So What has LSD Revealed To You?

sorry, i think that a feeling has value. in an objective sense, no, the feeling of limitless love blah blah... isn't real, i imagined it. but what LSD showed me is that eveything in this world that i see, feel, know etc. is fundamentally my own subjective illusion, a PRODUCT OF MY IMAGINATION. now granted, those imaginations that can be communicated are often very useful in "objective" social world around us, and also many of them can used for harm. But when i'm trippin and listening to eyes of the world and suddenly i feel this undeniable feeling... i can't describe it because it is so powerful taht describing it actually takes away from that experience. LSD allows me to accept and indulge in my feelings at this moment... its not as if i think "oh i feel interconnection and limitless love", thats just how i describe it later. so ur right, its self indulgent and meaningless. but when i realize that i can trigger that same feeling from almost any stimuli - a cool breeze on a warm day, meeting someone new, playin guitar, even throwing a frisbee, thats when it has a positive affect on my life, and as a result on other people's lives. unfortunately, LSD doesn't guarantee to set you free from destructive thoguht forms for good, and those life affirming feelings are so transient that it can leave you more confused than you were before.

 

I’m going to change tack here. It is evident that LSD is still producing the same revelations as it did 40 year ago at the beginning of hippy culture and flower power at the time when we thought times were really changing of which this change was predominately influenced by the revelations on LSD, or was it? I ask because being hippy was reduced to a fashion in dress and viewpoint and that so called counter culture has had zero effect of successive American governments and society both in the UK where I reside and the U.S., we are retrograding. How can this be with all the hundreds of thousands of people perhaps more who have tripped? It is clear from the posts above that LSD hasn't become a party drug like coke, (as I thought), and is still giving people the high it used to and therefore must still be the pure stuff. So why isn't it having it's influence on society at large by now, why don't we see our culture evolving instead of the opposite why isn't there a trickle effect that is sowing the seeds of change, nay actually producing new shoots by now?

 

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.

The percentage of people taking LSD compared to people taking so-called party drugs is pretty small. Even then, not everybody takes L for the same reasons, so they don't get the same things out of the experience that others do. I take it to party sometimes too, but people are more likely to roll or whatever get drunk idk, this isn't the sixties.

 

LSD has had a major effect on our society. it forever opened the boundaries of the arts, music, fashion... basically it allowed for other lifestyles to be pursued. and we see this still today - sexuality, drug refrences, experimental design in all forms is in our culture now and is, in many cases accepted and commonplace. here's the problem - LSD may have broadened those horizons, but did nothing on the practical/political front. people who are dosed don't want to go run for president and change the world with that vision. they want to sit and take more L and jam out. so, the same people stayed in power, the same power structures remained intact. and while there was resistance from the 1950's era christian conservative dogmatic rightwing, basically what happened is these new ideas, sounds and visions became marketed and profited by the same white collar suited ceo's that tried to resist them when it all began. basically it just became a part of the existing system. this is why the old playboy articles which featured beautiful people in their natural glory and inspiring, creative words and poetry has been replaced by a plastic girl shakin her booty for a couple grand on the new Lil' Flip (or lil' whatever) video. it might be accepted by the mainstream, but by the same old money driven superficial mainstream. things changed and then they kind of stagnated. LSD only really helps on one side of things.

 

oh and not to mention "new age spirituality" which has become pretty much a fad on the bookshevels... "crystal healing for dummies". A lot of people on LSD realized that spirituality is a very personal thing and found it for themselves... but just realizing this doesn't communicate that message to the rest (or most) of America who is stuck in church being bored every sunday thinking that its gonna give them a ticket to heaven.

 

Hmm... a good point to ponder. This is gonna be long but SOMEONE READ THIS LOL. A lot of people I know who are interested in and or use psychedelics it's more of a hobby than a lifestyle at this point. They don't trip once and dive headfirst into the devoted hippydom of yesteryear.

My personal opinion is that LSD, psilocybin etc. are tools of self exploration and growth. I can use these substances in my personal time, and yes they have invariably had a tremendous affect on me; in many ways reshaping my world view. But note the word reshaping; my experience has not wiped out the person I was, nor the beliefs I had BEFORE I experienced these things: merely added to or enhanced them. They are more supplemental, a way to broaden and enhance the person I already am... have been for years.

