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Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

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Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#81

Post by omginternets »

zozbot234 wrote: post #74
wholinator2 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems you're nearing the message. How does one accept that fully? What do we do in the face of struggles with what may be the greatest struggle a human being ever faces? Could there be some technique that could help? What would that technique look like? Could it include the ingestion of a substance? If ingesting said substance along with guided meditation was vastly superior to all other techniques of death accept…

The drug is just exposing these subjects to the experience of living fully in the present moment. This is not something that can be done as "one weird trick", it requires true spiritual maturation-- and yet, people who haven't learned how to do this are literally dying every single day, whether they realize this or not. Whatever time is past for them, is in Death's hands already. They can choose to dwell on this, or…

We are lucky enough to have two tools at our disposal:

1. Cultivating the spirit. This is slow and has a high abandonment rate, but it is second-to-none in terms of living a fulfilling life. It is worth pursuing, but is unfortunately ill-suited for rescuing people who are in the midst of a mental-health emergency. It should be thought of as "prevention".

2. Cultivating psychoactive substances. This is riskier than the first option, but it has two main advantages: (1) with some precautions, it is immensely helpful in connecting people with their spiritual lives and (2) in an emergency, it is reliably effective. This is on par with the discovery of antibiotics, in terms of medical significance. It should be thought of as "intervention".

Why anyone would willingly renounce the use of either? On what principle? This is obscurantism.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#82

Post by pacificmaelstrm »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #8

How is this different from escaping problems through drug use?

Simple answer, It's not.

Approaching a horrible situation with calm acceptance and resignation is pathological insanity.

Don't let anyone tell you different.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#83

Post by pdntspa »

nwiswell wrote: post #54
ganzuul wrote: post #9

"This life is only a prelude to eternity." - Seneca You can mostly avoid upsetting people with the God language by talking about love of truth instead.

Can't we say, with nearly as much accuracy, that this life is an epilogue to eternity?

Either case sounds like some fancy mental gymnastics to feel good about uncertainty. Much better to embrace it and admit, "I don't know."

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#84

Post by socks »

gehwartzen wrote: post #69
freedomben wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think the former precludes the latter? This seems to be like if someone comes to a doctor with an arrow stuck through him, someone saying "don't give him any pain killers, that's bad. Just take the arrow out so the problem is solved." You should obviously remove the arrow to correct the root cause, but you don't need to deny the patient pain killers in order to do so. Judging him morally or legally for wan…

For me it depends on context; Pain exists for a purpose (i.e don't put wait on a broken leg otherwise you could extend healing time or make things worse) but if technology allows us to mitigate the potential problems (i.e fixing the bone and apply a cast will allow you to walk but not add strain) getting ride of pain in the meantime is probably a net good. If you have chronic pain of some sort and you use substances…

> decides to take MDMA/LSD/shrooms (or whatever) every day. He feels amazing and is living his best life every day

Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you've never taken LSD or shrooms... personally, taking them every day sounds nightmarishly exhausing (can't speak to MDMA).

In my experience, these drugs don't mask your problems, they surface/amplify them.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#85

Post by pacificmaelstrm »

pizzafeelsright wrote: post #8

How is this different from escaping problems through drug use?

Simple answer, It's not.

Approaching a horrible situation with calm acceptance and resignation is pathological insanity.

Don't let anyone tell you different. Especially not someone whose mind has been impaired by drugs.

Drugs alter your subjective experience, how can you then understand whether your experience is true, and you are not simply operating with a defective brain.

In these cases it is the latter. If it was natural to feel a certain way, and that feeling was advantageous to the survival of our species, then your brain would already be that way. Tamper with it at your own peril.

For my part, I will wish to maintain my knowledge of reality and make my last minutes count without any false sense of acceptance of the utter evil that is death.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#86

Post by gehwartzen »

jonathanlb wrote: post #72
gehwartzen wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it depends on context; Pain exists for a purpose (i.e don't put wait on a broken leg otherwise you could extend healing time or make things worse) but if technology allows us to mitigate the potential problems (i.e fixing the bone and apply a cast will allow you to walk but not add strain) getting ride of pain in the meantime is probably a net good. If you have chronic pain of some sort and you use substances…

Your point is taken, but it's not quite apples-to-apples. Therapy can be a deep healing process or a superficial fix, just as psychedelics like shrooms, LSD, or MDMA can be used daily by some (suggesting a shamanic lifestyle, in my opinion) or lead to profound insights in a single ayahuasca trip for others. It's true we shouldn't judge what works for someone without knowing them well, and even then, we can only offer…

Totally. Yeah the comparison was extreme and not meant to equate things.

