Showing posts with label visions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visions. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2025

Lucid dreams mean something


How two years of advanced lucid dreaming changed my life (forever)
(Zach Highley) Aug. 1, 2025: What if there were the possibility of something else other than blackness during sleep? What if there were something like chatting with brilliant Einstein or, more importantly, discovering something about ourselves? Interacting with our subconscious? Discovering life’s purpose? Or eliminating nightmares forever? One day, one of my friends introduced me to lucid dreaming. She told me she controls her dreams, and I was amazed!
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 0:30 The Danger
  • 1:14 Back into Lucid Dreaming
  • 2:10 Month 2
  • 3:55 The Research
  • 4:53 The Crazy Dream
  • 10:35 Year 2
  • 12:45 Conclusion
📜Article: zhighley.com/article/i-tried-... 🐧 Twitter: zachhighley. I post here daily 📸 Instagram

ABOUT: Who am I? My name is Zach. [I am Zach. I am Zachness. I am become total Zachitude.] I was an internal medicine doctor, and now I'm figuring out how to build wealth and health while sharing what I learn along the way 🌐 (zhighley.com​​). I write a weekly newsletter 💌 (zhighley.com/newsletter​​) in which I give evidence-based tips on health and wellness. Join the 5,000+ who read it every Tuesday morning to get ahead.

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  • Dr. Zach Highley; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Alex Grey's Full Moon Gathering, NY

Full Moon Gathering with Alex and Allyson Grey, Joey Mercedes: Wappinger, New York

Inspiration over perspiration.
Alex Kenton Grey Velzy (born in Colombus, Ohio on Nov. 29th, 1953) is an American visual artist, author, teacher, and Vajrayana Buddhist practitioner.

He known for creating spiritual and psychedelic artwork such as his 21-painting Sacred Mirrors series [1].

He works in multiple forms including performance art, process art, installation art, sculpture, visionary art, and painting.

Sanskrit Vajra (Tibetan dorje): thunderbolt
He is on the board of advisors for the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics and is the Chair of Wisdom University's Sacred Art Department.

He and his wife Allyson Grey are the co-founders of The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM), a non-profit organization in Wappingers Falls, New York [2]. More

Love is a Cosmic Force by Alex Grey (alexgrey.com)
Earth Witness by Alex Grey (See the Buddha's 'earth witness mudra')
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Vajrayana Buddhism
Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, Entheon, 2021 (alexgrey.com)
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Dissectional art for Tool's Lateralus CD
Vajrayāna (Sanskrit वज्रयान, lit. "vajra vehicle"), is also known as Mantrayāna ("mantra vehicle"), Guhyamantrayāna ("secret mantra vehicle"), Tantrayāna ("tantra vehicle"), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism.

It is a Mahāyāna ("great vehicle") Buddhist tradition that emphasizes esoteric practices and rituals aimed at rapid spiritual awakening [or some deluded facsimile, replacing what the historical Buddha considered liberation for what previous Vedic, Hindu, esoteric teachers called moksha].

Vajrayana artist Alex Grey, 2013
Emerging between the 5th and 7th centuries CE in medieval India [1], Vajrayāna incorporates a range of techniques, including the use of
  • mantras (sacred sounds),
  • dhāraṇīs (mnemonic codes),
  • mudrās (symbolic hand gestures),
  • mandalas (spiritual diagrams), and
  • the visualization of deities and [cosmic] buddhas.
Sakka (Indra) with vajra, lotus
These practices are designed to transform ordinary experiences into paths toward enlightenment, often by engaging with aspects of desire and aversion in a ritualized context.

A distinctive feature of Vajrayāna is its emphasis on esoteric transmission, where teachings are passed directly from teacher (guru "master" or vajrācārya "teacher of vajra") to student (chela) through initiation ceremonies [2].

Tradition asserts that these teachings have been passed down through an unbroken lineage going back to the historical Buddha (circa 5th century BCE)... More

Full Moon Gathering, CoSM, July 12, 2025
CoSM, Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (@chapelofsacredmirrors) • Instagram
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Facebook, July 12, 2025
(AlexGreyCoSM) 🌕 You’re invited to CoSM’s July Full Moon Gathering! Hosted by @alexgreycosm and @allysongreycosm

📍 Where? @chapelofsacredmirrors (CoSM), New York. 🗓 When? July 12, 2025. 🎵 Featuring After Party music by Joey Mercedes 
@joey_mercedes_.

