Jill Taylor's Stroke of Insight

[zeno]

How it feels to have a stroke

Neuroscientist Jill Taylor discusses experiencing a stroke. She has some powerful revelations on the human experience through the experience of her stroke.

If anyone is versed in the work of Rudolf Steiner, this correlates strongly with his theory of human evolution and the shift of cognizance from our ancient ancestors (who seem to have much more of their right side of their brain) to the present human species (who seem to use much more of the left half of the brain).

[Inger]

Thank you, Zeno, for this awesome video!

That tells something about what I am feeling, just touching though. I just so strongly feel inside of me, that there is something about this.

I wonder if the Magic-Mushrooms, like Psilocybe, also do something similar..? I have no experience yet, but habe collected some and dried, they grow here around. Maybe I will try one day when I feel ready, or not. Dunno. I would rather without as I am no fan of drugs, never tried anything exept of Alcohol, wich I do not use anymore, never used much anyway.
Mushrooms feel natural, though, and you eat them raw. I am just a little scared too, I do not want to hurt myself in any way.
I rather wish it would be possible to "jump into the right hemisphere" just trough exerice (mind). After this video, it seems more possible to me as before.

Inger

[SkinnyDevil]

Inger,

There are some hallucinogens that are notoriously long-lasting (LSD, for example), but some that are of extremely short duration (DMT). A famously short duration drug is the so-called "diviner's sage" (salvia divinorum), though it is particularly powerful.

If these scare you, you might wanna either go for something short duration or something that is mild.

An alternative to drugs, however, is the 70-s rage: sensory deprivation.

There are a host of approaches from the neurotechnology industry, from isolation tanks to blue-field goggles, earphones with white noise generators,  etc.

Some folks like to combine the two....take a small (or large) dose of a drug of choice and then use whatever form of sensory deprivation they chose.

A third method is task-oriented. Hallucinations are not associated with "flow" states, but loss of personal boundaries is (what the stroke victim discusses)....and more.

Here are links & vid for some info. I have not tried all of the above, and currently I'm all about high creativity & flow states...and much less about what Gibson calls "tweaking the input data" (ie - drugs).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_state_of_consciousness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

All about Salvia Divinorum (Not a boring classroom vid)

[SkinnyDevil]

Task-oriented "higher consciousness" (which typically requires "over-learning" and high-performance levels of skill) takes on a variety of forms....including athletics, improvisation in music, various forms of "moving meditation", and even certain "danger" activities, like the Dog Bros (nothing puts you in the moment like a stick whizzing past your head).

October

[RawZi]

    Great video Zeno!  I first saw it a few years ago.  I've re-watched it and shown it to people.

    David, Inger or anyone, ever hear of dark retreats?  You go somewhere for a couple of weeks that no light touches anywhere on your body the whole time.  It's supposed to activate your pineal I think, and you get hallucinations?

[raw-al]

I've watched that vid many times. Very interesting.

The right side of the brain is like a parallel processor and the left side is like a serial processor. Your computer is the same setup.

Her right side of the brain (visual) was active and thus all she was aware of was the endless dots or pixels of colour (parallel processor) on the telephone dial and was absent the left brain's (visual) (serial processor) ability to decipher what they all meant.

Lots of science and books on brain plasticity that discuss this stuff.

Many years ago I tried various and sundry hallucinogens from LSd to marijuana etc etc., just to see what there was to see. LSD was pretty powerful almost like a drunk. The first time I did it was interesting. The second time I did more and it was interesting to say the least. A very crazy night. Good thing I had my friends around and they were not doing it. Glad I tried it but I have zero interest in continuing with it.

Marijuana I did many times and had fun, but I realized it was a dead end street just like alcohol and other stuff.

I think it should be completely legal and Ron Paul tells the story of how it became illegal in the US. Amazingly ridiculous story. The more I read of his writing the more I am impressed.

