Nature Is The Center Of The Mandala

Well, it's a pleasure to be back with all of you.

I feel like this is the home parish, so to speak.

This seems to be the place where I see the most number of faces that I recognize.

So it's sort of like a family meeting.

The formal title of the lecture is Nature is the Center of the Mandala.

And this is really basically simply a structure to work off of,

to anticipate and discuss where nature lies in the future,

the cultural future that is unfolding in front of all of us.

And to background my thoughts on this matter a little bit,

I have always had a relationship to nature, which I pretty much took for granted.

But perhaps it was more intense and somewhat unique than most people's.

I grew up in a small town in Colorado.

I was very early into being a rock hound and then a butterfly collector.

I had no interest in stamps or baseball cards or anything like that.

It was always natural objects.

And the attraction of tropical butterflies was the exuberant expanse of color,

the affirmation of the patterned richness of the universe that seemed to be thrown out like a spark by these things.

And eventually I pursued it quite far and was for some time a professional butterfly collector

in tropical Indonesia, in a pre-Buddhist incarnation.

And this search for iridescence thrown off by nature,

seen first in the glint of metallic ore crystals,

and then in the colorful expanse of butterflies and then in tropical fish

reached a kind of apotheosis with the discovery of the psychedelic plant hallucinogens

where suddenly the color, the flash, the iridescence was not two- or three-dimensional,

but it was multidimensional.

It was inside one, outside one.

It was like the ultimate tropical aquarium,

the ultimate butterfly cabinet,

the ultimate mineral show.

And it led me to travel then

and to place the particular experience of nature in the wider context of place.

And I traveled in Indonesia, as I mentioned,

where because of glaciation

and the shallowness of the oceans,

evolution has been proceeding at different rates

on different islands relative to the depths of the separating channels.

So as you go from island to island in Indonesia,

it's like stepping into ten different bedrooms,

all by the same interior decorated,

but all slightly different,

different because of the context in which the evolution took place.

And these times spent,

and then, of course, there were the times in the Amazon,

which most of you have heard me lecture on,

where the pursuit of psychedelic plants was really in the forefront.

But I came to see nature as experienced,

meaning as it hits you when you walk around in it

and pick at it and carry it with you,

that this kind of nature had been read out

of the repertoire of images

that most people bring to bear on their reality.

And consequently, the reality is de-spirited.

The spirit resident in nature is not visible

when these mechanistic grids are laid over it,

sort of by a kind of anticipatory osmosis.

We called our company,

which has existed now ten years or more,

lux natura.

Lux natura means the light in nature.

The lux natura is the salvational radiance

that can be found in the organic kingdom.

It's a term of paracelsus.

And it has slipped from the grip of modern human beings,

except in special cases,

where it is cultivated as in a sensitivity

or where it is pursued

in the guise of an aspect of the psychedelic experience.

So what is nature?

And what's so great about it

that it should be the center of the mandala?

Well, it seems to me

that it is a psyche

in a way that has become occluded

by the perverse development of language

so that what we take

to be exterior to ourselves

and sustained by the laws of physics

which do not arise out of the human mind

is in fact not that at all,

but a kind of stratum of expectation

that has been laid down

by the human journey through time.

Now, granted, there are aspects of nature

which are not part of the human journey through time,

but they are occult

from our point of view.

They are not expressed

except perhaps through the demonic artifice

of an instrumentality.

And this has been the course

or the strategy of science

is to use an instrumentality

to reveal the mechanics

of the occult side of nature.

The problem is

that this occult side of nature

once explicated

does not yield

a satisfying reflection

of ourselves.

It yields instead

a very unflattering reflection of ourselves

if any at all.

So, you know,

in Hawaii,

sitting on the mountainside,

you think that you are like

Lenin in Germany

or something

and you have to politically

think it all through

so that

to whatever degree

one's voice is heard,

mistakes are not made

because it seems to me clear

that

a small miracle

is taking place.

it is that

and I was saying this

to Roy today,

it is that

our point of view

is actually

gaining ground.

The thing

which we least

expected to happen,

I think,

that

all this

New Age

hustle and bustle

though granted

that 95% of it

is just

intellectual noise

and efforts

that fail,

efforts to coin

the perfect analogy

that fail,

nevertheless,

there is a residual 5%

that appears

to have become

the cutting edge

of the guiding image

of this

megaculture.

So it becomes

important then

for people

who identify themselves

with

the human potential

movement,

spiritual development,

the

rebirth of intuition,

all of these things

to make a place

in the plan

for

the role

of nature

and

different

responses

have gone

on to that.

The Gaia

response

which claims

nature

as a stabilizing

feminine force

which I'm

all for that.

I think

that's definitely

the image

that has to

emerge

that

the

recognition

of the

presence

of

control

mechanisms

which are

not

coercive

but which

are

Taoistic

is a way

of coming

to terms

with nature

that we

have resisted.

