Archive for the ‘Consciousness’ Category
Imagine by John Lennon
Posted in Awakening, Consciousness, Dreams, Evolution, Genius/Savant, Humor, Insights, Poetry, Realizations, Revelation, Storytelling on March 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The Buddha’s Last Instruction by Mary Oliver
Posted in Buddha, Consciousness, Poetry, Uncategorized on February 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »
By Mary Oliver
“Make of yourself a light,”
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal — a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.
An old man, he lay down
between two sala trees,
and he might have said anything,
knowing it was his final hour.
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields.
Around him, the villagers gathered
and stretched forward to listen.
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves.
No doubt he thought of everything
that had happened in his difficult life.
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire —
clearly I’m not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value.
Slowly, beneath the branches,
he raised his head.
He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.
House of Light
Copyright ©Mary Oliver
Source: Best Poems
8 Life Lessons From A 2000-Year-Old Guidebook – The Yoga Sutras | Collective Evolution
Posted in Awakening, Body/Mind/Spirit, Consciousness, Health & Wellness, Insights, Meditation, Realizations, Sovereignty, Yoga on February 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »
IN BRIEF
- The Facts:Below, you will find 8 paths as described in the second book (out of four) of the Yoga Sutras, written by the Indian sage Patanjali about two thousand years ago.
- Reflect On:The practice of yoga involves much more than the physical aspect of what many people do today.
Yoga is something that continues to gain a tremendous amount of popularity throughout the world as we move through 2015 and beyond. It’s not a religion, and it is used and practiced by theists, atheists, and everyone in between. There are two major components of yoga that are now being practiced in the West today: physical fitness through stretching (asana), and mental fitness through the practice of meditation (dhyana).
Many in the West do not know that for thousands of years, the true nature of yoga was to achieve states of insightfulness that helped to reveal the true nature of Reality, “before personal biases and cultural expectations have a chance to distort our perceptions.” (1)
Yoga predates Hinduism by centuries, possibly millennia, and is closely associated with Jainism and Buddhism. Its origins can be traced back three to five thousand years ago.
Below, you will find 8 paths as described in the second book (out of four) of the Yoga Sutras, written by the Indian sage Patanjali about two thousand years ago. I thought it would be useful to share, as reflecting on these teachings, for some people, can really improve mental states and life in general.
“The second book of the Yoga Sutras describes the practice of yoga. The goal of practice is to break out of the destructive habits that distract the mind and in turn create suffering. Patanjali describes a method known as ashtanga, or the eightfold path.” Dean Radin, PhD., Chief Scientist At The Institute of Noetic Sciences (1)
Here they are:
Path 1 is Yama: Restraining from harmful behaviour, or cautions on what behaviour to avoid. This includes violence, injury, telling falsehoods, stealing, lasciviousness, greed, and in general adopting ethical and virtuous behaviour.
Path 2 is Niyama: Developing beneficial behaviour, or guidelines on what behaviours to encourage. This includes cleanliness and austerity, along with cultivating an attitude of gratitude and contentment, and being engaged in a disciplined practice of focus, devotion, and self-study.
Path 3 is Asana: Developing of physical postures. These are designed to assist the mind and body in relaxing, through development of strength, steadiness, and flexibility. The purpose of the asanas is to prepare the body to comfortably withstand the rigors of long-term meditation.
Path 4 is Pranayama: Conscious breathing techniques. These further the mind’s ability to focus, and they energize the body.
Path 5 is Pratyhara: Withdrawing from ordinary sensory perceptions and limiting focus to a single object of attention. Restricting one’s attention frees the mind to concentrate on internal objects of attention, fostering even more tranquility of mind.
Path 6 is Dharana: Developing a steady, sustained concentration. The root word for dhri in dharana means “to hold”; one holds attention on a single object of thought. This type of concentration is similar to that experienced during highly focused intellectual work.
Path 7 is Dhyana: Developing prolonged levels of concentration on an object, with deeper absorption and greater sustained alertness. This is sometimes referred to as meditation.
