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1Being Human
2An Entheological Guide to God, Evolution
3and the Fractal Energetic Nature of
4Reality
5Martin W. Ball, Ph.D.
6Being Human: An Entheological Guide to God,
7Evolution, and the Fractal Energetic Nature of
8Reality
9Martin W. Ball, Ph.D.
10All contents, © 2009, Martin W. Ball/Kyandara Publishing
11ISBN: 978-0-615-32803-4
12Permission to reproduce any part of this book must be sought directly
13from the publisher in writing. Contact: Kyandara@yahoo.com
14Disclaimer:
15This book is intended for educational and philosophical purposes. The
16author does not encourage, endorse, or support illegal or dangerous
17behavior of any kind and readers assume full responsibility for their
18choices and actions.
19Table of Contents:
20Introduction
21Congratulations! – 1
22The Radical Non-Dualism of the Entheological Paradigm – 2
23Part 1, The Nature of Reality
24You
25Who are You? – 5
26Who or What is God? – 6
27The Problem – 6
28The Incomplete Perspective of Science – 7
29The Fantasy-laden Perspectives of Religions – 9
30Resolution – 10
31God and Evolution
32God – 12
33Radial Geometry and Inorganic Evolution – 15
34The Geometry of Early Organic Evolution – 17
35The Geometry of Higher Evolutionary Forms – 19
36Mammalian Evolution and Dimethyltryptamine – 20
37Human Evolution and the Ego – 21
38Ego Formation in Children – 23
39God’s Signature in Fractal Anatomy – 24
40What is God Doing? – 25
41Part II, Living in Reality
42Life as an Individual
43Understanding Your Vehicle – 29
44Actual Energy vs. Imaginary “Subtle” Energy – 34
45Life and Death – 35
46How to Begin
47Waking Up – 38
48Taking Stock – 40
49Exercises – 41
50The Mirror – 44
51The Preliminaries of Practice – 45
52Meditation – 45
53Getting in Touch with Your Body and Energy – 46
54Vocalizing – 47
55Bodywork – 47
56Self-Expression – 48
57The Open Heart – 48
58Spending Time in Nature – 49
59Part III, Opening to Energy with Entheogens
60Entheogenic Practice
61Working with the Medicines – 52
62Are Entheogens really the most effective tool for Awakening? – 53
63Cautions – 55
64Things to be Aware of – 57
65Attachment to Story – 57
66The Dangers of Shamanism – 58
67Fear of Losing Control – 59
68Engaging with Others – 60
69Set and Setting – 60
70Secure and Free from Distractions – 60
71The Sitter – 61
72Ritual – 62
73Prayer – 62
74Setting Intention – 63
75Understanding Your Personal Interface – 63
76Interfacing with the Divine
77The Divine Imagination – 67
78Archetypal Energies and Fundamental Geometry – 68
79From Possibilities to Actualities – 70
80Infinity Spectrums – 72
81Salvia Divinorum – 73
82Psilocybin Mushrooms – 74
83Ayahuasca and its Analogues – 75
84Extracted and Synthetic DMT – 76
855-MeO-DMT – 77
86The Nature of the Journey – 79
87Posture and Movement – 81
88Movement and Working with Energy – 82
89Maintaining Posture – 84
90Uncrossed Appendages – 84
91Sitting – 85
92Lying Down – 87
93Fractal Energetic Yoga – 88
94Voicing – 89
95Purging – 90
96Trust – 93
97Working Through Your Lessons – 94
98The Fruits of the Work – 97
99Responsibility
100Taking Responsibility – 99
101Responsibility for Evolutionary Integrity – 100
102Children and Responsibility – 102
103Being Yourself – 103
104Entheogenic Affirmations
105Introduction
106Congratulations!
107You hold in your hands (or are perhaps reading on your
108computer screen) a genuine guide to fulfilling your nature as a human
109being. In writing this guide, my goal is to present to the reader a basic
110account of the true nature of reality without any fluff, fantasy, story, or
111unnecessary metaphysics or speculation, with the confidence that this is
112the true knowledge that can liberate you from all illusion and the
113suffering illusion causes. Much of what is written here is presented as
114matter-of-fact without much argumentation. It is my hope that readers
115will see the internal consistency and overall simplicity of what I am
116sharing and will find it easy to apply the principles and ideas presented
117herein to their lives, attain personal liberation, and find fulfillment and
118happiness.
119However, it is not as simple as just reading this guide. Many of
120the ideas found herein will be challenging for you, especially if you are
121a practitioner of virtually any religion. Honestly, it might be easier for
122you if you are a scientific materialist atheist. Regardless, truly
123actualizing the wisdom presented in this guide in your own life will
124take dedication and a willingness to work through your illusions and
125your resistance to what is truly real.
126Understanding reality is not about accepting certain ideas as
127true. It is not about intellect or belief. It is about experience, and
128understanding the contextual nature of experience. This guide will
1292 Being Human
130provide a clear map to how you can experience the ideas presented
131herein for yourself, in your own life, in each and every moment. It all
132begins with you and ends with you.
133Are you ready to take responsibility for yourself and your life
134and enter into a true relationship with the fundamental nature of reality?
135If so, then this could be the guide for you. Set aside your beliefs, open
136your mind, take a deep breath, relax, and let’s begin.
137The Radical Non-Dualism of the Entheological Paradigm
138As will become apparent throughout this guide, the view of
139reality being articulated here could best be described as “radical nondualism.”
140What this basically means is that “all things are one.” While
141this is a common refrain of mystics and many spiritual practitioners, the
142actual implications of what this means has remained mystified. The
143difference between what mystics say and what is being presented here
144is that this guide will explain, without any mystification, precisely what
145it means that all things are one and how reality works as a coherent
146energetic system. A key to understanding this profoundly
147interconnected nature of reality is the energetic mathematics of fractals
148and geometry, as will be explained in much greater detail below
149(though no math or equations are presented in this guide). For now, it
150is enough to say that all of reality, everything we know scientifically
151and everything that we experience personally as life and consciousness,
152can be explained by the fundamental concept of fractal energy. In
153physics, this could be described as a “Grand Unified Theory,” or GUT:
154A theory that is able to explain everything. However, this is even more
155powerful than any GUT developed within physics, for the physical
156sciences have no explanation for consciousness or life, whereas the
157Entheological Paradigm does and is therefore far more inclusive and
158comprehensive.
159Another key concept is that this is an “entheological paradigm.”
160Entheology is the “logic or study of God within.” Paradigm means
161“exemplary model.” Thus the model of reality being presented here is
162based on the concept that “God” is “within.” This is a bit misleading,
163however, for in actuality, this model is not limiting the idea of God to
164being “within.” In fact, God is not only within, but without as well. In
165reality, God is all things. It is thus the task of this guide to adequately
166Introduction 3
167explain how God, as energy, is reality. The implication, of course, is
168that this includes you!
169So, we begin with you . . .
170Part I
171The Nature of Reality
172You
173Who Are You?
174Who are you? And perhaps more importantly, what are you?
175You are certainly a human being, but what, exactly, is a human being?
176What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be you?
177There are many ways that one can answer these questions. One
178can look to religion, science, culture, tradition, psychology, spirituality,
179family, etc., and generate answers from these perspectives. These
180different perspectives provide very different answers, however, and
181many of them do not necessarily agree with each other, raising the
182question of the nature of truth. Science says that you are the product of
183random, purposeless evolution - ultimately an animal that somehow got
184smart. Religions might say that you are an incarnated soul on a divine
185mission to reach enlightenment or salvation. It is hard to see how these
186two perspectives could be reconciled.
187In general, there is no real consensus in developing an answer to
188the questions above. It all seems to depend on perspective and there
189seems to be little room to bring disparate views into alignment with one
190another. Scientific, religious, and cultural views all seem to be in
191conflict with each other, all with their own assumptions, propositions,
192explanations, and expectations. There are many competing camps, and
193individuals usually choose where they feel they belong in the
1946 Being Human
195marketplace of ideas regarding the nature of being human with
196explanatory systems that reflect their concerns, values, and beliefs.
197Is there no way to sort it out? Are the answers to these
198questions simply relative to one’s perspective?
199I am confident that there is a way to sort out these questions and
200that in the end, truth is far from relative. The purpose of this guide is to
201answer the question of “Who are you?” from a definitive perspective
202that is grounded in fundamental truth.
203Who or What is God?
204Though this may sound surprising at this point, the basic truth is
205that the answer to this question and the question of “Who are you?” is
206essentially the same.
207Yes, that is correct.
208YOU ARE GOD.
209Startling, perhaps, but true.
210However, this answer, at this point, doesn’t really help, because
211it still requires that we answer the question of who, or what, God
212actually is. If one does not understand the true nature of God, then
213providing the answer that you are God does little to help in the way of
214personal understanding.
215Therefore, in answering the question of “Who are you?” one
216must investigate the nature of God.
217The Problem
218If you are God, why is it that this is not your immediate
219experience? How can the “truth” be so seemingly different from our
220ordinary reality?
221The simple answer is that this condition is a product of the ego.
222It is our egos that structure our reality into a fundamental illusion of
223separateness; that is their function. Due to our egos, we live in a basic
224state of paradox: simultaneously being both God and an individual
225“self” in a unique body. While this can be difficult for an ego to come
226to grips with and accept (as egos constantly seek self-validation to
227perpetuate the illusion of their existence), it is simply a basic truth of
228our existence and the sooner it is accepted, the sooner liberation,
229authenticity, and happiness will follow.
230You 7
231Though God is talked about in many religions, something that
232this guide will make clear is that the ideas of God as produced and
233circulated among religious traditions are largely the fantasy-based
234product of egos (and therefore not helpful when considering the true
235nature of the self, God, or reality). Religions have projected God “out
236there” as something “other” that must be obeyed, worshiped, and often
237feared. In short, most concepts of God are based on projections of the
238ego and have nothing at all to do with who and what this being actually
239is or what it is actually doing. This is especially true of the Western
240monotheistic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which all
241have profoundly distorted notions of who or what God is.
242The Incomplete Perspective of Science
243The physical and empirical sciences are by far the most
244effective methods for understanding the physical nature of reality, far
245surpassing any other development in human cultures or history.
246Though all human cultures have had their own unique ways of
247conceptualizing and describing the world around them, no intellectual
248developments and methodologies have been as effective and fruitful as
249the scientific method of observation, theory building, testing,
250reviewing, and revising when it comes to producing collectively
251verifiable objective truth. While the specifics of scientific truth are
252always open to revision (with the introduction of new data or theories),
253the methodology is highly effective and can be pursued across cultures,
254regardless of one’s beliefs, traditions, or spiritual and metaphysical
255views.
256As a result, humans have garnered a great deal of verifiable,
257objective data about the physical world in which they live, and science
258has helped to reveal the physical mechanisms and properties at work in
259phenomena that were formally obscure or mystified through religious
260and cultural lenses. Things that were once understood to be the work
261of the spirits or acts of God are now easily understood as natural
262phenomena that function according to basic mathematical, chemical, or
263energetic laws.
264Though overly simplified here, the basic scientific position is
265that ideas of entities like spirits, souls, gods and “God” are irrelevant
266for understanding the nature of reality. When the physical world is
267examined carefully, there appears to be no evidence for the existence of
2688 Being Human
269such entities. And following Occam’s Razor, the maxim that the
270simplest explanation is usually the correct one and that theorists should
271not introduce unnecessary explanatory agents into their models, the
272conclusion is that spirits, souls and God are ultimately figments of the
273human imagination and are reflections of pre-scientific thinking.
274The case might be closed if science could accurately explain
275how and why life developed, what consciousness is, where it comes
276from, why it exists, and why we are here at all to ponder these
277questions. However, upon even cursory examination, it is quite clear
278that science is fundamentally unable to answer these questions. The
279knowledge provided by science is therefore clearly limited.
280This does not mean that science has nothing to say about the
281nature of life and consciousness, for it certainly does. Science can
282describe and map the evolutionary process. Science can describe the
283physical and chemical mechanisms at work in your brain and how your
284consciousness correlates with brain states. Psychologists can map out
285patterns in human thought and behavior. Biologists can tell us how
286different genes are related to different aspects of living beings.
287However, these are all descriptions of physical mechanisms and
288processes. What we get from science regarding the actual nature of life
289and consciousness is not an explanation in any sense. Saying that
290biological life is a product of the natural laws of evolution explains
291nothing – it merely describes a process.
292Consider the following question: If everything is made out of
293the same fundamental particles (as is claimed by quantum physicists),
294and there is NO FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE between the
295particles that compose your body and the particles that make up a slab
296of cement (they’re all quarks, electrons, protons, etc.), then how is it
297possible that you are alive and the cement isn’t? Science has found no
298special “ingredient” that makes you alive, other than consciousness,
299and since consciousness is not a physical phenomenon, science has no
300way of studying or explaining it. At best, science can say that you are
301alive and the cement is not because you are a biological being with
302complex self-regulating systems. This, however, is merely a tautology
303and offers no explanatory power whatsoever.
304Science, then, must be understood as providing absolutely no
305insight into why life or consciousness exists. At best, science can only
306describe the physical mechanisms through which the energies of
307consciousness and life appear to express themselves in biological
308You 9
309beings. Life is still a fundamentally unanswered and unanswerable
310enigma in scientific theories of reality.
311The Fantasy-laden Perspectives of Religions
312Many people look to religion to provide them with the answers
313that cannot be forthcoming from the purely physical sciences.
314Religious traditions often purport to have exclusive access to “divine
315revelations” about the nature of life, its origins, and its destiny. Unlike
316science, however, which can be practiced by anyone regardless of
317beliefs, much of what religions have to offer depend on the adherence
318to basic “beliefs” and tenets of faith – things for which there is no
319evidence and no proof.
320In generating their dogmas and worldviews, virtually all
321religions are at odds with each other to varying degrees. The basic
322truth is that the vast majority of what religions have to offer in terms of
323explanations for the nature of life and reality are based on inaccurate
324knowledge of the world we live in. Religions use myth, metaphor,
325symbol, allegory and other devices to communicate their particular
326view of the world and the responsibilities of being human. When taken
327as such, the perspectives offered by religions can be insightful.
328However, when they are taken literally, they become dogmatic
329expressions of faith that are beyond any rational argument, proof, or
330evidence.
331Take, for example, the Biblical presentation of God creating the
332world in seven days. As a metaphor or symbol, that’s fine, but if we
333are to take this literally, then we have to admit that there is absolutely
334no reason to believe that this is true other than the belief that the
335contents of the Bible were revealed by some divine being. Such an
336evidence-lacking belief would never be accepted by science, for
337obvious reasons. Unfortunately, from a modern, scientific perspective,
338the majority of what religions have to offer in terms of descriptions of
339reality fall into the same category of specious, evidence-lacking beliefs.
340When it comes to describing what’s “real,” religions present us
341with fantastical realities. They speak of heavens, hells, spirit worlds,
342astral realms, spirits, souls, salvation, sin, reincarnation, resurrection,
343ascension, damnation, angels, guides, etc., etc. The difficulty is that
344while none of these ideas are observable from an objective standpoint,
345people do claim to have experienced such things, and therefore they
34610 Being Human
347must be real. But here we have a confabulation of experience with
348reality. Merely experiencing something is not equivalent to it being
349“real” in any objective sense. People are confused about what they
350experience all the time. And when religious claims are examined
351carefully, the claims of different religions clearly conflict and
352contradict each other.
353When it comes to determining the nature of realty from a
354perspective we can all agree upon, religions do not seem to provide any
355real help – only mutually exclusive sets of propositions and beliefs that
356are, by their vary nature, unverifiable and tenets of faith. And what is
357worse, the vast majority of what religions describe as “reality”
358completely contradicts what is verifiably known through science.
359If it weren’t for the fact that religions make so many people
360miserable and that religious adherents are so often willing to kill each
361other over their fantasies, then religion could easily be dismissed as
362simply misguided human thinking. However, since religion does cause
363so many fundamental problems (despite whatever “good” it may
364provide to individuals, communities and cultures), helping religious
365believers to understand the truth of God is a necessary corrective for
366living harmoniously and happily in reality. For religious adherents to
367truly live in reality, much of what they claim will have to be understood
368for what it is: fantasy.
369Resolution
370A fundamental position of this guide to understanding the
371human experience is this: Physical sciences (particularly mathematical
372sciences) reveal basically true knowledge of the nature of reality,
373though there are limits to what this knowledge can be. Religions, on
374the other hand, while providing a few nuggets of truth and some good
375advice, are, for the most part, cultural constructions that reflect local
376and historical values, meanings, and concerns and have very little, if
377anything, to do with the actual nature of reality. In order for
378individuals to come to a clear understanding of the nature of reality,
379they have to understand both the limits of science and the illusions of
380religion.
381It comes down to this: God is real (though no religion has
382accurately described who or what this being is), science is
383fundamentally true, but limited, and the majority of what religions have
384You 11
385to offer (in terms of actual knowledge of the nature of reality) is pure
386ego-generated fantasy and speculation. Thus, to reach a resolution, the
387true nature of God (and thereby yourself) must be understood in order
388to come to genuine knowledge of the nature of reality.
389To understand your true nature as God, you have to experience
390it. This guide will describe and explain the true nature of God and
391what it means for you, but in order to actually benefit from this
392knowledge, you must open yourself to the experience of being God,
393which is best described as being open to your true energy. The key to
394this process is personal work with entheogens, or substances that
395generate the experience of God within. With these tools, you can
396experience everything that will be shared in this guide directly for
397yourself with no religions, gurus, priests, or shamans standing between
398you and your direct experience of reality. The latter portion of this
399guide is dedicated to how you can navigate your way through this
400process and will also fully explore why entheogenic self-exploration is
401the genuine path to personal awakening. But before we get to the how,
402let’s initially deal with the what.
403Key Ideas
404• Understanding yourself is the key to understanding everything
405• You are God in embodied from
406• Science cannot explain the existence of life or consciousness
407• Religion is fantasy-laden and offers little for understanding the
408true nature of reality
409• The method for coming to understand the true nature of reality
410is through direct experience and self-exploration
411• Entheogens provide unparalleled tools for self-exploration
412God and Evolution
413God
414In order to begin, set aside any previous ideas of who or what
415you think God is. Traditional religious views on God are largely not
416much help in understanding who or what God is as they are mostly ego
417projections that have been separated from the self, depicting God as
418something mysteriously and enigmatically Other. Nothing could
419actually be further from the truth. The reality of God is the most
420intimate thing in existence – indeed, all of reality is God, including you
421and the moment you are experiencing right now. There is absolutely
422nothing other about this. God, simply put, is what actually is. God is
423reality.
424But let’s get more specific. Saying that God is everything isn’t
425necessarily helpful as it is such a general comment. So let’s begin by
426describing God.
427First and foremost, God is a being. God is not an abstract
428principle, a philosophical necessity, or a featureless, contentless
429consciousness that is fundamentally empty. God is a being. This
430means that God is self-aware and possesses will and intention and is
431able to actualize itself and its goals. And not only is God a being, but it
432is, in truth, the being. God is the only being that actually exists. All
433other beings are expressions and embodiments of this one being.
434This one being is perfectly self-aware. God knows full well that
435it is the only being that exists and that all things are it. Because of this,
436God and Evolution 13
437there is no fear or judgment in God in any way whatsoever. God has
438nothing but love for itself. God actually is love, or perhaps more
439accurately, self-love. There is nothing that is not God and God loves
440all aspects of itself.
441Second, God is energy. Everything that exists is a form of
442energy. There are many different kinds of energy and many different
443spectrums of energy, but in one way or another, everything that exists
444can be described as energy. We know from physics that all things we
445perceive as mass or as solid objects are actually just stable patterns of
446energy. Life, also, is energy, as are thoughts, feelings, sensations,
447expressions, actions, and consciousness itself. All things are energy.
448The source for all forms of energy is God, and God is energy
449(somewhat paradoxically).
450Third, God is what we might call “the multi-being.” God is
451one, but God has the ability to take multiple forms simultaneously, and
452thus is the “multi-being.” The energy of life and consciousness that
453animates every living being in existence has its source in God, and
454actually is God in embodied form. Religions teach us that we have
455souls or spirits that give us life. This is fundamentally incorrect. Your
456life is God. You do not have a spirit or a soul in any way whatsoever.
457You are God in a body. Any idea of a soul or spirit is superfluous,
458unnecessary, and ultimately incorrect. Every living being is God
459embodied directly from source
460 Another way of saying this, which will be explored in greater
461detail shortly, is that God is evolution itself. Anyone who believes that
462there is some kind of conflict between God and evolution simply has no
463idea what they are actually talking about and could not be more
464fundamentally misguided by ego-projected fantasy of who and what
465God is or how God works. God has been evolving its form as a
466physical being for several billion years and has reached its current apex
467in us, in humanity. There is no conflict of any kind between God and
468evolution and any such notion is absurd.
469Fourth, God is geometry and mathematics and is perhaps best
470described as a fractal energy being. Basic mathematical structures are
471the ontological foundation of reality. As such, mathematics, geometry
472and fractals were not invented by humans but rather discovered. All
473energy functions according to mathematical principles. This is why we
474are able to have sciences such as physics. Mathematical permutations
475of energy are simply how reality works. The more one understands
47614 Being Human
477how energy and mathematics work, especially fractals, the more one
478understands how the energy being of God truly functions to create and
479sustain physical and experiential reality.
480Fifth, God is NOW. Neither the past nor the future exists. God
481is the ever-unfolding moment of now, which is precisely where all
482permutations of energy exist. Energy, by its nature, is never static. It is
483always changing in relation to what immediately preceded it in the flow
484of now. As such, there is nothing that is permanent. All energy is
485constantly changing and fluctuating. The only thing that persists is the
486ever-changing energy of now.
487Sixth, God is pure self-actualization. God is doing one thing
488and one thing only: being itself in every way it can. In other words, all
489of reality happens when God is simply being itself. God has no other
490purpose or goal. Everything that God does is just being itself. In this
491sense, we could describe all of reality as the life of God being itself.
492Reality and everything we experience is God doing its thing to be itself
493as it is expressed right now in the current moment. Nothing more,
494nothing less. Absolute, total and complete self-expression and
495actualization. There is nothing for God to do other than be itself.
496And since YOU ARE GOD, that also means that there is
497nothing for you to do other than be yourself. But learning how to do
498that is both a simple and monumental task. How to realize this goal of
499being yourself will be the focus of the latter portions of this guide.
500First, we need to understand the way that God functions in reality
501before we can properly address how to successfully be you.
502Key Ideas
503• God is a being, not an abstract concept
504• God is energy
505• God is self-aware
506• God is evolution
507• God is mathematics
508• God is the epitome of self-actualization
509God and Evolution 15
510Radial Geometry and Inorganic Evolution
511Let’s talk about how reality works. For this, we can turn to
512both science and to the description of God given above to provide a
513reasonably accurate picture of how we went from nothing to the very
514moment of right now. So, let’s start before the beginning . . .
