Jul 31, 2012
Jul 30, 2012
Soma: Wasson
"What was the original Soma? The present consensus is that it was Ephedra. Its active ingredient is ephedrine, which is derived from the stem of the plant. It stimulates the metabolism, raises blood pressure, and has other medical uses. It grows all over the world and is abundant in Central Asia. In 1968, Wendy Doniger published a chapter on "The Post-Vedic History of the Soma Plant," which reviews more than 140 such theories published between 1784 and 1967. The most common candidates include alcoholic beverages and species of Ephedra, Peganum harmala (mountain rue), Sarcostemma, Periploca, and other leafless climbers superficially resembling each other yet belonging to genera botanically far apart. Less common candidates are Cannabis sativa (hemp), the Afghan grape, Calonyction muricatum or Ipomoea muricata, whose seeds are used as purgatives, Eleusine coracana, the common millet, and even "Egyptian beer," a fermentation of date juice and palmyra or coconut palm that was allegedly brought to India from Mesopotamia. Many of these hypotheses are easy to refute (for example, the idea that Soma was a kind of alcohol). The Vedas distinguish Soma from the alcoholic sura drink that produces an evil, dur-mada, form of intoxication, whereas Soma leads to mada--rapture or bliss.
"Wendy Doniger wrote her chapter at the request of R. Gordon Wasson, a Wall Street banker with, at first, an amateur's interest in mushrooms and ethnomycology that had been kindled by his Russian wife, Valentina Pavlovna. Wasson discussed Soma and the fly-agaric mushroom with Aldous Huxley, who had written about it in Brave New World in 1932 and was about to publish his novel The Island, which describes a Sanskritic cult based upon a hallucinogenic mushroom. Wasson's interest in Soma was instrumental in his decision to retire from his bank in June 1963, and, as he put it, "translate myself to the Orient for a stay of some years". One result of his researches was the profusely illustrated and magnificently produced volume Soma: The Divine Mushroom, which incorporates Wendy Doniger's chapter. This sterling contribution heralded a new approach to the problem of the identity of Soma.
Wasson defended the thesis that the Vedic Soma was the "fly-agaric" mushroom, Amanita muscaria, familiar from the birch forests, alpine meadows, and folklore of the cooler regions of Eurasia from Western Europe to Siberia. The fly-agaric grows in mycorrhizal underground relationship with birches, conifers, and other trees that also grow in the higher mountains of more southerly regions such as the Hindu Kush and Himalayas, regions Indo-Aryan speakers crossed before entering the Indian subcontinent. Summarizing Rigvedic passages, Wasson wrote: "The poets say that Soma grows high in the mountains. They make a point of this. They never speak of its growing elsewhere. They must mean what they say".
A characteristic feature of the mushroom is its brilliant red color. It emerges from the soil as a little white ball, swells rapidly and bursts its white garment, fragments of the envelope remaining as white patches on the red skin underneath. Wasson's magnificent plates of the mushroom depict it and illustrate poetic expressions such as "the hide is of bull, the dress of sheep" (Rigveda 9.70.7). According to Wasson, Soma came in two forms. In the first, the juice itself is drunk; in the second, the urine of a person who has used the first form is drunk. This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Wasson knew that Siberian shamans chewed the mushroom and others drank his urine. The psychoactive properties are not affected by the process of digestion and toxic side-effects may be lessened. There are other psychoactive substances that have this property, which is referred to as psychotropic metabolite. It may help explain that Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai (like many others in India and China) drank his own.
"Wendy Doniger wrote her chapter at the request of R. Gordon Wasson, a Wall Street banker with, at first, an amateur's interest in mushrooms and ethnomycology that had been kindled by his Russian wife, Valentina Pavlovna. Wasson discussed Soma and the fly-agaric mushroom with Aldous Huxley, who had written about it in Brave New World in 1932 and was about to publish his novel The Island, which describes a Sanskritic cult based upon a hallucinogenic mushroom. Wasson's interest in Soma was instrumental in his decision to retire from his bank in June 1963, and, as he put it, "translate myself to the Orient for a stay of some years". One result of his researches was the profusely illustrated and magnificently produced volume Soma: The Divine Mushroom, which incorporates Wendy Doniger's chapter. This sterling contribution heralded a new approach to the problem of the identity of Soma.
Wasson defended the thesis that the Vedic Soma was the "fly-agaric" mushroom, Amanita muscaria, familiar from the birch forests, alpine meadows, and folklore of the cooler regions of Eurasia from Western Europe to Siberia. The fly-agaric grows in mycorrhizal underground relationship with birches, conifers, and other trees that also grow in the higher mountains of more southerly regions such as the Hindu Kush and Himalayas, regions Indo-Aryan speakers crossed before entering the Indian subcontinent. Summarizing Rigvedic passages, Wasson wrote: "The poets say that Soma grows high in the mountains. They make a point of this. They never speak of its growing elsewhere. They must mean what they say".
A characteristic feature of the mushroom is its brilliant red color. It emerges from the soil as a little white ball, swells rapidly and bursts its white garment, fragments of the envelope remaining as white patches on the red skin underneath. Wasson's magnificent plates of the mushroom depict it and illustrate poetic expressions such as "the hide is of bull, the dress of sheep" (Rigveda 9.70.7). According to Wasson, Soma came in two forms. In the first, the juice itself is drunk; in the second, the urine of a person who has used the first form is drunk. This is not as far-fetched as it may seem. Wasson knew that Siberian shamans chewed the mushroom and others drank his urine. The psychoactive properties are not affected by the process of digestion and toxic side-effects may be lessened. There are other psychoactive substances that have this property, which is referred to as psychotropic metabolite. It may help explain that Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai (like many others in India and China) drank his own.
- Frits Staal, "How a psychoactive substance become a ritual: the case of Soma." Social Research Fall 2001
"I believe that Soma was a mushroom, Amanita muscaria (Fries ex L.) Quel, the fly-agaric, the Fliegenpilz of the Germans, the fausse oronge or tue-mouche or crapaudin of the French, the mukhomor of the Russians. This flaming red mushroom with white spots flecking its cap is familiar throughout northern Europe and Siberia. It is often put down in mushroom manuals as deadly poisonous but this is false, as I myself can testify. Until lately it has been a central feature of the worship of numerous tribes in northern Siberia, where it has been consumed in the course of their shamanic sessions. Its reputation as a lethal plant in the West is, I contend, a splendid example of a tabu long outliving the religion that gave rise to it. Among the most conservative users of the fly-agaric in Siberia the belief prevailed until recent times that only the shaman and his apprentice could consume the fly-agaric with impunity: all others would surely die. This is, I am sure, the origin of the tabu that has survived among us down to our own day."
- Gordon Wasson, "Soma of the Aryans: An Ancient Hallucinogen." Bulletin on Narcotics vol. 22(3)
Soma of the Aryans by R. Gordon Wasson
"I believe that Soma was a mushroom, Amanita muscaria (Fries ex L.) Quel, the fly-agaric, the Fliegenpilz of the Germans, the fausse oronge or tue-mouche or crapaudin of the French, the mukhomor of the Russians. This flaming red mushroom with white spots flecking its cap is familiar throughout northern Europe and Siberia. It is often put down in mushroom manuals as deadly poisonous but this is false, as I myself can testify. Until lately it has been a central feature of the worship of numerous tribes in northern Siberia, where it has been consumed in the course of their shamanic sessions. Its reputation as a lethal plant in the West is, I contend, a splendid example of a tabu long outliving the religion that gave rise to it. Among the most conservative users of the fly-agaric in Siberia the belief prevailed until recent times that only the shaman and his apprentice could consume the fly-agaric with impunity: all others would surely die. This is, I am sure, the origin of the tabu that has survived among us down to our own day."
