Alan Watts on Carl Jung

Alan Watts speaks about the time he met with Carl Jung. Topics discussed include approaching Eastern Philosophies as a westerner, Jung's ability to distill ancient wisdom in modern psychological terms, the collective unconscious and more.

Transcription

There was a sort of twinkle in Jung’s eye that gave me the impression that he knew himself to be just as much a villain as everybody else.There is a nice German word, hintergedanken, which means a thought in the very far far back of your mind.

Jung had a hintergedanken in the back of his mind that showed in the twinkle in his eye. It showed that he knew and recognized what I sometimes call the element of irreducible rascality in himself. 

And he knew it so strongly and so clearly and in a way so lovingly, that he would not condemn the things in others and would therefore not be lead into those thoughts, feelings, and acts of violence towards others which are always characteristic of the people who project the devil in themselves upon the outside - upon somebody else - upon the scapegoat.

Now this made Jung a very integrated character.In other words, here I have to present a little bit of a complex idea.He was man who was thoroughly with himself - having seen and accepted his own nature profoundly. He had a kind of a unity and absence of conflict in his own nature which had to exhibit additional complications that I find so fascinating.

He was the sort of man who could feel anxious and afraid and guilty without being ashamed of feeling this way. In other words, he understood that an integrated person is not a person who has simply eliminated the sense of guilt or the sense of anxiety from his life - who is fearless and wooden and kind of sage of stone.

He is a person who feels all these things, but has no recriminations against himself for feeling them.And this is to my mind a profound kind of humor. You know in humor there is always a certain element of malice. There was a talk given on the Pacifica stations just a little while ago which was an interview with Al Capp. And Al Capp made the point that he felt that all humor was fundamentally malicious.Now there’s a very high kind of humor which is humor at one’s self – malice towards one’s self.

The recognition of the fact that behind the social role that you assume; behind all your pretentions to being either a good citizen or a fine scholar or a great scientist or a leading politician or a physician or whatever you happen to be – that behind this façade – there is a certain element of the unreconstructed bum. Not as something to be condemned and wailed over, but as something to be recognized as contributive to one’s greatness and to one’s positive aspect; in the same way that manure is contributive to the perfume of the rose.Jung saw this and Jung accepted this and I want to read a passage from one of this lectures, which I think is one of the greatest things he ever wrote. And which has been a very marvelous thing for me. It was in a lecture delivered to a group of clergy in Switzerland a considerable number of years ago ago and he writes as follows: People forget that even doctors have moral scruples and that certain patient’s confessions are hard even for a doctor to swallow. Yet the patient does not feel himself accepted unless the very worst of him is accepted too.

No one can bring this about by mere words. It comes only through reflection and through the doctor’s attitude towards himself and his own dark side. If the doctor wants to guide another or even accompany him a step of the way, he must feel with that person’s psyche. He never feels it when he passes judgment. Whether he puts his judgments into words or keeps them to himself, makes not the slightest difference.

To take the opposite position and to agree with the patient offhand is also of no use but estranges him as much as condemnation. Feeling comes only through unprejudiced objectivity.This sounds almost like a scientific precept. And it could be confused with a purely intellectual abstract attitude of mind. But what I mean is something quite different. It is a human quality: A kind of deep respect for the facts - for the man who suffers from them and for the riddle of such a man’s life. The truly religious person has such an attitude.

He knows that God has brought all sort of strange and unconceivable things to pass and seeks in the most curious ways to enter a man’s heart. He therefore senses in everything the unseen presence of the Divine Will. This is what I mean by unprejudiced objectivity. It is a moral achievement on the part of the doctor who ought not to let himself be repelled by sickness and corruption. We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate. It oppresses. And I am the oppressor of the person I condemn - not his friend and fellow sufferer.I do not in the least mean to say that we must never pass judgment when we desire to help and improve. But, if the doctor wishes to help a human being, he must be able to accept him as he is. And he can do this in reality only when he has already seen and accepted himself as he is. Perhaps this sounds very simple, but simple things are always the most difficult.

In actual life, it requires the greatest art to be simple. And so, acceptance of oneself is the essence of the moral problem, and the acid test of one’s whole outlook on life. That I feed the beggar - that I forgive an insult - that I love my enemy in the name of Christ - all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do unto the least of my brethren that I do unto Christ. But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all - the poorest of all beggars - the most impudent of all offenders - yea the very fiend himself - that these are within me? And that I myself stand in need of the arms of my own kindness. That I myself am the enemy that must be loved.

What then?

