Identities In "It"

I was visiting a friend out East and we had spoken before I went out, of doing some mushrooms together. I took out a little bag of Psilocybe cyanescens, about 4-5 medium size mushrooms each. We decided to do them on a free evening and prepare for the trip by fasting after a late breakfast. That evening at about 6:00, I threw the dried mushrooms into the blender and mixed them with some grapefruit juice. We had a toast to progress and learning what we needed, and downed them.

My friend and I are both musicians, and he suggested we play some music till they kicked in. I get very sensitive to different kinds of sound when I'm on mushrooms and after about 15 minutes, I knew it would have to stop; the buzzing of the strings was like chalk on a blackboard. He was trying I think to control the trip too much; to me the point is to let it be and not try to push it one way or another. He then put on some Reggae, which was fun to start out with; it got me all giggly. This went on a while, and he wanted to change the music again. He got up and started searching through tapes. It was all I could to do not throttle him; searching through crackling plastic bags of tapes was driving me nuts. But he did hit on something ideal; a tape of buddhist chanting, with harp and flute along with it. It was perfect, a very grounding thing, easy on the ears, helping one to concentrate instead of being distracting. To me, tripping on mushrooms is something to be done with a purpose, and I don't mean just to 'get off.' It's a very "full" experience, and for me, trying to do other things or listening to distracting music diminishes the experience.

We lay there together and talked about our friends; it seemed that as we did, we got clear views of their essence. My friend was an embodiment of playfulness, another friend, simply reduced to a big smile in the world. I got up to use the bathroom, and as I got close to the speakers, the chanting took on another character entirely; it became something physical. We moved to that place, and the chanting became one with the flow of geometric colors. I saw those patterns as the source of all geometric folk art, whether you see them through mushrooms, or through some other inspiration.

If one could capture just a bit of that world in a rug, it would be a beautiful kilim - as if we were looking at *the* kilim, *the* persian rug, and anything we have in this world was a futile attempt at capturing it. The chanting became a physical backdrop for the other sounds; which also had their physical images; the flute became brilliant parallel glowing lines floating in the space above a flowing road of colors; the harp was curling expanding balls of light. They were separate from the "field," but were defined by their contrast with it. It became clear that the same is true for people; we can be as different from one another as those sounds and yet we all connect and reflect from a common source that defines us; we all harmonize with a whole. That whole, that "it", simply is, and we are, with it and because of it, inseparable from it. It, Mind, intense constant but ever changing and unfolding views of beauty.

One very interesting thing that happened was this: As I peaked, the geometric patterns became finer and finer, until they merged into a larger 3-D pattern - almost like looking at the dots on a color TV screen and then zooming back till you see the image they compose. I was "flying" in a space, looking at an incredible castle or pagoda, and later it developed into something like a giant Thai dance mask...the mask of Rama maybe?

Eventually I came closer, and it became geometric patterns again as I came down. I would hope that anyone who has done mushrooms only from the standpoint of "having a good time" (granted, we did!) will try it with a mind for learning something some time; it adds so much to the experience and gives you something to chew on for weeks afterward. Also, doing it together with someone you are really close to is great; especially if you feel comfortable being physically close to them as well, holding each other, etc. Enjoying the feel of the body of someone you love (and I don't mean necessarily in a sexual way but if that's there why not!) is a wonderful experience with mushrooms. Usually, after a mushroom trip, I'm pretty worn out the next day; sometimes a little headachey. This time, we took some vitamins, especially some extra C, and had a good meal as we talked about our experience. It completely eliminated that dragged out feeling the next day, which was a good thing as he had to work. This will be one experience for the archives of our friendship. :)