Psychedelic Drugs
Lately, I've been intrigued with psychedelics and their ability to induce unique altered states of consciousness. For the past 3 years or so, I've been interested in altered states of consciousness, mostly the states associated with sleeping. I started practicing meditation to explore and observe the states of consciousness that it enduces, along with lucid dreaming. Ever since I was 12 or so, I've been exposed to marijuana on and off, and mostly during the past 3 years is when I'd say I started to be frequent with it. I also started experimenting with other drugs like mushrooms, salvia, cocaine, ecstasy and dextromethorphan. I've come to the conclusion that I really don't care for stimulants like cocaine, they aren't psychoactive enough and to me it's ultimately boring and not worth the expense just to feel good for a few minutes. However, psychedelics (if used correctly) can induce amazing subjective experiences that can be difficult to describe to others, but it is still an experience that will be with the individual forever. These can be spiritual epiphanies, or introspective revelations that can have positive effects on people.
A few weeks ago, I decided to try salvia divinorum, I bought it at a local smoke shop. I've tried it before, but I suppose I never did such a high dose. I also took the hit out of a bong, so that could have been a reason I tripped so hard.
The trip itself was terrifying. I had no recollection of taking a drug, I was stripped of my ego, and ID, completely wiped clean, and thrown into an impossible 2 dimensional world. It was actually quite peaceful until I became sober enough to realize I was tripping. Suddenly I remembered who I was, and what being human was, I remembered that humans existed. I remembered the people I knew, all my life experiences, it was a lot to handle, being stripped down to an innocent point of consciousness with no sense of self, and having the world I see as being all the world I knew. When I realized there was a whole different existance than what I was perceiving, I started to panic being so very confused.
The whole thing lasted 3 minutes, it felt like an eternity. I can honestly say this was a bad trip, but afterwards the experience made me appreciate a lot about the mundane reality that we live in, and I've grown quite a respect for psychedelics. It made me realize that I truly want to pursue an education in psychology to better understand the nature of consciousness. I've taken a different approach when I use psychedelics and now understand them as a tool to explore the psyche and observe the state of consciousness they induce by meditating. If I do a dose of DXM (dextromethorphan) and I can't meditate, the trip was completely wasted. I'm no longer interested in just "getting high" for the sake of being high. The intention is to gain something out of the experience.
A few weeks ago, I decided to try salvia divinorum, I bought it at a local smoke shop. I've tried it before, but I suppose I never did such a high dose. I also took the hit out of a bong, so that could have been a reason I tripped so hard.
The trip itself was terrifying. I had no recollection of taking a drug, I was stripped of my ego, and ID, completely wiped clean, and thrown into an impossible 2 dimensional world. It was actually quite peaceful until I became sober enough to realize I was tripping. Suddenly I remembered who I was, and what being human was, I remembered that humans existed. I remembered the people I knew, all my life experiences, it was a lot to handle, being stripped down to an innocent point of consciousness with no sense of self, and having the world I see as being all the world I knew. When I realized there was a whole different existance than what I was perceiving, I started to panic being so very confused.
The whole thing lasted 3 minutes, it felt like an eternity. I can honestly say this was a bad trip, but afterwards the experience made me appreciate a lot about the mundane reality that we live in, and I've grown quite a respect for psychedelics. It made me realize that I truly want to pursue an education in psychology to better understand the nature of consciousness. I've taken a different approach when I use psychedelics and now understand them as a tool to explore the psyche and observe the state of consciousness they induce by meditating. If I do a dose of DXM (dextromethorphan) and I can't meditate, the trip was completely wasted. I'm no longer interested in just "getting high" for the sake of being high. The intention is to gain something out of the experience.