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Wrapping it Up

The remainder of the book contains information specific to an LSD experiment – everything from the doses, preparing the environment, and preparing the LSD guide and the participant. These are technical details that are well with reading for anyone embarking on a LSD trip.

I’m going to conclude this book-review-by-chapter with a couple of quotes from this last section:

The greatest problem faced by human beings in general, and the psychedelic guide in particular, is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing control. Fear of trusting the genetic process and your companions. From our own research studies and our investigations into sessions run by others – serious professionals or adventurous bohemians – we have been led to the conclusion that almost every negative LSD reaction has been caused by fear on the part of the guide which has augmented the transient fear of the subject. When the guide acts to protect himself, he communicates his concern to the subject. (p. 109)

And this part:

The role of the psychedelic guide is perhaps the most exciting and inspiring role in society. He is literally a liberator, one who provides illumination, one who frees men from their lie=-long internal bondage. To be present a the moment of awakening, to share the ecstatic revelation when the voyager discovers the wonder and awe of the divine life-process, is for many the most gratifying part to play in the evolutionary drama. The role of the psychedelic guide has a built-in protection against professionalism and didactic oneupmanship. The psychedelic liberation is so powerful that it far outstrips earthy game ambitions. Awe and gratitude – rather than pride – are the rewards of this new profession. (p. 110)

Too bad our current mental health system didn’t embrace what Leary and others were teaching. But it’s good that he kept a record of the experiences and the experiments and published this book for those who wish to step outside of the reality game.

Safe travels to all who embark on such an adventure.

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Third Bardo:
The Period of Re-Entry
(Sidpa Bardo)

The Third Bardo has three goals:
1. to free themselves from Third Bardo traps;
2. to prolong the session, thus assuring a maximum degree of illumination;
3. to select a favorable re-entry, i.e., to return to a wiser and more peaceful post-session personality (p. 77)

The ultimate goal, of course, is to reach “liberation” and be freed from “the cycle of birth and death” (p. 77). The reality is that most people will not achieve that state and will return to the social game reality.

During the Third Bardo, paranormal experiences may occur – abilities such as clairvoyance, telepathy, ESP, etc. According to the authors, “The Tibetan book definitely attributes paranormal faculties to the consciousness of the Bardo voyager and explains it as due to the fact that the Bardo-consciousness encompasses future elements as well as past.” (p. 79)

The participant should be warned not to participate in using these new powers. They should only been exercised by those who are very experienced and wise enough not to misuse them.

Interestingly, whenever panic, torture, and persecution come into play, they are culturally defined – “Tibetans might see demons and beasts of pray, a Westerner may see impersonal machinery grinding or depersonalizing and controlling devices of different futuristic varieties.” (p. 80)

A common theme of the book is to recognize the vision without engaging in it.

According to the authors, “The Tibetan manual conceives of the voyager as returning eventually to one of six worlds of game existence (sangsara). That is, the re-entry to the ego can take place on one of six levels, or as one of six personality types.” (p. 83) These are:

1. the highest level includes saints, sages, divine teachers.
2. titans or heroes
3. most normal people
4. primitive and animalistic incarnations
5. neurotics, frustrated lifeless spirits
6. hell or psychosis

Statistically, less than 1% end in level one. Most end in level three.

The authors give ways that you will increase your chances of returning at a higher level by renouncing worldly games. This ties into the concept of letting go of attachments – “abide in the feeling of non-attachment, devoid of weakness and craving” (p. 85)

The participant may be subjected to a judgment vision, which is central to many religions, as well. For this reason, the participant may see the vision in his or her religion and in that particular religious context.

But keep in mind – it can also be highly affected by your own mental hallucinations and personality. As the authors describe, “your personality is a collection of thought-patterns and void. It cannot be harmed or injured . . . Free yourself from your own hallucinations” (p. 87)

The participant may experience sexual visions during the Third Bardo, in which both shame and attraction may be happening at once. The authors suggest, “When these visions occur, remember to withhold yourself from action or attachment. Have faith and float gently with the stream. Trust in the unity of life and in your companions” (p. 89)

It’s vital to not engage, to enter back in your old ego – “if you try to join or escape from the orgy you are hallucinating, you will re-enter on an animal or neurotic level.” (p. 89)

These visions may lead to visions of conception, even reliving your own birth.

