Opening The Doors Of Creativit

Well, I I think that it is a

Matter of saving our own souls

That this is the real challenge, you know

I love to dig at the yogans by saying nobody ever went into an ashram with their knees knocking in fear

Over the tremendous dimension. They know they were about to enter through meditation

Still truer and more sad still more true and more sad

Is the notion that very few of us pick up our sculpting tools or our airbrush?

with our knees knocking with fear because we know we are

invoking and

acting with the muse at our elbow and

and somehow I think the artists need to recover

this sense of

mystery

one of the most depressing things to me about the art scene and I had a chance to reconnect with this because I was just in New York is

It now has a kind of directionless quality

You can go into a gallery and you cannot tell whether it is

1970 or 1960

Because a kind of

eschatological malaise

Has settled over art

all notion of any forward movement toward a transcendental ideal

has been put aside for

the exploration of video

idiosyncratic

vision and

I grant you this is a

Tension and perhaps in the question period we can talk about this. There is a tension

between the individual vision and

and

the notion of an attractor or or of a

Collective vision which wants to be expressed

But to my mind, this is the same

dichotomous tension that haunts the individual in

His or her relationship to Tao

You know, we don't want to be lost in ego

But on the other hand if we completely express the Tao we have no sense of self

The ideal seems to be a kind of coincidencia

Appositorum a kind of literalizing of a paradox where what we have is

Tao

but we perceive it as ego and

In the application of this notion to the art problem, I would say what we need is a situation

situation where

Schooling if you want to put it that way or a tendency toward a coherent vision expressed by many artists is

Spontaneous

Each artist imagines that they are pursuing their own vision

Yet obviously they are in the grip of an archetype

Which is rising through the medium of the unconscious

Now the last time we saw this in American art was in abstract expressionism

Which was probably in terms of the values in terms of?

tension and

the amount of

emotional gain between one artistic moment and another

the break between abstract expressionism and then what preceded it was the most radical break in American art in this century

abstract expressionism

actually carried us in to a confrontation with what the quantum physicists were telling us that the universe is

field upon field of

Integrated vibration that there is no top level there is no bottom level that the ordinary

structures of provisional space-time are simply that that if we can rise out of the human dimension

Then we discover these larger more integrated dimensions where mind and nature

somehow

interpenetrate each other a

vision like that a coherent vision has yet to announce itself here in the

post-history pre-apocalypse phase of things

Well, I guess I have a kind of reactionary side

When I think about the creative endeavor, I believe that

that

the psychedelic experience as

Encountered by each of you in the privacy of your own mind or as encountered by a pre

literate

Society somewhere in the world that that psychedelic experience is in a way

the Rosetta Stone

not only for

for

understanding the

Encryption that our own lives represent

each to ourselves

But it's also a Rosetta Stone for

Uncoding the historical

Experience

Art is

This endeavor to leave the animal domain

Domain

Behind to create another dimension

orthogonal to the concerns

of

Ordinary

History

And this

orthogonal domain

To my mind is

Glimpsed

Glimpsed most clearly in the psychedelic experience

The psychedelic experience

The psychedelic experience shows you more art in an hour and a half

Than the human species has produced in fifteen or twenty thousand years

Now this is an incredible claim

This is why I make it

The the energy barrier which separates us from this tremendous repository of transcendental imagery is very low

