i fialed my driving test today. it was bad. i cut off one guy.. twice, on teh same road.. cause the white motherfucker didnt signel so accidentally cut him off, and he slammed his brakes and skidded, then the tester told me i failed, so i roller down my window and yelled at the guy, and then cut him off agian and he yelled at me. queer, now i have to wait another 20 days.
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One cannot stop reality, and this makes it's nature formidable regardless of what you believe. The sun warms us or burns us. The cold of Winter bites at our flesh and our homeostatic bodies automatically respond by shivering. The relentless rush of our billion cell biology propels us towards sex, always it seems, making us grope, cling, moan and shudder. This same biological march also puts us to sleep every night. We awaken, and again there it is - the reality process. We are inescapably bound up in it like grains of sand caught up in an everlasting vortex of wind. More to the point, eventually this perennial condition kills us.
As I remarked in the introduction to this book, whatever you may have read, the ultimate nature of the reality process remains open to question. This may always be the case. Science seems always to reveal more mystery as it delves into the heart of 'matter'. What is more, science is done first and foremost in order to gather data. How this data is interpreted is another matter. What is a complex mechanical system to one scientist might be blatant proof of an organising intelligence to another. And, as for the long sought after super-theory which will be able to explain the totality of Nature in terms of, say, umpteen dimensional superstrings, or in terms of some convoluted mathematical equation which only a few institutionalised professors can really understand, these are likely to omit an explanation for consciousness and the mysteries of mind. Indeed, such a 'final' theory, such a final equation scrawled upon a blackboard with one fell swoop of chalk, will probably serve only to confuse the average mind rather than enlighten it.
It seems apparent that if we open ourselves to the vast cosmic mystery of existence, then we could do a lot worse than pursue the implications of the psilocybin-driven numinous experience. To consume God's flesh is to launch oneself wholeheartedly into the mystery of being, the mystery of our short existence within this big system we call Nature. Our lives are defined by our conscious experience. We are led, prompted and coaxed according to how we are informed. The remarkable feature of entheogenic plants and fungi is that they can inform us in ways profound and sublime. To ignore their effects is to ignore new perspectives on reality.
As it is, the nature of the Universe in which we find ourselves is defined by the prevailing conceptual systems built into our culture. In our case, the predominately reductive and materialistic paradigm afforded by most of the science community shapes our views about reality. In the traditional scientific outlook which permeates our educational institutions, there is no real room for any kind of transcendental aspect to Nature. Nature is there, Nature is eminently intelligible, we can learn how it works and thats really all there is to it missus. Talk of Nature having a spiritual dimension or an intentional quality is anathema to most scientists. The advocate for neo-shamanism will doubtless have a stereotypical image of the hard-nosed reductive scientist. It will be a he, and he will be old, scary, and grim faced, always waving a dry finger of admonishment at any talk of a so-called sentient and intentional Other. If psychedelic visions cannot be empirically measured in the lab then forget it, he will say. And if one points to the few scientific experiments which have attempted to measure the numinous experience, he will doubtless pick holes in the methodology and ask for more proof. He would maintain that such experience is simply too subjective and too personal to base any objective claims about reality upon.
Still, as I hope I have demonstrated, entheogenic phenomenology flies in the face of such a denial that Nature has a spiritual side; or at least the shamanic experience offers what I believe to be the most compelling reason to grant Nature an intent of some kind. This appears to be a neat and valid side-step with which to bypass the moribund spectre of the reductive materialist. Indeed, the real possibility that the reality process has a fantastically benign and purposefully smart aspect becomes readily apparent through entheogens. Such a possibility will become ever more clear as this and the following chapters develop.
In short, entheogens represent catalytic agents of change in the domain of perceived reality, and this is why we shall now pursue the implications raised by the information-based propositions stated at the outset of this chapter. We are now armed and ready to re-view the nature of reality in the light of the psilocybin experience. This will prove to be astounding so hold tight.
Moe
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Fuck the police.
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613