Because it’s important to be fully prepared for re-entry, there are four meditative methods suggested:
1. meditation on the Buddha or guide
2. concentration on good games
3. meditation on illusion
4. meditation on the void

Details of these are provided at the end of the book, but to sum it up, there is a profound emphasis on not being afraid and simply be free of the routine game-reality.

Next comes the task of choosing the post-session personality. The authors give great advice: “The purpose is clear: one should follow the signs of the three higher types and shun those of the three lower. One should follow light and pleasant visions and shun dark and dreary ones” (p. 91)

Another piece of sage advice is to not return to your old ego. Don’t rush. Go slow. Detach from emotional pressure.

In other words, just breathe . . . .

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The Wrathful Visions
(Second Bardo Nightmares)

According to the authors, “after the seven peaceful deities, there come seven visions of wrathful deities, fifty-eight in number, male and female, ‘flame-enhaloed, wrathful, blood-drinking.'” (p. 73)

These are considered intellectual visuals and they are assigned so that the Brain chakra holds the wrathful deities, while the Heart chakra holds the peaceful deities, and the Knowledge-Holding deities are held by the Throat chakra.

But they are all created in the moments of consciousness-raising. If the participant can see them as such, they will not suffer.

Interestingly, the authors mention that “when psychologists, philosophers, and psychiatrists, who do not know these teachings, experience ego-loss – however assiduously they may have devoted themselves to academic study and however clever they may have been in expounding intellectual theories – none of the higher phenomena will appear.” (p.74)

For it is not about academic study (or as Noam Chomsky would say, academic “indoctrination”), but about being respectful to the visions and to their mystic revelations.

In fact, the authors state, “Well-prepared persons need not experience Second Bardo hell visions at all. Right from the beginning they can pass into paradisiacal states led by heroes, heroines, angels and super-spirits. They will merge into rainbow radiance; there will be sun-showers, sweet scent of incense in the air, music in the skies, radiances.” (p. 75)

Conclusion of Second Bardo

This section covers the possibility, no matter how prepared and experienced you are, that you may experience delusions in these kinds of psychedelic states.

The authors recommend meditating on the positive and the negative archetypal forms. If you can hear what is in the manual, respecting the experience and “The Great Liberation by Hearing,” the authors state “even those with selfish deeds on their conscience can be liberated if they hear it” (p. 76)

Liberation will be won simply through not disbelieving it upon hearing it.

Here ends the Second Bardo
the Period of Hallucinations

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Vision 7: “The Magic Theatre”

This section is about the Cosmic Theatre. The Diving Comedy. And it results in part from an inability to remain passive and serene in the previous state, the Retinal Circus.

And like mentioned again and again in the book, it is important not to become frightened and not to become too attracted to the visions and sounds.

The concept of the Lotus Lord of Dance is explored in this section. The authors write, “Heroes, heroines, celestial warriors, male and female demi-gods, angels, fairies — the exact form of these figures will depend on the person’s background and tradition.” (p. 70)

If the participants eyes are open, he/she may see these faces overlap on other participants. The authors write,”The face of a friend may turn into that of a young boy, a baby, the child-god; into a heroic statue, a wise old man; a woman, animal, goddess, sea-mother, young girl, nymph, elf, goblin, leprechaun.

Again, the author reminds the reader to pay attention to the fact that this is all the product of the participant’s mind. Nothing more. And definitely, nothing to fear.

My own take on this dance, though, is this – the dance is really about being able to see outside of systems. Perhaps that’s the result of the entire psychedelic trip, though, because the entire psychedelic trip is a dance in various stages and poses resulting in a profound worldview change.

The system is a way of programing the brain and the dance, the dance inside of this Cosmic Theatre, is a way of reprogramming the brain from the inside out, affecting consciousness and intelligence and re-wiring into a state of high resiliency.

That’s the magic of neuroplasticity. In many ways, Leary and his co-authors were way ahead of the game.

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Vision 6: “The Retinal Circus”

According to the authors, “Ecstatic freedom of consciousness is the keynote of this vision. Exploration of unimagined realms. Theatrical adventures. Plays within plays within plays. Symbols change into things symbolized and vice versa. Words become things, thoughts are music, music is smelled, sounds are touched, complete interchangeability of the senses.” (p. 68).

But it’s not a world of cosmetic changes – there are also various moods to play around in. You are a character in a play or in a book. The objects around you may shift and merge, open and close.

Perhaps this comes into the dance of “letting go of self”. This seems to be such an important part of the letting go of ego that defines the awakening process.

Once again, the authors warn against getting involved in any drama and for your own sake, being able to sit back as an observer should any negative vision appear.

