Psychedelics & God Pt.1-- Properly Defining "Entheogen"

The following is a response I made to a person on a message board somewhere, regarding Steve Jobs' use of LSD. The other person commented in trying to correct somebody else, but failed miserably, by stating that "Entheogens are by definition drugs taken for Religion (sic) Purposes" ...... And my response to them, as follows, was both an accurate summary of my beliefs, as well as a good definition for Entheogens.

Entheogens are a catch all term that generally and collectively can be applied and assumed to be in regard to entactogenic, empathogenic, and psychedelic substances.Entheogen technically means God-engendering. As in, substances that engender or imbue in the user a link to discovering God within oneself. It also, by definition, would be more accurately described as substances which help us recognize that we are all collectively small chips of the one universal consciousness, which is not God in the religious sense, but is indeed the only thing ultimately being referred to in every screwed up, fallible, bastardized manmade mythological religious text. The problem is not that we're created in God's image. Its that we all ARE literally a small piece of the all accepting, all encompassing, limitless ether pool made up of collectively of all that is positive; Love, wisdom, insight and indeed the spark for individual self awareness is a result of the collective, omniscient consciousness each of us is a tiny sliver of. From whence we came, we shall again return, and it matters not what you believe, for this is the way it is. The best thing a person can do for themselves is to live life happily, and find true joy, and finding passion for the noblest of causes; Helping others achieve the same realization for themselves about our purpose here---to figure out what makes us happy and do it. The problem is, there is no room for the hostile controlling of the minds and bodies of others for ones own delusional bent, to be found in this truth.
As such, ironically, no religion will never, ever accept the truth as such, and so we're left with nothing but poor choices amongst shallow dogmatic distractions, and little found in most religions that would actually help one to find the true path to understanding and enlightenment.
But, ah, there IS a way, and indeed it is a SHORTCUT to the state of mind necessary, (but not a guarantee) to figuring all of this out. This shortcut is the one achieved, usually accidentally, via experimentation with chemicals of the entheogenic classes. The truth is, we're not meant to have all the answers, as it would ruin the game. We *should* be happy and content enough to simply have the opportunity at least, to realize what is going on. We cannot ever know all the answers, because we are ALL a little sliver of "God" that has been randomly expelled into the world with a singular mission: We, as a life form that must adhere to the rules of the 4 dimensions of space in which we live, (Height, width, depth, and linear time), are purposed with living our lives however and in whatever circumstances we are born into. Some may be priveleged, others born into an absolute horror show...But what is sort of the unspoken but very important factor to understand is that it doesn't matter how you live your life as far as the universe is concerned. The universe is THRILLED that you are alive at all, because WHATEVER experiences, the sum total of your existence happens to live through, it turns out that nobody but nobody will ever, ever, ever be your unique self again, and so basically, you are cataloguing your experience as YOU on behalf of the universe. 

What good is it to be a macro-consciousness that fills ever corner of the universe, if you are the only self aware thing within your confines? But that is only part of it. We are not just "company" for the divine, but rather, we ARE how the divine knows what it feels like to be a tiny insignificant, speck of very, very limited consciousness. We are the only way the universe understands what its like NOT to know the sum total of all information within its confines. Without us, the universe' has a cold, empty existence, because we would not have existed to give it a means to understanding itself better. Because we are lacking omniscience, and we have no idea what is in store for us, and we survive day to day with only curiousity and random circumstance and the repercussions of our choices to guide our evolution as individuals.

Its in figuring all this out about the true nature of reality that we REALLY, REALLY, are coming into our own as a species. And the definition of Entheogen is essentially, any chemical that can take a person of unenlightened consciousness, and make them aware, through that little, special "peek behind the curtain" that psychedelics sometimes give us. Sure sometimes, they are just a barrel of laughs and fun times, and thats it. And sure sometimes they are nothing but abject, anxiety fear and misery if we're in the wrong set and setting. But that third option, which exists and anyone that knows what I'm talking about is familiar with the sensation.... And many of you who have taken pscyhedelics probably have no idea what I mean, because it doesn't happen every time, or even the majority of times...And you can't force it. But ONCE in a while, when you are ready, and you are lucky at the same time... You get a little glimpse, just a taste, of what is really going on around us, all from a chemical combination in your brain and the right uncrontrollable cirucmstances, you suddenly are given a little peek behind the curtain, probably from somewhere deep within the priomordial "junk" areas of our DNA, these secrets are locked.... And when your body gives you a little piece of the "REAL unvarnished Truth" you will never be the same again. 


Continued Blog Post HERE: http://blotterfelon.blogspot.com/2013/01/psychedelics-god-pt2-properly-defining.html

UNSENT MESSAGE - Right Wing Neural Pathways

I don't recall exactly what this guy (named Bob) said that pissed me off so much, but it was undoubtedly something incredibly ignorant, narrow minded, and bursting with either bigotry or proven fallacy parading as fact. As if there is any difference between the two. Like many of my UNSENT posts will be,  this was ultimately left Unfinished as well. Or at least, unposted, because I had to go to a work meeting. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob. Hi. I was drawn to actually sign up for an account here to throw my soon-to-be insulted, ignored, and scoffed at reply into the ocean of them you are swimming in. But its not arguments like mine or other reasonable people who have talked to you as well that is causing your drowning. On the contrary, its the pitifully overused, cliched, disproven and/or misleading talking points that were so carefully included in all the conservative publications and broadcasts that you read and receive, that you don't even realize you are reciting them. You feel that based on your own "facts" and in conjunction with your own acceptable command of the language, all credit for statements and concepts in your post are the result of your own thinking and conceptualization, and you likely take offense, or dismiss outright anybody who points out how overused your very arguments are. You dismiss them, because you "know" they are full of crap, because your words and thoughts are "your own" and based on common sense and information you've processed. Am I basically correct so far? Hopefully, we can at least agree up to this point. 