>"It's true we shouldn't judge what works for someone without knowing them well, and even then, we can only offer suggestions."

Very well said. I have had great success with psychedelics and other mind-altering substances but doesn't mean the next person will. I have yet to reap a great benefit from therapy but perhaps I just haven't found the right therapist either. To each their own.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#87

Post by gehwartzen »

socks wrote: post #84
gehwartzen wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it depends on context; Pain exists for a purpose (i.e don't put wait on a broken leg otherwise you could extend healing time or make things worse) but if technology allows us to mitigate the potential problems (i.e fixing the bone and apply a cast will allow you to walk but not add strain) getting ride of pain in the meantime is probably a net good. If you have chronic pain of some sort and you use substances…

> decides to take MDMA/LSD/shrooms (or whatever) every day. He feels amazing and is living his best life every day Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you've never taken LSD or shrooms... personally, taking them every day sounds nightmarishly exhausing (can't speak to MDMA). In my experience, these drugs don't mask your problems, they surface/amplify them.

I have taken LSD and Shrooms countless times. I take MDMA multiple times a month as well. I guess the point though, for that example, was more along the lines of: take whatever substance floats your boat as much as you desire to remain in a happy state.

>"In my experience, these drugs don't mask your problems, they surface/amplify them."

MDMA will defiantly mask your problems. As will heroin, GBH, and a number of others. But yeah LSD/shrooms not so much.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#88

Post by pacificmaelstrm »

JasserInicide wrote: post #77
gehwartzen wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one could do you think that would be a problem?

Depends on the drug. Caffeine? Probably the most used and least worst, could still cause sleep disruptions. Weed? Could be a problem. It's very easy to get mentally addicted to it and turn you into a bowl of mush, but if you're using it in medical doses I imagine it's less so. Microdosing LSD? Depends from person to person. I think using it too often isn't good for the heart. Alcohol? Absolutely a problem, even if th…

Our bodies have the enzymes to process alcohol (as opposed to similar chemicals like isopropyl alcohol) since animals have been ingesting fermented foods since the beginning of time.

These rhetorical attacks on Alcohol in an attempt to normalize the use of other chemicals without a similar biological history is asinine.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#89

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

socks wrote: post #84
gehwartzen wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it depends on context; Pain exists for a purpose (i.e don't put wait on a broken leg otherwise you could extend healing time or make things worse) but if technology allows us to mitigate the potential problems (i.e fixing the bone and apply a cast will allow you to walk but not add strain) getting ride of pain in the meantime is probably a net good. If you have chronic pain of some sort and you use substances…

> decides to take MDMA/LSD/shrooms (or whatever) every day. He feels amazing and is living his best life every day Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you've never taken LSD or shrooms... personally, taking them every day sounds nightmarishly exhausing (can't speak to MDMA). In my experience, these drugs don't mask your problems, they surface/amplify them.

> In my experience, these drugs don't mask your problems, they surface/amplify them.

I agree, and therein lies the promise of these drugs in therapy. PTSD survivors engaging in MDMA-assisted therapy can finally surface and talk about their problems without the pain they usually feel just remembering.

Re: Psychedelics researcher approached his death with calm and curiosity

#90

Post by JasserInicide »

pacificmaelstrm wrote: post #88
JasserInicide wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the drug. Caffeine? Probably the most used and least worst, could still cause sleep disruptions. Weed? Could be a problem. It's very easy to get mentally addicted to it and turn you into a bowl of mush, but if you're using it in medical doses I imagine it's less so. Microdosing LSD? Depends from person to person. I think using it too often isn't good for the heart. Alcohol? Absolutely a problem, even if th…

Our bodies have the enzymes to process alcohol (as opposed to similar chemicals like isopropyl alcohol) since animals have been ingesting fermented foods since the beginning of time. These rhetorical attacks on Alcohol in an attempt to normalize the use of other chemicals without a similar biological history is asinine.

Found the functioning alcoholic
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