If you LOOKED at me there is a 99% chance you would peg me for someone who has never tried these things, never had these thoughts, or who was unaware of the world-view presented by LSD and other psychotropic substances. This doesn't bother me, I don't need to dress the part or embrace wholeheartedly the flower child spirit (what the hell does that even mean, how do you classify such a thing?) in order to validate my own gains from tripping. I work in a pretty serious aerospace industry internship, consider myself well spoken and a highly motivated person career wise, main hobbies are dirt bike racing, car racing etc. These are not, in my opinion, the typical characteristics of a tripster or a hippy.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I think more people in my generation are using this as a step in their personal growth and maturation. Perhaps we learned from the mistakes of your generation (take the term mistakes loosely), you say that LSD did not have the grand affect on government and society you had hoped. I agree. My view, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that many of that time expected everyone to abandon modern traditional society and live some flower powered idealistic life... we now know that is neither plausible nor the best thing for this country.

I think many of those 'using' these substances in my generation can realize their undeniable benefits, the beautiful things they can offer the human mind. However, we also understand and accept the benefits of taking these experiences INTO modern adult life rather than running from it. We can learn from them, experience, love, and enjoy them without concern of being a "poser" just because we don't live in a commune or something. If 20 years from now I hold an MBA, make $150,000 a year and drive an expensive car does that mean I abandoned who I was, or what I learned from LSD? In my god honest opinion no, HELL NO. It means that I took the lessons from this time in my life and integrated them into a successful and rich (not in $'s) life. If I still uphold the values and morals which I hold upon myself, and the lessons which I have learned from these life-altering experiences who is to tell me that I used them improperly because I do not live to the antiquated FAILED ideals of a generation now 45 years dead.

Perhaps this IS the new wave of acid use, perhaps we are taking it farther and at the same time being more successful with it. It's almost a balance of the extremism of the 60's and 70's. I don't quite understand your view of the U.S. degrading. Yes you and most of us are not content with the current administration. But don't go burning the candle of pending doom just yet, you don't think this country has endured sub-par presidencies? Is our quality of life not higher than ever before, and increasing with every passing year? Students are smarter, more successful, and the average person is more educated than ever before. Just because we don't flee from responisibility to bang on bongos in San Francisco does not mean we are less 'enlightened' than your generation.

The times they are-a changin' my friend, the goals and ideals of current college aged acid users aren't the same as they were 40 or 50 years ago. And why would they be? You don't have to be anti-establishment or anti-employment to appreciate and utilize the teachings of LSD.

bounce something back at me, I think about this alot

 

I read it and found it interesting, if different from my own thoughts.

You are correct, which is why most people who use LSD don't get anything out of their experience. To them it's an adventure or a form of thrill-seeking, which I can relate to. In the same way, you can read someone passages of the Buddha's teaching and if he has his mind closed, he will not get anything out of it, while others will. So, LSD should be viewed as a tool rather than as a guaranteed method of Enlightenment.

Right.

For me LSD was transformative, unlike the RCs (e.g., 2C-E, 2C-I) or weed/hash. But fundamentally I am the same person.

There are reports, and I have no sources with me, of LSD having totally changed people with deep psychological issues in a positive direction, when studies were conducted decades ago with less stigma attached to such studies.

I am the same way. I have always had a conservative demeanor, and I generally just keep to myself. Oh, and I look really bad with long hair. I have always been behind fashion-wise anyway: I only recently bought a Grateful Dead CD and listened to them for the first time, and I wasn't too impressed. I do like Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and other classical rock though. But I am not the stereotypical acidhead (I don't think I have done LSD enough to be considered one, nor do I care to use LSD too often; in fact I plan to quit once I have gotten everything out of it!).

I for one find the "flower child" spirit charming, and I love the way hippie girls dress. That's one of the things that attracted me to this movement/philosophy. But I understand what you're saying about how the dress is/should be the least important thing. The Buddha thinks the same way.

Most hippies come from the working class. Maybe this is where we depart from the stereotypes. I used to hold working-class people in contempt, but I believe they are gifted in some ways, and that we can all learn from them (I don't mean to sound condescending though).