I liked this comment, “Remember that all visions are created by your mind, the happy and the unhappy, the beautiful and the ugly, the delightful and the horrifying. Your consciousness is creator, performer, and spectator of the “retinal circus'” (p. 69).

It is amazing what the mind can do. This reminds me of a concept I came across recently:

Santiago’s theory of cognition

The theory can be encapsulated in two sentences:

Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with or without a nervous system.

To me, it means that organisms that don’t have a nervous system – or a brain for that matter – are still “cognitive” systems. And this would explain how the retinal circus – and any other phenomena – can emerge from the mind in such ways.

So even when going deep into a journey – say, a shaman journey – you are in your mind, but your mind is also in the universe.

And it’s all connected.

[Coda]

Vision 5: The Vibratory Waves of External Unity
(Eyes open, or rapt involvement with external stimuli; emotional aspects)

This series of visions could be titled “the plastic doll visions”.

The authors explain that this vision can go one of two ways – “One reaction leads to the intellectual clarity or frightened confusion of the fourth vision (just described).” p. 64

The distinction lies once again in the participant’s ability to detach from the ego state.

This is simply poetic:

“Exquisite forms dance by him, all surrounding objects radiate energy, brilliant emanations. His own body is seen as a play of forces. If he looks in a mirror, he sees a shining mosaic of particles. The sense of his own wave structure becomes stronger. A feeling of melting, floating off. The body is no longer a separate unit but a cluster of vibrations sending and receiving energy – a phase of the dance of energy which has been going on for millennia.” (p. 65)

If done correctly, there is this detachment from the ego state, “you,” “I” and “he/she” are gone. Everything at this point is interconnected so that your thoughts are our thoughts. Your feelings are my feelings.

As the authors explain, “If there is discord, ‘out of phase’ vibrations will be set up which will be felt like discordant music.” (p. 66)

This line reminded me of this video on Cymatics:

CYMATICS: Science Vs. Music – Nigel Stanford

Sounds – even discordant music – still carry a certain amount of design. This is comforting for me to consider.

This “spoke” volumes to me:

“The terror comes with the discovery of transience. Nothing is fixed, no form solid. Everything you can experience is “nothing but” electrical waves. You feel ultimately tricked. A victim of the great television producer. Distrust. The people around you are lifeless television robots. The world around you is a facade, a stage set. You are a helpless marionette, a plastic doll in a plastic world.” (p. 66)

This is such a brilliant description of depersonalization / derealization, which I have been dealing with for years.

The authors give a very good accounting of how to manage this phase – “swing with the wave dance. Or communicate to the guide that you are in a plastic doll phase, and he will guide you back.” (p. 67)

The “plastic doll phase” is such a frequent occurrence so I shall try the advice to “swing with the wave dance.”

Perhaps it’s as simple as what Alan Watts says here:

Do Something Rhythmic – Alan Watts to Music

As the authors note, “For billions of years, inorganic energy danced the cosmic round before the biological rhythm began. Don’t rush it.” (p. 67)

Exactly.

[Coda]

Vision 4: The Wave-Vibration Structure of External Forms
(Eyes open or rapt involvement with external stimuli; intellectual aspects)

The eyes open. And what was once felt is now seen and heard. The authors write:

“It comes about this way. The subject’s awareness is suddenly invaded by an outside stimulus. His attention is captured, but his old conceptual mind is not functioning. But other sensitivities are engaged. He experiences direct sensation. The raw “is-ness”. He sees not objects, but patterns of light waves. He hears not “music” or “meaningful” sound, but acoustic waves.” (p. 61)

Again, the authors warn against trying to control the experience. At this point, “everything is experienced as consciousness.” (p. 62)

But if you try to control it, it may cause “hallucinatory freezing” (p. 62). Because of the rush of it all, don’t try to pull away one piece and give it meaning. It doesn’t work that way. At this point, the world is fragmenting into waves, as the authors describe, the concept of “He”, “me,” “I” will begin to dissolve.

And it’s easy to panic here – “everything, every concept, every form upon which one rests one’s mind collapses into electrical vibrations lacking solidity.” (p. 62)

This is so poetic:

“All solidity is gone. All phenomena are paper images pasted on the glass screen of consciousness. For the unprepared, or for the person whose karmic residue stresses control, the discovery of the wave-nature of all structure, the Maya revelation, is a disastrous web of uncertainty.” (p. 63).