Path 8 is Samadhi: Unity or mystical absorption with an object of attention. In this state, distinctions between subject and object dissolve and one “becomes” the object of meditation. This awareness is frequently described as ecstatic. That is, it is a super-aware state accompanied by intense, nonsensual pleasure.
Source: Collective Evolution & (1) Radin, Dean. Supernormal: Science, Yoga and the Evidence For Exraordinary Psychic Abilities. New York, Deepak Chopra Books , 2013
Galaxies Millions of Light Years Apart Seem To Be Connected By Invisible “Large Scale Structures” | Collective Evolution
Posted in Brain, Consciousness, Galaxy, Quantum Physics, Reality, Solar System, Space, Universe on January 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »
IN BRIEF
- The Facts:A study published in The Astrophysical Journal in October found that hundreds of galaxies were rotating in sync with the motions of galaxies that were tens of millions of light years away. This suggests that an invisible force somehow connects them.
- Reflect On:How much of what we know, and what we think we know, is false? Are our minds open to accepting new concepts of reality that don’t fit within the framework of accepted knowledge?
“We are all connected” — a statement that may evoke an eye-roll from someone you express this to. This is common when it comes to such topics, or any topic that dives into the ‘spooky’ world of quantum physics, which seems to be directly intertwined with philosophy and metaphysics in various ways. These subjects are going to really conflict with the belief systems of many, and that’s ok.
“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.” This statement was made by Lord Kelvin — a famous Scottish mathematician and physicist who contributed to many branches of physics — in 1900, and shattered only five years later when Einstein published his paper on special relativity. The new theories proposed by Einstein challenged the current framework of understanding, forcing the scientific community to open up to an alternative view of the true nature of our reality. This serves as a great example of how things that are originally taken as truth can suddenly turn out to be fiction.
This type of thing is happening quite often today, and with most of us trying to put food on the table and pay our bills, we don’t really have time to keep up with all that’s being discovered.
When it comes to the connection between all living systems, there are a number of examples one could use from many different fields of study. We see connection in all different forms, including all the way down to smallest bits of matter, the physical ‘stuff’ that our world is made up of. In quantum entanglement, for example, particles remain connected so that if you separate them, regardless of distance, whatever actions are performed on one of them affect the other. This has been seen with photons, for example.
This strange connection is not only seen at the smallest levels of the physical world, but also in large scale. This has been demonstrated by a new study published in the Astrophysical Journal last October, which found that hundreds of galaxies were rotating in sync with the motions of galaxies that were tens of millions of light years away.
This is a new discovery and a new phenomenon that came from studying 445 galaxies within 400 million light years of our planet. The observed coherence is quite astonishing, and the authors hypothesize that it must have something to do with “large scale structures” that are perhaps connecting them, causing them to move so precisely in sync as they do, especially given the fact that the galaxies observed are separated by approximately 20 million light years. Somehow they “directly interact with each other,” said Joon Hyeop Lee, an astronomer at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.
The paper suggests that the synchronized galaxies are somehow embedded along the same ‘large scale structure,’ which is slowly rotating in a counter-clockwise direction and could be an explanation for the coherence seen between the rotation of these galaxies and their neighbours.
Obviously, a lot is still unknown.
“The dynamical coherence even out to millions of light-years was unexpected and surprising to us, because such distances are obviously too far for neighbor galaxies to directly interact with each other” says Joon Hyeop Lee, first author of the study, from KASI at Daejeon, Korea “Nevertheless, since the observational evidence supports the interaction origin of the dynamical coherence, we could not but think of the possibility that it is the vestige of past interactions.” (source)
These large structures are, as of now, invisible. Astronomers can’t identify what they are, but the discovery hints to the idea that the structures are made predominately of dark matter that links these galaxies in some sort of cosmic web, as galaxies and space in general seem to be dominated by dark matter.
This is where the world of non-material science comes in, as we start to bridge the gap that seems to separate science and metaphysics.
