Thanks Sam for this piece. On the poly movement, I think in WEIRD cities as they exist today, it can work for single people. For married people, it goes against the whole point of being married. I imagine divorce is a far healthier option.
No offense, polyam'ry and recreational trips might well tell tales of some symbols that the wider community might be suited to unpack. Can feelings of rhysomous unity be symbols? Of course, have an ear open to some gatherings flareups of enthusiasm. Take the visit comedian Lewis Black writes abt at the Farm in TN. First time I read it I thought he was eviscerating their sex charged rules. Read it a second time he admired their giant marriage he simply felt extraneous.
A courageous essay, Sam. I'm typically a little wary of Andrew Sullivan, and his closing point in this case is characteristically hyperbolic. But you show us why close reading is still important. Just because you say something loudly enough does not make it coherent or make all of the tradeoffs required by a particular idealistic vision to be justifiable. I'm struck by how much this discourse coincides with our current obsession with personal branding. Prioritizing oneself and one's identity (professional or private) over all else comes with some real consequences and not a little pain.
Chasing serial experiences of transcendence using Psychedelics is, as you say, not likely to withstand the eventual disillusionment of always finding material reality reassert its hold.
What those experiences must be surrounded with – and ideally merged with – is a deeply intentional meditation practice. Withdrawing the senses fully from the body to have all of awareness focused on the inner experience brings profound joy and wisdom. Psychedelics can accelerate the learning process through which your mind changes its patterns of thought to make this process easier, by degrees.
Some very powerful psychedelics, such as 5MeO DMT, can lead to an experience of full ego death and subsequent identity with the entirety of the cosmos. To have that experience even once can profoundly change a personality; sometimes for the better, but sometimes seemingly for the worse.
Pyschedelics can be fun of course and are often done recreationally (not 5MeO DMT, to my knowledge!). But to turn the mind very intentionally towards complete calm is counterintuitive to most people. Often trips are spent in myriad perseverations: pleasant, strange, or even terrifying. But there is unsurpassable peace, only a shift of perspective away. Meditation is the skill of displacing the mad tumbling of thoughts with iron focus on a narrow aspect of awareness, and then on the cosmic sound of AUM. Psychedelics can serve as a powerful accelerant and catalyst.
Increasingly in our world of AI, Ozempic, and Pornhub – we expect psychedelics to provide instant spiritual gratification. And they amazingly do so! But usually only just a glimpse, and then it’s back to this life, and the spiritual aftermath fades as it is verbalized, mentally teased to distraction, and then eventually…only half believed. Meditation is the key that unlocks the door which separates us from sure knowledge of our true condition and the vast and eternal nature of consciousness.
This was all really fascinating
Thanks Sam for this piece. On the poly movement, I think in WEIRD cities as they exist today, it can work for single people. For married people, it goes against the whole point of being married. I imagine divorce is a far healthier option.
No offense, polyam'ry and recreational trips might well tell tales of some symbols that the wider community might be suited to unpack. Can feelings of rhysomous unity be symbols? Of course, have an ear open to some gatherings flareups of enthusiasm. Take the visit comedian Lewis Black writes abt at the Farm in TN. First time I read it I thought he was eviscerating their sex charged rules. Read it a second time he admired their giant marriage he simply felt extraneous.
A courageous essay, Sam. I'm typically a little wary of Andrew Sullivan, and his closing point in this case is characteristically hyperbolic. But you show us why close reading is still important. Just because you say something loudly enough does not make it coherent or make all of the tradeoffs required by a particular idealistic vision to be justifiable. I'm struck by how much this discourse coincides with our current obsession with personal branding. Prioritizing oneself and one's identity (professional or private) over all else comes with some real consequences and not a little pain.
Chasing serial experiences of transcendence using Psychedelics is, as you say, not likely to withstand the eventual disillusionment of always finding material reality reassert its hold.
What those experiences must be surrounded with – and ideally merged with – is a deeply intentional meditation practice. Withdrawing the senses fully from the body to have all of awareness focused on the inner experience brings profound joy and wisdom. Psychedelics can accelerate the learning process through which your mind changes its patterns of thought to make this process easier, by degrees.
Some very powerful psychedelics, such as 5MeO DMT, can lead to an experience of full ego death and subsequent identity with the entirety of the cosmos. To have that experience even once can profoundly change a personality; sometimes for the better, but sometimes seemingly for the worse.
Pyschedelics can be fun of course and are often done recreationally (not 5MeO DMT, to my knowledge!). But to turn the mind very intentionally towards complete calm is counterintuitive to most people. Often trips are spent in myriad perseverations: pleasant, strange, or even terrifying. But there is unsurpassable peace, only a shift of perspective away. Meditation is the skill of displacing the mad tumbling of thoughts with iron focus on a narrow aspect of awareness, and then on the cosmic sound of AUM. Psychedelics can serve as a powerful accelerant and catalyst.
Increasingly in our world of AI, Ozempic, and Pornhub – we expect psychedelics to provide instant spiritual gratification. And they amazingly do so! But usually only just a glimpse, and then it’s back to this life, and the spiritual aftermath fades as it is verbalized, mentally teased to distraction, and then eventually…only half believed. Meditation is the key that unlocks the door which separates us from sure knowledge of our true condition and the vast and eternal nature of consciousness.