515Given that time is a function of manifest reality (or the world in
516which we live), we can’t really talk about the “time” before the
517beginning. So, the “before” shouldn’t necessarily be taken literally, but
518what I want to call to mind is that indeterminate state of being that
519existed “before” the universe we live in came to be.
520For whatever reason, perhaps some kind of paradoxical, selfreferential
521choice, God realized that it existed, and not only that, that it
522was the only thing that existed. “I Am!” proclaimed this being to itself,
523and it was. But since this being was the only thing that existed, there
524was only one thing for it to do, and that was be itself. There was
525nowhere to go, nothing to do, and certainly no one to talk to or share
526the unique experience of being with. And since God knew that it was
527the only thing in existence, it knew that it had nothing to fear from
528being itself, so it chose to be itself fully, completely, and perfectly.
529And that’s when everything started. From the singularity that is
530God came a tremendous outpouring of pure energy, moving out in
531radial rays of mathematical permutations, constantly flowing and
532changing. As this energy expanded, space and time came into
533existence and the energy rapidly started changing form, cooling off,
534and collecting into new patterns of energy that had not previously
535existed in actuality, but only in potential form. It was this grand act of
536self-expression that moved reality from the potential state that existed
537within the being of God to the actual state of the universe and reality in
538which we find ourselves today. It was the beginning of fractal
539permutations of energy, forming itself into coherent patterns.
540As the energy cooled off and became more stable, it started to
541form into the most basic of geometric shapes: the sphere. The sphere is
542the most basic as the limits of the energetic structure are all equidistant
543from the center, or the singularity that is God. Thus, as the energy of
544the early universe was cooling off and stabilizing, spheres and
545variations on spheres and spherical energetic structures became the
546basic building blocks of reality as energy moved from the state of
547possibility and potential into the state of actuality. Today, we would
54816 Being Human
549call these basic energetic structures quarks, sub-atomic particles,
550electrons, protons, etc., all repetitions of patterns in the fundamental
551fractal geometry.
552These then started to coalesce into more and more stable
553structures with more complex energetic arrangements, and from these
554energetic processes, we got the chemical elements as listed on the
555periodic table of elements, the basic building blocks of physical reality.
556These then were able to interact and conglomerate into larger and larger
557structures, eventually giving rise to the large-scale structures of the
558universe such as stars, planets, etc.
559All through this process, God, as energy, is simply being itself.
560Energy can only be true to itself. Energy can’t be something other than
561what it is. For example, if you have 12 volts of electricity, you have 12
562volts of electricity. It will never be anything else. It can only be
563exactly what it is.
564The way that energy works in the process of being itself is what
565we call, from our human perspective, natural laws, or the laws of
566physics or of mathematics. This is simply the given nature of reality as
567an energetic construct. It’s just the way things work. God is energy.
568Energy is mathematical. Reality is energy. Reality is mathematical.
569God is mathematical.
570Perhaps the most important mathematical function to
571understand is that of fractals. Fractals are complex mathematical
572formulas that map out repetitions and variations on patterns across
573multiple scales simultaneously. Mathematicians were quite astounded
574when, with the development of fractal mathematics, suddenly, here was
575a construct that allowed for the mathematical mapping of what were
576previously assumed to be somewhat chaotic and random systems.
577Clouds, for example, can be mathematically mapped with fractals. So
578can coast lines, mountain ranges, river systems, and possibly even the
579energetic foundations of quantum physics. In other words, when the
580basic geometric forms of spheres start to interact energetically, they
581naturally form fractal formations: repetitions and variations of patterns
582across multiple scales simultaneously. Energy, when simply being
583itself and following “natural laws,” forms fractals.
584There is one more interesting and significant geometric feature
585of the non-biological universe, and that is crystals. Crystals are unique
586in the non-living energetic environment for not only do they exhibit
587complex geometry, but they also grow. Physically, crystals are natural
588God and Evolution 17
589amplifiers, transmitters, and conduits of energy. Crystals are able to
590process energy in ways that other forms of physical matter are not.
591They are decidedly unique and significant and their complex geometry
592is integral in their ability to move energy.
593The Geometry of Early Organic Evolution
594The energetic evolution of the inorganic structures of the
595universe took many billions of years worth of energetic transformation.
596In other words, God, as an energy being, could not create the universe
597fully formed as we now experience it. God, as energy, had to work
598according to basic energetic, geometric and mathematical laws. This is
599because God is energy and is not able to be anything other than itself.
600The mythical notion of a “creator God” who snapped “his” “fingers”
601and suddenly the universe appeared fully formed is precisely that – a
602myth and a story. It has nothing to do with how God actually works
603according to its true nature. God cannot be anything other than what it
604is, and it is not some distant being that just made the universe, “poof.”
605God is the energy that is continually transforming itself through the
606ever-flowing moment of now.
607With the eventual formation of the stable energetic structures
608that we can now identify as comprising our universe, God reached an
609interesting point in the transformation of energy. Metaphorically
610speaking, God had succeeded in making a fantastic mansion out of
611itself and its energy, but other than the energy transferred and amplified
612by crystal formation, God had no actual “perspective” within the
613mansion. To put it crudely, God built this fantastic mansion out of
614itself, but still had the pressing question of “how do I get in to enjoy
615this universe?”
616That is precisely what biological evolution is for: it is the
617energetic mechanism that God is using to get inside itself as distinct,
618living beings, in order for God to play the reality game as multiple
619“characters” simultaneously (much like when we dream, we are all the
620characters in our dreams, as well as the total environment and context
621of the dream, though we usually only personally identify with one
622specific perspective that we identify as our “self” through the
623imposition of our ego).
624How did God do it? The answer is quite simple: God used
625crystals.
62618 Being Human
627The universe is a great big place, and while it may be
628statistically probable that there is life on other planets, the only planet
629that we actually know of that harbors life is our beautiful home, Planet
630Earth. Therefore, an account of reality as we know it does not need to
631account for life anywhere else. It is important to make clear then that
632all descriptions of the evolution of life need only address what we
633know of here on this planet. We only need account for the actual
634evidence.
635Using crystals as a sort of inorganic sensory organ, God felt
636around for the best place to begin the next phase of the reality game.
637What God needed was the right environment where the vibrations of
638the energy of consciousness could best be accommodated in the
639physical universe. It wasn’t that God was looking to introduce
640consciousness, for rudimentary levels of consciousness exists in energy
641by its very nature, but in order for consciousness to process large
642amounts of self-referential data within the physical system, it needs a
643complex energetic structure to filter energy and information through.
644In other words, it needs more complex formations than those provided
645by inorganic matter in order for it to be expressed fully in physical
646reality.
647The environment with all the necessary conditions was found
648right here on Earth. The planet was the proper distance from its nearby
649star, for one, but more importantly, the majority of its surface was
650covered in a liquid crystalline matrix that was ideal for processing the
651energy of life and consciousness. Saltwater is a combination of two
652crystalline forms: salt and water. A perfect energetic environment,
653when mixed with the right amount of sunlight.
654It was here, in our oceans, that God began to evolve itself as
655living beings. As with the inorganic universe, God started with simple,
656radial geometry. Single-celled organisms, or basic spheres, were the
657first to arrive on the scene. Another complex crystalline structure
658developed inside these early spheres. This structure would encode
659information and map out future permutations of these living energetic
660being and functions as a holographic encoder: DNA.
661Thus began biological evolution. Working with spheres in the
662ideal energetic crystalline environment, God made a great deal of
663headway in the evolutionary process. Single-celled organisms began
664interacting and forming symbiotic relationships, eventually
665recombining into multi-celled organisms. This allowed for more
666God and Evolution 19
667complex geometric formations of living beings, and once organisms
668moved past the single-celled stage, they started to develop, just as with
669the inorganic universe, into fractal forms. Life eventually moved out of
670the oceans, but brought the ocean with it in the saltwater that composes
671the bulk of living bodies.
672All living beings, just like structures in inorganic nature, are
673fractal/geometric forms. Early life is based on radial, spiral, and branch
674forms of geometry that grow according to fractal patterns, such as
675plants, sea creatures, coral, etc. The basic geometry of early life is
676fractal forms that are embodiments of God’s nature as an energetic
677being.
678The evolutionary potential of early life was limited, however.
679The energetic structures produced by radial, spiral, and branch fractal
680geometry were not sophisticated enough to process complex energetic
681relations as required by high levels of conscious awareness. Thus, for
682the most part, early life forms, and especially plants, are best
683understood as living energy transformers. Early life was busy
684transforming energy in ways to make the necessary energetic
685foundation for more complex forms of life. It was laying the
686groundwork for the radical potential of evolution.
687The Geometry of Higher Evolutionary Forms
688Eventually, conditions were energetically right for the next
689stage: the introduction of infinity loops as an energetic organizing
690structure.
691The infinity loop is a stunning variation on the sphere. Imagine
692taking a sphere and pinching and twisting it. This is how you get an
693infinity loop. Now, instead of energy radiating from the center out in
694all directions simultaneously, the energy moves through the center, out
695one loop, crosses back through the center, and then goes out through
696the other loop, and then back again, endlessly circulating and always
697referencing back to the center, the source. It becomes an infinite loop
698of energy and actually looks like our symbol for infinity, “∞.”
699The infinity loop became the energetic model for all higher life
700forms and is what allowed for the development of both bilateral
701symmetry and a centralized nervous system. Without infinity loops,
702the ability of physical beings to process the infinite possibilities of the
70320 Being Human
704energy of God as a conscious, self-aware being would not have been
705physically possible.
706The geometry is like this: take a spiral and unwind it. Now you
707have a line. On that line, stack your infinity loops, with the center of
708the infinity loop resting on the unwound spiral line. You now have the
709basic energetic model of higher life forms with bilateral symmetry.
710The unwound spiral eventually evolved into the spinal column
711of the central nervous system, and the infinity loops evolved into our
712basic physical features of two hemispheres of the brain, two eyes, two
713ears, two nostrils, the chambers of the heart, the lungs, the sexual
714organs, and our basic anatomy of shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands,
715hips, knees, ankles and feet. Infinity loops were clearly a major
716upgrade in the energetic blueprint of living beings. Beings were able to
717process far more information, they became more mobile, they
718developed more conscious awareness of their physical world through
719their sense organs (as based on infinity loops), and therefore became
720much more suitable vehicles for God to get around in as they more
721accurately reflected God’s nature as a self-aware, conscious, living
722being that can exercise free will in its process of being itself.
723And God had a great time. Dinosaurs were a lot of fun. They
724could swim, fly, run, crawl, climb, etc. There was a lot for God to do
725in those forms and evolution progressed nicely.
726The only problem was those big lizards weren’t very smart.
727After millions of years, their potential as true God vehicles just wasn’t
728quite satisfying.
729So, this is when God introduced dimethyltryptamine into the
730mix.
731Mammalian Evolution and Dimethyltryptamine
732Dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, as it is commonly called, is listed
733as a Schedule I illegal drug in the United States and is prohibited in
734most other countries around the world as well. When consumed, it
735becomes a powerful mind-altering agent and is therefore considered a
736“drug” by the powers that be. The irony is that DMT is perhaps one of
737the most important developments in all of evolution, and, without it,
738there would not be a single human being on this planet today. In many
739respects, humans, as well as all other mammals, are DMT beings.
740God and Evolution 21
741In the grand scope of evolution, mammals had some new
742features. They were covered with hair. They gave birth to live young
743and nursed them. They were warm blooded. And, not insignificantly,
744all mammals have DMT and 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxydimethyltryptamine)
745in their blood, lungs, spinal fluid, brains, and on
746their nerves throughout their nervous system. The presence of DMT in
747mammals was a major evolutionary step.
748DMT and 5-MeO-DMT are, in their physical form, crystals.
749They are also tryptamines, or neurotransmitters. In other words, they
750are crystals that process the energy of consciousness and awareness. It
751is not an accident that forms of DMT are in our nervous system. It is
752what allows us to process the energy of the conscious experience of
753being in our bodies. It is also what allows us to experience higher
754forms of consciousness and perception. In many respects, we could
755characterize our experience of ordinary reality as being a low-level
756DMT trip! When you add more DMT or 5-MeO-DMT to the system,
757either through ingestion of a substance or through various techniques of
758achieving endogenous (in-the-body) releases of DMT, our perception
759of energy and our conscious experience changes radically. Much more
760will be said about this in the latter portions of this guide.
761With the introduction of mammals onto the evolutionary scene,
762God now had a whole new set of possibilities to work with. These
763mammals had true potential to develop as conscious and self-aware
764beings. In other words, they had far more potential to be true God
765vehicles than other previous evolutionary developments. Dinosaurs
766were around for millions of years and didn’t get much smarter.
767Mammals, however, were ready to take off and begin something truly
768special.
769Human Evolution and the Ego
770Eventually, some of those mammals started to get really, really
771smart. They were becoming more and more aware of their
772environment, and through evolution, developed these things we call
773hands, which really opened up a new realm of possibilities. Animals
774were no longer limited to crude manipulations of the physical world
775with simple appendages or with their mouths, but now they could truly
776start to change the environment, according to their will, with their
777hands. These mammals started to walk upright, and make things with
77822 Being Human
779their hands. The potential was enormous. And they were getting
780smarter.
781Now it was time for the next big development. These creatures
782who were getting pretty smart held a lot of potential as God vehicles.
783However, to truly be a self-responsible God vehicle (a being truly
784“created in the image of God” as a responsible, self-aware energy
785being), they had to understand themselves as existing as individual
786beings. They had to be self-aware.
787Thus came the ego. It is important to point out right away that
788the ego is not the personality. Personality generates from your genes
789and what you inherit from your parents and ancestors. All mammals, in
790general, have some capacity to express personality. The smarter the
791animal, the more the personality, or unique behavioral characteristics,
792shows and is able to express itself. But the personality is not the ego,
793so even though higher mammals have personalities, they do not have
794egos and are therefore largely unable to reflect on themselves as unique
795beings. In other words, they don’t ever think about how they are
796expressing their personalities. They are merely expressing themselves,
797and in so doing, are perfectly being themselves. It is humans, with our
798egos, who reflect on our behavior and experience and understand that it
799is “I” who is experiencing and expressing these things.
800The ego, then, is a self-referential and self-validating energetic
801construct within consciousness. It is also fundamentally an illusion,
802though it is an evolutionarily necessary one in the development of
803human consciousness. The ego functions by creating separations
804between what it chooses to identify as “me” and “not me.” It generally
805becomes very protective of that which it identifies as “me” and is wary
806and cautious of what is “not me,” for anything that is “not me” has the
807potential to harm or destroy “me.” The ego also constantly seeks to
808validate its distinctions in any way that it can, and when its validations
809are threatened, it reacts with fear and energetic contraction to maintain
810the integrity of the illusion of the separate self.
811Without the ego, humans would never have been able to stand
812up and say, “I am!” However, that realization then led to a number of
813questions, such as, where did I come from? Where am I going? What
814is this crazy universe I find myself in?”
815In other words, the ego is the starting point for God to wake up
816to itself in the dream, but it is also the mechanism that does everything
817it can to keep individual beings from realizing their true nature, because
818God and Evolution 23
819its very function is to create illusion. Anything that threatens that
820illusion can be profoundly disturbing for egos. This is why the
821fantasies spun by religions are far easier for egos to accept than the
822basic truth that they are embodiments of God and must be responsible
823for themselves. It is sooooo much more comforting for an ego to hear
824that some great being that exists outside itself and will reward it for
825good behavior or grant it favors if it prays or worships hard enough for,
826ultimately, everything is in this superior being’s hands. Religions, like
827alcohol, are profoundly intoxicating for egos and affirm their illusions
828grandly. Any individual who truly wants to understand the actual
829nature of reality must transcend the ego. It is also the path to genuine
830liberation and happiness.
831Ego Formation in Children
832Though this is a topic that deserves far more attention than it
833will be given here, let us touch on the topic of children.
834When children come into the world, they naturally want to do
835only a limited number of things: sleep, eat, and play. As with other
836mammals and higher animals, they come into the world with the
837possibilities of their personality already encoded in their genes. They
838start to learn how to express their personality by observing the
839behaviors of others, and their eager minds start to create strategies for
840how to engage others and the world that surrounds them. It is through
841this process that their egos eventually come into being.
842However, children, with their superb powers of observation,
843quickly learn that, essentially, no one is honestly expressing how they
844really feel. They observe people saying one thing, but clearly feeling
845and thinking another. They realize that people rarely express
846themselves honestly, and when they finally do, it often comes out in
847forms that are explosive, angry, judgmental, and overly emotional.
848Their minds struggle to make sense of this peculiar situation. They
849learn very quickly that everyone seems to be playing some kind of game
850where they willingly engage in manipulation, repression, sublimation,
851and lack of personal authenticity and responsibility. In other words,
852they learn that people are trapped in playing ego games. If they want to
853fit in, which of course they do, they understand that they too must play
854the game. Before parents even realize it, their children start to
855manipulate them using sophisticated ego games.
85624 Being Human
857What we have here is a fundamentally vicious cycle. Parents
858with confused egos raise children with confused egos and the cycle of
859illusion, manipulation, and suffering goes round and round. Therefore,
860if parents really want to take responsibility for raising healthy children,
861then they need to take responsibility for themselves and for the patterns
862of their egos. The best thing a parent can do for a child is to be a
863healthy and responsible role model. But they can’t do that if they
864haven’t taken the time to become responsible for themselves. All
865responsibility begins with self-responsibility.
866God’s Signature in Fractal Anatomy
867Let us return for a moment to our characterization of God. God
868is a being of infinite energy that functions according to
869mathematical/fractal/geometric expressions. To put it very simply,
870from the infinite come fractal patterns. This is the basic nature of God
871and the basic nature of reality.
872Coincidentally (or “only naturally”), a clear representation of
873this concept is in our very anatomy.
874Let’s take a closer look at the human body and how the energy
875of God works in human form. Consider first God’s infinite mind. The
876capacity of God’s consciousness is infinite, but even so, the energy of
877consciousness still works according to fractal/mathematical patterns.
878All things might be possible in the mind of God, but energy still works
879in particular ways.
880This “signature” of the true nature of God is present
881anatomically in our very bodies. Understanding that your personal
882consciousness and awareness is God means accepting that your
883consciousness and awareness originates directly from source, with no
884intermediary functions. So, if we ask, “Where does the energy of
885consciousness in your brain come from?” the answer is, “God, the
886infinite source of all energy.” Consciousness clearly does not come
887from the food you eat, the parts that make up your body, or anything
888else. Consciousness is not an “ingredient” in the physical world. It
889comes directly from source, from God.
890Human anatomy literally shows us this “signature.”
891Consciousness, while mediated through the entire body, is localized
892energetically in our brains as the central processing center. As stated
893before, the anatomical structure of the brain is an infinity loop placed
894God and Evolution 25
895on top of an unwound spiral (the spinal column). As the seat of our
896consciousness, the brain physically embodies the symbol of infinity.
897Then, branching out from the brain and the spinal column in a fractal
898branch pattern is the nervous system. This is God’s signature. From
899the infinite, come fractal patterns of energy and manifestation.
900We find the same signature in the cardio-vascular system. God
901is the infinite source of love and life. With the heart, we have two
902infinity loops stacked on top of each other with the upper and lower
903chambers of the heart. We also have the lungs, which are also infinity
904loops (which supply oxygen, or necessary energy, to the blood). These
905sets of infinity loops then branch out in the fractal branch pattern of our
906vascular system. Once again, we find the same signature: from the
907infinite source of energy come fractal patterns of energy and
908manifestation.
909The third place we can find God’s signature is in the sexual
910organs. For the male, we have the infinity loops of the testes and the
911two sides of the penis. For the female, we have the “lips” of the vagina
912and the ovaries. Here the infinite energy of evolutionary development
913is embodied in the infinity loops of our sexual anatomy. But where is
914the fractal pattern of energy that is God’s method of manifesting energy
915in physical reality? The fractal pattern of energy that extends from the
916sexual organs is evolution itself, as well as the total physical body.
917Your physical body, which is organized according to the geometric
918principles of the golden ratio, is a fractal manifestation of energy from
919your parents’ sexual organs. And when taken collectively, all of life
920and the grand sweep of evolution is the fractal pattern of energy that
921sexual reproduction gives rise to.
922What is God Doing?
923God has clearly been building better and better vehicles (living
924beings) through the ongoing process of evolution. In humans,
925evolution has reached a transcendent state. We have the capacity to
926self reflect on the nature of our existence. And because of that, we
927also have the capacity to transcend the limitations of the illusion and
928realize our true natures as embodiments of God. We are the epitome of
929the ultimate God vehicle at this point in evolution.
930It seems reasonable to conclude that this is precisely what God
931has been working for in terms of evolution. God has been evolving all
93226 Being Human
933of reality and living beings in order for God to be fully actualized in
934physical form. This has been achieved in the human vehicle.
935Evolution is now ready for the next step: vehicles that can take
936responsibility for who and what they truly are. We are ready to more
937truly be ourselves as embodiments of God.
938In terms of taking responsibility, humans are certainly in their
939infancy. Through our religions and myths, we have been telling
940ourselves fairytales about our existence and our responsibilities. These
941myths and fairytales have served to organize cultures and provided
942guidelines for thinking and acting to humans in ways that have been
943both fruitful and creative, as well as destructive and repressive.
944However, just like with a human child, eventually, you have to tell
945them that Santa Claus isn’t real and it is time to take a more adult
946perspective on life.
947The same is fundamentally true for humanity. It is time for us
948to move out of the illusions and fantasy and into reality so that we can
949truly take responsibility for ourselves. It is time to grow up.
950If we can step up to the challenge and take responsibility, then
951the potential for evolution into ever-more conscious forms of God in a
952body becomes a true possibility. Consider that in truth, we are the one
953energy being that is everything. In theory, the more responsibility we
954can take for ourselves and the more control we can have over our own
955energy, the more we will be able to do in this energetic reality game
956that we are all busy playing. In other words, awakening to the true
957nature of reality may just be the beginning of where we might go from
958here. The possibilities are endless.
959Consider also that we know of only one planet in the entire
960universe that harbors life. Though statistically it seems unlikely, what
961if this is the only planet with life on it? What if this is God’s cosmic
962nest egg? Is it possible that God is planning on using our evolution as
963conscious beings to begin the process of populating the rest of the
964cosmos? If so, we will need clear minds and good science to
965accomplish this grand task, and we will need to take responsibility for
966who and what we are.
967Ultimately, such speculation is largely irrelevant, though it is
968interesting. Our main concern is to get clear, here and now. The future
969will be what the future will be, and in any case, it is quite clear that
970God is doing something with evolution, and whatever that something is,
971it certainly serves God’s purpose of fully being itself. It is important to
972God and Evolution 27
973understand that in the end, that is all God is doing: being itself. That is
974also all that we ever need do as embodiments and vehicles for God.