You know

You know it's a matter of a little personal commitment and

And

The substances which make the transition possible

The perturbation of brain chemistry

Is easily done

What is not so easily done

Not so easily done

Is the assimilation of the consequences

Of this act

Ordinarily

We assume that consciousness is channeled

Between

Tremendously deep walls

That there is no way

To

Force

A confrontation

With the other

Or the transcendent

Or the unconscious

We tend to assume that

You know we're going to have to do double duty

At the ashram for three decades

Before you're vouchsafed

Even a glimpse into these places

This is not true

Culture

And this is my message to artists

And to anybody else who cares to notice

Culture

Is a plot

Against the expansion of consciousness

Expansion of consciousness

And this plot

Prosecutes its

Its goals

Through a

Limiting of language

Language is the battleground

Over which

The fight

Will take place

Because what we cannot

What we cannot say

We cannot communicate

And by say

I mean dance

Paint

Sing

Meme

What we cannot say

We cannot communicate

We can conceive

Of things

That we cannot communicate

But

And I think

Every one of us here

That

And that's a thrilling thing

That is the deep homework

That the psychedelic

Inner astronaut

Sees things which

No human being

Has ever seen before

And no human being

Will ever see

Again

But in fact

This has no meaning

Unless

It is possible

To carry it back

Into the collectivity

And

What motivates me

To talk

To groups like this

Is the belief

That we do not have

Centuries

Of gently

Unfolding

Time

Ahead of us

In which

To

You know

Gently

Tease apart

The threads

Of the human

Endeavor

And create

A bright new

World

That's not our

Circumstance

This is a fire

In a madhouse

And

To get a hold

On the situation

I think

We are going to

Have to

Force

The issue

Well

One

One way of

Forcing the issue

Or a

Chemical definition

Of forcing

The issue

When you're talking

About a chemical reaction

Is

Catalysis

We want to

Catalyze

Consciousness

We want to

Move it

Faster

Toward its goals

Whatever those goals

Are

Well I believe

That to the

Present moment

Language

Again in the

Broadest sense

Speech

Dance

Musical composition

Language

Has just been allowed

To grow

Like Topsy

It's

Been

A kind of

Every man

For himself

Situation

Now

What we really

Need

As we

See ourselves

Moving

From one

Species

Among

Tens of

Thousands

Of species

On this planet

Over the past

Ten thousand years

We have

Redefined

Ourselves

And now

Like it or not

We are

The custodians

Of the destiny

Of this planet

Our

Decisions

Affect

Every life

Form

The planet

And yet

We are still

Communicating

With each other

With the extremely

Precise

Medium

Of small

Mouth noises

Mediated by

Ignorance

And hate

This doesn't seem

Like the way

To do business

As we approach

The third millennium

So

It

What I

What I'm hopeful

For

And what I actually

See happening

I mean

I think that

We're on the right

Track

The birth

Of a new

Kind of

Humanity

Is going to take place

But there are still

A lot of decisions

To be made

How violent

Shall this birth

Be

What toll

Shall it take

Upon our mother

The earth

What shape

Shall the baby

Be in

When it finally

Is delivered

These are the decisions

That artists

Can

Mediate

And

Control

Most people

Are afraid

Of the unconscious

This is why

You know

You can have

A psychedelic

Compound

Like DMT

Which is

Very much

Like ordinary

Brain chemistry

Appears

Completely

Physiologically

Harmless

Only

Last

Ten minutes

Extremely

Powerful

And

Generally

In this society

You have no

Takers

This is because

There has been

A failure

Of moral

Courage

And the

Failure of moral

Courage

Is

Perhaps most

Evident

In our own

Community

The community

Of

Of the artists

In a way

It's the poets

That have failed us

Because they have not

Provided a song

Or

Sung a vision

That we could

That we could all

Move

In concert

To

So now

We are in the absurd

Position

Of being able to

Do

Anything

And what we are doing

Is fouling our own

Nest

And pushing

Ourselves toward

Planetary

Toxification

And

Extinction

This is because

The poets

The artists

Have not

Articulated

An

A

Moral vision

The moral vision

Must come

From the unconscious

It doesn't have to do

I believe

With

You know

These

Post meaning

Movements

In art

Deconstructionism

And this sort of thing

That art's task

