What is on the "other side"? Is it tempting to say, "everything".
All
that the power of the mind can transect and an uncanny sense of what lies
in the vastness beyond. Of what use is it to alter or obligatory
awareness? Perhaps to do what no other creature has the gift to do: the
extraordinary prospect of plotting a saner course for our evolving
consciousness.
- Oscar Janigar, M.D.
..........................................................................
KEYNOTE ADDRESS -- Hofmann Speaks on LSD, Mind and Reality.
In his keynote address at The Albert Hofmann Foundation's October 1988
fundraiser "Albert Hofmann in America -- Celebrating 50 years of
Consciousness Research", Hofmann spoke with the great clarity and wisdom
he has gained from his personal experience.
In the excerpts below, he emphasizes the power of expanded perception to
enable us to understand reality -- indeed, multiple realities -- and
create our own future. Many of us have experianced the power of this
realignment of perception, and are hopeful that expanded human
consciousness will become more avaliable globally for the benefit of Man-
kind and our planet.
"[My realizations] are the result of my own experiments, my own
perceptions, thinking and feelings, combined with insights which I
gleaned from the natural sciences.
"Of greatest significance to me has been the insight that I attained as a
fundamental understanding from all my LSD experiences, that what one
takes as "THE" reality, by no means signifies something fixed, but rather
something that is ambiguous -- that there is not only one, but that there
are many realities, each comprising a different consciousness of the
self.
"These reflections led me to conceive of reality as the product of a
transmitter - the material "exterior" world -- and a reciever - our
consciousness, the "inner" spiritual centre of a human individual.
"In connection with our reflections on reality it is important to note
the colors do not exist in the exterior world. Mostly we are not aware
of this basic fact, even though it can be looked up in every textbook on
physiology. This means that the perception of color is a purely
psychological and subjective event, taken place in the inner space of an
individual. The brightly colored world as we see it does not exist on
the outside. It exists only on the screen inside every individual.
"The antennae for acoustic signals, the ear, displays a similar limited
breadth of reception in its function as part of the reciever, and like
colors, sounds do not exist objectively. What does exist objectively
are again waves.
=======================================================
Our real true freedom and responsibility is founded in
our ability to create . . .
=======================================================
"Just like sound and colors, touch, smell and taste don't exist
objectively. They too represent purely subjective phenomena, occuring
only in the inner space of individual humans.
"Our understanding [born of intense direct experience of alternate
realities] makes us aware of the fact that each individual is the
creator of his or her own world, for it is in each individual mind and
ONLY there, that the world and the abundance of life it contains . . .
that the stars and the sky become real, become human reality. Our real
true freedom and resposibility is founded in our ability to create our
own individual world.
"Once I have recognized what part of reality is objectively on the outside
and what is subjectively taken place within myself, then I am more aware
of what I can change in my life, where I have a choice, and thus what I am
responsible for. Conversely, I become aware of what is beyond my will
power and has to be accepted as an unalterable fact. This clarification
of my potential and my responsibilities can be of invaluable help. I have
the ability to choose what I want to recieve from the endless, infinite
program of "the great transmitter", from creation.
"That means I can let those aspects of creation, or the cosmos, that
make me happy enter into my consciousness and thus imbue them with
reality . . . or I can let in other aspects, those that depress me. It
is I who creates the bright and the dark picture of the world. It is I
who invests the objects that are only shaped matter in the outer world
not only with their color, but with my affection and my love -- and also
their meaning. This applies not only to inanimate surroundings, but
also to living beings, to the plants and animals and to my fellow
humans. With this insight, the full creative power of love becomes
evident.
"The transmitter-reciever metaphor for reality reveals another basic
fact, the fact that reality is not a fixed state. Rather it is the
result of a continuous input of material and energetic signals from the
outer world and their continuous decoding and transformation into inner
conscious experience. This demonstrates reality is a DYNAMIC process,
being created anew at each moment.
"This metaphor of reality would appear to correspond to a dualistic
concept of the world external space / internal space, objective
transmitter / subjective reciever. But reality, everyday reality, can
be experienced and imagined only as a TOTALITY of transmitter AND
reciever.*
For more thoughts and ideas similar to these please click here.