975Key Ideas
976• All of evolution, inorganic and organic, is an on-going process
977of energetic transformations and interactions that function
978according to basic mathematical and geometrical laws
979• Fractal mathematics and geometry is the underlying
980mathematical foundation of all aspects of reality
981• All living beings are embodiments of God
982• There is only one source of all life and consciousness: God
983• Higher life forms with centralized nervous systems are built on
984the bilateral symmetry of infinity loops and fractal branches
985• Egos are necessary for conscious self-awareness
986• Egos function to create the illusion of separation
987• Egos provide individuals with a unique perspective
988• Egos can be transcended
989• Egos and personalities are distinct
990Part II
991Living in Reality
992Life as an Individual
993Understanding Your Vehicle
994God, as the multi-being, has many different vehicles for it to
995experience the reality of itself in. Every unique individual living being
996is a vehicle that is powered directly from source, from God. Aside
997from humans, all other vehicles are just being themselves within their
998evolutionary and biological parameters. A tree is just busy being a tree
999and a cat is just busy being a cat. Neither has to think about what it
1000means to be a cat or a tree. They are just fully themselves. They are
1001perfect vehicles, in their limited capacity way. Human vehicles,
1002because they have egos and are self-aware, have a great deal more
1003choice about how they express themselves and manage their vehicles.
1004They also have a great deal more potential for confusing themselves
1005and making themselves unhappy. While there certainly are “natural
1006disasters” that humans are subject to as embodiments of God playing
1007the reality game, the vast majority of problems that humans encounter
1008are purely self-generated. We are our own worst enemy.
1009A starting point for understanding how to avoid creating
1010problems for ourselves as vehicles for God to experience reality in is to
1011understand how our vehicle functions. If there is something wrong
1012with your car or it is having problems, you take it to a mechanic to see
1013if it is functioning properly. Similarly, given that human beings are
1014God vehicles, understanding the mechanics of God’s energy can help to
1015resolve problems that individual vehicles may be experiencing.
101630 Being Human
1017Addressing the energy of your vehicle is a far more effective route than
1018going on a retreat, doing a workshop, joining a religion, or seeing a
1019therapist. When your car is having trouble, you take it to a mechanic,
1020not a guru or a priest. Your body is a vehicle too, so why not treat it
1021accordingly?
1022As a vehicle for God to walk around in and enjoy reality with,
1023your body has three “divine” energy centers. These are the energy
1024centers that anatomically shape into infinity loops. Thus, we have
1025consciousness (the brain), life and love (heart and lungs) and
1026creation/evolution (sexual organs). These are the three centers where
1027the infinite energy of God directly interfaces with our bodies. These
1028centers belong to God, so to speak, and the best that we can do is
1029manage the energy present there. We cannot personally control it (you
1030can’t stop yourself from thinking, or stop yourself from breathing or
1031your heart beating, or keep yourself from feeling sexual energy). At
1032best, we can influence how this energy is allowed to flow through us,
1033but we cannot ever stop these energies as long as we are in physical
1034bodies. And given that we only experience anything by being in a
1035physical body, these infinite sources of energy are our constant
1036companions and are what give us life, awareness and consciousness.
1037As a physical being, we have two other primary energy centers,
1038but these are not energy centers that are directly related to source and
1039are more closely related with our individual vehicles. These are your
1040“personal” energy centers and they function very differently from the
1041three listed above. The first of these is the mouth and throat.
1042Geometrically, this is a tube, not an infinity loop. In many respects,
1043physical bodies are reality processors, or tubes. From the tube, they put
1044things into reality and take other things out. Your mouth, energetically,
1045is an input/output mechanism. With your mouth, you both literally
1046consume physical reality as food and energetically, we “consume”
1047aspects of reality that we are attracted to. Both literally and
1048metaphorically, the mouth embodies what we “take in.”
1049As an output mechanism, the mouth is our primary means of
1050intentional energetic expression through vocalization and language.
1051Much of what we do with our hands becomes an extension of the
1052mouth. We use our hands to put things into our mouths and also use
1053our hands to create art, music, writing, etc., as extensions of our innate
1054expressive ability and communicative function as conscious beings.
1055Life as an Individual 31
1056It is the mouth/throat energy center that is the biggest problem
1057for humans as this center affects everything else. This is your most
1058personal energy center, for this is where you are determining what to
1059take in and what to put out. It regulates your self-expression and
1060thereby influences all the other energies of your system. From a purely
1061physical standpoint, this is very easy to accept as true. What you put in
1062your mouth will profoundly affect all the rest of the energy in your
1063body. If you eat healthy food, your physical system is nourished and
1064your energy functions better. If you drink poison, your physical system
1065will shut down and you die, thereby short-circuiting the divine energy
1066centers that are providing you with life.
1067The situation is more complicated when it comes to the output
1068function because it is primarily here that the ego gets in the way. For
1069example, let’s say that your personality energetically resonates with the
1070act of singing. You love to sing and want to sing as much as possible.
1071You want to feel that energy vibrating through your body and filling
1072the space around you. However, your roommate has been quite blunt
1073with you: “You suck! You can’t sing!”
1074How does ego react? There are a variety of ways. One is to
1075shut down. You feel bad, so you stop singing, and then you feel sorry
1076for yourself. Another option is to compromise and agree not to sing
1077when your roommate is around (even if you really feel the urge),
1078though this will probably make you feel unsatisfied and inauthentic.
1079Yet another response is to sing more often with the intent of showing
1080your roommate that you are not intimidated by their critique, which
1081will probably aggravate a passive aggressive situation and drama will
1082ensue.
1083If you have transcended your ego, then this situation will be no
1084problem whatsoever. You will tell your roommate that you are
1085fulfilling your desire to be authentic with yourself and your energy.
1086You are taking responsibility for the energy inside you and expressing
1087it in a healthy way. If you can’t sing, that is your roommate’s problem,
1088but not yours, for you are satisfied and confident in your self
1089expression, regardless of how it actually sounds.
1090Most people, in most situations, when confronted with an ego
1091challenge, do not respond from a position of ego transcendence. People
1092are so locked into the illusions and fantasies created by their egos that
1093drama almost always ensues (if not immediately, then somewhere
1094down the road). It is only the ego that creates such dramas. If a dog
109532 Being Human
1096wants to bark, it will. It won’t stop to think about whether it’s the thing
1097it should or shouldn’t do. Shoulds and shouldn’ts are primarily ego
1098concerns, especially when it comes to personal behavior or choice.
1099The last energy center is your stomach. This is a continuation
1100of the tube of your mouth/throat center. What goes in and out of the
1101mouth affects the stomach, or your physical processing center. When
1102you eat rotten food, your stomach hurts. When you say ugly and
1103hurtful things, you get stomach cramps and digestive discomfort. The
1104ways you choose to use your input/output energy center will always
1105affect your physical experience in your body, in one way or another.
1106So, your vehicle has three divine energy centers that are the
1107sources of your energy, life, and conscious experience. These are
1108organized into your central core and process electromagnetic energy
1109(sexual attraction, brain waves and heart beat/pulse). We can influence
1110these centers, but ultimately we cannot completely control them. And
1111they are all physical expressions of infinite energy. Given that we, as
1112humans, are the epitome of God in embodied form, we are also able to
1113reach back into infinity through these energy centers. We can
1114experience infinite consciousness, infinite love, and infinite sexual
1115ecstasy. Through these centers, we can become full expressions of God
1116in physical form.
1117With the other two centers, also aligned along our central core,
1118we have the regulation of our personal expression and our physical
1119being. These centers don’t radiate energy as the divine centers do.
1120Rather, they process and transform energy and translate it from one
1121form to another: food turns into nourishment, our words express our
1122thoughts and feelings, etc.
1123The arms and legs then become extensions of these energy
1124centers and are primarily energy conduits for the energy that moves
1125from our central core. With our hands, we are able to engage our
1126environment at a physical/energetic level. Through our feet, our
1127personal energy grounds into the energetic matrix of our immediate
1128environment.
1129Overall, the entire body functions as a fractal expression of
1130electromagnetic energy. You are, quite literally, an energy being with a
1131liquid crystal interior, incased in skin, with three divine energy centers
1132and two personal ones.
1133The key to understanding yourself as an embodiment of God is
1134to understand your energetic nature, just as the key to understanding
1135Life as an Individual 33
1136physical reality is to understand the energetic structures that comprise
1137the physical world. Your primary concern as an energetic bio-vehicle
1138for God to enjoy reality in is this: Am I being aware and authentic with
1139the energy that is me? If you can honestly answer yes to that question,
1140then that is all you need ever do.
1141This view is at odds with virtually all religious traditions,
1142especially the Western Monotheistic traditions. These traditions have
1143invented concepts like souls, sin, morality, and salvation and
1144damnation. These concepts have no basis in reality and have nothing
1145whatsoever to do with your bio-vehicle or how it actually functions.
1146Key Ideas
1147• Your body is a “vehicle” for God to enjoy reality in
1148• Your personality is the natural expression of your energy as an
1149embodiment of God
1150• Human bodies have three “divine” energy centers:
1151consciousness/the brain and nervous system; the heart, lungs,
1152and vascular system; the genitals and reproductive system
1153• Human bodies have two “personal” energy centers: the throat
1154and mouth; the stomach and digestive system
1155• Egos block the natural expression of the energy radiating from
1156your divine energy centers whenever you fail to express your
1157energy authentically
1158• Authentic energy flow has nothing to do with moralistic
1159systems of behavior
116034 Being Human
1161Actual Energy vs. Imaginary “Subtle” Energy
1162It should be clear by this point in the discussion that the kinds
1163of energies and energy centers in the body that are being described here
1164have nothing whatsoever to do with obscure mystical ideas of “subtle”
1165energy. Many religious and cultural traditions teach about “subtle”
1166energy and “subtle bodies.” For example, we have the chakra system
1167of both Hinduism and Buddhism, and we have the meridians and chi of
1168Taoism. It might be tempting to compare these ideas of energy to the
1169discussion of energy as provided in this guide. This would be
1170fundamentally misguided, however, and it should be made clear that
1171there is no relationship between the ideas presented here and religious
1172constructions of “subtle” energy.
1173The difference should be immediately clear. The energy being
1174discussed here is the energy of our actual physiological system – our
1175brains and nervous system, our hearts and circulatory system, our
1176sexual organs and evolutionary transformation. In other words, this is
1177your actual body. There is nothing “subtle” about this.
1178On the other hand, Buddhists and Hindus are quite explicit
1179when they proclaim that your chakras are your “subtle” energy system
1180and this system is not necessarily correlated with your physiological
1181system, which would be characterized as a “gross” system (as opposed
1182to “subtle”). This distinction is obvious when gurus describe how you
1183have chakras above your head and below your anus: this has nothing to
1184do with your actual physical body.
1185Let’s make the distinction even more obvious. Imagine that
1186your car is having engine trouble. You take it to the mechanic’s shop
1187and are greeted by two mechanics. One mechanic asks you how your
1188car is running and then proceeds to open up the hood and tinker with
1189the engine. The other mechanic, however, never bothers to look at the
1190engine. Instead, he pulls out some books with pictures of cars that
1191show different wheels of colored energy with different symbols and
1192syllables and starts to discourse on how your car can be made to run
1193better if these energy centers can only be properly opened up, purified,
1194and activated.
1195Who do you think is actually going to fix your car - the “real”
1196mechanic who is concerned about the actual machinery of your vehicle,
1197Life as an Individual 35
1198or the mechanic who wants to talk about these mysterious energy
1199centers that seem only vaguely related to your actual car?
1200To put it bluntly, the kinds of energy being discussed in this
1201guide have nothing to do with any concept of subtle energy and are not
1202comparable to religious constructions of subtle energy in any way.
1203Subtle energy is imaginary. Real energy is physiological.
1204Life and Death
1205Perhaps the most difficult concept for people to accept is that
1206the entheological model of God, life, and reality that is being
1207articulated here indicates that any notion of an “afterlife” is a complete
1208fantasy.
1209God is life. God is your life. You, as a vehicle for God to
1210experience reality in, are dependent on your vehicle/body in order for
1211you to have your personal perspective as a character that God is
1212playing. Without your body, you have no “personal” perspective as
1213one manifestation of the multi-being. The conclusion is therefore
1214obvious: when your vehicle is gone, so is your personal perspective.
1215In a sense, your perspective as an individual is a gift from God.
1216The gift only lasts as long as the vehicle does. God, as the multi-being,
1217is able to occupy all perspectives simultaneously. As an individual
1218expression of God in a body, you have your perspective. That is your
1219gift of experiencing yourself as an individual.
1220So what happens at death? Is there life after death? Is there a
1221heaven or a hell or reincarnation? Is there reward or punishment?
1222Ultimately, nothing that any religion has ever claimed about
1223these questions or their answers is relevant. It is all pure fantasy and
1224ego projection. When your body is gone, that unique perspective that
1225was “you” is gone. God lives on eternally. God has billions more
1226bodies and perspectives to enjoy. Your perspective was just one
1227perspective in the grand evolutionary arc of life and at your death is
1228then simply gone.
1229Think of it this way, if you like: God is playing a big, complex
1230video game. “You” are a character in that game. When your character
1231dies in the game, it’s the end of that character. That doesn’t affect the
1232gamer (God) at all, because God just gets more new characters.
1233Similarly, when you dream, you dream all kinds of characters, even
123436 Being Human
1235yourself. However, you are all the characters, not just the one you
1236identify your personal perspective with.
1237So no, there is no “life after death.” There is nowhere for “you”
1238to go, because you are already there. There is no state of purification
1239to be achieved. No enlightenment to gain. No tests of character or
1240spirit to be overcome. Nothing. You are a character in a complex
1241game. Your only task is to be authentic to your character and nothing
1242else. Given that this is the only time that you have as this character,
1243your job is to make the most out of it while your character is around.
1244Everything else about what you should or shouldn’t do, especially
1245when one is getting advice from religions, is pure ego projection and
1246fantasy with no bearing on reality at all.
1247This also means that there is no reincarnation and no karma, so
1248the Eastern religions don’t fare much better than the Western
1249Monotheistic traditions when it comes to describing true reality. The
1250only one who “reincarnates” is God, who is the life and consciousness
1251already present in every living being. There is no such thing as an
1252individual consciousness or spirit or soul that can reincarnate, and since
1253there is no such thing, there also is no such thing as karma (cause and
1254effect accumulated over lifetimes of choices and behavior). It is not
1255your individual consciousness that evolves over many lifetimes. It is
1256God that is evolving as all living beings simultaneously. Our evolution
1257is collective, not individual, because we are the collective. We are that
1258one being.
1259A startling conclusion is that there is no reason to follow what
1260any religion says about what one should or should not do. It all
1261becomes a matter of choice. Religions can present you with options for
1262how you may want to behave, but none of their moral, ethical, or
1263metaphysical rationales for the views they promote hold up under
1264scrutiny. For example, Buddhism teaches you should be a vegetarian
1265because eating animals causes bad karma and a bad rebirth, thereby
1266lessening your chances of reaching enlightenment. But, since there is
1267no reincarnation, nor karma, the only real reason to be a vegetarian is if
1268you personally want to. None of the metaphysical reasons given by
1269Buddhism for vegetarianism hold up when considering the true nature
1270of reality.
1271It is much the same case with Christianity. This religion
1272teaches that certain behaviors are sins and will prevent you from
1273entering heaven and will damn your soul. Well, you don’t have a soul,
1274Life as an Individual 37
1275so there’s nothing to save or damn. If you want to “be a good
1276Christian,” that is up to you, but don’t expect anything for it. God does
1277not have any reward for you.
1278However, this is not to say that religions don’t have some good
1279advice for living your life. Buddhism teaches compassion and
1280Christianity turning the other cheek and loving your neighbors. You
1281will lead a happier life by following good advice, but that doesn’t mean
1282that it has anything to do with God, the afterlife, or what comes next. It
1283is only good advice if it helps you remain clear, centered, and authentic
1284in the present moment (in which case, Buddhism fares far better than
1285most religions in terms of practical advice, given its attention to
1286remaining present and focused and its emphasis on cultivating
1287awareness through meditation).
1288Given that worrying about life after death is a specious issue,
1289anything that draws your attention away from living authentically in the
1290present moment is a diversion and most probably an ego-generated
1291illusion. If you want to have a goal for yourself to help you on your
1292path to becoming healthier, happier and more centered and less trapped
1293by fear and negative thoughts and emotions, then I strongly suggest that
1294you get clear on who and what you are and be present with yourself and
1295your energy in every moment. Ultimately, this is a simple task with
1296many monumental challenges.
1297The remainder of this guide will share with you how you can do
1298it!
1299Key Ideas
1300• Your energy system is related to your physiology and is not
1301“subtle” energy – it is electromagnetic energy
1302• The direct source of your energy is God
1303• Souls and spirits and subtle bodies are religious concepts that
1304have no correlate in actual reality
1305• Concepts of an afterlife and all related moral systems are a
1306fantasy and have no relation to actual reality
1307• Your life and consciousness is God in embodied form: there are
1308no intermediaries
1309How to Begin
1310Waking Up
1311I like to think of it this way: What we experience as normal
1312reality is God’s altered state. In God’s baseline state, all things are one
1313and there is no separation. However, in ordinary reality, we experience
1314things as separate all the time and most of us have no idea that we’re
1315actually God and all of what we experience is ourselves. In other
1316words, when we humans are in our “normal state,” we, as God, are
1317fundamentally confused about the nature of our existence. We are
1318confusing all kinds of fantasies and illusions with reality and we think
1319that there are a bunch of separate beings running around, all doing their
1320thing. We are God’s altered state!
1321Conversely, when we alter our state of consciousness, we can
1322get closer to the baseline state that is pure God consciousness. From
1323my personal experience, this is best achieved through the ingestion of
13245-MeO-DMT and is far more effective than any meditation regimen or
1325other “mystical” practice. 5-MeO-DMT is about as altered as any
1326human being can get, but from the God perspective, that state of
1327consciousness is simply the way things actually are. In other words,
1328that state of consciousness of complete mystical union is actually the
1329super-mundane state of reality. It’s the most ordinary, non-fantastical
1330thing. It’s the reality game that we’re playing here in embodied form
1331that is fantastical, given that it’s all a complex and grand illusion.
1332How to Begin 39
1333But don’t be mistaken. Just because reality is an illusion that
1334doesn’t mean it isn’t “real.” This is as “real” as it gets. For this reason,
1335no matter if one wakes up to the true nature of reality or not, one must
1336always be concerned with protecting the vehicle. It doesn’t matter how
1337awakened you are – if you walk in front of a semi moving at 70 mph,
1338it’s going to cream your body all over the freeway – that’s simply the
1339way the reality game works. If you want to stick around to be able to
1340enjoy your personal perspective, then you will always protect your
1341vehicle for as long as you are playing the reality game. The game is
1342much more fun when you can avoid unnecessary pain and suffering!
1343Waking up to the true nature of your being means essentially
1344only one thing, and that is liberation from the confines of your ego,
1345thereby letting yourself be more fully yourself and more responsible for
1346your personal experience of the reality game. Waking up does not
1347mean developing paranormal powers or anything mystical or
1348mystifying at all. It simply means liberating yourself from your ego
1349and thereby living a happier and more satisfying life. It doesn’t mean
1350you’ll be able to “manifest” anything you want, or “create your own
1351reality,” as are popular beliefs among New Age aficionados. Nor does
1352it mean developing psychic powers as Buddhism and Hinduism claim.
1353And it especially does not mean developing an ability to travel in astral
1354realms or visit alien civilizations or any such fantastical nonsense.
1355Waking up is simply about being fully present and authentic with your
1356energy at all times and is best described as being energetically open.
1357When you can do that, your ego will no longer have a hold on you.
1358When your ego no longer has a hold on you, you won’t be taken in by
1359fantasy and ego-projection. You won’t engage with others’ self-created
1360dramas and power-plays and you’ll understand how to avoid making
1361ones of your own. You will be happier and you will feel supreme love
1362for yourself and for God (which are one and the same). You will be at
1363peace.
1364But you will still be in the reality game until your vehicle is no
1365more, and at that point, you personally have nothing to worry about,
1366because you, as God, live on, and will continue in perfect self-love
1367forever.
1368Not a bad deal, is it?
1369Are you ready to take responsibility and be yourself?
137040 Being Human
1371Taking Stock
1372Before beginning the process of opening yourself to the full
1373expression of your energy, it is good to take stock and see where you
1374currently are. Consider some preliminary questions:
1375• Do you feel that you authentically express yourself and your
1376feelings, or do you hold back and restrain yourself?
1377• If you restrain yourself, what is your rationale? Family?
1378Friends? Culture? Religion?
1379• Do you find that you judge others and yourself?
1380• Where do these judgments come from?
1381• Do you ever engage in behavior patterns that you know are not
1382beneficial to yourself or others but can’t seem to break out of
1383the negative patterns?
1384• Do you feel that you are a victim in life?
1385• Do you indulge in self-pity?
1386• Do you feel personally under attack when people criticize views
1387or beliefs that you hold?
1388• Are you honest with yourself at all times?
1389• Are you honest with others, even when being so is challenging
1390for others?
1391• Do you face your fears with love and acceptance or do you
1392prefer to do combat with them and try and eliminate them?
1393• Do you always stay in your comfort zone or do you push your
1394edges to discover your potential?
1395How to Begin 41
1396• Are you satisfied with the level of communication, trust, and
1397love in your intimate relationships?
1398• Is what others think of you a major motivating factor in your
1399life?
1400Exercise 1
1401Take the time to think honestly about your answers to these
1402questions. You might find it helpful to spend some time writing your
1403responses down on paper and see what patterns develop. As you see
1404patterns emerge, you can start to ask youself, “What could I do in this
1405situation to take more responsibility for myself?” For example, write
1406out some situations where you indulged in self-pity. What were the
1407circumstances? How did you feel? What did you do at the time?
1408Now, ask yourself, how could you have taken more responsibility for
1409your reactions and emotions in that situation? What could you have
1410done to express yourself more authentically? What expectations were
1411you attached to that, when they didn’t materialize as you hoped, led to
1412your feelings of self-pity.
1413Keep in mind that how you respond to any situation is always
1414your choice. Shit happens. That can’t be avoided, but how you
1415respond to any situation and how you mobilize your energy is always
1416your personal responsibility. If you can master that, then you can
1417master your life. It doesn’t mean that you are in control of anything
1418outside of your immediate vehicle and your immediate consciousness,
1419but it does mean that you become in control of yourself, rather than
1420letting your confused ego run the show.
1421In short, this is all about self-mastery.
1422Exercise 2
1423For another exercise, take a look at what it means for you to be
1424authentic with yourself. Take a piece of paper and divide it in half. On
1425one side, write down everything you can associate with the feeling of
1426being authentic, honest, and true to yourself. Then on the other side,
1427write down everything you associate with feeling inauthentic, dishonest
1428and untrue. Try to write freely without any attachment or judgment
142942 Being Human
1430with anything that comes up. This is not about right or wrong thinking.
