I’m sitting at the peak of a concrete hill; a sort of sidewalk intersection amongst a labyrinth of interconnecting concrete walkways. This mysterious place is the campus of one of the local universities. My legs are crossed and my eyes are closed. I have recently completed two-third’s portion of a moderately long skate, which is equitable to a consistent 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. The endorphins throughout my body are active to say the least in addition to the moderate amount of relatively THC potent cannabis I consumed prior to beginning the skate.
While sitting in a pseudo lotus position (one that my skates physically allow) I focus on my breath, and the surrounding noises begin to phase into one another, creating a calm and static hum. I add to this hum with my own voice; a low monotone frequency that resonates from my throat and lower abdomen.
I feel it first.
The middle of my body begins to disappear into the oceanic static noise, then my limbs, and finally my head. All that’s left is the energy I emit through the sonic frequencies of my hum. Here, there is no discernable difference between my body and its physical surroundings. I feel as if I can maneuver through a web of energies lingering around the campus. I leave my body behind, rendering it as inanimate as the concrete ledge it is resting on. I maneuver through roots in the ground, stretching and sprawling through subterranean depths, eventually breaking free from the earth up towards the sky, reaching out to the wings of a passing bird, and riding its tail as it scurries hurriedly over the campus looking for a bite to eat, or a mate. Who knows? Certainly not me.
Eventually I let go of the bird and float down comfortably into a tree that is filled with squirrels; tens of them. Interesting thing about encountering squirrels from an astral realm, although they never really seem to notice you, it always feels as though they are looking right at you nonetheless.
A student walks past my inanimate physical body a little less than fifty meters away. Their phone makes a noise or they are speaking to themselves, it's hard to say, but my physical eyes snap open and I’m back in my body as if I never left.
Many schools of thought on meditation place great emphasis on the importance of body position. And while it's useful for sharpening physical and mental discipline, it’s been my observation that in order to achieve an outer body experience, and enter the spirit realm, or whatever you want to call it (names don’t matter), I’ve found that body position is less important than ensuring comfort without the risk of falling asleep. Being upright helps with this, but if you are sufficient at not dozing off, there is no need to place oneself into a tiresome (and frankly distracting) bodily position in order to achieve any sort of meditative state. I prefer to ‘prime’ myself by laying back, usually with my legs crossed while still focusing on my breath, and relaxing my body into a naturally comfortable position and working into the aforementioned hum, or meditative mantra some as folks are fond of calling it. Again, these names do not matter, and are simple descriptors of an experience.
When the world and my body blend into one another, it feels as if I’ve entered into a state of transitional flux. One akin to an OBE induced by psychedelic use, specifically LSD or psilocybin. I haven’t fully perfected the technique, but have had several impactful experiences (like the one I mentioned earlier at the university). And three other specific experiences whereby I maintained (while sitting still) significant visual experiences akin to a moderately-high psilocybin dose for an extended period of time (approximately 10-20 minutes). Once the visual event concludes, I find there is a lingering sensation similar to the joyous glee of euphoria one experiences on the comedown of a heavily positive trip and thereafter; awakened sensations of perception that otherwise would remain fogged or closed. This occurrence of self-actualization was empirical proof to me that a psychedelic experience was possible without the aid of the drugs themselves. I had heard of such concepts and experiences, but had never witnessed one first hand.
In The Doors of Perception, Huxley fiddles with the idea that we as conscious beings are acutely able to perceive all events of all universes simultaneously, but our physical brains filter out the “mumbo-jumbo” that doesn’t pertain to our direct survival. However through a variety of methods, we are still able to re-engage with that infinite side of who we are in ethereum. Jung called it the Self, the Christians call it the holy ghost, McKenna called it the Other, the Gnostics and other esoteric branches of paganism have more names for it than can possibly listed here. All of these are simply human translations of experiences that otherwise transcend the human experience.