Is to save

The soul

Of

Mankind

And

That

Anything less

Is

A dithering

While Rome

Burns

Because

If the artists

Who are

Self-selected

For

Being able to journey

Into

The other

If the artists

Cannot find

The way

Then the way

Cannot be found

Ideology

Is

Extremely

Alien

To art

Political

Ideology

I mean

And if you will

But notice

It is political

Ideology

That has been calling

The shots

For the last

Seven or eight hundred

Years

We can

Transcend

Politics

If we can put

Some other

Program

In place

You cannot

Transcend

Into a void

And

I believe

That a world

Without

Ideology

Could be

Created

If

What were put in

Place of ideology

Were

The notion

Of the

Realization

Of

The good

The true

And the beautiful

You know

The three tiered

Canon

Of the platonic

Esthetic

The

Reconnect

The notion

Of the good

The true

And the beautiful

Then

Use

Psychedelics

To

Empower

The artist

To go

Into

This

Vast

Dimension

That surrounds

Human history

On

All sides

To an infinite

Depth

And

Return

From that

World

With the transcendental

Images

That

Can lift us

To a new

Cultural level

The muse

Is there

The

Dull maps

That

Rationalism

Has given us

Are

Nothing more

Than whistling

Past the

Graveyard

By the

Bad little

Boys of

Science

You only

Have to

Avail yourselves

Of

These

Shamanic

Tools

To rediscover

A nature

Which is

Not

Mute

As Sartre

Said

In a kind

Of culmination

Of the modern

Viewpoint

Nature is

Not

Mute

The way

To

Open our ears

Open our eyes

And

Reconnect

With the

Intent

Of a living

World

Is through

The

Psychedelics

Now

As you know

Biology

Runs on

Genes

And

Genes

Are

The units

Of meaning

Of heredity

But

We could

Make a model

Of the informational

That is

Represented

By culture

And in fact

This is done

A word

Has been

Invented

Meme

A meme

Is not

The smallest

Unit

Of heredity

A meme

Is the smallest

Unit

Of meaning

Of an

Idea

Ideas

Are made

Of memes

And I think

The art community

Might

Function

With more

Efficiency

In the production

Of

Visionary

Aesthetic

Breakthroughs

If we would

Think of

Ourselves

As an

Environment

Modelled

After the

Natural

Environment

Where

We

As artists

Are attempting

To create

Memes

Which enter

An environment

Of other

Memes

That are in competition

With each other

And out of this competition

Of memes

Ever more

Appropriate

Adapted

And

Suitable

Ideas

Can gather

And

Link themselves

Together

Into higher

And higher

Organisms

Now

In order

For this

To happen

There is an obligation

Upon each

One of us

To carry

Our ideas

Clearly

Because in the same

Way that a gene

Must be copied

Correctly

To be replicated

Or it will cause

Some pathological

Mutation

A meme

Must be

Correctly

Replicated

Or it will cause

A pathological

Mutation

For instance

I would say

What the Nazis

Did to

Friedrich Nietzsche's

Philosophy

Was a bad

Cop

A miscopied

Meme

Became

A toxic

Mutation

Inside

A culture

So

I would suggest

To the people

In this room

Tonight

That you take

A good look

Around

At who's

Here

Artistic

People

Psychedelic

People

Look pretty much

Like everybody

Else

Out in

Society

But we have

Come here

Tonight

Self-selected

For our interest

In the

Empowering

Capacity

Of psychedelic

Plants

And the

Empowering

Capacity

Of art

So we

Represent

An affinity

Group

A population

With a potential

For

Mutagenic

Impact

On the

Ideological

Structures

Of the

Rest of

Society

So look

Around

Someone here

Has what

You need

And if you can only

Figure out who

It is

You can make a

Novel

Connection

To move

Then

Into a new

Level

Of

Creativity

What is

This new

Level

Of

Creativity

Some of

You may be

Familiar

With the

Theme

That was

Very big

In medieval

Religious art

Which was

The Apocalypse

Of

Saint John

Or of

Somebody

There are

A number

Of these

Apocalypses

And I think

That

Many of us

May come out

Of a kind

Of secular

Or have not given

This kind

Of a

Religious idea

Too much

Consideration

But

My

Idiosyncratic

Conclusion

Based

Simply on

Trying to be

Honest

About the

Content

Of the

Psychedelic

Experience

Is

That

Human history

Really

Is

On a

Collision

A

Transcendental

Object

Of some

Sort

It is not

Going to be

Business as

Usual

Into the

Endless

Unfolding

Confines

Of the

Future

The very

Fact

That human

History

Is occurring

On this

Planet

The fact

That a

Primate

Has left

The ordinary

Pattern