Then, as a rule, the whole truth of Christianity is reversed. There is then no more talk of love and long suffering. We say to the brother within us: Rocca, and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide him from the world. We deny ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves.

And had it been God himself who drew near to us in this despicable form, we should have denied him a thousand times before a single cock had crowed.

What Was Up at the Tulum 2018 CryptoPsychedelic Summit?

It was introduced as “one of the strangest conferences ever, on the edge of the abyss,” held in Tulum Mexico on February 3, 2018.The CryptoPsychedelic Summit met the challenge.The crowd was an odd mix, definitely international (registrants were from 15 countries), clumps of mostly men but a good showing of women too. Psychedelic flags were flying but a lot of others too – well-heeled and otherwise of all ages.The artwork that surrounded the seating included live painting, more psychedelic than crypto. There was a touch of eccentricity, like the gentleman in the full manor house regalia, on the beach in the taco line, polished designer leather shoes, shirted, blazered and pocket scarfed.The conference billed the event as bringing together leaders in blockchain and psychedelic science to discuss new possibilities in research, innovation, and community building.Buckminster Fuller’s arresting words were on the stage: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.”The fundamental premise of bringing together cryptocurrency and psychedelic seemed to be this. Two powerful modalities working to create change and empower personal autonomy. Decentralize your mind, decentralize your wallet. Or something like that.Decentranet and Psymposia were the official sponsors, though the enthusiastic team behind the gathering included Sophia Hughes, Mike Margolies, Daniel Shankin, Matt McKibbin and Brian Normand. The official website lists a dozen varied Participating Sponsors from both the crypto and psychedelic sides (including MAPs, ComputeforCancer, Pineapple Fund) and a bunch of Media Sponsors too (Evolve+Ascend, Psychedelic Times). You can even shop for cool gear.The panels started out with topics like maximizing the benefits from psychedelics and creation of a modern day Eleusis and mostly turned to crypto after lunch. The afternoon talk sometimes got crypto-esoteric. How many people in the crowd really spent time thinking about the crypto trilemma? A few specific crypto projects were mentioned (such as Presearch, the decentralized search engine and GuardianCircle.com, a decentralized 9-1-1) but the conversation was mostly high level, big picture.The last panel tried to tie it all in a bow. By then, the rain had stopped and the crowd was growing noisy in the back , exchanging cards, laughing, chatting away. It was getting harder to focus.Still, unifying ideas were offered. The crypto rich could help fund worthy psychedelic projects. The culture of connectedness that psychedelics can give us could be used in the crypto space so it’s not all about the lambo. Crypto can be a “radical experiment in community building.”By the end, some were still puzzled as to what exactly was the topic at hand but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in the warm evening air (and most agreed the logo was stellar).We talked with friends new and old about, well, community, psychedelics and crypto. A strange success indeed.Story by Deleta Namey for MindPod Newtork

