*Acid was called "LSD-25," referring to a standard dosage of 25 micrograms (mcg, ΞΌg) because it is very potent per tab or tablet (blot, dot, drop, etc.). This would make three double tabs about 150 mcg. But ask Riley or see Sidney Cohen (1959), "The therapeutic potential of LSD-25," A Pharmacologic Approach to the Study of the Mind, p. 251–258.
(The Theory of Samsara) Premiered Nov. 27, 2025: π§♂️ Why do we all so easily fall into "spiritual delusion"?
Why do we chase psychedelic highs, promises of supernatural powers, or “special” experiences instead of understanding the ordinary, unchanging nature of consciousness [and related phenomena] itself?
This video dives more deeply into the mechanics of self-deception on the spiritual path —
How craving fuels suffering,
Why Western culture’s addictions make it worse,
Why meditators so often mistake mental fabrications for awakening.
Let's explore the Buddha’s actual teaching:
Craving is the root of suffering
Consciousness is ordinary, not something to be manufactured
Awakening can’t be given to us by a teacher
Psychedelic trips are NOT enlightenment
Pride, jealousy, and other delusions and fabricated identities destroy the Path
True realization begins with a stable, uncontrived mind.
Whether we practice Zen (jhana), Mahamudra ("great seal"), Vipassana(insight meditation), or Dzogchen (choiceless awareness), the message is the same:
Stop looking for the extraordinary.
Instead, recognize the nature of mind as it is:
SUCHNESS, ordinary mind — nothing to adopt, nothing to abandon.
If we want to avoid spiritual self-sabotage and cultivate a genuine path toward awakening, this is for us.
Check out ultimatemeaning.org for more information.
(Digitalbondo) The Summer of Love was 50 years ago, way back in 1967. The KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival ran from June 10th to the 11th, 1967. Here are home movies (from a kind of recording time machine) of The Seeds, Country Joe and the Fish, The Jefferson Airplane, and The Byrds by John Cuniberti. Music by The Byrds.
Why is summer for love? - It's the outfits.
June 10, 1967, was an important day for the Summer of Love and for music history.
Over two days (June 10-11, 1967), tens of thousands of music fans (many of the shiny hippies) would participate in the first rock festival in American history.
While the Monterey Pop Festival is often credited with being the first rock music festival in history, in fact it was the “Fantasy Fair” that deserves the honor.
Led by KFRC, an AM radio station, the festival featured the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, the Byrds, Sons of Champlin, and many other bands that were gaining notice throughout California and beyond.
We saw it on an IMAX screen, sitting in the front row heads cranked up to take in the whole screen, for it to be in our faces and extra loud. And that it was. It's good, really good. It's no The Song Remains the Same, which is a filmed concert at Madison Square Garden, New York, in the 1970s with the conceit of introducing them as legendary, bigger-than-life figures, particularly Page, who lived in a castle next to Loch Ness. This is a talking head documentary interspersed with historical footage and tight editing. The most amazing thing about it is that it does not pander to Johnny-come-lately fans. There is no mention of "Stairway to Heaven," their biggest hit ever. This is about the early, heavy days, coming out of nowhere by combining early blues from The States (muddy "Black" music), which a lot of young Brits were hearing for the first time with this new thing called "rock 'n roll."
What's so great about the greatest band ever? - The movie never makes it to 1973 and the Starship
Led Zeppelin band, promo portrait, 1971
Like Elvis and others appropriated the blood, sweat, and tears of post-slavery suffering crystalized into music, so Led Zeppelin paid homage to their heroes and cashed in like those heroes never did. It was blatant with Elvis and not so obvious where Led Zeppelin, most notably lead guitarist Jimmy Page, was coming up with the inspiration for so many catchy riffs (a demon named Zoso, the Devil, spirits of the dead still under contract, lifting ideas from the fertile London scene of his day, entheogenic drugs?), loud amplification, and blending the hardest music anyone had ever heard with plaintive love ballads of the hippie era (late 60s, early 70s). Sadly, there was no mention of the sexual abuse of young groupies, for which they are infamous, or recreational drug use. Some lawyer or PR firm was smart to keep a lid on those facets of their career. The movie ends abruptly with their second album before as they are reaching superstardom. Highly recommended! Fans will love it. Out now in wide release. INFO: becomingledzeppelinfilm.com
Led Zeppelin documentary (video); Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Isn't it amazing what mushrooms can do? Sure, there are magic mushrooms, but Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) is even more powerful in shamanic applications.
Then there are the Sixties, provided courtesy of LSD and cannabis. Who knew that the ergot on rye grain is a fungus? Fungi is mushroom, which is the fruiting body of the organism rooted in mycelia (the invisible matting underground that sends up mushrooms and makes the forest a natural "internet," playfully referred to as the Wood Wide Web.