It's a simple

idea,

it's just

the idea

that

before

technology

people

had to

store firewood

in the

autumn

for the

winter

and

in the

spring

they had

to

sharpen

tools

for

the

late

spring

planting

and

this

sort

of

thing

that

there

was

an

implicit

rhythm

laid down

by nature

that entered

the human

cosmos

at every

level

and then

was

reflected

in the

poetry

the

culture

building

the

language

evolution

etc

and

between

urbanization

other

factors

removed

the

influence

of

these

rhythms

ending

in the

final

culmination

of

the

modern

city

where

life

under

electric

light

goes on

24 hours

a day

there's

then

a

flattening

of

the

human

dimension

there

is

no

more

a

sense

of

being

embedded

in

flux

there

is

instead

the

myth

of

the

eternal

culture

it's

like

Woody Allen

you know

his comment

that he

didn't

like

to

go

to

the

country

because

you

see

all

these

screen

doors

with

cobwebs

in

the

corner

well

you've

got to

come to

terms

with

this

kind

of

thing

because

there is

no

question

that

there

is

a

deepening

ambiguity

in

the

present

moment

there

is

a

something

stealing

over

global

civilization

I

was at

a

conference

recently

where

someone

proposed

the

notion

that

our

time

is

special

that

there

is

nothing

unique

about

this

moment

other

than

that

it

is

presently

occurring

I

think

nothing

could

be

further

from

the

truth

that

actually

the

deepening

ambiguity

of the

historical

experience

which

registers

in all

of us

as a

sense

of

how

weird

it

is

how

compressed

time

is

how

complicated

the

interconnections

are

is

a

real

phenomenon

which

eventually

will be

elucidated

in other

words

it will

be

recognized

as a

phenomenon

eventually

there is

going to be

a break

with the

prevailing

paradigm

of historical

process

in case

you're not

aware of it

the prevailing

paradigm

of historical

process

is the

one which

calls itself

the

trendlessly

fluctuating

theory

and it

says

we

trendlessly

fluctuate

and to

search

for a

trend

is to

just be

drawn

into a

kind

of

cultural

hysteria

the fact

of the

matter

is

that

standing

outside

the

cultural

hysteria

the

trend

is

fairly

clear

it

ambiguity

how

is it

possible

you know

you look at

something like

common ground

or even the

shared visions

newsletter

and you say

you know

apparently

the major

commodity

moving on

world market

is

ambiguity

the voices

which whisper

to us

from crystals

herbs

and housewives

the

the invisible

fields

from all

dimensions

which impinge

upon us

the imagined

histories

and futures

which intersect

the present

moment

I mean

if all

of these

models

or even

a small

portion

of them

are given

credence

then

the density

of the

human

experience

is

considerably

deep

I mean

how many

past lives

can you

keep track

of

how many

extraterrestrial

channels

can you

have

open

before you

begin to

realize

that

you know

you're not

living in

the kind

we're used

to

back to

the theme

of nature

nature

anticipates

all of this

and anchors

this

nature

is

actually

the goal

at the end

of history

we're getting

closer and

closer to

the end

of history

and we will

not go

past it

with a

moment of

blindness

it is

there will

be

vouchsafe

intuitions

about the

emerging

structure

of the

other

into which

culture

is being

subsumed

you're all

familiar with

the image

of the

Ouroboros

the snake

which takes

its tail

in its mouth

well

the end

of history

which

you've

heard me

talk about

as

an

archaic

revival

is

that's

true

an

archaic

revival

but

the

ground

of being

in which

the

original

archaic

renaissance

occurred

was

nature

so

in terms

of

expression

of

design

elements

in terms

of

the

expression

of

human

relationships

political

agendas

all of

these

things

the

economies

of

nature

are

going

to

set

the

guiding

images

it's

very

interesting

I

read

Stephen

Jay

Gould's

book

Biophilia

in which

he

describes

his

work

with

ants

in

Suriname

and

how

there

are

ants

which

grow

fungi

in

their

nests

they

chew

up

they

cut

leaves

off

trees

and

chew

them

up

into

this

mash

which

they

then

store

in

rooms

underground

and

they

bring

the

right

spores

to

it

and

grow

it

there

and

it

produces

a

sugar

which

the

ants

then

eat

and

they

tend

the

fungal

garden

they

actually

remove

foreign

spores

and

this

sort

of

thing

and

the

whole

symbiosis

goes

on

well

it

is

symbiosis

between

a

social

organism

the

ant

and

a

fungal

organism

which

is

able

to

provide

an

enzyme

sugar

which

drives

the

ant

society

to

a

greater

state

of

activity

being

the

bottom

line

in

an

insect

economy

where

how much

you can

get

done

determines

your

triodes

of

getting

done

are

well

established

well

this

provides

a

curious

analogy

to

the

situation

that

exists

in

human

societies

vis-a-vis

hallucinogenic

plants

hallucinogenic

plants

act

as

enzymes

which

stimulate

imagination

and

imagination

having a

practical

side

to

itself

is

usually

reconnected

to

this

process

in

a

feedback

loop

that

asks

the

question

how

can

we

make

more

of

the

hallucinogenic

plant

which

is

giving

us

all

these

great

ideas

so

then

you

get

initially

the

invention

of

agriculture

and

but

one

can't

grow

all

plants

in

one

place

as

we

learned

even

about

Hawaii

so

then

the

imagination

the

feedback loop

in the

imagination

driven

by the

presence

of the

hallucinogen

in the

diet

asks

the

question

how

can

we

lies

the

need

for

language

similar

sorts

of

things

these

kinds

of

symbiotic

processes

are

implicit

in the

human

experience

some

of

you

have

heard

another

lecture

I

give

which

goes

into

this

in

great

detail

where

I

actually

try

to

drove

a

set

of

processes

which

resulted

in

self

reflecting

human

beings

I

won't

recapitulate

that

now

except

to

say

that

process

didn't

end

with

invention

of

language

or

the

domestication

of

cattle

it

continues

right

up

until

the

enzyme

system

called

the

human

species

was

deputized

into

an

information

gathering

mode

sent

out

as a

kind

of

prodigal

subsystem

a

kind

of

episode

of

the

social

environment

to

cognize

the

organization

of the

natural

world

through

sense

of

understanding

toward

sufficiently

complete

modeling

of the

ground

that

closure

could

occur

and

that

is

now

I

think

what

is

happening

that

the

human

species

which

was

deputized

for

Gaia

into

the

fall

the

creation

in

the

immediacy

of

the

Tao

through

a

series

of

successive

linguistic

declensions

that's

what it

was

I mean

this

begins

to

sound

almost

biblical

because

what

we're

saying

is

there's

a

fall

and

then

and

the

fall

is

somehow

related

to

a

confusion

of

languages

not

the

world

of

the

species

using

this

language

became

less

and

less

natural

because

the

evolution

of

symbols

became

toward

the

abstract

became

the

realization

of

ideals

notice

that

as

early

as

platonic

philosophy

and I'm

not

sure

well

no

even

in

pre-Socratic

philosophy

you get

the

over

weaning

concepts

which

subsume

large

sets

of

particulars

underneath

them

and

this

ability

to

subsume

the

particulars

under

a name

which

is

a

class

name

is

the

beginning