Come early for the full experience of our Full Moon Workshop: Transmuting the Veteran Narrative 
led by @Visionaryveterans @Veronikarose.art and @cp_Flow_ with special guests @burgandyviscosi and @the1sam__juan. See you there! 💕 Secure TICKETS: 🔗 in @chapelofsacredmirrors.

Monday, January 27, 2025

"The Shaman" (poem)

THE SHAMAN
Plant uses (Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society)
The shaman climbed the mountain, gathered sacred flowering herbs and berries along the way -- Datura moonflowers, toloache, Brugmansia angel's-trumpets, Salvia apiana kasiile sage, toyon, holly -- until delirium overwhelmed him with lurid and ecstatic visions of hell and heaven. Then he returned to the human world.

Tongva Culture Tour, Summer 2005 (Takwish)
Word spread of him. People asked, "Is it true, as they say, that you have seen hell?"

"I have."

"What's it like?"

"It's hideous, ironic, horror beyond imagination," the shaman winced to relive, nearly blinded by his recollection:

When do we eat? - We're eaten.
"There's food everywhere, but no one eats, and drink aplenty, but no one drinks. There are long wooden spoons with which to partake, but their bodies have only tiny appendages for arms, too short to bring such elongated spoons up to their shriveled lips. Parched slaver forms ashes in their mouths, and bodies waste away. Struggle as they might, everything goes to wrack and ruin. They bellow in agony."

The people shrank away, with growing acreage dedicated to burying their discarded surplus, collapsing under smoldering heaps of trash.


Forced conversion (Museum of the SFV)
"And heaven?" asked the hopeful. "Is it true, as they say, that you have seen heaven?"

"I have."

"And what's it like?" they pleaded.

"Heaven," the shaman revealed, "is exactly the same."

"What!?" cried the people. "The same? Surely that is no heaven!"

How they faced one another.
"There is one difference," the shaman went on to explain.

"In heaven, there is an abundance of food and drink, long wooden spoons, and bodies with tiny appendages too short to bring these utensils up to their mouths. But the beings there, without hesitation, use the long spoons to feed one another.

"There is no want. No request goes unanswered, no desire unfulfilled. Acts of kindness overflow as do the spoons. Spoon fed and cared for, there are continuous cries of gratitude and rejoicing as beings fall over one another to be the first to give.

Time to eat? - For us? - No, for them.
"There is food, and they eat. There is drink, and they drink, and they relish their bounty and diversity. They care for one another, nourish one another, thank one another. The sweetness of their caresses, gentleness of their words, and kindness of their eyes," the shaman wept to recall, "make the place so beautiful that I only wish I could show one world to the other."

  • Seven (poem), Ashley Wells (ed.), CC Liu (graphic design), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Visions of a Lakota Holy Man (video)


Visions of a Lakota Holy Man
Black Elk Speaks
(American Esoteric) Let us read from Black Elk Speaks as told to author John G. Neihardt, published in 1932. Black Elk, also known as Hehaka Sapa, was impressed by the visionary Northern Paiute religious leader Wovoka and his Ghost Dance of 1890, a Native American renewal movement.


TIMESTAMPS
  • 00:00-2:02 - Black Elk (aka Heȟáka Sápa)
  • 2:03-2:43 - The Cloud People
  • 2:44-4:00 - Early Visions
  • 4:01-12:08 - The Great Vision
  • 12:09-14:02 - Dancing Heyokas
  • 14:03-16:17 - Rain on Harney Peak
  • American Esoteric, Jan. 18, 2025; Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Dr. B. Long: life after death proof, NDEs


Best evidence for life after death: World's largest NDE study revealed | Jeffrey Long
(Danny Jones) June 17, 2024: Danny Jones Podcast. Watch all episodes uncensored and ad-free on Patreon: dannyjones.

Dr. Jeffrey Long is a medical doctor specializing in the practice of radiation oncology, using radiation to treat cancer. Long has conducted the world's largest study of Near-Death experiences (NDEs) which includes over 4,000 experiencers.

