The Psychedelic Experience A manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead By Timothy

[LucidShroomDmtier]

LSD is a tool to expand ones mind , a tool which depending on how used(the mental set ant the enviromental setting ) can cause harm or great good to ones spirituality during a session. Timothy Leary, Ph.D., Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., & Richard Alpert, Ph.D. Composed the " The Psychedelic Experience

A manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead"(http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/psychedelic_experience/psychedelic_experience.shtml)
i would like if you read the manual and tell me your thoughts on the psychedelics and spirituality, And spirituality thorough psychedelics
"A psychedelic experience is a journey to new realms of consciousness. The scope and content of the experience is limitless, but its characteristic features are the transcendence of verbal concepts, of space-time dimensions, and of the ego or identity. Such experiences of enlarged consciousness can occur in a variety of ways: sensory deprivation, yoga exercises, disciplined meditation, religious or aesthetic ecstasies, or spontaneously. Most recently they have become available to anyone through the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, etc. "from GENERAL INTRO

 

[Ismene]

I remember reading this a few years ago and struggling with it. It's a very dull read and if you don't buy the premise that tripping is the same as the Tibetan book of the dead then it's pretty thin gruel.

 

[huolesoh]

i bought a copy; i figured why not? - he was one of the first people to start taking LSD. the book makes for a decent rough guide but to those already well-read there's not much new infomation

as for your question: it's quite existential and i don't really know how to explain !

 

[LucidShroomDmtier]

It's a very dull read and if you don't buy the premise that tripping is the same as the Tibetan book of the dead then it's pretty thin gruel.

isnt LSD trip an self invovement where you or other person gets you into a concept and you trip along that , for example somebody would convince everyone that they are butterflies or budhist monks who are going to the path of rebirth..

 

[Solipsis]

For what it's worth, part of the worth of a psychedelic trip can be to learn how to die. Abandon any desires you have left and surrender... how significant is the analogy between ego death and actual death?

I never read Tim Leary's book, but I've read about it. I have read part of the Tibetan book of the dead though but I find it to be mostly ritual that does not seem appropriate for me.

 

[Erny]

For what it's worth, part of the worth of a psychedelic trip can be to learn how to die. Abandon any desires you have left and surrender... how significant is the analogy between ego death and actual death?

From what I can tell there is a significant analogy between actual and hallucinogenic NDE in that they teach you about the insignificance of your everyday activities and worries, and to love simple things in life. This attitude do not pass swiftly but stays with you for a duration. It may be days or even weeks or even longer in the case of actual NDE.

And no, I do not like Leary and his fairytales.

 

[Erny]

May I suggest a better reading? Have absolutely no idea where to get the fulltext in english, so here is the actual citation in french

Il fut un âge aussi où j’eus pitié des morts. Croyant que celui-là que je sacrifiais dans son désert sombrait dans une solitude désespérée, n’ayant point encore entrevu qu’il n’est jamais de solitude pour ceux qui meurent. Ne m’étant point heurté encore à leur condescendance. Mais j’ai vu l’égoïste ou l’avare, celui-là même qui criait si fort contre toute spoliation, parvenu à sa dernière heure, prier qu’autour de lui l’on rassemblât les familiers de sa maison, puis partager ses biens dans une équité dédaigneuse comme des jouets futiles à des enfants. J’ai vu le blessé pusillanime, le même qui eût hurlé pour appeler à l’aide au cœur d’un danger sans grandeur, une fois rompu véritablement, repousser d’autrui toute assistance s’il se trouvait que cette assistance eût fait courir à ses compagnons quelque péril. Nous célébrons une telle abnégation. Mais je n’ai trouvé là encore que signe discret de mépris. Je connais celui-là qui partage sa gourde quand déjà il sèche au soleil, ou sa croûte de pain à l’apogée de la famine. Et c’est d’abord qu’il n’en connaît plus le besoin et, plein d’une royale ignorance, abandonne à autrui cet os à ronger.