And it made me think of this article:

The Atlantic – Enlightenment’s Evil Twin

When I’ve had severe episodes of dp/dr (depersonalization mixed with derealization), reality around me dissolves. In this Atlantic article, the author writes:

What doctors call “depersonalization” is somewhat beyond the power of words to convey, but it corresponds loosely to what Timothy Leary might have been talking about when he came up with ‘ego loss’ in the 1960s—minus the psychedelic drugs and the feelings of being gloriously at one with the world. Though it can be triggered by drugs, it often occurs on its own, and it’s a fairly terrifying experience. Earlier this year my doctor prescribed me a cognitive behavioral-therapy manual called Overcoming Depersonalization and Feelings of Unreality. If Leary’s psychedelic rewrite of the Tibetan Book of the Dead teaches you “how to break free from personality into new realms of consciousness,” this book seeks to reverse the effects.

I’ve read parts of the book Overcoming Depersonalization and Feelings of Unreality, but I haven’t finished it yet. I don’t think it “seeks to reverse the effects” at all. This is just my experience, though, but I think the two books are very complimentary.

For example, both books stress the concept of becoming The Observer. Both stress the concept of not panicking when things get out of hand with the visuals.

And both books stress the concept – THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR.

As the Atlantic article explores, there are people who enjoy the dp/dr experience and find it useful. But others, not so much.

As with altered states using psychedelics, there are good trips and then there are bad trips. The same with dp/dr.

But with both, we do have a certain amount of control in navigating our way through the journey.

[Coda]

Vision 3: The Fire-Flow of Internal Unity
(Eyes closed, external stimuli ignored, emotional aspects)

I thought I posted this last week, but either I messed it up, or perhaps, reality is not as linear as we think and the journey requires a re-visit to this section – you can never read the same thing exactly the same way twice.

So, onward we go . . .

In this part of the psychedelic journey, there may be a sense of the flow of energy being expressed – or rather, interpreted – as intense feelings.

The authors write:

“Visions related to the circulatory system are common. The subject tumbles down through his own arterial network. The motor of the heart reverberates as one with the pulsing of all life. The heart then breaks, and red fire bleeds out to merge with all living beings. All living organisms are throbbing together. One is joyfully aware of the two-billion-year-old electric sexual dance; one is at last divested of robot clothes and limbs and undulates in the endless chain of living forms.” P. 58

At this point, you feel love. Perhaps this is the aspect of the psychedelic experience that is so good with healing trauma. Dr. Gabor Mate is exploring this topic:

Gabor Mate – Manifesting the Mind – Inside the Psychedelic Experience – video

So not only is there this experience of love sent soaring throughout the mind/body, the “brittle angularity of game life is melted. You drift off–soft, rounded, moist, warm. Merged with all life. . . . Your individuality and autonomy of movement are disappearing.” p. 58

This reminds me of Dr. Arnold Mindell’s concept of “losing personal history”, also very important in healing from trauma. It’s the letting go.

And this has ties in mindfulness, as Jon Kabat-Zinn explores here:

The Power Of Letting Go – Jon Kabat-Zinn – Mindfulness Video.

My experience was in feeling the experience from the inside out during altered states and then drawing on the memory of that experience – the body’s memory – to aid in handling stress and trauma outside of the altered experience.

But the writers warn about turns in the journey that can go in the wrong direction! “But wait! You, YOU, are disappearing into the unity. You are being swallowed up by the ecstatic undulation. Your ego, that one tiny remaining strand of self, screams STOP! You are terrified by the pull of the glorious, dazzling, transparent, radiant red light. You wrench yourself out of the life-flow, drawn by your intense attachment to your old desires.” (p. 59)

So caution is in order.

If the trip goes well, you will feel empowered, “floating down the evolutionary river.” p. 59.

As in previous sections, the author cautions against the ego taking over and fear setting the course for the journey. If possible, reach out for human contact, and if the trip becomes overwhelming – your guide will give you reassurance.

Perhaps, as Jon Kabat-Zinn is so famous for saying, “go back to the breath”. And as the authors of this book writes, “The thudding drum of the heart is sensed as the basic anthem of humanity. The whoosing sound of the breath as the rushing river of all life.”

Be mindful that your ego is in check, that your personality is dimmed, and that all judgment is ceased.