OUTLINE
  • 00:00 - Scientific evidence of near-death experiences (NDEs)
  • 08:56 - The problem with researching NDEs
  • 20:46 - Near death experience vs. fear death experience
  • 23:19 - Are NDEs religious?
  • 34:54 - Scientific evidence of reincarnation
  • 42:10 - How NDEs change people
  • 47:11 - NDEs give people superpowers
  • 52:58 - DMT vs. NDEs
  • 01:05:19 - Consciousness during cardiac arrest
  • 01:11:09 - Blind people regaining vision during NDE
  • 01:21:00 - Remembering NDEs
  • 01:25:07 - Death bed visions
  • 01:31:14 - Shared higher consciousness
  • 01:35:23 - Hellish NDEs
FOLLOW DANNY JONES:/ dannyjones / jonesdanny. LISTEN ON Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/4VTLG0H... Apple - itunes.apple.com/podcast/id14...

SPONSORS: cutsclothing.com - Refine style with ‪@cutsclothing‬ and get 20% off with code DANNY. shopmando.com - Control Body Odor ANYWHERE and get $5 off of Starter Pack. That’s over 40% off with promo code DANNY whiterabbitenergy.com/?ref=DJP - Use code DJP for 20% off EPISODE LINKS x.com/4nderf, nderf.org.
  • Dr. Bryan Long, Danny Jones (Danny Jones Podcast); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Friday, May 24, 2024

Terrence Howard, Joe Rogan, and rebuttal

Explaining √2 comments, other theories

Joe Rogan #2152 - Terrence Howard
(PowerfulJRE) May 18, 2024: Terrence Howard is an actor of stage and screen lauded for his work in "Crash," "Iron Man," "Empire," and "Shirley," as well as a musician and researcher in the fields of logic and engineering. terryslynchpins.com


Top chemist responds to these statements

Terrence Howard explains his √2 comments and other theories
(JRE Clips) May 18, 2024: JRE #2152 w/Terrence Howard YouTube: • Joe Rogan Experience #2152 - Terrence...Joe Rogan Experience #2152 - Terrence... JRE on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4rOoJ6E...
  • Sheldon S., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, January 5, 2023

"THE SHAMAN" (poem)

Dhr. Seven (Village Poets of Sunland & Tujunga, May 27, 2018); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly
.
Sacred datura or moonflower
The shaman climbed the mountain, gathered sacred flowering herbs and berries along the way -- datura moonflowers, toloache, Brugmansia angel's-trumpets, Salvia apiana sage, kasiile, toyon, holly -- until delirium overwhelmed him with lurid and ecstatic visions of hell and heaven. Then he returned to the human world.

Word spread of him. People asked, "Is it true, as they say, you have seen hell?"

"I have."

"What's it like?"

Landfills burn like sulfurous pits
"It's hideous, ironic, horror beyond imagination," the shaman winced to recall, nearly blinded by his recollection: "There's food everywhere, but no one eats, and drink aplenty, but no one drinks. There are long wooden spoons with which to partake, but their bodies have only tiny appendages for arms, too short to bring such elongated spoons up to their shriveled lips. Parched slaver forms ashes in their mouths, and bodies waste away. Struggle as they might, everything goes to wrack and ruin. They bellow in agony."


The people shrank away, with growing acreage dedicated to burying their discarded surplus collapsing under smoldering heaps of trash.

"And heaven?" asked the hopeful. "Is it true, as they say, you have seen heaven?"

"I have."

"And what's it like?" they pleaded.

"Heaven," the shaman revealed, "is exactly the same."

"What," cried the people, "the same? Surely that is no heaven!"

Share like the Buddha shared: karma.
"There is one difference," the shaman went on to explain. "In heaven, there is an abundance of food and drink, long wooden spoons, and bodies with tiny appendages too short to bring these utensils up to their mouths. But the beings there, without hesitation, use the long spoons to feed one another. There is no want. No request goes unanswered, no desire unfulfilled. Acts of kindness overflow as do their wooden spoons. Spoon-fed and cared for, there are continuous cries of gratitude and rejoicing as beings fall over one another to be the first to give. There is food, and they eat. There is drink, and they drink, and they relish diversity and bounty. They care for one another, nourish one another, thank one another. The sweetness of their caresses, the gentleness of their words, the kindness of their eyes," the shaman wept to recall, "make the place so beautiful that I only wish I could have shown one world to the other."

"If beings knew, as I know, the results of sharing, they would not eat without having given.
Medicine Man performing his mysteries over a dying man, 1832, oil on canvas (George Catlin, Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.161, public domain).
The original Buddhist wandering ascetics were shamans called shramanas.


Sunday, March 24, 2019

Meditation on Psychedelics (video)

Dr. Peterson, We Plants Are Happy Plants; Sheldon S., Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

The Shamanic Experience
"I’m going to tell you a little bit about the shamanic tradition because it’s associated with Jacob’s Ladder.

