Consilience

@Stakres because Im not a primate, but this was an important reality I lived years ago. And in a way, identifying as a primate makes more sense than identifying as something like “awareness” because the primate is literal experience whereas awareness is an idea being projected into experience. But even both seem to be slippery identities and still not quite it.

The thing doing all the focusing throughout the practices is not me. Neither is the thing creating the joy, happiness, and equanimity. So... What am I?

Super interesting perspective, thank you

Close ???

How can a verb happen through Now?

@AlphaAbundance I would agree insofar as whatever your mind thinks is true, is true for you. So, yes suffering and joy and very much real because that’s what your mind creates. My mind does this too, Im not enlightened. I mean... I am haha but nevermind. Honestly, contemplate this shit. How do you derive meaning and purpose for life if it’s all meaningless? There wont be an answer that comes to you in the form of the intellect though, I’ll spoil that much. Perhaps there is a form of happiness that is completely formless and intrinsic to your direct experience. And perhaps as you become more conscious, as you embody selflessness, self love, truth and honesty you will begin to spontaneously take action which is congruent with your life purpose and higher values. I say perhaps because I don’t know what your experience will be upon investigation. For me, I no longer act out life purpose from a place of rationality or success, it is done because it is an authentic, spontaneous manifestation of my body/mind system’s energy. When you stop identifying with what you are not, you will start exerting your highest will, so to speak. But it’ll happen on its own. I hope this makes sense.

Yes. This means if you didnt do any of these, that is perfection. It means, if you did all of these, that is perfection. But hey since there’s nothing to do, and life and existence are already perfect, why not live life to its fullest potential? Edit: Even perfection is meaningless ?

From what I heard, this will be the last apprenticeship he does so if you’re serious about it, this is probably your last chance @Chumbimba

Im getting to the point where I have to almost make myself trip... sometimes it’s hard going so deep into the mind’s fears and the shadow side of humanity ? Doesn’t feel addictive but Im only using shrooms and lsd

@LfcCharlie4 It is. But if you like his style, it could be life changing. I met someone at the workshop who'd done the apprenticeship and had nothing but positive things to say about it and how it transformed his life. Personally, Im just too independent for something like that. I also don’t find Ralston’s approach to be the end all be all for consciousness work but hell... what’s 6 months out of a lifetime? Im sure it would be a crazy learning experience, albeit expensive lol.

It’s 15k for like 6 months or more for the apprenticeship

Highly recommend his workshop. Can’a say Im interested in an apprenticeship. Though I've gained tremendous value studying his approach to consciousness work, I felt like what I learned about in his books and workshop aren’t the only facets of awakening Im interested in. There are many deep awakenings/insights to be hand beyond absolute truth and teachers to learn from. For example, I find psychedelics to be a form of the teacher/student dynamic. I see meditation as another teacher. Both of these methods wouldn’t be in balance with brute, focused contemplation which is what you get out of an apprenticeship. I think there is tremendous value in a holistic, personalized approach towards spirituality. You are your own best authority so trust your gut on what you think is best.

@Aaron p You received more insights from DMT than hardcore daily practice, which totally makes sense. What about long term transformation? Did DMT provide more of that than daily practice?

@Gili Trawangan Absolutely, glad you found value @StarStruck For sure. It’s a very interesting addiction that seems to have multiple moving parts associated. But yes what you said haha.

