Daniele Bolelli is an writer, martial artist, university professor, and podcaster. He is the author of several books including Create Your Own Religion and Not AfraidLISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThese mind melds are brought to you by YOU! Find out how to support us and receive rewards in the process at our Patreon page.One of the hallmarks of our time is the tension stemming from the tug of war between raw information and our attempt to funnel it into a worldview. Our inherited ideas, religions, political affiliations and flags.
Of course, none of them fully cut it. How could they? They predate the mass of data and stimulation that has become the stuff of everyday life.So we're really left with two choices- isolate ourselves in an echo chamber of like-minded thinkers and information where our philosophies won't be challenged (a tactic that seems to be more popular than ever), or we can sacrifice some sacred cows. We can actively create a more nuanced, adaptable philosophical scaffolding that's suited to the ever-intensifying blasts of information that have become the norm.This actually feeds right into the central theme of our conversation and guest, Daniele Bolelli's book, Create Your Own Religion, a task that we should all be embracing.
Third Eye Drops #28 - The Heart in the Network with Dr. Bruce Damer and Michael Garfield
Featured art - Alex GreyDr. Bruce Damer is a multidisciplinary researcher at UC Santa Cruz focused on origin of life theory, a speaker, performer and host of the Levity Zone podcast.Michael Garfield is an artist, musician, speaker and co-host of the Future Fossils podcast.LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThese mind melds are brought to you by YOU! Find out how to support us and receive rewards in the process at our Patreon page.As you probably know by now I’m an idea explorer, not an idea swallower. I’ve never been one to fully commit to a well-established reality tunnel. That said, last year I did an experiment with the I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination tool. Entering into it, I admittedly kept the “this is all just for fun" excuse at the ready.
I posed this question to the oracle: "Are we anything more than fancy apes? Is there a higher consciousness or purpose that we are connected to?"
The answer it gave was hexagram 53 changing into 13. Which, in a nutshell, means that we are when we come together in the spirit of something larger than ourselves. Shockingly profound.
As ontologically powerful as that moment was for me, I admit it’s all subjective. One could easily chalk up the spot-on nature of that answer to coincidence and confirmation bias.
Nonetheless, the more I consider it, it really does seem that networks, are the most potent expression of life. A network of beings with a purpose can accomplish practically anything, whether it’s a colony of ants architecting a massive system of tunnels, a group of creative friends endeavoring to elevate their respective talents, the building of the Large Hadron Collider or the horrors of war, we owe it all to networks.
This podcast you’re about to hear, just like that I Ching moment, has really intensified my fascination with the concept of the network. We spend quite a bit of time rapping about networks at all levels of existence, from the microbial mats that gave birth to life on this planet to the modern, technology-soaked process of manifesting a technosphere that's evolving us as a species, a society and as a vessel for consciousness in general.
Musings in this mind meld
- The blessing and curse of the creative
- How VR will bring us together
- Massive leaps forward in understanding where life came from
- The basic unit of life is a network
- How the younger generation seems to reflect more of a group mind than an individual one
- How the internet was born
- Is the best model for society an open-source collective network?
- The future of innovation isn’t in monolithic huge organizations, it’s in creative groups with singleminded missions
- What’s the future of space travel? Why would we ever need to physically go anywhere if we can experience it through technology?
- Bruce’s thought experiment on how consciousness began
- The unlikelihood of the universe existing at all
- Theoretical ideas versus practical ones
- Hear the full recording of the I Ching reading
Third Eye Drops #27 - One Truth, Many Stories with Shane Mauss
Featured art - Topher SipesComedian, knowledge-seeker, and psychonaut, Shane Mauss returns!LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThese mind melds are brought to you by YOU! Find out how to support us and receive rewards in the process at our Patreon page.
I don’t even know how or why I came upon this fact, but if you google "philosophy is,” the two first suggestions are “dead” and “bullshit.” Unfortunately I couldn’t resist the carrot, so I followed through with the "philosophy is dead" search.
The primary culprit for Google's suggestion seems to be a speech Stephen Hawking gave to Google’s Zeitgeist conference in 2011, in which he claimed that “ philosophy is dead” and that "scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.”
To hear my riff on Hawking's proclamation that philosophy is dead, click play.
Musings in this mind meld include -
- Stephen Hawking says "philosophy is dead." is it?
- Why too much data and not enough philosophy can be deceptive and dangerous
- Thoughts from Sam Harris on why we can't talk about consciousness in only measurable, observable terms
- Finding your creative niche
- Why Shane is transitioning to a psychedelics-based comedy set
- Dealing with criticism and the administrative aspects of being creative
- Communicating with critics, trolls and homeless people
- The memetic spread of information and ideas
- Is television a tremendous waste of time, or a valuable learning tool?
