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I am a former atheist, but after using psychedelics I have come to believe there is some form of energy that exists responsible for our earthly guidance. I don’t necessarily think there is one god, but an energy that manifests itself into our true desires. I have actually come into contact with beings on psychedelic compounds, and although it sounds like drugged up hippie mania, these experiences seemed much more real than just hallucinations. What do you guys think?

GODINDMT 3 Apr 10
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45 comments (26 - 45)

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You should read True Hallucinations by Terence McKenna. It's a good book. Comical. What you are experiencing is the astral realm or maybe even the aetheric realm which is a higher frequency than the astral. It's a medium that we exist in and per say inhabit, i. e., the faerie realm...? An extension of our physical bodies manifesting into pure consciousness, or light... It's interesting to experience these dimensions because you can draw alot of wisdom and introspection from them. The Shamans of Antiquity, I am sure you have read or heard of, do this for religious and spiritual diadem.

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I think anyone that doesn't know what your talking about should smoke DMT a few times and then present their rational response. πŸ˜‰ You really can have no sense of it except in the corsest way from spoken or written description. I do not believe in a diety... I try not to believe in anything. Instead I have strong opinions and favored thoughts... they are a little more mutable, and most of them are probably wrong.

I think there is a something. Not an "other" unknowable thing... but a thing which can and will be known. Not super natural, but wholly natural. Not an "it" but a pattern that pervades all. Can we exclude scales of consciousness beyond our own if we do not even agree as academics what consciousness even is? I think the biosphere and perhaps subordinate divisions of living sytems may be considered a cohered organism, and I am certainly not the fiirst to suggest it. If consciouness is a pattern of information being exchanged between our subordinate components... who is to say the pattern does not project beyond ourselves in the way we communicate amongst one another? There is much of the perceivable spectra of experience that is beyond our direct personal ability to observe... how often do you consider individual skin cells, specifically...? Do you give them names? If there is an order of awareness akin to the order of our "selves" in relation to the massive multicellular colony that is "our" bodies... I doubt that such an awareness would be any more successful at conversing with a human than I would be having quality discourse with an amoeba.

I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but there is absolutely no substance to what you say. Go talk to a monk, or something.

So a consciousness outside of our observable band of awareness?

@Markus i think these things are possible

@GlyndonD What is consciousness? Don’t be so lazy...

@Markus To be clear, I am not promoting a β€œgod of the gaps”. Nor any kind of god at all. Before we can firmly declare there is no consciousness more sophisticated than a human brain, I think we need to have solid criteria on what exactly a consciousness even is. We do not have a consensus on that. If you look it up, you just get a lot of opinions, some more considered than others. Where do β€œyou” reside in the brain? Are β€œyou” to be found in some β€œmaster cell” in your brain? We already know that isn’t how it works. So what are the integral components of consciousness?

You are all true believers in mysticism. That is your right. It is my right to think and believe that what you say is not true, let alone profound.

Have fun, but beware the destruction of the brain caused by foreign substances and even harboring bad ideas.

@GlyndonD First of all... I prefaced my response with saying that these are thought's and not beliefs, and as such are probably wrong and prone to modification. These are not beliefs. They are thoughts. Speculations. "Speculating is a waste of time" Said NO inventor, innovator or theoretician, EVER.

I'm fine with the idea that all my concepts are baseless garbage. But that still does not answer the question, what is consciousness? What is your model, which is so clearly superior to you? You are confident that god does not exist (as I am), how sure are you that you exist? What is it that is you? Do you prefer not to think about it? Do you accept that you do not exist? Just shrug your shoulders and plod forward never knowing or wondering what it is you are? I am not advocating for Mysticism... rather asking the question, is ignorance the soul and only source of mysticism... or is there something else going on? A phenomenal subtext that gives rise to what is perceived as spiritual experience? I think it is easy and lazy to wave questions of consciousness away as delusional fantasy... but it has nothing to do with science, logic or reason. The dismissive hand waving arises from insecurity, not curiosity and openness to thoughtful exploration. This is the "Philosophy & Meaning" category after all.

The Gaia Hypothesis is not some "New Agey" kookery. It was fomented by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. Feel free to research those credentials. Their work does not infer a "global consciousness" but posits that the systems that regulate the global ecology strongly resemble the systems that regulate the metabolic function of an organism. I can't say it's a broadly accepted theory, but I don't think it's due to lack of rigor or viability. A lot of scientists are reluctant to see the biosphere as a cohered self-correcting system... in the same way they are reluctant to consider organic molecular structures smaller than a cell as "alive". but it really doesn't seem all that radical to me. Attacks on the theory often orient towards poking at data that suggests populations are detrimental to homeostasis... but my retort is simply that your time-line isn't long enough. Life does more than adapt to the environment... it changes it. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it weren't for the fact that cyanobacteria saturated the atmosphere and oceans with oxygen in the first billion years or so of life on earth.