Simply be fearless, open, and pure.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 4 months ago by JanCarolSeidr. Reason: correct per member request

[Coda]

Vision 2: The Internal Flow of Archetypal Processes
(Eyes closed, external stimuli ignored; intellectual aspects)

This is the phase of internal visions – “endless flow of colored forms, microbiological shapes, cellular acrobatics, capillary whirling.” (p. 54).

And internal sounds – “clicking, thudding, clashing, soughing, ringing, tapping, moaning, shrill whistles”. (p. 55)

The person may diminish the experience by trying to label and classify and place an order on the experience. Let the experience ebb and flow, come and go. Search out the “primal creative myths. The mirror of consciousness is held up to the life stream.” (p. 55).

The authors caution against verbalizing the experience, as it interferes with the process.

Also, they caution against sexual interpretations, no matter how tempting with the dancing forms. Keep it pure, stay aware.

They also caution against too much body awareness. Don’t engage in new somatic sensations and think you have an illness. (This may happen more to medical doctors).

If the participant reacts with fear, it’s a result of “game playing (karma) dominated by anger or stupidity.” (p. 57).

The participant will be given instructions to “do not control it” and “do not try to understand it” (p. 127).

The best advice during an altered state that I have come across – and this advice is coming through loud and clear in this book – is to be The Observer.

[Coda]

THE PEACEFUL VISIONS

Vision 1: The Source
(Eyes Closed, external stimuli ignored)

The Source = G-d, the Creator.

This is the White Light or the First Bardo Energy.

However, the authors caution that bad karma can create terror.

I found this paragraph particularly interesting:

“Persons from a Judaeo-Christian background conceive of an enormous gulf between divinity (which is “up there”) and the self (“down here”). Christian mystics’ claims to unity with divine radiance has always posed problems for theologians who are committed to the cosmological subject-object distinction. Most Westerners, therefore, find it difficult to attain unity with the source-light”. (p. 53)

For some reason, I was reminded of this Alan Watts video because it really ties into a kind of “source” theme:

The Real You – Alan Watts

So I’m wondering if perhaps what the authors of The Psychedelic Experience are getting at is that Westerners have trouble “letting go” and “falling into” the Source Light out of fear of death? Not sure, but that’s what came to mind.

There’s no way you can fall since everything is inter-connected. The Universe will catch you.

[Coda]

SECOND BARDO: THE PERIOD OF HALLUCINATIONS
(Chonyid Bardo)

The Chonyid Bardo is the “period of karmic illusions or intense hallucinatory mixtures of game reality.” (p. 47) This is the result of a kind of fill-in-the-blank as the participant is trying to rationalize and interpret. The difference between a good trip and a bad trip really depends on the ability to float and breathe versus trying to impose his or her will on the experience.

This is extremely helpful advice for those who wander in and out of altered states. This part reminds me of Mooji’s talks on Being the Observer:

“The experienced person will be able to maintain the recognition that all perceptions come from within and will be able to sit quietly, controlling his expanded awareness like a phantasmagoric multi-dimensional television set: the most acute and sensitive hallucinations – visual, auditory, touch, smell, physical and bodily; the most exquisite reactions, compassionate insight into the self, the world. The key is inaction: pass integration with all that occurs around you. If you try to impose your will, use your mind, rationalize, seek explanations, you will get caught in hallucinatory whirlpools.” (p. 47)

If the trip turns bad, another piece of advice is to reach out for human contact. As the writers note, “We are all one!” (p. 48)

These are some visions that Westerners have reported: From the Tibetan Thodol, we have classified Second Bardo visions into seven types:

1. The Source of Creator Vision
2. The Internal Flow of Archetypal Processes
3. The Fire-Flow of Internal Unity
4. The Wave-Vibration Structure of External Forms
5. The Vibratory Waves of External Unity
6. “The Retinal Circus”
7. “The Magic Theatre”

The next chapters go into detail about these different types of visions.

[Coda]

Part II – The Tibetan Book of the Dead
FIRST BARDO: THE PERIOD OF EGO-LOSS OR NON-GAME ECSTASY (CHIKHAI BARDO)

PART I: The Primary Clear Light Seen At the Moment of Ego-Loss

In this section, the authors explain the importance of the participant having access to a guru or if not, another experienced person. If one is not available, then someone to simply read the manual.

In this first phase, the participate is trying to achieve liberation, which is “the nervous system devoid of mental-conceptual activity.” (p. 36). As the trip continues, the person attains awareness of energy but without thought, without regard.

If the person is properly prepared, he or she will enter the realization of “Ultimate Truth”. This happens prior to any hallucinations, but again, only if the person is prepared and is not participating in any ego games.

