Spiritual Journal, 11/7/01

[novapsyche]

1:25 a.m.

I'll tell you what I believe.

I believe that brain enhancement is the goal of human evolution. Intentional inducement of this process is what I mean to effect.

I believe the intuitional knowledge produced by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system to be aiding in this process. This process may be called the improvement of my inner, or greater [or higher] self. I believe it is analogous to a deeper state of prayer. I consider this state, also known as the trance state (or, more mildly, the meditative state), as an altered state of consciousness.

I believe altered states of consciousness to exist as biochemical states of brain function. Thusly, I believe the application of drugs can at best enhance, and at least simply alter, these brain states/activities.

I believe that the pineal gland, and its relationship to the sympathetic nervous system, is principally involved [by deductive reasoning, after evaluation of secondary evidence of the pineal gland and other areas of the brain]. I believe the sympathetic nervous system directly influences one's capacity for intuitional knowledge. I believe, thusly, that the sympathetic nervous system is involved in the evolution of my spiritual character.

I believe that all matter in the universe is subatomic/molecular in nature. I believe that unconscious and subconscious thought/communication originates at the subatomic level. I believe that thus the unconscious and subconscious exist at the subatomic level (or some deeper level still). I believe the body to be ambulatory particles in the universe, bounded by the epidermus (and other membranes); particles that have 'agreed' to live symbiotically and have cellular communication within, between, among, and against each other.

[Very "pseudo-science"-y, I know. I'm still in the process of synthesizing my ideas. But this is a good statement as to where I am now.]

Comments

[myelectricsheep.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to the pseudo-science-y part, but I find some agreement with the first part. You can examine your mind via meditation, which is exactly what vipassana, or insight, meditation is (here I mean mind as large, containing traditional mind and body, and all sensory inputs). But drugs are also an aid. If you take LSD and see an park bench as a living entity, you just learned something powerful about how your mind works, assuming you were paying attention. (Which might be a big assumption, I don't know.)

There are scientific methods as well: MRI scans, double blind tests, etc. These could all be helpful. We have a lot of tools at our disposal that the sages of the past didn't have, or didn't have to the fully-developed degree we have them. Personally I find meditation and conversation with fellow explorers sufficent right now. But for others, other methods are appropriate.

We should use everything. Life is short; play hard.

This post brought to you by the Evil shoe company (TM).

[vaxjedi]

Or put differently:

Life is short, but it can be wide as well.

[garbology.livejournal.com]

i'd like to read what you have read about the pineal gland. could you reference me?

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just a semantics issue here, but evolution does not have a "goal." That is one of the fundamental misunderstandings of evolution that trips people up in creationism vs. evolution debates.