- Gordon Wasson, "Soma of the Aryans: An Ancient Hallucinogen." Bulletin on Narcotics vol. 22(3)
Soma of the Aryans by R. Gordon Wasson
Soma: Höller
"Carsten Höller's latest exhibition at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin takes its title from the mythical drink referred to in ancient Hindu texts, a liquid that is supposed to have been consumed by gods and mortals seeking enlightenment. It is said that reindeer urine and hallucinogenic mushrooms formed the base of the elixir, and it is up to the viewer in Höller’s installation to infer whether or not the roaming animals have imbibed elements of this mythical drink. Who, he seems to ask, is the control group in this experiment? Höller has devised a fantastical scenario that stands at the crossroads between art and science, laboratory and dream, supposed objectivity and heightened subjectivity.
Linguists, anthropologists, mycologists, and botanists alike have been searching for the composition of soma for millennia. Sifting through Sanskrit verses, they aimed at uncovering its compounds, but no consensus has yet been reached. In his life-size experiment, Höller continues the research done by American scientist Gordon R. Wasson, whose 1968 thesis on the origin and makeup of the potent potable informed the artist’s inquiry. Höller’s fantasy land can also be your home for one night – for the price of 1,000 euros (stay includes a nighttime tour of the museum with a guard, as well as breakfast)."
para os meninos
Os dropes de cocaína para dor de dente (1885) eram populares para crianças. Não só acabava com a dor, como também melhorava o "humor". Vendeu-se na América até 1914.
Este frasco de paregórico (sedativo) da Stickney and Poor era uma mistura de ópio e de álcool que era distribuída do mesmo modo que os temperos pelos quais a empresa era conhecida.
"Dose – [Para crianças com] cinco dias, 3 gotas. Duas semanas, 8 gotas. Cinco anos, 25 gotas.
Adultos, uma colher cheia."
O produto era muito potente e continha 46% de álcool.
Jul 28, 2012
Opiate Confection
Opiate Confection, hand rolled lozenges
Opiate confection, found in a 19th century medicine chest in nearly perfect condition, the actual ''confection'' looks herbal, smells warm and spicy, has a definite opium aroma, but no one used any, as all 12 are there.
The age is unknown, apart from being 19th century-the pharmacy these were made in has long gone, a small, 18th century shop of great charm, with bow windows, was photographed empty in 1900.
by catherine Mackenzie oakleaf25
Jul 25, 2012
An "Illustrated" history of vice
Glass phial containing atropine and cocaine, 1880-1920.
© Science Museum / Science & Society
Description© Science Museum / Science & Society
A boxwood case was used to protect this glass phial which contained a dangerous blend of atropine and cocaine made by Savory and Moore of London. Atropine is a poisonous compound found in deadly nightshade. It is used in medicine as a muscle relaxant.
(See: Drugs in American Society, 5th, 6th, 7th editions, Erich Goode, McGraw-Hill, 1999/2005/2008. Chapter 10 and Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior, Ray and Ksir, Mosby, 1993. Chapters 6, 11, and 12.)
San Francisco, Chinatown
Chinatown in San Francisco, California 1906
An underground Opium Den, Chinatown, San Francisco, California
Underground Opium Den, Chinatown, San Francisco, Cal. ~ 1899
San Francisco Chinatown Opium Den (c. 1900)
the cat has become addicted
Opium Museum
Vice and Tourism in America’s Chinatowns
The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants
Christian Ratsch, "The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications"
Publisher: P..k S..eet P..ss | ISBN: 0892819782 | 2005 | EPUB/MOBI | 944 pages | 37 MB/50 MB
The most comprehensive guide to the botany, history, distribution, and cultivation of all known psychoactive plants
• Examines 414 psychoactive plants and related substances
• Explores how using psychoactive plants in a culturally sanctioned context can produce important insights into the nature of reality
• Contains 797 color photographs and 645 black-and-white illustrations
In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful plants--those known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness--have traditionally been regarded as sacred. In The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants Christian R?ch details the botany, history, distribution, cultivation, and preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. He discusses their ritual and medicinal usage, cultural artifacts made from these plants, and works of art that either represent or have been inspired by them. The author begins with 168 of the most well-known psychoactives--such as cannabis, datura, and papaver--then presents 133 lesser known substances as well as additional plants known as “legal highs,” plants known only from mythological contexts and literature, and plant products that include substances such as ayahuasca, incense, and soma. The text is lavishly illustrated with 797 color photographs--many of which are from the author’s extensive fieldwork around the world--showing the people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world’s sacred psychoactives.
EPUB / MOBI
Cannabis: The Genus Cannabis
Cannabis: The Genus Cannabis (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Industrial Profiles)
Publisher: CRC Press | ISBN: 9057022915 | edition 1998 | PDF | 284 pages | 2,6 mb
This book provides a comprehensive overview of cannabis use and abuse and will be an invaluable source of reference for anyone with an interest in the wide range of applications of this fascinating plant and its therapeutic and commercial potential
Jul 24, 2012
Jul 23, 2012
borboletas de Jade
Opium smoking in China, Charles J. H. Halcombe (1896)
Opium Den Concession at 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
White Women in Opium Den, Chinatown, S. Francisco,
From Album of views of California and the West Canada and China, ca. 1885
![Underground opium den. [T.E. Hecht.], The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley..jpg](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3OBtRIcJyN3NOLu4bKFzHDyJlGOC4aYZX1OaFlACoY06BcAgZGrP-OR-mQhV0ihm7wGD6o29U3bojhHmuSnSkHeWcjgx8wYiYBMi4rztluZG1fqwA1Dspr_S4RdWqlzGsvV0RxGfXWhbo/?imgmax=800)
Underground opium den. [T.E. Hecht.], The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Jul 14, 2012
The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism
Harold A Abramson, "The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism"
Bobbs-Merrill | 1967 | ASIN: B000NXJ9YC | 697 pages | PDF | 10,1 Mb
Bobbs-Merrill | 1967 | ASIN: B000NXJ9YC | 697 pages | PDF | 10,1 Mb
In May, 1965, a group of investigators in the field of psychiatry met at South Oaks Hospital, in Amityville, New York. The purpose of the meeting was to exchange information and discuss problems regarding the use of a remarkable drug that has been a focus of research in psychiatry for more than twenty years. This drug, LSD-25, commonly called LSD, is a derivative of d-lysergic acid. Lysergic acid itself is the basis of many ergot compounds used daily in medicine. But LSD has a unique property which differentiates it from all other drugs. Even in extremely small doses, LSD produces a disturbance in mentation—in thinking processes, in perception of sound, light and color, in emotional reaction, in ideation. This disturbance is reversible. After a certain number of hours, the effect of LSD itself wears off.
Contrary to assertions in the popular press, when LSD is administered as part of a therapeutic medical program, “irreversible psychotic changes” and “brain damage” do not occur. Certain irresponsible statements that it does produce such adverse effects have not been supported by valid scientific evidence. The effect of LSD on many people resembles a psychotic state. The reason for this is that LSD creates an emotional storm during which a person frequently is able to recall forgotten or repressed events and early experience. Outwardly it may seem that the person is psychotic. Actually he is undergoing a complete re-evaluation of his self-image. LSD, if taken without proper supervision and under undesirable circumstances, can produce a reaction in unstable people which presents an alarming appearance and can lead to dangerous behavior. Like any other drug, LSD belongs in the hands of responsible medical authorities. In responsible hands, LSD is a valuable tool in hastening successful results of psychotherapy, as seen particularly with alcoholics, a group notoriously difficult to treat.
Albert Hofmann - LSD, my problem child
Albert Hofmann - LSD, my problem child
Publisher: McGraw-Hill | 1980 | ISBN: 0070293252 | PDF | 209 pages | 1.09 MB
download
Publisher: McGraw-Hill | 1980 | ISBN: 0070293252 | PDF | 209 pages | 1.09 MB
download
Jul 13, 2012
veludos
Chinese den in 1946
China in 1946
Opium Den, Cambodian Style 1948
Opium Smoker circa 1950, An Iranian smoking an opium pipe.
The pill of drug is heated with glowing coals and the resultant fumes inhaled with quick short puffs.
(Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)
Opium Smoker circa 1955,
A man smoking opium in a village in Iran.
(Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)
Bangkok den in 1953
Bangkok Den in 1953
Opium Smokers circa 1955, Narcotic addicts in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong
heat a dab of opium over the flame of an oil lamp until it is dry enough to smoke from a pipe.
(Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images)
A man prepares to smoke in Laos in 1961
Jul 12, 2012
LSD : Planear uma sessão
Timothy Leary (1920-1996)
O Guia Psicodélico
Com a mente cognitiva suspensa, o sujeito está em um estado altíssimo de sugestionabilidade. Para sessões iniciais, o guia possui um enorme poder para mover a consciência com a reacção ou gesto mais delicados.
A chave aqui é a habilidade do guia para desligar seu próprio ego e jogos sociais, necessidades de poder, e medos — para estar lá, relaxado, sólido, aceitando, seguro, para sentir tudo ou não fazer nada excepto deixar o sujeito saber sua prudente presença.
Uma sessão psicadélica dura mais de doze horas e produz momentos de reactividade intensos. O guia nunca deve estar entediado, ser falador, “intelectualizante”. Ele(a) deve permanecer calmo por longos períodos de mente vazia. O guia é o controlador do chão, sempre lá para receber mensagens e questões das aeronaves extra-espaciais, pronto para ajudar a navegação para seu curso de atingimento do destino.
O guia não pode impor seus próprios jogos ao viajante. Pilotos que tem planos de vôo diferentes — seus próprios objectivos — são reanimados a saber que um “expert” está lá embaixo, disponível para ajuda. Mas se o controle do chão é chato e fechado em seus próprios motivos, manipulando o avião entre seus objectivos egoístas, o laço de confiança e segurança esmigalha-se.
Ética
Administrar psicadélicos sem experiência pessoal é anti-ético e perigoso.
Nossos estudos concluíram que quase toda reação negativa ao LSD foi causada pelo medo do guia, que aumentou o medo transiente do sujeito. Quando o guia age para se proteger, ele(a) comunica seu próprio interesse. Se o desconforto momentâneo ou confusão acontecerem, os outros presentes não devem ser compreensivos ou mostrarem alarde, mas ficarem calmos e reprimir seus “jogos de ajuda”. Em particular, o papel de “doutor” deve ser evitado.
O guia deve permanecer passivamente sensitivo e intuitivamente relaxado por muitas horas — um acordo difícil para a maioria dos ocidentais. A maneira mais correcta de manter um estado de quietude alerta, contrabalanceado em uma flexibilidade pronta, é o guia tomar uma baixa dose do psicoativo com o sujeito. O procedimento de rotina é ter uma pessoa treinada participando da experiência, e um membro do pessoal presente sem assistência psicadélica. O conhecimento que um guia experiente está “avançado” e mantendo a companhia do sujeito é de valor inestimável—a segurança de um piloto treinado voando na ponta da sua asa; a segurança do mergulhador na presença de uma companhia “expert”.
Timothy Leary
leia também: A Experiência Psicodélica - Um manual baseado no Livro Tibetano dos Mortos
Tendo lido esse manual preparatório, uma pessoa pode imediatamente reconhecer os sintomas e experiências que podem de alguma forma ser amedrontadoras, apenas pela falta de entendimento. O reconhecimento é a palavra chave. Reconhecer e localizar o nível de consciência. Esse livro guia pode também ser usado para evitar as viagens paranóicas ou para reganhar a transcendência se ela foi perdida. Se a experiência começa com luz, paz, unidade mística, entendimento e continua por esse padrão, então não há necessidade de se lembrar do manual ou têlo relido para ti. Como um mapa de estradas, consulte-o apenas quando sentir-se perdido ou quando quiseres mudar o curso.
Tenha Objectivos
O Hinduísmo clássico sugere 4 objetivos possíveis:
1. Crescimento do poder pessoal, entendimento intelectual, insight nítido dentro de si e da cultura, melhora da situação de vida, aprendizado acelerado e crescimento profissional.
2. Dever, ajudar ao próximo, prover cuidado, reabilitação, renascimento para companheiros.
3. Diversão, gozo sensorial, prazer estético, proximidade interpessoal, experiência pura.
4. Transcendência, liberação do ego e dos limites de espaço-tempo; atingimento da união mística.
A primeira ênfase do manual no último objectivo não impossibilita os outros — na verdade, garante seu atingimento porque a iluminação requer que a pessoa esteja hábil a ultrapassar os problemas de personalidade, papel e status
profissional. O iniciante pode decidir de antemão a devotar sua experiência psicadélica a qualquer um dos 4 objectivos.
Na experiência extrovertida transcendental, o “self” é extasiantemente fundido com os objetos externos, como flores ou outras pessoas. No estado introvertido, o “self” é extasiantemente fundido com os processos internos de vida — luzes, ondas de energia, eventos corporais, formas biológicas. Cada estado pode ser negativo ao invés de positivo, dependendo da preparação individual e do ambiente.
Para a experiência extrovertida, a pessoa deve trazer velas, fotos, livros, incensos, música ou passagens gravadas para guiar a percepção na direcção desejada. Uma experiência introvertida requer a eliminação de qualquer estimulo — sem luz, sem som, sem cheiro, sem movimento.
Se muitas pessoas estão na sessão juntos, eles devem pelo menos estar conscientes dos objetivos de cada um. Manipulações inesperadas e indesejadas podem facilmente se tornar armadilhas para os outros viajantes em delusões
paranóicas.
Preparação
Químicos psicadélicos não são drogas no senso usual da palavra. Não há uma reacção somática ou psicológica específica. Quanto melhor é a preparação, mais extasiante e reveladora é a sessão. Nas sessões iniciais com pessoas despreparadas, preparação pessoal e ambientação — particularmente as acções alheias — são mais importantes.
A preparação pessoal se refere à história pessoal, tolerância da personalidade, ao tipo de pessoa que você é. Seus medos, seus desejos, seus conflitos, culpas, paixões secretas, determinam como você interpreta e manuseia qualquer experiência psicadélica.
Talvez o mais importante sejam os mecanismos de reflexo, as defesas, manobras protectoras tipicamente empregadas quando lidando com a ansiedade. A flexibilidade, a confiança básica, a fé filosófica, a coragem, o calor interpessoal, a criatividade a permissão para a diversão e o fácil aprendizado. A rigidez, desejo de controle, desconfiança, cinismo, covardia, frieza e a limitação fazem qualquer situação ser ameaçadora.
O mais importante é o insight. A pessoa que tem qualquer entendimento de sua própria máquina, que pode reconhecer quando está ou não funcionando como deseja é mais hábil a adaptar-se a qualquer novo desafio — até o colapso abrupto de seu próprio ego.
Preparação Imediata
A preparação imediata se refere às expectativas sobre a sessão por si só.
As pessoas naturalmente tendem a impor suas perspectivas pessoais e sociais em qualquer nova situação. Por exemplo, alguns sujeitos doentes e preparados inconscientemente impõem um modelo médico na experiência. Eles procuram
sintomas, interpretam cada nova sensação em termos de doença/saúde, e, se a ansiedade se desenvolve, demandam por tranquilizantes.
Ocasionalmente, sessões planejadas com doentes terminam com o sujeito pedindo para ver um médico. A rebelião contra a convenção deve motivar algumas pessoas que usam a droga. A ideia ingénua de fazer algo “longínquo e externo” ou vagamente impróprio pode obscurecer a experiência.
Desligue a sua Mente
O LSD oferece vastas possibilidades para o aprendizado acelerado e pesquisa científico-escolar, mas para sessões iniciais as reacções intelectuais podem se tornar armadilhas. “Desligar a sua mente” é o melhor conselho para noviços. Depois de você ter aprendido a como mover a sua consciência de um lado a outro — dentro e fora da perda do ego, à vontade — então exercícios intelectuais podem ser incorporados à sua experiência psicadélica. O objectivo é o de te libertar da mente verbal o quanto for possível.
As expectativas religiosas chamam ao mesmo conselho. Novamente, o sujeito nas primeiras sessões é aconselhado a flutuar na corrente, se manter “ascendente” até o possível e a adiar interpretações teológicas.
