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Sorry to be such a blatant old misery-guts, but I thought I should throw in the opinion that dreams are to sleep what thought is to waking, i.e. the uncontrolled rambling of the mind and provider of all misery. Just pushing you to consider exactly what you're encouraging and why. I can't remember exactly what Ron Jeremy used to say about dream practice, but it was one area where I didn't entirely disagree with him. I got the impression, from him, and from what Michael Winn used to say, that dream practice is difficult and that you really need to have mastered fusion or something equivalent before you're going to be able to do it right. Also remember a long article by Liu Ming about it and how it was more about blurring the boundaries between sleep and waking, and other dualities, than about dreams as such. Anyway, blah blah. Ignore me, have fun.....

Juan Li teaches an interesting Dream practice. This was ripped off other instructors in the HT and modified to be less effective in my opinion.

I was going to put this in the non daoist topic, maybe in the Stay Away section. I wrote a story with some hallucinogetics in it. Also there's been some discussion here on it. So I've been doing some googling on them. I am very interested in them. But I've lead a very drug free life. In my 42 years I've only used illegal drug once. Matter of fact in college I wrote a paper on why marijuana should not be legalized. (I can see it being decriminalized, stupid to lock small users up). So there is a level of hypocracy. A level of not being true to myself. An argument that if I want my kids to stay away from this stuff I shouldn't use it. Whether we choose to recognize it or not, there can be a blood onus attached to many illegal drugs out there, ie corruption, Scarface kinds of stuff. Theres the matter of keeping a poison in a house with kids in it and the matter of the illegality of purchasing the stuff. Just as powerful is the fact that I might like it. I might really like it. It could give me the bliss and feeling of satori that I've read about and yearn for. That in itself is a trap. First it articial, second I'd recommend it to others and be linked karmically to what happens to them based on my recommendation. I've been steadily stealing candy from my kids halloween bags. What happens when the goodies become more powerful? But I am 42. A known danger is less of a danger. I am a responsible person, 89 1/2% of the time. I've found two good sites. I'm interested in the Amana mushroom. They also have some interesting dream tea's and some other, many other classes of illicits, none for human conception, all available for anthropological interests As in the Matrix, my decsion is already made. I have to figure out the why and how. Michael

Funny you should mention biaural sounds. I have gotten into Monroe's hemisync series. For a few days I would wake up early, put on the head phones, listen to the Focus 10 series and end having a lucid dream. It was great but for some reason I haven't done it lately, maybe I haven't been doing it consciously and with intent. As far as step 1, writing down your dreams. I decided if I want to do it seriously this will help. An author decided to wake up every day at 5 a.m. He found he couldn't. Even with resolve, in the morning he'd fall back asleep or decide to do it tomorrow. So he practiced. In the evening he'd go to bed. Spend a few minutes there. Then pretend to wake up, walk to the bathroom and pretend brush his teeth. He did this several times night, for several days. Like a Pavlovian dog, he trained himself, going through the morning grogginess and any question of will power. Maybe writing down dream should be like that. A few pretend sessions for a few nights. Lots of positive, 'I'm up here's my dream journal, I remember my dreams, Now I write'. Practice a few times an evening. So what the level of practice here? Who remembers there dreams? Who programs there dreams? Who is lucid and how regularly? Who goes beyond lucidity into alternate dimensions? thanks Michael

Dream-recall is helpful as a type of pre-lucidity training. The old reality test method is a good standby where you check if your dreaming on a regular interval. In my experieneces bi-naural isn't needed, although is a helpful cheater. Hemispheric syncro exercises are helpful and plentiful, and usually engage you in the modulation that happens between wake and sleep. Practicing early morning after real "sleep" has already happened and it's more like a nap seems easiet. Helpful Hint - 'let go of' and 'go with' any feelings of falling and/or vibratory states. Spectrum