1431This is about looking honestly at your current thoughts and feelings.
1432How do you feel about your lists of associations? Which feels
1433more attractive to you? Without judging yourself in any way, but being
1434honest, where are you more of the time mentally, emotionally,
1435consciously, etc. Are you on the authentic side or the inauthentic side?
1436Remember, it’s OK if your honest assessment shows you that you’re
1437not where you want to be. Don’t judge yourself. Just recognize that
1438this is where you currently are and give yourself the goal of taking
1439more control of yourself and increasing your personal responsibility.
1440Exercise 3
1441Perhaps the most important question is this: Do you love
1442yourself fully, completely, and unconditionally? Try answering this
1443question verbally. How does your answer feel as it comes out of your
1444body and vibrates the air around you? Does your answer sound true to
1445you? Does it feel true? Is there doubt or hesitation or qualification in
1446your voice? Or is it pure, rich, and resonate with the profound
1447energetic qualities of truth? You might even want to record your voice
1448in answering this question. Listen to your recording at different times
1449and see what new perspectives you have on your own truth. You can
1450even record your answer many times over a course of days, weeks,
1451months or years. Listen to all your answers and see what’s changing as
1452you get more in touch with yourself and as you take more
1453responsibility. You’ll be surprised at how the quality of your tone and
1454voice changes. The further along you get on your path, the less like
1455“you” your original answer will sound.
1456Exercise 4
1457Another exercise to help you take stock is to complete the
1458sentence of, “I am . . .”
1459At the top of the piece of paper, write the words “I am” in clear,
1460bold letters. Then take 10-15 minutes to fill the page with as many free
1461associations as you can. Remember not to judge anything that you
1462write. This is not about right or wrong associations. For example, if
1463you feel depressed, then write that down. Don’t censor yourself by
1464telling yourself “I know I shouldn’t be depressed so I won’t write that.”
1465How to Begin 43
1466Just be honest! And don’t be idealistic, either. For example, if you
1467don’t actually feel that you are God, don’t write it! This is about
1468discovering what you actually feel, not what you think you should feel.
1469When you are done, circle everything that you perceive as
1470positive on the page in one color and circle everything you perceive as
1471negative in another color. Don’t do anything with it. Just observe what
1472has come up. Set the paper aside. When you feel ready, perhaps in a
1473few days, weeks, or months, do this exercise again. Get out your
1474original answers and compare them to your new answers. What has
1475shifted? Has the balance between positive and negative shifted, or is it
1476the same? If it has shifted, what do you feel you are doing differently
1477to produce different results? Can you identify healthy, authentic
1478patterns developing in your behavior? Remember, when doing this
1479exercise it is very important that you only focus on how you feel right
1480then, while doing the exercise. Your goal is to provide a current
1481snapshot of where you are at energetically, emotionally and mentally.
1482It is not about cataloging everything you’ve been through over the past
1483week. It is about getting in touch with yourself in the current moment.
1484As a normal human being, it is quite likely that in doing these
1485exercises you will find some areas in your life and in your behavior
1486where you are not being honest, authentic, and true to yourself. This is
1487good. Awareness is the first step. Taking stock is not about giving
1488your ego fuel to punish yourself or judge yourself. Your ego will likely
1489want to step in and say, “See, you should do this, you should be this
1490way.” Don’t listen to your ego. It’s just trying to take control. Taking
1491stock is not about what should be. It is about finding out what actually
1492is.
1493Exercise 5
1494For this exercise, at the top of a piece of paper, write in big,
1495bold letters, “GOD.” Write everything you can think of that you
1496associate with this word. It’s OK if you’re an atheist or agnostic.
1497Write whatever comes to mind. Again, there are no right or wrong
1498answers here. Take about 10 – 15 minutes.
1499After you are done with your list, read through what you’ve
1500written without adding anything. Looking honestly at what you’ve
1501done, how would you characterize your list? Do you find expression
1502of fear, judgment and doubt, or do you find love, peace and
150344 Being Human
1504acceptance? Does it seem realistic to you or not? How does your list
1505make you feel?
1506If you are unsure how your list makes you feel, try reading your
1507list authentically and recording your voice. For example, if something
1508on your list makes you feel sarcastic or cynical, let yourself read that
1509item in a cynical or sarcastic tone. If something makes you feel
1510mocking, then read it in a mocking tone. If something on your list
1511makes you want to sing, then sing it. Your goal is not to sound how
1512you think you should sound but rather to let your sounds match how
1513you actually feel. Listen to your recording. How does your pitch and
1514tone of voice change with the different items on your list? What
1515qualities do you hear in your voice? Do you hear authenticity?
1516You can repeat this exercise as many times as you like and
1517observe what changes, what stays the same, and where authenticity,
1518trust and confidence grow or diminish. It’s never about right or wrong
1519answers. It is about taking an honest look in the mirror to learn how
1520you actually feel.
1521The Mirror
1522Ultimately, awakening to reality and opening yourself
1523energetically is really just a process of looking into the mirror of who
1524and what you actually are. As you remove your resistance to the
1525energy of your being, the mirror will become clearer. As you
1526overcome your illusions and fantasies, you will find that the mirror
1527distorts less and less. Eventually, if you persist and let go of your ego
1528and your remaining resistance, you will see your true self, God,
1529reflected in every aspect of your experience at all times and all
1530moments, for God is the only thing that truly exists, and it is you.
1531All of reality is a mirror. The question for you personally is
1532this: Do you want to play like a child in the funhouse of distorted
1533mirrors, or do you want to be an adult and see your reflection clearly,
1534free of any illusion and distortion?
1535If you want to be an adult, then it is up to you to take
1536responsibility for learning to recognize yourself in the mirror. No one
1537can do it for you. No savior is coming to lead the way or hold your
1538hand. No amount of faith, belief, worship, or prayer will ever do it.
1539No priest, guru, or shaman can do it for you. There is no grand cosmic
1540awakening coming that will do the work for you. If you want to wake
1541How to Begin 45
1542up, then it is your responsibility and yours alone. If you are ready, then
1543the time is now. Your personal life in this body is short. Take
1544advantage of it while you can. You only have one chance. It will be
1545challenging, but as someone who has taken the leap, I assure you, it is
1546the greatest thing you can ever do for yourself or anyone else. Let go
1547of your fear and gaze into the mirror of who and what you truly are.
1548You are more profoundly beautiful, powerful, and loving than your ego
1549can possibly imagine.
1550YOU ARE GOD!
1551The Preliminaries of Practice
1552The most effective tools for opening your awareness to your
1553true energetic nature are entheogens, or substances that “generate the
1554experience of God within.” However, there is a great deal that can be
1555done without entheogens that can help with the process of awakening.
1556Before turning the discussion to entheogens, let’s address some of these
1557preliminary practices first.
1558Meditation
1559Meditation is a powerful tool to help you gain some mastery
1560over the vagaries of the mind. Learning techniques of maintaining
1561focus, concentration, and awareness can be extremely helpful in
1562navigating the experiences of altered states of consciousness that
1563entheogens open one up to. Many people, especially in the modern
1564world, find maintaining focus and concentration for any length of time
1565to be extraordinarily challenging as these skills are largely atrophied in
1566our high-paced, instant gratification, multi-tasking and sensory
1567overload culture. Our culture is filled with diversions, distractions, and
1568temptations to draw you away from the present moment of what
1569actually is. Meditation, on the other hand, teaches you how to slow
1570down, set your busy thoughts aside, and simply pay attention and be
1571present. This is an invaluable skill and sorely needed in the modern
1572world.
1573There are many different meditation traditions. Some come
1574with more dogma, symbolism, metaphysics and religious fantasy than
1575others. Zen meditation is particularly sparse and unencumbered by
1576religious ritual or metaphysics, and I therefore suggest this as a good
157746 Being Human
1578place to begin. Zen meditation is simply about sitting, breathing, and
1579being present. Nothing more, and nothing less. Such a practice can be
1580easier to work into than, say, tantric meditation, which teaches all kinds
1581of mudras, mantras, visualization, prayers, rituals, and use of complex
1582symbolism, etc. In more “complex” meditation traditions, it is very
1583difficult to get into the practice without having to learn and accept the
1584entire corpus of religious beliefs and propositions, many of which are
1585ego-produced fantasies, speculations, and metaphysics. One does not
1586need to be a Buddhist to practice Zen meditation, however. Anyone
1587can sit and follow their breath. No religion required!
1588The primary goal of meditation is to let your mind function
1589naturally without being attached to any of your thoughts and feelings.
1590It is a practice in maintaining mindful awareness without attachment or
1591expectation. It is a great way to get in touch with what is really going
1592on inside your mind and become aware of just how busy your internal
1593dialogue actually is. Even sitting quietly for five minutes is nearly
1594impossible for some people, at least at first. Be patient with yourself
1595and give yourself the time you need to ease into your practice and
1596become comfortable with observing your mind, thoughts, and feelings.
1597Your goal in meditating is to always bring yourself back to the
1598present moment. When your thoughts start to project out into the
1599future, bring them back to your breath in the present. When your
1600thoughts run to what occurred in the past, bring them back to your
1601breath once more. When stories and fantasies start to arise in your
1602mind, let go of them and come back to the present. Meditating is not
1603about figuring things out or telling stories to yourself. It is simply
1604about being present, here and now.
1605Getting in Touch with Your Body and Energy
1606There are many ways you can get in touch with your body and
1607your energy in everyday life. Dance, martial arts, yoga, sports,
1608gymnastics, making love, etc., are all viable methods for being in your
1609body. To really get in touch with your energy, however, it is important
1610that you incorporate expressive action into your body movements. For
1611example, becoming a professional dancer is different that letting your
1612body move to the music any way that feels right and good for you.
1613When your aim is to get in touch with your body and energy it is useful
1614to keep in mind that it is not about performing any specific actions
1615How to Begin 47
1616correctly or artfully. It is about letting yourself move authentically and
1617expressively. There is no right or wrong in authentic, expressive
1618action.
1619For example, try putting on some music that you like when you
1620are home alone. Stand or sit in the middle of the room. Don’t “try”
1621and dance any way in particular. In fact, don’t try and do anything at
1622all. You can sit or stand still until you feel inspired to move. Then just
1623let yourself follow your energy. It isn’t about looking good or
1624impressing anyone. It’s just about letting the energy flow and
1625following it with your body.
1626Vocalizing
1627A primary medium through which humans express their energy
1628is with their voice. Thus, another way to get comfortable with your
1629energy is to get comfortable with using your voice to express yourself.
1630This can take all kinds of forms, from prayer, chanting, singing,
1631to just making sounds and noises. Give yourself opportunities
1632throughout the day to simply express yourself verbally/vocally. It
1633doesn’t matter what comes out. Just do it!
1634Try experimenting. If you are a soft-spoken person, try being
1635loud. If you are usually boisterous, try subtle manipulations of sound.
1636Search for what feels authentic for you. Don’t be concerned about
1637sounding like anyone or anything in particular. Just make some sound!
1638To really have fun, I suggest learning some throat or overtone
1639singing as these forms of vocal expression mobilize a great deal of
1640energy, are fun to do, and sound great!
1641Bodywork
1642Tensions, stresses and energetic blocks and wounds are carried
1643in the body. As you begin to unwind yourself, you may find that
1644getting bodywork and massages help to release all of the blocked
1645energy you’ve been carrying around. If you are new to bodywork, you
1646will probably find that getting a massage comes with all kinds of
1647emotional releases. When the body worker finds the right spot on your
1648back, for example, you might start to cry or laugh uncontrollably
1649without knowing why. The why is not important. Just let yourself feel
1650it and express it. Give yourself permission to unwind and release
165148 Being Human
1652whatever energy is not serving you. Given that most people hold back
1653on expressing themselves, most people do have energy to release, even
1654if they don’t realize it. Bodywork is a great way to help that energy get
1655out without having to consciously find and release it.
1656Self-expression
1657Regardless of whether you feel you have any artistic or musical
1658skill or not, finding a way to express yourself creatively is enormously
1659helpful in getting in touch with yourself and your energy. Expressing
1660yourself is not about good or bad, it is about the process and experience
1661of expressing. You don’t have to be “good” at painting to express
1662yourself through painting, for example. Anyone can pick up a
1663paintbrush and apply paint to canvas. Just do it! Don’t be attached to
1664form or outcome. It will be fun and possibly cathartic. Artistic
1665expression is all about self-discovery and the process of creating, not
1666the end product. So let yourself be an artist and express yourself
1667without judgment.
1668The Open Heart
1669Ultimately, being open to your energy means keeping an open
1670heart. We close our hearts when we feel threatened or when we
1671experience fear or judgment. Given that the vast majority of what
1672threatens us or gives us fear or judgment is ego-projection, our egos are
1673our own worst enemies when it comes to keeping our hearts open. A
1674general maxim, which may seem overwhelming at first, is to love all
1675equally without any exception. If you can maintain that attitude, then
1676you can keep your heart open.
1677This does not mean that you have to actively experience love
1678for all things at all moments – that would be a fairly large task. What it
1679does mean is that you should practice giving love to everything and
1680everyone you encounter at any given moment. This is much more
1681manageable than trying to love everything all at once. It just means
1682loving what you experience, yourself, and others, in each moment. For
1683example, it doesn’t mean that you have to actively love all 6.5 billion
1684people on the planet. Rather, just love whoever is with you, and if no
1685one is with you, then just love yourself. And keep in mind, love is
1686truth, so loving whoever you are with means being honest and truthful
1687How to Begin 49
1688with them, even if it makes them uncomfortable. Love is definitely not
1689indulging in the fantasies and illusions of others. Love is about living
1690in truth.
1691People want to close off their hearts when they feel wounded.
1692They become a victim and then indulge in self-pity. They make
1693excuses for why they can’t keep their heart open. Despite the fact that
1694pain hurts, people indulge in it all the time. It validates the illusions of
1695the ego and gives it strength. It is a way of running away from taking
1696responsibility for oneself. It is easier to identify others as the source of
1697our suffering than to own up to our own energy and take responsibility
1698for our own thoughts and emotions. The open heart is the heart that
1699takes responsibility for itself and its own happiness. It does not rely
1700upon others and gives love freely and unconditionally. The open heart
1701is godly for God gives love continually and unconditionally from an
1702infinite supply. The open heart will never exhaust itself.
1703Spending Time in Nature
1704Nature is an excellent place for self-reflection – literally. This
1705is especially true for natural areas that have been undisturbed by
1706humans and that have no introduced species. In such areas, one can
1707experience the energetic structures of nature in their “natural” form.
1708While a garden or park can provide an enjoyable nature experience,
1709undisturbed nature is a more accurate representation of how energy
1710works when left to its own devices. Patterns and colors blend together
1711or accent each other. Flows of rock, dirt, water, ice, and sand mark out
1712their fractal patterns. Plants grow in intricate fractal geometry to
1713convert sunlight into useable energy for other living beings. All of
1714nature is a constantly moving canvas of multiple energetic patterns
1715working simultaneously across multiple levels, all in cohesion and
1716concert with each other. Nature is simply energy at work, being itself.
1717Given that God is nature and that you are God, you are also
1718nature. For this reason, undisturbed nature shows you the natural
1719patterns of energy that ultimately are all a part of you. Observing
1720transformations and patterns in nature gives insight into how energy
1721works. It helps center one’s personal energy and relax the anxieties of
1722the ego-based mind. When done solitarily, it is also a refreshing escape
1723from the games of other egos.
172450 Being Human
1725Personally, I recommend taking as much solitary or quite time
1726in undisturbed nature as possible. It is beautiful, it makes you feel
1727good, and it is a pure reflection. It is also a great place to start before
1728engaging in any work with entheogenic medicines.
1729Key Ideas
1730• Get to know yourself before undertaking entheogenic practice
1731• Use bodywork, meditation, dance, and time in nature to center
1732yourself and gain intimate knowledge of how you feel
1733• Aside from work with entheogens, spending time in undisturbed
1734nature provides the best mirror to reflect with
1735• Explore ways to express yourself
1736Part III
1737Opening to Energy with Entheogens
1738Entheogenic Practice
1739Working with the Medicines
1740We are now ready to address what it means to work with the
1741visionary medicines, or entheogens, and how they can serve your
1742awakening to your infinite energy.
1743First, there is the question of legality. The reality is that the
1744majority of truly effective visionary plants and substances are illegal to
1745posses and use. Most governments equate any use of entheogens with
1746abuse and only very rarely make legal exceptions for religious
1747practitioners. I have written extensively on this topic elsewhere, so I
1748have no intention of delving deeply into this problem here, other than to
1749say that the prohibition against using entheogens is a fundamental
1750violation of your right as an embodiment of God to explore your own
1751nature. As far as I am personally concerned, no government or
1752authority as any right to prohibit anyone from freely exploring their
1753own mind in ways that do no harm to others.
1754The situation is also bizarrely absurd. DMT is illegal to possess
1755and use in most countries, with some exceptions for religions that use
1756ayahuasca as a ceremonial sacrament (which contains DMT).
1757However, as has already been pointed out, DMT is a primary ingredient
1758in mammalian evolution and is already present in every single mammal
1759on this planet, including every human. It is also found in countless
1760Entheogenic Practice 53
1761species of plants and mushrooms (in the form of psilocin and
1762psilocybin). How in the world can something that is naturally in our
1763bodies at all times be an illegal substance? As a human being, you are,
1764by your very biology, possessing and using DMT right now! By our
1765current drug laws, every single person on this planet should be arrested
1766and thrown in jail for possessing and using DMT. This situation is
1767bizarre.
1768As of writing this, in the U.S., 5-MeO-DMT, perhaps the most
1769profound entheogenic substance on the planet, is currently under
1770consideration for Schedule I status as an illegal drug. As with DMT, 5-
1771MeO-DMT is already in every human being on the planet. It is as
1772natural to us as breathing air or drinking water and we cannot live
1773without it. It is a fundamental part of what makes us human. And now
1774the government wants to make it illegal.
1775What in the world is going on here? Does this actually make
1776sense to anyone? How can natural compounds already found within the
1777human body be illegal? For that matter, how can any part of nature be
1778made illegal? Isn’t that the equivalent to outlawing God?
1779Ah . . . foolish mortals . . .
1780So, virtually anyone who wants to explore their energetic nature
1781through the use of entheogens runs the risk of imprisonment, with few
1782exceptions. The absurdity is profound. You can be thrown in jail for
1783taking the responsibility of getting clear on who and what you actually
1784are as an energetic being and embodiment of God. Using natural
1785compounds to explore your divinity is a crime. It is a startling reality
1786check for anyone who thinks they live in a “free” country.
1787Are Entheogens really the most effective tool for Awakening?
1788When it comes to awakening to your true energetic nature as a
1789fractal energy being, entheogens, and particularly the tryptamines, are
1790the most effective tools available to humanity. There is nothing more
1791reliable and consistent for opening your perception of yourself and your
1792experience to the reality of energy as entheogens. While other
1793techniques of altering consciousness and perception can be
1794experientially effective, especially with sustained practice, there really
1795is no comparison. You can spend a lifetime meditating and not get
1796much more out of it than a sore bottom and tingly legs from cutting off
1797your circulation. All it takes is one hit of 5-MeO-DMT and in about 10
179854 Being Human
1799seconds you’ll have the most profound energetic opening of your life
1800that will surpass anything you have ever experienced in meditation by
1801infinite light years. It is simply a matter of effectiveness.
1802Another way of looking at the situation is this: You can try and
1803map out the heavens with your naked eye, or you can look through the
1804Hubble telescope. Entheogens are the Hubble telescope of the inner
1805world. Sure, you can look at the sky with your naked eyes, but why not
1806use the Hubble if it is right there and you have access to it? What
1807would be the point of doing it with your naked eyes? So your ego can
1808be proud that you “did it” on “your own?”
1809Personally, I have yet to meet anyone who has been able to
1810honestly say that their meditation practice has gotten them to the same
1811states that can be achieved with entheogens. Regardless of one’s
1812meditation practice, I’ve never seen anyone experience 5-MeO-DMT
1813and say, “that’s just like my meditation.” In fact, it’s the opposite.
1814People proclaim that they never could have imagined the sheer beauty
1815and completeness of the 5-MeO-DMT experience and that nothing in
1816their mediation practice has ever come close to such a total and radical
1817experience of oneness with the true energy of being. As a tool for
1818exploring consciousness and one’s energetic nature, 5-meO-DMT is
1819simply incomparable.
1820However, once one becomes experienced with entheogenic
1821states of consciousness, then these states can be achieved without any
1822entheogens. You have to know what you are looking for, in a sense, in
1823order to find it again. For example, after experiencing 5-MeO-DMT,
1824one’s personal mediation practice can become profoundly more
1825powerful and effective, but without that initial introduction, it is
1826extremely difficult for anyone to reach a full-blown 5-MeO-DMT state
1827on their own (and remember that 5-MeO-DMT is a natural
1828neurotransmitter already present in your body). Once you’ve had the
1829introduction, you can start to actualize the endogenous 5-MeO-DMT in
1830your body and produce endogenous releases, but you need to know
1831what that feels like in order to cultivate it.
1832Another advantage to working with entheogens is that they put
1833you directly in touch with your own energetic nature without any
1834intermediaries. Remember that all of reality is a mirror, but many of
1835the individual mirrors walking around out there are distorted by their
1836egos and their illusions and fantasies. In other words, working with
1837others to find clarity in yourself is challenging as there is no guarantee
1838Entheogenic Practice 55
1839that those you are working with are clear themselves. For example,
1840working with a guru can be great help in deepening your meditation,
1841but if that guru is filling you with ideas of karma and reincarnation and
1842subtle energy bodies and astral projection, then you are working with a
1843distorted mirror, let alone trying to deal with your own distorted mirror.
1844Entheogens cut out the middleman, so to speak. Entheogens put
1845you directly in touch with yourself as God and the only distorted ego
1846mirror you have to deal with in such a context is your own. Dealing
1847with one distorted mirror is far easier than dealing with two, or many.
1848Given that the true nature of reality exists within you, the most
1849effective route to getting clear on what that reality is is to dive within
1850yourself to discover it for yourself. And given that the true nature of
1851reality is energetic, if you want to understand reality, you have to
1852understand energy.
1853When it comes to opening your perception and experience to
1854the reality of energy that exists within you, there is nothing more
1855effective than entheogens. It’s just that simple. There is no need to get
1856tangled up in moralistic or religious arguments about “drugs” or
1857“cheating” or anything of that sort. Entheogens are simply tools, and as
1858tools, they are the most effective at what they do. A hallmark of clear
1859intelligence is using the proper tool for the job. Why not use the best
1860tools available?
1861Lastly, given that all of reality is one, and all things are God,
1862could it really be an “accident” that entheogens affect us the way that
1863they do? That seems profoundly unlikely. Rather, there would seem to
1864be a reason why entheogens affect us they way they do: God created
1865crystal keys to help unlock consciousness in its vehicles so that they
1866can come to understand the true nature of their being and the reality in
1867which they live. Entheogens are crystal keys that unlock the doors to
1868the Divine Imagination.
