tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post4607691633559839127..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Awake while Sleeping: DMT and Paradoxical ConsciousnessBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-19932437587406215422023-05-25T10:06:15.500-04:002023-05-25T10:06:15.500-04:00It lasted only around a week for me, as I say in t...It lasted only around a week for me, as I say in the article. But something else has happened more recently, which I assume is age-related, and that's that I don't visualize as crisply when I'm trying to fall asleep. And I don't spend nearly as long in deep sleep. Years ago, I used to lose consciousness during sleep, so that I'd wake up with a memory gap, thanks to the moments of deep sleep. These days, though, I don't have such memory gaps. I think that the older we get, the less deeply we sleep. Or maybe it's just me. I've always been a light sleeper. <br /><br />But no, thankfully I no longer have the problem described in the above article. Four years seems like a very long time for this to be going on. And you've tried sleep aids? How about even getting drunk and passing out to reset your system and minimize anxiety? I find that just a shot of rum or whiskey before bed helps. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-14073620499053308902023-05-21T06:02:47.009-04:002023-05-21T06:02:47.009-04:00Have your dreams gotten better? Have your dreams gotten better? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-35248276381968556062023-05-21T05:57:35.928-04:002023-05-21T05:57:35.928-04:00You described what I have been experiencing in my ...You described what I have been experiencing in my sleep over the last 4 years. I have been looking everywhere for some answer. Sometimes waking up I can briefly see geometric patterns or what I can only describe as seeing in 4D. Falling into deep sleep is an ordeal but the end dream usually is the one that wakes me to the visual patterns. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-31398151292912254282018-02-27T00:08:32.782-05:002018-02-27T00:08:32.782-05:00you da man, ben. do you know that according to som...you da man, ben. do you know that according to some (including the current me) you experienced the holy grail of altered states? i kid ya not. i have been trying to reach that state for some time. care to help me with that since you have been already there? <br />i live in toronto btw.zombiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16170901618171176202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-86664484729393940352014-05-11T09:47:21.583-04:002014-05-11T09:47:21.583-04:00Whatever their motivation, I see hypocrisy in the ...Whatever their motivation, I see hypocrisy in the way analytic philosophers of mind avoid the issue of psychedelics. As I say, these philosophers pride themselves on following the sciences, and although the sciences too are only just restarting research into the effects of psychedelic drugs (after studying LSD decades ago), it's standard scientific practice in biology to learn about something's normal states by taking it apart and seeing how it "malfunctions." Cognitive science has even been criticized for doing too much of this and producing an overly negative impression of human thinking, according to which we're always "irrational" and "selfish"--because that's what those sorts of studies show. Anyway, given the importance of consciousness, those philosophers should be clamoring for more research in that area. It shows they're not being particularly objective and they're subservient to political biases.<br /><br />I'll check out that documentary.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-30802862930342385892014-05-11T02:20:25.436-04:002014-05-11T02:20:25.436-04:00The mind seems to be capable of all kinds of exper...The mind seems to be capable of all kinds of experiences that do not nessesarily fit within a strickly reductionist explanation in my opinion. There is a lot left to learn about what consciousness is exactly and how it is produced by or interacts with the brain, im guessing our scientific understanding of mind and consciousness is still in its infancy. For myself at least, I generally favor a meditative experiential approach to an analytical philosophical one, psychedelic experiences and/or altered states of consciousness can tend towards the transpersonal which is perhaps one reason analytic philosophers might feel more comfortable not considering them. Its interesting that the Dalai Lama has been having dialogues with neuroscientists for many years now, so its not always two sort of different sides talking past each other, and while we are learning an incredible amount about cognition and the brain in the modern scientific era I still think we are lagging behind the yogic adept tradition in terms of a direct experience of mind and its subtle characteristics. Best to keep an open mind.