[QUOTE=suryadaya;19622]I have done a little, and have been meaning to do more research on
psychedelic affects on the brain. A few of us may remember those many
studies they did with monks who were in meditation, how their brains in a
state of concentration showed electrical firings higher than an average
person, in many different areas at the same time. It was thought that these
findings showed that through meditation, they had become capable of using
their brain to a greater capacity - to think with clarity - to not be
distracted or slowed down by the fluctuations of the mind (vrittis?). They
were calm and unshakable, because over a great deal of time their minds had
been diligently trained to fire across random synapses through repetition of
the idea of unity, openness, wholeness and mental silence… (the concept of
neuro-plasticity- defined by Wiki as: “the changing of neurons and the
organization of their networks and so their function by experience” could be
an excellent explanation for how intense dedication to meditation could
rewire the brain to be… well, super-conscious). ANYWAY…
While all psychedelic drugs have a wide range of effects on the brain, they
all catalyze a ton of chemical and electrical signals to go off all over the
brain, connecting areas that usually do not usually have direct paths to one
another. People describe that they have felt conscious of things they have
never experienced, made connections between people and events (sometimes
resolving conflict, sometimes creating conspiracy theories), or perhaps they
feel transcendent-and can see the truth of situations they otherwise could
not. Some people… have bad trips too, hallucinations, getting sick. The
effect is personal and variant. I have a low running theory that these drugs
create misfiring that replicates a state near the same as the monks who have
been practicing for their whole life.
While experiencing such a state creates memories of awareness that have
caused many in the past to strive towards the studies of meditation,
spirituality and God in order to replicate it, it has many disadvantages::
It is hard to control, it cannot be induced without the aid of drugs, and it
is short term with a few lasting effects (many one or two new
neuro-pathways?) that may be inspirational; or may be dangerous to health.
The Kundalini experience is likened to a great awakening of consciousness
and spirit, so I am led to believe, that can only be achieved (or should
only be achieved) when a person is fully prepared, lest it make them crazy
or kill them or… I don’t know much about all of it. I think that many
people strive toward the Kundalini awakening for the same reason that a lot
of people I have met use a variety of drugs, because they think it will make
them highly conscious of God, of everything, that they will be able to see
the truth of life, that it will make them powerful above measure.
However, these drug inducing people (many of whom coincidentally are also
enthralled with the ideas of Kundalini)… they’re not ready. I can’t say
for sure when a person is ready, but I believe that if there is great power
to be wielded, or if there are lessons of life to be found in a pill, that
to be capable of comprehending the nature of that energy, and using it for
responsible purposes requires discipline, dedication, true knowledge of
self, and the ability to surrender that power (and the ego) fully.
I think of the this awakening as in the 4th chapter of the yoga sutras:
[B]janma osadhi mantra tapah samadhi jah siddhyayah. [/B]
This transformation, powers, awarness can be granted through [B]birth[/B], through the use of sacred herbs ([B]druuuugggss[/B]),[B] mantra[/B], the burning discipline of [B]training the senses[/B], or through deep concentration or [B]meditation[/B].
And then…
[B]Sutra 4.6 [/B]- The transformation born of meditation is the one that is anasaya, without impression, free from karmic influence, it is just as it is. (My favorite).
I’m sure many of you will disagree with these translations and feel free to correct me… I just pulled them off the Swami J and Swami Venkatesananda sites because my YSP books are all downstairs and I’ve already used up at least an hour writing this.
Anyway - If you’re going to become a doctor you go to medical school, residency etc… you build up knowledge and experience so you can do what is right. I think that if you’re going to awaken your kundalini, find God, enter Nirvana… then you should have to do the work - whether it takes you twenty minutes, twenty years or twenty lifetimes, you were mean to put in that time before you were ready to understand it. And if you are not ready, then you probably shouldn’t have it.
It’s fun to note that a few cultures recognize people with seizure
disorders (electrical misfiring again!) to be very close to God, and are
revered (or somethings the cultures think they are possessed and evil. There
are two sides to every coin). My dad had a traumatic brain injury a few years ago and suffered unusual low-grade seizures, almost all the time for three years (they never stopped). When we recently learned it and now they are controlled with medication, he is much calmer and can communicate better… but has developed a previously absent and now unalterable faith that God exists in every aspect of nature, and that we are all here for some great quest. Coincidence? Who cares! It’s beautiful to see![/QUOTE]
Do you ever wonder if we have been altered by a reptilian alien force taht wants to limit our connection to the divine and that it is therefore harder for us to reach that spiritual state because it. Plus maybe they are the ones responsible for creating such huge amounts of distractions from our spirituality?
