Springfield First Night Open Mic--December 31, 2018

A Vast Oceanic Planet Filled with Algae which helps you Float

I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I was in a bad place.  A very bad place.  I don't remember where it was or how long I had been there, but it was bad and we were escaping somehow.

Then we were over this huge ocean.  And we were on a train track high above the ocean.  Just a track in the middle of the air with no support. Riding in a train high above the sea.

But before I knew it the track was going to end  and there was a long gap in the air to reach the other side.  And there was no way we would  make it.  Not riding this heavy train.  But we had already made the leap.

And of course we did not reach the other side.  I could have told you that.   We descended rapidly.   We were going to hit the ocean and there was no way that we would ever survive the fall. Not from that height.   I watched us hit the ocean from a distance.  And we skidded and tumbled and skidded and tumbled and I knew that even if we were still alive that we were going to sink soon and drown because the waves were high and there was no way were could ever swim because were were on a planet that was nothing but one big ocean.

And when we didn't sink  I was surprised and grateful because we floating in what seemed like an infinite forest of algae, and the water was kind of the color of Campbell's Tomato soup.  And it was kinda warm and not all that unpleasant.  And I was glad I was there with someone else throughout this whole thing.  But I don't remember who they were.

Then I started to think that I would spend the rest of my life floating in this ocean.  And the thought scared me because I thought that maybe i had already died and this was some sort of afterlife on a strange planet and that this was all I had to look forward to for the rest of eternity.

Then we must have floated up to some building that must have been in the ocean. It seemed like a town and there were all sorts of forbidden things going on in the town.  I don't remember what they were, but I was doing the forbidden things as well.  It must not have seemed forbidden at the time, but it sure did feel that way after  I woke up.

and There were bad people in this town also.  I think we had to keep escaping them in ways that did not seem possible at the time. But each time we did, I felt like some improbable thing had happened and we kept surviving.

Now I know what you are thinking.  That this was all a dream.  And it was about my birth or some birth that someone  had somewhere else at some other time or place.  And reality is like that.  You keep expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting, changing forms and changing places.

 And none of us really know what that bad place is we are always escaping from .

 But I know at some level the infinite sea of algae is always always always always all around us.

And if we lay back, and don't look, and don't think about it, we can float in it any time we want.

Fred Flintsone's Feet

There is a place you can never reach.

But if you puke long enough and hard enough

enough to get it all out

like Fred Flintstones's feet

touching the ground

you can move the show forward

or you so think.

There is a place you can never reach

its a clammy tale

stepping twice in what you think is the same river

following instructions

to a game which ended

long before you were born.

There is a place you can never reach

if you really want to go that way

vibrating in the air

like George Jetson's maid

ready to clean up your decomposing mess

one piece at a time

You are Part of it All

You are part of it all.

I never thought of it that way.

Not separate from the universe, but part of it.

It seems so simple.

What you do think or share is not a solitary experience

For you are part of the universe, and the universe is part of you--what goes on through you is part of it all.

This is not an abdication of responsibility, but a sort of homecoming.

So stick your left palm out, and feel the energy coming in.  For it is all you and you are all of it.

and of course the dirty little secret, whispered into your ear--You don't exist:-).

Waiting for Birth

Let me put forth the proposition, that you can petition the Lord with prayer

Petition the Lord with prayer.  Petition the Lord with prayer.

Wow, that's an echo from the past.  Ironically, the only people who would get that are dead now.  Or are they?

Let me put forth a related proposition---or I should say related metaphor:

We are all in a vast womb.  You can call it Plato's cave if you want.  The details are not important.  A fish does not realize that she is in an ocean.  Or does she?

Where ever this place is--it is filled with echos originating from somewhere, someplace we do not understand.  Perhaps in some ways we cannot understand the echos in our current incarnation.

To many the echos make all sorts of connections and synchonicities that make no sense in the warm embrace of the amniotic fluid.

Those among us who are smart and have come up with all sorts of creative ideas about what the echos are.  Some say they are spirits, some say Gods, some say aliens.

When we burst out, what will we see?

Everything we had known, seen or felt will be transformed in ways that we could never comprehend until we experienced it.  Vast kingdoms of politics, despair and suffering will disappear like so many sandcastles in the tide.

Are you ready for it my dear---can you be ready for it my dear?

The Gateless Gate

There is magic in ordinary life.  The supposed dichotomy between the physical and spiritual realms is false.  Magic is all around us.  We don't see it, because we see it everyday and our habit blinds us.  Effort is required.  Psychedelics make it easier to see the magic, but they are unnecessary.

In zen there is the concept of the gate-less gate.  We have to pass through the gate even though it is in some sense not there.  Effort is required.

The effort can be an act of surrender, or an act of intention.  Where we put on attention is where our energy goes. Where our energy goes shapes our intention, and our reality.

We are a constant work in progress.  We play a role in finding the current of the present.  We can abdicate that role.  Or we can participate.

We can't always get what we want.

How to Sit with Someone Having a Difficult Psychedelic Experience

Here is what I feel after the MAPS training and my own thoughts in getting ready for the podcast today:

First I imagine creating a space for just listening to the person having the difficult experience.  Don't say anything.  I imagine doing gassho (bowing) just to let them know you are there.  I think back on my experience and believe that anything they were trying to give me would be misinterpreted.  For example, don't offer them water.  It may be misinterpreted as offering them alcohol to keep them asleep and in an eternal hell realm.  Yes, some people think like that in extremis.   I don't necessarily know who, but....

I guess the key would be to listen.  That's basically the best thing to do in any situation I suppose.  Anything you say or do may provoke a negative reaction.   I remember being told that I was having a bad trip.  I did not understand what that meant and it only added to the confusion.

On an intentional level, creating an intention of support and openness would make sense.  Create a space for them for the experience to play themselves out.

The MAPS training also offered other interesting insights:

(1) Be completely honest.  In the heightened state, the person can cut though the bullshit.  I remember in my own experience I could sense that the shaman were afraid for me.  They probably didn't want any shenanigans on their watch.  The shaman from Columbia was not phased.  But the american shaman's were.  Keep that in mind.  If you are afraid for them, tell them, you are right I am afraid, but I'm always afraid and we can get through this....

(2)Match their energy levels.  If they are rolling on the ground join them.  Don't occupy any position designating authority.  Don't stand over them. 

If they are jumping up and down, do the same.  I remember jumping up and down during my adventure.