- Consciousness is a story we tell ourselves
- Shane’s ongoing wrestling match with his metaphysical views
- Are psychedelic substances fooling your brain into thinking you’re dying, causing it to run simulations that comfort you?
- How cultural conditioning and beliefs seem to shape people’s experiences in altered states of consciousness.
Third Eye Drops #26 - The Fractal Perspective with Michael Garfield
Michael Garfield returns to the show for another dip into the conversational ectoplasm!LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThese mind melds are brought to you by YOU! Find out how to support us and receive rewards in the process at our Patreon page.
In addition to being debonair and a brain-melting conversationalist who can talk about basically anything, Michael Garfield is an Austin-based writer, speaker, musician and visionary artist. For more on him, hop through this portal.Musings in this mind meld include -
- Virtual reality will need a failsafe to remind you you’re in it
- What happens when technology is so advanced we can no longer tell what’s real?
- Yes we’re being lied to, but don’t reject mainstream narratives just to embrace wacky ones
- More has "happened" in the last few months than the entire 16th century
- Information fatigue and navigating "truth" claims
- Internal authority versus external authority
- The rational age has wrestled us away from believing we exist within meaning.
- Subjective experiences can be just as valid as objective ones.
- Is religion just a more primitive version of science, or is it measuring something else?
- There may be no absolute beginnings, but humans think in terms of stories
- Rest in peace, Paul Laffoley
- Personal breakthroughs that reveal hidden worlds
- The scientifically-proven hyper-charged shroom-brain
- Supreme court ruling that people’s technology is a part of them and can’t be unlawfully searched seized
- If we can ever create a hive mind, what would happen to society?
- Being successfully nomadic
- Is the definition of success are changing?
- Is the internet age killing monogamy?
Third Eye Drops #23 - Transmuting Ivory Towers with MAPS Researcher, Ben Shechet
Ben Shechet is a Clinical Research Assistant with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) focused on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThese mind melds are brought to you by YOU! Find out how to support us and receive rewards in the process at our Patreon page.
For the status quo to die, at some point, the subversive needs to overtake the dominant. It would be fantastic if we could topple all of society's flawed, corrupt models and power structures in one sweet swoop of rebellion, but that's not how it usually works. For systemic change to occur, you've got to play the system’s bureaucratic game. You've got to dot your T's, cross your I's and be a force for gradual seepage into the cracks of society’s ideological ivory towers (a lot less sexy than a philosophical coup d'etat, I know).
One of the biggest forces for just that sort of in-it-for-the-long-haul change is MAPS. In a nutshell, they're conducting FDA-approved studies using psychedelic substances to treat psychological disorders like PTSD. With MDMA in particular, they're quite far along in the process. When coupled with psychotherapy, the molecule has been shown to be an extremely potent treatment for PTSD (more on MAPS and their studies in the show).
Our guest himself, Ben Shechet, is a researcher at MAPS. In the mind meld, he opens up about his fantastic, almost archetypical origin story. It's got it all- gnostic knocks on the head, pitfalls and serpentine neuroses to overcome. In other words, he's another brother in the multidisciplinary struggle for meaning this dimension forces us to engage in.
Musings and mentions in this mind meld-
- Ben’s personal exploratory journey with psychedelics, meditation and therapy
- How soon will psychedelic therapy will be legalized?
- The importance of “the sharp knock on the head”
- Flying too close to the psychedelic sun
- Why the scientific establishment favors narrow research, tends not to value a multidisciplinary knowledges approach
- Some of the deepest revelations come from sober reflection
- Inherited trauma and epigenetic expressions of it
- Judith Blackstone and the "Realization Process"
- No matter the trauma, you can work with it and heal it with the right tools and practices
- The myth of the atomized individual
- Search experiment and dabble. Eventually you’ll find what connects you with your authentic self
- The example of Wim Hof as a guide and high-acheiving human
- MAPS’ research
- Why is MDMA being fast tracked over other psychedelics?
- Finding healing in yourself versus seeking it from the outside
- Sovereignty over your consciousness and celebrating the gift of your body
- People who haven’t had trauma also need healing
- How will psychedelics change the way we think about and utilize technology?
Books mentioned-
Third Eye Drops #20 - RESONANCE, with Cory Allen
Cory Allen is a sound-smith, a meditation maestro and the host of the Astral Hustle podcast.LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERThis mind meld is a love letter to everyone making the art, reading the books, having the conversations, or diving into experience. It's also blazing-hot laser of vitriol directed toward the demagoguery, fear-mongering and fast-food philosophy permeating our news cycle.