of

this

process

of

replacing

the

natural

language

with

the

symbolic

structures

that

then

interfere

between

soul

and

nature

the

reason

for

this

process

we

can

really

only

guess

at

it

seems

as

though

nature

requires

this

reflection

upon

itself

that

the

completion

of

nature

is

somehow

in the

hands

of

a

single

target

species

which

acts

as

an

enzyme

within

the

global

organism

of

Gaia

from

the

point

of

view

of

an

extraterrestrial

looking

down

on

the

surface

of

the

planet

there

are

not

discrete

organisms

there

is

simply

a

gene

swarm

and

through

transmission

of

viruses

and

numerous

non-genetic

ways

in which

genes

are

transformed

the

previously

imagined

sharp

declensions

between

species

are

actually

somewhat

illusory

so

that

really

within

the

confines

of

my

body

the

unfolding

of

gene

expression

and

the

molecular

assembly

of

enzymes

systems

and

proteins

and that

sort

of

thing

is

simply

under

a

tighter

regimen

of

control

than

are

the

same

kind

of

processes

which

are

going

on

between

people

we

are

really

a

loosely

regulated

organism

that

has

a

tendency

to

ever

tighten

the

control

between

its

subunits

so

that

you

can

see

the

evolution

of

language

the

evolution

of

technology

and

it's

being

at

cities

oral

poetry

all

of

these

things

we

seem

to

strive

for

greater

and

greater

cohesion

greater

and

greater

free

flow

of

thought

among

ourselves

and

what

we're

looking

toward

is

a

moment

when

the

artificial

language

structures

which

bind

us

within

the

notion

of

ourselves

are

dissolved

in

are

a

part

of

nature

and

when

that

happens

the

childhood

of

our

species

will

pass

away

and

we

will

stand

tremulously

on

the

brink

of

really

the

first

moments

of

coherent

human

civilization

and

when

that

happens

the

noise

which

haunts

our

social

systems

our

inability

to

couple

things

together

so

that

they

work

will

begin

to

evaporate

this

I

think

is

already

beginning

to

happen

it's

a

slow

process

but

it's

a

kind

of

cascading

phenomenon

such

that

once

it

begins

to

happen

it

happens

faster

and

faster

and

the

mirroring

of

psyche

that

was

always

the

glamour

if

you

mind

nature

is

correctly

perceived

with

greater

and

greater

clarity

as

this

process

perceives

and

this

correct

perceiving

of

nature's

relationship

to

self

and

language

is

the

essence

of

all

of

these

cultural

vectors

that

are

converging

feminism

the

exploration

of

space

the

perfection

of the

thinking

machine

or

of

the

human

machine

interface

the

mysterium

tremendum

at the

core

of the

psychedelic

experience

all

of

these

things

are

I

think

going

to

be

seen

as

anticipations

of

this

post-historical

state

which lies

beyond

the

working out

of the

themes

that have

been set

in motion

by

materialistic

science

in other

words

the forces

that are

being set

in motion

and

sustained

by

so-called

new

thought

new

age

thinking

this is

why

because

this seems

to be

happening

because

it seems

that we

and by

we

I mean

all of

us

did

in fact

identify

early

on

a trend

in society

which is

now going

to have

enormous

repercussions

that

there is

a

responsibility

to

clear

thinking

about

what this

thing is

and how

it works

there seems

to be

a kind

of a

rush

to

get in

line

with

the

sloppiest

metaphor

as quickly

as possible

so that

you know

there have

been a

number of

let's say

syncretic

faiths

or new

myths

that have

arisen

and competed

with each

other

with greater

and lesser

degrees of

success

I suppose

this is a

healthy thing

except that

it gives

such comfort

to the people

who think

we're all

airheads

you know

I mean

they observe

all this

and it

confirms

for them

that

it's a

hopeless

lot

nevertheless

so I guess

what I want

to say

about that

is that

everybody

has their

own version

of what

is the

mistake

which is

being made

right

so here's

my version

of what

is the

mistake

that's

being made

it's that

there is

a confusion

between

scientific

materialism

and

reason

science

has set

itself up

as a

kind

of

new

pontificate

and

Brooks

no

challenge

it

expects

to

make

judgment

on

any

idea

emerging

from

any

realm

of

human

endeavor

it

has

set

itself

up

as

judge

and

jury

the

fact

of

the

matter

is

that

this

is

only

by

virtue

of

its

spectacular

acts

of

technological

prestidigitation

that

it's

able

to

presume

to

do

this

because

really

what

science

is

most

successful

about

in

telling

us

about

are

realms

which

none

of

us

have

ever

penetrated

nor

are

ever

likely

to

I

mean

how

much

do

you

wish

to

know

about

the

rings

of

Neptune

or

the

quark

we

are

continuously

sold

the

line

that

somehow

when

the

metaphors

of

consciousness

are

fully

mapped

onto

quantum

physics

and

biology

that

a

great

step

forward

will

have

been

taken

it

seems

to

me

that

since

the

information

coming

out

of

quantum

physics

and

molecular

biology

is

so

removed

from

the

realm

of

common

experience

that

if

we

succeed

in

mapping

mental

phenomena

onto

those

realms

we

will

have

succeeded

in

the

final

act

of

alienation

because

we

will

have

so

I

think

that

instead

of

the

idea

that

there

needs

to

be

a

kind

of

direction

of

an

overarching

metaphor

from the physical sciences into the social and psychiatric sciences.

Instead, there should be the recognition and celebration of mystery.

That, in fact, we are an intelligent species caught in a historical process.

No generation which preceded us knew what was going on.

And there is no reason to assume that we know what's going on

or that the generation which follows us will know what's going on.

And what kind of trip is it, anyway, to insist on knowing what's going on?

It's a highly unlikely enterprise.

I mean, look at the data sample.

The data sample is your lifetime on one planet in one tiny corner of the universe.

And from this, via the fallacy of induction,

certain principles of uniformity are extended to the far-flung corners of the cosmos in space and time.

Then a bunch of fancy metaphors are built up that nobody can check on anyway.

And then this is called understanding.

You see, it isn't understanding.

Understanding issues into appropriate activity.

And, you know, a model of the universe which doesn't issue into appropriate activity in the here and now

is a curious model indeed.

After all, appropriate activity in the here and now, I would think, would be the sine qua non.

Everything else is an unconfirmed rumor.

So, nature is the visible manifestation of this mystery.

It entirely surrounds and completes us.

It is there to be beheld and imbibed in.

It is simply that one must either replace the sterile language of scientific materialism

or one must bring no language whatsoever to it so that it speaks for itself.

I've noticed with ayahuasca, this South American visionary vine that's a halicinogen,

unlike the mushroom, it does not speak.

It shows, its language is visible, a fractal hieroglyphic surface of intermediate dimensions

that contains an endless unfolding of phenomena at level after level,

apparently, you know, who knows, down into the microphysical realm.

This is a correct seeing of what is.

The mystery is co-present with its denial.

It is a matter of changing points of view.