Hey there Lerner I very much like the new psychadelic avatar! Did the shrooms discussion awaken the old hippy in ya? But into the breach of this thread- I usually can remember my last dream pretty well, and sometimes a few of them. I also have been meaning to write down these recollections of my dreams when I awaken, but often find my mind racing on into the day ahead, (and what I need to do to catch-up with "my life"). I find if I go directly to take a shower The hot water and soothing atmosphere allows me to mull over the dream(s) that I can recall. But alas even when I do this they seem to fade quickly if I don't make a real effort to hang onto them. My conscious mind doesn't seem to want to spend time going over what my sub-conscious is processing. I have kept pen/paper by my bed for many years to jot-down "real world" ideas and lines for poems etc... but seldom tried to keep a record of my dreaming - those I did try to keep seemed pretty incoherant and got tossed out anyway! -Tho much of that problem stemmed from really crappy penmanship, leaving a scribble is worse than nothing, it reinforces my waking mind's resentmant of wasting time... So - to do a real study I would need to create a true discipline for myself to make the effort. with maybe a voice activated tape-recorder... Jung is an aid for my interpretations, at least more than Freaud... I was just interupted by three Jahovah's witnesses -they got about three words in edge-wise as I explained several different religions to them! (Mostly Taoism o'course)...And why I have problems believing in the bible... Namaste- which was Another thing I explained to them as they left...

Great timing, Michael! I've been looking back into lucid dreaming recently... I think the achievement to go for is to be lucid in your dreams - because you can accomplish a lot of deep work on the energetic level... Remembering and interpreting dreams imo is not that usefull - my understanding is that 'normal' dreaming is a way of tying up loose emotional threads that you've started off in the day... I admit that knowing more about your dreams may help you learn how you deal with emotions and what effect they have on you - but there are other ways of doing that quicker... It's important (over time) to move from this type of emotional dreaming to more 'creative' or developmental dreaming (where rather than resolving emotional issues we get clues on how to move forwards on our spiritual path)... Then eventually lucid dreaming becomes a reality and you can affect yourself and your world directly through dream practice... Historically it has been really quite hard to become a lucid dreamer - it took many dacades of of dedicated practice or 'natural' ability. Ofcourse we're lucky today to have access to a lot more information and many more resources that can help us... First thing is we need to resolve our emotional issues of the day before we go to sleep... The healing sounds are very usefull in this regard, and I've found that mentally reviewing the day three times right before sleep helps a lot! I review it once without any judgement - very objectively... then I review it again and notice what I could've done better and where I strayed off my path and lastly I review it noticing what I did well, and where I stayed on my path... (I actually do the healing sounds right after this)... That alone has a great effect on my dreaming - the dreams shift in quality quite noticeably... Sometimes while I'm in bed almost asleep I give myself an intention to resolve some problem or come up with a creative idea or have some specific form of dream (and I always intend to wake up at a certain time (exact to the minute) usually just before my alarm goes off - this is incredibly effective! and a good way to learn how powerfull your subconcious really is.) A few years ago I was training myself to have lucid dreams and in only a couple of weeks I could do it predictably (although I started slacking and lost the skill )... There are a few important things to do to be successfull in this - firstly the 'resolving emotional issues of the day' drill must be practiced every night for a while... secondly you cant go to bed tired! If you fall asleep when drained you simply won't have a lucid dream - it's important to be full of energy and be relaxed with it... And you need to train to be able to have your body asleep whilst your mind is awake... This is achieved by listening to brainwave/binaural recordings (around 4hz is the optimum for this state) and I found the practice of Yoga Nidra (yoga sleep) to be very effective (especially if combined with the binaural technology)... This needs to be trained daily over several weeks so you consistently enter that state easily, then at night you can do it automatically. What you do once you're lucid in your dreams is up to you - I never really did much more than experience cool things that I wanted to experience - flying around at high speeds, visiting beautiful places, talking to animals and cool shamans, having 'romantic' relations with hot chicks etc.. lol I wasn't spiritually mature yet - I now know that I could accomplish a lot of spiritual work in the lucid state... I guess Winn's dreaming tapes might give a better clue as to what can be done... anyone got the tapes and willing to share the info?

