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Psychedelic Information Theory

By Gregon

A new book, or perhaps more correctly ‘book-in-process’, which readers may want to check out is Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason, by James Kent (former publisher of Trip Magazine). Kent is currently in the middle of editing and refining the text, and has made a lot of the text available online for people to read over and give feedback on:

Psychedelic Information Theory spans the chasm between science and mysticsm and fully deconstructs the magic of the psychedelic experience in a way that promises to satisfy both skeptics and true believers alike…In addition to the most complete neurologic deconstruction of various psychedelic mind states ever compiled, Kent also provides an exhaustive analysis of the way information is generated within the psychedelic state, and how that information transcends the personal mind and influences human culture at large. Finally, Psychedelic Information Theory examines the scientific basis of traditional shamanic powers and techniques, and frames a new model for shamanic practice and clinical therapy in the modern world.

Sure to cause a storm in some circles with it’s dismissal of such things as “the DMT elves” and other widely-held beliefs – take a look at it and offer some feedback yourself.

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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17 Comments

  1. Poor James
    Poor James. He must have spent years on that book. Yet another attempt to rationalize, justify and defend ones fascination with drugs as a valid path to “reality”. He is analytical to a fault, obsessively so, and still has not had enough direct experience of real psychic development.

    Here, James is an illustration of the overwhelming difference between a REAL mystical experience, ala Saints and Yogis and mystics, and mere psychedelics:

    1. You have a three year old daughter, and she is late for school. You can’t take her yourself. You need to ask one of the following two friends if they would drive her to school:

    a. One of them is currently having a full blown MDA experience, or LSD, or ANY of the hallucinogens. He is peaking. I myself am very familiar with this, from my own direct experiences. I promise you, if it were my 4 year old daughter, he would not get the job.

    b. You other friend is a Yogi, and he is having a full blown experience of cosmic consciousness. A REAL “mystic experience”. His mind is extraordinarily sharp and clear at this moment. It is in a state of superhuman lucidity and clarity. The very OPPOSITE of “stoned”. Were you to talk to him you would find that he is more attentive, more aware, and more capable of activity than a normal mind would be. He can read the mind of your child, see the big truck coming around the corner on the road before it is within eyesight, he can precognate any possible traffic problems before they are a problem and avoid them. His state of consciousness makes it far easier to drive responsibly and make sure your daughter is safe.

    Now, Which friend are you going to pick to drive your child to school?

    Writing off the mystic experience as something that mere ingestion of a plant, a chemical, or an insect will bring on just as easily is naive and disrespectful of those who have devoted their lives to the tedious self development exercises necessary.

    There is no question that drugs CAN force certain aspects of a mystical experience to manifest in the consciousness of the user, yes, but there is a very good reason that the Yogis and mystics in the East categorically forbid such use for their disciples. (and before somebody hollers “Soma”! They should realize that this applies to the Vedas, not the Upanishads, and have little to do with the mystics I am talking about.

    Love,
    Dashour

    1. Thank You!
      Dear Dashour, Thank you very much for saying so well what I’m wanting to say. The point is that psychedelics are an artificial means to attempt to attain enlightenment and is not the “real thing” and from long introspection into meditating/prayer I can honestly say this way is so simple, far cheaper and much healthier than the other way. Love, Pam —————————–Truth is stranger than fiction.

    2. mindcandy
      Hi,

      For me there’s no chicken or egg question here-plant ingestion came first, from states experienced thus came the wish to come to a more controlled and less fysically invasive methods to go ‘out there’ .Whether the latter is more integrative and thus less dualistic remains to be seen.

      ” do unto others as you would have them do unto you “

      1. Gee kennc, where did you get that idea?
        Kennc, have you ever seen the religious people so fired up with religious fervour that you could put a match to their toes and they wouldn’t feel it?
        I remember many years ago when the late pope was visiting Oz and they showed the audience waiting for him.
        In the front row was a heap of nuns, their little faces alive with mystic fervour.They were practically floating with the expectation of seeing the holy man.
        They had whipped themselves into a frenzy.
        The end result is the same in both cases.
        The only difference is that with drugs, if you are sensible you can go into an induced state far deeper and on another level altogether.
        When a person uses meditation for years to gain a state of endorphin-induced glee, they are doing the same thing as the nuns were doing.Only the nuns were focusing on a mystical figure, the meditators are focusing on themseves.
        To really get outside the body, you need drugs.

        shadows

        1. True Meditative States Do Not Need To Decrease One’s Awareness!
          Shadows

          You can be totally aware of reality and, at the sametime, transcent reality if you can teach your mind to think in more that one direction at a time. Furthermore, you can remember the experience and do this anywhere without anyone knowing you are doing it. All that you have to do is train your mind to do atleast two things at the same time, usually three or four things. This takes practice, focus, concentraction, and years of hard work. But, it’s worth the effort. There is, however, a down side. It becomes impossible to think of just one thing at a time and that can be unnerving to people! But, on the other hand, it can be very helpful to you! Drugs, meditative poses/ positions, atmosphere, chants, self-induced hypnosis, etc. are totally over rated from my perspective.

