vendredi 22 avril 2011

The Three Parts of Meditation - Concentration, Contemplation, Presence

This is a very brief overview of some of my keys to understanding and approaching meditation.

Meditation is frequently misnamed. For my purposes, there are actually three parts to the process generically called meditation. The first step is Concentration, the second is Contemplation or Reflection, and the last is Presence. In my view, most teachers of meditation in the West focus on concentration alone and call it meditation.

It is important to make these distinctions because each step towards reaching a quiet, contemplative mindstate has its own challenges and people new to the practice can become frustrated by the seemingly impossible leap to the states described by experienced meditators.

Concentration

Concentration is the act of focusing one's attention on one thing. This takes lots of practice. Even our breathing takes up some of our awareness, despite being "unaware" of it most of the time. If one imagines that we have a finite amount of "attention units" at any given time, say 10,000 units, we are actively assigning that attention all the time. We may not be aware of doing so, but we are. Some of the 10,000 units are focused on the sensation of weight, of pressures, of temperatures, of pulses, the ringing in our ears, where our keys are, what time it is, and so on. We are scattered, mentally, most of the time.

Concentration is the effort to withdraw those bits of our consciousness that are attending to non-essential functions, so that we have a more complete set of the attention bits in our "attention account" from which to "pay attention". It is this process that is the big stumbling block for the neophyte meditator. To reclaim one's attention, taking it away from other functions, is unnatural. It goes against the ancient scheme of body control we think we need. But we don't always need it and can let go of it for the time we are pursuing inner goals.

Contemplation

Contemplation is the act of taking concentrated attention and focusing on an abstract point, idea, or "transcendental object". This part might also be called reflecting upon or meditating on something. Concentration is the key to being able to meditate successfully, but is not meditation itself. In meditation, we leave the physical and mental activities we normally are engaged in and begin the transition towards a more purely spiritualized consciousness. I use the term spiritualized consciousness to mean one where the mind is free from the tumultuous thinking and feelings of living in the world and its many requirements. We start the process of meditation as a mix of physical/emotional/mental, then we concentrate and become more mental, then, with contemplation, we transition to the mental/spiritual consciousness.

Presence

The last part is presence, which is purely spiritual consciousness, when we are absorbed in the actuality of the transcendental object. We are it, no longer separate. The value of reaching a fully contemplative consciousness, one where we are not only immersed in the abstract but have merged with it, is the topic of many spiritual texts. The subject-object relationship of contemplation fades away and the mind blends into and becomes inseparable from the abstract idea one is meditating on.

Putting the three together to meditate

Concentration is the key, and this requires going beyond all the effects of living in a bio-puppet. All the pulses, throbs, ringing, breath patterns, heartbeats--all of it. The key is this: at the base of all of our patterns of rhythm, below heartbeat, glandular flushing, etc., is another rhythm, the "base note". I refer to this as the Sidereal Pulse [[ Do you ever call it anything else??]] and is something we are normally totally unaware of. It is the breathing of Universe, or something like it. It is the pulse that runs through manifestation, the timing pattern of the All.

We must get beyond all of the patterns to enter the timeless mental/soul levels, where the more profound experiences in meditation occur. To do this, leaving behind the Sidereal Pulse is the key. We must find it, identify with it, and become one with it: allowing the boundary between self and the rhythm of universe to disappear. It can be done. It has been done by humans for thousands of years. It ain't easy at first, but it is possible.

This is where the quiet mind opens up. It is not a product of suppression, ignoring thought, willpower, force, or any of the normal uses of our inner powers. It is all about alignment, resonance, or at-one-ment with the deep pulse. When we stop seeing and feeling it as something done to us, or operating upon us, and find it to BE us, we experience it disappearing. And the quiet mind is revealed.

There are many paths to use for gaining strength and skill in concentration. Find your own, there are many to choose from. There are many books and classes offered for how to get started, but the simple thing to remember is that is it is a skill one gets better at with practice. Even things as skiing, driving, etc. (as John Lilly pointed out) can be used as concentration exercises. When we delve into the mind itself, with as little physical stimulus as we can manage, we can then address this work of alignment with the deepest patterns, and free ourselves.

by Scott Taylor, Dec. 2004

samedi 16 avril 2011

DMT trip report - Alien Sex Club

Date: Sept. 10, 2010

Place: Joliette, Canada

Setting: my friend's basement, with a lab, huge mason jars with mushrooms growing in them this and there and a chill space with a round carpet, 2 rocking chairs, beanbags and cushions.

I met up with my friends Olivier and Mathieu, who made me try DPT 2 weeks prior to this experience, and Chantal, Olivier's girlfriend, at their place. We went downstairs and sit in circles on the beanbags and cushions in the chill out space, smoking a joint and chatting a bit before getting serious. DMT time has come.

