rigorousintuition.ca

AD, could you do me a great favour and express, in your own words, what this thread is about, exactly?
That will makes it's aims clearer to me.

Very, very roughly: this thread is, to me, an exploration of where deep mysticism and paranormal insight meets the realms of delusion and mind control. It is an organically evolving exploration that hinges on the interplay between the psychedelic underground and the State, especially as that relates to social engineering, individual and group mind control (cults, MKULTRA), New Age culture, drug culture, peak experience, meditation technique, Orientalism, Deep Politics, and fringe conspiracy belief, etc.

I hold no set destination as- while this thread certainly developed as the crystallization of my own insights, experiences, hunches and beliefs- these are in a state of flux.

We make the road by walking.

Thank you for taking the time to explain it, AD. I'll look at it with a fresh perspective.

American Dream » Tue Jul 29, 2014 3:20 pm wrote:Very, very roughly: this thread is, to me, an exploration of where deep mysticism and paranormal insight meets the realms of delusion and mind control.

Just one more question - are there any states of mysticism or paranormal insight that don't involve delusion or mind-control, in your opinion?

coffin_dodger » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:23 am wrote:

American Dream » Tue Jul 29, 2014 3:20 pm wrote:Very, very roughly: this thread is, to me, an exploration of where deep mysticism and paranormal insight meets the realms of delusion and mind control.

Just one more question - are there any states of mysticism or paranormal insight that don't involve delusion or mind-control, in your opinion?

Absolutely- I'm still fleshing out what that means for me personally, but this is be no means an either/or situation.

AD said:

Absolutely- I'm still fleshing out what that means for me personally, but this is be no means an either/or situation.

I often get confused by your choice of words, AD.

'Absolutely' would indicate that you know, with certainty, that some areas of mysticism or insight are not delusion or mind-control.

Then you caveat with - you're still 'fleshing it out'.

To demonstrate some kind of balance here - rather than just post everything that isn't kosher - what are the ones you believe may not be mind-control or delusion?

coffin_dodger » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:47 am wrote:AD said:

Absolutely- I'm still fleshing out what that means for me personally, but this is be no means an either/or situation.

I often get confused by your choice of words, AD.

'Absolutely' would indicate that you know, with certainty, that some areas of mysticism or insight are not delusion or mind-control.

Then you caveat with - you're still 'fleshing it out'.

To demonstrate some kind of balance here - rather than just post everything that isn't kosher - what are the ones you believe may not be mind-control or delusion?

I gotta run in a hot second, but I do practice yoga and meditation, cultivate personal health and well being, reflect a lot on Philosophy, Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies, that sort of thing. I'm agnostic on many matters and endorse no religion, no codified belief system as a dogma to be believed in absolutely.

American Dream » Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:09 am wrote:I gotta run in a hot second, but I do practice yoga and meditation, cultivate personal health and well being, reflect a lot on Philosophy, Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies, that sort of thing. I'm agnostic on many matters and endorse no religion, no codified belief system as a dogma to be believed in absolutely.

Do yoga and meditation really represent the fields of "mysticism and paranormal insight"? They are physical activities whose benefits can be rationally explained and are to some degree supported with science. Rather than mystical, they are merely unconventional from a western perspective.

As I understand, mysticism and paranormal insight represent a departure from intellectual reason and the scientific method as a means of acquiring knowledge about the nature of reality.

This touches upon what is most definitely a rift between people in society, and the "intelligentsia" in particular. Is there a means to acquire accurate knowledge about the nature of reality that is not derived from reason and the scientific method?

BrandonD » Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:47 pm wrote:

American Dream » Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:09 am wrote:I gotta run in a hot second, but I do practice yoga and meditation, cultivate personal health and well being, reflect a lot on Philosophy, Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychologies, that sort of thing. I'm agnostic on many matters and endorse no religion, no codified belief system as a dogma to be believed in absolutely.

Do yoga and meditation really represent the fields of "mysticism and paranormal insight"? They are physical activities whose benefits can be rationally explained and are to some degree supported with science. Rather than mystical, they are merely unconventional from a western perspective.

As I understand, mysticism and paranormal insight represent a departure from intellectual reason and the scientific method as a means of acquiring knowledge about the nature of reality.

This touches upon what is most definitely a rift between people in society, and the "intelligentsia" in particular. Is there a means to acquire accurate knowledge about the nature of reality that is not derived from reason and the scientific method?

I'm personally seeking a point of balance between radical subjectivism and the most square sort of hidebound reason.

Your mileage may vary.

American Dream » Tue Jul 29, 2014 10:13 pm wrote:
I'm personally seeking a point of balance between radical subjectivism and the most square sort of hidebound reason.

Your mileage may vary.

I agree, balance is a worthwhile aspiration.

My impression is that this forum, like most other contemporary forums which involve intellectuals discussing fringe subjects, is imbalanced towards the "hidebound reason" side of the spectrum.

I'd say this is an instinctive response to the widespread cultural attitude towards fringe topics as being the territory of irrational tinfoil hat wearing new-agers. So intelligent people discussing the subjects naturally go out of their way to prove that they are not "one of those people".

This attitude becomes so ingrained that, even here among people of (generally) like-mind, we all still feel an instinctual need to prove that we are hard-nosed intellectuals and not prone to gullibility and wishful thinking. This in turn creates guarded territories and unquestionable assumptions and cockfights and all that nonsense.

I think that a place like this is the perfect environment to (at least temporarily) release those social adaptations and for a moment float in the big pool of uncertainty and acknowledgment that we are all essentially ignorant fools. An even ground for a new understanding to arise.

It's just occurred to me that I might be derailing the original intention of this thread with my stream of consciousness, so, as you were.

.

coffin_dodger, I think you and AD just had a cross-Atlantic confusion.

Nowadays, and don't blame me, "absolutely" in the American colloquial has come to mean, "yes."

.

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“rather than trying to integrate the ‘I’, if you could disintegrate it and find a more comfortable way of being”

“cause now I know I’m no one. And there’s a lot to say…”