Expectativas recreacionais e estéticas são naturais. A experiência psicadélica provém momentos extasiantes que diminuem qualquer jogo cultural ou pessoal. A sensação pura pode capturar a percepção. A intimidade interpessoal
atinge alturas do Himalaia. Deleites estéticos — musicais, artísticos, botânicos, naturais — são elevados ao poder milionésimo. Mas reacções de jogos de ego — “Estou tendo este ecstasy, Que sorte eu tenho!” — podem impedir o sujeito de atingir a perda pura do ego.
Organizando
O sujeito deve reservar pelo menos 3 dias — um dia antes de sua experiência, o dia da sessão e um dia seguinte. Essa organização garante a redução da pressão externa e um comprometimento mais sóbrio. Falar com pessoas que já fizeram a viagem é uma ótima preparação, contudo a qualidade alucinatória de todas as descrições deve ser reconhecida.
O dia depois da sessão deve ser reservado para deixar a experiência correr em seu curso natural e permitir um tempo para reflexão e meditação. Um retorno apressado a envolvimentos com os “jogos” com certeza irão manchar a claridade
e reduzir o potencial para o aprendizado. É muito útil para um grupo permanecer junto depois da sessão para dividir e trocar experiências.
Observe uma Sessão
Observar uma sessão é outra preliminar muito válida, ler livros sobre a experiência mística e de outras experiências também é uma possibilidade. Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts e Gordon Wasson escreveram óptimos contos, por exemplo.
Meditação
A meditação é provavelmente a melhor preparação. Aqueles que gastaram tempo na tentativa solitária de controlar a mente, de eliminar o pensamento e atingir altos estágios de concentração são os melhores candidatos para uma sessão psicodélica. Quando a perda do ego ocorre, eles reconhecem o processo como um ansioso e esperado fim.
Ambiente
Primeiro e mais importante: provenha um ambiente removido dos usuais jogos interpessoais, e o mais livre possível de distracções e intromissões inesperadas. O viajante deve ter certeza de que ele(a) não será perturbado; visitantes ou ligações telefónicas vão freqüentemente produzir um choque na actividade alucinatória. Confiança no que está em sua volta e, privacidade são necessárias.
Hora do Dia
Muitas pessoas sentem-se mais confortáveis na noite, e conseqüentemente suas experiências são mais profundas e ricas. A pessoa deve escolher a hora do dia que parece correcta. Mais tarde, ele(a) deve desejar vivenciar a diferença entre sessões nocturnas e diurnas. De maneira similar, jardins, praias, florestas e locais abertos em geral têm influências específicas que a pessoa pode ou não desejar. O essencial é sentir-se o mais confortável possível, ainda que no quarto de alguém ou sob o céu nocturno.
Imediações familiares podem ajudar a pessoa a sentir-se confiante nos períodos alucinatórios. Se a sessão for ministrada “indoors”, a música, iluminação, a disponibilidade de comida e bebida deve ser considerada antes. A maioria das pessoas reporta não sentir fome durante a altura da experiência, e logo após preferem comidas simples como comida, queijo, vinho e frutas frescas. Os sentidos estão bem abertos e o sabor e cheiro de uma laranja fresca são inesquecíveis.
Viagens em Grupo
Em sessões em grupo, as pessoas normalmente não vão sentir vontade de andar ou se mover muito por longos períodos, e ainda camas e/ou esteiras devem ser providas. Uma sugestão é colocar as cabeças das camas juntas numa forma
de estrela. Talvez uma pessoa queira colocar algumas camas juntas e manter uma ou outra a alguma distância a partir de alguma outra pessoa que deseje permanecer de lado por um tempo. A disponibilidade de um quarto extra é desejável para alguém que queira estar em isolamento.
Tenha Objectivos
O Hinduísmo clássico sugere 4 objetivos possíveis:
1. Crescimento do poder pessoal, entendimento intelectual, insight nítido dentro de si e da cultura, melhora da situação de vida, aprendizado acelerado e crescimento profissional.
2. Dever, ajudar ao próximo, prover cuidado, reabilitação, renascimento para companheiros.
3. Diversão, gozo sensorial, prazer estético, proximidade interpessoal, experiência pura.
4. Transcendência, liberação do ego e dos limites de espaço-tempo; atingimento da união mística.
A primeira ênfase do manual no último objectivo não impossibilita os outros — na verdade, garante seu atingimento porque a iluminação requer que a pessoa esteja hábil a ultrapassar os problemas de personalidade, papel e status
profissional. O iniciante pode decidir de antemão a devotar sua experiência psicadélica a qualquer um dos 4 objectivos.
Na experiência extrovertida transcendental, o “self” é extasiantemente fundido com os objetos externos, como flores ou outras pessoas. No estado introvertido, o “self” é extasiantemente fundido com os processos internos de vida — luzes, ondas de energia, eventos corporais, formas biológicas. Cada estado pode ser negativo ao invés de positivo, dependendo da preparação individual e do ambiente.
Para a experiência extrovertida, a pessoa deve trazer velas, fotos, livros, incensos, música ou passagens gravadas para guiar a percepção na direcção desejada. Uma experiência introvertida requer a eliminação de qualquer estimulo — sem luz, sem som, sem cheiro, sem movimento.
Se muitas pessoas estão na sessão juntos, eles devem pelo menos estar conscientes dos objetivos de cada um. Manipulações inesperadas e indesejadas podem facilmente se tornar armadilhas para os outros viajantes em delusões
paranóicas.
Preparação
Químicos psicadélicos não são drogas no senso usual da palavra. Não há uma reacção somática ou psicológica específica. Quanto melhor é a preparação, mais extasiante e reveladora é a sessão. Nas sessões iniciais com pessoas despreparadas, preparação pessoal e ambientação — particularmente as acções alheias — são mais importantes.
A preparação pessoal se refere à história pessoal, tolerância da personalidade, ao tipo de pessoa que você é. Seus medos, seus desejos, seus conflitos, culpas, paixões secretas, determinam como você interpreta e manuseia qualquer experiência psicadélica.
Talvez o mais importante sejam os mecanismos de reflexo, as defesas, manobras protectoras tipicamente empregadas quando lidando com a ansiedade. A flexibilidade, a confiança básica, a fé filosófica, a coragem, o calor interpessoal, a criatividade a permissão para a diversão e o fácil aprendizado. A rigidez, desejo de controle, desconfiança, cinismo, covardia, frieza e a limitação fazem qualquer situação ser ameaçadora.
O mais importante é o insight. A pessoa que tem qualquer entendimento de sua própria máquina, que pode reconhecer quando está ou não funcionando como deseja é mais hábil a adaptar-se a qualquer novo desafio — até o colapso abrupto de seu próprio ego.
Preparação Imediata
A preparação imediata se refere às expectativas sobre a sessão por si só.
As pessoas naturalmente tendem a impor suas perspectivas pessoais e sociais em qualquer nova situação. Por exemplo, alguns sujeitos doentes e preparados inconscientemente impõem um modelo médico na experiência. Eles procuram
sintomas, interpretam cada nova sensação em termos de doença/saúde, e, se a ansiedade se desenvolve, demandam por tranquilizantes.
Ocasionalmente, sessões planejadas com doentes terminam com o sujeito pedindo para ver um médico. A rebelião contra a convenção deve motivar algumas pessoas que usam a droga. A ideia ingénua de fazer algo “longínquo e externo” ou vagamente impróprio pode obscurecer a experiência.
Desligue a sua Mente
O LSD oferece vastas possibilidades para o aprendizado acelerado e pesquisa científico-escolar, mas para sessões iniciais as reacções intelectuais podem se tornar armadilhas. “Desligar a sua mente” é o melhor conselho para noviços. Depois de você ter aprendido a como mover a sua consciência de um lado a outro — dentro e fora da perda do ego, à vontade — então exercícios intelectuais podem ser incorporados à sua experiência psicadélica. O objectivo é o de te libertar da mente verbal o quanto for possível.
As expectativas religiosas chamam ao mesmo conselho. Novamente, o sujeito nas primeiras sessões é aconselhado a flutuar na corrente, se manter “ascendente” até o possível e a adiar interpretações teológicas.