In the sinew of the show, we converse with Cory Allen (a man who would definitely be a recipient of the psychic love letter mentioned above). Cory has not only developed a method for inner-exploration and self-realization, he's helping thousands of others do the same through his podcasts, music, meditation courses and binaural beat projects.Musings in this mind meld -
- Binaural beats, what they do and how to use them to enhance life, meditation and work performance
- Is there a "best" way to meditate? How I do it, how Cory does it
- Cory's "astral" meditation
- Subjectivity, cultivating a positive mindset and the fact that the exact same circumstance can be interpreted in polar opposite ways
- The mystery of sound, from pop music to rapturous bliss
- Experiencing sound with multiple sense and augmenting your consciousness with it
- How to tell the difference between an earnest, authentic piece of work and an ego-driven one
- Psychedelic stretching and Yoga
- Cory's Ayahuasca revelations
- Cory's turbulent teenage psychedelic bathroom adventures
Third Eye Drops #19 - Mitch Schultz - IT IS AND IT WILL -
Mitch Schultz is a filmmaker (DMT the Spirit Molecule, Huachuma) and culture creator. He leverages his artistic talents to open minds, educate and encourage existential exploration via vessels like his multimedia platform, MYTHAPHI, his films and his numerous podcast and speaking appearances.
"Civilization is 6 billion people trying to make themselves happy by standing on each other’s shoulders and kicking each other’s teeth in."
-Terence McKenna
The forces that coerce the persistence of the bleak paradigm referred to in the quote above are numerous and complicated. So much so, that it’s worth discussing whether or not it’s even possible to shake off the shackles of culture's dominant power structures. Perhaps we should just recognize the game for what it is and play it to the best of our ability.
For the brave, there is one alternative. "Putting the art pedal to the metal,” to quote Terence yet again. Tremendous advice, but it begs the question, “what if I’m not an artist?” The good news is, this doesn't just pertain to those of us with a proclivity for art. It’s a call to create in the largest most sweeping sense. It’s a recognition of the fact that we can all construct our own cultures and revel in our own experiences, victories, travels, orgasms (both physical and intellectual) and works, which will add up to our very own realities.
To begin this process, you have to divorce yourself of from the cultural superego we’ve constructed and indentured ourselves to over hundreds of years. You have to stand completely outside of it. Imagine yourself climbing a mountain next to a city. If you ascend enough, you'll reach a point where you can see the entire city for the construct that it is. In doing so, you find your goal, perspective.
What we're talking about here is what I like to call Perspective, with a capital "P". The type of perspective that facilitates a reacquaintance with the sentient majesty you harbor as a capable human being. It's unbelievably empowering. This is not an exercise in ego. I’m talking about contacting the impersonal quintessence that transcends your identity. In feeling it coursing through you, you take the first step toward creating your own culture and your own reality.
There are a few ways to do that and if you listen to this show, you can probably guess some of the ways to access that Perspective (If you're familiar with the guest on this show, that’s also a hint).
To hear more on this, click the "play" button above.
And now, I shall step down off of my preachy soapbox and acquaint you with our guest who is actually living what I’m blathering about. Mitch Schultz is most definitely constructing an incredible culture through his own works that we’re all richer for. His film, DMT the Spirit Molecule, stands out as an extraordinarily important piece of work that has been an important ontological catalyst for many. DMTTSM is an amalgamation of talks from luminaries like Dennis McKenna, Ralph Abraham, Rick Strassman and many others. Mitch is also also the founder of MYTHAPHI, an art production and distribution platform.
Musings in this mind meld include -
- What is DMT, why is it here?
- The research of Rick Strassman and how he’s marrying the worlds of science and philosophy
- Psychedelic experience and it's correlation to data
- Is technology part of natures? Are we just recreating natural processes in new ways?
- If we are tools of nature, what about free will?
- Power structures, tumult in the world, empathy and why people continue to suffer
- The genesis of DMTTSM
- Being born with curiosity
- Why are upticks in violence and dissatisfaction happening?
- How to follow up on a successful creative project
- The relationship between us and nature
- Are we still a part of nature of have we insulated ourselves from it?
