Essay Resources

CONVERSATIONS ON THE EDGE OF HYPERSPACE

An e-mail dialogue between two psychonauts: Authors Steve Turner (The DMT Diaries) and Eugene Alliende ((Dimensions of Being: An Explorer’s Guide to Consciousness) discuss zero-point energy, the Akashic field, Consciousness, the Singularity, and the nature of N,N DMT vs. 5 MeO DMT.

Hi Eugene, I have just finished reading your book Dimensions of Being and I think it is a truly terrific piece of work. I was first made aware of it by your interview with Martin W. Ball on his podcast, and was intrigued and impressed enough to order a copy the same day. I had an intuition it would be good, but I was amazed just how good. The depth and breadth of it cannot obviously be summed up in the space of an interview, and the scale of it approximated up in a summary.  I’ve recently written a smaller book on DMT and 5 MeO DMT too, and thought that I’d researched all the most lucid books on the subject. The past few months have proved me very wrong. There have been some excellent new books on this subject of which your book is one of the most outstanding examples. (There are a number of books by Ervin Laszlo, Rick Strassman, and Eben Alexander which are being released over the next few weeks which I am awaiting with equal anticipation). Next year I am planning to write a sequel (or update I guess) and would love to have your permission to quote your book at length, as I think it one of the most insightful and comprehensive available. I think we have come to very similar conclusions from very different starting points. It is also a pleasure to read. 

Hi Steve, Thanks so much for your kind words and your feedback, you put a smile in my heart! I would be very interested in reading your book, and would be honored to be quoted on your next one. What is the title of your book? Can I find it on Amazon? I would also love to learn more about your journey, your work with the medicines, and your ‘conclusions’ on It All 😉 look forward to future discussions! Peace, Eugene

Hi Eugene, thanks for the swift reply! The book is called The DMT Diaries you can buy it on Amazon or I am fine to send a copy if you like. I think we are of a similar age and probably in higher education at the same time. In my youth I was fascinated by the French intellectual Guy Debord but became disillusioned after his suicide and polemic legacy. I loved the American comedian Bill Hicks though, who died in the same year and impressed me the more I discovered about him. Through him I discovered Terence McKenna, Joe Rogan, and Rick Strassman who managed to turn most of my beliefs upside down. To understand Debord I studied Hegel in great depth, and loved your evolutionary portrayal of consciousness influenced by Wilber and Leary which seems highly sympathetic to this form of evolutionary idealism. James Oroc’s superb book cemented this idea and introduced me to the brilliant Ervin Laszlo and the Akashic Field of whom you expound with great insight. Your book details this evolutionary process with uncanny sentiment. We also appreciate the same scientists too like Bohm, Davies, and John Gribbin. I think you will find our views incredibly close if you don’t get bored with the sociological first chapter. I have quite a bit of experience with smoked DMT (150?), but at various doses in strength (a tip from Rick Strassman’s studies). I’m sure that the most fundamental experience though is the 5 MeO DMT epiphany in which I have never dared to go all the way yet, I don’t know if its cowardice, or because of a lack of a “guide” (anyone with experience who can guide me through it if necessary, or goes bad), like you and I know the power of these substances and consequences, and treat them with the utmost respect. Your book seemed to encapsulate these ideas that we have both experienced and make the most theoretical sense.  I hope your book gains the recognition it deserves, it will be a valuable piece literature.                

Hi Steve, Just ordered your book, and I am looking forward to reading it! Seems like our minds have meandered through similar territory! Below is a post I wrote for DoseNation a while back.. Thought you might enjoy it. See what you think. It’s amazing that by shifting a couple of atoms around we can access completely different dimensions of reality! Look forward to ongoing discussions. 

   While I agree that there needs to be much more research done on the pineal-DMT hypothesis from the empirical end, it is a very compelling argument when you follow the metabolic trail of tryptophan. Tryptophan, a crucial amino acid for life, seems to be modified into serotonin in the presence of light. In the absence of light, the pineal converts the serotonin into the “sleep hormone,” melatonin. The hypothesis here is that in prolonged darkness, as experienced in sensory-depravation, dark cave meditation, prolonged silent meditation (as in my ten-day silent meditation retreats), ascetic isolation, or in the deepest dreamless sleep at nights (delta brain state) the melatonin is converted into 5MeO-Tryptamine by the HIOMT enzyme, which is one or two atomic shifts away from 5MeO-DMT and DMT. It is very conceivable that the deepest illuminations of nirvakalpa Samadhi after years of prolonged meditation can be mediated by the modification of these endogenous tryptamines. James Kent pointed out that the traces of endogenous DMT are too small to really have a psychic effect, UNLESS we were to have endogenous MAOI’s to potentiate the DMT. And apparently, the pineal does produce MAOIs, such as the pinole enzyme, and possibly harmaline and harmine, therefore hypothetically making the endogenous tryptamines effective in the brain. Now James also points out that if this were the case (DMT as source of spiritual experience), then the literature would be littered with depictions of elves, aliens, etc. (Tibetan Buddhism, Celtic pagans, and Hinduism do have some trippy imagery..), which is really not the case. But, the literature of ALL wisdom traditions do speak of the brilliant White Light of the Illumined Enlightened Mind, and if you’ve ever tried 5MeO-DMT you would instantly know this experience. In other words, it seems to me that 5MeO is a more likely ‘sprit molecule’ candidate given the similarity of experience; namely the experience of the Pure White Light. I have personally spent many hours in silent dark meditation (no drugs), as in the 10-day vipassana silent meditation retreats I attend yearly. In these retreats one has the option of meditating in a sensory-deprived cell; total darkness and silence for hour on end. My experience after seven days of this, at the peak, is very similar, if not identical, to the 5MeO flash. I even feel experientially how there is an inner shift in my brain, as my focus is the third eye (pineal). As I focus on the center of my brain, I seem to experience an inner secretion that literally fills my entire being with light (the inner nectar that the yogis talk about, maybe). Anyhow, given my inner experiences and the fact that DMT is so easily manufactured in our brains, the pineal-DMT hypothesis seems a worthy endeavor of pursuit.

