If so, what triggered it and what was it like?
Only on acid - my buddies and I got lost in a maelstrom and clung to a raft to survive. Two of us woke up on a serene island and made a beautiful community with the indigenous peoples of the island.
The other two found another island and created a futuristic industrialized society.
The ideological differences eventually formed physically into a great barrier called The Schism. They began polluting our lands and forced us into a hundred year war and many lives were lost.
Peace was found when emissaries from both tribes travelled to the caldera of the great volcano at the center of our island and met with the Keeper of the Scrolls who revealed to us that The Schism was invisible - we took that to mean that the only thing truly separating our people was our perceived differences.
But we were really, really trippin
Mine was also on acid, only ever done it once and now you can miss me with that shit… I fucked up hard. I did it solo but also ended up 4 or 5 brownies deep along with drinking all night. It was going great at the start but after a few hours it all went wrong, I’m not sure if I passed out and was dreaming or just walking around but I was no longer human. At one point I was mold in a petri dish and so was my wife and when we grew and touched each other we made a mutated mold and that was our kid… anothet point I was ink and my life was being drawn on a page and as time passed the page turned and me, the ink was drawn. The worst part which was unbearable and I think lasted the longest was that I was a everything and everything that had ever existed or would exist all happening at the same time, kind of hard to explain this one, I wasn’t really a physical entity at all, more like time and space but all in a tiny dot. Needless to say not being a person for what felt like forever was kind of a big ego death… not sure how i kept a job down I was basically psychotic for the next 18 month. I wasn’t sure if I was real, I wasn’t sure if my kid was real. I never got suicidal but I was constantly afraid I was slowly losing my mind and I could become suicidal, there were days that’s all I could think.
Definitely not my jam
One perspective I’ve heard before and I find interesting is (paraphrased) that we, as humans, are the result of a universe yearning to know itself. (I’m sure there’s more but that’s the jist of it.)
It could be that our consciousness isn’t specifically human, it just inhabits the bodies best able to experience and learn about the world we exist in.
Could you please drop a pin on the map for the Keeper of the Scrolls? He seems like a good dude to know.
Maybe we can encourage him to start c/askthekeeperofthescrolls so that more people have access to his wisdom?
Unsurprisingly, last I heard he’s living in a van on a river in Texas.
I miss that guy.
man, exactly what substance did you get? asking for a friend
I was in college, it was night, and several friends and acquaintances of mine had lugged a case of beer to a giant empty wire spool that sat next to our campus at the time. The spool on it’s side made for a good table.
Having completed an entire class about world religions, we were set to debate whether Buddhism or Taoism was a more reasonable philosophy.
The girl to my right was definitely engaged in the conversation, but she hadn’t said anything yet. I asked her “so what do you think about all of this?” She looked at me, crossed her arms, and fell backwards into the ground. I immediately said, “holy shit, did you guys just see that?” Nobody else saw the girl. As it happened, the wire spool was on the lawn between the campus and a graveyard.
Maybe I’m nuts or maybe I saw that. Never saw anything like that again though.
“As it happened, the wire spool was on the lawn between a graveyard and an abandoned/haunted giant spool factory.”
How did that affect you?
At the time, I approached it from the perspective that consciousness in some capacity was possible after death while acknowledging that I had no evidence on the questions of how, why, how frequently, for what duration, etc. I hypothesized that ghosts were whorls of consciousness like the whirlpools in water after the passing of an oar.
I was raised Lutheran, but had been approaching my understanding of existence from what I thought of as a logical perspective. For example, I reasoned that heaven, if it existed as a joyful reward state, must either be essentially finite in duration or must involve eternal dementia based on the notion that eventually you would run out of novel or interesting thoughts or experiences. To remain joyful, heaven would have to either have the individual be dissolved back into the universe/almighty or would require forgetting earlier novel experiences.
These days I tend to just anthropomorphize the universe itself, as the wants of an omniscient and omnipotent being would be indistinguishable from the natural rules of the universe. To quote Roger Waters: “what God wants, God gets (God help us all)”. I figure God wants matter to be attracted to other matter and for electromagnetism to be a thing (amongst other rules of the universe).
Sort of. I was trying to get a medical issue more under control and was using cannabis, but worried the CBD was contraindicated with one of the meds so I dropped that out and did straight THC oil.
After a few days of that I was playing a video game and got a strong sense of a divine interaction (which was weird given I was Agnostic) and that a Yes/No popup selection would occur but that what it would really be asking was if I consented to learning the mysteries of the universe and everything that would entail.
Indeed, a popup appeared (FFXIV: Shadowbringer main quest - not exactly unexpected), and I selected Yes.