[jessica]

hey i did not watch the video and just saw that inger you are considering taking mushrooms. 
i would encourage you to do so as i am a believer that they are extremely enlightening and healing for all type of emotional, spiritual and psychosomatic ailments when taken with the proper respect and intentions.  i believe they can open up pathways in the mind and generate an extreme state of trust and confidence in the universe and in oneself as part of the greater spirit which can be used as a basis for healing.  i think they MUST be respected and taken in small doses, in the proper environment and with the intentions to meditate, listen, trust, be honest and open and learn.  they are best to be taken with trusted individuals, out doors and with nature.  one should cleanse the body and fast before taking them.  hot water with salt and raw cocoa powder is an acceptable drink to have with they, they should be eaten plain though, no chocolates or weird preparations! the only trick i have is to dry the fresh ones with large salt crystals which is actually quite tasty.  if you can have a sweat lodge, hot spring, steam or sauna or take them while hiking i think that is an excellent way to help them circulate in the system and also provides a means of relaxation and meditation....again i would warn no to take large dose but to eat small amounts and be respectful at all times. 

[SkinnyDevil]

    David, Inger or anyone, ever hear of dark retreats?  You go somewhere for a couple of weeks that no light touches anywhere on your body the whole time.  It's supposed to activate your pineal I think, and you get hallucinations?

Never heard of "dark retreats", but it wouldn't take weeks to spark hallucinations. Deprive your body of incoming data and hallucinations start pretty quickly.

Takes some people longer than others, and I don't get anything massive from isolation tanks...but years ago I was at a "relaxation clinic" and got to try out a goggles/earphone combo. The goggles gave a static blue field while the headphones pumped in white noise. You can use it sitting in a chair or, like some, in an iso tank or on a platform suspended in a geodesic dome.

Took me no time and I had HUGE visual & auditory hallucinations. Nothing spooky, mind you. It was very cool.

Total awareness that the experience wasn;t "real" in the objective sense, but the auditory stuff opened doors for me as a musician and the visuals...? Think of it as turning the blue field into this:



Can you see it?

[zeno]

Inger,

If you are interested in experimenting with drugs for the first time I highly recommend that you check out the website erowid. There is tons of useful information!

If I had mushrooms growing wild in my area I would definitely experiment--even in small doses. It is a wild food!

[Inger]

Thank you all for your suggestions and great information!

If I try them I will make sure to try just a little at first. I have not heard about dark rooms, but I do feel the need for peace a lot in my life, not too much voices / music / entertainment and such. I just love total peace and silence.
I think my senses are quite sensible somehow.

Salvia you cannot buy here, it is not criminal but forbidden to import, it cost a fortune I think if you decide to try importing, and it does not grow here.

Nice blue pic Skinny Devil, I can see it.

Inger

[raw-al]

Bearing in mind of course that mind altering substances cause issues with the CNS. This has been borne out by studies done by Dr. Amen and the people who work in his various clinics. There are no doubt others who have studied such things.

The damage shows up, time after time in brain scans. It also shows up in autopsies of persons who consume recreational drugs. The damage is of course relative to the amounts and regularity of self-medication.

I know a number of people who use(d) recreational drugs, who are quite convinced they do no harm until now, as when they get older and the harm starts to manifest. Curiously in two cases they have MS.

The Indian Yogis say that there are three ways to have spiritual experiences in this world;

The first is to be borne with these attributes, having done the spiritual work in a previous lifetime,

The second is to have done the spiritual work in this lifetime,

The third is to have temporary glimpses through drugs. The problem with the drug route is that it is very temporary and very destructive to the person doing it.

[raw-al]

Pranayama will give you results also and in a way that is beneficial to your body and mind. Much more useful than drugs or other forms of sensory manipulation.

[RawZi]

    I've gotten spiritual experiences almost immediately following  ingestion of raw butter warmed to body temperature.

there are three ways to have spiritual experiences in this world;

The first is to be borne with these attributes, having done the spiritual work in a previous lifetime,

The second is to have done the spiritual work in this lifetime,

The third is to have temporary glimpses through drugs.

[raw-al]

    I've gotten spiritual experiences almost immediately following  ingestion of raw butter warmed to body temperature.

I hear ya : )

[Inger]

Thanks guys. Thanks raw al. 

I will read about Dr. Amen. I seriously do not want to harm myself in anyway.

Inger

[raw-al]

http://www.9news.com/news/sidetracks/227654/337/Can-sonic-drugs-really-get-you-high

[RawZi]

    Thank you Al.  That may be useful to me. 

[Dorothy]

Wonderful video. Thank You for posting it!