Hi Eugene, Thanks for the response, it is really interesting to understand the biological mechanisms involved in these experiences. Is there any difference in your experience of the non-dual “singularity” first experienced by you with LSD, and the transcendental states achieved through deep meditation, or are they to you identical? I’m trying to find a model that sheds light on the very different experiences of 5 Me0 DMT and DMT, and would appreciate your views on the “interdimensional multiverse” hypothesis with the divine singularity at its core, or do you believe these “alien” realms derive from other more mental sources? I would really like to get your views on a You Tube video I recently watched (when you have time), which I found very interesting, which is called DMT, the oneness, source, ONE LOVE (21.38 min). I’m hoping you can help give a clearer model of the ontology of these different realms and their co-existence. I hope you like the book, I think you’ll find plenty of overlap in our ideas, and influences, but I’m still catching up in many areas. 

Hi Steve, Just watched the YouTube video you recommended..,, great description of the “two” planes: the multidimensional DMTverse full of sentient, synesthetic beings with other-worldly information, and the completely formless, timeless, nondual White Light Void. In my experience, the formless nondual Source is identical, no matter what path I take (LSD , deep samadhi-meditation, or 5 MeO), with perhaps a gradient in depth, intensity, and brightness, the full 5MeO release being the most full on. In this flash there is only One, eternally, and it is Love in the deepest sense. N, N DMT, however, is fascinating in the sense that it is totally alien, translinguistic, impossible, hyper dimensional, and fully inhabited by other entities. I think there is an interaction with our own psychology, but the frequency, I believe, seems to be from an alternate continuum, with cosmic secrets that are totally mind blowing.

   So in my developing understanding, the DMTverse seems to be the inner subtle planes of the visionary shamanic world (7th level) of the Spirit realm, and level 8, accessed reliably with a 5MeO blast, is Pure Consciousness, the singularity Source out of which All dimensions are a modification and manifestation of. And this deep timeless Source is non-other than the very Presence we are right now; the Witness behind the diverse possible displays.

   I’m finding that the brain as ‘quantum receiver of consciousness’ theory to be the most compelling , insinuating the possibility of access to non local information inherent in a holographic multidimensional multiverse.

    What is you experience ? Have you reached the White Light with N, N DMT (I have not; it’s always been visionary for me) How about with 5MeO; have you had visionary experiences with it? (I have not; it’s always been the pure white light for me). With (pure) LSD I am able to go into the void, and traverse the layered dimensions, at will. And of course there is ketamine…a whole different discussion, but totally amazing as well. Anyhow, enough rambling… Great to share field notes with another fellow psychonaut! Blessings, Eugene.

Hi Eugene, Great response! This was the impression that I got from your book, and the model that seems to be the most compelling. It also rings the most true from personal experience. I’ve tasted these realms which seem to be dimensions which appear to intersect with our own – and I’m sure like many others, they seem so far beyond personal imagination and ego projection. Often hyper-technological and very alien. (Though this opinion is not always supported by some who still find these realms as “illusionary” compared to the nondual source of pure consciousness). I have not yet reached this level through N-N, DMT, or 5 MeO DMT, but I am certain that this is the core revelation that I’ve searched for, and that you and articulate so well. I’m not sure why I’m still hesitant to take that final step. I watched a great new documentary this year called AYA: Awakenings by Rak Razam which is principally about the new ayahuasca trail, but whose highlight is his 5 MeO trip rendered in animated form. The question seems to be are you ready to meet God yet? For a flawed individual it still feels as daunting as it is compelling, even though it seems suffused with the purest form of love. I’ve been lucky so far as I’ve not had any bad experiences, but I get the impression that sooner or later that is par for the course. I was quite surprised to learn that even Terence McKenna used psychedelics very little in the last ten years of his life, because of a quite horrific mushroom experience. Have you had any negative experiences with entheogens, or has your meditative training shielded you from such encounters? Ketamine often sounds even more bizarre than the DMT realms – was it for you?

