ELI5..’Ego death’ on a psychedelic.
In: 740
One of the best gifts that LSD ever gave me. I was disgusted with myself and everything I was. From my habits, to my lifestyle, the people I was spending my time with, to the way I had let them influence me to a point where I didn’t even know who I was. The changes stuck after the high was long gone. Within a month I dropped everything and everyone. Started by seriously looking at college. Moved 4 hours away to a town I didn’t know for school. Spent the next 2.5 years doing nothing but school. College graduation was a dream that I made a reality. 7 years later I’m married with two kids and a wonderful career. The only things left from before that experience are a couple of shitty tattoos and some really embarrassing memories. LSD changed me forever and I am forever grateful.
When you trip really hard it sort of feels like you’re going to die. Like you are beeing led into madness or death. If you resist the feeling you will usually not have a very good time because it takes alot of effort and everything is already pretty crazy outside and within. If you just go with it you will trip even harder but in a good way.
That’s what I thought ego death was.
I am genuinely surprised nobody has mentioned Machine Elves yet. A truly wild and crazy shared experience for psychedelic users.
https://www.monsterchildren.com/articles/what-are-the-machine-elves
Your brain is constantly telling a tale, which is influenced by the optimal path of your neurons based on your life (the default neural network). You define and recognise this tale as yourself, it is what is normal and familiar.
When you take psychedelics, your brain’s networks start to connect between places that are not usual, therefore this tale changes in such a way that you are not yourself anymore, and depending on the dose, you cannot identify anything familiar. Sometimes what you recognise is that you are actually everything and that you are connected with everything, other times you experience as if you were nothingness. Either experience could be fun/terrifying, but they are truly profound as they modify your default neural network, enabling new connections to emerge.
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