More is unknown than is known. We know how much dark energy there is because we know how it affects the universe’s expansion. Other than that, it is a complete mystery. But it is an important mystery. It turns out that roughly 68% of the universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 27%. The rest – everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter – adds up to less than 5% of the universe. Come to think of it, maybe it shouldn’t be called “normal” matter at all, since it is such a small fraction of the universe.
Non-material, invisible substances dominate our world — they are not perceivable to the senses, but they can be detected.
If you’ve looked into dark matter, you may also know that what scientists refer to as the quantum vacuum is often mistaken for dark matter or ‘dark energy,’ but we don’t hear about this in mainstream channels.
Space is actually not empty and it’s full of energy… The energy in space is not trivial, there’s a lot of it and we can actually calculate how much energy there is in that space and that reality might actually come out of it. Everything we see is actually emerging from this space. – Nasim Haramein
This idea was illustrated decades ago with the “Casimir Effect,” which demonstrates what’s called zero-point energy. Today, we are beginning to see that these concepts are not just theoretical, but instead are very practical. (source)(source) This is why it’s interesting to point out how multiple scientists, over the past little while, have been expressing the idea that what we call “Dark Matter” might actually be mistaken for this ‘zero-point energy.’
Take, for example, this Defense Intelligence Agency unclassified document entitled “Warp Drive, Dark Energy & The Manipulation of Extra-Dimensions,” written and prepared for the agency by senior research physicist Richard K. Obousky, Ph.D. and Eric W. Davis, Ph.D.
When it comes to dark energy, here’s what the paper states:
This is what now is being accepted as the ‘substance’ of space. Space is not empty–if you look at an atom, it’s mostly made up of ’empty space,’ but the space is not actually empty, it’s full of energy.
Nikola Tesla was well aware of this substance/force at the turn of the 20th Century:
All perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, or tenuity beyond conception, filling all space, the akasha, or luminiferous ether, which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never-ending cycles all things and phenomena.” – Nikola Tesla, Man’s Greatest Achievement, 1907
The late Parahamsa Tewari recently had a paper published in Physics Essays. The paper is titled “Structural Relation Between The Vacuum Space and The Electron.” You can access the full study here. Tewari also points out that dark matter has been mistaken for the ether.
Ether has got to be, once again, established, then there will be the meaningful understanding of physics, meaningful understanding of metaphysics, and meaningful understanding of spiritual processes.” – Tewari (source)
I believe that there is something non-physical connecting these galaxies, connecting space and connecting time in ways that we are just beginning to understand, and I believe that what’s beyond this non-physical ‘substance’ is consciousness.
The Takeaway
Science still has a long way to go with regards to making discoveries about our universe, as there are many more questions than answers, but something seems to be a common theme, and that’s the fact that invisible forces like dark matter, dark energy, and the zero-point energy field are key components with regards to the structure and nature of reality.
What’s even more fascinating? The fact that consciousness itself may play an integral role in shaping how our physical world behaves. You cannot go into quantum physics without diving into consciousness. Max Planck, the theoretical physicist credited with originating quantum theory — a feat that won him the Physics Nobel Prize in 1918 — offers perhaps the best explanation for why understanding consciousness is so essential: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”(source)
Perhaps the universe itself is conscious?
Source: Collective Evolution
Greta and George | YouTube
Posted in Climate Change, Consciousness, Earth, Responsibility, Video on January 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Intuition Is The Highest Form Of Intelligence | Forbes
Posted in Body/Mind/Spirit, Consciousness, Insights, Intuition, Realizations, Revelation, Uncategorized on February 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »
By Bruce Kasanoff
Intuition, argues Gerd Gigerenzer, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, is less about suddenly “knowing” the right answer and more about instinctively understanding what information is unimportant and can thus be discarded.
Gigerenzer, author of the book Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, says that he is both intuitive and rational. “In my scientific work, I have hunches. I can’t explain always why I think a certain path is the right way, but I need to trust it and go ahead. I also have the ability to check these hunches and find out what they are about. That’s the science part. Now, in private life, I rely on instinct. For instance, when I first met my wife, I didn’t do computations. Nor did she.”
