Posts by Joseph Bailey41

Maria Parker77 said:Interesting. I’ve sat through a few workshops myself, though nothing super deep. Look, the process looks solid enough—I can see the quality there—but honestly? I just don't have the drive for this kind of thing. If I could get my hands on some ibogaine, now that would be a calling. But regarding what's actually out there right now? I grabbed coffee with this guy in Chicago recently, and he just didn't blow me away. Maybe a better opportunity will pop up down the road, or maybe I'll just end up booking a session with him anyway. He’s a decent enough dude, but there’s just something about him that rubs me the wrong way.

In cases like this, I think it's best to trust that first gut feeling. I've heard stories about all kinds of shady business, even involving Ayam, but just because someone calls themselves a shaman doesn't mean they actually follow an ethical code.

It all comes down to herd mentality. Honestly, you're better off finding a new circle of people who actually think for themselves and leave those mindless sheep to wallow in their own misery. ☕

Maria Parker77 said:Look, I’ve got nothing but respect for the raw knowledge and experiences shared here regarding LSD, mushrooms, and especially ibogaine. I’ve done my fair share of deep dives into the research myself. But honestly? It’s a whole different ballgame when you actually step out of the trip and back into the real world—dealing with the grind of everyday life without any external substances to lean on. That’s where the real work happens: integrating everything so it becomes part of who you are. At the end of the day, we all have our own built-in pharmacy right inside us, completely natural.

It’s honestly such a shame that we don't have some kind of legitimate, natural wellness clinic somewhere in the States that would legally allow people to pursue healing and self-growth through these methods. From what I’ve gathered, plenty of folks have managed to kick heroin for good without a massive struggle after going through ibogaine treatment.

There's actually a little trick to "experiencing" these plants without physically ingesting them. You start with medicinal herbs that are familiar and easy to find in nature... things like dandelion, plantain, or sage (which is particularly special because of its cleansing properties). You build a connection with the spirit of the plant by drinking teas, burning incense, sitting near it, observing it, smelling it, or just reading about it. Once you get a feel for that, you can try "summoning" it while you're in a relaxed state—deep breathing, maybe meditating, or listening to some drum music... whatever works for you. You absorb its essence, "talk" to it, ask it for guidance, and so on. Once you master that technique, you can move on to the other things you've read about online. Usually, when people encounter iboga, it manifests as an African man.

Paul Rogers94 said:There aren't even "paths" to compare—I'm not on some journey, I'm not looking for companions, and I'm certainly not driven by any specific set of beliefs. I can go wherever I want, so comparing directions is pointless. Likewise, trying to interpret experiences is a fool's errand; they simply are what they are. You shouldn't add anything to them or take anything away. The moment you try to "explain" or "interpret" an experience, you've corrupted and cheapened it. By its very nature, any authentic spiritual experience is incomprehensible to the rational mind—it's unspeakable. If it could be explained, it wouldn't be authentic. Sure, you can share it with someone receptive to gain clarity, but true interpretation? Impossible... and harmful.

I actually find a lot of value in sharing experiences, especially with people who are a few steps ahead of where I am. I once asked a practitioner of Northern traditions living in San Francisco for advice on how to perform a specific ritual (soul retrieval). She gave me some guidance but also pointed out how vital it is to set aside dedicated time for integrating that experience—and mentioned that having a support network helps, too. She was spot on; it took me several months just to make sense of what had happened. Since then, I’ve actually scaled back my practices a bit, just to give everything enough breathing room to settle.

In my view, experiences don't carry much weight unless you can actually "embody" them—meaning you apply those insights to your daily life and pass what you've learned on to those who might need it, like people who are a few steps behind you. That approach is pretty much the opposite of what you're describing, which is why I suggested we're on different paths. I wanted to say that without being overly blunt about our differences.

Paul Rogers94 said:Every experience changes you—deep ones change you fundamentally, teaching you how to handle anything life throws at you. Especially when you face an experience that reveals you aren't some grand architect of destiny, but rather someone living under a completely flawed paradigm. You don't just swap it out for a different one—every paradigm is wrong—and you can't even live "intentionally," because life simply unfolds on its own terms. You lose the urge to interfere with events, because fighting them is just resisting the inevitable. If I had to boil it down to a formula: stop resisting and stop forcing. Stop chasing fantasies that promise fulfillment or joy, and stop trying to set conditions for them... because there’s nothing there.

It looks like our paths are heading in completely different directions, so there isn't much point in me trying to respond to that. Good luck with whatever it is you're (not) doing, and thanks for setting an example that encourages us all to stay away from psychoactive substances.☕

bluemason3 said:I’m not talking about how psychiatric diagnosis relies on subjective symptom checks since we don't have blood tests for it, nor am I critiquing old-school psychiatric methods from decades ago.

This specific experiment doesn't deny that actual psychiatric disorders, psychoses, or hallucinations exist, nor does it question their connection to experiences triggered by hallucinogens.

I just don't see how that's relevant here.