- Entheogenic jungle experiences versus city experiences
- Mitch’s first DMT experience
- Creativity in a post-gnosis life
Third Eye Drops #17 - Rick Strassman, THE STRASSMAN BIBLE
Dr. Rick Strassman is a researcher and author best known for his DMT studies and the book inspired by them, DMT The Spirit Molecule. Dr. Strassman's newest work, DMT and the Soul of Prophecy explores the similarities between the visions of the biblical prophets and the DMT state described by his research volunteers.LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHER
By virtue of the time we were gooily extruded into this dimension, we've been charged with an odd task. We've got to grapple with cultural expectations, the informational techno-torrent we're immersed in and we've got to work on ourselves. Making those disparate duties harmonize in a way in a way that makes some sort of existential sense can require some serious ontological gymnastics.
Or you can always go the willful ignorance route, that is an option.
Anyway, let's discuss the wonder of Dr. Rick Strassman. He’s most well known for DMT studies he orchestrated in the early 1990’s, which were immortalized in his book, DMT the Spirit Molecule (and a great documentary by the same name).
You’re not familiar with the mystery of DMT, watch this.
As the person behind those studies, Dr. Strassman sat with person after person having the most impactful, mysterious and sacred experiences of their lives and it fundamentally shifted his priorities. Since then, he’s been digging into the spiritual experiences outlined in sacred texts, juxtaposing them against the mystical experiences of the participants in his DMT studies. The similarities are striking.
So to bring my musings full circle, Rick has made tantalizing progress when it comes to merging modernity and the mystical. He's really one of the best, most well informed guides out there, so I highly encourage heading to his site when you wrap up here.
Musings in this Mind Meld -
- The disinformation, censorship and demonization, of psychedelics and why it occurred
- Mainstream psychedelic studies, media acceptance and whether or not it's making a dent in the collective conditioning of society
- Eastern philosophies and their relationship to psychedelic substances
- Bodhicitta
- Parallels between prophecy and psychedelics
- Rick’s thoughts on whether or not psychedelic substances were involved in biblical prophecy
- Maimonides
- Spinoza
- Is true prophecy still around?
- Mega-churches and alternate realities, mass altered-states
- What is prophecy?
- Is consciousness completely self-generated, or are there other external influences on us we don’t understand?
- Juxtaposing the western worldview against the shamanistic one
- Finding value in esoteric texts that deal primarily with spiritual allegory
- Rick’s understanding and definition of the notion of God
- The cosmic law of cause and effect
- The universe is made of vibration and resonance
Third Eye Drops #12 - A Trip to the Psychedelic Salon with Lorenzo Hagerty and Bruce Damer
LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERLorenzo Hagerty is an author, podcaster, entrepreneur and liver of many lives (check out his incredibly eclectic bio).
His show, The Psychedelic Salon, offers a comprehensive collection of verbal serenades from disruptive visionaries like Timothy Leary, Terence McKenna, Alex Grey, Sasha Shulgin and many others. In short, it’s definitely one of my go-to sources for brain-melting content. Peruse their library if you haven’t!
We've also got the wonderful, whimsical multidisciplinary genius of Dr. Bruce Damer back on the show. Bruce is a researcher at UC Santa Cruz focused on origin of life related work and he’s most definitely got the gift of poetic yarn-spinning and man, does he have plenty of yarns to pull from!
Both Lorenzo and Bruce have lived through and partaken in the stuff of legends. I'm tempted to rant about some of the stories swapped between us, but I'll let you dig into it for yourself within the contents of the show.
Musings in this Mind Meld include -
- Bruce's breakthroughs in origin of life theory
- The psychedelic roots of silicon valley and computer programming
- Outgrowing capitalism and changing our value system
- Can capitalism and self-exploration coexist or are they mutually exclusive, diametrically apposed structures?
- Lorenzo's journey from a Catholic, Republican, Lawyer, Navy officer to a psychonaut and philosopher
- The underground Dallas MDMA scene and Dionysian parties
- MDMA and psychedelic therapy
- Eleusinian mysteries and rites of passage
- The importance of feeding yourself the right information, even if it feels repetitive at times
- Panspermia and the fertilization of Earth and its similarities to embryo fertilization
- Other things I've forgotten
Third Eye Drops #10 - Alexandre Tannous and the Hidden Realms of Sound
LISTEN | ITUNES YOUTUBE ARCHIVE STITCHERWelcome wonderlings!
As our guide on this week's ride, we welcome another ridiculously intelligent, well-spoken open-minded multidisciplinary mind freak, Alexandre Tannous.Alexandre has everything you want, the academic credentials, the musical background (he could easily show up somewhere with Zeppelin and you’d be like, oh yeah this guy’s in the band, no doubt). But more importantly, he’s done the subjective inner-work by traveling the world, participating in indigenous shamanistic ceremonies, steeping himself in history and mysticism and so much more.To dig further head to Alexandre's site