Hi Steve, Out of my many journeys (more then I can count), I am happy to report I’ve had only two difficult experiences (by no means negative or ‘bad’, just challenging), and they were with the mushroom. I do think a meditation practice has been essential for confident navigation; a practice that cultivates the center, open awareness, and an ability to let go. And yes, I do think a meditative context and technique minimizes difficult experiences and facilitates the mystical experience. For instance I was able to achieve full samadhi, formless mystical union every time with pure LSD and meditation (only with pure, which I haven’t seen in close to a decade, unfortunately), but not with the mushroom….the mushroom seems to have its own agenda, as if it were an Other guiding and relating with me. Same with ayahuasca and to some extent n, n dmt. After getting the hang of surfing the ketaverse, the meditation practice was essential for helping me manifest realities in that space. In the ketamine experience you become pure consciousness , but with the ability to manifest (virtual) realities via movements of the mind; and with meditation I was able to master this ability . Without meditation the experience seems to unfold on its own accord (possibly guided by the unconscious tendencies?). And with K, there is never any fear; as if the fear centers are deactivated in the brain. Still, I think that the DMTverse is weirder, more alien, and way more astonishing than K. I did not meet entities in the ketaverse, only entire universes inhabited by one consciousness. Whereas in the DMT land the beings are undeniable, playful, intelligent, and wanting to connect and communicate. I’ve never encountered beings on 5MeO; only white light. I do think meeting god in meditation, as in resting in pure awareness, before full 5MeO release is helpful… But it is always unnerving to watch the entire space time continuum melt into the singularity, no matter how much we know our original nature. What are some of your thoughts on these experiences? Have you explored other psychedelics, or just DMT? Have great day !

Hi Eugene, I believe you have far more experience with psychedelics than myself, and to be honest it is only in the last 5 years that I have really discovered the DMT realms. In my younger days I experimented a little with acid, and mushrooms, but mainly out of curiosity than serious exploration. I remember reading about DMT vaguely in McKenna’s Food of the Gods, but talk of “self transforming machine elves at the end of time” just baffled me. I instead studied classical German and Greek philosophy in search of answers to the mysteries of the cosmos. My love of the dark side of American stand-up is ironically the link that fired my interest (because of the accounts of people like Joe Rogan and Doug Stanhope), and since then become my main source of fascination. Let’s face it, is there any other possible experience that can within a space of minutes, turn everything you thought you knew about the universe upside down! Since then I have tried to study every available book on the subject, as well as practical experimentation. The fact that these chemicals are endogenous, and appear to have no side effects at all within human metabolism, so you return completely physically unaffected simply added to the profundity of the mystery. As you possess a greater, and wider depth of experience, there are many questions I would really value your opinion on, but I don’t want to deluge you with requests because I know you have a busy profession, and family to also focus on, and I do not want to become tiresome. Would it be ok with you if I could ask possibly one big question a week? (some of these questions I know are pretty tricky, and I think I have about twenty), but I think after reading your book there is no-one better to ask. Some questions are more spiritual, some philosophical, and quite a few more scientific. Your perspective would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Steve, Ask away! I find incredible pleasure in discussing and exploring all these questions, their implications, and applications. As you probably know, there are not too many people who have peeked ‘behind the curtain’ of reality, and it’s always a joy to find a kindred spirit. One thing is to experience these realms, another is to make sense of them, articulate them, and fit them into an overall understanding of existence. Conversation on these topics I feel are essential if we are to create maps of this uncharted territory. And you are right, there is nothing out there as potent, and life transforming, in minutes, as DMT. It’s just there, one toke away, a hyper dimension so alive, intelligent, with endless novelty and information, combining in impossible ways in order to communicate with us! And the fact that our brain- pineal manufactures this stuff has implications that are truly worth discussing. So yes, I look forward to an ongoing dialogue! Cheers, Eugene

Thanks Eugene, But I promise to give you a lot more breathing space. One of the concepts I’ve been wrestling with is two apparent processes, and how they might fit together. Like you I find Ervin Laszlo’s Akashic Field theory very compelling, so that every event and action is eternally imprinted within the quantum vacuum through electromagnetic wave interference patterns, and consciousness is a “non-local” phenomenon, with the brain acting as a “quantum interface” between the holographic interaction of mind and matter. The DMT realms seem to operate like vibrational frequencies, or concentric circles of more subtle emanations, different dimensional realms, moving towards the non-dual singularity at its core, like in Kabbalah, Sufism, and Gnostism. I’m having difficulty conceptualizing how these processes interact, and interrelate, is consciousness the zero-point field itself, or as I suspect rather the log book? How do we traverse these different plains with our current identity intact? Can these questions be answerable within our current physical form, and conceptual realm? I thought I’d start with a nice easy one!

Hey Steve, Just got your book in the mail, and I’m very excited to get into it! We both have been reading the same authors, and are definitely thinking along the same lines… Your question is a very good one, and I’ll give a short initial perspective, for id like to get into your book to see where your coming from before I get too much into my response.

   But in essence, I think the unified field, or non local singularity, is nondual ; meaning that it is the union of inner and outer , matter and spirit, subject and object, conscious and unconscious. It’s just One Source. Out of that mysterious unified nondual Source erupts manifestation, with an inner sentience, and an outer objective ‘shell,’ and these co-evolve in complexity over time. The underlying zero point field that physics measures is the objective (prakriti in yoga) aspect of the Field, and the deepest samadhis of pure Consciousness is the subjective (purusha) aspect (Penrose calls it proto-conscious). In the deepest flash, they both merge as the One Source (Brahma, one-without-a-second) out of which our sentient universe unfolds and returns. This process remains recorded as the memory of Universal Mind….So the Field Is Universal Consciousness, as thoughts are forms apprehended by pure formless witness. In the 5 MeO flash I feel our individual consciousness (wave) returns to unified Universal Consciousness (ocean). In DMT perhaps we are accessing subtle emanations, virtual patterns of the field, Bardo realms, carrying info from alternate dimensions, planes, or frequency domains? Since our senses only capture a small slice of the possible spectrums of reality, I believe there may be lots of sentience existing in different planes, frequency domains, accessed by neuro-chemically modified brains. The ZPF likely contains all domains holographically, and we may have access nonlocally. And psychedelics seem to insinuate that the deepest pure Consciousness can manifest as elaborate holographic realities; therefore, ZPF, quantum vacuum, pure formless Consciousness, White Light, God may all be labels for the One Eternal Source. What do you think? I’m excited to check out and comment on your book!

