When you have tripped though have you been looking for meaning in that trip, or just taking psychedelics for recreational use?I think I may have a different perspective on several things due to using psychedelics, but I don't really feel as though they've impacted my life in a meaningful way for the good or bad.
Both. I can't say I ever found much meaning to be honest, but I think that's due to me not being a spiritual or superstitious person. I suppose we all go about things differently and view the experience in a unique way. I will say that psychedelics kind of opened me up to how incredibly small we all are in a cosmic sense, both in size and time, how the things that are so important to us in our little lives are less than a speck of star dust in the grand scheme, and that in itself ought to be enough to blow anyone's mind.When you have tripped though have you been looking for meaning in that trip, or just taking psychedelics for recreational use?
I see psychedelics as a mood amplifier of sorts, so like you said they're a bad way to hide from reality. I'm really happy with the response I've got on this thread. Cheers guys.Psychedelics have definitely been a net positive force in my life, but the road has been bumpy. They're incredibly valuable tools for self analysis and introspection and damned fun to boot. But they are a really bad way to try to hide from reality. And will generally let you know that. Listen when they try to send you that message.
Using any intoxicant as an escape from reality is a bad idea, I think. Most drugs, if used responsibly and in moderation, can bring a person positive or at least neutral results, but it's a slippery slope and one with a huge downside.I see psychedelics as a mood amplifier of sorts, so like you said they're a bad way to hide from reality. I'm really happy with the response I've got on this thread. Cheers guys.
On the other hand, I learned nothing from the use of amphetamines or opiates. I take opiates expressly for the purpose of treating emotional enui or existential discomfort.Using any intoxicant as an escape from reality is a bad idea, I think. Most drugs, if used responsibly and in moderation, can bring a person positive or at least neutral results, but it's a slippery slope and one with a huge downside.
I used ketamine on and off for a few years. At first, I would use it once every week or two and it really improved my mood and general disposition. But as time went by, I found myself relying on it as a crutch, a way to get away from the outside world and shelter inside my own mind. That was when I recognized that I was incapable of using ketamine in a responsible manner and decided I had to stop. I wasn't concerned so much from a physical health point of view, but mentally I recognized that I was drifting into solipsism and I don't feel that disconnect from the outside world to be healthy or particularly useful.
I agree that this is a good topic, and the replies have been interesting. No experience is perceived the same by everyone, and hearing input from others is eye opening.
From a survival standpoint compassion is a very bad thing. Though I like to think of it as a good quality when there is an excess of things needed for life available.I believe I am transformed for the better. That has a dark side. I believe I was sensitized to be aware of my evil nature and modify it, soften it. These drugs empowered me to be able to easily manipulate people and they also gave me the compassion to ease up on that manipulation. Furthermore, I stopped killing after I began taking such chemicals and elixors. I could no longer purposefully take the life of another creature as, I had been that creature on some deep level at one time or another - with the exception of fish but even there, I lament my having taken their life and make it as quick and painless as I can. I never did that before hand. In short I now value cognition and awareness in every creature and even wonder about plants. In short, I was granted compassion. I do not know if compassion is a "good" thing or not so I don't know if I am better for it.
I have found that people who have been on a steady diet of hallucinogens tend to be dilusional, they have a hard time grasping reality as opposed to magic.I toured with The Dead in the early 90s for an entire summer and I can honestly say that I haven't been able to top this experience. If you've done this then you've truly witnessed what effects psychedelics have on people and on social groups in general.
I'd say that it's a Pandora's Box. Once you open it there's no going back... for better or for worse.