Of primate

Activity

And gone

Into the

Business

Of running

Stock

Markets

And molecular

Biology

Labs

And art

Museums

Indicates

To me

The

Nearby

Over

Organizing

Force

Or what I

Call

The transcendental

Object

And I believe

That this transcendental

Object

Is casting

An enormous

Shadow

Over

The human

Historical

Landscape

So

That

If you're

Back

In

Ancient

Judea

You

Have

An anticipation

If you are

At

Elusis

At the height

Of the practice

Of the

Illusinian Mysteries

You have

An anticipation

Of

The dark

God

These

Anticipations

Of

An unspeakable

Transcendent

Reality

That are

Always

Clothed

In the

Assumptions

Of the individual

Artist

In the society

Is working

Are in

Fact

Genuine

And that

You don't have

To give

Yourself

Over

To

Fundamentalist

Religion

To

Connect

With

The fact

That

Human History

Is

An adventure

And

This adventure

Has a

Number

Of

Startling

Reverses

And

And that

We are

Coming up

On one of

Those

The civilization

That was created

Out of the collapse

Of the medieval world

Has now

Shown

Its

Contradictions

To be

Unbearable

And though

No one of us

Knows

What the shape

Of the new civilization

Will be

Somehow

In the singing

Of the ayahuasca songs

In the rain forest

In the

Tremendous

Hyper metallic

Transcendental

Off planetary

Flash

Of psilocybin

In the

Teaching of the self transforming

Machine elves

That seem

To dwell

In the DMT

Dimension

We see

That the ordinary

Linear expectations

Of history

Are breaking down

And

That

The

The truth

Of

The eminence

Of

The mystery

Is breaking

Through

All the

Structures

Of denial

Of

The male

Dominator paradigm

That has been

In place

So long

The way

To make this birth

Process

Smooth

The way

To bring it

To a conclusion

That will not

Betray

The thousands

And thousands

Of generations

Of people

Who

Suffered

Birth

And disease

And migration

And starvation

And lonely

Lonely death

So that we could

Sit here

This evening

The redeeming

Of the human

Enterprise

All lies

Then

In helping

This thing

Come to birth

And each artist

Is an antenna

To the transcendental

Other

And as we go

With our own

History

Into that thing

And then create

A unique

Confluence

Influence

Of our

Uniqueness

And its

Uniqueness

We collectively

Create

An arrow

Out of history

Out of time

Perhaps

Even out of

Matter

That will redeem

Then

The idea

That man

Is good

Redeem

The idea

That man

Is good

This is

The promise

Of art

And its

Fulfillment

Is never

More near

Than the present

Moment

Thank you

Very much

I think

We'll take

I'm happy

To take questions

Here

Being

In the realm

Of the ego

And art

And shamanism

Being in some

Other realm

That you find

The name

My own

Psychedelic

Experience

Convince me

Of the existence

Of that

Other realm

But I felt

Not enough

Sense of

Personal power

To be that

Antenna

That you're saying

That artists can be

For bringing that

The other

Until I became

Convince

Of the existence

Not only of me

Within that other realm

But that other realm

Within me

And perhaps

The psychedelic

Experience

Prepared me

For that second

Awareness

But perhaps

You could comment

On how

If possible

That second awareness

Could become

More easily

Accessible

In the psychedelic

Experience

What do you mean

By the second awareness

Say a little more

About it

Of being aware

That other realm

Is something

It's also very personal

And

Well

Yes

I mean it seems

It's

It's a landscape

That begins

Within the self

And seems to extend

Into the world

I mean

One of the

Very puzzling

Things about

The psychedelic

Experience

Is that it

Argues that

We are not

Atomic individuals

Running around

In some kind

Of society

But that if you

Actually drain

The psychic

Water away

You'll discover

That we're

All connected

At the roots

That the

That it isn't

A journey

To another world

It's a journey

Inward

To a world

That is already

Present

And there

The

Astonishing thing

Is how

Alienated

We are

From our own

Interior

From the interior

World to the point

Where we can

Hardly recognize

It

I mean the

I've talked a lot

About the

Alien nature

Of the

Psychedelic

Experience

And how

It seems to be

Mappable

Over

Something as

Radical

As the

UFO

Experience

This is because

We truly

Do not know

Who we are

The past

Ten thousand

Years

Have been

So

Disempowering

To us

We are

Really like

The children

Of a dysfunctional

Relationship