And changing points of view is a matter of retooling language.

If nature is psyche, then is the auto-poetic, self-reflecting cloud of cognition

that manifests as language.

It is partly based in the structure of matter.

It is partly based in the implicit syntax of the perceiver.

However, it is partly an interference pattern between the two.

But it is as close to the ground that one can approach without theory.

Which brings me, then, to the last point that I want to make about this,

which is the key to the forward-looking expression of the archaic revival,

the key to making the New Age fulfill its best hope

and not fall into a kind of crypto-fascism of paradigmatic warfare,

is to enunciate two principles,

which are really two ways of saying the same thing.

They are the primacy of experience and the toxic nature of ideology.

This, to me, is the core.

And if the New Age, the archaic revival, whatever,

if it can exemplify these two principles,

we will navigate past the dangerous shoals

that inevitably rip any social point of view

that grows, that attempts to leave its cult status

and enter the mainstream.

The primacy of experience means...

I connect it to Heidegger's notion of what he called

care for the project of being.

The primacy of felt experience,

it begins with a notion as simple as,

be here now.

But it takes that further and says,

you know, we must take ourselves more seriously,

more lightly and more seriously at the same time.

We are not at the bottom of a pyramid

of goods and information production

where we pay the sucker's price for everything

as it's handed down through a series of intractable pieces

of cultural machinery that we have no effect on.

That is the myth that is being promulgated

by those very institutions.

The myth of the hapless consumer,

the myth of the meaning of fadism.

That there is, in fact, a meaning

to switching from one ideology to another ideology

the way hemlines and perfumes

and decorator colors come and go.

This kind of allowing ourselves to be self-victimized.

You know, I mean, God forbid,

I'm now at an age where three times in my life

I've seen good ideas emerging on the fringes

of American culture end up as slogans for Madison Avenue.

You know, first with the beats,

then with the hippies.

I'll never forget the day I first confronted a billboard

which talked about the Dodge Rebellion.

I mean, rebellion was our word, not their word.

And here they were, you know,

our word selling this piece of tin junk.

So, you know, the co-option that comes

from disempowering yourself

with regard to what you view as important.

Which is more important to you,

your opinion or Ted Koppel's opinion?

It's got to be your opinion, you know,

because these other things are just chimeras.

They're myths in the electronic night.

The other side of that is the toxicity of ideology.

But ideology itself is poisonous.

That, you know, in the 15th and 16th century,

it was like 120 years of intermittent religious war

because people were so uptight

about whether or not you were a Catholic

or a Huguenot or a Walloon or, you know,

all this stuff which were,

these were life and death issues.

And finally people just became sick of it.

And I hope, I choose to believe

that we may be approaching such a watershed

with the social ideologies

that have just been dinging themselves

into the global population

for the past hundred years.

They are extremely bankrupt.

The notion of any kind of serious competition

between Marxist-Leninism

and capitalist democratic techno-fascism

or whatever it is,

is ludicrous.

Neither system works

in the presence of the need

to wage ideological warfare

against the other.

And yet it's fairly clear

that each society could function quite well

if it didn't have that burden.

And similarly,

in many microcosms of that situation

around the world,

it's clear that ideology

has become some kind of anachronism.

It's a kind of lack of good taste.

It's like being a nut, you know,

so that you come on with some ideology

and people just look at their plate.

They're embarrassed for you.

And well, they should be

because that butters no bread.

That's just a big pain in the neck.

The ideology which naturally

claims our attention

is pretty well understood.

You know, it's like

it's like it says

in the Old Testament.

You can know the truth.

The truth is the still,

small voice in your heart.

We don't have to take courses

in theology and ethics

to get all this down.

The political agenda

is fairly clear.

You know,

you feed people,

you cure disease,

you anticipate and solve

social problems

having to do with

sewage disposal,

distribution of land and wealth,

so forth and so on.

I mean, who's kidding who?

None of this stuff

is controversial

unless you're living

inside a locked ward,

which we seem to be doing.

So, more and more,

this anti-ideological position

has to be articulated.

It's no big deal

about how you cause

language to evolve.

You cause language to evolve

by saying new

and intelligent things

to each other.

And then other people say,

oh, so this thing

that I've always thought

that never felt like saying

is actually legitimate

and okay

and I can say it

and I will say it.

And then it begins to move

like a wave

through society.

You will be told

that for me

to advocate

the poisonous nature

of ideology

without calling it anarchy

is to peddle

my own private ideology.

But this is absurd.

It's like saying

if someone tells you

not to drive

that they're advocating

a certain style of driving.

That isn't it at all,

you know.

It's a translation of level.

It's something entirely different.

Both of these things,

the toxic nature

of ideology

and the importance

of the felt presence

of the immediate experience

can be brought together

under the notion

that we cannot afford

the continued existence

of what has been called

throughout most of the 20th century

the unconscious

that the unconscious

is actually a kind of

neurotic excuse

for not getting our act together

as a species.

It is a kind of infantileism,

a giving of permission

by each of us

to all of us

to not get our act together.

And the way in which

the unconscious

is eliminated

is by

the

by turning

the language

machinery

back upon itself

and reflecting

on the process

of attention.

This is what Buddhism

is all about.

Attention to attention.

Awareness of the modality

of the cognitive process.

Don't be fooled

by yourself.

Don't be

made a sucker

of

by yourself.

Just

rise above

that possibility

by paying attention.

Attention to attention

causes

the light

of language

to fall

into

these dark

and unilluminated

corners

where infantileism

is tolerated

tolerated

in the individual

personality.

Doing that

to oneself

has a

kind of

a morphogenic

field

effect,

a kind of

chain reaction

which sweeps

through society.