Expectativas recreacionais e estéticas são naturais. A experiência psicadélica provém momentos extasiantes que diminuem qualquer jogo cultural ou pessoal. A sensação pura pode capturar a percepção. A intimidade interpessoal
atinge alturas do Himalaia. Deleites estéticos — musicais, artísticos, botânicos, naturais — são elevados ao poder milionésimo. Mas reacções de jogos de ego — “Estou tendo este ecstasy, Que sorte eu tenho!” — podem impedir o sujeito de atingir a perda pura do ego.
Organizando
O sujeito deve reservar pelo menos 3 dias — um dia antes de sua experiência, o dia da sessão e um dia seguinte. Essa organização garante a redução da pressão externa e um comprometimento mais sóbrio. Falar com pessoas que já fizeram a viagem é uma ótima preparação, contudo a qualidade alucinatória de todas as descrições deve ser reconhecida.
O dia depois da sessão deve ser reservado para deixar a experiência correr em seu curso natural e permitir um tempo para reflexão e meditação. Um retorno apressado a envolvimentos com os “jogos” com certeza irão manchar a claridade
e reduzir o potencial para o aprendizado. É muito útil para um grupo permanecer junto depois da sessão para dividir e trocar experiências.
Observe uma Sessão
Observar uma sessão é outra preliminar muito válida, ler livros sobre a experiência mística e de outras experiências também é uma possibilidade. Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts e Gordon Wasson escreveram óptimos contos, por exemplo.
Meditação
A meditação é provavelmente a melhor preparação. Aqueles que gastaram tempo na tentativa solitária de controlar a mente, de eliminar o pensamento e atingir altos estágios de concentração são os melhores candidatos para uma sessão psicodélica. Quando a perda do ego ocorre, eles reconhecem o processo como um ansioso e esperado fim.
Ambiente
Primeiro e mais importante: provenha um ambiente removido dos usuais jogos interpessoais, e o mais livre possível de distracções e intromissões inesperadas. O viajante deve ter certeza de que ele(a) não será perturbado; visitantes ou ligações telefónicas vão freqüentemente produzir um choque na actividade alucinatória. Confiança no que está em sua volta e, privacidade são necessárias.
Hora do Dia
Muitas pessoas sentem-se mais confortáveis na noite, e conseqüentemente suas experiências são mais profundas e ricas. A pessoa deve escolher a hora do dia que parece correcta. Mais tarde, ele(a) deve desejar vivenciar a diferença entre sessões nocturnas e diurnas. De maneira similar, jardins, praias, florestas e locais abertos em geral têm influências específicas que a pessoa pode ou não desejar. O essencial é sentir-se o mais confortável possível, ainda que no quarto de alguém ou sob o céu nocturno.
Imediações familiares podem ajudar a pessoa a sentir-se confiante nos períodos alucinatórios. Se a sessão for ministrada “indoors”, a música, iluminação, a disponibilidade de comida e bebida deve ser considerada antes. A maioria das pessoas reporta não sentir fome durante a altura da experiência, e logo após preferem comidas simples como comida, queijo, vinho e frutas frescas. Os sentidos estão bem abertos e o sabor e cheiro de uma laranja fresca são inesquecíveis.
Viagens em Grupo
Em sessões em grupo, as pessoas normalmente não vão sentir vontade de andar ou se mover muito por longos períodos, e ainda camas e/ou esteiras devem ser providas. Uma sugestão é colocar as cabeças das camas juntas numa forma
de estrela. Talvez uma pessoa queira colocar algumas camas juntas e manter uma ou outra a alguma distância a partir de alguma outra pessoa que deseje permanecer de lado por um tempo. A disponibilidade de um quarto extra é desejável para alguém que queira estar em isolamento.
O Guia Psicodélico
Com a mente cognitiva suspensa, o sujeito está em um estado altíssimo de sugestionabilidade. Para sessões iniciais, o guia possui um enorme poder para mover a consciência com a reacção ou gesto mais delicados.
A chave aqui é a habilidade do guia para desligar seu próprio ego e jogos sociais, necessidades de poder, e medos — para estar lá, relaxado, sólido, aceitando, seguro, para sentir tudo ou não fazer nada excepto deixar o sujeito saber sua prudente presença.
Uma sessão psicadélica dura mais de doze horas e produz momentos de reactividade intensos. O guia nunca deve estar entediado, ser falador, “intelectualizante”. Ele(a) deve permanecer calmo por longos períodos de mente vazia. O guia é o controlador do chão, sempre lá para receber mensagens e questões das aeronaves extra-espaciais, pronto para ajudar a navegação para seu curso de atingimento do destino.
O guia não pode impor seus próprios jogos ao viajante. Pilotos que tem planos de vôo diferentes — seus próprios objectivos — são reanimados a saber que um “expert” está lá embaixo, disponível para ajuda. Mas se o controle do chão é chato e fechado em seus próprios motivos, manipulando o avião entre seus objectivos egoístas, o laço de confiança e segurança esmigalha-se.
Ética
Administrar psicadélicos sem experiência pessoal é anti-ético e perigoso.
Nossos estudos concluíram que quase toda reação negativa ao LSD foi causada pelo medo do guia, que aumentou o medo transiente do sujeito. Quando o guia age para se proteger, ele(a) comunica seu próprio interesse. Se o desconforto momentâneo ou confusão acontecerem, os outros presentes não devem ser compreensivos ou mostrarem alarde, mas ficarem calmos e reprimir seus “jogos de ajuda”. Em particular, o papel de “doutor” deve ser evitado.
O guia deve permanecer passivamente sensitivo e intuitivamente relaxado por muitas horas — um acordo difícil para a maioria dos ocidentais. A maneira mais correcta de manter um estado de quietude alerta, contrabalanceado em uma flexibilidade pronta, é o guia tomar uma baixa dose do psicoativo com o sujeito. O procedimento de rotina é ter uma pessoa treinada participando da experiência, e um membro do pessoal presente sem assistência psicadélica. O conhecimento que um guia experiente está “avançado” e mantendo a companhia do sujeito é de valor inestimável—a segurança de um piloto treinado voando na ponta da sua asa; a segurança do mergulhador na presença de uma companhia “expert”.
Timothy Leary
leia também: A Experiência Psicodélica - Um manual baseado no Livro Tibetano dos Mortos
A Guide to Successful Psychedelic Experience
Using LSD to Imprint the
Tibetan-Buddhist Experience
by Dr. Timothy Leary, Ph.D.
A Guide to Successful Psychedelic Experience
Tibetan-Buddhist Experience
by Dr. Timothy Leary, Ph.D.
A Guide to Successful Psychedelic Experience
Having read this preparatory manual one can immediately recognize symptoms and experiences that might otherwise be terrifying, only because of lack of understanding. Recognition is the key word. Recognizing and locating the level of consciousness. This guidebook may also be used to avoid paranoid trips or to regain transcendence if it has been lost. If the experience starts with light, peace, mystic unity, understanding, and continues along this path, then there is no need to remember the manual or have it reread to you. Like a road map, consult it only when lost, or when you wish to change course.
Planning a Session
What is the goal? Classic Hinduism suggests four possibilities:
Increased personal power, intellectual understanding, sharpened insight into self and culture, improvement of life situation, accelerated learning, professional growth.
Duty, help of others, providing care, rehabilitation, rebirth for fellow men.
Fun, sensuous enjoyment, esthetic pleasure, interpersonal closeness, pure experience.
Trancendence, liberation from ego and space-time limits; attainment of mystical union.
The manual's primary emphasis on the last goal does not preclude other goals - in fact, it guarantees their attainment because illumination requires that the person be able to step out beyond problems of personality, role, and professional status. The initiate can decide beforehand to devote their psychedelic experience to any of the four goals.
In the extroverted transcendent experience, the self is ecstatically fused with external objects (e.g., flowers, other people). In the introverted state, the self is ecstatically fused with internal life processes (lights, energy waves, bodily events, biological forms, etc.). Either state may be negative rather than positive, depending on the voyager's set and setting. For the extroverted mystic experience, one would bring to the session candles, pictures, books, incense, music, or recorded passages to guide the awareness in the desired direction. An introverted experience requires eliminating all stimulation: no light, no sound, no smell, no movement.