What is Jacob's Ladder?
"According to Mircea Eliade -- who was a great historian of religion, a compatriot of Jung, for they influenced each other, quite substantially -- shamanism that used psychedelics was a degeneration of the original, more pure shamanism.

"But I think later scholarship has demonstrated that that’s incorrect -- that the shamanic ritual per se was a direct consequence of the discovery and ritual use of psychedelic substances." From Biblical Series XIII: Jacob's Ladder.

Dr. P's spiritual awakening

Dr. Jordan Peterson's Spiritual Awakening

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Waking up with Psychedelics, L.A. (May 31)

Ananda, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Jen, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

What was the original Rx? DMT?
REVIEW: It was a cool Sunday night, traffic was light, and we wended our way to the cemetery to be with psychedelic researcher Dr. Charles Grob (UCLA), Trudy Goodman (Insight LA), Vince Horn (Buddhist Geeks), Spring Washam (shamanic Buddhist and East Bay meditation teacher), and stroke victim Ram Dass (Harvard's Dr. Alpert who coined the phrase "Be here now").
Waking up with Psychedelics ($75, May 13th)
We were there to learn about mind-expanding substances' role in "waking up," becoming enlightened, attaining altered states of meditation and understanding to elevate our consciousness. Dr. Grob had the most interesting things to say about psilocybin (mushrooms), MDMA (pharmaceutical grade ecstasy) and Phase 3 protocols to use entheogens for healing and opening.

FOMO is the "fear of missing out." For those who missed it, we are having it another event to continue the conversation ($10 on May 31, 2018 in Pasadena, look below for details). And although the house was at capacity with about 300 in attendance, a lot more people wanted to be there. But we sold it out rather quickly. First Dr. Christiane Wolf came out and said a few niceties introducing the supposed-moderator Vince Horn.
  • Vince made an important point that echoed throughout the night: There is no sense in boosterism or pessimism, people who are all for it no matter what, people who are all against it no matter what. That would be no discussion. Let's meet in the middle. Who can tell an adult what to do or not do? Who can be so foolish to think there is no danger? Mindset and setting are key. In between the extremes are the tolerant Buddhists. They don't say yes, don't say no, but say, "We'll see." They listen to the evidence, consider the potential, assess the risks, and do not fall prey to easy answers or magical thinking. This is about seeing reality, experiencing the fullness of consciousness, not checking out unmindfully. You are responsible for you.
We got everyone in who attended with us.
There was no "discussion" as such, no "conversation," so nothing to moderate. He said his peace, next person (Trudy) said her peace and then sort of took over, and before you knew it, the beloved and respected Ram Dass sucked all the air out of the room. Yawn. No one dared prompt or curtail him; he's far too old and important for that. Even gentle Trudy didn't dare.
Goodman, Salzberg, Kornfied...Ram Dass
Horn delivered his speech in muted tones admitting his own usage after many years as a sober, somber, straight-edge Theravada practitioner, a self-described "sanctimonious prick" who had a cool wife, who was present and very supportive. She smoked pot to deal with her family. Horn's trips were mostly gentle and opened him up to the possibility that substances might be helpful to the awakening process. They come with danger, he warned

Then Horn brought out "tolerant Buddhist" Trudy Goodman, who talked about taking acid (LSD) back in the day before finding meditation. She then became a single mother and an avid meditator and left those days behind. Today she's open to the discussion, and this was the official launch of that discussion, though as already said, not a lot of discussing took place. Her brother's bad acid trip, only his fourth, took him out for ten years. He's okay now. But to reiterate, these substances come with danger.

A return to Buddhist shamanism
A Fierce Heart (Spring Washam)
Spring Washam, a secret medicinal ayahuasca enthusiast (who runs Buddhist ayahuasca meditation retreats in Peru, where it is legal and used in the traditional method under the safe supervision of a real shaman in the jungle).

She first used it to overcome childhood trauma -- which we bet was sexual, but she did not specify -- after meditating for a long time and realizing that her "stuff" was still with her.

The plant medicine healed her, and right after the event, she got on a plane to return to the jungle for another retreat. She once spent more than a year training to be an ayahuascera or "plant shaman" using this entheogen.

Author, Buddhist Shaman Spring Washam
She has learned her lesson over the years and now carefully screens all participants rather than taking their word for it that they are stable and secure enough to handle the trauma-healing and potentially trauma-inducing experience.