@Anemynous Consciousness lies within the network interactions of brain cells, neurons, electrical impulses, electrochemical interactions, etc. All physical, and ultimately explainable within the realm of science and reason. There are no disembodied "spirits" that inhabit spaces within the skull. There are no disembodied spirits that float around inhabiting worlds or ecosystems.

Evolution has created equilibriums that exist on the planet, for sure, but it is not coordinated or managed. Thus, you may think of the Gaia god as a very romantic conspiracy theory -- nothing more.

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I know others who have experienced what you have.

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My friend, you would have fit right in back in the 1960s. That's the kind of thing many people thought back then. Of course, many of them turned up dead, or brain dead, so not sure what that says about that cosmic energy. I do recall that some followers of the thankfully very late Charles Manson found through hallucinogens an energy that helped them slaughter a whole lot of innocent mostly young people. So, I would have to say I'm not a fan of this sort of thing.

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I think you are the god figure you met during your trips. The totality of our brain, lit up from LSD or schrooms is a wonder of creation and overwhelming to the daytime consciousness.

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Dopamine

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As a former consumer, read your posts/writings 1,3, and 7 years later. If you still feel the same, then write your book. Clarity of mind enables a good trip, clarity of mind enables you to realize it was just that. Happy hunting.

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Funny how that works, isn't it? I have taken psychedelics more than twice in my life and I find the exact opposite to be the case for me. After a hard LSD trip a few months ago, I was more confident than ever that gods only exist inside the minds of humans. It was obvious for all 10 years of Christian school attendance despite the apologetics and circular reasoning they tossed my way.
One may want to go "god lite" with the whole energy charade. That's fine, if it keeps your dick hard, think what you want. Believe what you want, no skin off my ass. Just don't expect others to entertain your notions with a straight face.........my 3 cents.

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If that makes you happy why not
Each person has its right of opinion
Remember like they say whatever you put in and that is what you get out
theory works psychedelic in and psychedelic experince out

Rosh Level 7 Apr 10, 2018
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I think that recreational substances produce very real and compelling personal subjective experiences sourced from your own mind, which is capable of more interesting stunts than you probably once thought it was. Or maybe even still think it is. What reason do you have to assume these experiences, however vivid or compelling, come from anywhere other than your own mind? What basis do you have to call things that we already have perfectly servicable and descriptive names for (the mind, the self, the unconscious, the universe, existence) god?

Finally -- how, in practice would you accurately distinguish between a "manifesting energy" and your own desires? Seeing as how it conveniently manifests in the form of your "true desires"?

What is far more likely to be true of your experiences with hallucinogenics is that they removed some inhibitions and filters and thinking conventions that allowed you to be more authentic or at least to feel more authentic and profound. And of course, being that they are hallucinogencis, that you hallucinated.

I can't count how many times I had dreams where bizarre things happened that seemed profound and meaningful and then upon awakening seemed silly and fanciful. I don't see why recreational drugs would be any different.

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I think you should lay off the psychedelics.

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I got really pissed once, man it makes chicks look good, makes me so attractive to them, and makes me an awesome driver.

It makes you an intellectual, too.

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Mind altering drugs are not necessary for observing Nature from a functional thinkiing perspective. Recognition of life energy isn't antithetical to rejection of deities in my thinking.

One of my favorite quotations (in my bio): "In the act of thought, life comprehends it's own essence." Wilhelm Reich, M.D.

We are manifestations of life. How we function, societal and theological damage notwithstanding, exemplifies our place in the hierarchy and offers functional clues in our quest for understanding; in our 'comprehension of our own essence'.

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I have never had an experience as you described, but I too believe there is an 'energy field,' that sustains life! It was Einstine, who proved that all forms of life, vibrate at different frequency! So we must be supported by some kind of energy! But, you must believe what you can believe...

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Definitely agree with you on that!

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I haven't used any psycho-affecting drugs, yet I have had similar experiences... let's call them visions. And I do believe them.

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I don't do recreational drugs.

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That is interesting, and very complicaated. Will you worship this entity?

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I didn’t come into contact with beings but did sense something outside of myself that I understood to be singular and yet all encompassing. My experience was more like being able to see the thread that binds us all together. I did/do like being able to see life from different perspectives via hallucinogens but I do try to question, as I do all things, what I experienced and digest it with curiosity and nothing more.

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I agree, since everything is ultimately energy and can't be created or destroyed, there are multiple dimensions, etc.
It may have just been hallucinations, but maybe not.

I believe in a Higher Self, and Source energy, but not the Hebrew god idea.

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