The mode of communication with other participants should also be agreed on beforehand, to avoid misinterpretations during the heightened sensitivity of ego transcendence.
If several people are having a session together, they should at least be aware of each other's goals. Unexpected or undesired manipulations can easily "trap" the other voyagers into paranoid delusions.
Preparation
Psychedelic chemicals are not drugs in the usual sense of the word. There is no specific somatic or psychological reaction. The better the preparation, the more ecstatic and relevatory the session. In initial sessions with unprepared persons, set and setting - particularly the actions of others - are most important. Long-range set refers to personal history, enduring personality, the kind of person you are. Your fears, desires, conflicts, guilts, secret passions, determine how you interpret and manage any psychedelic session. Perhaps more important are the reflex mechanisms, defenses, protective maneuvers, typically employed when dealing with anxiety. Flexibility, basic trust, philosophic faith, human openness, courage, interpersonal warmth, creativity, allow for fun and easy learning. Rigidity, desire to control, distrust, cynicism, narrowness, cowardice, coldness, make any new situation threatening. Most important is insight. The person who has some understanding of his own machinery, who can recognize when he is not functioning as he would wish, is better able to adapt to any challenge - even the sudden collapse of his ego.
Immediate set refers to expections about the session itself. People naturally tend to impose personal and social perspectives on any new situation. For example, some ill-prepared subjects unconsciously impose a medical model on the experience. They look for symptoms, interpret each new sensation in terms of sickness/health, and, if anxiety develops, demand tranquilizers. Occasionally, ill-planned sessions end in the subject demanding to see a doctor.
Rebellion against convention may motivate some people who take the drug. The naive idea of doing something "far out" or vaguely naughty can cloud the experience.
LSD offers vast possibilities of accelerated learning and scientific- scholarly research, but for initial sessions, intellectual reactions can become traps. "Turn your mind off" is the best advice for novitiates. After you have learned how to move your consciousness around - into ego loss and back, at will - then intellectual exercises can be incorporated into the psychedelic experience. The objective is to free you from your verbal mind for as long as possible.
Religious expectations invite the same advice. Again, the subject in early sessions is best advised to float with the stream, stay "up" as long as possible, and postpone theological interpretations.
Recreational and esthetic expectations are natural. The psychedelic experience provides ecstatic moments that dwarf any personal or cultural game. Pure sensation can capture awareness. Interpersonal intimacy reaches Himalayan heights. Esthetic delights - musical, artistic, botanical, natural - are raised to the millionth power. But ego-game reactions - "I am having this ecstasy. How lucky I am!" - can prevent the subject from reaching pure ego loss.
Some Practical Recommendations
The subject should set aside at least three days: a day before the experience, the session day, and a follow-up day. This scheduling guarantees a reduction in external pressure and a more sober commitment. Talking to others who have taken the voyage is excellent preparation, although the hallucinatory quality of all descriptions should be recognized. Observing a session is another valuble preliminary.
Reading books about mystical experience and of others' experiences is another possibility (Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Gordon Wasson have written powerful accounts). Meditation is probably the best preparation. Those who have spent time in a solitary attempt to manage the mind, to eliminate thought and reach higher stages of concentration, are the best candidates for a psychedelic session. When the ego loss occurs, they recognize the process as an eagerly awaited end.
The Setting
First and most important, provide a setting removed from one's usual interpersonal games, and as free as possible from unforseen distractions and intrusions. The voyager should make sure that he will not be disturbed; visitors or a phone call will often jar him into hallucinatory activity. Trust in the surroundings and privacy are necessary.
The day after the session should be set aside to let the experience run its natural course and allow time for reflection and meditation. A too-hasty return to game involvements will blur the clarity and reduce the potential for learning. It is very useful for a group to stay together after the session to share and exchange experiences.
Many people are more comfortable in the evening, and consequently their experiences are deeper and richer. The person should choose the time of day that seems right. Later, he may wish to experience the difference between night and day sessions. Similarly, gardens, beaches, forests, and open country have specific influences that one may or may not wish. The essential thing is to feel as comfortable as possible, whether in one's living room or under the night sky. Familiar surroundings may help one feel confident in hallucinatory periods. If the session is held indoors, music, lighting, the availablility of food and drink, should be considered beforehand. Most people report no hunger during the height of the experience, then later on prefer simple ancient foods like bread, cheese, wine, and fresh fruit. The senses are wide open, and the taste and smell of a fresh orange are unforgetable.
In group sessions, people usually will not feel like walking or moving very much for long periods, and either beds or mattresses should be provided. One suggestion is to place the heads of the beds together to form a star pattern. Perhaps one may want to place a few beds together and keep one or two some distance apart for anyone who wishes to remain aside for some time. The availability of an extra room is desirable for someone who wishes to be in seclusion.
The Psychedelic Guide
With the cognitive mind suspended, the subject is in a heightened state of suggestibility. For initial sessions, the guide possesses enormous power to move consciousness with the slightest gesture or reaction.
The key here is the guide's ability to turn off his own ego and social games, power needs, and fears - to be there, relaxed, solid, accepting, secure, to sense all and do nothing except let the subject know his wise presence.
A psychedelic session lasts up to twelve hours and produces moments of intense, intense, INTENSE reactivity. The guide must never be bored, talkative, intellectualizing. He must remain calm during long periods of swirling mindlessness. He is the ground control, always there to receive messages and queries from high-flying aircraft, ready to help negotiate their course and reach their destination. The guide does not impose his own games on the voyager. Pilots who have their own flight plan, their own goals, are reassured to know that an expert is down there, available for help. But if ground control is harboring his own motives, manipulating the plane towards selfish goals, the bond of security and confidence crumbles.
To administer psychedelics without personal experience is unethical and dangerous. Our studies concluded that almost every negative LSD reaction has been caused by the guide's fear, which augmented the transient fear of the subject. When the guide acts to protect himself, he communicates his concern. If momentary discomfort or confusion happens, others present should not be sympathetic or show alarm but stay calm and restrain their "helping games." In particular, the "doctor" role should be avoided.
The guide must remain passively sensitive and intuitively relaxed for several hours - a difficult assignment for most Westerners. The most certain way to maintain a state of alert quietism, poised in ready flexability, is for the guide to take a low dose of the psychedelic with the subject. Routine procedure is to have one trained person participating in the experience, and one staff member present without psychedelic aid. The knowledge that one experienced guide is "up" and keeping the subject company is of inestimable value: the security of a trained pilot flying at your wingtip; the scuba diver's security in the presence of an expert companion.
The less experienced subject will more likely impose hallucinations. The guide, likely to be in a state of mindless, blissful flow, is then pulled into the subject's hallucinatory field and may have difficulty orienting himself. There are no familiar fixed landmarks, no place to put your foot, no solid concept upon which to base your thinking. All is flux. Decisive action by the subject can structure the guide's flow if he has taken a heavy dose.
The psychedelic guide is literally a neurological liberator, who provides illumination, who frees men from their lifelong internal bondage. To be present at the moment of awakening, to share the ecstatic revelation when the voyager discovers the wonder and awe of the divine life-process, far outstrips earthly game ambitions. Awe and gratitude - rather than pride - are the rewards of this new profession.
The Period of Ego Loss or Non-Game Ecstasy
Success implies very unusual preparation in consciousness expansion, as well as much calm, compassionate game playing (good karma) on the part of the participant. If the participant can see and grasp the idea of the empty mind as soon as the guide reveals it - that is to say, if he has the power to die consciously - and, at the supreme moment of quitting the ego, can recognize the ecstasy that will dawn upon him and become one with it, then all bonds of illusion are broken asunder immediately: the dreamer is awakened into reality simultaneously with the mighty achievement of recognition.
It is best if the guru from whom the participant received guiding instructions is present. But if the guru cannot be present, then another expert. But if the guru cannot be present, then another experienced person, or a person the participant trusts, should be available to read this manual without imposing any of his own games. Thereby the participant will be put in mind of what he had previosly heard of the experience.