Hi Eugene, That is one hell of an initial response! I knew you were the right man to ask. I’ve re-read your reply a number of times and I am still processing it. I’ll let you finish the book first, and I guess you’ll be able to see the strengths and weaknesses of my understanding so far. I am going to read your response a couple more times.

Hey Steve, Just wanted to let you know that I am half way through your book an THOROUGHLY enjoying it!! Love how you started with the heady German philosophers, transitioned with the comedian, and unfolded into McKenna (this is we’re I’m at; have a feeling it’s going to get even better as you get into the cosmology stuff!) brilliant work! More comments to follow as I continue to dive in. By the way, I did some research this morning, and watched revelations by Bill Hicks. You’re spot on, he is a genius! Thanks for turning me on to him, it was great! Blessings, Eugene

Hi Eugene, I’m really glad you enjoyed Bill Hicks! As you can probably tell, I have a real soft spot for both him and Terence, both of whom I felt were very smart, witty, and unique characters. Bill impressed me as much in his private life as his public. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within a year of that performance, but told nearly no-one, and carried on his touring schedule, and taking chemo on the road, so he could continue to spread his message. He was a hell of a funny guy as well. I think we are going to find we have a lot in common. I’ve just ordered myself a copy of Rick Strassman’s new book, and if the reviews are anything to go by I think it is going to be a cracker! Is it ok for me to ask you some of the questions I am struggling with, and hope you can give me a better insight into?

Hi Steve, Currently traveling in Colombia so Internet is spotty, but ask away! Always love the conversation. I’m In the middle of your cosmological theories section… I think it is Consciousness itself that is missing from the materialist theories of the Cosmos; in the sense that parallel universes, dimensions, etc are vibrational manifestations of Consciousness; not human consciousness , but the nondual Unified Field out of which forms arise with an interior sentience and exterior form. This way the observer is ALWAYS present, therefore collapsing the wave function as it goes; the universe observing itself into existence. This perspective also helps me to understand how the info of DNA (exterior molecular structures with encoded info) can also have an interior (sentient spirit realm of intelligence, aka Gaian Mind holographically enfolded in every cell). If our brain is a transceiver, then logically it must be able to tune into these frequencies (quantum, genetic) via the modified neurochemistry (endogenously or exogenously). What are your thoughts, questions?

Hi Eugene, I think you might be telepathic! I have reread your reply a number of times but I am still processing it. This is exactly the nub of the questions I have been wrestling with in terms of the DMT phenomenon. There are a number of models of parallel worlds (and universes), as well as the more experientially plausible model of higher dimensions, which permeate and interpenetrate our own, but are accessible through altering our brain chemistry to attune to these different frequencies. The Akashic (zero-point field) theory is also the most beguiling in terms of the model of consciousness as a non-local phenomenon which suffuses and interconnects all information, and is the real mechanism of consciousness. And this field as you have experienced with 5 MeO DMT, is sourced from a non-dual “singularity.” What I was having difficulty comprehending was how an individual personality can traverse these fields and dimensions with its identity intact (such as with N-N, DMT). How do these mechanisms interact together? And also with the full 5 MeO DMT experience is there any retention of your own identity, or is it a pure dissolution of every trace of your personality, as you merge with this infinite source? With some near-death experiences (like Eben Alexander), the identity recognizes that it is a small part of this gargantuan field and cosmological multiverse, but there is still some separation from itself and its “creator.” Is that an illusion, or simply an uncompleted transcendental experience? I realize you have addressed some of these points, but I am afraid I still absorbing them, that was a terrific reply. I hope you have a great time in Colombia, and just reply when you have the available time.                                       

Hi Steve, I’m back from Colombia now, so fully connected. When I explore your question internally and within, I find that the notion of identity, personality, or ego seems to be an illusory set of patterns that have no inherent reality; I can’t find such a thing within. In the full 5 MeO release these patterns completely evaporate, yet Awareness remains. In fact it becomes apparent that Awareness is the Field and the only thing that is Real, non-changing , ever present , just is. This is not my personal awareness (which is encapsulated in my looping thoughts that create a sense of personal self) but the transpersonal Awareness within all things. So in the deepest samadhi the person disappears, but the deepest I AM remains, free, unconditioned, beyond space and time, name and form. In n, n dmt the thought process (ego) seems to remain, therefore maintaining a sense of separate self in relation to the other (beings, visions, patterns, worlds). When I explore other realities, say with K or LSD , I first go into pure Nondual Consciousness, to then manifest realities from an inner impulse that allows a separation of self/ other , subject/object…presumably the reason why/how God created the cosmos at the larger fractal level (we are parts that reflect the whole after all) . On 5 MeO there are no other realities, just pure Consciousness, which is the deepest you without thought or connection to individual self. The ego may react to this with fear, therefore the need to fully surrender and let go. Meditation has been essential for me in helping my mind train to release and let go. I find less need to use the medicines as I learn to rest in pure Awareness, the basic Timeless Presence behind all things, the very Witness of this moment. In that full release there is no Eugene, just freedom. The minute a vision / thought arise (duality) the wave collapses into form and the pattern of Eugene Vs. not Eugene returns. Does this address your question? 