1869Cautions
1870Working with entheogens is serious business and should not be
1871taken lightly. It takes dedication and often a tremendous amount of
1872bravery and personal perseverance. It is by no means an easy path.
1873Overcoming the illusions and fears of your ego and accepting your true
1874nature as God is the most significant challenge you could ever possibly
1875embark upon as a human being. However, given that you already are
187656 Being Human
1877God, you can rest assured that you can do it! Ultimately, there is
1878nothing to be achieved and nothing gained. You already are fully
1879awakened as God. Thus, working with entheogens is not about
1880achieving some exalted or rarified state (as is promoted by meditation
1881traditions) but rather is about letting go of your resistance and relaxing
1882fully into the core of your true energetic nature. But remember: your
1883ego is designed to convince you that you are a separate being. That is
1884its function. To awaken to your true nature, you must transcend your
1885ego. Your ego will never go away, but by transcending it, you can
1886release yourself from its grip. Yet within this process, your ego will
1887use every resource at its disposal to keep you trapped in self-generated
1888illusions. In the end, it is as simple as relaxing out of your ego and
1889being true to your energy, but getting there can be profoundly
1890challenging.
1891Thus, if you choose to embark on a process of self-discovery
1892with entheogens, be prepared for a difficult ride. Opening yourself up
1893to your own personal mirror of the divine can be terrifying and the only
1894way through is to confront your fears and illusions. Really, it is a
1895process of letting yourself “die” fully in order to discover your true
1896nature. You will have to find the strength and courage within yourself
1897to willingly participate in this radical process if you truly want to
1898awaken and open energetically.
1899This process is also profoundly beautiful and personally
1900satisfying, as well, so it isn’t all difficulty. The entire point of seeking
1901personal awakening is to find happiness, authenticity, and personal
1902fulfillment by living in truth. These rewards are well worth any
1903difficulties or challenges one might face along the way. This is the
1904motivation for undertaking this great work. And let’s be clear: if
1905everyone took the responsibility to awaken to the true nature of reality,
1906this would be a profoundly different world. Just imagine what the
1907world would be like if everyone let go of their illusions, fears, and egogenerated
1908drama games. War, violence, manipulation, exploitation, and
1909human-produced suffering would be a thing of the past. It is absolutely
1910true that world peace and global harmony begins with each individual.
1911If you want to do your part to make this world a better place, then it all
1912begins with you.
1913Entheogenic Practice 57
1914Things to be Aware of
1915Attachment to Story
1916A common effect of working with entheogens is attachment to
1917story. People see visions or encounter other “beings” and then proceed
1918to weave fantastic stories around their experiences. Terence McKenna
1919and the infamous machine elves are an excellent case in point. Terence
1920“encountered” the machine elves in a now-notorious DMT trip and
1921subsequently created an entire cultural mythology around these
1922ephemeral beings. As will be explained below in the discussion of the
1923Divine Imagination, Terence was unable to recognize himself in the
1924mirror and thus became attached to the idea of machine elves, which
1925dovetailed nicely into his fantasy of UFO’s, intergalactic space travel,
1926and 2012. All of this is story, and subsequently, fantasy.
1927Another classic example of attachment to story comes from the
1928modern religion of Santo Daime. The founder of the Daime
1929experienced a vision of the “Queen of the Forest” coming to him and
1930telling him that he was a reincarnation of John the Baptist, and he was
1931to reinstate the Doctrine of Jesus through the Daime (a version of the
1932ayahuasca drink). Once again, we see someone who fails to recognize
1933himself in the mirror, gets attached to ideas of entities and
1934reincarnation, and then uses that as motivation to create a modern
1935religious mythology of the Daime. Another story is born . . .
1936The solution is quite simple: don’t become attached to story!
1937Working with entheogens can be like going to see a movie that has
1938been personally designed just for you. Enjoy the movie, but don’t get
1939attached to it. It’s just a movie, after all! Another way of putting this
1940is to remember not to take visions literally. They are symbol and
1941metaphor, not ontological reality.
1942Your job is to stay present in the moment. Story is the exact
1943opposite of this. Story takes a span of time and turns it into an object
1944of attachment. Story has nothing to do with the present moment. Any
1945focus on story is always a distraction from the present. It does not
1946serve you, so let it go.
194758 Being Human
1948The Dangers of Shamanism
1949Many people who work with entheogens desire to do so in a
1950shamanic context or under the guidance of an experienced shaman. It
1951is important to keep in mind, however, the dangers that come with
1952shamanic practice. Shamanism, in contrast to the ideas presented in
1953this guide, is pluralistic, meaning that shamanic cultures traditionally
1954teach that the universe is comprised of multiple spirits residing in
1955multiple realms – basically the opposite of the radical non-dualism
1956being presented here. Within such shamanic systems there is
1957widespread projection and reinforcement of ideas of separation. In
1958turn, shamanic cultures tend to exhibit high degrees of jealousy, envy,
1959fear, and anxiety. The universe is split into realms of good and bad
1960spirits and good and bad shamans. The shamans fight with the spirits
1961and fight with each other. Sorcery is thrown back and forth and people
1962work “dark magic.” It’s all illusion, but when egos are playing the
1963game, they don’t know its illusion and react to it as though it were real.
1964People who become involved in shamanism often find that they
1965are overly concerned about “picking up bad energy” from people or
1966places. They engage in “protective” practices to try and shield
1967themselves from others. They go to shamans to have “bad spirits”
1968removed or “retrieve their lost soul.” While these practices can make
1969someone feel better and even improve their health, it’s a bit of a catch-
197022, because they are willingly engaging in the ego-fantasy and illusion
1971generated by shamanic cultures.
1972Consider an example: A person is feeling troubled by their
1973patterns of behavior that do not seem to serve their highest good and
1974they want to address it so they go see a shaman. The shaman divines
1975that the person is possessed by an evil spirit that is manipulating this
1976person’s choices and behaviors and prescribes an ayahuasca session to
1977release the demon. The person is now fearful that there is something
1978“bad” that needs to “taken out” and is dependent on the shaman to
1979accomplish this for them. The shaman and patient then drink
1980ayahuasca. The patient then starts to feel the struggle inside and gives
1981more and more energy to the “demon” and it truly does start to feel like
1982an entity of its own. The shaman then performs ritual extraction
1983techniques and the patient energetically feels something “being
1984released” through the actions of the shaman. Case closed, patient
1985better.
1986Entheogenic Practice 59
1987The problem is that there are no such things as spirits or entities
1988that can “attach” themselves to you or possess you. Any such “entity”
1989or “energy” is merely a part of yourself that you are not personally
1990taking responsibility for. A shamanic extraction process “exteriorizes”
1991your internal conflict and then attempts to banish it. However, if you
1992haven’t addressed the underlying irresponsibility and disowning of
1993your own energy, then you are merely perpetuating your personal
1994illusion and you lay the groundwork for it to return at any time because
1995you haven’t properly faced and owned it as yourself. In other words,
1996this shamanic process is engaging in story and attachment to ideas of
1997separation. It is a fantasy game. That’s fine, if you want to live in
1998fantasy and accept the consequences of doing so (fear, judgment,
1999inauthenticity, etc.), but if you want to live in reality, this is not helpful.
2000Fear of Losing Control
2001When people work with entheogens, particularly high-level
2002entheogens such as extracted or synthetic DMT or 5-MeO-DMT,
2003spontaneous experiences become common. This is especially true with
20045-MeO-DMT. It is not unusual for a person who has experienced 5-
2005MeO-DMT to awaken every night for a week or so thereafter finding
2006themselves fully launched into a psychedelic experience. This can be
2007extraordinarily unnerving. People might also start to spontaneously
2008see visions and scenes or psychedelic imagery when they are falling
2009asleep.
2010The important thing to remember here is simply to let go and
2011relax. Spontaneous experiences tend to mellow out, over time, if one
2012can relax about it. Reacting with fear and anxiety will only make the
2013situation worse. The problem is that energy and perception are always
2014moving and changing. A common fear is “I’m never going to come
2015back,” but everyone always does. So trust in that and just relax if these
2016experiences start to happen to you. Don’t try and fight them. Just
2017accept that you’re opening to your energy and remember that energy is
2018always moving and changing. No state of being or experience is
2019permanent.
2020It is also important to remain vigilant about not becoming
2021attached to story in such experiences as well. If visions present
2022themselves, just enjoy the show. Don’t worry about what they “mean.”
2023Chances are, you’re just bouncing around through different images
202460 Being Human
2025without any real coherency. And when they stop, don’t worry about it.
2026They weren’t really serving you in the first place, but your ego might
2027miss them and want them to return. Don’t let your ego get in your way
2028of being clear!
2029Engaging with Others
2030Keep in mind that the more relaxed you become with your ego,
2031the more of a challenge you will become to others who have not
2032relaxed or transcended their egos. Given that egos make it their
2033profession to distort their image in the mirror of reality, the clearer a
2034mirror you become, the more uncomfortable you will make other egos.
2035This is because you will become increasingly less likely to engage in
2036others’ ego-dramas, and their egos won’t like this. From their
2037perspective, you will be refusing to play the game they want to play the
2038way they want to play it. That will make you something of a partypooper
2039in an existential sense. Egos don’t like that, and they will do
2040everything they can to get you to rejoin the game. It will be your job to
2041be vigilant and responsible with yourself and how you express your
2042energy.
2043Set and Setting
2044The environment in which you choose to use entheogens can
2045greatly affect the quality of the subsequent experience. Taking
2046mushrooms at a festival can be fun and novel, but it isn’t the best
2047environment for doing serious self-reflective work. Similarly, taking
2048entheogens in a religious context can be a profound way of practicing a
2049religion with others, but the context will probably also provide you
2050with all kinds of illusions, fantasies, and stories to catch your ego’s
2051attention and therefore also is not necessarily best for doing genuine
2052self-reflective work. Shamanic contexts likely aren’t much better for
2053the reasons listed in the section above about the pluralistic nature of
2054shamanic worldviews. So what is the best set and setting?
2055Secure and Free From Distractions
2056First of all, you will want to feel secure in your environment
2057and the people you are with (if anyone). Ideally, you want a location
2058Entheogenic Practice 61
2059that will not be disturbed by others during the course of your medicine
2060work. If you are at home, this means turning off the phone and the
2061computer and not answering the door if someone comes over. Have a
2062sitter to do that, if necessary. But during the time of your medicine
2063work, you want to be able to stay focused on what you are doing.
2064Furthermore, your aim is to “go within,” so you will want a
2065dark, quiet place in which to do your work. Nighttime is best for a
2066variety of reasons. For one, it will be dark so there will be fewer
2067distractions so you can close your eyes and focus inward. Second, our
2068minds relax more at night. During the day, most peoples’ minds are
2069busy thinking about the things they should be doing and should be
2070accomplishing. When you are working with entheogens, you want to
2071be able to focus your mind entirely on the present moment of your
2072experience, not thinking about what you should be accomplishing at
2073that time. It is simply easier for people to enter this relaxed state at
2074night.
2075To help your mind relax, it is also wise to have all tasks and
2076chores finished for the day before embarking on your inner journey. If
2077something is pressing on your mind, don’t leave it until after. Get it
2078done and out of the way so that you don’t have to bother worrying or
2079thinking about that issue. This can be especially challenging for people
2080in our modern world where our egos are trained to think that they have
2081to be accomplishing something at every moment and that we should
2082keep ourselves busy and task oriented. Taking up a simple meditation
2083practice can help break this pattern. If you find you are not able to be
2084present when you work with entheogens, then give meditation a try to
2085practice relaxing into the moment.
2086The Sitter
2087Many people find having a “sitter” to be comforting when
2088engaging in entheogenic self-exploration. The sitter is not there to be
2089an active participant but rather for support and reassurance, if such
2090should be necessary. The sitter can also take care of any unexpected
2091events, such as visitors.
2092Beyond comfort and reassurance, sitters can be important for
2093safety as well. Some entheogens produce such radically altered states
2094of consciousness that people may not be aware of their body or body
2095movements. This is especially true with inexperienced users. Until one
209662 Being Human
2097is familiar with any particular entheogen and how it affects one, it is
2098good advice to have a sitter to make sure that everything proceeds
2099smoothly and no one hurts themselves.
2100It is also important to keep in mind that one never knows how
2101one will react to working with a new and as-yet-to-be-experienced
2102entheogen. Though rare, some individuals do have health-related
2103reactions and medical attention might become necessary. In such
2104cases, having a sitter can make a crucial difference.
2105As entheogen users become more experienced, sitters become
2106less necessary. People come to know their own limits and their own
2107reactions. Many find that doing a journey alone is more rewarding than
2108having others present, even if it is just a sitter. But even in such cases,
2109it is good to have a friend who knows what is taking place and will
2110check in with the explorer at an appropriate time after the journey is
2111completed.
2112Ritual
2113Many people enjoy adding ceremony and ritual to their use of
2114entheogens. The only reason to incorporate such practices would be
2115personal desire to have ritual. Entheogens are not mysterious, magical
2116substances that require arcane rituals, spells, or incantations. They are
2117perfectly effective all on their own; no ritual required. Yet, ritual can
2118serve to calm nerves, center attention, and create focus. If such is
2119deemed necessary, then ritual can be useful. Ritual can also become an
2120object of attachment and superstition, however, and can unnecessarily
2121obfuscate and muddy the process of working with entheogens. Ritual
2122is just a “container” and has no function or meaning outside of helping
2123to create the set and setting.
2124Prayer
2125Prayers are much like ritual: they are great if they help someone
2126get in the right frame of mind, but they can also be an object of
2127attachment. Prayers do not accomplish anything other than helping a
2128person express him or herself and set the tone and feeling for a
2129ceremonial action. Prayers have no actual affect on anything “out
2130there” in terms of either reality or God or spirits. Consider that you are
2131God. So to whom are you praying? Expressing yourself is fine, but
2132Entheogenic Practice 63
2133don’t become attached to having your prayers “answered” or as
2134actually being effective in “calling up spirits” or “energies.” You’re
2135only talking to yourself.
2136Setting Intention
2137Though working with entheogens is largely unpredictable in
2138terms of what kinds of experiences they will open anyone up to at any
2139given time, going into a session with a clear intention can help one to
2140maintain focus through the experience. The most universal intention is
2141simply to remain present and aware, but sometimes having more
2142specific intentions can be useful. For example, if you’ve become aware
2143of an ego-generated behavior pattern that you’d like to explore and
2144address, set your intention to do so, and repeatedly remind yourself of
2145that intention throughout your session. Though one ultimately does
2146have to surrender to the experience, a great deal of influence can be
2147exerted through repeated expression of intention. This also means
2148cultivating an intention not to be distracted on the journey and
2149consciously bringing one’s attention back to the experience and
2150question at hand.
2151Understanding Your Personal Interface
2152Despite appearances, you never actually see, feel, hear, taste, or
2153touch anything directly. What we experience as reality is actually all a
2154reconstruction within consciousness. In this sense, each individual
2155living being has its own personal virtual reality. Consciousness is a
2156sophisticated mapping mechanism. Through experience, we learn to
2157identify patterns of energy as objects and identifiable phenomena with
2158the data we take in through our senses and process in our
2159consciousness. Raw data comes into our senses and then we apply our
2160internal maps onto that data in order to produce an experience that we
2161can be aware of. For example, if you see something that you are not
2162able to immediately identify, your consciousness will sort through all
2163kinds of possibilities, trying to make a match between internal map and
2164external data. You might have had such an experience while out for a
2165walk on a dark night. You see a shape off in the distance and you start
2166to run through different possibilities as your eyes attempt to discern
2167what it is you are seeing. Is it a person? An animal? A rock? A tree?
216864 Being Human
2169Is it dangerous, or friendly? As your mind attempts to process the data,
2170your perception and energetic reaction to the data changes rapidly.
2171Eventually, you’re relieved that it’s just a rock.
2172This process works so smoothly and rapidly that most of the
2173time we are completely unaware of how we are actively reconstructing
2174our experience of reality from the raw data of our senses in our
2175consciousness. But experience always works this way: an internal map
2176applied to raw data.
2177Buddhism proclaims that this process renders all concepts
2178empty of ultimate reality. According to Buddhist teachings, given that
2179our experience of reality is a compilation of relative concepts, they are
2180empty of all ultimate truth and all things are only conventionally true.
2181The only absolute truth is emptiness. For this reason, Buddhists claim
2182that all human thought, philosophy, science, religion, etc. are only
2183conventional truths and have no real ontological reality.
2184This position is fundamentally wrong for a variety of reasons.
2185The energy that comprises physical, “external,” reality and
2186consciousness work according to the same mathematical and
2187geometrical principles. In other words, the underlying energetic matrix
2188of both “inside” and “outside” is fundamentally the same. Simply put,
2189a square in external reality is the same as a square in internal reality
2190because a square is a fundamental geometric shape and the same
2191mathematical principles apply. This is also true of more sophisticated
2192objects. A tree might be a complicated shape with all of its detail, but
2193mathematically, it is a fractal. Our experience of a tree is therefore not
2194a matter of a conventional perception as determined by our concepts: it
2195is a mapping of an internal fractal construct onto the data of an external
2196fractal construct. There is no reason that the mapping can’t be one to
2197one, or in other words, a completely accurate representation of
2198energetic reality.
2199The basic problem with Buddhist philosophy is that it cannot
2200account for mathematics or geometry. While culturally-derived
2201concepts are conventional and relative to culture and perspective,
2202mathematics and geometry are not culturally-derived concepts.
2203Mathematics and geometry are “discovered” and are completely
2204independent of any cultural perspective or lens. Because of this, they
2205are universal. 2+2=4. This is an energetic universal and has nothing to
2206do with cultural concepts or relative truth. It is a fundamental aspect of
2207Entheogenic Practice 65
2208reality. Mathematics and geometry are the ontological underpinnings
2209of all of reality. As such, they are not “empty.”
2210Consider another example. Music varies from one culture to
2211another; so much so that what is considered music in one culture might
2212be considered noise in another. Musical tastes and styles are always a
2213matter of convention and therefore “empty” of fundamental truth, if we
2214were to ask which style of music is “better,” for example. However,
2215music itself is the expression of universal mathematical and energetic
2216principles. What we think of music and how we experience it might be
2217cultural convention, but rhythm, vibration, harmony, melody, etc. are
2218all mathematical functions. The energetic constructs of music are
2219universal and fundamental expressions of reality.
2220Working with entheogens is a means to access the more
2221fundamental energetic nature of reality. Consciousness, as mediated
2222through your body, is your personal interface with energy. When one
2223works with entheogens, consciousness and perception are affected so
2224that your interface works in a heightened and amplified fashion. The
2225underlying energetic, mathematical, geometric, and fractal structures of
2226reality become open to direct perception and experience. The stronger
2227the entheogen, the more geometric and fractal one’s experience and
2228perception becomes. This is also a major difference between
2229meditation and working with entheogens: meditation tends to simply
2230clear out and empty your personal interface of content (and thus the
2231Buddhist emphasis on emptiness), whereas entheogens open your
2232perception to the underlying energetic constructs of reality. Meditation
2233is largely about calming and clarifying consciousness. Entheogens are
2234a heightened experience of the fundamental nature of reality.
2235Key Ideas
2236• Entheogens are tools for self-exploration and learning to be in
2237touch with one’s energy
2238• Working with entheogens can be extremely challenging, so
2239proceeded with caution and self-education
2240• Avoid attachment to stories that may arise from visionary
2241experiences
224266 Being Human
2243• Take ownership of your energy and experience: remember that
2244it is all you
2245• Set, setting, and context are all important considerations for
2246maximizing the effectiveness of your experience
2247• Working with entheogens is a method of opening up your
2248personal interface with the divine without any intermediaries: it
2249is direct experience
2250• Your personal interface works according to the same
2251mathematical and energetic principles as the rest of nature
2252• Your personal interface is ultimately a sophisticated, interactive
2253mirror
2254Interfacing with the Divine
2255The Divine Imagination
2256Entheogens primarily do one thing: they open up an
2257individual’s ability to perceive and experience energy. This takes many
2258forms and can appear as many different kinds of experiences, but all
2259entheogenic experiences are energetic experiences in the same sense
2260that all of reality is made of energy, yet there is still a great deal of
2261diversity.
2262Working with entheogens is a direct method of accessing the
2263Divine Imagination, the matrix of all possible energetic permutations.
2264The Divine Imagination is accessed directly through your personal
2265interface, or your consciousness as mediated through the structural
2266network of your body. Given that entheogens function as
2267neurotransmitters and that tryptamines are endogenous to the human
2268body, when we add a very small amount of additional tryptamines to
2269our bodies, our interface begins to function in a heightened manner and
2270our ability to perceive and experience energetic forms expands, and
2271with high level tryptamines such as extracted DMT or 5-MeO-DMT,
2272opens completely.
2273The Divine Imagination is best accessed with eyes closed. In
2274this way, data is no longer being processed from “outside,” and instead
2275one can focus consciousness directly on the play of energetic forms of
2276the imagination and consciousness itself. In a very real sense, this is a
2277process of looking into a mirror. Everything that one might experience
227868 Being Human
2279in such a state is merely a reflection of the self in one form or another.
2280However, given that most people are not prepared to accept themselves
2281as God, these mirror reflections take on all kinds of forms and can
2282appear as an infinite variety of visionary and psychedelic experiences.
2283Experience in the Divine Imagination has a paradoxical quality
2284to it in that what one experiences is often taken to be “other,” or “not
2285self.” Keep in mind that human existence is itself paradoxical: you are
2286both an individual living being in a body with a self-identity and God
2287simultaneously. When working in the Divine Imagination, you are
2288actually interacting with yourself as God from your perspective as a
2289unique individual. Until you learn how to recognize yourself in the
2290mirror and accept that it is just you, you will experience the Divine
2291Imagination as something else. Rest assured, however, that it is just
2292you.
2293Archetypal Energies and Fundamental Geometry
2294One of the most distinctive features of the Divine Imagination is
2295its geometric quality. This is especially obvious during higher-level
2296experiences with tryptamines. Behind closed eyes, intricate
2297kaleidoscopic images undulate and writhe with stunning radial
2298symmetry. Fractals spin their patterns across universal grids.
2299Sophisticated images with distinctive bilateral symmetry shimmer in
2300translucent light of geometric forms. Patterns overlap and interplay
2301with one another. Infinite spectrums of color give form to subtle
2302gradations to energy. The living world of pure energy becomes
2303immediately apparent and open to observation and inspection.
2304Within these visionary energetic structures we find the
2305fundamental energetic archetypes of manifest reality. Here, in the
2306Divine Imagination, energy exists in potential or archetypal form: that
2307which exists prior to embodiment in physical form. These are not
2308psychological archetypes. They are more energetic blueprints or basic
2309building blocks of reality.
