feeling so unlike anything else that it is not possible to import or transfer them to others. they defy experssion. Descriptions such as "the dissolution of the personal ego" and have "the sense of peace and sacredness" are empty phrase to those who have not experienced such things;
Noetic qualitity - Though ineffable, the mystic experience produces states of truths unobtainable by the intellect alone. They are revelations. They are not trivial. They are universal and eternal truths;
Transiency - The religious experience does not last for long, usually half an hour or so. Though they are remembered, they are imperfectly recalled, but recognised if they recur. If a series of mystic experiences take place, then usually there is some sort of developemment of inner richness. They usually leave the recipient with a profound sense of the importance of the experience;
Passivity - Mystical states can be helped by such things as "fixing the attention" or "going through certain bodily movements", but when the state occurs, the mystic feels as if they are taken over by a superior power. This can result in phenomena that suggests alternative personality states - e.g. prophetic speech, speaking in tongues.
Now William James is known for his experimentation with Nitrous oxide: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/nitrous/nitrous_article1.shtml And his 4 characteristics sum the experience i have had on nitrous very well my last trip report emphasized this.
The use of psychedelic drugs has enabled me to understand what phrases such as this one from the Chandogya Upanishads: "As rivers flow to their rest in the ocean and there leave behind them name and form, so the knower, liberated from name and form, reaches that divine person beyond the beyond".
The insights i have gained form psychedelics continue to astound me even more day by day.
peace
ineffability- they are states of feeling so unlike anything else that it is not possible to import or transfer them to others. they defy experssion. Descriptions such as "the dissolution of the personal ego" and have "the sense of peace and sacredness" are empty phrase to those who have not experienced such things;
Noetic qualitity - Though ineffable, the mystic experience produces states of truths unobtainable by the intellect alone. They are revelations. They are not trivial. They are universal and eternal truths;
Transiency - The religious experience does not last for long, usually half an hour or so. Though they are remembered, they are imperfectly recalled, but recognised if they recur. If a series of mystic experiences take place, then usually there is some sort of developemment of inner richness. They usually leave the recipient with a profound sense of the importance of the experience;
Passivity - Mystical states can be helped by such things as "fixing the attention" or "going through certain bodily movements", but when the state occurs, the mystic feels as if they are taken over by a superior power. This can result in phenomena that suggests alternative personality states - e.g. prophetic speech, speaking in tongues.
Now William James is known for his experimentation with Nitrous oxide: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/nitrous/nitrous_article1.shtml And his 4 characteristics sum the experience i have had on nitrous very well my last trip report emphasized this.
The use of psychedelic drugs has enabled me to understand what phrases such as this one from the Chandogya Upanishads: "As rivers flow to their rest in the ocean and there leave behind them name and form, so the knower, liberated from name and form, reaches that divine person beyond the beyond".
The insights i have gained form psychedelics continue to astound me even more day by day.
peace
