Post by maxdprophet on May 29, 2018 8:28:02 GMT -5
With respect to psychedelics as a spiritual teacher, your mileage may vary. I was high miles for a while there in my college days, but pretty much coasting ever since -- mainly because I'm extremely out of the loop.
That said, my interest was maximally tweaked this morning as I listened to this conversation between Tim Ferriss and Michael Pollan:
tim.blog/2018/05/06/michael-pollan-how-to-change-your-mind/
Ferriss is a self-improvement type of huckster, who has a hugely popular podcast where he interviews super "successful" peeps. Funnily -- because his focus is on making an uber self -- he's been exposed a bit to some self-subverting methodologies in the process like meditation (TM) and mindfulness (Tara Brach and Sam Harriss). Recently he's taken up the noble cause of trying to encourage more research into therapeutic (and otherwise) uses of psychedelics.
Pollan is a science journalist, mainly known for his books on food/nutrition: "Eat food [real food], mostly plants, not too much." He has a new book out "How to Change Your Mind" outlining the history and promise of psychedelic research.
If you're skeptically inclined like I am, and perhaps still floundering trying to catch a coherent perspective (as I am), you may like this. I particularly liked Pollan's description of his own trip and 'ego dissolution' which forced a nondual realization. It starts around 1:35. As we all know, being ineffable, this is beyond effective communication. But here we have a person who is as highly skilled as they come in the verbal arts. Roughly, he witnessed his ego fragment and blow away like a mess of post-it notes and noticed that something was witnessing this. Worth a listen.
"Depression is regret about the past and anxiety is regret about the future. The difference between depression and anxiety is tense."
That said, my interest was maximally tweaked this morning as I listened to this conversation between Tim Ferriss and Michael Pollan:
tim.blog/2018/05/06/michael-pollan-how-to-change-your-mind/
Ferriss is a self-improvement type of huckster, who has a hugely popular podcast where he interviews super "successful" peeps. Funnily -- because his focus is on making an uber self -- he's been exposed a bit to some self-subverting methodologies in the process like meditation (TM) and mindfulness (Tara Brach and Sam Harriss). Recently he's taken up the noble cause of trying to encourage more research into therapeutic (and otherwise) uses of psychedelics.
Pollan is a science journalist, mainly known for his books on food/nutrition: "Eat food [real food], mostly plants, not too much." He has a new book out "How to Change Your Mind" outlining the history and promise of psychedelic research.
If you're skeptically inclined like I am, and perhaps still floundering trying to catch a coherent perspective (as I am), you may like this. I particularly liked Pollan's description of his own trip and 'ego dissolution' which forced a nondual realization. It starts around 1:35. As we all know, being ineffable, this is beyond effective communication. But here we have a person who is as highly skilled as they come in the verbal arts. Roughly, he witnessed his ego fragment and blow away like a mess of post-it notes and noticed that something was witnessing this. Worth a listen.
"Depression is regret about the past and anxiety is regret about the future. The difference between depression and anxiety is tense."