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blackfox026  ·  3484 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Universal Love, Said The Cactus Person

One thing to keep in mind is that psychedelics provide a window into that state of mind, not a permanent pathway. A significant amount of work has to be done between trips in order to train the mental discipline required to maintain that sort of peace. Meditation's an important part.

I used to suffer from 'failed seeker' syndrome back in college. I had associated transcendent peace with LSD and psilocybin mushrooms (at least after the two hour period of psilocybin insecurity subsided), and so I consistently tried to access that state of mind using the drug. The returns diminish very, very quickly when you don't put in any work between the trips, and I got pretty jaded to spirituality as a whole. What I eventually found was that the state of peace I experienced during those experiences was a natural baseline state, and that it would only subside when some outside influence distracted me from it and triggered my ego to protect itself (probably knocking me down a level or two on Maslow's hierarchy). Sometimes I'd find that, after a trip, one conversation would put me back in my normal thought processes until I 'remembered' that peace and allowed it to return.

The best thing you can do for yourself is train your mental discipline between trips, because each time you'll find you can take a little more back with you provided you stay focused. The other important thing to keep in mind is that LSD is great for synthesizing everything you've experienced between trips, so be sure to space them out so your mind has a chance to build itself back up before you break it down again.

Finally, keep in mind that you often won't notice how much your perspective has actually changed after a trip. Even if you don't feel that same transcendental peace, that might not be the most important part--there's a good chance your perspective has opened up in ways you're not aware of since you're used to it now.