The point is—if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In other words, if you’re looking for a reason to pathologize every human experience that falls outside the standard work-home-pub routine, you’ll easily find some DSM code to label it with, even if you haven't actually proven anything.

Quote:Pinky

Paul Rogers94 says: I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve with that question, but in this instance, it's either a complete failure to understand or you're just messing around. Plenty of others have taken much more than I have and see nothing at all, so you can't really do anything about that... spiritual experiences can't be forced; you can't earn them, you can't act upon them, and you shouldn't try to, because it's a matter of grace (which, admittedly, requires maturity). It simply happens. That is the answer, and it's Enchantress. You can't hold onto anything, including spiritual experiences, and there's nothing you can do to recreate an identical experience. All those techniques are essentially useless.

When I ask a question, I usually expect an answer. 🙂

I wasn't interested in "holding onto" an experience, nor was I asking about consciously inducing one, and I certainly wasn't looking for lectures on grace or maturity. What I was actually asking is what you *do* with the realization of how the world works—specifically, how that insight has changed your life, or the lives of your family, your community, and so on.

I've been working my way through this book for quite a while now. It’s absolutely packed with information and practical techniques, which means I'm taking my sweet time getting through it. It doesn't have anything to do with Zillow, but it honestly seems like a fantastic read.

Paul Rogers94 said:What "real reality" are we even talking about? We’re already living in a world built on social conditioning and pure fantasy... you’d need some serious perspective to realize it.

Alright, fair enough. You took some psychedelics and now you think you’ve unlocked the truth. So, what's your next move?

Matthew Cruz44 said:It’s entirely possible to induce these states naturally, though I wouldn't call it spontaneous—it requires a certain level of conscious direction. If you truly possess a deep-seated intention, rather than just a passing whim, for spiritual expansion, you begin to intuitively trigger specific areas of the psyche.
You essentially have to give your rational mind some time to catch up with where you're headed.

This is precisely why we see madness surfacing so frequently as an unintended side effect.

It happens when you achieve a distance from the intellect—which can be quite "beneficial" because the ego stops micromanaging everything—but the danger lies in the fact that once you lose that control, you aren't really steering the ship anymore either.
That is why pursuing spirituality based solely on mere desire, without the grounding force of true intention, is incredibly perilous.

Intention is everything. At least when it comes to gaining insight... honestly, even with that whole "law of attraction" stuff for material wealth, we're already walking on thin ice. A little bit of madness can be useful—it grants you more power—as long as you're careful not to let it trap you. 😳

Joseph Bailey41

wanderinggull11 said:No. What even is that?

It's like attending various outpatient programs—usually group therapy sessions—at the local psychiatric hospital assigned to your area, but you don't actually stay overnight. For example:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/psychiatry/overview/ovc-20076380

Matthew Cruz44 said:Just one final thought, though—while the question and answer seem to land perfectly, the rest feels a bit too much like a romance novel for my taste! Still, I truly appreciate the sentiment, Brian Foster3.

Think of a scene from V for Vendetta. After that big monologue, the inspector follows up with "but I can guess..." and starts laying out a rational analysis of the situation—basically predicting what’s going to happen next. As he talks, the camera cuts to scenes that perfectly illustrate his words; while he's monologuing, his predictions are actually playing out in real-time.

So, instead of just bowing down in humility before God after that feeling hits, he filters that sensation through his logic. He essentially plugs directly into God's mind, merging with Him until they become one. (In the graphic novel, this happens after he eats those wild mushrooms.)

What I'm trying to get at is that this feeling is actually normal and natural. It doesn't happen often, and it's probably not something you'd want to bring up with your doctor, but people have recorded it here and there, usually hidden within art. The most important thing is not to panic. Don't try to fight it, but don't try to cling to it either. Just let it ride for as long as it needs to, and once it passes, you can go back to using your head to figure out what comes next.

Quincy:

- Suddenly, this sensation hit me where it felt like everything was linked together. Like the full picture was finally clear. One Long chain of events that stretched All The way Back before Larkhill. I felt like I could see every single thing that had already taken place... ...as well as everything yet to come. It was like seeing a flawless pattern unfolding right before my eyes... ...and I understood then that we were all caught up in it... ...completely trapped by it. - So, can you actually tell what's coming next? - No. It was just a feeling.

Something like that?

wanderinggull11 said:I talked to my private psychiatrist. I’ve got another appointment tomorrow, so we'll see what he says. The worst part is I can't afford actual psychotherapy. If only the clinics covered by my insurance offered it, things would be different.

Have you ever considered looking into a partial hospitalization program or a day hospital?

hollowpuma762 said:So, you're calling me biased and arrogant? That’s rich coming from someone who’s judging an out-of-context concept based entirely on their own preconceived notions—and then acting all high and mighty when someone calls them out on it.

And we're talking about a concept that is literally designed to strip away that exact kind of arrogance.

But sure, let's keep pretending the problem lies somewhere else. It's always someone else's fault, right?