<br /><br />If your interested there is pretty decent new documentary called Neurons to Nirvana on psychedelics as medicines, it gets into a little of the physiological effects of psylocybin on brain functioning, as well as a lot of other cool stuff with a few of the other popular psychedelics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-53558079240520964642014-05-10T10:09:06.910-04:002014-05-10T10:09:06.910-04:00I certainly haven't tried DMT either. I've...I certainly haven't tried DMT either. I've smoked cannabis several times and that's it. Yeah, "dissociation" is a good way to describe it. It was the body going through its cycles and consciousness being where it wasn't supposed to be, which raises the question of what consciousness must be, given that it's apparently (but strangely) physical. I mean, if waking consciousness can be present somewhere in the body where it's not usually found, that conscious self must be finite and physically limited so that it can literally move from here to there. What in the brain could do that? Well, it's the neural activity that moves from one part of the brain to another, as shown by brain scans.<br /><br />I agree that psychedelic states are quite important to religion and philosophy. Have you read my article, The Psychedelic Basis of Theism" (link below)? Indeed, it's surprising that analytic philosophers of mind don't focus on altered states of consciousness in their quest to understand the nature of normal consciousness, since that's common practice in cognitive science: study how something goes "wrong" to understand what's happening when it goes right. Of course, there's a stigma attached to psychedelic states of consciousness...But as I say, I got a sense that my waking, conscious self (my ego) must be capable of traveling to new inner spaces, as it were, for it to be where I found it on that roller coaster. I think this has something to do with the brain waves as well.<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2012/12/the-psychedelic-basis-of-theism.html Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-36357580415722754062014-05-09T19:10:55.712-04:002014-05-09T19:10:55.712-04:00Thanks for relating your experience Ben, im remind...Thanks for relating your experience Ben, im reminded of an experience I had in my late teens with the dissociative DXM. The onset was gradual and somewhat euphoric, I was lying on my back in the dark like a log with eyes closed. There was a sense of being engulfed in a black expansive space with my body feeling enormous, this was entirely pleasant and not unlike other meditation hypogogic sensations I've normally had since a child when falling asleep. But this developed into a strange state where I felt like I was falling and cycling through perhaps around 20 distinct mind states like the roller coaster you described. I recognized each one as it came around but could not control or resist them. They ranged from peaceful and euphoric to anxious and fearful, when in the peaceful plateau I would try to reassure myself that things were fine but then the whole cycle would repeat and I would end up back at the bottom so to speak...<br /><br />Moving on to the psychedic experience and the enlightened mystic vs existentially authentic tragic hero idea, I find the psychedic experience can bring both those archetypes home in a very powerful way. If approaching from the enlightened mystic angle one is more likely to let go in the face of ego dissolution, this might lead to a visionary experience of seeming unity with the metacosmic void/awareness which is said to be the original ground of all existance/manifestation. The Tibetans call it the clear light or Dharmakaya body. From the angle of the existentially tragic hero ego dissolution can lead to a feeling of being disovled into the hum of physical processes and forces. Of losing hold of the feeling of being human and experiencing the body and universe as a vast dance of zombie like forces and mechanical life forms competing mindlessly in an endless uncaring cosmos. The Undead God. Both of these type of experiences are not uncommon on high doses of psylocybin, often an experience can blend elements of both. Best not to grow overly attached to any visonary experience or conception of what reality is all about. I haven't tried DMT or 5-Meo DMT, that kind of seems like the final frontier in terms of the psychedelic territory to be explored.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-63947247548581222902014-05-09T15:31:14.288-04:002014-05-09T15:31:14.288-04:00As Timothy Leary said, context (set and setting) g...As Timothy Leary said, context (set and setting) greatly affects the psychedelic experience. In any case, when you're just trying to sleep so you can go about your daily business, you'd rather not be riding the nightly roller coaster I describe here.