I’m telling you this because recently one of my readers, Joy Boleda, posed a question that stopped me in my tracks:
What about intuition? It has never been titled as a form of intelligence, but would you think that someone who has great intuition in things, has more intelligence?
My “gut instinct” is to say yes, especially when we are talking about people who are already intellectually curious, rigorous in their pursuit of knowledge, and willing to challenge their own assumptions.
Let me put this a bit simpler. If all you do is sit in a chair and trust your intuition, you are not exercising much intelligence. But if you take a deep dive into a subject and study numerous possibilities, you are exercising intelligence when your gut instinct tells you what is – and isn’t – important.
In some respects, intuition could be thought of as a clear understanding of collective intelligence. For example, most web sites are today organized in an intuitive way, which means they are easy for most people to understand and navigate. This approach evolved after many years of chaos online, as a common wisdom emerged over what information was superfluous and what was essential (i.e. About Us = essential).
Theo Humphries argues that intuitive design can be described as “understandable without the use of instructions”. This is true when an object makes sense to most people because they share a common understanding of the way things work.
You might say that I’m a believer in the power of disciplined intuition. Do your legwork, use your brain, share logical arguments, and I’ll trust and respect your intuitive powers. But if you merely sit in your hammock and ask me to trust your intuition, I’ll quickly be out the door without saying goodbye.
I say this from personal experience; the more research I do, the better my intuition works.
Although this may be a paraphrase of his thoughts on the subject, Albert Einstein has been widely quoted as saying, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Sometimes, a corporate mandate or group-think or your desire to produce a certain outcome can cause your rational mind to go in the wrong direction. At times like these, it is intuition that holds the power to save you. That “bad feeling” gnawing away at you is your intuition telling you that no matter how badly you might wish to talk yourself into this direction, it is the wrong way to go.
Smart people listen to those feelings. And the smartest people among us – the ones who make great intellectual leaps forward – cannot do this without harnessing the power of intuition.
Source: Forbes
Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (Secret World Live) | YouTube
Posted in Consciousness, Peace & Love, Source, Unity Consciousness on April 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »
166 Documentaries to Expand Your Mind | Higher Perspective
Posted in Consciousness, Films, Learning on October 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

- Home (2009)
- Thrive (2011)
- Paradise or Oblivion (2012)
- Love, Reality and the Time of Transition (2011)
- Earthlings (2005)
- Everything You Know Is Wrong (2000)
- Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008)
- Zeitgeist: Moving Forward (2011)
- The Money Fix (2009)
- The Wikileaks Documentary (2010)
- Owned & Operated (2012)
- Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis (2010)
- Apologies of an Economic Hitman (2010)
- The Beautiful Truth (2008)
- The Awakening (2011)
- What Would It Look Like? (2009)
- The World According to Monsanto (2008)
- Esoteric Agenda (2008)
- Making a Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging (2008)
- College Conspiracy Scam in USA (2011)
- The Indigo Evolution (2005)
- Edible City: Grow the Revolution (2012)
- Collapse (2009)
- The Global Brain (1983)
- The White Hole in Time (1993)
- The Primacy of Consciousness (2011)
- Fuel (2008)
- Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil Crisis (2006)
- What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire (2007)
- Resonance: Beings of Frequency (2012)
- War by Other Means (1992)
- Endgame (2007)
- War Made Easy (2007)
- The War on Democracy (2007)
- Rise Like Lions: The Occupy Wall Street Documentary (2011)