Hi Eugene, Yes, that is definitely a very lucid and articulate answer! I have a couple of very different questions which I am interested in when you have the time. One which is more straight forward: is 5 MeO best experienced through toad venom, or as a pure chemical (I don’t know if you have tried both, or if there is any significant difference, I know toad venom has other chemicals in like bufotenin, which may alter the experience)? Is there any known difference? One of the questions which most preoccupies me is: Do you see any fundamental teleological purpose God manifests in this panorama of forms and fields? Is it for the pure existential pleasure of the experience, or is there some higher purpose for which we as individual incarnations are being propelled? Is there any higher goal you envisage? I know you have discussed this to a certain degree with Martin, but I wondered if you had anything more you wished to expand on?           

Hi Steve, I’ve only tried the synthetic 5 MeO which I got years ago through the internet when it was still legal. I would assume a slight variation with the toad, just as there is a slight difference between peyote and pure mescaline. Yet with the full blast I would imagine all differences collapse, as there is only One White Light.

    Your other question is a great one, discussed throughout the ages by mystics and philosophers. Again, from an inner perspective, when I rest in nondual formless Consciousness, the impulse to manifest as visionary experience comes from a place of curiosity, exploration, fun. I would assume that at the cosmic fractal level it would be the same (as above, so below). So Spirit manifests for the dance, the sport, the drama, the experience..what else would it do with an eternity, with infinite potential? As far as purpose goes, I always thought that the purpose of the universe was to become aware of itself, and reach an Omega Point of full remembrance of its original Oneness; the renunciate mystic returning to the One by stepping off the wheels of birth and death and dissolving the entire space-time illusion. Now, however, I’m more inclined to believe that Spirit wants to manifest higher, further, into unimaginable realms of infinite novelty and beauty. I can imagine individuals becoming nth-dimensional gods with powers to manifest multidimensional universes at a single thought; because here’s the rub, from the perspective of the timeless One, nothing ever happens! It is already one, eternally fulfilled, enlightened, united, saved, and liberated. So as a Free Being it projects itself endlessly into fractally evolving universes, lives, existences, dimensions, parts of It sometimes getting lost, but always eventually returning H-Ommm-e, which is always in the stillness of the Now. In other words, the fulfillment, Omega, purpose of evolution is always here now, as the singularity within all things. Yet the singularity projects, ‘big bangs’ forms into existence, which evolve in complexity and novelty over time. All patterns get recorded in the memory of One Mind/ZPF in order to keep growing and learning in the relative realms. I guess a way to simplify this is to say that there is the Absolute, which is the ever present perfection of the Oneness, already fulfilled with no real purpose, and the relative realms of evolving forms which are always striving to reach the One, as the spiral in a vortex always strives towards the center singularity but never reaches it. The relative realm’s purpose is to seek union, the center, but it will never reach it until lit stops being the relative! Form needs a purpose to evolve, but once form realizes that it is one with formlessness, in the now, there no longer is a purpose because it realizes in mystical flash that it was always part of the Absolute. Does any of that make sense?

Hi Eugene, Your explanations are so far the best models I have come across for explaining the whole spectrum of phenomena encountered through altered states of consciousness, as well scientific paradoxes, and divergent schools of religious belief. You are very eloquent on these topics and have obviously spent a long time contemplating them. These models are nearer to my conception of the layers of reality of the universe (or multiverse?) than any other writer, and what impresses me the most is that you possess the experiential knowledge which illuminates it. Sometime early next year I am determined to take that final step, and travel to the core, but I will try to get myself well prepared first, (If that’s ever possible!). I’ve just got hold of Rick Strassman’s new book, which is quite a departure from The Spirit Molecule, as is based on a different model coined “Theoneurology,” of religious experience, in particular Hebrew prophesy, so I might be quiet for a few days. At first glance I am a little cautious of this model, but I have great respect for his work, and will definitely give it a fair hearing. Thanks as ever for your illuminating replies, but I still have a few more questions.

Hi Steve, I’m glad you resonate with my mind! I am still in the middle of your book and totally enjoying it! I am a little curious about your personal life….what do you do for a living? Where do you live? Do you have family or alone? It strikes me that you know some about me from my book but I don’t know anything about you….only if you feel comfortable. If you live anywhere near Ashland I would recommend Hal’s Temple of Awakening Divinity (T.O.A.D.) as he facilitates 5 MeO sessions in sacred, we’ll set environments. I usually prefer solo myself, but sometimes a supportive group environment is quite helpful; just a thought. Also developing a daily meditation practice will help enormously. Let me know your thoughts on Stassman’s book, sounds interesting. Stay in touch; love the questions as it helps me refine these ideas with a kindred mind. Peace.