Ergot fungus on rye and other grains such as barley is what was isolated to make LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide. The Spirit Molecule DMT plays into this, who knows, but it must because it is so widespread in nature and in the middle of our brains at the point called the third eye (pineal gland), which seems to be the transducer and modulator between worlds, the illusory one and the one behind it.
If we're in a matrix, how does anyone know except that they have had a taste of the real thing, the more real Dreamland or Spirit World from fevered dreams and spiritual visions? Who can say? But we are not seeing the world that is really here, only a tiny slice of the band of visible light and intriguing shadow.
How to avoid possession by Mara
When people take an entheogen, a psychedelic, their pupils dilate, that is, open up. It is as if they are now taking in more light and trying to capture it all with eyes wide open. It's a wider sliver of the band, into what we could call invisible light.
Why can we call it that? If ordinary consciousness and physical eyes see these wavelengths, this much of the range, what must dilated pupils and activated occipital lobes be able to take in? LSD is expanding the range, which is why Freak Street (Nepal) fashions and shamanic regalia are so colorful.
Shamanic healing with entheogenic plants
Is mold a mushroom? It is a fungus, and in common parlance we use "mushroom" to refer to all fungi. Lichen is a strange symbiotic combination of algae (chlorophyll) and (cyano-) bacteria and although assumed to be fungal growth on the sunny side of rocks is actually something else altogether. Yeast is a fungus, so it's not so strange that LSD (from grain used in the making of bread) would be, too.
PBS (video); TEXT: Pat Macpherson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
The undead version of Jerry Garcia's Grateful Dead, now reincarnated as "Dead & Company" will be teaching Phish a thing or two about jamming live when they take over The Sphere in Las Vegas for an extended run.
The light show, if nothing else, will be incredible. The vibe, the Old Gang, the scent of wafting ganja smoke, the tofu pups on sale in the parking lot (now a banned practice) will all bring back to mind the heyday of all those Berkeley-adjacent shows the Dead used to play in Oakland.
Fans were visible on BART (the Bay Area Rapid Transit) as Cal students went to and from The City (San Francisco) and UC Berkeley, wondering what all the Freak Street geeks were doing riding the rails to and from Oakland.
Space "Truckin" in low-earth orbit, live at The Sphere
I was tripping on gummy bears, way too strong.
The Coliseum was a regular venue for the Dead to play now that Altamont and Golden Gate Park were not possible. "Hasn't everyone heard all their songs by now?" we used to ask ourselves, seeing so many dates so close together.
They were not attending for the music but for the Dead community. Ah, the magic of the shrooms more than the magic of the tunes, "Driving that train high on cocaine, Casey Jones, you better watch your speed." Will that be the case as we load the hippie bus into the desert? Will they be updating their famous lyrics?
Serj Tankian gets personal about his band System of a Down
(Q with Tom Power) May 14, 2024: System of a Down’s Serj Tankian grew up hearing stories about his family members who died during the Armenian genocide [or what the young Ottoman Turks call a “misunderstanding”], many years before he was born.
In his new memoir Down With the System, he shares his family’s story and looks back on his career through the lens of his Armenian heritage. Tankian joins Tom Power to talk about the origins of his activism, how System of a Down (SOAD) got on the radio (KROQ FM), and whether or not you’ll ever hear any NEW music from the band.
BAT (Bad Acid Trip) performs "Beef Moo" to prove they have chops
It is notable that we never knew we needed Armenian nu-metal, but it may not just be Serj's genius behind the mic or guitarist Daron coming up with all sorts of great song ideas because there's another very similar band, with frantic starts and stops and screaming. They never made it big. They're called Bad Acid Trip. If it were just about having an Armenian member or raging about genocide and racism in and around Glendale and Little Armenia in Los Angeles (which has a massive Armenian population to rival Armenia and an enclave next to Hollywood that includes Cher and the Kardashians), that was needed, BAT should be as big as batsh*t is to growing strong garden plants. Guano is great fertilizer. Where are all the SOAD copycat bands like Korn engendered? BAT is signed to Tankian's label Serjical Strike Records.
ABOUT: Q with Canadian Tom Power is a daily conversation with the artists, writers, actors, and musicians who define this cultural moment in time. The conversation is informal, wide-ranging, playful, and allows artists to explore their art and the contexts that have shaped them through their career. Visit cbc.ca/Q for more. Follow and subscribe to podcast: link.chtbl.com/JIWpRCGR.
