Better Understanding Plant Medicine
The following is Part 1 of a 4 part conversation on plant medicine with a friend.
Questions presented are in bold italics.
Mark — I’m writing a new book on transcendence and doing a chapter on hallucinogenic drugs. I wanted to get some others’ opinions on it and also to check accuracy of what I’m saying. Any chance you can have a quick read through attached chapter sometime and let me know any thoughts?
Bruce — I get the overall conclusion you draw, the general sense of where you were heading felt right in a sense. Though feels to me there’s a lived experience that’s missing from what you’ve written? As I read your notes here are my thoughts:
I agree medicines are often problematic. 1. Trauma can damage nervous system 2. Difficult to integrate 3. Abused by folks wanting quick fix. But this isn’t accurate for all people, and some are far better able to use medicines like Aya beneficially.
My take is there’s not an end point in life, It’s a journey where we continually evolve, our needs and desires continually changing. In this way people experience resonance with different healing modalities at different times (and lifetimes) to facilitate the fulfilment of the uniqueness of their path. I feel for some this will at times reflect a beneficial partnership with plant medicine.
I may have mis-read, but I got the impression from the article that you feel people largely take hallucinogens to awaken rapidly, but only receive short term temporary gain. But my experience doesn’t reflect this. Ive taken medicinal plants. I did not become enlightened. I did experience to a degree the nature of awakened consciousness (how boring and mundane). Yes this did pass. However I have and do still experience an expansion of consciousness thanks to medicinal plants – from lessons learnt, energetic healings, working through inner trauma etc. Hence, if we are in it for the long term journey, medicine plants / hallucinogens can be potentially very useful. That said I sometimes ponder did the benefits of plant medicine outweigh the trauma experienced?
The question of course is whether any drug, even from a natural source, can replicate or even accelerate our experience of expanded or heightened states of consciousness?
The focus here however is purely in the context of one’s ability to transcend and ‘permanently’ maintain higher states of consciousness. Maharishi as one example, clearly suggested that such drugs directly impaired one’s ability to transcend naturally. One of the requirements of learning TM is that one abstains from any non-prescribed (hallucinogenic) drugs for 14 days prior. This is based on the fact that ideal experience of transcending is compromised when under the influence of such drugs and ‘well begun is half done’.
While psychotropic drugs may elicit temporary experiences of expanded awareness, freedom from physical and emotional pain, a sense of invisibility, previously latent creativity and other qualities similar to transcendence, they are in a sense ‘artificial’ and of course temporary.
Another point to consider is that all drugs – hallucinogenic or otherwise – have side effects. One side-effect is that they can weaken or even damage the nervous system itself. Moreover, the physical residues or impurities left over from their use can impair the ability to transcend ‘naturally’. Again, this is not to suggest such drugs do not have role to play somewhere in our medical model.
Difficult to comment conclusively on your article as everyone has such a different path to walk. I only know what works for me. And so I see your point on Maharishi (drugs impair ability to transcend) and I can see why he’d say that, but feels pretty rigid to be taken carte blanch. I reckon if you spoke to him about this you’d find there’s more to it. Many nuances. Life’s rarely black and white. I feel its likely hallucinogens are inherently not the problem – its the density of shadow or unintegrated aspects to personality which negatively influence the nature of the interaction between the medicine and our localised consciousness. In theory, we could have a very clean interaction with medicinal plants which didn’t damage the nervous system at all. Rather a wonderful up-levelling of consciousness at what ever speed was in alignment with our highest expansion. The medicine is completely innocent. Its just a facilitator of broader consciousness at work. This speaks very clearly to some people being in alignment with healthy medicine journeys which assist in the awakening to abiding transcendence, and others not.
Not to over simplify, but in my experience expanded awareness from medicine like Aya is no less real than from other sources. We tap into the same field no matter where we investigate from or which modality used. And yes awakened states come and go, but that’s the nature of the path of expansion with or without medicine no?
I get why u comment as you do, noticing people looking for quick fix the naughty fuckers, however your assuming all medicine folk are like that, which they aren’t.
We can go to a cinema and receive great inspiration or upliftment from watching something on the big screen. However, in reality, the movie is just a projection of something onto the screen. It’s not real. Once the movie is over however, we leave the cinema and go back to ‘real-life’. With transcending, consciousness is like the screen by which all our experiences are projected through. By transcending naturally and refining our level of consciousness, everything we do once we get back to real-life is improved. Why? Because we have actually improved the quality of the screen all experience is reflected upon, rather than just some external projection on our mind without actually changing the level of consciousness itself, or the physical structure that support our experience.