- Propaganda (2012)
- The Secret of Oz (2009)
- The One Percent (2006)
- The Shock Doctrine (2009)
- Iran Is Not the Problem (2008)
- PsyWar: The Real Battlefield Is the Mind (2010)
- Vaccine Nation (2008)
- Psychiatry: An Industry of Death (2006)
- Flow: For the Love of Water (2008)
- Kymatica (2009)
- Pots, Pans, and Other Solutions (2012)
- Manna: The Psilocybin Mushroom Documentary (2011)
- What in the World Are They Spraying (2010)
- Why in the World Are They Spraying (2012)
- Globalization: The New Rulers of the World (2001)
- Terrorstorm (2006)
- Fall of the Republic (2009)
- Crop Circles: Crossover From Another Dimension (2006)
- The Day Before Disclosure (2010)
- 9/11: The Road to Tyranny (2002)
- 9/11: In Plane Site (2004)
- 9/11: Press For Truth (2006)
- The Revelation of the Pyramids (2010)
- Ancient Knowledge (2012)
- The Union: The Business Behind Getting High (2007)
- Money As Debt (2006)
- Money As Debt II (2009)
- The Age of Stupid (2009)
- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (2004)
- Crossroads: Labor Pains of a New Worldview (2013)
- Human Resources: Social Engineering in the 20th Century (2010)
- Renaissance 2.0 (2010)
- Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (2008)
- The War on Kids (2009)
- Palestine Is Still the Issue (2002)
- Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land (2004)
- Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority (2006)
- Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices (2005)
- Big Sugar (2005)
- The Fluoride Deception (2011)
- Fluoridegate: An American Tragedy (2013)
- An Inconvenient Tooth (2012)
- The Great Culling: Our Water (2013)
- Shots in the Dark: Silence on Vaccines (2009)
- I Am Fishead: Are Corporate Leaders Psychopaths? (2011)
- Capitalism Is the Crisis (2011)
- Slavery By Consent (2012)
- The Crisis of Civilization (2011)
- No Logo: Brands, Globalization, and Resistance (2003)
- 97% Owned (2012)
- Culture in Decline – Episode 1: What Democracy? (2012)
- Culture in Decline – Episode 2: Economics 101 (2012)
- Culture in Decline – Episode 3: C.V.D. (2012)
- Culture in Decline – Episode 4: War on Nature (2013)
- Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds – Part 1: Akasha (2012)
- Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds – Part 2: The Spiral (2012)
- Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds – Part 3: The Serpent and the Lotus (2012)
- Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds – Part 4: Beyond Thinking (2012)
- Ethos: A Time for Change (2010)
- Rich Media, Poor Democracy (2003)
- Weapons of Mass Deception (2004)
- Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within (2007)
- American Blackout (2006)
- Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections (2008)
- Blue Gold: World Water Wars (2008)
- Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs (2006)
- The End of Suburbia (2004)
- Rethink Afghanistan (2009)
- There’s No Tomorrow (2012)
- Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
- Priceless (2012)
- What the Bleep Do We Know? (2004)
- Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (2010)
- The 11th Hour (2007)
- Paradise With Side Effects (2004)
- Starsuckers (2009)
- Awakening the Dreamer: Changing the Dream (2011)
- Religulous (2008)
- Sir! No Sir! – The GI Movement to End the Vietnam War (2005)
- Gasland (2010)
- Hacking Democracy (2008)
- Real Estate 4 Ransom: Why Does Land Cost the Earth? (2012)
- Vanishing of the Bees (2009)
- Tapped (2009)
- DMT: The Spirit Molecule
- Baraka (1992)
- Samsara
- Cut Poison Burn
- The Business of Being Born
- The Cove
- Ayahuasca: Ancient Plant Medicine
- Hempster – Plant the Seed
- Coca Lives
- Forks Over Knives
- Dirty Pictures (The God Father of Ecstasy)
- All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
- The Money Masters
- The Secret of Oz
- Spirit Science 1-15
- Garbage Warrior
- Top 10 Eco Films of All Time
- What Babies Want
- Ring of Power
- House of Numbers
- SiCKO
- True History of Marijuana
- Run From The Cure
- Eye of The Illuminati
- Burzynski: Cancer Is Serious Business (2011)
- Shaman Voyage
- Libertopia
- Zeitgeist
- Stepping Into The Fire
- Propaganda
- Secret Ancient Knowledge
- The Holy Mountain
- Food Inc.