Simplist things that come to mind: Before you go to sleep bring to mind a dream in which you can recall. Perhaps the most vivid dream you can remember. Play through the dream as you drift off, this will put you a step closer to an active dreamtime. When you awake write down your first waking thoughts, often times these will be blurred with dreams, bringing you a step closer to recall. Waking up slowly over a period of time vs. quickly and rushed makes a difference. IIRC Vitamin b12 increases dream intensity. Spectrum

Here is a practice that has been on my to do list for quite a while. One that I have very little flair for. I am not good at remembering my dreams. After a few minutes of wakefulness they fade quickly and I'm too groggy to write them down. I have had periods of greater awareness and will power when I've been able to do a dream diary for a few weeks, and it had been fruitful. I certainly have the resources. Books, tapes. I have Winns Dream tapes. must go Michael

Taoist dream practice sounds interesting to me, too bad I can`t afford it right now. What is taoist dream practice like Ian? Did you practice any of it?

It's a good point, cat... not sure it relates to the topic of the thread, but it's still important to discuss, I think. For me meditation means 'skill in directing awareness'... a very broad title, I know... It's always a challenge for me to blur the lines between 'practice' and 'everyday life' and I personally think it's important to do that. So I meditate when I'm washing the dishes, I meditate when on the train and I meditate when reading the forum etc... Directing awareness can take many forms - one pointed concentration has its uses - it's (imo) a very yang practice... I do this when I meditate on the lower dan tien... if distracted I just come back to the dantien... The more yin version is when I do open eye meditation - the method is actually from Hawaiian Huna called Hakalau - I widen my field of view and use the periphery of my vision to watch the flow of life - the concentration is diffuse and I 'take in' everything (although yi/attention is still in the belly - this happens automatically when I use hakalau) . This is what I normally do when walking, waiting etc... I do the one-pointedness when doing something specific - washing dishes, writing, excersising etc. Then there is deep meditation - this is similar to dream practice/hypnosis/trance etc... The idea is to go into a very deep meditative state (whilst remaining aware) in such a way that my awareness is not limited by the body or conscious mind... I use this state for a number of different things - smiling, energy work and connecting and communicating with the organs, getting deeper into the core channel and the various dantien - or just 'watching the inner weather' (the more yin practice). I use the Yoga Nidra method for getting into this state... by the way cat - how's it going with the tripple warmer awareness? I finally got a feel for the balance between the spleen - tripple warmer duality... never noticed that the spleen energy is so connected with the tripple heater...

I was told slitting send one into a peaceful dream state but I'll take your word for it. Oh yes it's true Oh no it's not is not is not Too much of something - their diets were not balanced. The fiction is they think they were doing something correctly when actually they were not.

a few weeks ago cat pointed out a site or two that sold orgonite. I bought like 150 bucks worth of shit.. and I am veeerryyy pleased... I just took it out of th ebox... There is one piece specifically, I don't know what is in it, what it's called, or anything.. but it is verrrry powerful. resting it on my dan tien or holding it to my chest causes immediate energetic reaction. I also got two of the 'dream enhancers'.. I will post here my experience with them here after tonight. (they're literally garunteed to produce vivid dreaming...) can anyone else verify my experience with the orgonite? or share their own experiences?

Manifestation is a song sung mysteriously by no one. I would say, something like meditation frequently arises prior to what is called an enlightenment experience. But correlation is not causation. Who is to say that meditation is not a symptom of an inconceivably deeper process? My sense is that it's through something like Grace that real spiritual "progress" occurs. The Tao playfully moves, and on the surface of the lake we see and feel what appears to be a self, "our" self even, engaged in the oh-so very serious discipline of meditation and waking up. Of believing that enlightenment is a result. That enlightenment is causal. That enlightenment is the successful completion of a linear formula or process. But this is just another part of the dream and is also no separate from Tao. Make a person meditate and enlightenment will not follow. There is a great mystery to what brings a person to the cushion and has them return again and again. Surrender for a moment to the possibility that "you" are a fiction and have nothing to do with controlling what arises in awareness. Experiences without an experiencer. Just my two cents and my humble opinion.