J’ai vu les femmes plaindre les guerriers morts. Mais c’est nous-mêmes qui les avons trompées ! Tu les a vus rentrer, les survivants, glorieux et encombrants, faisant bien du tapage à crier leurs exploits, apportant, en caution du risque accepté, la mort des autres, mort qu’ils disent épouvantable, car elle aurait pu leur survenir. Moi-même ainsi, dans ma jeunesse, j’ai aimé autour de mon front cette auréole des coups de sabre reçus par d’autres. Je revenais, brandissant mes compagnons morts et leur terrible désespoir. Mais celui-là que la mort a choisi, occupé de vomir son sang ou de retenir ses entrailles, découvre seul la vérité — à savoir qu’il n’est point d’horreur de la mort. Son propre corps lui apparaît comme un instrument désormais vain et qui a fini de servir et qu’il rejette. Un corps démantelé qui se montre dans son usure. Et s’il a soif, ce corps, le mourant n’y reconnaît plus qu’une occasion de soif, dont il serait bon d’être délivré. Et tous les biens deviennent inutiles qui servaient à parer, à nourrir, à fêter cette chair à demi étrangère, qui n’est plus que propriété domestique, comme l’âne attaché à son pieu.

Alors commence l’agonie qui n’est plus que balancement d’une conscience tour à tour vidée puis remplie par les marées de la mémoire. Elles vont et viennent comme le flux et le reflux, rapportant, comme elles les avaient emportés, toutes les provisions d’images, tous les coquillages du souvenir, toutes les conques de toutes les voix entendues. Elles remontent, elles baignent à nouveau les algues du cœur et voilà toutes les tendresses ranimées. Mais l’équinoxe prépare son reflux décisif, le cœur se vide, la marée et ses provisions rentrent en Dieu.

Certes, j’ai vu des hommes fuir la mort, saisis d’avance par la confrontation. Mais celui-là qui meurt, détrompez-vous, je ne l’ai jamais vu s’épouvanter.

This is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "Citadel", titled "The Wisdom of the Sands" in english translations.

 

[Solipsis]

Hmm this leads me to a subsequent question, something I have suspected for a while now: would an excess of NDE-like experiences not be expected to lead to a form of nihilism? If you go too far emphasizing the insignificance of the mundane it can become harder and harder to return to everyday life. Actually I might consider that a form of PTSD but I try not to pathologize these things to much other than that everyday life and functioning in a healthy way often go hand in hand.

 

[Erny]

I don't think I get what is an "excess of NDE experiences". This IS a powerful experience, but not the one you may desire to have. It may be enough to have just one such experience. And no, this is not about nihilism. This is about not taking it all too seriously.

 

[Solipsis]

Maybe I'm talking about something different then, but still desintegration can be devastating on a chronic scale. I'm sure it is all part of Dabrowski's theory of positive desintegration when treated right but still too much emphasis on the cosmic can cause neglect for the mundane, of that much I'm sure. Happens often enough.

 

[Erny]

I do not feel this to be that much devastating. Though some push is lost with this, certainly. What you are talking about probably do not even need anything like NDE to manifest. It should rather be in the nature of personality itself. For someone just reading Leary may be enough. Perhaps. If not Leary, a person will be able to find something else to fit that nature.

 

[Enter Galactic]

Maybe I'm talking about something different then, but still desintegration can be devastating on a chronic scale. I'm sure it is all part of Dabrowski's theory of positive desintegration when treated right but still too much emphasis on the cosmic can cause neglect for the mundane, of that much I'm sure. Happens often enough.

I'm with you on this. When I think so often about the grand scale of the universe, I stop caring about some things that are important to deal with that I can't help but feel are utterly meaningless.

 

[!!4iV4HF9R34g]

To the OP: IMHO, Leary was a crackpot spinning his deluded associations to the unwitting masses, enamored with the mystery and magic of the new psychedelic experience and misinterpreted Eastern philosophy.

If you're interested in psychedelic literature, try out Kent's Psychedelic Information Theory.
It provides a viable premise for building philosophy, through neurology and physiology.
These legitimate functions and processes, I believe, are lovely examples and metaphors and microcosmic representations of Existence.
Here's the link: http://psychedelic-information-theory.com/ebook/index.htm


For the latest: All Existence (including negativity) ought to be treated with the same awe and respect.
It's all a part of All. You can't pick and choose what's a part of Everything..