Liberation is the nervous system devoid of mental-conceptual redundancy. The mind in its conditioned state, limited to words and ego games, is continuously in thought-formation activity. The nervous system in a state of quiescence, alert, awake but not active, is comparable to what Buddhists call the highest state of dhyana (deep meditation). The conscious recognition of the Clear Light induces an ecstatic condition of consciousness such as saints and mystics of the West have called illumination.
The first sign is the glimpsing of the "Clear Light of Reality, the infallible mind of the pure mystic state" - an awareness of energy transformations with no imposition of mental categories.
The duration of this state varies, depending on the individual's experience, security, trust, preparation, and the surroundings. In those who have a little practical experience of the tranquil state of non-game awareness, this state can last from 30 minutes to several hours. Realization of what mystics call the "Ultimate Truth" is possible, provided that the person has made sufficient preparation beforehand. Otherwise he cannot benefit now, and must wander into lower and lower conditions of hallucinations until he drops back to routine reality.
It is important to remember that the consciousness-expansion is the reverse of the birth process, the ego-loss experiencee being a temporary ending of game life, a passing from one state of consciousness into another. Just as an infant must wake up and learn from experience the nature of this world, so a person must wake up in this new brilliant world of consciousness expansion and become familiar with its own peculiar conditions.
In those heavily dependant on ego games, who dread giving up control, the illuminated state endures only for a split second. In some, it lasts as long as the time taken for eating a meal. If the subject is prepared to diagnose the symptoms of ego-loss, he needs no outside help at this point. The person about to give up his ego should be able to recognize the Clear Light. If the person fails to recognize the onset of ego-loss, he may complain of strange bodily symptoms that show he has not reached a liberated state:
What is the goal? Classic Hinduism suggests four possibilities:
Increased personal power, intellectual understanding, sharpened insight into self and culture, improvement of life situation, accelerated learning, professional growth.
Duty, help of others, providing care, rehabilitation, rebirth for fellow men.
Fun, sensuous enjoyment, esthetic pleasure, interpersonal closeness, pure experience.
Trancendence, liberation from ego and space-time limits; attainment of mystical union.
The manual's primary emphasis on the last goal does not preclude other goals - in fact, it guarantees their attainment because illumination requires that the person be able to step out beyond problems of personality, role, and professional status. The initiate can decide beforehand to devote their psychedelic experience to any of the four goals.
In the extroverted transcendent experience, the self is ecstatically fused with external objects (e.g., flowers, other people). In the introverted state, the self is ecstatically fused with internal life processes (lights, energy waves, bodily events, biological forms, etc.). Either state may be negative rather than positive, depending on the voyager's set and setting. For the extroverted mystic experience, one would bring to the session candles, pictures, books, incense, music, or recorded passages to guide the awareness in the desired direction. An introverted experience requires eliminating all stimulation: no light, no sound, no smell, no movement.
The mode of communication with other participants should also be agreed on beforehand, to avoid misinterpretations during the heightened sensitivity of ego transcendence.
If several people are having a session together, they should at least be aware of each other's goals. Unexpected or undesired manipulations can easily "trap" the other voyagers into paranoid delusions.
Preparation
Psychedelic chemicals are not drugs in the usual sense of the word. There is no specific somatic or psychological reaction. The better the preparation, the more ecstatic and relevatory the session. In initial sessions with unprepared persons, set and setting - particularly the actions of others - are most important. Long-range set refers to personal history, enduring personality, the kind of person you are. Your fears, desires, conflicts, guilts, secret passions, determine how you interpret and manage any psychedelic session. Perhaps more important are the reflex mechanisms, defenses, protective maneuvers, typically employed when dealing with anxiety. Flexibility, basic trust, philosophic faith, human openness, courage, interpersonal warmth, creativity, allow for fun and easy learning. Rigidity, desire to control, distrust, cynicism, narrowness, cowardice, coldness, make any new situation threatening. Most important is insight. The person who has some understanding of his own machinery, who can recognize when he is not functioning as he would wish, is better able to adapt to any challenge - even the sudden collapse of his ego.
Immediate set refers to expections about the session itself. People naturally tend to impose personal and social perspectives on any new situation. For example, some ill-prepared subjects unconsciously impose a medical model on the experience. They look for symptoms, interpret each new sensation in terms of sickness/health, and, if anxiety develops, demand tranquilizers. Occasionally, ill-planned sessions end in the subject demanding to see a doctor.
Rebellion against convention may motivate some people who take the drug. The naive idea of doing something "far out" or vaguely naughty can cloud the experience.
LSD offers vast possibilities of accelerated learning and scientific- scholarly research, but for initial sessions, intellectual reactions can become traps. "Turn your mind off" is the best advice for novitiates. After you have learned how to move your consciousness around - into ego loss and back, at will - then intellectual exercises can be incorporated into the psychedelic experience. The objective is to free you from your verbal mind for as long as possible.
Religious expectations invite the same advice. Again, the subject in early sessions is best advised to float with the stream, stay "up" as long as possible, and postpone theological interpretations.
Recreational and esthetic expectations are natural. The psychedelic experience provides ecstatic moments that dwarf any personal or cultural game. Pure sensation can capture awareness. Interpersonal intimacy reaches Himalayan heights. Esthetic delights - musical, artistic, botanical, natural - are raised to the millionth power. But ego-game reactions - "I am having this ecstasy. How lucky I am!" - can prevent the subject from reaching pure ego loss.
Some Practical Recommendations
The subject should set aside at least three days: a day before the experience, the session day, and a follow-up day. This scheduling guarantees a reduction in external pressure and a more sober commitment. Talking to others who have taken the voyage is excellent preparation, although the hallucinatory quality of all descriptions should be recognized. Observing a session is another valuble preliminary.
Reading books about mystical experience and of others' experiences is another possibility (Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Gordon Wasson have written powerful accounts). Meditation is probably the best preparation. Those who have spent time in a solitary attempt to manage the mind, to eliminate thought and reach higher stages of concentration, are the best candidates for a psychedelic session. When the ego loss occurs, they recognize the process as an eagerly awaited end.
The Setting
First and most important, provide a setting removed from one's usual interpersonal games, and as free as possible from unforseen distractions and intrusions. The voyager should make sure that he will not be disturbed; visitors or a phone call will often jar him into hallucinatory activity. Trust in the surroundings and privacy are necessary.
The day after the session should be set aside to let the experience run its natural course and allow time for reflection and meditation. A too-hasty return to game involvements will blur the clarity and reduce the potential for learning. It is very useful for a group to stay together after the session to share and exchange experiences.
Many people are more comfortable in the evening, and consequently their experiences are deeper and richer. The person should choose the time of day that seems right. Later, he may wish to experience the difference between night and day sessions. Similarly, gardens, beaches, forests, and open country have specific influences that one may or may not wish. The essential thing is to feel as comfortable as possible, whether in one's living room or under the night sky. Familiar surroundings may help one feel confident in hallucinatory periods. If the session is held indoors, music, lighting, the availablility of food and drink, should be considered beforehand. Most people report no hunger during the height of the experience, then later on prefer simple ancient foods like bread, cheese, wine, and fresh fruit. The senses are wide open, and the taste and smell of a fresh orange are unforgetable.
In group sessions, people usually will not feel like walking or moving very much for long periods, and either beds or mattresses should be provided. One suggestion is to place the heads of the beds together to form a star pattern. Perhaps one may want to place a few beds together and keep one or two some distance apart for anyone who wishes to remain aside for some time. The availability of an extra room is desirable for someone who wishes to be in seclusion.
The Psychedelic Guide
With the cognitive mind suspended, the subject is in a heightened state of suggestibility. For initial sessions, the guide possesses enormous power to move consciousness with the slightest gesture or reaction.
The key here is the guide's ability to turn off his own ego and social games, power needs, and fears - to be there, relaxed, solid, accepting, secure, to sense all and do nothing except let the subject know his wise presence.
A psychedelic session lasts up to twelve hours and produces moments of intense, intense, INTENSE reactivity. The guide must never be bored, talkative, intellectualizing. He must remain calm during long periods of swirling mindlessness. He is the ground control, always there to receive messages and queries from high-flying aircraft, ready to help negotiate their course and reach their destination. The guide does not impose his own games on the voyager. Pilots who have their own flight plan, their own goals, are reassured to know that an expert is down there, available for help. But if ground control is harboring his own motives, manipulating the plane towards selfish goals, the bond of security and confidence crumbles.