- The Silent Revelation of Truth
- The Obama Deception
- The Great Culling: Our Water
- Dreaming Awake At The End of Time
- The New American Century
- ZERO: An Investigation into 9/11
- The House I Live In
- Black Whole
- We Are Legion – The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)
- Sirius – 2013
- The Shock Doctrine
- Manifesting the Mind: Footprints of the Shaman
- Genetic Roulette
- The Disclosure Project
Source: Higher Perspective
Can DMT Connect The Human Brain To A Parallel Universe? | Science, Spirit & Metaphysics
Posted in Consciousness, DMT, Entheogens, Galaxy, Quantum Physics, Reality, Realizations, Revelation, Solar System, Space, Universe on September 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Dr. Rick Strassman in his book DMT: the Spirit Molecule, claims that DMT, which is one of the most powerful psychedelic drugs, can provide a reliable and regular access to the other planes of existence. He claims that DMT may actually be a gateway to parallel universes.
In fact, these universes are always there and constantly transmit information. But we cannot perceive them because we are simply not designed for this: our ‘program’ keeps us tuned to the standard, mentally ‘normal’ channel. We don’t have the sensory tools available to tune into to this information. Dr. Strassman beliefs that DMT allows us to tune into to other dimensions of existence that are already present right now.
What if DMT can lead us to parallel worlds? Theoretical physicists assume that the existence of parallel worlds is based on the phenomenon of interference, writes Strassman. One of the demonstrations of this phenomenon is what happens to the light beam when passing through a narrow hole in cardboard. Various rings and colorful edges that appear on the screen on which the light falls are not just the outlines of the cardboard. As a result of more complex experiments, the researchers concluded on the existence of “invisible” light particles that collide with those that we can see, refracting light in unexpected ways.
Parallel worlds interact with each other when the interference occurs. According to the theoretical hypothesis, there is an unimaginably huge number of parallel universes, or multiverses, each of which is similar to our own and is subject to the same laws of physics. This is the reason to the fact that it is not necessary that there is anything particularly strange or exotic about different multiverses. At the same time, they are parallel due to the particles that form them and that are located in different positions in each universe.
Strassman refers to the British scientist David Deutsch, a leading theorist in this area and author of The Fabric of Reality. He has corresponded with Deutsch discussing the likelihood that DMT can alter brain function so as to grant access or knowledge about parallel worlds and the physicist doubted this possibility because it would require quantum computing. This phenomenon, according to Deutsch, “could distribute components of a complex task among vast numbers of parallel universes, and then share the results. One of the conditions required for quantum computing is a temperature close to absolute zero.” That is why the physicist finds prolonged contact between universes in a biological system unlikely.
However, Strassman notes that since DMT is the key substance that changes the brain’s physical properties so that quantum computing may take place at body temperature, establishing contact with parallel universes could be possible. In other words, DMT changes the physiology of the brain to such a degree that quantum computing is possible, thus giving us access to these parallel worlds.
This possibility confirms many of the stories reported by those who have used DMT. They report that it is more than a mere hallucination or a “trip”, and often report going to other worlds and interacting with beings that inhabit these worlds. With a theoretical hypothesis in place, we can now begin to give credence to the idea that users of DMT are in fact tapping into other parallel worlds.
Source: Learning Mind & Spirit Science and Metaphysics
War on Consciousness by Graham Hancock
Posted in Consciousness, War on September 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Freedom of Consciousness
What is Western civilization all about? What are its greatest achievements and highest aspirations?
It’s my guess that most people’s replies to these questions would touch—before all the other splendid achievements of science, literature, technology, and the economy—on the nurture and growth of freedom.
It’s about individual freedom.
Including, but not limited to freedom from the unruly power of monarchs, freedom from the unwarranted intrusions of the state and its agents into our personal lives, freedom from the tyranny of the Church and its Inquisition, freedom from hunger and want, freedom from slavery and servitude, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of thought and speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to elect our own leaders, freedom to be homosexual—and so on and so forth.
The list of freedoms we enjoy today that were not enjoyed by our ancestors is indeed a long and impressive one. It is therefore exceedingly strange that Western civilization in the twenty- first century enjoys no real freedom of consciousness.