 What you are likely too long gone to understand, however, is something both Fox News, and particularly the think tanks like *all Koch funded organizations, save for maybe Cato* are well aware of. Its also something that leaders in charge at the local chapter of your Deity-Of-Choice's own Same-Day Sin Cleansing, Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser & Pay-To-Pray Holy Roller Blessing Rental Institution (aka your Church) is EXTREMELY WELL AWARE OF. In Fact, they were aware of the Ends, without ever understanding the Means, long before the Means were scientifcally explained and proven in recent years: Repetition of Confidently and/or Forcefully Expressed Concepts actual create neural pathways in your noggin, that make it harder and harder to hear anything or seriously entertain any concept that contradicts your little neural circuitry feedback loop, is instead explained away dismissively, or unseriously, rather then deal with the consequences that come with a possible loss of that little neural feedback crutch all together. 

Do you ever wonder how the entirety of collective liberal thought, in all of our unruly, untrained, and often uncouth and unorthodox existence can so confidently and smugly operate at odds with the well oiled republican machinery? Do you ever wonder how on Earth liberals could be so foolish because you simply CANNOT understand our way of thinking? Guess what-- Most of us liberals, real liberals not Reagan Democratic types -- Don't wonder the same thing about conservatives at all. We might express exasperation, but what you generally don't get is a completely "Get Off My Lawn" response from us treating you like we're the self appointed "grownup authority and party of faith in God and can therefore talk down to all we oppose", and not the other way around. We don't wonder how you can think this way, because many of us thought the same way you did once. Naturally, and in its more primitive operating mode, the human brain is chiefly concerned with self, and believes any good fortune they have seen, is because of their hard work and fully deserved. Did you go to college? Get a job? Get married? Buy a house? Have a kid? Great. You should be proud. The difference between you and I, is that I did those things too, but I consider myself incredibly fortunate because I am entirely aware that plenty of other people are more deserving and harder working, yet have less. I do not alternately glorify my own religious mores by attempting to enshrine them into law for all to obey, all the while behaving in a way that only glorifies the almighty dollar---though, having been raised a staunch and true believer in the protestant tradition, before I wised up, I entirely understand the allure of the alleged surrender of my soul and admittance of all the horrible things I did to get my slate wiped clean each evening. 

Starting each new day with a clear conscience that God himself has given you justification to have is a VERY good way to be a very bad person, and truly believe you are living a Godly life. If you really believe all that junk, then, your repentance is absolutely sincere. But it also becomes for you, the trigger which subconsciously disengages the software package known as your conscience, which is MEANT to prevent our unethical behavior, because if God and you have a comfortable and sincere arrangement, who is your mere mortal conscience to step in and cockblock a good thing? Basically, you and the part of your brain that you subconsciously designate to stand in as the neutral party who decides whether or not God is ok with what you're doing turns into a stand-in FOR GOD and ultimately, you can be completely truthful about how important your faith in Jesus is, and absoltuely sincere in your belief. The problem is, that you are so sincere and its so important to you, because without it, you have no hard-wired mechanism to condone whatever unethical, cheating, philandering, thieving ways you've developed a penchant for. And while your Godly side doesn't dare scrutinize this arrangement to hard, that lack of scrutiny is itself the arrangement that allows hyopcrisy to reign so supreme nowhere more then where the faithful gather. or, more accurately, my ardently humanitarian and compassion-based morality)

UNSENT MAIL-What They Are When You See Them On This Blog

As a general rule, anything containing the word "UNSENT" in the title of the post, besides this one, will consist of a message, an email, or an online BB/Msg Board Post that I wrote with sincere intent to send it to somebody else, or post it for somebody else, or I intended to edit it and work on it further, and never got around to it, etc.

 

 If the recipient or intended comment-reader I replied to, or open forum letter, etc. was never actually published or sent, it will end up here. These were all works in progress when the thought-train was either forcibly derailed, or, on occasion, the conductor (me) slowed it down enough to let everyone jump off, and then crashed the train here. I recognize that this was often for the best, and generally that recognition is why I decided to call any given msg quits in the first place. But nevertheless, the time I've commited and decided to cut my losses with, in the writing of numerous super-long and slightly-long emails would strike you as unfathomable. 

 

Thankfully I have a desk job and have several PCs at my desk, making me good at looking like I'm multitasking. This page is the fruit of that labor, in general.

Funnily enough, I have actually been saving these emails for several years, with the constant misplaced reasoning being that I might want to make the same argument again some time, so I'll already have it written this way. Its this misguided thinking compounded by years and years at a desk where my mind gets restless and I often get holier than thou, or downright hostile with members of my own family because of my extreme variance in views on politics, and religion, and everything else, basically---which wouldn't be an issue, except that it is for them. My Pops in particular, can be an obtuse jerk of the highest order, and over the years, realizing that I could completely collapse my family's fragile house of sticks in on all of us, I have held off on many of my thoughts. That has set me up with myriad UNSENT type messages to post, and I really must thank him for the glut of new stuff forthcoming on this page at first possible.

With that said, I should have my first UNSENT up soon, and because I'm trying to go in reverse chronological order, actually not one to my pops, but basically to a  guy just like him on a message board.