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The Entheological Paradigm

I will begin by mentioning that I have made the Entheological Paradigm available to the public as lectures on my podcast, "The Entheogenic Evolution," in my book, Being Human: An Entheological Guide to God, Evolution, and the Fractal Energetic Nature of Reality, as videos on Youtube, as a website, and as public lectures at events like Burning Man.  In my book, Being Human, I write, on page 57, "A common effect of working with entheogens is attachment to story.  People see visions or encounter other ‘beings' and then proceed to weave fantastic stories around their experiences.  Terence McKenna and the infamous machine elves are an excellent case in point."

I have yet to receive a single complaint from a reader of Being Human for that passage and the sentences that follow.  My recent article was simply the full analysis of the reality of that claim.  Therefore, for those who have followed my work, this was nothing new or unexpected.  However, for many readers, I'm sure that this was their first exposure to the Entheological Paradigm (and my provocative communication style).  My suggestion for all interested readers is to take a look at Being Human and see what you think.  At the least, it is my hope that this article will help generate deeper understanding of the Entheological Paradigm and why it is significant for understanding not only entheogenic experiences, but reality as a whole, including one's understanding of the genuine nature of the self.

The Entheological Paradigm is not a system of beliefs, metaphysics, or spirituality.  As the name suggests, it is a descriptive model of reality based on direct experience through entheogenic states of consciousness and energetic awareness.  As such, it can be confirmed directly by anyone willing to go through a rigorous process of self-discovery and analysis through highly specific entheogenic methods.  It is not a belief system generated through the use of entheogens.  It is a direct experience of the energetic nature of reality using entheogenic tools.  Beliefs and direct experience are two radically different things, and there are no beliefs in the Entheological Paradigm.

It is a very strong claim to say that something does not contain any beliefs.  This is especially true when one is making statements about the ultimate nature of reality.  It is a popular belief today that all beliefs are equally valid when discussing the ultimate nature of reality, and many tout such obviously sloppy thinking as some kind of vaguely feel-good "new paradigm" thought.  Many people are of the view that if you believe in something, then, it is, in some sense, true.  The corollary to such a view is that it is assumed that all statements about the nature of reality are, by definition, beliefs.  In other words, genuine knowledge is seen as dubious, at best, and impossible, at worst, and therefore all we have are our beliefs.  These beliefs then seem to get support from various experiences that we might have, or we might feel forced to change our beliefs when a given experience does not conform to our previous expectations.  Beliefs, therefore, both shape, and are shaped by, our experiences.  But at the popular level, at least, questions of ontology and epistemology have fallen by the wayside and there is something of a free-for-all in the reality belief game and much "new paradigm" thinking is a morass of pseudo-scientific mush mixed with incompatible and contradictory spiritual metaphysics.  What is sorely lacking is clarity, discernment, and a realistic model of what constitutes "reality."

The question of, "How do we know what we think we know?" is epistemology.  The question of, "What actually exists?" is ontology.  These questions are intimately related, for how we answer one affects how we are able to answer the other.  The Entheological Paradigm provides an ontological answer, coupled with a system of epistemology based on mathematics and a careful analysis of the phenomenology of entheogenic experiences, with special attention paid to non-dual, or unitary states of being.

The Entheological Paradigm is not something that I learned from anyone.  Nor is it something that I have intellectually constructed through studying the works and systems of others.  It is not based on any pre-existing religious, philosophical, metaphysical, spiritual, or scientific system, though it shares certain concepts and truths with other systems.  It is the product of my personal exploration into myself, and the conclusions I was forced to reached about the nature of the self and the nature of reality.  Despite having reached these conclusions subjectively, I argue that they are in fact universal.  In other words, I am claiming to have discovered the genuine truth about the nature of the self and the nature of reality.  This is not "my" belief system, nor is it "just my perspective."  This is objective truth and others can confirm this for themselves.  In fact, that is what is preferred.  "Believing" in something is utterly meaningless.  Experiencing the truth directly is the only way to genuinely know reality.  There is no need for beliefs in the Entheological Paradigm.