Hello everyone, My name is Rin. I am twenty-four years old, and I am from Canada. I am a former University studen who was studying Japanese, Mandarin, and Buddhism. For as long as I can remember, I have liked to ask questions and sometimes that has landed me in trouble (both with myself and other people). A questioning nature usually leads to the metaphysical, and along that way I came to trap myself in a lot of words and descriptions. The Way has always been an influence in my life, so it helped a great deal when it came to dealing with the breaking up of those words and descriptions (which was a painful series of events). I would like, perhaps, to one day become a Buddhist monk, but I'm not holding out on that dream any more. If it happens, it happens and that would be great. If it doesn't, then I won't be upset about it. 謝謝, Rin

Yoda, Sean and I are are going on the 2008 China Trip with Michael Winn. It's like a month long(including 1 week meditating in Mt.Hua Shan) and also visiting Sacred Wudan Mountain(and other places). If any other Tao Bums are interested email Michael Winn to be put on the advanced list. [email protected] peace

I get into a zone writing sometimes where I am attempting to steer my mind, and maybe my reader as well, into giving up for a split second and opening up to the clarity of the present moment. My words are also just another part of the dream though, probably best taken as a little melody you are overhearing me whistle. There are two components of my personal experience going into this post that I'd like to describe. First, is what I sublimely feel as a result of my meditation. This feeling does come and go (seems to prefer going at this stage ). Second, it's what I've come to realize that I already know and have always known on some level ... self-evident Truth, tacit knowledge, Big Mind, not sure what to call it. But it's incontrovertible. It makes more sense on the deepest level of my being than anything else I've encountered so I'm sticking with it for now. It's true I am not embodying this realization. In fact I keep forgetting who I Am constantly and get caught up in the illusion more often than not. So this knowledge has an element of faith to it. Because my "everything is perfect" frame is just words, it's a frame. So it drops away like everything manifest. This is where the next line in my post is crucial. "This perfection includes all of the ways we convince ourselves otherwise and play unpleasant games with our freedom." Enlightenment is so free it can pretend to be a separate human reading someone else's post on The Tao Bums. My faith is a kind of umbilical cord to Source, nourishing me no matter how lost I get. When I catch myself thinking "just this next book or this next technique will help me become free", my faith sets off a little light bulb and I can recognize that, even though I may not feel it strongly in the moment, or even believe it fully, I Am already That. My experience is "merely part of the endless creativity of a playful void", to borrow from a recent post by our Father Paul here. And I don't even have to put the book down though or stop my practice. Because what would be the alternative? Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we must make choices as if we were only a separate self. How to wake up from this kind of dream willfully? It's a double bind. This is just what is arising in that moment. Seeking comes and goes on it's own. And even post-enlightenment we can still enjoy meditation and reading, I think you agree with that. They are natural activities, like eating and sleeping. This is such a wonderful meditation. I like to ponder Baker Roshi's quote that I indirectly referred to in that post, "Enlightenment is an accident. Meditation makes you accident prone". Sean

Wow! where did this come from? Challenge the information but don't take a wild pot shot out of nowhere at a dream image. You studied 'all' his posts? You do realize you're railing away at dream images don't you? Let's get back to the moment and discuss what is being said. He put some information out there..maybe you don't like it or are uncomfortable with it..what is it that ticked you off about the post. T