These meditative transcendental states have been likened to religious experiences. A psychological phenomena too common, even in modernity, to pass off as simple pathological nonsense. Humans have been interacting with these religious experiences for as long as history has been recorded. It could even be suggested, that it was largely because of these very experiences that humans were inspired to begin recording history in the first place, likely through story or some sort of folk tale, which held some semblance of truth, but was naturally dramatized to grasp the attention those who would otherwise ignore the mundanity of factual-based information; the layman. Thus the first religions based on gods and heroes and the like were born. But is a religious experience the same as a meditative state? Is it possible to achieve these phenomena in group settings such as a Catholic Mass or Islamic Jumuah? The answer to both is a resounding yes, but the latter comes with an asterix.
Psychoanalyst, and pioneer of modern unconscious studies, C.G. Jung, conducted an in-depth observation on this particular subject. He compared individual religious experiences to that of the group-based experiences and found that while in a group setting, the religious experience was easier to attain than that on an individual level. However, the group experience didn’t reach nearly as deep into the unconscious psyche as the individual experience did. It also only appeared to render a short-lived effect while individual experiences were noted as having life-long effects on the perceiver. This holds correlation as to why the group setting is often mandated as a weekly event, per most doctrines. Jung also noted that on the group level, attendants were often left in an extremely vulnerable and suggestive state, that is to say, they were very easily imprinted upon, or manipulated; under hypnosis. While the individual level often takes place in solitude and at such a deep level, that the perceiver is far too removed from their own body to be affected by any kind of manipulatory events. This alludes to the idea as to why most every priesthood demands their followers return on a regular basis for their no less than weekly indoctrination. Lest the believers begin running amok and questioning the priesthoods and doctrines themselves!
A particular mental exercise I like to play, is to not place a limitation around how these sorts of group religious experiences can occur, and consider where else they may be invoked. In order to do this, one must consider just what exactly is happening in order to qualify a group-induced experience. I think one can observe that it is little more than gathering a collective of people, and focusing their unanimous attention on a particular idea or event, and generating an emotional response accordingly. After such an observation, it can be easily concluded that the potential for such group-based religious experiences become much more available once one removes the misconception that a religious doctrine, priesthood, or even theism is of absolute necessity.
Now one can consider events such as concerts, sporting events, protests, and political rallies as breeding grounds for the very experiences we’re discussing. Each of these meet the basic criteria for the aforementioned psychological phenomena to transpire.
Imagine: You’re at a concert filled with 30,000 other people, and everyone’s attention is placed on the same focal point, the stage. The music kicks in, and there is a rise in energy from the crowd, as everyone emits similar emotions towards whomever is performing. If you’ve ever been to a concert, you have likely felt the very sensation I am describing here, which is nothing short of a collective psychic event, or, religious experience. Now replace the band or artist with an enigmatic political speaker. Now replace that speaker with dueling teams of sport. Now replace those teams with a woman wearing a tie-dye tee-shirt chanting mantras into a megaphone. They are all, fundamentally the same means, each with a different ends in mind. None of these are inherently malevolent, nor are inherently good. What they all share however, is the individual patrons are placed into a psychic state, whereby they are greatly open to suggestion by whomever has orchestrated the event. They have by all definitions, surrendered their individuality in favor of joining a mob mentality, whereby they will partake in activities and behaviors, not of their own volition.
The purpose of drawing this comparison of the individual experience versus the collective experience, is not to turn anyone off from the idea of partaking in the latter, but rather understand the risks and dangers of placing oneself in these sorts of collective settings, whereby one can very easily be placed under the influence of suggestion and manipulation.
I wish to further ratify that I am not calling for anyone to seclude themselves, as I myself very recently attended a concert from one of my favorite music groups, Heilung, that aired more on the side of a ceremonial pagan drama than it did a typical musical performance. The artists held the whole of the audience in a transcendental state for an elongated period, one that I was more than happy to partake in. In fact I intend to publish a new trip-report of this happening at a future date.
The alternative is not mutually exclusive, but is of absolute necessity. Simply meditating and exploring the infinite cosmos within one’s own mind will render a much longer lasting and self-beneficial effect; the sort of inner peace every religion has a name for, and with a much lower risk of being taken advantage of by outward influences.