Hi Eugene,  I live a pretty ordinary life in a (smallish) town in the United Kingdom. In my youth I was fascinated by the radical French intellectual Guy Debord, and considered his writing a work of art. After his suicide I got a glimpse of the ugly side of radical politics  – and became very disillusioned with this milieu, but was saved from despair by the brilliant Bill Hicks. Through Hicks and other American comedians I became fascinated by DMT, which has become my key fascination in life (though it is a pretty clandestine interest), as I do not discuss it with virtually anyone, for obvious reasons. I do not know anyone who has ever heard of DMT, or 5 MeO, let alone tried it. DMT has utterly turned my beliefs upside down, and as Marx turned Hegel upside-down to create historical materialism, I believe we are going to see the opposite happen soon, hence my fascination with 5 MeO and Hegel. I am sometimes a little jealous that America is so far in advance of the UK, in terms of research, and psychedelic counter culture, but thank God for the internet. If the organization of T.O.A.D. existed in the UK I would have been knocking on their door. Your book is probably the most insightful and comprehensive I have yet read, and I am sure when you finish mine you will notice the parallels, though coming from a very different starting point. I really hope we stay in touch because I find your “conversation” utterly compelling, and your manner very friendly. I really hope I can do justice to your insights and the admiration of your work.        

Hi Steve, Great to get a glimpse into your life! I agree, raising a family is the most profound, sacred, and rigorous spiritual practice I have ever explored. And when it’s done with a nondual gaze (mundane and sacred as aspects of one existence) it is truly a transcendental experience! To watch the kids grow, navigate the emotional realms with a partner, and maintain contact with one’s own deep spiritual movements while making a living is, well, a work of a life time!

     Funny you mention the difference in cultures: I always took the UK as the counter cultural trend setter: from the early pagan Druids, to the Beatles-Pink Floyd- Led Zeppelin British  invasion as the sound track for the sixties consciousness revolution, to the mid 80s acid house-trance-rave culture that started in the British countryside. It seemed to me that you guys got it started and then the Americans took it from there. My family and I are actually going to be in the UK next July for a month, as it will be our starting point for a world trip we are taking. I will be home schooling my kids, and will be WWOOFing (World Organization of Organic Farms) around the world. Hope to squeeze a book out of it; we’ll see. Any suggestions, thoughts, ideas on what to check out are very welcome!

     So in thinking about our discussions, it strikes me that the only thing I really know for sure, without a shadow of doubt, is that I AM. That’s it. Everything else is an afterthought, idea, postulate, theory. The ground is a simple Beingness that requires no proof, as it is self-evident, self-sustaining, self-generating, and ever present. The words God, ZPF, singularity, Spirit are just that, fingers pointing at the moon. The actual moon is pure Presence, and when examined directly, without cognitive filtering, it reveals itself as timeless, boundless, spaces less, infinite, unified, and primary, therefore the Source of experience. And since it is formless, I assume that it is at the Core of all sentient Beings as the same fundamental Presence. In that Presence all duality collapses and one just rests as The One. I believe that this One is not only at the Heart of all sentient Beings, but at the core of all subatomic particles AS the One Singularity. Therefore the Singularity = pure Consciousness! Therefore Consciousness is within everything; Intelligence is at the Heart of creation, and we are IT! One can rip the “doors of perception” open with 5 MeO, or simply learn to rest in one’s own ever present Awareness; either way, the Light from within beckons us towards its Unifying Self-Realization. And after that mystical remembrance, we “Big Bang” back into our daily lives as nondual servants of the Whole, but this time from a place of freedom, peace, love, compassion, wisdom, and curiosity. As always, great to chat with a like-minded soul. Have a great day!

Hi Eugene, Another interesting reply. I’ve spent the last week buried in books, as the three books I have been waiting for all got strangely released at the same time. Rick’s was as always interesting, as he has obviously returned to the cultural identity he was raised with in search of a different psychological model of the psychedelic experience. I think he may have been a little more bruised by the Zen Buddhists rejection of his line of research than I had perhaps realized. I think the best book was possibly Ervin Laszlo’s The Immortal Mind though, the second half of which I thought was superb, and beautifully written, and accords a lot with what you are saying. That consciousness is the primary reality, and that time (and space) are on different planes, and invokes a lot of the cutting edge quantum field theory to elucidate his insights. Imagine being able to write like that at eighty-five!

   I have another of my now all too familiar “questions” when you have the time to consider it. I was wondering what you thought about consciousnesses’ evolution. In your book you track its progress through its various biological, psychological, and historical phases. I was wondering if you thought that consciousness progresses to another dimensional plane (which seems to be suggested by nearly all the near-death literature), gets recycled, as in most reincarnation religious systems, simply dissolves back into the primary source, which is what Martin Ball seems to suggest, or any combination of the afore mentioned? Or do you think it is possible that consciousness can transmigrate into the different species and forms, witnessed in the altered state multiverse and the bizarre inhabitants of the DMT worlds, a concept that Terence McKenna occasionally toyed with?

Hey Steve, Just ordered Lazlo’s new book; looks like a good one. For some reason not so attracted to Strasmans; you think it is worth the read? How about Alexander’s new book, what is the title?