I might..but I have a problem with committing to a schedule. I've seen ads in craigslist for pretty cheap 1:1 training where you meet the teacher at a starbucks. That sounded like a flexible way to get started, the rest I would just force myself to speak it since I work with alot of chinese..i'm also considering investing in an IPOD and downloading lessons on that.. T Very cool..i'm assuming it's mainland china? What city? I'm thinking of my dream itinerary...first stop, Hong Kong..then chen village, shaolin temple (for the coolness factor, i heard it's a tourist trap)..thailand on the way back..damn, maybe that's too much..hmmm i'm thinking a 10 day trip might be doable..what would be some cool places to see? and of course EAT.. T

So I was dreaming about transmissions and lineages... I felt that the transmission through lineage was not to do with human relationships, hierarchy, etc - it's more about the energetic beacons that have been placed through time to allow you to follow the light and reach their levels. The human relationships come when you are to connect to lineage energy - heartfelt sincerity is all that's needed. In my dream I asked a huge Kahuna how one could tap into lineage energy without having a single master. That's how I found out that if you ask with a sincere interest to elevate your conciousness, then no master or lineage could refuse you. A transmission is like a way to triangulate your own energy, so that you're aligned to your higher purpose and going in the right direction - it's not so much of just a pure energy being passed to you. The Kahuna told me that the hardest part was to find a lineage to tap into. I asked how it is done - he said that you ask, then you wait in awareness - and the right thing will come up. So this morning I was searching for an email a friend had sent me (I remeber the title to be something like 'funny metaphors') so I search for 'metaphor' but discover I misspelt it and searched for metafor instead... The email that pops up is one for a company called Metaforms - it makes really cool looking sacred geometry sculptures. So I impulsively checked the site out (last time I saw it was years ago). As I was looking through, my spider senses started tingling ... And I think the pendant is a geometric lineage. Weird to explain - some people can do caligraphy or draw sigils and tap some inherent power that is behind the symbol. You can feel the transmission of energy through these symbols, as if it's coming from some beacons of past uses of the symbol or archetypal energy. The geometric shapes hold a kind of pure, natural truth - more refined and precise than a sigil or other symbol. I also feel that geometry is somehow part of western spirituality, whereas sound and wave-based mathematics is the oriental version of geometry... So I took a look at the ePendant - which I thought (and still do) looks pretty unatractive - not something I would consider wearing. But reading through the info and testimonials and stuff, it really struck a cord... now I'm considering checking it out (it's not cheap for me!) So what do you guys think? here's the link: www.metaforms.net

1005= 100% I've heard that during my raw studies. I'm glad to hear a first hand report! Trunk, thanks for clarifying the yin tonic thing--it makes sense that it's not as noticeable as a standard herb. I did have a very nice dream last night. I'm less emotionally restricted in my dreams these days and I bet that it is connected to the fo ti.

Something came up on another thread that got me to pondering the nature of nothing. There is the vacuum of space, but that has now been shown to contain lots of dark matter. There's the Buddhist Nervanha which seems to be a sort of blissful nothingness. There's the idea of what was "without form and void" of Genisis. Each a sort of nothing-maybe...The blending of life into a totality of being at death may be a kind of nothing as in it's no more something seperate. But thats not nothing!! I just can't get my head around the idea of an absolute Nothing. And perhaps there always was something, a consciousness, a will to be, a dream of existence... All, everything, anything, something, each and anyone, of these I'm able to manifest in my mind as discribable. But I just can't quite get nothing, there is always the thought of nothing to hold its place back in something land!

omg I just blew 110 bucks. which reminds me I need to visit lozen's online herb shop..maybe she has something that can compliment my two new dream enhancers ... ugh lol =p I hope I am not dissapointed