To administer psychedelics without personal experience is unethical and dangerous. Our studies concluded that almost every negative LSD reaction has been caused by the guide's fear, which augmented the transient fear of the subject. When the guide acts to protect himself, he communicates his concern. If momentary discomfort or confusion happens, others present should not be sympathetic or show alarm but stay calm and restrain their "helping games." In particular, the "doctor" role should be avoided.
The guide must remain passively sensitive and intuitively relaxed for several hours - a difficult assignment for most Westerners. The most certain way to maintain a state of alert quietism, poised in ready flexability, is for the guide to take a low dose of the psychedelic with the subject. Routine procedure is to have one trained person participating in the experience, and one staff member present without psychedelic aid. The knowledge that one experienced guide is "up" and keeping the subject company is of inestimable value: the security of a trained pilot flying at your wingtip; the scuba diver's security in the presence of an expert companion.
The less experienced subject will more likely impose hallucinations. The guide, likely to be in a state of mindless, blissful flow, is then pulled into the subject's hallucinatory field and may have difficulty orienting himself. There are no familiar fixed landmarks, no place to put your foot, no solid concept upon which to base your thinking. All is flux. Decisive action by the subject can structure the guide's flow if he has taken a heavy dose.
The psychedelic guide is literally a neurological liberator, who provides illumination, who frees men from their lifelong internal bondage. To be present at the moment of awakening, to share the ecstatic revelation when the voyager discovers the wonder and awe of the divine life-process, far outstrips earthly game ambitions. Awe and gratitude - rather than pride - are the rewards of this new profession.
The Period of Ego Loss or Non-Game Ecstasy
Success implies very unusual preparation in consciousness expansion, as well as much calm, compassionate game playing (good karma) on the part of the participant. If the participant can see and grasp the idea of the empty mind as soon as the guide reveals it - that is to say, if he has the power to die consciously - and, at the supreme moment of quitting the ego, can recognize the ecstasy that will dawn upon him and become one with it, then all bonds of illusion are broken asunder immediately: the dreamer is awakened into reality simultaneously with the mighty achievement of recognition.
It is best if the guru from whom the participant received guiding instructions is present. But if the guru cannot be present, then another expert. But if the guru cannot be present, then another experienced person, or a person the participant trusts, should be available to read this manual without imposing any of his own games. Thereby the participant will be put in mind of what he had previosly heard of the experience.
Liberation is the nervous system devoid of mental-conceptual redundancy. The mind in its conditioned state, limited to words and ego games, is continuously in thought-formation activity. The nervous system in a state of quiescence, alert, awake but not active, is comparable to what Buddhists call the highest state of dhyana (deep meditation). The conscious recognition of the Clear Light induces an ecstatic condition of consciousness such as saints and mystics of the West have called illumination.
The first sign is the glimpsing of the "Clear Light of Reality, the infallible mind of the pure mystic state" - an awareness of energy transformations with no imposition of mental categories.
The duration of this state varies, depending on the individual's experience, security, trust, preparation, and the surroundings. In those who have a little practical experience of the tranquil state of non-game awareness, this state can last from 30 minutes to several hours. Realization of what mystics call the "Ultimate Truth" is possible, provided that the person has made sufficient preparation beforehand. Otherwise he cannot benefit now, and must wander into lower and lower conditions of hallucinations until he drops back to routine reality.
It is important to remember that the consciousness-expansion is the reverse of the birth process, the ego-loss experiencee being a temporary ending of game life, a passing from one state of consciousness into another. Just as an infant must wake up and learn from experience the nature of this world, so a person must wake up in this new brilliant world of consciousness expansion and become familiar with its own peculiar conditions.
In those heavily dependant on ego games, who dread giving up control, the illuminated state endures only for a split second. In some, it lasts as long as the time taken for eating a meal. If the subject is prepared to diagnose the symptoms of ego-loss, he needs no outside help at this point. The person about to give up his ego should be able to recognize the Clear Light. If the person fails to recognize the onset of ego-loss, he may complain of strange bodily symptoms that show he has not reached a liberated state:
Bodily pressure
Clammy coldness followed by feverish heat
Body disintegrating or blown to atoms
Pressure on head and ears
Tingling in extremities
Feelings of body melting or flowing like wax
Nausea
Trembling or shaking, beginning in pelvic region and spreading up torso.
Clammy coldness followed by feverish heat
Body disintegrating or blown to atoms
Pressure on head and ears
Tingling in extremities
Feelings of body melting or flowing like wax
Nausea
Trembling or shaking, beginning in pelvic region and spreading up torso.
The guide or friend should explain that the symptoms indicate the onset of ego-loss. These physical reactions are signs heralding transcendence: avoid treating them as symptoms of illness. The subject should hail stomach messages as a sign that consciousness is moving around in the body. Experience the sensation fully, and let consciousness flow on to the next phase. It is usually more natural to let the subject's attention move from the stomach and concentrate on breathing and heartbeat. If this does not free him from nausea, the guide should move the consciousness to external events - music, walking in the garden, etc. As a last resort, heave.
The physical symptoms of ego-loss, recognized and understood, should result in peaceful attainment of illumination. The simile of a needle balanced and set rolling on a thread is used by the lamas to elucidate this condition. So long as the needle retains its balance, it remains on the thread. Eventually, however, the pull of the ego or external stimulation affects it, and it falls. In the realm of the Clear Light, similarly, a person in the ego-transcendent state momentarily enjoys a condition of perfect equilibrium and oneness. Unfamiliar with such an ecstatic non-ego state, the average consciousness lacks the power to function in it. Thoughts of personality, individualized being, dualism, prevent the realization of nirvana (the "blowing out of the flame" of fear or selfishness). When the voyager is clearly in a profound ego-transcendent ecstasy, the wise guide remains silent.
LearyRAW
The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension
The physical symptoms of ego-loss, recognized and understood, should result in peaceful attainment of illumination. The simile of a needle balanced and set rolling on a thread is used by the lamas to elucidate this condition. So long as the needle retains its balance, it remains on the thread. Eventually, however, the pull of the ego or external stimulation affects it, and it falls. In the realm of the Clear Light, similarly, a person in the ego-transcendent state momentarily enjoys a condition of perfect equilibrium and oneness. Unfamiliar with such an ecstatic non-ego state, the average consciousness lacks the power to function in it. Thoughts of personality, individualized being, dualism, prevent the realization of nirvana (the "blowing out of the flame" of fear or selfishness). When the voyager is clearly in a profound ego-transcendent ecstasy, the wise guide remains silent.
LearyRAW
The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension
A Experiência Psicadélica
A Experiência Psicadélica de Timothy Leary
La
experiencia psiquedélica: un manual basado en el Libro tibetano de los
muertos, es un manual instructivo para ser usado en sesiones en las
cuales se está en contacto con sustancias psiquedélicas.
Fue escrito en 1964 por Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner y Richard Alpert, los cuales tomaron parte en experimentos que investigaban las posibilidades terapéuticas y religiosas de drogas como la mescalina, la psilocibina y el LSD. El libro es dedicado a Aldous Huxley e incluye una pequeña cita introductoria de su libro Las puertas de la percepción. [wikipedia.es]
Fue escrito en 1964 por Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner y Richard Alpert, los cuales tomaron parte en experimentos que investigaban las posibilidades terapéuticas y religiosas de drogas como la mescalina, la psilocibina y el LSD. El libro es dedicado a Aldous Huxley e incluye una pequeña cita introductoria de su libro Las puertas de la percepción. [wikipedia.es]
download
A Experiencia Psicodelica
La Experiencia Psiquedelica.doc [Esp.]
The Psychedelic Experience.pdf [Eng.]
Syd Barrett
Roger Keith Barrett
Cambridge, 6 de Janeiro de 1946 — Cambridge, 7 de Julho de 2006
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The madcap laughs (1969)
Barrett (1970)
the madcap laughs (1969) [bonus tracks]
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a smoker in a den in China in 1946
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