meditating.

I just read a very interesting study posted by NPR about the effects of psychedelics on your brain, and the correlation between those effects and the spiritual experiences that result. Very interesting read...

"The God Chemical"

It made my mind wander back to a topic I touched on recently about spirituality. I read this study and could not help but wonder if these people are leaning toward some unconventionally hard to swallow conclusions? Does a person's spirituality come from deep seeded beliefs, or can they actually be induced by the likes of psychedelics? If they CAN be induced, does that discredit the fundamentals of spirituality, or confirm it?

My thoughts are, if a spiritual experience can be induced in a controlled state, it can't be real. If you have absolutely no preconceived notion of spirituality or religion, will you too have an experience, or must the idea already exist in your mind in order for it to come out when prompted by a catalyst?

So many questions and I have so few answers. I personally have absolutely no experience whatsoever with psychedelics, so I don't even know where to start with this. Part of me wants to suggest that if you expect to see God, you will. One test group that was studied in the 60's was a group of divinity students... and of course, they had a spiritual experience. But wouldn't we expect them to? These people are deeply involved in religion and the study of so it would certainly make sense that the topic in the forefront of their minds is the one that is rendered upon induction.

While I certainly enjoyed this study, and will continue to follow up on its progress, I have definitely taken note of the fact that they have yet to mention any negative side effects. We've all heard of someone who has experimented with similar substances and believed themselves to be being eaten by bugs, or attacked by their sofa, or something equally as alarming. I feel like these experiences need to be studied as well as the spiritual experiences, and maybe we need to be studying the drugs with their short AND long term side effects, and not just whether or not they can "make you see God" when administered in a clinical setting.

Does psychedelic-induced spirituality = God?

Or is it just drugs messing with our brains and tapping into our thoughts and beliefs to self-project wild hallucinations?

a separate self.

I am really proud of my last blog. For the first time in a long time, I felt INSPIRED! Inspired to write, inspired to learn, inspired to share it all with you. L.O.L says that I "am starting the journey" and I am ecstatic. There is a level of charged curiosity, and eager anticipation that I have not felt on an intellectual level in quite some time. While it truly is a journey, and a completely individualized search, I feel that both as an unconventionally spiritual person, and as an educated human being, I must find a way to merge the ideals that I believe in with the knowledge I have not yet tapped into.

As I was frequenting one of my favorite sites this morning, I came across the following question being posed:

"How can Science help us understand the Divine?"

with a quote by Stephen Hawking:
""If we find the answer to [why it is that we and the universe exist], it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for then we would know the mind of God."

That is an excellent place to start.

One of the greatest developments in modern science was discovering the placement of the Earth. We are not only one, we are part of a larger solar system that is part of a larger galaxy that is part of a larger universe. Every piece is part of something larger. Each piece, while sometimes independent in itself, cannot truly BE independent of all things. All things are part of a greater whole. This acknowledgment is as staggering regardless of whether you view the whole as society, as a chemically verifiable collection of substance, or as part of a spiritual master plan. While we do not know the extent of this whole, it is a feat in itself just to acknowledge that we are part of something bigger.

We are not special. Some may fear the emotional/mental consequences of realizing that we are not special, for in reality, we have all been told and taught our entire lives that we are unique, special, individuals, and utterly one of a kind. In theory, this is true, but in reality, it is not. We are all made from the same basic compounds, and arranged in the same basic way. While we all lead different lives, we all live and die. Even as an embryonic cluster of cells, we are alive, and we grow into something, just as the seed grows into the flower. Therefore, fundamentally we are not special; however, we are not alone as we are always a part of the whole.

Eckhart Tolle, a modern philosopher, spiritualist, and author says that the truth (which is in essence what science and religion are both after,) is that we are all one consciousness. To awaken from the illusion of identity, of separateness as an individual, of "me", is simply to become aware that we are not our own story, but the awareness of that story, and that this awareness is the same in all of us.

We ARE that awareness.
We ARE that consciousness.

Tolle claims that Jesus' statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" was not a statement that Jesus, the bearded, robe wearing, individual was the way, but that the awareness of our true selves, of what "I am" really means is the way. That awareness you experience, that consciousness, is God - and what comes of that awareness is heaven, is peace, is love. If I understand that properly, it is to say that God, Jesus, Buddha, and other deities of religion are merely fabricated as a person, or an individual to follow. The teachings, the ideas, and the concepts of spirituality (whatever your choice may be) are what truly congeal to form what we perceive as "spirituality." The conciousness of ourselves and our origins collectively couple with the ideas of spirituality to give us fulfillment in life, in spirituality and in God. While all the concepts are generally the same, they are all looking towards the same greater good, and the same awakening.

In essence, "the way" is to be pursuant in your questions of the universe as well as the neverending quest for enlightenment.

#100. i am a molecule.

I am a molecule.
A little piece of the largest puzzle imaginable.
There are things going on around me, inside me, because of me, and without me constantly.
There are things I will never see, things I will never do, places I will never go.
There are people I will never meet, and lives I will never interweave with.
I sustain only my own tiny existence in this world, not even an entire dot on a map.
I feel very very small.
What is the purpose? Why are we here? What does it all mean?

People have pondered these questions for eons, with little, but usually no resolve whatsoever. My mind is boggled when I consider the magnitude of the world we live in. It becomes even more inconceivable to consider the universe... and whatever lies beyond. Even in my own backyard, there are zillions of lives existing day-to-day that I am never aware of.

There are creatures in the darkest depths of the ocean living in undiscovered crevices near the belly of the earth that NO ONE has ever seen. There are plants in the heart of the most remote rain forests that are being discovered only now - after millions of years. Every day, there are naturally occurring physical phenomenon taking place in the vast expanse of space. Phenomenon so beautiful and magnificent that one can hardly conceive that this is not the result of an artist brushing strokes across a starry canvas. Planets, solar systems, and stars are born in luminous glory as a mother's new baby is born in the florescent glow of a hospital room. There are people on this planet that have never seen a TV, or an iPhone, or a toaster, or a person of another race or culture - people living in unspoiled, undeveloped society completely untouched by politics, war, money, and religion.

Does that astound anyone else?

Why is that? Why are we all put on this planet to lead vastly different lives, sometimes violently separate from each other? We grow and learn and develop, only to reach the end and never experience everything there is to experience... and then we die. Some say that we are here to help each other, to love each other, and to make the world a better place. But I say, how do the bottom feeding creatures dwelling in the unimaginable darkness of the ocean benefit from me showing some brotherly love to my neighbor? There has to be a larger picture that we do not see here.

What is it? How do we find it? Will we ever know??

Until we do (or until I die... whichever comes first), I will continue being a floating collection of molecules in space, a fraction of a tick on the face of time's clock, and seek enlightenment in the unanswered questions.