It's Okay by Toni Bernhard

A Practice to Help You Handle Life's Difficulties with GraceA few months ago, I was being interviewed for a radio show and the host said to me, “What is equanimity? You talk about it in your books but I don’t know what it is. Tell me in one sentence. ” I’d never been asked to reduce equanimity to one sentence, but I had my second book, How to Wake Up, sitting next to me and as I hastily opened it, lucky for me, it opened right to a discussion of equanimity. I answered her question with:Equanimity is greeting whatever is present in our experience with an evenness of temper, so our minds stay balanced and steady in the face of life’s ups and downs.Today, I’d add the words calm and tranquil: balanced and steady, calm and tranquil, in the face of life’s ups and downs.How does this aspiration play out in every day life? If we’re to “greet whatever is present in our experience” with calmness and tranquility, how about the many (many) times when those experiences are unpleasant? It’s not easy to greet unpleasant experiences with calmness and ease! It’s more common to be thrown off-balance when the day doesn’t go as expected, or when someone makes a thoughtless comment to us, or plans have to be changed at the last minute due to something such as chronic illness (which I use as an example because it applies to so much of my life).I know from over 25 years of practicing equanimity (learned from my Buddhist studies), it’s a challenge—every single day. But with practice, it becomes easier to reach that place of calmness and tranquility, if only for a few moments at first.In this piece, I want to share a practice I’ve been using recently. It’s simple, really. I intentionally start a sentence by saying to myself “It’s okay if…” Obviously, not everything is going to feel okay (certainly not the loss of a loved one) and so this is a practice to use only when it’s wise to do so—that is, when you think it might help you accept and feel okay about what’s happening in your life.Starting a sentence with “It’s okay if…” helps me stay steady and calm when everyday challenges start to throw me off balance. For example, on a day I’m feeling particularly sick or my pain levels are high, I’ll say to myself, “It’s okay if I feel awful today. Sometimes that’s how chronic illness feels.”You can be as creative with this practice as you’re comfortable with. With health-related issues, you might say to yourself: “It’s okay if I can’t do all the things I used to do”; “It’s okay if my friend doesn’t understand what it’s like to live with chronic pain. Some people have to suffer from something themselves before they can empathize with what it’s like.” With other issues, you could say: “It’s okay if my new job didn’t turn out to be all I’d hoped for. Nothing’s perfect”; “It’s okay if my kids have problems. Everyone does.”The more I use this practice, the braver I become with my “It’s okay if…” formulations. Recently, I’ve been trying this out: “It’s okay if I’m chronically ill the rest of my life.” Whoa! The rest of my life? Can that ever be okay? It turns out that, for me, it can.It’s true that sometimes when I say that sentence, resistance arises and I get thrown off-balance and feel scared. But if I’m honest with myself, I might very well be chronically ill the rest of my life. If that’s the case, I know from experience that I’ll feel better emotionally and I’ll be happier the more I can accept that possibility with grace. That’s equanimity in action for me. When I feel equanimous, a sense of well-being arises and I feel at peace. That’s why I keep practicing.I hope this idea was helpful and that you’ll try it.Toni Bernhard is the author of the award-winning  How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and their Caregivers, and How to Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide to Navigating Joy and Sorrow. Her newest book is called How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide. Before becoming ill, she was a law professor at the University of California—Davis. Her blog, “Turning Straw Into Gold” is hosted by Psychology Today online. Visit her website at www.tonibernhard.com. 

A Wide Variety of Methods

There is no single, definitive tradition in the buddhadharma, because there are all kinds of sentient beings who have their own interests and dispositions. For that reason, there has to be a wide variety in methods for traversing the path. Mind is not a definite, concrete thing. For that reason, the methods for relating to the mind also cannot be concrete and universal.The main objective of the dharma is to tame our minds — to bring peace and happiness to our minds — but there needs to be a wide variety of methods available for different sentient beings. For example, some beings might give rise to bodhichitta, the wish to attain enlightenment, through meditating on emptiness. The meditation on emptiness might be an avenue for them to connect with the altruistic heart of bodhichitta. On the other hand, other beings might not be able to connect with bodhichitta through contemplating emptiness. So there’s no universal rule, no definitive set of methods. Again, it leads back to the state of mind: since there’s no definitive, universal state of mind, there can never be any definitive, universal set of methods.At the same time, there are traditions within Buddhism that are very beneficial and carry great blessings, because they are the traditions of highly accomplished spiritual beings. These blessings are special and should be seen as sacred and beneficial. That’s why we respect the teaching styles and methods of the great spiritual masters of the past. They don’t have to be regarded as concrete rules, but at the same time they do carry supreme blessings.– 17th Karmapa

17th Karmapa on the web:http://kagyuoffice.orghttp://kagyu.orghttp://kagyumonlam.orghttp://rumtek.orghttp://karmapa.justdharma.com17th Karmapa biography:http://kagyuoffice.org/karmapa/