This is,

I believe,

what all these

gurus

are always trying

to say

in a somewhat

I don't know

more

concrete

and therefore

somewhat less

convincing fashion

but

it's simply

that

the act

of conscious

self-inspection

creates more

conscious people

which create

a more conscious

society

which erodes

the possibility

of the poisonous

and toxic

effect

psychedelics

are illegal

not because

a loving

government

is concerned

that you

may jump

out of a

third story

window

psychedelics

are illegal

because they

dissolve

opinion

structures

and culturally

laid down

models

of behavior

and information

processing

they open

you up

to the

possibility

that everything

you know

is wrong

and you

know

government

and society

spend a lot

of money

educating you

into being

a loyal

worker

consumer

debt

payer

and

citizen

so

if

anarchy

is to have

a meaning

and I think

it is

the great

future

for human

society

because what

it means

is

only

responsible

human

beings

can exist

in an

anarchistic

society

to the

degree

that people

are

responsible

we will

have

anarchy

and

the reason

America

I believe

historically

has been

so successful

is because

it is really

a place

where you

can almost

get away

with anything

and if

that is

lost

if

monolithic

ideologies

throw a

damper

on that

then cultural

momentum

will pass

to other

cultures

and in fact

to some

degree

I see

this

coming

we had

a conversation

with a

prominent

politician

recently

and he

pointed out

that

Japan

is now

the leading

western

country

this

indicates

a

cultural

crisis

of some

depth

for

the

ideals

of

the

American

constitution

my

brother

is a

brain

scientist

at the

National

Institute

of

Mental

Health

in

Bethesda

Maryland

the

crown

jewel

of

American

brain

science

everybody

there

is a

Japanese

graduate

student

doing

work

on a

two

year

or

three

but I

don't

see

or hear

a

new

age

voice

coming

out

of

the

Japanese

I

think

this

is

the

cultural

model

that

the

West

is

uniquely

able

to

promulgate

and perfect

because

it comes

out of

a

rejection

of the

tradition

of

scientific

materialism

that we

are

responsible

for

and

that

we

are

most

sophisticated

about

where

for instance

Japan

has

come

fairly

recently

to

high

tech

and

mass

industrialization

so

I

just

basically

want to

leave you

with that

the

notion

is

that

nature

which

is

the

topological

the

linguistically

expressed

topological

manifold

of

the

psyche

is

the

historical

object

that

is

pulling

us

forward

and

that

when

we

actually

cross

into

the

eschatology

that

appears

fairly

eminent

we

will

find

it

to

have

been

anticipated

by

the

human

relationship

to

nature

the

embedding

of

psyche

in

nature

through

the

to

unfolding

a

same

society

in

my

single

humble

opinion

is

an

obligation

to

reason

but

clearly

distinguishes

between

reason

and

science

an

obligation

to

self

involvement

in

immediate

experience

and

that

means

psychedelics

sexuality

and what

I call

time

but what

I really

mean is

a kind

of

deep

literary

involvement

with the

felt

presence

psychedelics

sexuality

and

time

to

empower

the

individual

to make

the

individual

naturally

responsible

to

create

then

the

basis

for

a

caring

global

society

that will

transcend

the

historical

cultures

as though

we were

just moving

very naturally

out of

winter

and into

spring

no

apocalypse

no

millennium

no

rescue

by

flying

saucers

no

Mayan

return

simply

the

unfolding

of

understanding

in a

program

of

mutual

caring

and

responsibility

this

is

the

highest

aspiration

of the

new

age

and I

feel

that

it

is

attainable

so

let's

break

and then

we'll

have

questions

thank

you

very

much

okay

is

there

any

kind

of

response

to

maintain

a

certain

amount

of

purity

of

perspective

through

diet

and

through

meditation

things like

that

and if

I take

a

psychedelic

drug

it

makes

it

very

difficult

to

function

in

the

world

because

almost

too much

information

is coming

in

in order

to do

day to

day

things

easily

integrated

I

mean

I'm

not

sure

whether

you

mean

you

can't

function

while

it's

happening

or

you

can't

function

three

weeks

afterwards

the

with

the

psychedelics

it's

not

a matter

of

high

frequency

I

think

the

good

trips

are

usually

good

for

plenty

of

rumination

for

a long

time

the

harder

the

hit

the

ponder

it

before

you

go

that

route

again

it

isn't

like

a

practice

it

isn't

like

something

you

do

daily

it's

more

like

a

unique

act

of

courage

that

arises

out

of

the

substratum

of

ordinary

daily

existence

whether

it

be

profane

or

sacral

there

really

isn't

an answer

to your

question

as long

as

we're

part

of

the

worker

anthill

or

living

in

a

society

which

makes

tremendous

demands

on

us

it's

going

to

be

a

problem

the

way

to

take

psychedelics

is

you

must

have

seen

these

t-shirts

which

say

I

take

drugs

seriously

well

that's

the

way

and

in

an

atmosphere

where

there

are

no

distractions

and

by

that

I

mean

other

people

will

say

something

different

but

I

mean

no

light

and

no

sound

including

music

unless

you're

a

musician

or

you

have

some

special

relationship

to

music

phase

and

to

the

degree

that

you

can

create

a

situation

of

sensory

deprivation

you

will

have

a

greater

expectation

of

succeeding

some

people

wouldn't

dream

of

tripping

without

music

but

I

find

that

it

becomes

the

trip

the

whole

thing

then

becomes

about

that

piece

of

music

where

in

silence

it

would

have

been

equally

audially

interesting

so

it

isn't

the

early

model

of

the

psychedelic

experience

was

sort

of

that

you

eat

an

orange

and

look

at

art

books

and

listen

to

Bach's

choral

preludes

but

that

art

historical

approach

to

it

doesn't

give

enough

credit

to the

power

of

the

substance

I

tapestries

of

organic

beauty

and

there

need

be

no

sensory

input

in

fact

shouldn't

be

for

this

to

happen

you

had a

question

I was

wondering

about

practical

sort

of

tips

how do

you take

something

back

it's

sort

of

going to

a

magic

kingdom

and

wanting to

take back

a golden piece

with you

or a key

or something

because I lose it

well I

think

I sort

of

touched

on this

obliquely

tonight

that

attention

to

attention

or

paying

attention

to

the

nuances

of

cognition

is

a

psychedelic

way

of

being

go

and

things

like

that

so

he

was

drug

free

and

he

managed

to

refine

you know

this

art

of

just

the

awareness

of

the

tensions

and

nuances

in

the

moment

for

really

what I

have

come

to

believe

about

the

psychedelic

experience

is

that

it

is

simply

a

compressed

instance

of

what

understanding

so

that

living

psychedelically

is

trying to

live

in an

atmosphere

of

continuous

unfolding

of

understanding

so

that

every

day

you

know

more

and

see

into

things

with

greater

depth

than

you

did