How I came about the Entheological Paradigm is complex story.  I've shared much of it publicly on "The Entheogenic Evolution" podcast, and will provide a very short summary here.  In essence, almost three years ago, I decided that I had been holding myself back and endlessly compromising myself in my life, and found the courage to do something about it.  I left everything stable in my life and ventured out on a process of self-discovery.  A central component of this self-discovery process was entheogens: in particular, Salvia divinorum, Ayahuasca (in the form of Daime), and 5-MeO-DMT.  To put it quite simply, what I learned and discovered about myself was that I was God, a "being" that I had no prior "belief" in, and that this being had absolutely nothing to do with any of the religions or spiritual teachings promoted by different human societies and traditions.  This was anything but an easy process for my ego to go through.  In fact, it was, by far, the most difficult and radically challenging thing I had ever been through in my life.  It's one thing for an ego to find out that something it had no necessary belief in existed, but that this being was identical with the self, was quite another matter.

Having my Ph.D. in Religious Studies, I was certainly aware of the widespread beliefs in God and a "mystical," unitary reality, as these are common themes in many religions.  However, what I also realized, in discovering the genuine nature of myself, is that the vast majority of what all religions have to say about God and the ultimate nature of reality and the self is wildly off the mark, and in many cases, seriously wrong.  In truth, it became immediately clear that all those belief systems, religions, and spiritual teachings were mere nuggets of truth wrapped in multiple layers of ego-generated illusion and fantasy.

This was quite startling for me.  For one, it meant that all those "possibilities" for which I had once held out an open mind, and in some cases, and yearning heart, were just illusions.  It also meant, even more shockingly, that somehow, I had come to understand things that others hadn't -- even the so-called "great mystics" and "masters," because it was simply too clear to me where their egos were influencing what they were saying and teaching.  Even Buddhism, I found, my personal favorite, was seriously clouded in illusion at many levels.  And it wasn't simply a matter of differences in beliefs.  It was a difference in our experiences of energy.  I found that I could immediately distinguish between ego and truth at an energetic level in my entire being.  A visual metaphor might be useful: For those who have eyesight, it is obvious when the light is either turned on or off.  You can simply see it.  It is not a matter of belief.  It is reality.  What I discovered in myself was the ability to energetically perceive and experience the difference between when "ego is on" or when "ego is off."  What I experienced was that what often passed for "enlightened teachings" was anything but!

I was able to accomplish this in myself because I chose to permanently surrender my ego to my true nature as an infinite energy being (and reaffirm this choice on a moment to moment basis).  My ego is still a part of me, but I have learned that is it most definitely not me, nor are its ideas or beliefs.  In surrendering my ego, virtually everything about me has changed, including my voice, my body, my energy, my thoughts, and my perceptions and experiences.  I have experienced what I can only call genuine human liberation.  I have freed myself.  Through teaching about the Entheological Paradigm, that is what I hope to share with others: a genuine path to true liberation.  To get there, though, all illusions must be overcome and released, including those generated by our most beloved entertainers and cultural icons, as well as all religions, spiritual systems, and cultural belief systems.  It's a big job, and it progresses one person at a time, one ego at a time.  It must be directly experienced by any given individual as this is not something that can merely be understood intellectually or "believed" in.  Beliefs and ideas about the nature of reality are completely meaningless.  Only by truly learning of your genuine nature as an embodied energy being can you begin to understand the true difference between reality and that which we impose upon it through our own thoughts, choices, and beliefs.

So what is the Entheological Paradigm?  It is a complete analysis of reality as the integrated and interrelated expression of a Unitary Energy Being, otherwise known as "God."  To put it simply, all of reality is a unified energetic system that is conscious, self-aware, and evolving according to energetic laws.  There is no real difference between organic, inorganic, subjective and objective as ALL manifestations within reality follow the same set of energetic rules and laws.  Everything that exists is a form of energy and it is all unified within a singular self-awareness and consciousness.  The rest of this essay will present an overview of how this works and the role that entheogens can play in bringing about direct experience of the fundamental nature of reality and the process of undergoing self-liberation through awareness and the exercise of personal responsibility.

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