She is only one of two people of color (POC) teaching insight meditation in the Bay Area and is the author of Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage, and Wisdom in Any Moment.

Scientific research at UCLA
Then came the most fascinating speaker of the night, psychedelic researcher Dr. Charles S Grob, M.D. He had as much good to say about MDMA as magic mushrooms (psilocybe) and has not studied LSD, as others do. Details below. The published research has been amazing, progressing apace, and confirmed to help with the psychological trait known as "openness." One case dealt with the social anxiety of a high functioning autistic patient, who was relieved of his suffering.

UCLA psychedelic researcher Dr. Grob
There has been success in treating depression, palliative care for end-of-life patients, as well as giving meaning to life for those suffering existential issues. There are various phases in such research. Phase 1 protocols test the safety of a substance. Phase 3 attempts to heal. Various research facilities around the country, at the most prestigious universities in the land, are running simultaneous studies using the same protocol. Most satisfying for Dr. Grob has been how open other researchers and doctors have become to the very idea of using ancient substances -- which we have thanks to the indigenous people of this country. Not all news is good needs, but Grob notes that in just the past week, four positive articles on the issue have been published, with articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle, which didn't used to be very friendly or encouraging to this line of medical and mental health research. His research is published, and more is coming, and interest is growing.

I was Dr. Richard Alpert at Harvard U. I took LSD, went to India, and became Ram Dass.
.
Then Goodman brought out Ram Dass, who brought the show to a grinding halt. Our anticipation had been heightened to see the legend live (via Skype) by a short biographical video narrated by Oprah. She asked him if he continued to take psychedelic drugs after meeting his guru, having gone from being a secular Jew to a spiritual Buddhist to a kind of Hindu devotee of a maha rishi ("great seer"). Asked this right out of the gate, Ram Dass paused, hemmed and hawed, and paused some more and some more and some more. Wait, did the video screen freeze? No, he blinked. He's just not answering.

Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert)
No one warned us that he was suffering from a terrible case of Broca's aphasia (a severe impairment in language function due to trauma of a certain portion of the brain related to the ability to speak fluently following a severe stroke that almost killed him 20 years ago, leaving him with only a 10% chance of survival). He was in a wheelchair, and now he lives with an attendant (seen behind him on screen) in Hawaii. Finally, he answered, "Off and on," and everyone laughed uproariously to deal with the discomfort. Then it went on like that. Speaking now takes him between 30 and 40 times longer than it should. So each second of normal speaking now takes about 35 seconds. So there was time to nap. And 20 minutes later, after a long and rambling story (that if compressed must be as funny as it is interesting), he asked, "Am I talking too much?" Everyone laughed. He must have caught on, now that we were long out of time, that he might be taking too long to say a simple thing. He does not teach with words, he claimed. He had learned to teach with unconditional love eyes, just as his Himalayan guru gave him the first time they met.
 
Sorry, no time for questions, conversation, or discussion. Please buy books on the way out. The mixed-sex bathroom line was out the door. And all that waiting, yet nobody was talking about what we had just seen. There was a bar. Why was there a bar? There was a big foyer to have a spirited discussion in. But this is L.A. Nobody talks in L.A., nor do they walk. It was out to the cemetery parking lot ("Hollywood Forever" is a really cool cemetery that annually celebrates Dia de Los Muertos in full view of the Hollywood sign).

We want more. We want to meditate. We want a chance to ask questions, to contribute to the conversation, to share and discuss experiences, and learn what the Buddha had to say about it.
  • What is the modern medical research on entheogens?
  • What is the ancient Native American shaman approach?
  • Why, according to the Vinaya, are Buddhist monastics allowed to smoke?
  • Why did the Buddha single out only alcohol as running counter to the Five Precepts?
  • What is the fifth precept actually -- since all of them are commonly misunderstood and interpreted in accordance with our cultural biases rather than those of the Buddha's time?
We'll find out on a very special night:
  • Dharma Meditation Initiative at PasaDharma
  • "Waking up with Psychedelics: Medicine (Drugs), Meditation, Enlightenment"
  • Thursday, May 31, 2018, 6:30-8:30 PM
  • Sequoyah School inside The Neighborhood UU Church, Rm. 23
  • 301 N. Orange Grove Bl. (near Colorado Bl.), Pasadena 91103
  • Donation: $10 (admission with RSVP)
Waking Up with Psychedelics: Deep conversation about entheogens and enlightenment