...

You're absolutely right. The problem is you. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll see the light. ☕

hollowpuma762 said:Honestly, anyone who hasn't spent enough time reading the actual Philosophy department archives might think this whole rhetorical circus—this attempt at a magazine-style breakdown of the ego and the pot/lid game—is some original brainchild of the author. Instead, it's just a blatant carbon copy of my own posts and my analogy about uncontrolled guts spewing stupidity straight from the brain.

Look, if we focused more on actual education and less on the ego, we'd realize this concept is cross-cultural. It's woven into almost every serious discipline aimed at consciousness development. It isn't just some niche byproduct of what the uneducated mistake for "monotheistic patriarchal religion" thanks to recent ideological propaganda.

If you're lucky enough to find some sense along the way, you might actually grasp why it works this way—and maybe then that feeling of disgust toward your own windmills will finally fade.

Those aren't my "personal windmills"—it's just stuff every woman deals with on a regular basis. And as for "education"... I've had plenty of that already. 😁

https://www.guernicamag.com/rebecca-...-things-to-me/

hollowpuma762 said:Now, for those of you who aren't constantly tripping over your own ego or pride—people who actually get what we're talking about here—Joseph Bailey41 offered to show us just how shallow and stupid things get when the ego takes the wheel and stops listening to what's actually happening in the mind.

In those moments, reality gets twisted into whatever shape makes the observer feel good, basically just manufacturing illusions. That’s why "humility" matters. It keeps your head from spinning out and keeps your mind from being suffocated by all that ego nonsense.

It’s not about being submissive, though. Not at all. It’s more like a stage of emotional maturity, a sign of actual character development defined by the relationship between sebe and the world, which ultimately dictates how you deal with the world.

Meanwhile, your comments feel more like things being expelled from a different part of the body when someone loses control of their bowels. ☕

And honestly, that's just one of many reasons why I feel such deep disgust toward this concept pushed by those patriarchal, monotheistic religions.

casualcanyon3 said:Actually, it matters immensely. I wasn't attempting to lecture anyone on some established religion or a specific worldview; I was simply articulating my own personal interpretation of a concept.

Quincy:

No one is out there designing a doctrine specifically to cater to your local—let alone your personal—vocabulary. No serious system of thought is going to bend itself over backward just to suit your preferences.

I don't require someone to tailor a entire belief system to fit my private lexicon just so I can express how I personally experience a certain idea. At no point in my post did I claim to be discussing any specific "public" spiritual tradition.

Quincy:

If you actually want to learn, it works the other way around. Many of these terms are archaic, and splitting hairs over semantics is frankly a waste of time.

I am not splitting hairs; I am stating my perspective. A little less arrogance in this conversation wouldn't hurt you.

Quincy:

You interpret the concept being taught based on how the teacher presents it, not however you feel like it.

Does someone hold a monopoly on the concept of humility, such that I am somehow forbidden from describing how I personally perceive it? 😕

Quincy:

Instead, people just fantasize and reject the essential truths right in front of them, reducing everything to a game of telephone. People post all sorts of nonsense on this forum without any context, leading to a tendency to philosophize about whatever random thought pops into their heads. While a priest (or anyone with actual authority on the subject) would provide clear context, often using real-life examples. Has anyone here suggested that "humility" implies a loss of dignity?

I don't need a priest to provide me with context. I am perfectly capable of doing that myself. Nor do I need someone else to suggest that I am losing my dignity just so I can realize whether or not I am losing it through humility.

As far as I am concerned, human beings were not designed to kneel, whether metaphorically or literally, before anyone or anything. To me, that act of kneeling feels fundamentally wrong.

You missed the point. He acts as that teacher whose definitions you have to accept if you want to make any spiritual progress. 🧐

Go kneel on some gravel as punishment. ☕

wanderinggull11 said:I started taking Anafranil twice a day at 25 mg plus Lexapro. Now I'm dealing with side effects, and that stupid suicidal feeling hasn't even left yet.

Have you actually been able to talk things through with anyone, or did they just hand you the meds and tell you to come back for a follow-up in a month?

Andrew White6 said:That might be true, but it isn't practical. I intentionally leave out references to keep the scope of the conversation tight and minimize any room for red herrings.

I’m sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping my forum posts would be presented in the format of an academic paper.

If you notice I haven't cited a source somewhere, it’s because I don't want you to know it. If you do manage to track it down, consider it a reward for your own effort—much like a diligent research assistant hunting down footnotes.

Besides, you're pretty much disqualifying yourself as a serious conversationalist here. 👏

darkraven said:What do you mean "anonymous"? That user Andrew White6 posted it as his own damn words. Did you mention later that you just translated and ripped it straight from that book?

And obviously, it's always better when someone actually uses their own voice and writes something original—you know, by using their brain for a second. It's called having an individuality. Something that's clearly not a concept LHP understands.

I'm with you on that. If you're going to quote someone, it's just common courtesy to cite your source.