2310These are the energetic blueprints from which living beings
2311form as well as inorganic physical structures. When observing these
2312energies, it is very easy for the mind to recognize basic energetic forms
2313and begin to structure them into concrete images of creatures, beings,
2314landscapes, etc. When such happens, people tend to describe
2315themselves as having a “vision” or as encountering beings in a
2316Interfacing with the Divine 69
2317visionary realm. These are constructs of the mind, however, and are
2318not actual “encounters” with any other beings, for they are just
2319reflections of yourself.
2320It is easy to be confused by the Divine Imagination and indeed,
2321it would seem that most of what we take as religious revelation is the
2322product of individuals who have been confused by their experiences
2323within the Divine Imagination. When people have visions, a common
2324claim is that it must have been “real” because it was so far beyond
2325anything that the individual could have imagined that it couldn’t
2326possibly be a product of the mind. The problem is that human
2327consciousness is not normally open to such a heightened perception of
2328energetic possibilities and our engagement with our imagination takes
2329place at a very low level of perception. When we work with
2330entheogens, these limiting factors are suspended and our experience of
2331imagination takes on fantastical qualities. Just keep in mind that you
2332are transcending limited, human imagination and entering into the
2333Divine Imagination, where anything and everything is possible.
2334It is also important to keep in mind that when entering the
2335Divine Imagination, you are opening yourself up to an infinite amount
2336of potential information that will seem to be far beyond anything that
2337you think you personally know or can account for. Remember that you
2338are actually God in human form and God is all things and all living
2339beings. While your vehicle (your consciousness in this body) is not
2340able to process all this information simultaneously, you do have access
2341to it in limited form. This means that there is potentially nothing that
2342you can’t know or experience, at least in some sense.
2343Let’s consider an example. In a visionary state, a shaman
2344experiences the spirit of a plant coming to him and telling him how a
2345particular plant can be used to treat some ailment. In the shamanic
2346context, the shaman takes this experience at face value as a
2347communication between two beings. However, this is not what is
2348happening. The shaman is God and is therefore the plant, the shaman,
2349the patient, and the disease. The communication is experienced as
2350something transpiring between beings, but this is a fundamental
2351confusion. Really it is just one being interacting with itself in the
2352illusory form of different characters with different perspectives. In
2353actuality, they are all one. The shaman experiences the knowledge of
2354healing as being granted to him by outside spirits and agencies, but they
2355are really just visionary versions of himself. He is interacting with
235670 Being Human
2357himself in a mirror. The knowledge he gives himself is something he
2358already knows but just doesn’t know that he knows it.
2359From the Possibilities of the Divine Imagination to the Actuality of
2360Manifestation
2361Energy is constantly translating from the realm of infinite
2362possibilities into the realm of actuality, or what we collectively call
2363reality. The energetic possibilities in the imagination are what are
2364playing out here in reality, or what is actually taking place. It is
2365important to understand that while there are infinite possibilities in the
2366Divine Imagination, reality itself is unitary. Geometric forms can
2367rapidly morph into beings that change from one form to another very
2368quickly in the Divine Imagination. In reality, such morphing does not
2369take place at an imaginary level but rather takes years of evolution to
2370actually be achieved. Actual reality does not work according to
2371imaginal principles. Reality works according to basic energetic
2372principles that interact and evolve over time to create what is actual. It
2373is possible for the fractal energetic form of a lizard to transform into a
2374human. In the Divine Imagination, this only takes a brief moment. In
2375actuality, it takes millions of years of evolution to be accomplished.
2376However, human agency plays a direct evolutionary role in this
2377process. While “nature” has to work according to evolutionary
2378principles as structured by mathematical permutations of fundamental
2379energy, there are aspects of the Divine Imagination that humans can
2380recreate freely and manifest as aspects of human culture, which is itself
2381a transcendent feature of biological evolution. Because humans have
2382self-conscious awareness and the physical ability to transform the
2383world around us with our hands, we can choose to move energy to
2384create what we experience in the Divine Imagination. God is therefore
2385no longer limited by physical evolution, but can engage in imaginative,
2386cultural evolution as well.
2387A great deal of what we identify as human culture is a product
2388of this process, and numerous examples abound. Let’s start with art.
2389The earliest expressions of human culture took the form of cave
2390paintings. A near-universal feature of early cave paintings is geometric
2391forms with bilateral and radial symmetry. Lines, grids, and repetition
2392of patterns are common as well. So too are animal-human hybrids and
2393fantastical animals. These are all things that humans encounter in the
2394Interfacing with the Divine 71
2395Divine Imagination in the entheogenic experience. The birth of human
2396cultures therefore coincides with moving energy from the possibilities
2397of the Divine Imagination into physical form through art.
2398A curious feature of the Divine Imagination is that it is very
2399common for people to perceive patterns of energy that they can
2400immediately identify as being culture-specific. For example, Celtic
2401knots are a common perception with tryptamines. Similarly, people
2402may also encounter what appears to be Meso-American motifs, Islamic
2403arabesques, Buddhist symbols, Aboriginal dot paintings, or Egyptian
2404hieroglyphics. A common, though entirely mistaken, interpretation is
2405that people believe themselves to be having “past life experiences” or
2406“traveling in the astral” to these other times and realms. This is a
2407fundamentally mistaken interpretation, however. What people are
2408experiencing are merely archetypal energy patterns. In other words,
2409there’s nothing “Celtic” about seeing a Celtic knot while on
2410tryptamines. The visionary is merely perceiving the same formations
2411of energy that early Celts perceived in their entheogenic trances and
2412then developed as a cultural artistic pattern and aesthetic. The same
2413holds true for other “cultural” motifs in visionary states. These forms
2414of artistic creation and expression all have their source in the Divine
2415Imagination.
2416Another example is language itself. In the Divine Imagination,
2417all energy is perceived and experienced as being communicative and
2418expressive. All energy has a qualitative and affective aspect to it (think
2419of the expressive quality of music, for example), because all energy is
2420conscious and an aspect of God. Speech and language is the expression
2421of energy with the intent of clear communication. Through entering
2422into the Divine Imagination, humans learned how to make meaning out
2423of energetic expressions and thus the birth of human language.
2424Even written language seems to have its origins in the Divine
2425Imagination. Ancient societies often claimed that their written
2426language was given to them directly by God. The ancient language of
2427Sanskrit, as a written form, is called Devanagri, which means
2428“language of the city of the Gods.” It is well known that ancient
2429Indians used entheogens and it is traditionally claimed that Sanskrit
2430was both seen and heard in trance states of consciousness. Thus the
2431written as well as the spoken form of Sanskrit comes directly out of
2432states of heightened perception of energy.
243372 Being Human
2434Human architecture also has its origins in the Divine
2435Imagination. Experiences of temples, palaces, pyramids, and other
2436dramatic structures are common in entheogenic visionary states.
2437Inspired by their visions, humans have successfully recreated those
2438visions in actual architecture. It is no coincidence that, traditionally,
2439the grandest examples of human architecture have all been devoted to
2440expressions of religious cultures and traditions. It is also no
2441coincidence that grand religious architecture tends to exhibit significant
2442radial and bilateral symmetry in fractal forms with ratios that reflect the
2443golden mean. These are direct products of the Divine Imagination as
2444actualized through human hands.
2445Even science and technology has its origins in the Divine
2446Imagination. Though scientists don’t often publicize this, many
2447scientific breakthroughs and discoveries were made in dreams and
2448visualizations, and even in some cases with entheogens. Mathematics
2449and geometry were first developed in ancient Greece, India, and MesoAmerica;
2450all places where entheogens were used as a primary means of
2451religious and cultural activity. Visionary experiences of advanced
2452technology are also common with entheogens. The internet and our
2453basic computer software and hardware systems were mostly designed
2454by entheogen users on the west coast of California. Technology is
2455nothing but the accurate application of knowledge to the energetic
2456structures of reality. Our best technology is immediately inspired by
2457the Divine Imagination.
2458Clearly religion itself has its origins in the Divine Imagination,
2459but here we largely find a conflation between imagination and reality
2460where the images and experiences in the Divine Imagination are taken
2461literally, rather than as the energetic possibilities that they actually are.
2462The same can be said for modern-day beliefs in UFOs and aliens –
2463imaginal experiences that are taken as literally true.
2464Overall, it is easy to see that humans, in their most expressive
2465and intelligent forms, are directly inspired by the Divine Imagination.
2466Infinity Spectrums
2467Different entheogens provide different forms of access to the
2468Divine Imagination and can be characterized as infinity spectrums. The
2469basic idea here is that while all entheogens potentially open one up to
2470an infinite variety of experiences and perceptions, the spectrums of
2471Interfacing with the Divine 73
2472different medicines are distinct. Let’s consider a few examples to
2473understand how this manifests.
2474Salvia Divinorum
2475Salvia divinorum is an entheogenic sage plant from Mexico and
2476remains largely legal to possess and use. Salvia is unique in the
2477entheogenic world as its active compound, Salvinorin-A, is not related
2478to any other class of entheogen. Its impact on the nervous system and
2479brain is limited in the sense that it only interacts with one receptor site,
2480as opposed to tryptamines, which interact with a much broader
2481spectrum of receptors.
2482Experiences with salvia are unique and have an unmistakable
2483quality to them that is easily distinguished from other entheogens.
2484When compared to other entheogens, especially tryptamines, salvia
2485experiences seem thick, sticky, and clownish or cartoonish. In a very
2486basic sense, the spectrum of salvia experiences is less expansive than
2487tryptamines and as such, by comparison, seem to be comprised of
2488“fewer pixels” and are of a lower or slower vibration.
2489Take the cartoonish quality of salvia, for example. If salvia is a
2490cartoon experience, then by comparison, DMT is high-resolution
2491computer graphics. The spectrums of colors in salvia experiences are
2492not as varied or as finely detailed as with DMT. Swaths of color are
2493darker, less bright, and tend to be more gross – like the difference
2494between painting with a large brush versus drawing with a fine-tipped
2495pen.
2496Similarly, the energy of the experience feels thicker and slower
2497than tryptamines. Rather than the buzzing, high-frequency energy of
2498tryptamines, salvia feels like one is getting pushed, pulled, and
2499stretched out like taffy in a taffy machine. It is very common for
2500people to feel pushed over by salvia because of this quality of the
2501energetic experience.
2502Visually, this often translates into visual images that appear
2503cartoonish or clownish in nature. Many people describe salvia as being
2504like a “funhouse” or “circus,” and there is often an odd, ironic sense of
2505humor and absurdity to the experience. Many who go looking for
2506“divine” experiences of angels and heavenly choirs come away from
2507salvia sorely disappointed because all they got was clowns and carnival
2508rides.
250974 Being Human
2510At high-level salvia experiences, most people report variations
2511on the same fundamental theme: reality unzips, turns itself inside out a
2512few times, and eventually reassembles back into the familiar. This
2513happens quite rapidly and can be uniquely unnerving, especially as
2514many people forget they’ve taken salvia when this begins to unfold.
2515Even with eyes wide open, one’s immediate environment disappears
2516and all one can perceive is this strange fractal of energy that looks a lot
2517like a hyper-dimensional zipper (and can also appear as conveyor belts,
2518serpents, or “worm holes”) that starts to unzip (it really can be uncanny
2519how much this looks like an actual zipper, complete with teeth and all),
2520and as it does, begins to fold over on itself and turn inside out in all
2521directions at once. As it does so, consciousness fractals out, leaving
2522one feeling like there are many “others” present at the same time, and
2523physically one feels the sticky, taffy-like quality of the energy moving
2524through one’s body in patterned, fractal form.
2525Such an experience is a full energetic opening with salvia. One
2526is completely immersed in the energetic state of perception and
2527experience. However, since salvia has a rather limited infinity
2528spectrum, the experience is nearly always the same with the same
2529features and qualities.
2530Psilocybin Mushrooms
2531The infinity spectrum opened up by psilocybin mushrooms,
2532which contain forms of DMT, a tryptamine, is far broader than that of
2533salvia. With mushrooms, the energy starts to take on a buzzing quality,
2534as opposed to the slowly oscillating vibrations of salvia. The difference
2535is immediately obvious. What might have appeared as a spectrum of
2536five shades of color with salvia appears as a spectrum of a hundred
2537shades of color with mushrooms. Especially at higher-level
2538experiences, the gradations in color and fine geometry of mushrooms
2539become exquisitely beautiful and captivating and can be a rapturous
2540experience.
2541Given the fine variations in geometry, it is easier for full
2542visionary experiences to open up with mushrooms than with salvia as
2543there is more structure for your consciousness to work with.
2544Fantastical scenes and creatures are common, especially with eyes
2545closed. Such visions can also seem uniquely realistic and seem to
2546reflect actual reality in a way that salvia often doesn’t. Cartoonish and
2547Interfacing with the Divine 75
2548clownish are not common descriptions of mushroom experiences
2549whereas they are for salvia.
2550Energetically, mushrooms can also make your body vibrate,
2551especially at higher doses. As crystalline structures, DMT molecules
2552amplify your energy, which tends to vibrate your body, especially when
2553there is resistance of any kind (mental, physical, emotional). Relaxing
2554your body can help minimize vibrations as can an internal willingness
2555to let go. They don’t hurt, however, and are not anything to worry
2556about, and can actually feel quite good. Relaxing through vibrations
2557tends to bring about deeper experiences, though, so it is usually
2558beneficial not to try and perpetuate vibrations when they occur.
2559Vibrating is also a clear sign that you are opening to your
2560energy. As your capacity to manage your energy increases, so will the
2561amount of energy that you process. Vibrating helps to break through
2562your resistances and the more open you become, the more blockages
2563you will remove. Sessions with mushrooms can be very useful for this.
2564Ayahuasca and its Analogues
2565Ayahuasca is a step up the infinity spectrum scale from
2566psilocybin mushrooms. Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared with DMT
2567containing plants, but is also mixed with 5-MeO-DMT containing
2568plants as well as members of the rather dangerous nightshade family,
2569such as datura or brugmansia.
2570In terms of sophistication of experience, ayahuasca is very
2571similar to psilocybin mushrooms, but often feels more sophisticated
2572and of a broader infinity spectrum. Vibrations of energy become even
2573more common and stronger with ayahuasca. The feeling of energy
2574moving through one’s body and consciousness is even more palpable
2575and immediate with ayahuasca, and the digestive action (purging and
2576diarrhea) accentuates this. Geometric forms and variations of colors
2577and patterns are even more subtle and intricate than with mushrooms,
2578and the experience is more enveloping. It is also quicker acting than
2579mushrooms, so the rise, peak and decline are more dramatic than
2580mushrooms, which also heightens the perception and experience of
2581energy. It takes you further, faster, and in greater beauty and
2582sophistication.
258376 Being Human
2584Extracted and Synthetic DMT
2585Dimethyltryptamine can be extracted from a wide variety of
2586plants, and is even present in high enough quantities in some plants that
2587they can be smoked directly with no extraction and a full DMT
2588experience can ensue. A full DMT experience comes on in about the
2589time it takes to take a breath and lasts for only 10-15 minutes if
2590smoked, or 30-40 minutes if injected (which is a rather uncommon
2591method of consumption of DMT as most vaporize or smoke it).
2592Though DMT is the active ingredient in mushrooms and ayahuasca, in
2593its extracted form it is absorbed and processed must faster than in these
2594other mediums and therefore is far more powerful and intense.
2595Because of its extremely powerful and fast acting nature, DMT
2596is not necessarily as effective as a “medicine” as are mushrooms and
2597ayahuasca. Mushrooms and ayahuasca give the visionary a good
2598amount of time to explore themselves and receive lessons in the Divine
2599Imagination. DMT, on the other hand, is more of a rocket ride that one
2600really just needs to let happen and remember to breathe. In other
2601words, mushrooms and ayahuasca are much better for people who have
2602“issues” to heal. DMT is best for those who are looking to get
2603comfortable with their fully open energetic state. DMT is therefore a
2604great tool for learning to manage your energy in a highly expanded
2605state.
2606Body tremors, vibrations, and seemingly involuntary
2607symmetrical movements are common in the wide-open energetic state
2608of a DMT experience. Within the span of a breath, most people find
2609themselves more profoundly altered perceptually and energetically than
2610they ever thought possible as they are flooded with the high-level
2611vibrations of energy that DMT makes accessible. Within this state,
2612reality becomes a hyper-vivid collection of energy patterns, fractals,
2613and geometric kaleidoscopes of radial and bilateral symmetry. These
2614hyper-vivid energy patterns can very easily transform into very realseeming
2615beings and reports of gods, aliens, alternate realms, and other,
2616strange hybrid beings are very common with DMT experiences. These
2617are all reflections in the mirror of the Divine Imagination, however, and
2618none of them have any ontological reality outside of the immediate
2619perceptual experience.
2620By comparison, ayahuasca and mushrooms seem like playing in
2621the kiddie pool. A full DMT experience is simply so expansive and
2622Interfacing with the Divine 77
2623total that no amount of work with mushrooms or ayahuasca can really
2624prepare one. At lower levels, DMT is similar to a high-level ayahuasca
2625or mushroom experience, but once a certain threshold is crossed, the
2626range of DMT is just so far beyond these other medicines that
2627comparisons quickly break down. The geometry, fractals, and patterns
2628are always of a family resemblance, however, yet their complexity and
2629sophistication is greater by infinite degrees.
26305-MeO-DMT
2631The crown jewel of all entheogens is 5-methoxydimethyltryptamine
2632and can reasonably be called “the God molecule.”
2633Infinitely more powerful than DMT, 5-MeO-DMT gives rise to
2634probably the fullest possible energetic expansion that the human body
2635can process. In terms of infinity spectrums, 5-MeO-DMT opens one to
2636the pure infinite nature of all possible energetic permutations. It also
2637fairly effectively dissolves the ego within a few moments if the subject
2638is willing to let go and trust the experience unconditionally. In this
2639sense, for those who are able to let go, an experience of 5-MeO-DMT is
2640a near instantaneous expansion into one’s full energetic state as God
2641(within the limits of what can be experienced within the human body).
2642A near-universal reaction by those who have experienced 5-MeO-DMT
2643is that this experience is definitively IT! Though it can be challenging
2644to process exactly what that “IT!” is, this conclusion is very difficult to
2645deny. Personally, it was my first experience with 5-MeO-DMT that
2646permanently moved me out of the agnostic/atheist camp into direct
2647knowledge of the existence of God, and in many respects, this entire
2648guide is the product of this transformation and the subsequent
2649understanding of the nature of reality as a unitary, fractal energetic
2650system.
2651And for anyone who is still inclined to react by saying, “but
2652that’s just a drug experience,” I will remind you that 5-MeO-DMT is a
2653natural neurotransmitter that is already present in each and every
2654human being on this planet (as is DMT). Given that all of our
2655experiences of reality are mediated by neurotransmitters, all of reality
2656is a “drug” experience. With different levels of neurotransmitters in
2657our system, we are able to perceive and experience the energy of reality
2658in different ways. That does not make the perception and experience
265978 Being Human
2660less real or valid – only different (provided that we can remain clear of
2661confusion through our interactions with the Divine Imagination).
2662Unlike the other entheogens discussed here, 5-MeO-DMT is
2663largely non-visual in quality. Though it can give rise to perceptions of
2664pure, crystalline fractal rainbow light, visuals are not a defining feature
2665of the 5-MeO-DMT experience (and is a major distinction between 5-
2666MeO and the hyper-visual nature of DMT). Rather, 5-MeO-DMT is
2667more an experience of pure energy beyond any form or representation.
2668And it is quite significant that this energy is immediately perceived to
2669be not only fundamentally true and the actual nature of reality, but it is
2670also experienced as conscious and as being pure, absolute, and
2671unconditional love itself. It is your absolute nature as God, a conscious
2672energy being that is made out of love. 5-MeO-DMT is simply the most
2673pure and clear mirror for experiencing your true energetic nature.
2674Key Ideas
2675• Entheogens open one up to experiences of energy in the Divine
2676Imagination
2677• The fundamental matrix of energy in the Divine Imagination is
2678comprised of patterns and fractal geometry
2679• Visions in the Divine Imagination arise out of the energetic
2680matrix
2681• Much of what we take to be cultural products are reflections of
2682energy patterns within the Divine Imagination
2683• Conscious entry into the Divine Imagination drives cultural
2684evolution and personal expression
2685• Different medicines open one up to different “infinity
2686spectrums” and therefore have unique characteristics of energy,
2687perception, and experience
2688Interfacing with the Divine 79
2689The Nature of the Journey
2690Though each medicine is different, when working with
2691tryptamines, there are some common dynamics of the experience that
2692are worth commenting on. Journeys can be broken down into phases
2693that are fairly consistent. The first phase is onset. With mushrooms
2694this can take up to the first couple hours of the experience. With
2695ayahuasca, the first thirty minutes or so. For DMT the onset is less
2696than 5 minutes. With 5-MeO-DMT it is about 10 minutes. This is the
2697phase where the medicine is building up to its peak, or the most intense
2698and expansive part of the experience. During this onset phase the
2699experience grows in waves. With DMT and 5-MeO, the onset begins
2700with the first breath, but with mushrooms and ayahuasca, it can take up
2701to an hour before the actual onset even begins.
2702Onset is followed by the peak. This is the most expansive and
2703intense part of the experience. With DMT, and especially 5-MeODMT,
2704the peak is so massive and so total that it defies description. It is
2705brief, however, and then the experience begins to return back to
2706baseline. With ayahuasca and mushrooms the peak lasts longer and
2707then there is a gradual return to baseline, with mushrooms taking the
2708longest. It is during the peak that the ego is the most relaxed and
2709people experience their energy in its most expansive state. It is also
2710when most people feel the greatest mystical awareness of themselves as
2711the divine.
2712To make it successfully through these first two phases, it is
2713important to relax, trust, and let go. Egos can initially react with a great
2714deal of discomfort and distress at the experience of energetically
2715opening up, and these early phases can produce a considerable amount
2716of fear and anxiety. Really, all that can be done is to surrender to the
2717experience, let it unfold as it will, and trust that you will be able to
2718handle it and that you will eventually come back, even though it might
2719not feel like it at the time. Generally, if there is resistance, once it is
2720overcome, it has been dealt with for that particular session and is
2721unlikely to return until sometime after the peak, if at all.
2722After the peak, the next stage of return then begins to unfold.
2723This is another important transitional moment, for this is when egos
2724start to reassert themselves once more after the initial transcendence
2725through the expansion and peak. At this point, egos start to realize that
2726they are “coming back” and might try and bring the session to a
272780 Being Human
2728conclusion prematurely. For example, when working with DMT, salvia,
2729or 5-MeO, many people begin to try and vocalize about their
2730experience at this time, commenting on how beautiful, strange, or
2731profound it is. If a sitter is present, this is a good time to remind the
2732person not to rush the experience and continue to focus inwards. The
2733temptation is for egos to bring themselves out of the experience and get
2734back to “normal.” However, some of the most important personal
2735revelations can come at this time. The voyager has just been through a
2736radically altered perspective and now has fresh insights to bring to their
2737personal issues and choices. This is a great time to integrate and bring
2738the lessons home and own them. Also, it can be particularly
2739challenging to try and articulate what one has just been through at this
2740time and trying to do so can be distracting from the process that is still
2741at work.