<br /><br />As to whether fear really is the mind killer (this is a reference to Herbert's Dune, right?), I think this is an interesting question. I've written a lot on this blog about the ennobling existential role of angst. So I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on why, from a mystical point of view, fear is bad. As you say, meditation zeroes in on your intentions, but I'm talking more about the difference between the enlightened mystic who's found peace of mind, who's detached and unworried, and the existentially authentic tragic hero that I admire on this blog. Maybe we could start a dialogue I could post in article form. If you're interested, email me a short article defending your view of fear/angst, using the Contact Form on the right side of this blog.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-52427576285109159892014-05-08T14:11:52.666-04:002014-05-08T14:11:52.666-04:00I never said that all altered states were necessar...I never said that all altered states were necessarily pleasant. That's definitely not true. Though it's important to note that high-dose psychedelic trips are kind of an extreme example due to how overwhelming they are for the psyche. <br /><br />When one uses meditative techniques this is not really an issue. With meditation, you are driving the ship of your mind with intention. You get what you intend to cultivate. If one chooses to cultivate fear and paranoia it can certainly be done, but doing so would just be dumb. <br /><br />'Archaic instincts' and fear can be overcome with strong mindfulness, concentration, and equanimity. These qualities are all the intentional result of the traditional practices of Theravada Buddhism. I personally find hypnogogic states quite enjoyable and thus reject that they are inherently terrifying. It's a viscous cycle though, when fear is present in the mind the mind projects more terrifying imagery. <br /><br />Sorry for platitudes, but fear is the mind killer.electromagnetic32https://www.blogger.com/profile/13260378848217708220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-49200016511239588152014-05-08T11:23:07.056-04:002014-05-08T11:23:07.056-04:00Why should all altered states of consciousness be ...Why should all altered states of consciousness be pleasant? Hell might as well be an altered state of consciousness. Bad trips on psychedelic substances involve such altered states and they cause some intrepid psychonauts to go mad. According to his brother, the great Terence McKenna had a bad mushroom trip which he never got over.<br /><br />My weird week of being awake in the coma state felt like being buried alive. Plus, it made me very tired during the day, because it deprived my body of rest. So while I respect the courage of those who explore altered states of consciousness, I'm not persuaded by the happy-talk which says there's nothing to fear from them. Sure, there's plenty to fear from the mind, including our archaic instincts that are leftover from our evolutionary past.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-33403465658608174292014-05-07T18:44:30.809-04:002014-05-07T18:44:30.809-04:00Don't be afraid of what your mind can do!Don't be afraid of what your mind can do!electromagnetic32https://www.blogger.com/profile/13260378848217708220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-18596157797613994602014-05-07T18:43:46.819-04:002014-05-07T18:43:46.819-04:00From a physical perspective, yogic practices are c...From a physical perspective, yogic practices are certainly meant to re-wire you. EEG studies on Buddhist meditators in ecstatic states (called the Jhanas) show activation of the Nucleus Accumbens (the pleasure center activated by drug addiction). Concentration states also have the feature of increased hemispheric synchronization. <br /><br />EEG studies on subjects performing insight meditation show changes in activity of the Default Mode Network (are involved in self-referential activity). Psilocybin also modulates activity in this area of the brain. <br /><br />So if you can re-wire your brain with intentional meditative states, that says something about the causal relationship between consciousness and the brain, does it not?electromagnetic32https://www.blogger.com/profile/13260378848217708220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-63300197123412032502014-01-27T11:31:02.669-05:002014-01-27T11:31:02.669-05:00I came across this Kundalini Syndrome some months ...I came across this Kundalini Syndrome some months ago in an article on Salon.com, by a woman who was practicing Tantric Yoga and wound up with what I think she described as a nonstop orgasm which very much disrupted her life. <br /><br />As I see it, there are two things going on here: the physical changes and the philosophical or religious interpretations of them. I'm sure that if we tinker enough with our minds or bodies, we can rewire ourselves. Whether the changes are relevant to enlightenment or are accompanied by any supernatural energy is another matter. <br /><br />Some of the Physio-Kundalini Syndrome Index might be relevant to my strange sleep experience, but most of it isn't. I think the anxiety was caused by the change in my sleep pattern. The shifts of consciousness just happened, and that was scary in itself. Dread was added by the fact that I wasn't sleeping well and so my daytime routines were disrupted. And by the way, I now think the so-called tentacles or flower petals were just reflected light impressions of the veins and pupil of my eyeball on the back of the eyelid. (I'm going to add this point to the above article.)