By the way, that you like dirt bike racing and car racing may be related to your LSD use in ways you do not realize. Lately I have really gotten into roller coasters. I am always looking to try out new roller coasters. I also like to travel to exotic places that most people avoid. I also have noticed a relationship to my interest in LSD: all of these things seem to be a form of thrill-seeking, bringing excitement to life. I have even thought of roller-coaster rides as similar to LSD in that the setting is controlled and yet your senses are bombarded with all kinds of stimuli that can be somewhat frightening. I am surprised no one else has noticed this.

You are projecting a bit though. LSD users are increasingly a small minority of the youth population, and even among LSD users there are different motives and goals.

The Baby Boomers were major f*** ups. Not thinking about the future, they made the U.S. dependent on foreign oil, elected horrible politicians who have driven up the budget deficit, and have greedily thrown their money around (often with credit/loans) creating a housing bubble, which makes living a decent life hard for our generation. And it's not just in this country, but in virtually every country that is developed.

It's not possible for society, but very much so for individuals.

Getting back to the topic of LSD use, for me it's a stage I plan to experience and overcome; next I plan to experience Eastern philosophy and see where that goes.

I feel like Siddhartha in Hermann Hesse's novel who tries to gain wisdom from all kinds of people and philosophies, and after experiencing it all, integrates that into his own philosophy.

 

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i need a dirty woman

 

There are slight contradictions in what people are saying, and it's hard to put into words what you experience during an acid trip, just like Buddha has a difficult time putting his ideas into words, which is why he resorts to parables. Words have their limitations; plus, we all experience drugs differently because we have unique minds and bodies.

Maybe we are trying too hard to put things into words. Maybe the point of LSD is to experience things in the moment, and not to dwell too much on it once it passes.

When I was talking to a psychonaut in Amsterdam (a guy who works at Conscious Dreams), he said you don't talk about it, you just do it, to paraphrase him.

So, what StonerBill and others like him with doubts about LSD should do is try it. At the very least, if their setting is controlled and they have the right expectations, it will be a fun or memorable experience.

 

Anarchist thanks for the thoughts, You made some really great points. This is the type of stuff I wanted to get when I joined this forum :thumbsup:

 

While I like to post my thoughts on psychedelics, I humbly defer to members such as 2cesarewild, The Flow, and eat_some_lsd.

2cesarewild is one of the sharpest members of the forum, and has much more experience with psychedelics than I. Therefore, he really should be listened to. Both he and eat_some_lsd have accumulated a lot of knowledge on drugs and things associated with them. I really am amazed to read some of eat_some_lsd's posts, given his encyclopedic knowledge on drugs. His post on how to deal with authorities with regards to deliveries was both humorous and fascinating! He pushes the boundaries with 2C-E, which he should be more careful about, because of our current lack of understanding of RCs. Both of these guys are gifted, in my opinion.

The Flow is an expert on the experience of research chemicals. He has tried things with RCs that maybe no one else on the planet has. He also has a solid background in medicine, from what I understand.

 

2ce's, you have a fan!

 

I dont know if I believe in Acid's positive outcomes, at one time I believed it was a way to see the world as I had never seen it, but after having an extremely bad trip on it I now think that you see what you want to see on acid, I believe that what comes out on trips is just a bunch of thoughts from the back of your mind and feelings from the bottom of you conscience, I do believe that people have positive revelations from acid trips, but i also think that if people took time to really search themselves that they could have these same revelations without drugs.

 

but im no expert and everyone has to find their own way so what i put down is my own personal findings, true or not

 

There was an old Al Jolson song that went, "How you gonna keep em down on the farm after they've been to Paree, (Paris)" was referring to the returning soldiers from the WW1. The same kind of question could apply to living your usual life after LSD. Well it appears you can. Perhaps that is because a good trip can validate what you are doing and being and you see that it is your negative thoughts that runs down your life so much when it should be appreciated. So you carry on as before, trying to appreciate, living in little boxes, raising a family, paying off dept, etc etc; trying to appreciate.
Nope It hasn't made any in-roads into the mainstream society and politics. As for spiritual new agers well they are just playing in their own sand box their effect is zero. I would have thought by now that positive ideas about peace justice fairness understanding would have filtered through to our leaders before they were leaders but we are still being taken into dreadful stupid messes.