          I’m just saying that drugs aren’t the only way to get out of the body and have out of body experiences; but, they are the easy way! So, let’s live and let live! You do it your way and I’ll do it my way!

          kennc

          1. Kennc, what you speak of…
            ..comes easily to women but not men.
            In my prime, (I have eye trouble now so I can’t do it anymore) I could watch TV, read a book, knit,and eat at the same time.
            Ask any woman and she will tell you the same thing.
            Men are singularly minded.

            I am not saying that drugs are the only way to have out of body experiences.I am saying that it is easier on your subconscious because you are honestly telling it what you are going to do.
            The subconscious picks up and acts upon all the little clues you give it each day, most of which you don’t mean.
            You need to be very clear-cut with it.

            I personally don’t care what people do for their own enlightment, but I know what I think is safest for people like me.

            shadows

          2. well, no
            being a man, I get really bored when I am supposed to do only one thing. I watch movies, read a simple book, and cook dinner at the same time. I watch football or hockey games while talking about important local and global issues, and I don’t lose track of the game or the conversation.

            And all this without any drugs whatsoever. It works with beer, and without beer.

            And I don’t look the least bit feminine, although of course I am remarkably pretty. So there.

          3. Earthling, that’s your first joke.
            It was a joke, right?
            Actually that is unusual for a man.My sons always tell me to let them do one thing at a time and then they will do something else.
            I think it comes from women having to multi-task when they have babies, and are required to look after the baby and the man at the same time.
            But you’re right, it does not require drugs, and nowhere in these comments have I said that it does.
            I said only, that you must be careful of what your subconscious picks up from you.

            shadows.

          4. seriously
            no, honestly, I normally work on a few things at the same time. Sure, there are some things that require all my attention, but that is only the difficult stuff.

          5. Let’s Not Over Generalize About Men!
            Shadows

            Really! Women aren’t unique in that way! Furthermore, I have a very controlled relationship with my subconscious. I’ve merely developed my mind in a rational manner! I don’t know about the men that you have known; but, all men are not singularly minded! The most important thing is to develop a highly order mind! Obviously, there are some things that you don’t know about men!

            kennc

          7. You Are A Very Special Woman!
            Shadows

            We had an honest disagreement! That is all there was to it. There was no reason for you to appologize. You are a very kind and generous woman!

            That’s what I think!

            kennc

      2. close, but a bit shy of the mark
        Neither meditation nor entheogens are a reliable path to mystical experience, imo. Both can be, and often are, means of opening doors which can make the mystical experience accessible but they do not take you there (imo again).

        Case in point: an acquaintance of mine followed the entheogen route for a number of years, and while he was engaged in that pursuit he argued strongly that the entheogen experience was identical to that which I knew from walking a drugless neo-shamanic path.

        This friend subsequently quit working with entheogens and sometime thereafter found himself awash in actual mystical experience, which his entheogen experience left him wholely unprepared for.

        There is a profound difference, and no amount of familiarity with one method will prepare one to cope with the others any more than being a racecar driver will prepare one to pilot a plane. Both make take you places, but how they get you there, where you end up, and what it takes to arrive in one piece is quite different.

        Similarly, I have known a number of dedicated meditators who suddenly find themselves in circumstances wholely foreign to their experience and which leave them lost and adrift, grasping for any sort of handle on the experience just as was the case with the entheogen experimenter I mentioned.

        There seem to be endless tools for opening the doors, but only the actual stepping across the threshold will take one to the place beyond the door(s).

        That’s my pair of tarnished pennies tossed into the pot, at any rate 😉

        Tiger

  2. What’s wrong with drugs?
    I haven’t read the above link, but before I do, here is what I think about the situation.
    Self-induced highs or other mental states achieved through meditation cause a chemical change in the brain.
    So do drugs.
    You can do it yourself or you can do drugs.
    I know this sounds simplistic and it is, but the self-hypnosis needed to get a person into a state of trance can be dangerous.
    I don’t need to read a link to know this.I know this from life experience and I have also read somewhere that this is true.
    Sorry, dunno where now, I will try and remember.
    Whatever you call it, meditation, self-hypnosis or anything else, it still interferes with the brain chemistry,and when the conscious mind alters the activity of the subconscious mind mishap occurs.
    OTOH if you want to take a drug to alter your consciousness and do so with the necessary safeguards, then YOU have not interfered with your subconscious, drugs have.
    I don’t usually comment on posts about the mind as I don’t have much of one, but I know where I am at on this one.

    shadows

    1. Nothing If You Just Want To Feel Good Or Escape From Reality!
      Shadows

      My personal preferences are alcohol and tobacco! But, live and let live! Others have their own personal preferences and that’s fine with me!

      Kennc

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