With the ingestion of LSD or psilocybin, there may be physical sensations, but the authors caution against attributing these symptoms to illness and instead, honoring them as messages that the transcendence is occurring.

PART II – The Secondary Clear Light Seen Immediately After Ego-Loss

At the moment of ego-loss, the authors describe: “The individual becomes aware that he is part of and surrounded by a charged field of energy, which seems almost electrical. In order to maintain the ego-loss state as long as possible, the prepared person will relax and allow the forces to flow thorough him. There are two dangers to avoid: the attempt to control or to rationalize this energy flow. Either of these reactions is indicative of ego-activity and the First Bardo transcendence is lost.” (p. 41)

As the psychedelic experience continues, the authors remind the participant to allow the forms and colors to flash by without trying to control or to label it.

This seems like a great form of mindfulness, which is a good tool to have on an experience of this nature.

The authors continue: “At this point you are turned in to areas of the nervous system which are inaccessible to routine perception. You cannot drag your ego into the molecular processes of life. These processes are a billion years older than the learned conceptual mind.” (p. 41)

Some of the physical sensations the participant may feel is “an ecstatic energy movement felt in the spine. The base of the backbone seems to be melting or seems on fire. If the person can maintain quiet concentration the energy will be sensed as flowing upwards. Tantric adepts devote decades of concentrated meditation to the release of these ecstatic energies which they call Kundalini, the Serpent Power.” (p. 42)

Could this be a form of ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response)? I get these kinds of sensations and I feel “plugged into” the universe. Loads of shivers and openings in my senses and sensations. It’s good to know not to label or approach them, but simply let them pass.

The authors note that the participant may flashback to the ego condition and the participant may become concerned with who they are and if they are living or dead. The remainder of the experience is determined by how well the participant is prepared, along with their emotional state.

Interestingly, there may be a different experience depending on if the participant is an introvert or an extrovert – “If you are experienced in consciousness alteration, or if you are a naturally introverted person, remember the situation and the schedule. . . . An extroverted person, dependent upon social games and outside situations may, however, become pleasantly distracted.” (p. 43)

If the participant shows confusion, he or she should be reminded to “release his ego struggle and drift back into contact with the Clear Light” (p. 44). The Clear Light is “the awareness of energy transformations with no imposition or mental categories”. (p. 37)

I am reminded of Dr. Arnold Mindell’s writings on how to “let go of personal history”in his book The Shaman’s Body.

In the Clear Light, there is no sense of self. In the secondary, there is “a certain sense of conceptual lucidity. The knowing self hovers within that transcendent terrain from which it is usually barred. If the instructions are remembered, external reality will not intrude. But the flashing in and out between pure ego-less unity, and lucid, non-game selfhood, produces an intellectual ecstasy and understanding that defies description. Previous philosophic reading will suddenly take on living meaning.” (p. 45)

Yes! I’ve had that experience. I never understand Alan Watts or really, much about meditations until I experienced my first opening of the mind and emptying out of worldview. And then when I re-read some of Watts’ writings on consciousness, it opened up like I was suddenly granted full knowledge of a new language and I found myself fluent!

Yes, it was a “living meaning”.

As the authors explain, “Thus in this secondary stage of the First Bardo, there is possible both the mystic non-self and the mystic self experience”. (p. 46)

The authors end this section by letting you know that once you’ve experienced these two states, “you may wish to pursue this distinction intellectually. We are confronted here with one of the oldest debates in Eastern philosophy. Is it better to be part of the sugar or to taste the sugar? Theological controversies and their dualities are far removed from experience.Thanks to the experimental mysticism made possible by consciousness-expanding drugs, you may have ben lucky enough to have experienced the flashing back and forth between the two states. You may be lucky enough to know what the academic monks could only think about.” (46).

Ahhhhh, better living through chemistry.

[Coda]

There are many ancient practices to train in Shamanic Death, often by mimicking the rituals of Death. Fasting, meditating on the charnel house, meditating on the impermanence of the body, even burial or entombment in order to fully experience this transformation beyond brain, beyond mind, beyond ego, beyond body, beyond the little self, into identification with the Greater Self, That Which Is Greater Than Me.

Some of us have it happen spontaneously, through illness, trauma, accidents, drugs, even lightning strikes, and the formal ritual of initiation is offered through life events. Personally, I don’t know how many times I have “died” to myself, I only know that the process happens, and like layers of an onion – when I believe I have gone Beyond anything I have known before – there is always another layer of ego to release.