What I was meaning is that women enjoy being attractive when it comes to the interaction of a relationship between man and woman. But a man who responds to the attractive and seductive tactics a woman uses with neediness, this is going to be seen as unattractive. There are a myriad of men you can read about across the internet who have failed with being with a woman, whether for sex or a relationship, because they were too needy. There are many ways to attract a woman yes. I don't disagree. "Being you" as you say, involves having the groundedness to not need a woman. Being 100% me means I could walk away from a woman's attention and be 100% good. This is preciesly confidence. Confidence is not caring what another thinks and is being grounded enough in their self to not need another. That's true confidence. All versions of attraction and seduction are a form of manipulation. That's the whole mechanism of the game. And that's what I was becoming conscious of. It's one big mind game whether the intent is malicious or not. Even being yourself while trying to attract someone is trying to manipulate the other to be with you. The porn thing is complicated. All I can express is that porn is a collective phenomena that men are collectively addicted to. Porn itself is a form of strong, feminine energy addicting men. There are masculine components to the porn industry no doubt, and patriarchal components as well in terms of how some women are treated by the men in the industry. However, the way that the collective man uses porn is as a hedonistic release for the feminine. And that's why I saw porn as a collective manifestation of the divine feminine, because it is a collective group of women who are creating an engine for collective PMO. I would disagree with "You don't gain 'man-like' power back if you abstain." As a man, I always can tell a difference in my energy levels, motivation, and even acute testosterone levels if I abstain for an extended period of time. Many other men have reported similar and other benefits that one could easily define as masculine. Yep that's basically what I said in the trip report. Confidence. Self security. Non-neediness. Being 100% grounded in ones' self for their own happiness. Not needing another to fulfill that. This is the most attractive thing a man can do. But it would be foolish to think all actions don't matter. Because not all actions are grounded in true authenticity and confidence, so if you're trying to attract a potential partner, the actions very much do matter. Thank you. I don't feel limited at all, I actually feel quite the opposite after this experience

@Commodent Thank you I am currently reading it yes. I 100% agree that this work doesn't stop with enlightenment... This is something I honestly did not expect when I began working with psychedelics.. And yet now I'm in too deep to stop lol. At least I feel the call to continue pressing on this path. I think I was able to explore these domains because of how much this book has been opening my mind up to what is possible with psychedelic work... I very much felt "LSD and the Mind of the Universe" vibes during this trip. Interestingly enough, however, this trip isn't the first time I've stumbled into the collective domain. One of my first mushroom trips I remember becoming conscious of what I could only call the collective suffering of humanity and realizing how this suffering could be no other way... And another time asking "who am I" and getting this distinct experience of the collective part of humanity's consciousness asking that question, how I had asked this same question across so many lifetimes. These were before I heard of Bache's work. So when I heard him discussing the "Sea of Suffering" as he calls it, my previous mushroom experience suddenly felt so much more validated and authentic. Unlike the mushroom trip, this time the suffering I felt was oddly specific. Specific in that I was feeling suffering directed at the regret of humanity, not simply generalized suffering. It felt literally like I could feel the weight humanity's lost opportunity's coursing through my body and mind.

I appreciate this... Thank you truly.

This one is the twisty part but you gotta love it. Psychedelics let one peer into facets of consciousness that are relative truths, not absolute. Ironically, understanding absolute truth is not the same as understanding the depth of intelligence and form at play here. At least this is what I suspect. It seems it may be possible that enlightenment and understanding the depth of reality are two different paths.

@TrynaBeTurquoise Thanks dude

Interesting projection. Nah I don’t feel desperate. That’s the whole thing with attraction, desperation is a huge turn off. If you feel desperate and needy to seduce women, you can pretty much bank on not being able to lol. As far as salvia, I have no interest in exploring that one.

I appreciate that and all the guidance you’ve given us utilizing these tools. Namaste ?? Thank you Nahm!

Im glad

The Mind Illuminated

Thank you and for sure. Do it alone. Sitters can be cool but they will without a doubt influence your trip. Empathy is always on overdrive with psychedelics so I prefer doing them alone without the influence of another’s emotional state. Make sure you have music planned out before the trip and recognize the tone/energy of the music deeply affects where your mind goes during the trip. Three, meal prep. My mind is so torn apart while tripping (Unless I do smaller trips) the idea of having to manage food seems impossible lol. Finally, Id stick with 150ug max for your first solo trip. Too high and your body/mind wont be able to fully process what the hell is going on, plus it lowers the risk of bad trips. You also build up your energetic tolerance the more you trip, not in terms of the physical effects, bur how well you can stay centered and conscious during the peak. So be patient with yourself and allow yourself time to adapt.

Agreed but overall I enjoyed them all, even the dumb ones haha. They all had their charm and were all very artistically novel which is one of the things I found so impressive.