Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Hallucinogens induce profound mystical experiences

Want a mystical experience? Got no time or inclination for meditation, austerities, guru-worship, or rituals? A shortcut is available: hallucinogens, such as psilocybin. This is no surprise to baby boomers like me who experimented with LSD, mescaline, and "magic mushrooms" back in the 60's. I was searching for the Meaning Of It All, so I was part of the flower children subset who looked upon hallucinogens not only as a good time, but as a doorway to higher consciousness. I figured that these trippy drugs had pretty much gone out of fashion. However, an article in the December 2010 issue…
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Posted inReality Science

Unconscious zombies and conscious thermostats

Comments on my previous post about David Chalmers' consciousness theories got me doing more pondering about zombies -- the philosophical variety. Personally, I resonate with Chalmers' notion that it is logically possible to conceive of beings who are identical to us down to the most minute subatomic particle, and behave exactly like us in even the most subtle fashion. The only difference betweeen zombie and human would be this: humans experience what it is like to be what we are; zombies don't. Admittedly this is a strange notion to wrap our minds around. For each of us, our entire life…
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Posted inGod

Talking trash with Almighty God

Ah, another enjoyable blasphemous Mark Morford column, "How to talk trash with Almighty God." I like the ending, after Morford blasts God for all the crap life continues to be filled with after many millenia of worship, reverence, bowing and scraping, and all that. But you know what? It doesn't seem to matter. Mock or no mock, praise or no praise, we get nailed, over and over again, no matter what. Sickened, crushed, bloodied, heartbroken, ruined, revived and rejuvenated, only to be ruined once again. We drop that damn ball, over and over again, every single day. So much for…
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