A tryp through the Eastern World

On a lighter note than my most recent posts, I am sharing some images from the Eastern world which have captured the same mystical means of reaching an illuminated state of consciousness as those I have also shown through those images relative to Judeo-Christianity in previous posts.  Ancient chinese folklore recounts that mushrooms were thought to appear in places where lightning struck the land, as spores were invisible to the naked eye (and mycelium typically thrives in cool, darker places such as under the duff layer and in rotting wood), and yet the fruiting bodies of fungi would emerge atop the earth's surface after the storm.  The results of a four-year study carried out at Iwate University in northern Japan on ten species of mushrooms has demonstrated that a bolt of electricity carrying the same amount of electricity as a bolt of lightening can more than double mushroom crop yields.

Notice the early renditions of Thor's (the Norse god of Thunder) hammer, Mjollner, as it seems to allude, in form, to this same idea.  Some historians even trace Mjollner's etymology to the proto-Russian and Welsh words for lightning..

In Hindu/Indo-Iranian mythology, the Ninth Mandala of the Rig Vedas (Soma Pavamana) is dedicated to the god Soma, who was revered as an entheogenic plant, which was pressed and drunk by both men and gods wishing to experience spiritual ecstasy.
      
          The Rigveda (8.48.3, tr. Griffith) states,

a ápāma sómam amŕtā abhūmâganma jyótir ávidāma devân

c kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya

We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?

Soma is also revered as the third highest (deva) in the Hindu pantheon of gods, just under Vishnu and Indra (who also drank Soma.)  Here is more information on Soma for those of you who are interested.  I found this source pretty awesome in making connections between my own direct experience and what is written relative to Soma.. Maybe you, too, can relate.

Most religious historians, students of Buddhism, and scholars of eastern thought generally agree that Buddhism has no easily recognizable ingestible sacraments which conferred an altered state of consciousness like it's Hindu counterpart.  However, upon closer inspection, some peculiarities begin to emerge.  One striking example was the Buddha's last supper.  The Buddha's (Siddharta Gautama) last meal was... (drum roll please ;) a dish of mushrooms put before him by a group of monks.  A last meal of epic proportions, no?  If you take the time to look through the artwork inside the temples at Angkor Wat, it becomes pretty apparent that altered states were part of the 'process.'  Whether or not a consciousness-altering substance was involved is up for speculation (although, the picture of the Buddha riding the horse-drawn Chariot of the Moon holding psilocybe 'chattras' seems to indicate that perhaps they were.)   Nonetheless, in Buddhism, adherents are allowed to morn for their dead only 49 days, no more..  That is because after 49 days, they believe the soul has reincarnated; therefore, morning after an individual beyond this point is pointless, as the soul has moved on to another persona.  The interesting parallel is that 'medical science,' a new religion of sorts, has proven that a fetus, on the 49th day, assumes both it's gender and it's pineal gland inside the womb.  IT GAINS CONSCIOUSNESS and IDENTITY(gender) on the 49th DAY!!  This reaffirms the fact that mystics/shamans have known for centuries what scientists are only re-discovering today.  Now, to try and bring this full circle..  DMT is an analogous tryptamine cousin of both an indole of the same tryptamine family, psilocybin, and its alkaloid brother, psilocin.  Psilocin is the converted form of psilocybin which is able to be used by the human body...   DMT is produced by the human/amphibian pineal gland as well as by other bodily tissues during normal metabolism.  Rene Descartes referred to this part of the human brain as the "seat of the soul," contending that it was the mediating mechanism between the intellect and the body.  In some amphibians (various birds and reptiles), it is so highly developed that it even physically resembles the 3rd eye within the center of the brain (just under the pituitary gland), complete with a retina and a cortex to boot. Psilocin, on the other hand, is found only within Psilocybe mushrooms.  Let's take a look at how similar the molecular structure of DMT (top) is to it's close cousin, Psilocin. (bottom)..

Is it possible, as some mycologists and scientists claim, that spores are intergalactic; capable of traversing interstellar space in self-contained life vessels (spores) for a period of 45-55 million years?  If they are, in fact, the first terrestrial organisms to 'happen' upon the earth, and began munching the rock surface of the earth in order to provide a foundation for plant and animal life to flourish, then the implications are astounding!  Interestingly, scientists today have proposed a new 'super-kingdom' (Opisthokont) joining both the animal and fungi kingdoms due to their inherent similarities.  Is it possible that the same 'phenomena' providing for our physical nourishment could also provide naturally growing plant and fungi entheogens for our spiritual/conscious nourishment as well?  It is interesting to note that the consciousness altering plants and fungi are those which are the most highly scheduled (Schedule I) by both the United States and our world government (the UN).  Talk about paranoid..  Take a look at some of these pictures of various sculptures, bas-reliefs, etc. from the ancient Buddhist world and let me know what you think..

A Tryp through the East

We live in such a tryptamine-rich environment, including the temple of our own human bodies.  DMT is present in all fifty states in numerous plants (such as Reed Canary Grass) as well as a host of animals, and as aforementioned, is naturally-occurring in humans.  For these essential alkaloids of nature to be declared illegal is not only ridiculous, but is, in my opinion, a conspiracy against both the earth and humanity.  Just as the scribes and pharisees did in the days of old, so today do our 'masters' continue to hold the keys of heaven and do no enter, nor do they allow us to enter.  As Terence McKenna so eloquently stated.."If the words 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on."  Just think about the implications of controlling consciousness..  But that is food for thought for another post.  Thank you for taking the time to read my musings.  Peace and Blessings to you all.  Keep seeking..