before

and

this

is

it's

the

process

of

education

so

compressed

that

it

has

become

a

cascade

of

actual

visual

images

which

rather

than

a

kind

of

slow

unfoldment

of

linked

perceptions

but

really

attention

to

attention

and

appreciation

of the

immediate

I always

think

when this

comes up

of

William

Blake's

advice

Blake was

as you

know

a great

mystical

visionary

English

poet

who spoke

with angels

and had

these wonderful

visions

of

the

angelic

world

and he

was asked

what was

the secret

of his

angelic

poetry

and he

said

attend

the

minute

particulars

that's

all

just

attend

the

minute

particulars

that

the

and what

he meant

was to

focus

attention

in the

moment

not to

betray

attention

into

expectation

born of

abstraction

or regret

born of

misplaced

assumption

or of

remembrance

born of

boredom

and

alienation

in the

moment

but just

to

attend

the

minute

particulars

it's a

way of

training

it's

like

yoga

people

think

that

psychedelic

psychedelics

are somehow

the easy

way out

this is

what people

think

who

wouldn't

dare

dream

of

taking

one

and

it's

not

because

it's

the

easy

way

out

it's

because

they

sense

the

reality

of it

the

reality

of

the

i mean

it's

very

real

it's

not

a

metaphor

it's

not

an

analogy

it's

not

a

dramatic

reconstruction

it is

not

a

simulacrum

it is

not

a

model

it

is

the

pith

essence

of

the

thing

itself

it's

real

and

i don't

know

how many

things

can

my

own

experiences

have

of

the

other

of

the

transcendent

naked

beauty

of

truth

have

almost

all

entirely

come

out

of

the

psychedelic

realm

or

out

of

involvement

with

the

viscerality

of

my

emotions

you know

the death

of my

mother

the birth

of

my

children

the

act

of

marrying

someone

not

else

but

those

so

i

think

it's

about

attending

the

minute

particulars

as a

kind

of

practice

it

may

not

get

you

anywhere

for

several

years

but

if

you

attend

the

minute

particulars

cultivate

an

ongoing

stream

of

self

description

telling

yourself

what

is

happening

get

used

to

the

idea

that

mind

can

penetrate

the

immediate

surface

of

being

and

reveal

the

tactile

density

of

it

as

a

manifold

whose

measure

cannot

be

immediately

taken

by

the

eyes

that

it's

deep

it's

connected

it's

complex

everything

holds

within

itself

the

entity

dissipation and the memory of everything else. Yes.

Are you trying to feel so optimistic?

Well, it's hard to feel optimistic sometimes.

But it's almost like an obligation.

And I think there's enough evidence around to support it.

If Ronald Reagan is going to begin the process of the dismantling

of strategic nuclear stockpiles,

then what would a civilized and humane political leader

be doing in this context?

So on one level, I'm fairly cynical.

I see people whose major life's work

has been banditry and bloody rampage

getting into the history books as great peacemakers.

Nevertheless, I love the fact

that the constraints of the situation

have forced these clowns

into this position.

That's what I mean when I say

that no political group,

no faction,

has its hands on the tiller of history.

There is an invisible hand

which seems to be channeling the life

of these institutions

toward what we deem progressive ends.

And not because these people

have converted to altruism and reason

and sweetness and light,

but because it's a way for them

to save their political ass.

So it has become expedient.

Peace has become politically expedient.

Consequently, we shall have it, I think,

in a big hurry.

Now, granted, it doesn't address starvation,

sexism,

abuses of propaganda,

propaganda, torture,

all of these things.

But I feel like

that there is a kind of a logjam

in human affairs

that formed in the late 60s

where we all looked over

into the future

and saw what it was

and the governing agencies

froze with terror

and attempted to halt

the onrushing momentum

of the 20th century

to not only make

psychedelic drugs illegal

for the public,

but to actually end

scientific research into them.

This is phenomenal.

Scientific research is supposed

to be freely pursued

in any field.

That's the banner

under which science

rides its horse.

But apparently

this doesn't apply

to hallucinogens.

Freezing all dialogue

on disarmament.

Freezing all dialogue

on the retraction

of the projection globally

of imperial power

and strategic stockpiles.

All this was frozen in place

in the late 60s

and it's only now

beginning to give way.

The future has a momentum

that no institution can deny

and the 25 years

of constipated dithering

that we have just come through

has only meant

that now the transition

into the new order

will be that much more sudden

and that much more complete.

So I guess I am optimistic.

I see many causes

for pessimism,

but generally I think

things globally

are working out fine.

Now it may be,

and I addressed this tonight

in the talk a little bit,

it may be that a sane,

humane,

and well-fed world

is coming into being,

but it may not be led

by the United States of America.

We, muscle-bound

with strategic arsenals,

unable to produce things

which the rest of the world

wants to buy,

entertaining a massive trade deficit,

tolerant of reactionary,

pseudo-religious forms

of political crypto-fascism.

We are,

I hope no one's offended by that,

we are not exactly

in the best position

to lead the charge

into this great

and glorious future.

A society with a tradition

of resource management

like Japan

is perhaps

in a much better position,

although then

there are other problems.

Japan speaks a language

no one understands.

It's going to be

quite a world

if the power

of the projection

of the Japanese

cultural self-image

is to become

so overwhelming

that Japanese

is to become

the dominant language

of the West,

although this is

a possibility.

Certainly,

if any of you

are familiar

with the fiction

of William Gibson,

and if you're not,

I urge it upon you,

this is some

of the most exciting

science fiction

being written.

He pictures a world

where Japanese

cultural dominance,

I would say,

is a primary factor.

So yes,

I'm optimistic.

We have to be.

It's the only game

in town.

And look at

the opportunities.

It's simply a matter

of insisting

on human values

garnered from

the felt experience

of the moment

and holding back

the toxic effects

of ideology.

In other words,

this anarchic

prescription

that I sort of

put forth

this evening,

mainly holding back

the toxic effects

of ideology,

because then

we can create

a sane world

if we just

recognize

that

pragmatism,

love for each other,

and a

reasonable amount

of goodwill

will do

quite nicely,

I think,

if the

shriller voices,

the ideologically

driven voices,

can be

made

déclasse,

not repressed,

just simply

recognized

as tasteless.

Anything else?

Yes?

Could you

reflect on

what it's like?

Well,

certainly I've

reflected on

what it's like.

It's sort of

a blank screen

on which to

project your mind.

What will it be like

once we pass

the omega point?

I'm not really sure.

I mean,

you can take

two approaches

to it.