<br /><br />I do think there are philosophical implications of my strange sleep experience, as I say in the last section. I don't think it indicates that I'm particularly spiritual, though. If anything, this sort of change reflects extreme alienation and objectivity, or perhaps paranoia. As I say, it's a matter of consciousness retreating further and further inward so that it can slip through the cracks of the brain, as it were. It's a matter of being so paranoid about delusions, that you decline to be distracted by the phosphenes at night, so you start paying too much attention to them and suddenly your consciousness is shunted to some autonomic system and you suffer the ordeal I described, such as what felt like the coma state of delta sleep. That's how it seemed to me, anyway. I'm certainly no doctor, so my explanation could be mistaken.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-61806181842053674572014-01-26T23:05:54.556-05:002014-01-26T23:05:54.556-05:00If I may ask, can you say why you felt anxious? It...If I may ask, can you say why you felt anxious? It sounds like maybe it was fear of being trapped in your mind, but was there something else?<br /><br />I don't believe what you experienced is exactly the same, but some people have had alarming experiences arising out of awakening if they were not prepared. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_syndrome) <br /><br />Based on my own experiences and listening to friends (some of whom were on drugs and some weren't) I feel like these things are tapping into a fundamental human need to feel existential purpose and explore thoughts about the nature of True Reality.<br /><br />In every account, it seems the symbolism and experience is strongly tied to the inner nature of the person and reflects their core beliefs. From reading your writing, I am not too surprised that it consisted of tentacles dragging you to a deeper truth, only to find emptiness. mikkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-65738866392166483182014-01-21T10:52:11.247-05:002014-01-21T10:52:11.247-05:00I once had that too, I think. It was near the end ...I once had that too, I think. It was near the end of a night's sleep. You feel like you can't move but also like there's another presence in the room. This is the basis for many of the alien abduction stories.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-22757522237142851892014-01-21T10:29:15.498-05:002014-01-21T10:29:15.498-05:00Thanks for the advice. No, I didn't see a neur...Thanks for the advice. No, I didn't see a neurologist. I wasn't terribly impressed with the sleep therapist. By the end of that week I was having panic attacks so I just wanted to hear from an expert that I wasn't going crazy, that it would be safe to take the nonprescribed sleep aids, and also some explanation of what was actually happened. The therapist attributed the physiological changes to anxiety and I'm sure he was right about that, except that the anxiety was more of an effect that led to a vicious cycle than the ultimate cause of it all. What I wanted is an explanation of how it's possible to be conscious in delta sleep or how focusing on certain phosphenes can drag your waking mind into the bowels of your unconscious, and he didn't say anything about that. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-33352846677821495462014-01-21T03:30:44.754-05:002014-01-21T03:30:44.754-05:00Intriguing! Did you ever visit a neurologist, by t...Intriguing! Did you ever visit a neurologist, by the way? Even though you recovered, you might want to make sure there's no underlying medical issue; and I would suspect one would have been more qualified to diagnose you (though he probably would have prescribed sleep aids as well). Keep that in mind in case your "phosphene cthulu" returns. Neurological problems in the waking world are even more nightmarish. :-|EvanThttp://onthewaytoithaca.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-80748209861570602652014-01-20T08:54:39.302-05:002014-01-20T08:54:39.302-05:00So, this post is about your personal experience? I...So, this post is about your personal experience? I have had a few very strange experiences while sleeping. I believe it's called sleep paralysis. While in a deep sleep, I "awoke" but only in my mind. The thing I call "me" awoke, I was fully conscious, but my eyes were close and my body completely paralyzed. It was pretty terrifying, I was able to force myself awake. It was the first time I was confronted with the "me" in it's pure form, really strange. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com