Sunday, May 30, 2004

Before catching the movie I picked up "DMT: The Spirit Molecule," which I had requested from Barnes & Noble. This one's been on my nonfiction to-read list for a while. DMT is a naturally occurring chemical with staggering hallucinogenic potency. From my limited understanding, users of the drug tend to have remarkably similar experiences -- including encounters with insect-like "aliens."





Personally, I think the prospect of "alien abductions" being a manifestation of consciousness is far more compelling and portentous than the "nuts and bolts" extraterrestrial hypothesis. I'm not suggesting close encounters are wholly hallucinatory or imaginary; I think they're physically real. But we lack conclusive definitions for "physical" and "real"; ultimately, they're just words, labels, thought-viruses.

Like John Mack, I think Western empiricism is losing its edge. Exploring this thing we call consciousness is just as important as exploring space -- arguably more so. If only they'd listened to Timothy Leary, who I'm belatedly realizing was one of the best minds this country ever produced.

Other contenders for "best minds," you ask? Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson and William Burroughs -- all of whom used mind-altering drugs.

Note: While Googling, I discovered that Albert Budden has his own website.

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