You can take

the sort of

the deus ex machina

approach,

which means

we can't know

what it is

because it's going

to be so wonderful.

It's going to be

like the descent

of the flying saucers

and we will all

march into

the four-gated

city

and that will

be it.

Or you can

take a

more conservative

approach and say,

well,

maybe there's

something going on

in the trends

around us

that we can

extrapolate

to try and

understand the

world beyond

the end of time.

Taking that

approach,

what I think

is happening

and it's been

happening for a

long time

and it's very

interesting

is that culture,

culture is

another dimension

that,

and perhaps

properly so.

In the early

part of my talk,

I talked about

how culture

had subsumed

the position

of nature

so that we

had lost sight

of nature

by erecting

culture through

erecting these

linguistic structures.

But I noticed

that,

and not only

linguistic structures

but architectural

structures,

the infrastructure

of our society,

that is what

culture is.

the way we

differ from the

we-toto is

all the stuff

that we have

bound into

ideas and

excreted through

our engineering

processes to

surround ourselves

with.

this dimension

which is

culture

is becoming

ever more

all-inclusive

at the same

time that it's

also becoming,

strangely enough,

ever more

ethereal,

ever less

material.

A perfect

example of this,

I don't know

how many of

you are

familiar with

it,

but if you

deal with

the Macintosh

computer,

the operating

system of

the Mac

is the

genius of

it,

and what

makes it

the best

in the biz

is that

it attempts

to trick you

into believing

that you're

dealing with

ordinary

three-dimensional

space.

You know,

you don't

type in

commands,

you don't

choose printed

options,

you move

in a

symbolic

representation

of three-dimensional

space.

Well,

again,

to mention

William Gibson

and his

novels,

what he

imagines is

simply a

larger version

of this

conventionalized

symbolic

representation

of three-dimensional

space,

so that you

enter in his

novels,

his characters,

enter into a

world where

the Bank of

America database

is perceived

as a huge

red rectangle,

hundreds of

feet and

height,

in a certain

spot in

the memory

of this

global

computer,

and,

yes,

it's

cyberspace,

and near it

is the

memory bank

of Wells Fargo

or something

else,

so that when

you enter

into cyberspace,

ordinary

reality is

replaced by

a symbolic

representation

of the

informational

content of

ordinary

reality.

Well,

this is

in fact

happening.

It's

happening at

a very

rapid rate,

so the

dimension which

we call

culture,

which we

have

previously

erected in

the three-dimensional

world around

us through

the intercession

of what we

call manufacturing

and architecture,

is very

rapidly being

internalized

and erected

as cyberspace,

this alternative

dimension to

ordinary

three-dimensional

space in

which our

minds are

able to

move like

fish in

water.

What I

think lies

beyond the

end of

time is

a very

concrete

realization of

this other

dimension.

That's why

things like

the time

wave that

I've developed

and some

of these

other

projections

run off

the scale.

the world

beyond the

end of

history is

literally not

mappable in

the lower

order set of

mapping that

are applicable

to history.

So it is

like being

downloaded into

circuitry.

It's possible

to conceive of

the entire

human species

fitting into

the area of

a large

refrigerator

in cyberspace

so that

the goal of

history is

the creation

of a

mirror image

of culture

in the

cyberspacial

dimension so

that culture

in the

dimension of

nature can

be slowly

retracted,

slowly

retracted

into the

compressed

quintessence.

You can

almost think

of this as

an alchemical

process.

We're talking

about forging

a philosopher's

stone out

of a

hyperdimensional

medium which

is composed

of energy

and language

and into

which we

can all

cast ourselves

at will.

It is,

you know,

Plato said,

if God

didn't exist,

man would

invent him

or it.

Well,

it may well

be that

the pilot's

seat,

the pilot's

chair of

the flying

saucer is

empty.

It awaits

mankind.

It is

the condensed

expectation of

complete inner

penetration of

all of us

through each

other and

our cultural

artifact in

a mode

that we

cannot even

imagine.

At an

earlier talk

at Will's

here a couple

of years ago,

I did a

talk called

Shedding the

Monkey,

in which I

talked about

dropping the

primate image

that is

projected on

to the

human soul

through the

accidents of

biological

evolution,

that as

we take

control of

our genetic

heritage,

as we take

control of

the process

of manufacturing

culture,

we are going

to become

what we

dream we

are.

And we

have never

really explored

consciously

what it

is we

dream we

are.

But very

shortly,

this will

become a

major part

of the

cultural

agenda,

because we

are going

to be able

to do

anything.

And with

that kind

of power,

again recurring

to the theme

of the evening,

I think we

have to

anchor

ourselves in

nature.

So sort

of my

apotheosis

or my

vision of

how this

should come

to be,

is that

everyone

is given

their own

500 acres

of paradise

in the

chip.

And that

is your

heritage,

your space,

your right

place to

be.

And out

of the

mellowness,

which accrues

only to the

very wealthy,

which we

will then,

each and

every one

of us,

fall into

that category,

we will be

able to

return to

the dimension

of the

limited pie

and very

decorously

and

thoughtfully

apportion

it out

in a

sane and

rational

manner.

And it's

very,

very tricky,

see,

this rush

toward the

ability to

completely

realize the

self-image

in hyperspace.

My mother

used to say

to me when

I was a

small child,

if wishes

were horses,

beggars would

ride.

And I think

that's the

dream,

to turn

wishes into

horses that

beggars may

ride.

And it's

that world

where we

each get

our own

horse,

or when

our ship

comes in,

that lies

beyond the

historical

dimension,

because it's

where we,

in effect,

each becomes

all,

and then

is freed

into the

imagination

of the

oversoul to

create whatever

castles in

the imagination

seem most

pleasing.

It's the

triumph of

art,

art in

the imagination,

and reverence

for nature

in the

placental

dimension,

which is

the life

support system

for this

fantastic

indulgence

in the

expression

of the

imagination.

Yeah.

A question

about the

toxicity

of ideology.

I'm an

educator.

I educate

young children.

And I'd

just like you

to address

what we

can do,

or what

your ideas

about what

society can

do,

so that we

don't have to

undo it

at some

point.

I mean,

most of us

here have to

kind of undo

what we

went through

as children

in public

education

anyway,

so that

we can

at least

come to

some level

of awareness

or peacefulness

within ourselves

on the

positive side

of it.

What is

your

job?