     So in considering your question I seem to align mostly with the Tibetan Buddhist model; after all these scientists of consciousness have been exploring the death/ after death phenomena for millennium , experientially. I think that consciousness after death is presented with a variety of options, depending on level of development and evolution. For those who need further work on this world (or any other world) get reincarnated for another round of schooling in that particular world. The more advanced Soul can manifest in higher, hyper dimensional, nonmaterial, alien, angelic, parallel dimensional realms, and continue to evolve there; the spirit realm where the machine elves hypothetically live (Tibetan ‘tikles’) And the enlightened master can step off the wheels of birth/ death/form all together in the complete liberation by becoming One with the Primary White Light, as the recognition of the fundamental Identity. And the more advanced master (bodhisattva) could potentially return to any chosen world/ dimension/ universe while retaining the Self-knowing, therefore being an awakened agent in whatever matrix she decides to inhabit. The collective evolutionary destiny of consciousness is maybe a trickier question. Do we evolve beyond the physical realm into astral harmonic realms, or do we continue evolving physically, technologically ….., What do you think? Enjoy your day!

Hi Eugene, Your model certainly rings true, and is even supported by non Buddhist writers like Eben Alexander. I think you are definitely going to enjoy Laszlo’s book, but I’ll advise that it a “game of two half’s” as us Brits are fond of saying, and it is the second half I most enjoyed. Rick’s book employs a far more orthodox religious model for investigating the DMT experience, which is very original and unique, but which I am not completely convinced by. Though I remain a great admirer of Rick and his ground-breaking research, and see him as a truly pioneering spirit, and a very genuine personality. I liked Eben’s book, which is called “Map of Heaven” and I enjoyed his metaphor of the two sides of Greek philosophy (with the Aristotelian side representing science, and the Platonic side representing religion, or Mysticism), as two sides of a schism which badly need healing, or at least genuine and open dialogue. I know Eben is a really smart guy, I know you have to be a neurosurgeon (I have read some of his peer reviewed articles from before his coma, and seen some of the medical technology he was involved in developing), and at times I think he holds a lot of information back. I guess not to alienate any of his audience, and continue to have a popular appeal to as many people as possible. I could be wrong, but I would love to get the full and detailed account of everything he knows, (though I would probably find it as incomprehensible as anyone else!). I’ll probably have a new question for you for the weekend.  

Hi Eugene, I have a question which you will probably find a little more unusual. I was wondering what thoughts you had on the nature of evil. Have you ever had any experience of states, or beings, that seemed to embody this quality? Does evil actually exist, or is it that our true self becomes corrupted by our inability to understand our true natures and role within existence? I believe that I, like many people who have experienced altered states, do so with a certain trepidation, for we can never be sure exactly what we will encounter there. Do you think there is redemption for any (or even every act of) evil, or are things more complex than that?

Hi Steve, Thanks for your questions, as they allow for moments of contemplation and reflection. Just finished the section on the Akashic Field in your awesome book, and what impresses me is how our lines of thinking are so parallel. We are both apparently orienting toward a similar direction. What is exciting is that we are working with actual methods of experiential exploration, rather than simply exploring theory and ideas. It’s one thing to talk about the Field, it’s another to swim in it, encountering the infinite potential patterns imprinted in that ever present realm.

    On that note, and related to your question, I believe that the whole notion of ‘evil’ may be just another, human created, pattern in the Field. I once had an entheogenically derived experience of entering a cavernous, underworld type realm that presented itself as “this is hell.” I explored it with curiosity, instead of fear, and I encountered a being that was in fact ‘the devil.’ He was laughing, as villains often do in all the movies, but he was laughing because, it was actually God in drag! In other words, it was the trickster God manifesting as this symbol that seems to represent the shadow side of our human psyche. It is all God/Consciousness/the Field, and as the deeper aspects of it-Self become lost in ignorance of their true nature, the more disconnected and potentially evil they become. I think evil is just a word we humans project onto the world. Is a lion killing a gazelle evil? Is a super nova blowing apart a galaxy evil? Is the rapist who was brutally abused as a child evil? Is the ‘terrorist’ that blows himself up in the name of his justice/ god evil? We are all One, and we all have a shadow side, which tends to manifest as the denser aspects of ego (greed, violence, hatred, fear, etc). So the evolution is about bringing light, awareness, wholeness, and love to those fragmented, unconscious, unowned shadow aspects of who we are. And what I’ve learned in my many psychonautic excursions is that if we approach each experience with true love and curiosity, there is No possible way that anything like evil can enter the space. If it does (as in the Wrathful deities of the Tibetan Bardos), to see them as mere emanations/ projections of our own Nature/ Consciousness, or saturate it with love, then it can’t help but dissolve and be transmuted into pure bliss. Ecstasis after all is the true tantric union of all opposites. We only enter the Divine realms by confronting the dark side, assimilating it, and integrating it as another aspect of who we are. If we really look deeply into the eyes of the darkest entities, we will always see, just another aspect of the Self; pure Light taking shape in just another potential form. Buddha attained enlightenment by sitting motionless, in complete equanimity, as Mara (the personification of ‘evil’ qualities such as hate, greed, ignorance, etc) tried to seduce, scare Buddha back into fear, separateness. So too we must sit in total Presence, when we are faced with challenges; either in life or in a deep entheogenic journey, and through that Presence transcend the dualistic world of good/evil and return to the original Source of One. What do you think?

Hi Steve, Just finished your chapter on NDE…fantastic work on bringing it all together!! I have really enjoyed your book, to say the least!

    I wanted to comment a little more on your original question regarding the relationship between consciousness and the zero point field… If anything to try to bring the whole notion into greater focus and clarity for myself. 