I later learned (a) that CBD is an effective antipsychotic, and (b) a lot about the literal mysteries of antiquity.
Please try this again now that FFXVI is out and report back. For science!
I’ve had experiences with religious people trying to force me to have a spiritual experience. Would not recommend.
Was this at a Linux user convention?
Jesus is in the room with you right now, can’t you feel him breathing down your neck?!?
Gotta dim the lights, light the candles, and play some soft guitar.
I was raised in a religious house. I went to church every Sunday until I was about 20. I played guitar for the church. Everyone else always talked about “feeling” the holy spirit, especially when I specifically played the music for the church.
I tried so, so hard, but never once in my life did I feel a damn thing. I prayed and prayed and prayed, but nothing. I was good friends with the pastor, and he would give me tips on listening for what God was telling me, but I never heard anything.
And eventually I gave up.
I find it fascinating that you were able to help others feel a spiritual connection through your music all the while it was eluding you. Thank you for sharing.
I am truly grateful that church wasn’t my first experience with live music. Music is powerful, and the churches around me tried to co-opt that by convincing you that the experience you just had was Jesus when it was actually just live music and group energy.
That’s what it’s like if you are honest with yourself. I had the same youth (except I played trumpet in the church band). They try so so hard to convince you it’s happening. I think some people want it so badly, they make themselves believe all sorts of things. When you want it, but don’t want it to just be you telling yourself it’s happening. It just doesn’t. I of course only speak for myself and my experiences but I watched it happen so many times, and wanted it so badly when I was young. Not to mention the people who I connected up with again years later that seemed like they had all those experience tell me it was all just going through the motions, faking it until you make it. I actually had a pastor tell me that one time. He knew I was struggling to have a genuine super natural experience.
That’s how I felt growing up in the church until about last year. You can’t feel the holy spirit unless you give up all of the sin in your life to Jesus.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:9-10
People can be born in the church, but Jesus said you must be born again. Only then will the Holy Spirit live inside you.
A few times on psychedelics I did. On mushrooms I had a strong sense that I was in harmony with nature, on lsd felt more in harmony with myself, and on mdma in harmony with the people around me. Haven’t touched the stuff in years but I do feel like my experiences shaped my outlook on life in some ways I never would have thought of before.
I absolutely love how you summarized the different types of harmony you were able to experience. Thanks for sharing!
I was very sick, and praying for relief, and I felt the hand of God heavy upon me, and my body flooded with warmth and peace. The next morning I was fully recovered.
Closest I can think of is sitting in an onsen (hot spring) in Arima, Japan, and suddenly feeling like I am one with the world - totally relaxed, without a single worry in my mind and feeling that everything will be ok. Can’t say how long it lasted, 5-15 minutes? Haven’t experienced that sort of peace ever since.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to such a deep sense of peace for more than a few minutes per a lifetime?
No.
I have felt a sense of awe, I have felt a sense of smallness in the universe, I have felt a sense of connection. Staring at a starscape, or across a vast landscape, being in a still and quiet serene moment of zen.
Nothing I have experienced have I classified as a spiritual experience, and I certainly won’t allow organised religion to prostitute my sense of wonder for their own ends.
That idea, the sublime, is considered by some to be of a spiritual nature, but ultimately I suppose it depends on how you choose to frame the meaning of ‘spiritual’.
I could see how those who believe in a higher power might attribute a sense of awe in nature to a spiritual connection with the creator deity they believe created it. But an atheist can likewise experience that same sensation just due to the majesty of nature and the thought of how improbable it is that we even have eyes to see naturally-occurring things of beauty.
The fact that I am in a position to experience, appreciate, and be overwhelmed by the reality of the world I inhabit beyond just existing in it, is certainly quite something.
I think I am in what seems to be a small minority of people who are anti-organized religion but pro-spirituality.
Spirituality is, at least, very open to interpretation and could mean a different thing to every person. The feeling of looking out from a hill across a rolling landscape, feeling a wave of calm and appreciation of the experience, could be considered a spiritual moment.
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for but sure, there have been times when I’m in nature and I see a view or a tree or a river or whatever and things seem so beautiful and so connected and so awe inspiring that it gives me an overwhelming sense that there is more to all this than I’ll ever understand or comprehend.
Mine was pretty spontaneous. I was studying psychedelics at the time (just because they’re fascinating) but I’ve never done any before or since.