Well,

in Hawaii

this past

year,

we

homeschooled

our children,

and we

also

coincidentally

rented office

space from

a major

company which

creates

homeschooling

curriculums,

and on

their

letterhead,

they had

the motto,

you are

your child's

best teacher,

and we

found out

how hard

it is

to live

up to

that

ideal,

and yet

in a way

we also

found out

how rewarding

it was

to attempt

it.

When we

return to

Northern

California,

our children

will go to

public

school.

I think

basically

you have

to just,

you have

to not

leave it

up to

the school.

You have

to check

in on

what's

going on

and to

input

into the

process.

I don't

feel that I

can give a

very deep

answer to

this.

I think

it's one

of the

most

perplexing

problems.

One thing

I think

that's terribly

wrong with

education

is that

there is

no sense

of history

instilled

in people,

and history

has almost

as bad

a wrath

on it

as

mathematics.

And yet

these are

the two

modes of

thought

which I

think

would do

the most

to anchor

us because

they both

are about

different

forms of

grounding.

One

grounds in

eternal

demonstrable

principles,

mathematics,

and the

other

dissipates

amnesia.

It's a

very weird

thing that

somebody

can't tell

you isn't

quite clear

on whether

event X

happened in

the 13th

or the

16th

century.

I mean,

after all,

13th,

16th,

19th,

how would

you like

to be

so imprecisely

perceived in

somebody's mind

that they

couldn't get

within 300

years of

where you

lived and

died?

so the

lack of a

sense of

history

makes us

really

prey to

manipulation.

That's why

I am

cynical enough

to believe

that the

de-emphasizing

of history

that's gone

on in

American

education

over the

past 30

years is

almost the

equivalent

of a

plot.

the notion

even as

recently as

when I

graduated

from the

university

and it

took me

12 years

so I

didn't

graduate

until 75

but the

idea was

that if

you went

to a

university

you

emerged

a liberal

gentle

person

well

informed on

the

accomplishments

of your

culture

its

history

its

aspirations

its ways

of governing

itself

its ways

of resolving

conflict

and so on

now I

think

people

emerge

these

things

have

become

gigantic

trade

schools

and you

are not

you are

expected

to learn

to do

a job

and when

not doing

your job

malls

have been

provided

for you

to shop

in

and

channels

of garbage

have been

priced into

your home

for you to

keep up

on what

it is

that is

au courant

to go out

and buy

and this

creation

of this

historyless

mindless

consumerist

person

at the

expense

of the

democratic

of the

ideal

of the

democratically

informed

citizen

is going

to wreck

great havoc

in our

society

people

often

compliment

me on

you know

my enchanting

command

of these

various

subjects

and so

forth

and so

on

and I'm

amazed

because

what's

being

sold

to you

here tonight

ladies and

gentlemen

is nothing

more than

the fruits

of a

liberal

college

education

you know

you go to

college

you learn

about

Gnosticism

Platonic

philosophy

or you

once

did

but no

more

apparently

so it

can be

sold

as the

most

far

out

fringy

thing

in the

new

age

this

is

amnesia

on

quite a

scale

so

and the

other

thing

I would

say

in answer

to your

question

about

education

is

separating

physical

culture

from

competition

that

the

notion

of

physical

culture

and

by

that

I

mean

gym

class

and

competition

is

one of

the

I mean

now I

feel

the bile

rising

we're

talking

serious

here

now

saving

people

from

the

grief

of

PE

is

I

think

a

major

way

to

heal

the

culture

when

we were

living

Kath

asked

our

son

how

did

he

think

of

himself

and

he

said

he

thought

of

himself

as

an

artist

and

an

athlete

and

I

thought

that

this

was

just

an

amazing

breakthrough

because

I

at

his

age

and

yet

conceive

of

himself

as

an

athlete

and

have

this

balanced

view

of

art

athlete

junior

scientist

and

so

forth

meant

we

must

be

doing

something

right

and

what

it

is

stressing

physical

culture

being

in the

ocean

hiking

running

skateboarding

biking

all

these

things

without

the

notion

of

males

crashing

against

each

other

for

the

purposes

of

racking

up

points

with

females

and

elders

to

lay

the

groundwork

for

the

whole

imposition

of the

alpha

male

primate

hierarchy

that

makes

society

such

a mess

so

that's

that

for

education

maybe

one more

question

if there

is one

yes

you

mentioned

a question

from the

anatomical

I have

the power

to reveal

a lot

of different

layers

I think

I must

have

mentioned

ayahuasca

well I'll

briefly

mention it

again

if any

of you

are

interested

in

ayahuasca

the

standard

reference

work

that's

in print

is called

hallucinogens

and

shamanism

edited

by

Michael

Harner

there are

I think

about

three

articles

in there

on

ayahuasca

is a

combinatory

preparation

a beverage

made by

boiling down

the bark

of a

jungle

liana

which

contains

harmine

and other

monoamine

oxidase

inhibiting

compounds

and

adding

DMT

which

occurs

in

Cicotria

viridis

a

plant

related

to

coffee

and

it's

generally

by the

people

there

viewed

as

a tonic

purgative

something

which

keeps

the

society

in

equilibrium

also

been

written

about

by

Marlene

job

from

de

rios

and

others

and

I

understand

there

are

there

are

therapists

in the

bay

area

working

very

quietly

to

create

an

awareness

of its

potential

impact

on

psychotherapy

which

we

can

personally

attest

that it

has a

great

potential

we

saw

physical

symptoms

relieved

in the

Amazon

we

saw

neurotic

behavior

patterns

dissolve

and

it's

just

one

of

many

shamanic

devices

plant

hallucinogens

that

have not

been

studied

by

medical

science

and

as long

as the

current

hysteria

about

psychedelic

drug

research

represses

the

scientific

community

from having

anything

to do

with

these

things

nevertheless

you know

it's

history

as a

curing

agent

among

these

tribes

goes

back

to

at least

pre-conquest

times

and it

has a

reputation

for

inducing

states

of group

mindedness

which

approach

the

level

of

being

almost

telepathic

so it's

being used

in the

Amazon

to regulate

social

processes

as well

as the

health of

individuals

so it's

very

interesting

in the

way

that it

seems

to be

a kind

of

pristine

model

of the

many

ways

that a

psychedelic

compound

can have

a

healing

effect

in a

society

well

I think

that's

about it

for this

evening

it's

I want

to thank

you all

very much

it's good

to be back

I want

to thank you