In Search of The Lost Chord by Danny Goldberg

Fifty years ago the United States was about to embark on an adventure which came to be known as The Summer of Love.1967 was the year of the release of the Beatles’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and of debut albums from the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, among many others.In addition to the thriving music scene, 1967 was also the year of the Summer of Love; the year that millions of now-illegal LSD tabs flooded America; Muhammad Ali was convicted of avoiding the draft; Martin Luther King Jr. publicly opposed the war in Vietnam; Stokely Carmichael championed Black Power; Israel won the Six-Day War, and Che Guevara was murdered.It was the year that hundreds of thousands of protesters vainly attempted to levitate the Pentagon.It was the year the word “hippie” peaked and died, and the Yippies were born.Friend of MindPod Network, Danny Goldberg, has a new book coming out that explores what made 1967 such a pivotal year, one that resonates with millions of people around the globe.Danny's book, "In Search of The Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea" is a subjective history of 1967, the year he graduated from high school. It is, he writes in the introduction, “an attempt at trying to remember the culture that mesmerized me, to visit the places and conversations I was not cool enough to have been a part of.”It is also a refreshing and new analysis of the era; by looking at not only the political causes, but also the spiritual, musical, and psychedelic movements, Goldberg provides a unique perspective on how and why the legacy of 1967 lives on today.Danny provided MindPod Network with an excerpt of the book (out June 6th) which you can find below.THE SUMMER OF LOVE(from Chapter 6, “Flower Power”)The Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic was founded in June 1967 by Dr. David E. Smith, who immediately became a go-to source for journalists covering the Summer of Love.Smith staffed the clinic with volunteers who contributed samples of penicillin and tranquilizers from local hospitals where they also interned.Aware of police scrutiny, Smith put up a sign on the door that read,"No dealing! No holding drugs. No using drugs. No alcohol. No pets. Any of these can close the clinic. We love you."The clinic served more than two hundred and fifty people a day. Among the most common ailments treated at the clinic were bad trips, drug overdoses, and venereal diseases. (As of the writing of this book in 2017, the clinic is still operating.)There were ongoing tensions between hippies and local police, who periodically enforced the drug laws and were under constant pressure from local businesses to help minimize disruptions in traffic.Censorship of the arts was still a major issue in 1967.Lenny Bruce had died of an overdose the previous year, driven to despair by relentless and unconscionable obscenity prosecutions of his stand-up performances.Statements of support for The Beard (a Michael McClure play that had been shut down by the cops) came in from Norman Mailer, Robert Creeley, and Allen Ginsberg, among others.Parallel to the Haight world, the antiwar movement was surging, but combining the cultures remained elusive.On April 15, the same day that Martin Luther King Jr. led the march to the United Nations in New York, there was a march in San Francisco to Kezar Stadium.At the outset, there were 50,000 people there, but the pacifist organizers focused the program on the earnest but unhip peaceniks.Country Joe and the Fish played from the back of a truck as the march went on, yet once inside the stadium they were only given enough time for two songs.Ginsberg complained that they had foolishly ignored the hippies and the crowd dispersed early.Nonetheless, the Vietnam War was inescapable even at the Oracle.Early in 1967, they published “A Curse on the Men in Washington, Pentagon,” a Gary Snyder poem which addressed those at the Department of Defense with the lines:“To trample your throat in your dreams / This magic I work, this loving I give / that my children may flourish / And yours won’t thrive.”The decision to publish was controversial within the Oracle, and involved a vote by the entire staff.By a margin of one vote, the paper moved forward with running the poem, a decision that resulted in a photographer, whose father worked at the Pentagon, leaving the magazine.The August issue had the line “Psychedelics, Flowers, and War” on its cover, and it included two full pages dedicated to a Michael McClure poem.In representing the sensibilities of the community that had put Haight-Ashbury on the cultural map, the Oracle focused much of its energy on visions of a more positive alternate society.Many of the Oracle writers and artists refused to sign their work, because they felt that their writing came from a higher consciousness.One frequent theme in the paper was getting back to nature.A writer who identified himself by the initials S.B. extolled “those who seek being rather than status and who decide to return to the land often to attain an ethical relationship with nature.”Other articles focused on organic gardening and astrology. There was even a piece on Aquarian tarot cards, and another headlined, “Dialogue between Astronomer and Philosopher.”Letters to the editor poured in from newly formed communities around the country.*Pre-order In Search of the Lost Chord on Amazon here> http://amzn.to/2q4ReWS*Excerpted from In Search of the Lost Chord: 1967 and the Hippie Idea, copyright 2017 by Danny Goldberg, used with permission of Akashic Books (akashicbooks.com).

The Top 3 Species Of Magic Mushrooms And Their History

“Magic mushrooms” is a term used to generally describe mushrooms with psychoactive properties.

However, the cultural concept of “magic mushrooms” clashes with the general term.

Culturally speaking, most people are referring to a specific genre of psychoactive mushrooms called  “psilocybin mushrooms” when they say “magic mushrooms”.

However, “magic mushrooms” encompass other psychoactive mushrooms as well - for example amanita muscaria or claviceps purpurea, which are not part of the psilocybe mushrooms family.

Get THE book about Growing Your Own Magic Mushrooms

Magic mushrooms are sacred medicine (also called “psychedelics”) used traditionally in Central America in religious and spiritual rituals.

They contain psychoactive compounds which induce visions, psychedelic experiences and enhance extrasensory senses. Magic mushrooms are one of the safest and most popular psychedelics of our current times.

The modern Western world has come into closer contact with them around the 1950’s, thanks to an article published in Life Magazine in 1959.

There are more and more scientific studies proving that consuming these magic mushrooms have clear benefits, both in healing psychological disorders as well as enhancing spiritual and meaningful experiences.