2742The return is also another phase that can feature significant
2743vibrations. As egos are becoming more present at this time, individuals
2744may begin to feel their resistances and blocks start to reform and this
2745can translate into vibrations in the body, especially of the limbs. This is
2746particularly the case with DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. At this time people
2747may feel that they are unable to manage the high level of energetic
2748vibrations. In extreme cases, this can manifest as purging. More often,
2749however, release is achieved through physically vibrating.
2750The key to the process of the journey really is the ego. In order
2751for the journey to successfully begin, the ego has to surrender to the
2752process. When egos refuse to surrender, it becomes a “bad trip” as
2753one’s God self will happily oblige to work the refusing ego over.
2754Generally, however, egos get the point and relax during the onset phase
2755of the journey. During the peak, the ego is more or less transcended
2756and the voyager is fully enveloped by the experience. As soon as the
2757peak has passed, however, the ego can sense that it is no longer
2758necessary for it to surrender, for the wave have cashed and now the
2759journey back begins. The ego jumps on this opportunity and will
2760attempt to begin reasserting itself immediately. To get the most out of
2761the experience, it is important to remember to continue to surrender and
2762relax the ego. One of the primary ways this can be achieved is through
2763body posture and movement.
2764Interfacing with the Divine 81
2765Posture and Movement
2766Though it is popular to describe entheogenic experiences,
2767especially high-level ones, as “out-of-body” experiences, it is important
2768to note that no such thing actually exists or occurs. Keep in mind that
2769while consciousness is not a product of the physical body, your
2770perspective as a living vehicle for God is dependent on your body.
2771When one works with entheogens, one is opening up to an energetic
2772experience. By immersing oneself fully in the energetic experience,
2773one enters the Divine Imagination. Here all kinds of experiences and
2774perceptions are possible, and it is very easy for one to forget that one is
2775in a body. Keep in mind that when in the Divine Imagination, one has
2776potential access to any aspect of the divine. Always remember that
2777God is all things and all beings. There is an infinite variety of
2778experiences that await one in the Divine Imagination. All of the energy
2779of the experience is mediated through one’s vehicle, however, and
2780energetic experiences are always experiences in the body, which is the
2781locus of your energetic matrix. An “out-of-body” experience, in the
2782literal, as opposed to experiential sense, is an impossibility. (Correlated
2783with this fundamental truth is that there is no such thing as disembodied
2784consciousness or beings – all true beings exist in a body. All
2785experiences of “spirits” or “disembodied beings” are just that –
2786experiences in the Divine Imagination.)
2787A phrase that is more useful than “out-of-body” is “full
2788energetic opening.” When one surrenders and opens fully to one’s
2789energy, one is able to energetically experience oneself as not being
2790identified with just the physical body. However, unless one is centered
2791in the core of one’s being, a full energetic opening can certainly send
2792one wandering about in the Divine Imagination in such a manner that
2793one has the impression of having left the body behind. However, it is
2794only attention and awareness that has left the body behind.
2795Consciousness itself hasn’t actually “gone” anywhere. Reality is
2796always a local phenomenon that is mediated through the physical body.
2797Relax into your center. This is your primary energetic goal
2798when working with entheogens. When the energy opens up, it is easy
2799to get carried away by it. The Divine Imagination turns into a
2800maelstrom of flowing, shifting geometric forms, patterns, and energy.
2801Images arise and stories begin to form. As long as you are not in your
2802center, it will be challenging to recognize all that reveals itself to you as
280382 Being Human
2804yourself. When you are firmly relaxed into your center, the mirror of
2805self is clear and you can easily recognize yourself in all that you
2806perceive and experience. Maintaining your center in these experiences
2807and throughout your journey is training for maintaining the integrity of
2808your energy in everyday life. Monitoring your body can help
2809tremendously in this process.
2810Movement and Working with Energy
2811Give your ego the goal of staying still. This means that you
2812make an agreement with yourself that you will only move when it is
2813absolutely necessary, or if you feel inspired by the medicine to do so.
2814This is a way of keeping your ego in check. Egos want to find ways to
2815distract you from the work that you are doing. Remember that the
2816function of the ego is to maintain the illusion of separation at all costs,
2817and it will use every trick it can think of to pull you back into its sphere
2818of influence. This can translate into fidgeting, physical discomfort,
2819itches, twitches, etc. If you can recognize these distractions and keep
2820your attention focused on the task of exploring your energy, then you
2821can avoid unnecessary movement or adjustments that only serve to
2822bring you out of the moment.
2823Ironically, the more one relaxes, the more one might feel
2824“moved.” This is very different from the physical distractions created
2825by ego. The ego distractions almost always come in the form of “I
2826need to attend to this,” “I need to adjust this,” “If I can just take care of
2827this, then I’ll feel better,” etc. Being moved does not have this
2828“personal” quality to it, and in fact, more often feels like one is literally
2829being moved by forces that appear to come from outside oneself. Of
2830course there is nothing outside of oneself, but this is a manifestation of
2831the fundamental paradox of being: You are both a unique individual
2832and God simultaneously. In this sense, your self as God can interact
2833with yourself as “you” in a way that appears as though something
2834exterior is interacting with you. In other words, when working with the
2835medicines, people sometimes feel “possessed” by spirits or energies
2836that seem to compel them to move their bodies or make various sounds.
2837Though such an experience can be disturbing, it is actually a
2838sign of healthy progress. The key to integrating it successfully and
2839realistically is to own the energy. There is a very serious potential ego
2840trap here. Remember that egos don’t want to own the energy. Egos
2841Interfacing with the Divine 83
2842want to convince you that the energy is “other” and will create all kinds
2843of stories and experiences to convince you of this “reality.” For
2844example, it is much easier for an ego to convince itself that it was
2845possessed by the “Holy Spirit” that “descended into it” than it is for the
2846ego to accept that you were merely experiencing yourself. Similarly, it
2847is easier for an ego to accept that it was possessed by a demon rather
2848than own up to the fact that all that negative energy is the result of the
2849individual playing too many ego games that have prevented the
2850individual from properly and honestly expressing itself. To truly
2851integrate yourself and your experience and reside in your energetic
2852center, you have to own all of this energy – the “good” and the “bad.”
2853It is all you, so own it. Don’t put the responsibility off on someone or
2854something else, even God. It’s all you!
2855The more you own the energy and take responsibility for it, the
2856closer you will get to your energetic center (which is also the center of
2857all things and the “location” where God resides). Physically, this is
2858the center of your heart, which is also from where the strongest
2859electromagnetic field of your physical body emanates in the form of a
2860torus (another torus of electromagnetic energy is produced by the brain,
2861but it is far weaker than the torus of the heart). To get to the center of
2862your heart, there could be a great deal of energy you need to work
2863through. If you have lived a life of suffering, pain, judgment, fear,
2864anxiety, frustration, dissatisfaction, etc., then chances are you’ve built
2865up all kinds of personally harmful patterns of behavior, choice, and
2866reaction. You’ll need to unwind all of these patterns and energetic
2867residues in order to successfully relax in the center of your heart and
2868being. Given that most people have these patterns, most people have
2869some work to do to discover and own their true center.
2870Coming to own your energy is like doing a dance or playing a
2871game with yourself. When you begin, your energy can definitively feel
2872like something outside and exterior to you, as does the deepened level
2873of consciousness that comes with it. The more you work with it, the
2874more your sense of personal identity can expand outside the usual
2875confines of your ego. As you do this, the “distance” between “you”
2876and the energy you perceive and experience as coming from outside of
2877you collapses. When you eventually reach the center of your being, the
2878difference is completely obliterated and you are able to take
2879responsibility and ownership for all of your energy, not just the energy
2880that your ego tries to convince you is “you.”
288184 Being Human
2882Perceptually, one’s “visions” will change as this process
2883progresses. The more you own your energy, the more likely you are to
2884see fractals, geometry, and energy patterns as opposed to visions of
2885beings, creatures, landscapes, and other specific imagery. Remember
2886that all “visions” arise out of a fundamental matrix of fractal geometry.
2887The more you can stay focused on the energetic matrix, the less prone
2888you are to being caught by ego-generated illusions. Visually, the
2889geometry tends to exhibit more coherency and symmetry when you are
2890in a centered state. This is a more accurate reflection of yourself in the
2891mirror of the Divine Imagination than any “vision” that contains
2892specific imagistic content. God, after all, is not any thing. It is the
2893energy from which all things arise, and that energy functions according
2894to the parameters of fractal geometry. When you are able to perceive
2895yourself clearly, this is what you will see.
2896The perfect symmetry of the centered state is also reflected in
2897body movements and posture in that centered individuals tend to
2898exhibit mirrored bilateral symmetry in their physical movements (when
2899letting themselves be moved by the energy without resistance).
2900Movements also take on a flowing character, usually after one has
2901processed through their resistance in the form of vibrating or
2902convulsing. Once the body has been accustomed to the energy and
2903resistance has broken down, then the vibrations can manifest as
2904smooth, fluid, mirrored, symmetrical movements. This can only occur
2905when the ego is suspended or transcended. Vibrations indicate that the
2906ego is still struggling with the energy. Smooth movements indicate that
2907the struggle has been released.
2908Maintaining Posture
2909How you hold your body has a direct and immediate impact on
2910your entheogenic experience and should always be kept in mind in
2911order to maximize the effectiveness of any entheogenic session.
2912Consider the following guidelines:
2913Uncrossed appendages
2914Keep arms and legs uncrossed at all times. This is simple
2915energetics and there is no deep metaphysical secret here. Your central
2916core of energy is found along your central axis and runs from your head
2917Interfacing with the Divine 85
2918to the base of your torso. It is along this axis that your central energy
2919centers are located in your physical being. Your arms and legs are then
2920conduits and energy channels, but not energy centers. Always keep in
2921mind that your bio-physical energy is electromagnetic and therefore
2922carries a positive and negative charge. When you cross your arms or
2923legs, you are actually crossing over energy currents. There isn’t
2924anything necessarily “wrong” with this, other than that it can make the
2925energy of the experience more convoluted, like crossing over two wires
2926that really shouldn’t be touching. You’ll have a far easier time
2927remaining centered in your natural flow if you keep your arms and legs
2928uncrossed. Remember: your energy is perfectly symmetrical in a
2929bilateral fractal expression. Crossing arms and legs perturbs your
2930natural bilateral symmetrical expression. It can also create muscle
2931cramps and physical discomfort due to the confused energy flow. This
2932is easy to avoid: just remain uncrossed and symmetrical.
2933Sitting
2934When working with medicines in a seated position, your main
2935concern is to keep the above issue of uncrossed appendages in mind in
2936order to maximize your smooth energy flow. This means if you are
2937seated in a chair, keep both feet planted firmly on the floor, ideally
2938keeping your feet flat. Energy grounds out through your feet and
2939keeping your feet flat allows for a smoother transfer of energy, as
2940opposed to being on tip toes, for example. Keep in mind that large
2941energy discharges can create “energy burns” on your toenails. It
2942doesn’t hurt (though it might prick and tingle), but it can make toenails
2943look pretty ugly. Keeping your feet flat can help minimize the
2944possibility of this happening. If it does, don’t worry – your toenails
2945will eventually grow out and look pretty again!
2946Also, when seated in a chair, keep your back straight and your
2947arms at your side. It is best to keep you hands on your lap with palms
2948facing up. Remember that body posture communicates receptivity at an
2949energetic level. Having your palms facing up energetically says, “I’m
2950ready to receive.” Putting your hands down says, “I’m keeping to
2951myself.” Also, putting your hands on your legs can cause energy to
2952flow from your hands into your legs and can make discharging and
2953grounding through your feet more of an issue than it might otherwise
295486 Being Human
2955be. Always keep in mind that your hands are powerful conduits and are
2956extremely sensitive to energy.
2957When sitting on the floor, many people want to sit in a
2958meditation position (lotus, half-lotus or crossed legs) as this is what
2959they are accustomed to through their mediation practice. Meditation is
2960about calming the mind and transcending the concerns of the body,
2961however, whereas medicine work is about opening to energy. While
2962meditation and medicine work have some similarities in practice, they
2963are actually quite different modalities of work, and thus the postures of
2964one modality don’t necessarily translate into the other. For medicine
2965work, crossed legs are not recommended for the energetic reasons listed
2966above. Thus, when sitting on the floor, legs should be kept out straight
2967or legs can be bent with the soles of the feet pressed together. This last
2968posture makes for a nice, contained energy circuit. Your legs will
2969make a diamond shape in front of you. This provides a nice base to sit
2970on and does not confuse the energy at all.
2971When sitting in this manner, you might be tempted to hold your
2972feet with your hands. There is nothing wrong with this, but be aware
2973that you can created an intense energy loop by doing so and can build
2974up a significant charge in your body. This can manifest as serious
2975muscle cramping and a feeling of overheating in your core. If this
2976occurs, crouch down and place your feet and hands flat on the ground
2977and take some deep breaths, letting your breath pass out of you slowly.
2978This will help to ground out the energy. As soon as you feel better,
2979resume your position and continue your journey.
2980As with sitting in a chair, when sitting on the floor, be mindful
2981of your hand positions. The best position, and most reflective of
2982openly receiving, is keeping hands at your sides or lap, palms up, ready
2983to receive. This is passive reception, however, and not grasping or
2984desiring. It is a body posture that says, “I’m not necessarily looking for
2985anything in particular, but am ready and willing to receive whatever
2986comes my way, regardless of what I think about it.” This is a body
2987posture that helps put the ego in its place.
2988While it is your goal to avoid fidgeting, be mindful of how the
2989energy is moving you. If you feel the energy moving your hands or
2990arms, set your ego aside and let it happen. You may find that your
2991hands spontaneously start forming into what Buddhists and Hindus call
2992mudras (think of statues of Buddhas and Hindu deities and their hand
2993gestures). It might be tempting to think that such a phenomenon means
2994Interfacing with the Divine 87
2995something. Don’t give into the temptation. It does not mean that you
2996are a bodhisattva or an avatar or anything else! All it means is that you
2997are being willing and open to letting the energy move you.
2998Another spontaneous hand gesture is the “prayer” gesture of
2999hands open and pressed together before the heart. If you feel you need
3000to center yourself, this is a good gesture to make. When you feel
3001centered, return your hands to the neutral position on your lap. Don’t
3002be surprised when, as you naturally become more centered, your hands
3003seem to float into this position all of their own accord as you open to
3004the energy flowing through you. This is a good sign, but don’t get
3005attached to it!
3006The more relaxed you become and the closer you get into your
3007center, the more likely you are to spontaneously move in mirrored
3008symmetry with your arms, and making the “prayer” gesture is just the
3009beginning. Energy is always flowing by its very nature and is never
3010static. In terms of body movements, this means that your arms will
3011start to move in flowing, fluid movements the more centered you are in
3012the energy. When you are truly centered, all of your movements will
3013exhibit total mirrored bilateral symmetry. In other words, your hands
3014and arms will mirror each other and will function together as a unit.
3015However, your arms will not cross over each other and at most your
3016hands will come together and meet in the middle to mirror each other.
3017When energy is working naturally and spontaneously, energy currents
3018do not cross over one another: they mirror each other.
3019Lying Down
3020The same conditions that apply to sitting apply to lying down.
3021Arms should be kept at your sides with palms open, facing upwards.
3022Legs should be kept uncrossed and slightly spread apart. Don’t move
3023unless you feel inspired to do so.
3024The temptation, when lying down and things become difficult
3025or challenging, is to move from a relaxed and open position to a closed
3026and protective position. Generally, this takes the form of the fetal
3027position. People curl up and try to energetically close themselves off
3028from the experience. Given that it is impossible to close yourself off
3029from the energy once you’ve taken a medicine, resorting to the fetal
3030position is a means of trying to ride out the experience in a protective
3031state. Chances are, this will make for a bad trip. Though it can seem
303288 Being Human
3033frightening, bring yourself back to an open and receptive position
3034whenever this happens.
3035Another common form of resistance takes the form of rolling
3036from side to side or repeatedly turning over in place. This happens
3037when people resist letting the energy flow in symmetrical movements.
3038The rolling allows the energy to move, but it is in a confused and
3039“unnatural” way as the movements are a product of resistance. If you
3040are able, once more bring yourself back to a symmetrical posture and
3041hold your body in a state of openness, rather than resistance.
3042Fractal Energetic Yoga
3043Though I am currently the only person that I know of who can
3044do this, what you are eventually headed for is the ability to perform
3045what I call fractal energetic yoga. Once you have cleared away all of
3046your resistance and fully taken ownership and responsibility for your
3047energy, you should be able to perform fractal energetic yoga. I perform
3048these exercises on a daily basis, and when I work with the medicines as
3049well. As a regular exercise, I find that they help keep me centered and
3050authentic with my energy.
3051To begin, I sit on the floor with the soles of my feet and palms
3052of my hands pressed together. I then begin flowing with the energy by
3053rolling onto my back. Using a minimum of muscle and a maximum of
3054energy, I then lift my legs into the air, with my arms making fluid
3055motions at my sides and my heels pressed together. When I do so, I am
3056able to balance on a single point on my spine and do not need to use my
3057muscles to hold myself up. In other words, this is something of an
3058energetic balancing exercise through the authentic use of bio-physical
3059energy. I then go through free-form series of fluid movements using all
3060of my body as a mirrored symmetrical energetic system. It’s fantastic
3061exercise and is a genuine expression of my innate fractal geometry and
3062energy.
3063The more centered you become in your energy, the more you
3064should be able to do such exercises and the more natural and normal
3065they should feel. Don’t hurt yourself, but try experimenting! You can
3066do this with or without the medicines. (A video sample of Fractal
3067Energetic Yoga is available for viewing on my webpage,
3068www.martinball.net)
3069Interfacing with the Divine 89
3070Voicing
3071Another key area where energy is expressed is through voicing
3072and vocalizing. As with body movement, the same fundamental
3073distinction applies in terms of making an agreement with yourself not
3074to speak or say anything unless you feel inspired to do so. This is a
3075method for learning how to distinguish between the expressive
3076impulses of your ego and the expressive impulses of your genuine
3077energy.
3078Voicing and expressing energy linguistically can take different
3079forms for different people. A common experience is to “speak in
3080tongues.” Such an experience has no “religious” meaning whatsoever
3081and is not a “sign” of anything, other than that the person exhibiting
3082this behavior is letting themselves express their genuine energy. In this
3083sense, glossolalia can be understood as pure “energy language.” It is a
3084direct translation from one form of energy into another without any
3085specific meaning or linguistic intent.
3086Others experience vocal energetic expression in the form of
3087“mediumship” or “channeling.” With such behaviors, people generally
3088feel that their consciousness is being inhabited by some kind of being
3089or intelligence that exists outside of it and wants to express itself
3090through the vehicle of the person having the experience. Many
3091religions and spiritual traditions promote such kinds of experiences as
3092valid contact with “spirits,” “ancestors,” “ascended masters,” and other
3093such related interpretations. These “channeled” beings and voices are
3094merely part of the subject’s consciousness, however, and no matter how
3095“other” they seem, this is only an ego projection. When a person takes
3096ownership of their energy, this projected distinction dissolves.
3097In cases of unresolved energy, “mediumship” experiences can
3098become more like possession experiences. These are extreme cases
3099where people are not owning their energy and taking responsibility for
3100themselves. Voices, body posture, and movements can all alter
3101radically, giving the strong impression that “something” has taken
3102someone over. These are all just ways that energy expresses itself,
3103however, and should not be taken to be a literal possession in any
3104sense. If a person can take ownership of their energy, the “possession”
3105will dissolve in an instant.
3106Though it can feel silly to one’s ego, a perfectly effective
3107method for dealing with vocal phenomena is to have conversations with
310890 Being Human
3109yourself. If you find that you start to manifest strange voices that seem
3110to compel you to speak when you work with the medicines, take the
3111opportunity to speak with the voices. It is actually quite easy to get into
3112a conversation with yourself in this manner and you might be surprised
3113at how easily your voice switches between what you would normally
3114identify as “your” voice and the voice of the “being” inside you. The
3115two voices can sound completely unlike each other. They are both you,
3116however, and this should be understood as a game or as role-playing.
3117Just like in a dream, the character of “you” can interact with other
3118characters that you experience as “not you,” but they are you, just the
3119same. Taking responsibility for your energy means learning how to
3120own those expressions of energy that seem to be “not you.” Vocalizing
3121and speaking in different voices is just one of several mediums through
3122which to practice this.
3123Speaking in voices and feeling inspired to say things is not the
3124same as hearing voices in your head. Some people hear voices when
3125they work with medicines or enter into altered states of consciousness.
3126In general, my advice is not to listen to the voices. Voices heard in the
3127head are projections of the ego. They are not genuine expressions of
3128innate energy. For example, when considering what to do in ordinary
3129life, you may hear a voice in your mind giving you advice in
3130considering your question. That voice can easily lead you astray by
3131playing off of your ego. Rather, when considering what choices to
3132make, center your attention on what you feel, not the voices in your
3133mind. This will always give you a clearer reading on the actual state of
3134your energy. The same holds true for working with the medicines.
3135Don’t pay attention to the voices in your head, but rather focus on what
3136you feel. Remember that it is the role of the ego to convince you of the
3137reality of its illusions at all times, and one of its primary methods to do
3138so is through internal dialogue and projection.
3139Purging
3140Occasionally, energy needs to be released through purging.
3141Some medicines, such as peyote and ayahuasca, lend themselves to
3142such experiences more than others. However, virtually any medicine
3143can lead to purging, depending on what is happening at a personal,
3144energetic level.
3145Interfacing with the Divine 91
3146In traditional shamanic cultures, purging is generally
3147understood to be a cleansing and purifying act to remove negative
3148energy from a person. This is not necessarily the case. Purging tends
3149to occur when people resist the energy of their experience, in one way
3150or another. Even the most cosmic sense of needing to purge or vomit
3151can be turned around in an instant if resistance can be let go of. If one
3152is not able to let go of the resistance, then the medicine could force it
3153out of the individual through purging. It is not necessary to go through
3154a purge, however, in many cases. For example, though ayahuasca
3155makes many people purge, some people rarely, if ever, purge with this
3156medicine.
3157Purging also occasionally occurs with DMT and 5-MeO-DMT.
3158With these medicines, purging is most likely at the very beginning of
3159the experience where the ego may still be trying to resist and hold on,
3160or at the transition between the peak and the return to baseline. After
3161the peak, the ego gets the idea that it can eventually regain control, so it
3162starts to reassert itself after the temporary suspension during the peak.