The Deathwalk can be the trauma, and it can be the release of that trauama. In walking with Death, you come to appreciate and embrace Life all the more fully!

This is oddly comforting, knowing a kind of framework to place that experience in – Shamanic Death.

I never thought of “training” in it, though. But if the Deathwalk is the trauma that led to going into this state, then perhaps training in Shamanic Death is a kind of “process work” for trauma? Still trying to unpack this book. There’s so much richness and depth. But the symbolism and terminology did trip me up.

The next book I’m reading (and will be writing about tonight) is Timothy Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience – A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Thanks for the book recommendation, as I’m hoping this type of how-to manual may help with understanding the other books I’ve read and will read in the future.

Thanks for the replies along the way. Very helpful. 🙂

[Coda]

Chapter 15
Dreamtime and Cultural Change

I wish Mindell had STARTED the book with this chapter! It really puts all of his concepts together, and I wish I knew where he was headed when I first started reading this book. The metaphors would have made a lot more sense.

The concept of collective dreaming did not make sense until this chapter.

The chapter starts:

When you survive a deathwalk, you know what it is like for a dream to almost die, for a community to turn against you, for an ethnic group to be tortured. If you do not recognize your own powers, when the country represses the diversity of its citizens, its people use guns in order to dream together.” (p. 211)

But what does it mean “to dream together”? And are there ways of doing so without guns?

Yes, but first, some background information. Mindell writes about the goals of dreaming together:

When we succeed at dreaming together, everyone realizes that we are all responsible for creating and changing culture. It is everyone’s job to witness and investigate the altered states of oppression, pain, rage, and freedom that permeate our groups. We have not alleviated our cultural problems by repressing, avoiding, or ignoring them. (p. 212)

This can happen in many ways. Mindell writes:

You can kill aboriginal people, but you cannot kill dreamtime. In a way, shamanism can never die out. Today, people go to discos and dance themselves into a trance, not only because they need exercise and want entertainment. They are trying to dream together. You watch football games to see the accidental mixed with the impeccable, to dream with thousands of others. When you meet with other people and dreaming does not happen, you get bored and avoid such meetings in the future. You smoke and drink to dream. You take drugs or overeat. You probably even go to restaurants to dream with others. You put on your costume, your nicest clothes, to leave one part and become another part of yourself, to dream with others, even though you may not have identified socially accepted altered states of consciousness (like changing costumes) as a form of dreaming together. (p. 217)

But here is the problem with that. Mindell writes that aboriginal people seek success in happy relationships and in a happy and well community, whereas we in the West seek wealth, fame, and to be good-looking.

We are a broken and empty society and so our collective dreams are broken and empty.

This book was written in 1993, so I’m going to add more modern-day collective dreams:

Binge-watching NetFlix
FaceBook
Over 100,000,000 people are on psychiatric drugs in the first world countries

All of these are ways we dream together. It’s truly insane. As Mindell writes, “Most cultures have forgotten their indigenous origins.” (p. 212)

Mindell writes about a conference he attended in Russia in 1993 dealing with conflict resolution. There were groups gathered together – from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Abkhazia, Ossetia, and Ingushetia – noting this was the first time in history these groups had been in the same room.

Here is his story:

Slowly, one after another, these men and women spoke of the suffering of their people, describing war, poverty, and ongoing racial prejudice. . . . People spoke of terrorists invading their localities; others mentioned the effects of imperialist policies of the ex-Soviet leaders in Moscow, but I could find neither an imperialist nor a terrorist in the room.

I explained that, even though we had been employed by the ex-Soviet Peace Committee to work on these conflicts, imperialism and terrorism were unrepresented spirits in our present community of nations. Since negotiations on the political level were failing, why not dream together? To my immense surprise, I was immediately understood.

People got up to play and stood in places set aside for the three spirits: the imperialist, the terrorist, and the victimized community. A dramatic tension had filled the room, when suddenly everything exploded into roars of laughter. I almost fell over backward in shock when these dignified women and men transformed into spirits. Some stepped into Moscow’s role of imperialists and demanded that everyone submit to their domination. The terrorists screamed back, “To hell with you!” No one had any energy to be in the victim condition, which had been so present before.