Do SOAD fans read? The hardcover is out today (May 14, 2024) by author, poet, lead singer, KPFK radio host Serj Tankian. It has 5 out of 5 stars with just 2 ratings. It is a #1 New Release in Rock Music.
This is an exhilarating, thoughtful, and beautifully written memoir by musician, songwriter, and lead singer-lyricist of Grammy award-winning metal band Serj Tankian.
Tankian will be the first to admit that his band, System Of A Down, was as “unlikely a chart-topper as had ever existed in modern music history: a band of Armenian-Americans playing a practically unclassifiable clash of wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies, with me alternately growling, screaming, and crooning lyrics that could pivot from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants in the space of a single line.”
After all, as Tankian concedes, “it’s not easy listening.” Even so, there’s no doubt that System’s music had struck a chord with millions of listeners across the world ever since they burst onto the scene in the mid-1990s.
With nearly 40 million albums sold, three albums topping the Billboard charts, and a devoted legion of fans, the band dominated the alt-rock and nu-metal scenes just as the world hurtled into a new millennium, redefining the very idea of what rockstars
could and couldn’t talk about,
could and couldn’t do,
could and couldn’t represent.
With no CD to promote, SOAD still headlines
In Down With the System, he presents readers with a memoir that is far more than just a rock 'n' roll fable. It’s an immigrant's tale, it’s an activist’s awakening, and it’s a spiritual journey from darkness toward light. And all of this comes down to the fact that he himself has had the chance to live an extraordinary life — thanks to a combination of luck, circumstance, struggle, talent, and spiritual awakening.
Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Lebanon, Tankian grew up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country’s [Israel-induced] civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 7.
As a young man, he is immersed in the SoCal community of “Little Armenia,” learning more and more about the brutal genocide faced by his ancestors [under the Ottoman Empire that is now Turkey], while helping his parents adapt to the constraints and contradictions of the American Dream.
Then, during a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, he decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead — a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band, hitting Number #1 on the Billboard album charts the morning of 9/11, then having the hit single from the same album BANNED from radio two days later.
In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he evades glass bottles hurled at a cancelled show by angry Slayer fans, teams up with fellow KPFK Free Speech Radio host Tom Morello (articulate guitarist for Rage Against the Machine) to push social justice issues on unsuspecting Heshers and metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans in Hollywood [we were there and there was no "riot," just a big crowd], and defines new sounds and singing tactics with famous Slayer producer Rick Rubin.
Braiding together Tankian’s thought-provoking insight with heartfelt prose, Down With the System retraces his remarkable and unlikely journey. It explores what it has taught him — about music, about art, about activism, and about himself.
This ticketed signing only event will take place at Book Soup located at 8818 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood. Tickets include a place in line to get one new hardcover copy of Down with the System signed, which will be handed out at check-in. Please note that Serj Tankian will ONLY sign copies of Down with the System, ne memorabilia, no photos, no talk. Questions? Please email Book Soup at info@booksoup.com
System of a Down, Waldus Lacroix; Finn McKenty, Punk Rock MBA 2024; Serj Tankian with Q with Tom Power (CBC, May 14, 2024), new book (amazon.com), KPFK.org Book Soup event; Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Frank Marino was a psychedelic hippie kid in the Sixties. He took a bad trip after playing with the drugs of the day for a while.
He was a kid, and the acid (LSD) sent him out, out into the beyond sanity. He was hospitalized, and he gravitated to an acoustic guitar there as if it were a piece of flotsam and jetsam from the sunk boat of his world.
He clung onto it and eventually was pressured into a record deal. He calls the bad trip ordeal his "Mahogany Rush."
He would jam with friends all day in a room, and that became the name of the band. It was more a genre ("acid rock") than a band. Any bandmember who played with him, joined his experience and entered his Mahogany Rush.
This artwork represents what it was like, an Alice in Wonderland experience on overdrive, and it didn't end. It put him off drugs for the rest of his life.
It's been "a long, strange trip" as the Grateful Dead might describe it, and it has led all the way to tonight, when he appears on Coast to Coast to talk about it.
What was that reality, that existing place some people visit on "trips"?
The experience altered him. He had been asking too many "dumb" questions, the shamans he was asking, not wanting to be annoyed by answering such basics, eventually talked him into trying it. It ended all his questions because he suddenly saw that they had not been speaking in metaphor or dreaming or fantasizing. What they told him they could see, he saw. It was literally true.
Reptilians (nagas, Silurians) appeared to him and said, "We are the true gods of this world." What were they talking about, given that they seem to outlive humans by many decades? They live underground and in the shadows, possibly cloaking themselves and walking among us (like in the movie They Live) unseen or unnoticed by design. Obey, we're told, and don't question.
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