3163At this time, your ego may try and convince you that “this is too big,”
3164or “this is too much energy” and “you can’t handle this.” Your body
3165may then react by purging or vomiting.
3166Many people start to release energy before working with
3167medicines as well, due to anxiety and anticipation, especially before
3168working with such overwhelmingly powerful medicines as DMT and 5-
3169MeO. Here people may find that they need to use the restroom several
3170times before beginning their journey. Defecation and urination are both
3171ways of releasing pent up energy and freeing yourself up energetically.
3172Others may find that they suddenly have a great deal of gas and they
3173need to burp or break wind. If any of these things happen to you, don’t
3174judge yourself and just give yourself the time and space to let the
3175energy work itself out. There’s nothing to be embarrassed or selfconscious
3176about.
317792 Being Human
3178Key Ideas
3179• Ego responses determine the quality of an entheogenic journey
3180• Ego resistance produces difficult journeys
3181• Egos will begin to reassert themselves immediately after the
3182peak of the experience
3183• Remember to relax and let go
3184• Body posture can significantly affect your experience
3185• Be mindful of your body
3186• Avoid distracting yourself with unnecessary movement or
3187sound
3188• Let the energy of the experience move you, not your ego
3189• Let the energy of the experience inspire your voice and choice
3190of words, not your ego
3191• Working with entheogens is a method of practicing letting your
3192natural energy express itself without the constraints of the ego
3193Interfacing with the Divine 93
3194Trust
3195Ultimately, working with entheogenic medicines is about
3196coming to know yourself and your energy. Though entheogenic
3197experiences can be frightening and intimately challenging, it is
3198important to rest in a state of trust. You can trust that transcending
3199your ego is the only genuine path to liberation and true personal
3200happiness, and that whatever work you require yourself to go through
3201in order to attain this is worth it. In the end, there is no difference
3202between trusting God and trusting yourself, for you are, after all, one
3203and the same. You can rest assured that whatever “God” puts you
3204through on your journey to claiming personal responsibility is exactly
3205what “you” need.
3206Entheogenic experience is a heightened experience of energy
3207and therefore is a heightened experience of your life. All of your
3208“issues” become amplified and exaggerated in the entheogenic
3209experience so that you may become aware of their true nature, and how
3210you are personally exercising choice and free will to create your reality.
3211While a great deal of reality is a given, there is a tremendous amount of
3212room for us to express free will and choice, and nowhere is this more
3213apparent than in how we choose to take responsibility for our energy
3214and for our reactions. Shit happens. We can’t control that. However,
3215we can control how we choose to react when shit happens, and this is
3216how we master our energy and take responsibility for it. You, as God,
3217are never a victim. Only egos are victims.
3218Working with entheogens is about learning how you are
3219actively creating illusions and ego dramas in your life through the
3220failure to take responsibility for yourself, your energy, and the games
3221that you create through your ego. Diving into the energetic world is
3222diving into the patterns that make up your life. It is a process of
3223looking into the mirror of who and what you are in order to get clear on
3224precisely how you are choosing to create your experience. This is not
3225easy work. It is much easier for egos to blame others for their problems
3226or look to outside sources for resolution – indeed, virtually all religions
3227and political and social systems play off this weakness of the ego.
3228Liberating yourself from your ego means not only liberating yourself
3229from yourself, but also from religion and social manipulations as well.
3230This is a process of developing true freedom. But true freedom comes
323194 Being Human
3232with complete personal responsibility. Freedom and responsibility are
3233two sides of the same coin, and one cannot be achieved without the
3234other.
3235Working Through Your Lessons
3236Everything that you experience at every moment holds a
3237potential reflective lesson for you. All of reality is a mirror – no
3238exceptions! I guarantee you that you have lessons to learn and issues
3239to work on. Transcending the ego does not make your lessons and
3240issues disappear. In fact, in most instances, the ego is transcended for
3241only a brief period of time, such as when actively engaged with the
3242medicines, but then quickly reasserts itself as soon as it is able.
3243Working with medicines is therefore a practice. It is about learning
3244what it feels like to transcend your ego and take responsibility for
3245yourself while resting in the trust of your innate energy. This is easy to
3246do when 5-MeO-DMT blows your ego out of the water, but it is much
3247harder to maintain during everyday experiences when our egos are
3248confronted by illusions, dramas, and fantasies on all sides by every
3249single person we meet. Maintaining a state of transcendence and
3250liberation from the ego takes constant attention, honesty, integrity, and
3251willingness to trust your energy, even when it makes you or others
3252uncomfortable (people who have transcended their egos tend to make
3253those who are trapped in their egos uncomfortable for the basic reason
3254that egos habitually live in illusion and do not like to have their
3255illusions challenged).
3256It is therefore important to understand that the ability to
3257maintain a state of ego transcendence is not the product of a single
3258experience of transcendence, or even many. In other words, merely
3259working with entheogens won’t accomplish this goal in-and-of-itself.
3260Plenty of people have worked with entheogens for millennia but are
3261still caught in all kinds of ego-generated illusions. To return to an
3262earlier example, Terence McKenna explored all kinds of entheogens
3263but still got thoroughly entrapped by his projections of UFOs, aliens,
3264and machine elves. By the analysis presented in this guide, he
3265completely failed to recognize himself in the mirror and instead got
3266drawn in by fantasy and projection. Entheogens are by no means a
3267“magic bullet.”
3268Interfacing with the Divine 95
3269Entheogens do produce relatively reliable instances of
3270transcending the ego, or at least setting it aside temporarily as fear and
3271self-protection are suspended for the duration of the onset and peak of
3272an entheogenic experience. This is simply practice, however, and a
3273medium for becoming familiar with the experience, and with the nature
3274of one’s energy. People must actively choose to remain in trust and
3275suspension of the ego through constant attention to their energy and
3276their choices in all moments. The task of staying present with your
3277energy is a constant requirement of perpetuating and achieving your
3278personal liberation. Commit yourself to trust and honesty and you can
3279do it for yourself, but remember that you are the only one who can do
3280it. No one else can ever do it for you. It’s 100% up to you.
3281When you work consciously with the medicines, what you will
3282find is that you will move through various stages of lessons and
3283experiences. Even though different medicines give rise to different
3284kinds of experiences, remember that all uses of entheogens are an entry
3285into your own mind and energy. You, as God, know everything about
3286yourself and know everything that you need to face as an individual to
3287get clear on how you are responsible for your reality. You cannot hide
3288from what you already know about yourself!
3289Many people who work with medicines comment on how the
3290medicine seems to know everything about them – even things they
3291didn’t remember actively. The medicines seem to know exactly what
3292to show you and what kind of experience to bring to you and when. It
3293is as though you have entered a schooling program built with
3294interactive media that is designed perfectly just for you. It is simply
3295astounding how personal and intimate the experience can be. This is
3296only surprising if you think that it is merely a “drug” experience, or if
3297you think that the medicine has some mysterious spirit in it that
3298somehow knows everything about you. When you understand that you
3299are God and that the medicines allow you to look at yourself in the
3300mirror of the Divine Imagination, then none of this should be surprising
3301in any way. In fact, it is precisely what one would expect to find and it
3302works exactly as one would expect it to. Working with the medicines is
3303simply an entry into your personal interface with yourself as God.
3304There’s nothing mysterious, magical, or supernatural about it. It is just
3305the way that it works!
3306Through their lessons, what entheogens reveal is that our
3307authentic energy is just beneath the surface of our egos. Lessons into
330896 Being Human
3309our true energy are present and with us all the time and it is the ego that
3310attempts to obscure this. This energy is always present and always
3311looking to express itself authentically. God is not something distant,
3312far away, or other. God is within you, is you, right here, right now, in
3313all moments. Transcending your ego is merely about relaxing the hold
3314your ego has on you and living authentically in the reality that you are a
3315vehicle for the expression of God’s innate energy. Though such a
3316realization changes everything, it really isn’t such a big change, given
3317that you already are God. It is not about developing new abilities or
3318becoming some kind of spiritual super-human. You already are
3319everything that you will ever be and you already have all the talents and
3320abilities you will ever express. In other words, being awakened to
3321being God in a body is identical to being fully human by taking
3322complete responsibility for yourself.
3323The thought of taking responsibility can seem overwhelming.
3324Egos don’t like to take responsibility. They’d rather dish out blame,
3325claim rewards, and indulge in illusion. Many people expend a great
3326deal of energy simply avoiding as much responsibility for themselves
3327as possible, especially religious fundamentalists and dogmatic politicos.
3328The idea of taking responsibility seems daunting, challenging, and
3329ultimately, not much fun (for some reason, egos seem to equate fun
3330with release from responsibility). Though it may seem this way,
3331actually, the opposite is true.
3332For one, being responsible is not about being responsible for all
3333things all at once. Rather, it means taking responsibility for your
3334energy and expression in each moment. In each moment, there is only
3335a limited amount of energy present that anyone needs to attend to. For
3336example, when you think about your responsibilities in your life, if you
3337consider them all at once, it can seem like a lot. However, the reality is
3338that in each moment, there are only certain things that need to be
3339addressed and dealt with authentically. To be responsible for all things,
3340all you need to do is be responsible with what is before you right now.
3341It’s like the saying, “a thousand mile journey begins with one step.”
3342When in the moment, all you’re actually concerned about is taking one
3343step. Then one more. Then one more. Then one more. Eventually,
3344you will have walked a thousand miles. Or consider writing a book.
3345Taking on the task of writing a book is a big responsibility and
3346commitment. However, every book is written one word at a time, and
3347that’s where you put your focus. Stay present in the moment and
3348Interfacing with the Divine 97
3349before you know it, you’ll have accomplished your task! If you are
3350confused about what to pay attention to in the moment, go back to the
3351medicines. Through them, you’ll show yourself what you need to pay
3352more attention to. Receive your lesson, apply it to your daily life, and
3353stay focused and committed to your path of authenticity and personal
3354responsibility.
3355The Fruits of the Work
3356The ironic truth of being human is that, aside from the
3357challenges of being a physical being in a physical reality where shit
3358happens (earthquakes, floods, disease, famine, physical accidents, etc.),
3359the vast majority of problems that humans suffer from are caused by
3360humans themselves. Through technology and science we can gain
3361some limited mastery over the effects of natural disasters and physical
3362and biological problems. As physical beings, protecting our bodies,
3363our vehicles, is a natural and necessary activity. Fear of physical
3364suffering and avoidance and prevention of pain are reasonable, rational
3365measures for us to take.
3366Yet humans cause far more trouble for themselves than nature.
3367Has there ever been a period in human history when we have not fought
3368each other? Have religions actually brought peace and happiness, or do
3369they fill people with fear, judgment, self-righteousness and selfloathing
3370that then leads to discrimination, genocide, slavery, and war?
3371Have any political systems actually brought about an end to human
3372suffering and created equality for all? Have our economic systems
3373brought happiness and satisfaction, or do they promote exploitation,
3374manipulation, and the fabrication of needs, goods, and services for the
3375gratification of the ego? Is there any culture on Earth where people are
3376truly free? Do any cultural, political, or religious systems actually
3377teach people to take responsibility for themselves and their happiness
3378and authenticity, or do they instead create divides between “us” and
3379“them,” “self” and “other,” “good” and “bad,” “right” and “wrong” and
3380avoid responsibility in the process? Do societies encourage people to
3381be themselves, or some socially-determined and ego-manipulated
3382version of how people “should be” or “should” express themselves?
3383Nature and the basic facts of physical reality come with being
3384human. There will be suffering and there will be physical pain. Shit
3385will happen. However, none of the problems caused by humans or
338698 Being Human
3387human societies, religions, cultures, and political systems are
3388necessary. All of these problems are the product of confused and
3389illusion-bound egos. Therefore all of these problems have the potential
3390to be transcended. Just imagine if every single person on this planet
3391took responsibility for him or herself to get clear on their authentic
3392energy. No more ego games or dramas. No more fear, judgment, or
3393manipulation. No more illusions propped up by religious and cultural
3394institutions. Though it would take a collective effort to reorganize how
3395society actually functions, the foundation for the vast majority of
3396causes of human suffering could vanish in a very short period of time.
3397In other words, if everyone could take responsibility and actually live
3398in reality and not ego-generated illusion, this would be a profoundly
3399transformed world. It would be a world of radical freedom, and radical
3400responsibility. It would be a completely different world from the one
3401we collectively inhabit now. It would be a world of peace and
3402happiness for all.
3403Key Ideas
3404• Trust in yourself and your experience
3405• Be willing to surrender to whatever arises
3406• Everything you encounter is a mirror reflection
3407• You will present lessons to yourself
3408• These lessons are always relevant to your everyday life,
3409choices, and actions
3410• By becoming aware of your choices, you can learn how to
3411choose differently to better serve your higher good
3412• Taking ownership of your experience brings you closer to your
3413center and to actual reality
3414• You always have free will: how you choose to express your
3415energy and live your life is completely your choice
3416• Being authentic leads to increased self-responsibility, and
3417ultimately, radical liberation from all illusion
3418• Liberation is the key to peace and happiness for all
3419Responsibility
3420Taking Responsibility
3421It all begins with you. No one can sort out your ego for you, or
3422the ways you make yourself suffer at the hands of your ego. No one
3423can express your authentic energy for you. You are the only one who
3424can help yourself. Others can inspire you and give you good advice
3425and maybe even provide you with a good model for your own choices
3426and actions, but you have to do the work for yourself.
3427A corollary to the above is, if you want to make the world a
3428better place and help others, attend to yourself. You can achieve a lot
3429of “good” in the world and help alleviate suffering through social
3430action, politics, and the “good works” of religious activities, but none
3431of these are real solutions. Your ego may react by saying this is
3432narcissistic or egotistical, but this is just your ego talking – feel free to
3433ignore it! The only authentic path to helping the world is by helping to
3434free yourself from the illusions and limitations you have placed on
3435yourself through participation in ego-generated illusions and fantasies.
3436Everything else is just an ego game.
3437Authentic action is self-motivated action. For example, I am
3438writing this guide, which I sincerely hope will help you and potentially
3439change the world in profound and beautiful ways, but I am not
3440motivated by the thought of actually helping you. You are not my
3441responsibility. Your choices are your own, as is your life. What you
3442choose and what you do with your life is completely up to you and
3443100 Being Human
3444makes no real difference to me. I am not, then, actually trying to help
3445you in any way or make your life any better. You are your own
3446problem, not mine.
3447However, for me to be authentic and true to my energy, I simply
3448must write this guide. Anything less would be being untrue to myself
3449and my own personal energy. In other words, my motivation for
3450writing this guide and providing this true account of the nature of
3451reality and human experience is because this is important to me,
3452personally. I care about the truth, and because I am committed to being
3453authentic with myself, I care about expressing the truth. Because I care
3454about others (and because I also understand and accept that we are all
3455one being), I care whether others are able to live in truth and reality or
3456not. I care that people suffer from the products of their own egos and
3457illusions. Because I care, not acting on that would be inauthentic of
3458me. I would not be being true to myself. My primary concern is to be
3459true to myself. It’s the only thing that I can truly take any responsibility
3460for, and I care about doing my part to take responsibility. My
3461motivation is 100% self-motivation. And keep in mind that since we
3462are, in reality, all the same being, being true and authentic with yourself
3463will naturally be of benefit to others, though it will be up to them to
3464take responsibility to realize those benefits for themselves.
3465Responsibility for Evolutionary Integrity
3466While humans are neither personally nor collectively
3467responsible for evolution itself, given that our actions have such a
3468dramatic impact on the ecology of the planet, we are collectively and
3469individually responsible for the evolutionary integrity of the biosphere.
3470As an individual human, it is reasonable to take actions and precautions
3471to protect your vehicle. After all, you can’t lead much of a life if your
3472body is severely physically damaged or compromised. The same holds
3473true, at another scale, for evolution itself. God is all living beings
3474collectively and simultaneously. It was all of evolution that brought us
3475to the point where we are now. Since we are God, too, then we are also
3476all of evolution. Therefore, protecting the integrity of the evolutionary
3477system is on par with protecting the physical integrity of our personal
3478vehicles. Evolution is a collective process and we are products of that
3479process. Protecting evolutionary integrity is therefore ultimately
3480Responsibility 101
3481protecting ourselves. It is part of our responsibility to be true and
3482authentic to ourselves.
3483Currently, given the state of the world and its patterns of
3484economic development, environmental destruction, and pollution, we
3485are doing an extraordinarily poor job of protecting the integrity of the
3486evolutionary system. Countless numbers of species have already been
3487lost as a direct result of our disruptive actions at rates that far surpass
3488anything that might occur naturally. And, with our technology, we
3489have the stunning capacity to virtually wipe out all life on this planet in
3490the blink of an eye. We have collectively reached a potentially
3491disastrous point in time. To put it very bluntly, we could really fuck
3492up this little project called life that God has been busy working on for
3493the past few billion years. To put a new spin on an old theological
3494question: Can God create itself as a physical being with so much
3495capacity to affect reality that it could potentially ruin the evolutionary
3496project? Apparently, the answer is yes. We are living proof, as is the
3497world we currently live in.
3498Through our collective choices and actions, we have made the
3499integrity of the evolutionary system our responsibility. With the
3500development of science and technology, coupled with ego-generated
3501illusions and fantasies, this was perhaps inevitable. Now that the
3502effects of our choices and actions are obvious, the only responsible
3503thing to do is to actively take responsibility. This is ultimately no
3504different from taking personal responsibility. Evolution is the natural
3505expression of energy as expressed through living beings in physical
3506form. Being authentic with ourselves means allowing our natural
3507energy to express itself and being true to that. Being true and authentic
3508with evolution means letting the system run its course, naturally. Just
3509as ego games interfere with our personal expression of our energy, so
3510too do human activities interfere with the expression of evolutionary
3511energy by radically altering environments, polluting them, and causing
3512the widespread extinction of species. We are creating unforeseen
3513consequences for ourselves and for all living beings on this planet. As
3514conscious embodiments of God, it’s time to take responsibility. No one
3515and no thing will do it for us. It’s up to us.
3516102 Being Human
3517Children and Responsibility
3518Children present a special case of personal responsibility. Most
3519parents see it as their job to shape and mold their child into a “good
3520person” and a “good citizen,” and also maybe a “good” member of a
3521particular religion. Ultimately, these are misguided goals and are
3522locked into ego-projections of what is “good.”
3523As a parent, you have two primary jobs in relation to your child.
3524This first is to care for it and protect it physically, as it is not able to
3525assume this responsibility itself. It is a child, after all, and needs the
3526care and protection of adults in order to insure its safety and well-being.
3527Your second job as a parent is to do everything you can to
3528support your child in discovering, owning, and being itself. This does
3529not mean that you actively mold the child to come out the way you
3530personally want. Who and what your child is in terms of his or her
3531own personality may have nothing to do with how you think he or she
3532should be. Your job is to provide the context and environment that will
3533allow the child to discover him or herself for him or herself, and, if you
3534are able, present a responsible model for the child.
3535Other than these two things, parents do not really have any
3536other valid responsibilities toward their children. When children grow
3537up and mature, they become responsible for themselves, just like
3538everyone else, and then it is no longer the parents’ responsibility to
3539physically care for the child or provide a context for the child to be him
3540or herself. Upon maturity, these responsibilities then shift to the young
3541adult.
3542Realistically, most parents expend a great deal of energy trying
3543to make their children be what the parents want them to be. Our
3544societies are even built on such an expectation. Virtually all religions,
3545educational systems, and cultures promote shaping children into predetermined
3546expectations of who and what they should be and how they
3547should behave or act. Children are not encouraged to be themselves
3548and are not given adequate context or guidance for exploring their own
3549self-natures and energy. In turn, children learn how not to take
3550responsibility for themselves and are indoctrinated into ego-projected
3551fantasies and illusions, often forcefully at the hands of parents, clergy,
3552and educators. Is it any wonder that people in the modern world have
3553such a challenging time getting to know themselves or taking
3554responsibility for their energy? Virtually everything is working against
3555Responsibility 103
3556them, including their parents, those who could play the greatest role in
3557helping them to be themselves and take responsibility for their lives.
3558Being Yourself
3559In the end, it all comes down to being yourself and taking
3560responsibility for who and what you are. There is no grand destiny or
3561purpose waiting for you to discover. You came into this world with
3562free will, and so shall it always be. What you do with yourself and
3563your life is always and forever your choice. Looking for purpose or
3564answers outside of yourself is a distraction from who and what you
3565truly are. You have the ability to liberate yourself and take
3566responsibility for your life. You have the ability to claim your own
3567peace, happiness, and fulfillment. You have the capacity to do the
3568personal work that will help bring about world peace and universal
3569liberation. The energy is inside you and the tools to help you see
3570yourself clearly in the mirror, the entheogens, are there to help you and
3571guide you along your path. Everything you need is right here, right
3572now.
3573So what are you waiting for?
3574Step up and take responsibility. Be yourself. Be free.
3575Be the Divine Being that YOU ARE!
3576It is the greatest thing you could ever do for yourself or anyone
3577else.
3578Be bold, take chances, be yourself, and most of all, have fun!
3579Welcome, at long last, to reality.
3580Entheogenic Affirmations
3581I’d like to end with a few entheogenic affirmations to help remind
3582you to keep it real. They’re meant to be fun and a little whimsical.
3583“Spirituality” is so often presented with such earnestness that the absurdity
3584of reality gets overlooked. Egos take everything so seriously! Life is
3585serious, but it’s also the most ridiculous game ever, and a great deal of
3586fun, too. So whenever your ego steps and in starts getting all dramatic and
3587serious on you, give it a little reminder with one of these entheogenic
3588affirmations, or ones of your own creation.
3589Guess what? You are GOD! Now get over it =)
3590You are GOD’s altered state!
3591GOD doesn’t take you seriously, so why should you?
3592Your sense of humor is DIVINE!
3593Mirrors mirrors, everywhere . . . Enjoy the Funhouse!
3594Everything is an Illusion . . . Except Reality!
3595If you won’t be your True Self, then who will?
3596Other Books by Martin W. Ball, Ph.D.
3597Available at www.martinball.net and on-line retailers
3598• Mushroom Wisdom: How Shamans Cultivate Spiritual
3599Consciousness (Ronin Publishing, 2006)
3600• Sage Spirit: Salvia Divinorum and the Entheogenic Experience
3601(Kyandara Publishing, 2007)
3602• The Entheogenic Evolution: Psychedelics, Consciousness and
3603Awakening the Human Spirit (Kyandara Publishing, 2008)
3604• Entheologues: Conversations with leading Psychedelic Thinkers,
3605Explorers and Researchers (Kyandara Publishing, 2009)
3606• Mountain Spirits: Embodying the Sacred in Mescalero Apache
3607Tradition (VDM Publishing, 2009)
3608For more information, check out Martin’s weekly podcast,
3609“The Entheogenic Evolution,” available at iTunes and at
3610www.entheogenic.podomatic.com