Dreamtime took over as we were transported for that brief period into another dimension. For that morning, in that room of one hundred and fifty people, we became a community, crying about, looking at, and laughing about our world, witnessing our tendency to dominate, to suffer, and to rebel. Nothing was solved immediately, but something moved, as the way people thought about war changed. Something irrational removed our national boundaries and brought us together. For that time and place, the spirits were exorcised, so to speak; there were no longer imperialists, terrorists, or victims. (p. 218)

So Mindell was speaking in metaphors that are now clear. We do dream together – in our sporting events, dances, what we collectively watch and experience.

But it’s gotten so violent. Take the NFL and the number of concussions and early deaths, for one of many examples. It’s good to see people like Colin Kaepernick break our collective trance and remind us what we should be focusing on.

These are signs of very, very toxic dreams, but we get breakthroughs of possibilities for change.

If we come together as Mindell does in his conflict resolution conferences, even enemies can find common grounds and learn to dream of healing instead of nightmares.

And that ends this book. Very good read and I highly recommend it, even if the terminology is confusing. It rights itself in the end. The concepts are golden.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by Coda.

[Coda]

This brings me to mind of the “Psychedelic Book of the Dead,” adapted from the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary. It’s available as “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead.” While it is listed as a psychedelic manual – for states induced by taking psychedelics – I have found it to be most useful for Walking Between the Worlds, Shamanic States of Non-Ordinary Consciousness, or even (as the medical profession would call it) psychosis.

In the Third Bardo descriptions are given to guide you from the non-ordinary reality or ego-loss, back into ordinary reality. The amazing shamanic power of this is that – upon re-entry, you can choose what ego to manifest in, choose what personality traits to pick up, and which ones to leave behind. There are Shadows and pitfalls as you re-enter ordinary reality.

I’m glad that you are planning to read this book, as it is very poetic, and offers tools and viewpoints for shifting from this reality to another, and back again.

Yes! Thank you so much for recommending this book. I’ve ordered it and look forward to reading it.

Again, I am unsure of Mindell’s terminology. In Casteneda, the nagual is the sorcerer who has the power to shape-change. Mindell seems to refer to it as the shadow. I just picked up this book in the USA, and look forward to parsing your descriptions from his.

I’m still struggling with terminology, so I look forward to your insights.

In non-ordinary consciousness, you shift from the social mind, and hopefully towards the egoless state (as described in the Second Bardo of the Book of the Dead), where you shed the conditioning – and trauma – that was put on you by your tribe. This can be deeply healing, and deeply confusing if you cannot get confirmation for your egoless state.

I’ve had experiences within the landscape of altered states where I knew I was leaving the brain and entering the mind, this as a portal to the soul.

Dr. Mindell’s concept of “losing personal history” was the kind of vocabulary I needed to help put words to the experience. When I lost my memory, I also lost personal history. As I continued on, all of my senses became hyper-aware. It was then I knew I had left the mind, dissolved from the ego, and gone into the soul.

The first times it happened, I was scared at first, because I didn’t know what that was, but then the fear was gone and I was filled with a form of openness, like a running stream or wild galloping horses. I was inside of the world instead of looking from inside of my eyes and I felt it as rhythm, the music of the spheres.

And after working with you and from reading these kinds of books, I’m learning concepts of urban shamanism, including the right words to use to express these experiences.

Not sure how it works for everyone, but that was my experience.

I’m hoping to learn more with the Timothy Leary book.

There is another teacher, Francis Weller, who offers a handbook for the art of grieving, “The Wild Edge of Sorrow,” and then takes grief to a new level in “Entering the Healing Ground.” In this second book, she discusses how in many ways, it is too late for our habitat to support us as humans, and what we really need to pursue is not “saving the planet,” but instead, “saving our soul,” in a sort of hospice for the soul of humanity.

Wow, that looks like a powerful read. I placed it on my “must read” list.

Wait, I looked up these books online and I think Wild Edge of Sorrow is the updated / revised version of Entering the Healing Ground, but please double-check me on this. When I looked at the books on Amazon, Entering the Healing Ground had a note stating “There is a newer edition of this item” and it linked to Wild Edge.

Perhaps we can add this to our books to discuss here on SE? This looks like a phenomenal author.

I like the Thich Nhat Hanh quote a lot. He was (through his writings) my first meditation teacher in the 80’s, and I have great respect for his writings, world view, and sense of hope. Together, we can be Buddha. I like this!

Yes! I also learned a great deal from Thich Nhat Hanh. I belonged to a mindfulness center that used his texts and teachings as a framework for practice.

Thanks for writing!

Thanks for responding! And the book recommendations are awesome. 🙂

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