Al said:
"The Indian Yogis say that there are three ways to have spiritual experiences in this world;

The first is to be borne with these attributes, having done the spiritual work in a previous lifetime,

The second is to have done the spiritual work in this lifetime,

The third is to have temporary glimpses through drugs. The problem with the drug route is that it is very temporary and very destructive to the person doing it."

I highly suggest doing the spiritual work building upon past lifetimes or just in this life time Inger. Drugs are too unstable and unpredictable and can do long-term damage (especially to susceptible individuals) in ways that might not even be understood yet. Whereas, having the experiences spoken of in the video under one's one control is an on-demand skill that beats any other skill imaginable. You do not need drugs to develop that skill. There is no need to damage one's left hemisphere to gain the full use of the right hemisphere.

[RawZi]

I highly suggest doing the spiritual work building upon past lifetimes or just in this life time Inger. 

    Do spiritual work to have an experience like Jill Taylor?  Oh, I see, for Inger.

[Dorothy]

Yes Zi - my opinion for Inger.

It can take a long time to get there and maybe not everyone could achieve it - but the reward is so great for that method and the unlimited potential dangers for drugs - that it's the smartest choice. I have seen people lose their minds, their lives and everything dear to them using drugs even in ways that they thought were safe and to gain spiritual understanding. After using LSD just once people can spontaneously go on bad trips decades later. Same with mushrooms I hear. I know people that have become schizophrenic for the rest of their lives experimenting in some of the ways discussed here.

Gradual opening of the upper chakras and awareness is a far superior path... no matter how long it takes in my opinion. I can turn on and off the experience that she speaks of in the video. Giving up one's free-will and mind to gain a glimpse of what you want without gaining it is like eating sugar to get energy. It hurts you and doesn't give you what it is that you really are after.

[Inger]

Thank you so much Dorothy.
I appreciate your opinion very much. I have not tried the mushrooms yet.
I do have to get the very strong urge I should do them, first.
I guess it must be possible to get spritual awareness also without the drugs, even when mushrooms are all natural.
I also think, it is better that is goes step by step.. like very slowly. I guess we need to get ripe all over.

Inger

[jessica]

MAPS: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies http://www.maps.org

small fraction of mushrooms in our spiritual history http://www.mushroomstone.com/

mainstream
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/spiritual_effects_of_hallucinogens_persist_johns_hopkins_researchers_report
 We Should All Do Magic Mushrooms Today!

[raw-al]

I get back to basics.

That method deteriorates the body. You may experience stuff but it is very short bursts and the only way to sustain it is to continue taking. Alcohol, same thing, different effect.

What the doctors forgot to tell about are the people who have bad experiences from it.

Those doctors were talking about helping people with real problems that couldn't be helped with conventional talk therapy. Talk therapy is notoriously useless anyways. They have discovered another way to make money and no doubt big pharma is behind them 100%. They take the mould from wheat and diddle with it a bit and make a fortune off the resulting concoction. Funnily enough you would probably pay a small fortune for the LSD and then a magnificent fortune for a Doctor to "supervise" you. What a joke.

A fool and their money are soon departed.

[raw-al]

Maybe I am a bit over the top. I do not wish to sound like you are bad or you are going to die a cruel death if you do it.

I mean that it may be useful as an experiment, but it is not the answer. Warning labels serve a purpose.

[jessica]

if you are respectful and take small amounts of mushrooms you probably wont die or do your brain or body more physical harm then drinking an average amount of alcohol unless yo are physically compromised or mentally unstable(although i have been both at times and found the experience to be benefical to both)
you will do your mind and spirit a world of good if you can create a space and time and perhaps experienced company to allow a glimpse and perhaps help you break barriers necessary for further spiritual growth and happiness, i emphasize small amounts, especially at first, perhaps a nibble on an empty stomach while taking a hike somewhere safe and comfortable and giving yourself time to recognize any feelings or ideas you may experience, and go from there
i am not talking about recreational and over/unconscious use or abuse

lsd is obviously not a good idea, it is more chemically synthesized than most pharmaceuticals
nor would i suggest any other synthesized drug for spiritual purposes, including marijuana, most of which has been genetically engineered so far from its origin that is is now a harmful narcotic