Mathieu went first, then Chantal, after it was my turn. I took the glass pipe in my hands and held it while I watched Olivier put my dose in the bong (which was around 40 mg) and bring the lighter close, pressing my lips firmly against the tip and getting ready for a rush of plastic alien smoke to come to me. It came soon after, I inhaled as much as I could and held it in my lungs until I couldn't take it. I let my puff out and lied on my back while I heard someone say "have a nice trip" before I left for another dimension.

I was cannon-balled out of my body to this world of sensual pleasures. I could see an ocean of sound waves in front of me and intensely rich colors dancing all around, as if they were beings of their own. Then I noticed behind the colors were alien beings, loving, sensual, pleasure-seeking. They looked like mantise but with a very childish look, a bit like cartoons. They were all around and I had this golden light showering me, making me feel their love and desire for a sexual contact. As I was feeling their love I was making love to them, and they were making love to me also. Waves of orgasmic energy, love and light were going through my whole being as I got soaked in this alien sensual paradise. It was pure, beautiful and perfect.

Then I felt my body breathe heavily.

I remembered at this moment I had a body and was slowly but surely pulled back in it. It felt heavy but warm, a bit like sleeping with 10 comforters when it's cold. Tears started running from my eyes as I came back to my body. Mathieu hugged me tight while I was weeping and repeating "it was beautiful" over and over.

I then got greeted with a group hug, smiled and grabbed a glass of water. I felt good. I knew I was Loved and Blessed.

DPT trip report: Say hello to the dark gods


Time: Aug.27th, 2010

Place: Joliette, Canada

Setting: my friend's basement, with a lab, huge mason jars with mushrooms growing in them this and there and a chill space with a round carpet, 2 rocking chairs, beanbags and cushions.

This is where my new life started, basically. Last summer I went close to die and spent quite some time in ER and all. The day I went out of the hospital, I stumbled upon old friends from high school who are still as deep into hallucinogens as I am. I met them at their place and went downstairs where their lab and chill out space is, looking at the different drugs they were making and stocking, when I saw this yellow powder in a jar. I've never seen it before, so I was curious and after debating with my friends, decided to try it. Very quickly I was facing 2 big lines of DPT and snorted on them, one in each nostril. I'm not sure of the actual dosage I was given, entirely trusting my friends on that one, but it was at least 200mg for sure.

As soon as I was done with the snorting, I closed my eyes and was flying through a tunnel with purple, red, black and blue spirals all around. Once I got to the other side, I saw a parade of "dark" gods in front of me: Shiva, Ades, Horus, Kali, Mars, Loki, name it, they were all there. I even saw a blood-drinking Inca god that I can't recall his name, which was too long and with a lot more consonnants than voyels. I then saw this infinite food chain, with beings from different levels of awareness feeding on each other, and got scared when I realized that human beings are FAR from being on top of this chain. I can hardly describe the panic and despair I felt. Then I saw Them.

They were 4, looking like the demon on this White Zombie album cover (below my text), insanely tall, huge, proud, powerful, and staring at me with the disdain they usually feel regarding humans. I felt so small and could only look at them in total admiration. One of them smiled and leaned his hand forward to poke my stomach. At this moment I felt the urge to puke, real bad. I managed to get up, go from the couch to the nearest sink and proceeded to let the bad stuff out. I was puking black bile, I swear it looked and had the consistence of motor oil, it was awful. I could hear laughs going out of the drain, then I saw a little gray demon poking his head out of it. I was like "oh, shit...", my head spinned and I puked again, and I saw this little guy swallowing all the vile, evil stuff I was purging! In between pukes he started laughing again, only stopping when I was giving him "more", as he was saying. He gave me his name in case I'd need to purge again (can't recall it either) and my trip ended with me yelling "thanks!" and waving goodbye at the demon from above the water drain as he was leaving.

Here is what "They" looked like:



It was hell of a mind-warping experience, violent, intense, inhuman at some point. I don't regret it at all though, it gave me a new start after going through hell and back. If you're not afraid to both intensely suffer and be amazed by breathtaking out-of-this-world beauty, then you should give it a try. Just have tremendous respect for that subtance, as it is powerful and could give you the worst cosmic bitchslap ever if you don't treat it the way it deserves. Otherwise you should be fine, but still you should know what you're looking for when taking it.

Or maybe not.

I didn't know what to expect, DPT was a discovery after I've been hiding under a rock for months and going to the hospital for a bit, and a nice one to say the least. Before snorting, I said something like "I don't know who you are, but I am glad you're here. May you teach me what I need to learn. Thank you.", as a short prayer. Seems like it worked good for me, I felt welcome but only after my soul have been tested, examinated and litterally scanned. It was worth it though, as an aftermath effect I felt deeply cleaned.

If you have any comment, wanna share a trip report or give a feedback about DPT, feel free to do it! I hope you enjoyed reading this, stay tuned for more!

Armani