***You could even go further and say that the ego is just the sense of having an individual perspective....***
In that case I can slip in and out of the Ego on a mere cue! Its really a definitions thing, but such is life. I equate the Ego with the Soul, the "ME" that I suspect is universal & the Godsoul. The Soulware is the thing that works the machine, not just reproduction, maintenence and those things but also the brain, the place where wetware meets software, the explanation and rationalisation as well as spiritualisation machines for our earthsuit.
To my cosmology life flows through the organism, past or through the Soul. Indeed the term "ME" is ill-chosen, and we're on one line in that I on a deeper level believe the Soul in essence is nothing but the Observer, but i didnt want to increase the mess and the "ME" is easier to swiftly relate too. The Soul lies within the "ME" but identity can indeed be lost.
On the one hand you have the extreme of full conscious participation (acting/thinking) and on the other side there's full conscious experiencing. Most highly impressive things in mylife have been times where I was closer to the experiencing side of things, like i find that the mere act of sensory deprivation alone (say lie in bed/darkness and shut off activity of body and mind is far more insightful then most Trips i read of with sensory and inner distractions and The Hight-Ashbury Free Clinic's battle-proven A.R.R.R.T Talk-down technique in fact revolves around comfortably distracting a horrified, scared, dynamic consciousness, whereas all such things cease to be once a high degree of inert consciousness is reached.
I am opposed to people storming at Ego Death like there's no tomorrow, upping doses just to "get there" and not do the work. I have major concerns regarding Ego Death:
To spew my biggest concern: If somebody advances towards Ego Death it is known it causes increasing distress of frightening intensity in quite some people who resist to "let go". I myself am one of those, like Dr. Shulgin I think the road is fraught with danger for most. Advancing on Ego Death is interestingly symbolized in the manga anime movie "AKIRA" which i really recommend for trippers and meditators alike.
According to Dr. Stanislav Grof's masterpiece "LSD Psychotherapy" it is common for the suffering/dynamic consciousness to mount to cataclysmic proportions, before being sucked into Ego Death/inert consciousness.
Now usually once Ego Death is approached so close one passes the Point of No Return you're sucked in and it takes its course, which usually is OK.
But my concern is that if you get very close to Ego Death and manage to resist the Hells and pull back, the suffering -without- being liberated can be so immense that your dynamic consciousness get ripped apart, you will get all sorts of post-trip aftereffects and Ego Death keeps pulling at you to draw you in for quite some time when not on drugs at all. This is in my view the nature of most trip-accidents: they are usually the result of intense trips loaded with unspeakable terror the resisting of which will cause deleterious aftereffects because the release and liberation was not reached while the problems increased.
What I have experienced and witnessed is that even 0.5 gram doses of mushrooms (which generally are not overwhelming) will put you on the path of insight, spiritual growth and healing in the earthly (dynamic) world, steering towards inner spiritual cleansing successfully with people being able to resist the emergence of material they can't deal with which will strengthen the earthly/dynamic consciousness with usually benificial effects. This is the way of the Ayahuasca churches: A low dose of DMT is the principal catalyst.
On the other hand you have the high-dose approach. This strives for the astral/inert consciousness and thus Ego Death by using dosages that tend to be overwhelming and may impose suffering that is unique in nature and sheer intensity and often is near impossible to resist. But if succesfully resisted this tends to give rise to the really bad trips and the really worrisome deleterious after-effects after the Session. The desired Ego Death tends to bear beneficial effects of proportional greatness. This is the way of the Amazon Medicine men and women who use things like Cohoba or Virola snuffs. A high dose of DMT is the principal catalyst.
My observations throughout the literature, the Shulgin books, native tribe information and Shroomery postings is that at least 4 out of 5 people do not have what it takes to go for the Leary/Grof Ego Death approach, including myself. This majority will often derive great benefit from the Insight/Shulgin-type low dose (consistent non overwhelming intensity and retaining self-control equals a low dose and not X grams) while at substantial risk for deleterious after-effects.
Ego Death/total experience is very hard to achieve before flatlining but is no better or more spiritual then the down-to-earth dynamic approach, and for most it seems more beneficial to their everyday lives then highly stressful high dose sessions. In both cases you evolve, one slower, the other faster. It is to be seen which percentage of either group gets furthest in the long run. To each his own.
I am very curious as to your tales from the outer regions however! I will not go there until my blood stops pumping and my earthly resistance brain centers shut down one by one by the physical dying process. I hope everyone will get there in the end before re-entry in the next planetary flesh suit. But please tell me how it is for you as I could hardly be more interested!
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