It was… hard to describe. It lasted several days at least, but my sense of time was greatly altered and it’s hard to say how long exactly. I remember feeling like my mind wasn’t fighting against itself the way it usually did. It felt like everything I did, my whole brain was all working/pulling in the same direction. Pretty much all I wanted to do was meditate for hours on end, and doing so was a wild experience with some very interesting visuals. I also came to some revelations about the nature of reality. (Though looking back, those revelations were the logical conclusion of several beliefs I had held before this experience. I think this experience just brought those multiple unrelated beliefs together and crystalized them into one cohesive worldview.) I did experience some synesthesia during the experience as well. The kind wherein seeing somebody else experience something, you feel it in your own body. I was watching a dancer on TV and feeling the proprioceptive feelings I imagined she was feeling.
Edit: I should add that it never really “ended.” It tapered off over time until I was (in some ways) back to normal, but I couldn’t identify really when I was back to normal. It was more like asymptotically approaching normal. And, I’ll also say that in other ways, I’m still changed by that experience. And only for the better.
I like the way you phrase “asymptomatically approaching normal” 👍. I think i know the feeling, almost like you have to iterate a brand new personality to interact with the world. Previous normal is just kind of shattered into fragments that inform the new normal, but there’s a real uncomfortable space in between.
I’m an atheist
Find yourself some mescaline (peyote or San Pedro extract)
Trust
I would not even know where to start looking. So many people here are sharing experiences on Mushrooms, LSD, MDMA, etc. How are ya’ll getting your hands on it lol.
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I want to genuinely thank you for taking the time to write this comprehensive list.
I have always been interested in psychedelics although I am a little hesitant because even moderate amounts of THC have had profound effects on me. One of the first THC edibles that I tried led to a psychedelic-like spiritual experience (which I know isn’t typical so makes me a little concerned about potentially having some pre-existing mental conditions).
I have always been a goody two shoes with rigid beliefs about the world. Never had done drugs. Drank very little and only during celebrations. The THC experience shattered many of the most rigid constructs in my mind.
I then attempted, with no luck, to recreate that experience for a very long time. This often resulted in me laying alone in bed stuck in thought loops. Precisely why your mention of walks in nature makes a ton of sense, by the way!
Edit: removing my glorious list, DM if ya got questions
I’m the opposite of spiritual so the closest I’ve experienced is that euphoric feeling you get when you see unparalleled beauty in nature. Places like the Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Yukon, Alaska, volcano in Guatemala, and some waterfalls in Mexico are a few that spring to mind.
I have never been to any of those places. It’s pretty cool that you were able to tap into that sensation so many times!
I think I rattle off the fancy places because they’re the big ones that stick out in my mind, but I’ve also had that feeling just being out in nature close to home. Feeling the stillness of the forest can be just as powerful in your backyard.
TL;DR at the bottom.
I’ve had several. I think the most recent and one of the most profound was during and after the deepest meditation I’ve ever done.
I used to meditate quite a bit during covid and after, but fell out of practice a couple years ago. Fast forward, I have a new job, moved across the country, bought a house, and I am about to get married (this was a couple months ago). I didn’t realize that I had been depressed for a few months. So I decided to take some shrooms up in the mountains in the snow.
That gave me the headspace to really think about my life and what marriage means and to connect with nature away from distractions. I was finally able to find a level of peace and clarity.
That was on a Saturday. On the following Monday is when I had the meditation.
I did a quick home workout and it just kind of struck me that I should meditate and set some time aside to just be and feel and process after the experience I had over the weekend.
So I laid down on my back in the dark and put on some ambient relaxing music. I’ll try and summarize how I got to this spiritual place as best I can (highly recommend reading the untethered soul, it was the inspiration for this).
Basically, I think that the voice in our head, even the one that logically thinks about how we are feeling and logically reasons and thinks through things isn’t really who we are. That voice is just a product of all of our experiences. Who we are, at our core, is truly the being and presence that created that voice. So I told the voice that kept popping up to shhh.
That’s it, just shhhh. And eventually it stopped.
What happened next was a feeling of connection and being and grounding. There were any thoughts there was just this core being a part of this amazing, huge universe, and I felt a part of it. I felt what I can only describe as pure love. I will say I do believe in a higher power and that is the form the sense of universe took for me, but it was equally feeling connected and a part of everything in this world.
I sat with that and just felt until the timer I set went off.
I slowly opened my eyes, took a few breaths, and just came back to awareness. This was what was wild, I could feel every fiber of the carpet I was laying on, the individual strands of my hair, the fabric of my shirt, the way the light shone through the crack in the door. I took a shower and water the light reflect on the water and felt every rain drop on my head. It was the most intense feeling of connection I’ve ever had and that includes during any trip.
For me, it solidified that at the end of the day we are beings of love. Deep down beneath it all. And it’s a choice to lean into that and to not close off. To feel. The positives and the negatives. To love everyone and everything around us even when we don’t agree. To give and spread love.
TL;DR Depression sucks, our voice in our head is not who we are, we are a part of something larger, we are at a core, love.