There can be no more intimate and elemental part of the individual than his or her own consciousness. At the deepest level, our consciousness is what we are—to the extent that if we are not sovereign over our own consciousness then we cannot in any meaningful sense be sovereign over anything else either. So it has to be highly significant that, far from encouraging freedom of consciousness, our societies in fact violently deny our right to sovereignty in this intensely personal area, and have effectively outlawed all states of consciousness other than those on a very narrowly defined and officially approved list. The “War on Drugs” has thus unexpectedly succeeded in engineering a stark reversal of the true direction of Western history by empowering faceless bureaucratic authorities to send armed agents to break into our homes, arrest us, throw us into prison, and deprive us of our income and reputation simply because we wish to explore the sometimes radical, though always temporary, alterations in our own consciousness that drugs facilitate.
The reason the anti-marijuana campaigns have failed is that millions of users know from their own direct, long-term experience that marijuana does not do them any great harm and (with reference to the most recent anti-marijuana propaganda) most definitely does not drive them mad.
Other than being against arbitrary rules that the state has imposed on us, personal drug use by adults is not a “crime” in any true moral or ethical sense and usually takes place in the privacy of our own homes, where it cannot possibly do any harm to others. For some it is a simple lifestyle choice. For others, particularly where the hallucinogens such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT are concerned, it is a means to make contact with alternate realms and parallel dimensions, and perhaps even with the divine. For some, drugs are an aid to creativity and focussed mental effort. For others they are a means to tune out for a while from everyday cares and worries. But in all cases it seems probable that the drive to alter consciousness, from which all drug use stems, has deep genetic roots.
Other adult lifestyle choices with deep genetic roots also used to be violently persecuted by our societies.
A notable example is homosexuality, once punishable by death or long periods of imprisonment, which is now entirely legal between consenting adults—and fully recognized as being none of the state’s business—in all Western cultures. (Although approximately thirteen US states have “anti-sodomy” laws outlawing homosexuality, these statutes have rarely been enforced in recent years, and in 2003 the US Supreme Court invalidated those laws.) The legalization of homosexuality lifted a huge burden of human misery, secretiveness, paranoia, and genuine fear from our societies, and at the same time not a single one of the homophobic lobby’s fire-and-brimstone predictions about the end of Western civilization came true.
Likewise, it was not so long ago that natural seers, mediums, and healers who felt the calling to become “witches” were burned at the stake for “crimes” that we now look back on as harmless eccentricities at worst.
At the deepest level, our consciousness is what we are—to the extent that if we are not sovereign over our own consciousness then we cannot in any meaningful sense be sovereign over anything else either.
Perhaps it will be the same with drugs? Perhaps in a century or two, if we have not destroyed human civilization by then, our descendants will look back with disgust on the barbaric laws of our time that punished a minority so harshly (with imprisonment, financial ruin, and worse) for responsibly, quietly, and in the privacy of their own homes seeking alterations in their own consciousness through the use of drugs. Perhaps we will even end up looking back on the persecution of drug users with the same sense of shame and horror that we now view the persecution of gays and lesbians, the burning of “witches,” and the imposition of slavery on others.
Meanwhile it’s no accident that the “War on Drugs” has been accompanied by an unprecedented expansion of governmental power into the previously inviolable inner sanctum of individual consciousness. On the contrary, it seems to me that the state’s urge to power has all along been the real reason for this “war”—not an honest desire on the part of the authorities to rescue society and the individual from the harms caused by drugs, but the thin of a wedge intended to legitimize increasing bureaucratic control and intervention in almost every other area of our lives as well.
This is the way freedom is hijacked—not all at once, out in the open, but stealthily, little by little, behind closed doors, and with our own agreement. How will we be able to resist when so many of us have already willingly handed over the keys to our own consciousness to the state and accepted without protest that it is OK to be told what we may and may not do, what we may and may not explore, even what we may and may not experience, with this most precious, sapient, unique, and individual part of ourselves?
If we are willing to accept that then we can be persuaded to accept anything.
Source: Graham Hancock