I have seen the book you refer to thelerner, but have not read it, but you are right on the money. I use the term Artifical Reality, but maybe it would be more accurate to say Artificed Reality, it is a package set of perceptions and desiderata that we are fed in order to control how we see things and what we see as significant elements in 'our' world. But unless you are personally encountering some of these elements, then they aren't truly part of your unfolding personal experience. The mass media is not a natural phenomenon, they are crafted and limited, and counting on them to define what 'world' you inhabit will mislead you into being focused on something that ultimately doesn't really exist .... crafted perceptions. Direct, personal growth isn't acheived by focusing on the international events that your goverment or the owners of a few multinational meme marketing companies want to present to you, it is in noticing what occurs in the interface between your experience of existence and the infinite manifestations of the Tao that occur around you. While it may be possible for the Tao to speak to us through the television, I doubt it happens very often. It's not about passivity, it's about being centered in yourself, not what those that rule think you should be centered on. There are many situations that demand action, and even violence can be neccesary, but it is difficult to imagine what could lead a seeker of the Way to become involved in the ongoing pissing contests between opposing groups of militant, authoritarian monotheists. The militant neo-jihadists are so extreme and violent because their ideology has failed, their people wouldn't accept it, so they became more radical and their ranks filled with the most violent and fanatical. Our ruling elites are deeply involved with the Saudi Arabian monarchy, which funds the radical imams who teach the New Jihad to disgruntled and angry young men. They do this in order to focus their revolutionary ire on some other target than themselves. Since the ruling elites make a great deal of money off of their relationship with the Saudis for both oil and weapons sales, AND having a never-ending war with an ephemeral enemy that by definition can never be defeated, the alchemy of the situation allows for military-industrial complexes wet dream - The Forever War. On top of that it has a great deal to do with the fact that demand for oil has continued to increase at a near unprecedented rate, but supply is not increasing .... it is declining. This means that the US must secure control of supplies of oil or face the collapse of it's way of life. Given that supplies are not increasing and demand from the EU, China and India are rapidly outpacing our own, that means we must take oil from someone else. Now, it took me a lot of reflecting and examing to put all that together....and it's accurate. What good does any of that do me? Does any of that affect how my day will unfold tommorow? Will it help me to be aware of how I make my life more difficult every day?...Does knowing any of those things lead me to deeper understanding of the unfolding manifestations of the Tao in my daily life? I don't think so. It scatters my focus, and especially leads me to feel emotions that have no real target, my anxiety for instance would be generated by an abstract threat some guy on television is telling me about, and therefore an anxiety I cannot take any direct action to rectify. I would have been better off, spending that energy and attention, if I truly seek to live in harmony with the Tao, paying attention to how I walk ...or why I eat what I eat...or any number of things that seem mundane or frivilous in comparison to all the big, serious world events that the media and goverment insist I must be concerned with, but they have a great deal more to do with my ongoing experience of existence than the New Crusade against the Infidel, whoevers infidel it might be. Sorry this is so rambling, I just woke up. Take care everyone. And, of course, he's an easily manipulated idiot, why do you think they chose him as the front man? and he is so patriotic and concerned about Amehricuh, because when a goverment is in trouble, loyal ministers will appear.