   So the core-Singularity is radically nondualistic; beyond conscious and unconscious, existence and non existence, spirit and matter. IT is nonlocal, space less, eternal, One. On the “surface,” or event horizon, there are holographically imprinted “interference” patterns that store the information of the multiverse. These patterns are dormant, in state of pure potential and probability until the inner core shines through the pattern, therefore projecting the manifest world of subject/object. The interference informational patterns are the object, and the silent inner witness the subject. Consciousness needs an object to manifest, as an object needs consciousness to manifest. The singularity core is “experienced” (although there is no experiencer) as pure, unbounded Consciousness, samadhi beyond spacetime, mystical oneness. Yet from that infinite point, Pure Consciousness has available All multiversal information spontaneously and instantly, as all info is enfolded holographically and nonlocally in the monad of Here & Now.

  Just yesterday I had a rather low functioning client that does not think about any of this tell me about a near death experience he had (synchronistic, right). He described seeing his body from an Out of body perspective, and then, in his words, “I knew everything in the universe simultaneously, and I was connected to it all, and it was pure peace.” So the core is beyond subject and object (pure Consciousness/ vacuum ), yet the dormant interference patterns become activated, separating into object/ form, and subject (the inner sentience that collapses the probability pattern into an actualized form). Does this correlate with your current thinking?

Hi Eugene, I was just about to reply to your last e-mail, when this one came through. I thought there was great wisdom in your early reply, and made me realize that I hadn’t really understood the full consequences of what I was writing about! You are right, that fundamentally if there is only one consciousness, what is there to fear, as all things are only different aspects of the one infinite consciousness? I have to admit that my first contact with the DMT entities spooked me a bit a few years ago, and I felt a little like a scientific specimen (though there was nothing aggressive or at all malicious involved, and I think they were only curious!). I think my understanding was very limited at the time as to what exactly is going on, and I guess that you also find that writing about a subject really focuses your mind on exactly what is happening, and how to explain it. I am going to read your last two replies a few more times, as I find them phenomenal, and give me a better insight into the true nature of reality. I am really glad you have enjoyed the book, I know that I am still piecing the parts of the puzzle together, and you have been of invaluable guidance. For that I am very grateful. I hope you like the last two quotes in the book, as I think it gives the sense that I was someone, who (a bit like Eben Alexander), thought he had a pretty good grasp of what was going on in the world, but ended up having all his beliefs being turned upside-down. 

    I’m sure you know, but there are a few short interviews with you posted on You Tube, which I enjoyed, and let me put a face to your name (there is of course also your excellent interview with Martin W. Ball). I’ve just posted one myself for a bit of fun. It is called predictably The DMT Diaries, because it features some of the main characters of the book, to give it a shameless plug. There is probably nothing new for someone like you, but I hoped some of the newly curious might like it. Thanks again for your brilliant replies, I’m off to read them a couple more times, and I’ll be back in touch in a couple of days!

HI Eugene, I’ve just started work on the new book, I hope to have it finished around May time next year (well that’s the plan!). I would like to ask a huge favor. When I have finished the final draft, would it be ok to send you a copy, to get our opinion, or any critique that might improve it? I realize you are a busy guy, so I won’t be offended if you haven’t the time, but I do value your opinion. I would also be interested in your opinion on the nature of light, and its relationship to consciousness. 

Hi Steve, I would be honored to review your new book… How exciting to embark on a new book project… I’m also on the edge of starting one myself; we’ll see, as preparing for this world trip is taking up much of my time.

    Meditations on Light: it seems to me that there are a couple of aspects to light. There is the visible light that is but a fraction of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which is the subtler energy that eventually slows down to create matter. Light has an interior dimension and we call it Consciousness. So basically, everything in existence is varying densities and degrees of Light. Light in its purest form is Clear White, which is the nondual and undifferentiated unity of everything. In the first instant of creation the White Light diffracts and differentiates into a spectrum of frequencies, which we call the cosmos. As Roger Pentose speculates, every collapse of the quantum probability wave emits a simultaneous unit of proto-conscious awareness; in other words, when undifferentiated light becomes a particle, it simultaneously emits an inner conscious experience. The holographic patterns of the ZPF, which is electromagnetically encoded information, only becomes manifest when Consciousness/Witness activates it like the laser activates the hologram. When one merges into the mystical nondual White Light (whether through NDE, meditation, or 5MeO) subject and object merge, particle dissolves into pure energy, and inner and outer return to original Oneness: pure Light. Light= pure Consciousness = Energy = God = Spirit = Love.  

   Consciousness (inner subject) and light (outer radiance) are One in nondual formless causal plane (level 8). In subtle plane (level 7), shamanic visionary spirit realm, all forms are sentient and made of light/consciousness; here sentience and form are inseparable, yet beginning to differentiate. In material realm light/consciousness crystallizes as a shell becoming an object; light is projected and objectified as another; a mere shadow of the light (to borrow Plato’s allegory), as it slows, separates (cools from primordial heat), and condenses as the material world. Speed up matter (hit of 5MeO anyone?) and it returns to pure light (E=mc2). As one approaches the speed of light, time slows and space contracts relative to the rest of the evolving cosmos; when one reaches the speed of light, one becomes the light, therefore completely obliterating space time altogether; thus pure Light IS, outside and beyond space-time.

(Morning thoughts with my cup of coffee 🙂

Have a great day!