Hmmm… The analogy doesn’t work for me mate. The Journey state is not an external projection. What is experienced is an amplification of the internal state – classic Jungian inquiry. Indeed it’s the age old inner journey just under bright spotlight. (Problem is the illumination can be so insistent it traumatises). This said, it does up level ones consciousness, particularly if taken responsibly. It’s the nature of any experience to expand consciousness. Did I misunderstand your paragraph? Sorry if I did.
Mark I notice transcendent states I access in a journey set an example / makes known to me, a previously unfamiliar expanded state of consciousness which is now more easily accessible post journey given my fresh awareness to it. Very beneficial.
Also beneficial, we bring aspects of the journey’s expansion (and lessons, insights etc) back into our lives, work with what we’ve been taught by the consciousness we interact with during the journey, and integrate it into our evolving self in a practical manner (hopefully), whilst the energetics equally integrate behind the scenes through cosmic forces as we leave enough time in-between journeys for life to play its part.
The balance of this is the trauma and shut down of the nervous system the medicine journey initiates which can be very real. However, there are two sides here and it’s difficult to pronounce for anyone else where they’ll fall.
Whats interesting is I can sit with an enlightened teacher who inhabits a human body, receive a transmission of energy which aids my life journey / expands my consciousness. Thats a given, but why would be so different from receiving an upgrade / expansion via a plant teacher if I was aligned with that medicine? Given the intelligence i am connecting to is inherently the very same. Only the delivery vehicle changes. Personally I notice the realm / dimension / energy that i connect to on a medicine journey is often the same energy of higher self, angelic realm, god self etc whether it’s done via meditation, plant medicine, washing dishes or playing tidily winks. Just a matter of personal preference.
Interestingly… unsurprisingly If I sit with an enlightened teacher it can often feel to me like I’m on an acid trip. Literally. Took ages to understand the discomfort I was feeling was repressed density / unprocessed trauma coming to surface being felt. Yes different flavours of experience (I dont hallucinate heavily in presence of enlightened teachers) – but its the same fundamental essence at play in this scenario. Indeed, a good friend takes acid in live Phish concerts as a deliberate, authentic healing modality. Go figure…. but hey everyone’s different and this is his path, and I believe as crazy as it sounds, its likely to be fully in alignment with his journey and the fulfilling of his highest mission on earth. Interestingly he has very similar experiences of density moving through him etc in fish concerts as I do when i see Matt Kahn. That rocked my boat, I thought my path was far more spiritually righteous than his… ha!
My experience is Aya does not artificially stimulate the mind in the manner being suggested. It stimulates whats already up and ready for investigation. Dependent on journey intention. Again… different people use it differently. It moves in the direction we point it… to a degree. Subconscious patterning as well as higher self / god self also play a large role in the final realised ‘intention’ which sets the course of a medicine journey (so far as I can tell).
Also it’s not only used as a quick fix. It’s been used for centuries by cultures in a healthy manner. I know many folks round here who use Aya, acid etc as genuine healing facilitators outside of rapid dose quick fix culture.
The classic problem with Aya / medicine as I see it is journeys can be so deep they can be overly traumatic, cause overwhelm and shut down, and at the best of times difficult to bring the journey essence back into day to day life. However – what is experienced in the journey is very real and authentic to our highest path of evolution. How could it not be, we’re communicating with our higher self or pure aspects of the divine during journey. Therefore its by no means less-than. Rather, its of the same quality of communion as with any form of meditation ive practiced. Again, we’re tapping into the same consciousness in both modalities. Im not sure if your reading me on this one Mark, I feel this is probably worth investigating.
Again balance is needed. Yes we’re communing with the divine, but, what is the intention behind our communing? This is likely what leads to damage to nervous system, wanting too much too soon, pushing too hard, the refusal to accept what’s being offered in preference for what is not available – and the resulting hellish psychedelic onslaught. Thats what largely causes trauma, hence damages nervous system so far as im aware. Again, this reflects conditioned ego, not the medicine. In this light medicine can be a beautiful tool for those who use it wisely.
Mate what ive written isn’t 100% accurate, its a refined space being observed in this conversation and getting the words right would take time. But im happy enough that the general gist of what ive said feels like its going in the right direction. Happy to chat on the phone if anythings unclear. Funnily enough the I only thing I have splendid clarity over re hallucinogenic medicine is that it doesn’t work for me:)