Before consuming these psychoactive mushrooms, it is better to know the different types of magic mushrooms, how they are consumed and in what specific contexts.Here are the most popular 3 types of magic mushrooms...

Magic Mushrooms #1 - Psilocybin Mushrooms

Psilocybin mushrooms are the most popular type of magic mushrooms.

They are part of the Strophariaceae family and the Psilocybe genus.There are more than 180 species of psilocybin mushrooms, each one with a different intensity and “flavor” of experience.

The most popular psilocybin mushrooms are “Psilocybe Cubensis” (also called “Golden Teacher” due to the fact that it is a powerful spiritual teacher) as well as “Psilocybe Semilanceata Mushrooms”.

Other less-known species of psilocybin mushrooms include psilocybe cyanescens, psilocybe azurencens, psilocybe bohemica and others.The active psychoactive compounds in psilocybin mushrooms are psilocybin and psilocin.

These biochemical substances are the ones responsible for the psychedelic and mind-altering experiences of psilocybin mushrooms.Depending on the contents of these two compounds, psilocybin mushrooms differ in potency and the psychedelic experience they offer.

Psilocybe azurencens is the most potent one because it contains the highest amount of these two compounds (potency of selected Psilocybe mushrooms).

Another potent one is psilocybe baeocystis, with high amounts of the two psychoactive compounds.However, psilocybe semilanceata is the most popular in Europe because it is the species which grows most frequently on its own in this area, particularly in the forests.

They are also called “Liberty Caps” due to their large cap.All these mushrooms also differ when it comes to the conditions in which they grow and thrive.

Some of them are fit to be grown at home, in a sterile environment, using jars or carton boxes. Other species of psilocybin require much more exquisite conditions to prosper.

Find out how Psilocybin Mushrooms and Truffles are being used to heal trauma >>

Magic Mushrooms #2 - Amanita Muscaria

Amanita muscaria is another type of popular magic mushrooms. It is also known as “Fly Agaric” or “Fly Amanita”.

It belongs to the genus “Amanita”, amongst many other types of mushrooms.If you remember the mushrooms with a red cap and white dots on it, depicted in most fairytales and cartoons, then you know how they look.

They can be found frequently in forests, especially in autumn.Amanita muscaria were used most frequently by Siberian shamans since history started being recorded in those parts.

They also have a long history of being used in the rest of Asia, as well as Northern Europe. Interestingly enough, records state that the urine produced by the persons who ingest amanita muscaria is much more potent (as in having psychedelic properties) than ingesting the mushrooms themselves.

This can be explained due to the fact that the liver recognizes the psychoactive compounds in these mushrooms as being toxic, hence it rushes to evacuate it with the use of the kidneys. The psychoactive compounds in amanita muscaria are called “botenic acid” and “muscimol.”

Dennis McKenna discusses Psilocybin, DMT and their impact on consciousness >>

Magic Mushrooms #3 - Claviceps Purpurea

Claviceps purpurea (also known as “Ergot”) is a specific type of mushrooms which grows on rye. Actually, this type of mushrooms are more like parasites growing off the rye, infesting this grain and feeding off of it.

The main psychedelic biochemical compound is called “ergotamine”, which is also the predecessor of the modern psychedelic LSD.They belong to the family of Hypocreaceae and Claviceps genus.

Traditionally it is considered a poison, although the ancient Romans and Greeks used them as sacred entheogens. Ergot poisoning (also known as “St Anthony's Fire”) causes hallucinations, gangrenous loss of limbs, and death. Outbreaks plagued medieval Europe and were associated with witchcraft and the Inquisition.Another fascinating story about Ergot includes the Eleunisian mysteries(Wikipedia).

The Eleunisian mysteries are thought to actually represent a close guarded ancient secret - they were thought to be sacred ceremonies consuming this type of mushroom in order to facilitate spiritual experiences.

Plato and other famous thinkers of this ancient period were thought to have consumed this sacred psychedelic.It is advised to exercise maximum caution when it comes to cultivating these mushrooms, both in a sterile environment or in their natural environment. There are many species of mushrooms which are not psychoactive.

Some are deadly poisonous while others are edible.It is best to work with a shaman who knows how to properly prepare and cultivate this sacred medicine. It is imperative that you consume them in a safe, nurturing and sacred environment with the utmost respect for the mushrooms and their spirit.These are not “toys” to play with - they are powerful sacred medicine. Treat them accordingly and you will have a beautiful experience.