 

[Happy Trails]

Possibly I have a different edition than you all, but mine is, in addition to Leary, also co-authored by Metzner and Alpert (both of which I highly respect). I think that Leary was simply ahead of his time (American society was not yet ready to digest the realities that LSD and mushrooms could provide). I also don't think Leary's overzealous attitudes and behaviors helped him given the vastly conservative nature of society at the time...

Back to my point... I have gotten a lot from this book, especially with assistance in understanding my more difficult psychedelic experiences. I think it has provided me with a nice alternative perspective to my trips. Given how the manual is laid out in terms of breaking down a trip into specific stages, I can essentially recognize how my personality/ego has reacted to the material that has come up in these stages and better assist myself in working through them.

My edition also has a section at the end that explains the manual, and also includes tips on planning/preparation as well as suggestions on dosage. I believe this text is exceptional for anyone that is new to this realm, or for anyone that is looking to get some perspective on their journey. I know that is has been a valuable tool for me, IMHO.

 

[Termino]

the above quotes are from an American Baptist forum,

I checked out the link and was totally shocked at what I read... then I checked out this church a bit more:
"The fictional Landover Baptist Church is a parody of fundamentalist, Independent Baptist churches and Biblical literalism."

It's a parody.

 

[huolesoh]

oh in that case, i deleted my whole post ! foolish really, to have had such little faith in humanity and to be so careless in the thorough search for fact

 

[Termino]

^ That's OK, at first I thought it was a real site!

As far as Leary goes, I've read a couple of his books. They're alright and are good for stimulating thoughts and conversations, but I feel they are lacking if taken as scholarly works.

 

[burn out]

^ That's OK, at first I thought it was a real site!

As far as Leary goes, I've read a couple of his books. They're alright and are good for stimulating thoughts and conversations, but I feel they are lacking if taken as scholarly works.

I agree. I remember ordering "your brain is God" and being very disappointed with it how sparse it was. It was just a bunch of ideas with little or no evidence supporting them. I am a fan of timothy leary and I like some of his work but I would not consider it scholarly or rigorous or scientific. I mainly like him for his enthusiasm toward the psychedelic experience and his vivid descriptions of it. I also do feel that he was right to emphasize transcendence/ego loss as the most important aspect of the psychedelic experience.

 

[LucidShroomDmtier]

To the OP:

If you're interested in psychedelic literature, try out Kent's Psychedelic Information Theory.
It provides a viable premise for building philosophy, through neurology and physiology.
These legitimate functions and processes, I believe, are lovely examples and metaphors and microcosmic representations of Existence.
Here's the link: http://psychedelic-information-theory.com/ebook/index.htm


For the latest: All Existence (including negativity) ought to be treated with the same awe and respect.
It's all a part of All. You can't pick and choose what's a part of Everything..

Wouldnt you agree that people like Leary are the first who gave the point of view on psychedelics like this . My point is that anyone begginer in a new field of reaserch gonna be folowed by more and more rich reasearch and some facts gonna waste other facts and etc.

By the way i would like more psychedelic literature like this ,Trip guidance-guidelines in specific states of conciousness realms of conciousness , entheogenic expirience ,entheogens and cognition and mind , trip to nirvana etc
after some reserch i done my self in this field as aguide to myself i could sometimes control the trip and the visions am seeing so am think its very possible to be driven somewhere by guidelines by urself or by help of a guide

 

[!!4iV4HF9R34g]

I would definitely not agree that Leary and his cohorts first presented the entheogenic stance on the psychedelic experience. If anything, it was shamans. However, the idea has been around for ages before psychedelics. I would say that beginners need facts and, possibly, descriptions of the beauty of the experience, not misguided ideals.

I do, however, agree with the fact that you control psychedelics. It is exceedingly difficult to manipulate the experience consciously, but it is possible.
Still, more often, your complete mind is simply exposed and manifest.