Hello friends, (Namaste Amigos) A little lot about thyself, I am 18 years old, I have had a few head enlightenments, and very much would like to take a few steps back and do it right so my entire being can participate in the yin and yang. I read a few articles, many very awesome, I'm sure many answers on this site will humble me, in return I'd teach anything to anyone if they wanted to learn it. A wise man told me once, no one knows everything, but collectively we do. Sharing our hearts, dreams, visions, and feeling understood, is such a joyous part of life. I had a rough up-bringing, as an infant I was blinded in my left eye from a lazer surgery to remove some cataract, the surgoens distorted the lens and pupil, I still can't honestly say if I have depth perception, I sorta think I do. It's been an interesting factor in my life. No matter all the times I say I'm use to it and it doesn't bug me, that's a lie. From a youngster I loved nature, picking oranges, carving sticks into pencils, collecting bugs and frogs, climbing trees, feeding ducks, and fish. It seemed real. Age 6, one day in class I began drawing a series of yin Yangs, rows, then pages of them until reaching a thousand. . . . didn't give much thought to it, didn't know what a yinyang was, saw it on karate flags, thought it looked cool, resonated as a friendly symbol. At age 7 my father went to prison for a 3rd Vehicular Manslaughter charge, DUI, sentenced for many years, overall he had to serve 10, he just was released August 2005, Age 10 I discovered the human orgasm when experimenting with masturbation, my first ego-dissolution, beyond deep sleep, many more to come at later dates. Age 11 Became disturbed by the one of the 10 commandments, the one about not worshipping false idols, the meaning blew my mind, I looked at everyone.... What are we doing! (referring to celeberity popworship, president supremacy, hierarchial church, hypocrisy) Age 13 Discovered marijuana wouldn't kill me if I tried it, discovered poetry, philosophy. Skateboarding was what I did most. Age 14 One night around the Winter Solstice a 1/4 hit of LSD pursuaded me to change my mind about the nature of limitations, later that year first long term sexual relationship left me insane, depressed, why does love turn to hate, why do all things turn to their opposite? A nessesary step, a precursor to being a successful man is a great failiure. Age 15 Early ascetic practice, took akin to smoking bud, practice the way of free thinking, Drank ayahuasca with a group of 5 friends, one being my older sisster, remarkable forbidden tea it was. Age 16 High dose of magic mushrooms catapulted me into alternate realities of past , present, and beyond conceptual opposites, saw mayans who taunted me for spoiling their meeting in paradise, saw myself interconnected with various animals, became part of a synthetic drum circle that's beat was so divine it launched me into hyperspace, first into a celtic knotwork mosiac of the universe and its four infinite corners, second into an all encompassing dimension where all that existed was a mighty OM. Read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse in one day, it touched me deeper than any drug induced head trip. Began loving books, mostly nonfiction, memoirs on hyperspace, zen, and the tao Be Here Now, Hardcore Zen, The Teachings of Don Juan, The fire from Within, The Mastery of Love. The I Ching. Tao Te Ching. So many trivial events played even larger roles in my awakening, the realizations, insights, and humility is endless, and will always be, the relationships, friends, foes, strangers, and communion with the unified natural spirit, and all the sentient beings whom I so dearly love is my biggest inspiration to stay here and now, so I may in the end inspire them to ascend themselves, for in essence I am them, they are I. I am a humble man, I don't want to be a "crazy", a leach, and I would never be a cancer upon this earth. I am fascinated by visions, dreams, which the nature of is infinite, so in describing them to someone not so facinated, I'm sure I come off as crazy. I still use entheogens ayahuasca, mescaline, mushrooms, lsd, 1 - 4 times a year, as part of my tantric yoga practice, it works for me, don't recomend it for everyone. The legalities of it are one of the most dangerous part. I advise against it, I discovered different typed of breath work, rediscovered by psychologist, used by ancients that propel one into hyperspace. They are more effective than the use of drugs and in return, there is no addiction, hangover, and the experience starts and stops with your decision, where as psychedelics can leave you "out there" sometimes an hour or two, sometimes a day or two. Using psychedelics are not shortcuts to anywhere, there are no shortcuts, there's actually no where to go. The answer my friends IS blowing in the wind, the great truth the sages want to express is in this moment. My passion is in plant lore, learning, teaching, myth, spirit, music, art. my ideal culture is one that blended all those concepts as one fluid way of life. While I do not deny the worlds suffering, and I so often weep for it, I do not prefer to suffer. I am pro-peace, and believe a successful global culture can be achieved through just that means. Global Culture, culture being, the enlightenment of human expression, global, the harmony of the whole earth system. I know it's a far off topic, and a far off dream, but does the journey of a million miles begin in a single step? My great inspirations, Lao Tzu, The Book of Changes, Ghandi, and all the people and there sways of consciousness, and the godhead. This forum, upon finding it inspired me to work onward on my great work I'd love to share with you all sooner than later. With love, with gratitude, it's great to be here now.