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