Daniel, Thanks for your interesting confession. It is actually nice for me to hear that even you - who has battled on the front lines of engagement for so long have been struggling to maintain a hopeful attitude. In 1991 there was ITA conference, in Prague, titled Science Spirituality and the Global Crisis at which all the issues of the predictable collapse were brought out on the table for discussion. Rupert, David Bohm, Terence, Shulgin, Grof and a lot of Jungians presented. At the end, Ram Das gave the closing remarks in which he suggested that we might very well not be able to collectively avert the crisis just ahead. As I recollect, his admonition was to acknowledge this possibility, and to realize that our job may be to bear witness to the collapse and to hold our spiritual center, like sitting with a person who is dying.
Following that, I became touched and synchronistically inflated with the passion to Save the World and was drawn into the service of the real world project of the Earth Charter and its artistic heart of the Ark of Hope. Anyway, I consider where we are now a crying shame and feel great respect for those who have the energy to do battle on the myriad fronts. It is a collective issue bigger than any of us and, for my own part, I do my best to cherish this incredible moment of awareness and suffering and to be as cheerfully hopeless as possible. One of Ram Das's last meditation instructions was to repeat the mantra 'Love your breath' - over and over....
Daniel, I write you from Cape Cod, Mass, where we were forecast to get 5" of snow overnight. Such joy, awaiting that beautiful silencing, transformative water. However, it did not happen. Disappointed, I made myself a good cuppa and found joy in that and your words. Yes. Confirmation that we are, still pondering, exploring and reducing that we are in transformation. I am reminded that there are three sides to a coin. As one who has enjoyed your explorations ( and have met, conversed with grandmother too) I have recognized the entropic space. that deeper place that disturbs all that we... think we know. So, good morning. Thank you for the question. We are, on a rim: one channel that leads to yet another spoke of reality. Gratitude: You have reminded me to re-read some of Rupert Sheldrake's writing on pansychism, ( " Is the Sun Conscious?), intertwining it with some of his younger son, Cosmo's music ( "tardigrade song") and Allow... then get out of my own way.
I’m still in Dominical where we met at Envision Festival. Despite the poor acoustics your talk resonated nicely. Some of us invited you to dinner but your time was too limited. I came to Dominical 26 years ago to surf and get away from a government I couldn’t accept. It has followed me Daniel. CitiBank bought up all the private banks and Walmart bought all the big businesses…keep yr name but we own ya. China built the stadium and the freeways – for free? The White House arranged to have the Costa Rican Constitution amended to allow a president to serve a third term. They needed CAFTA passed and Costa Rica was a holdout. US campaign funding put Oscar Arias, the Nobel darling, in office and he had to work at it but he got it approved. I’m originally from So. Cal so I’ve seen a lot of change but when Trump hit the deck the boat here started floundering. The expat sector quickly split apart and the split slowly infiltrated the Tico culture. COVID has rattled the palms. They closed the beaches. World famous surf beaches like ours were yellow taped and patrolled. Masks were mandated without resistance. Roughly three-fourths of the 4M are vaxed. Like much of the world CR was doing well with the treatments they were familiar with: ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, staple anti-inflammatory/anti-histamine agents, vitamin D, Zinc, but here too Fauci repressed repurposed drugs but these treatments are cheap and trusted and widely used regardless of warnings. Remdesivir (known locally as rem-death-is near) at $3000 or ivermectin at $2? CR had a slow rise in cases early on then plateaued around 1000 then around Easter ‘21 a sharp spike hit 2000 cases, dropped some then September climbed to almost 5,000 then dropped to under 50 for the past 7-day average. About the same as Uganda with their 45M people at 2% vax rate. Why do you suppose with 17% of the world’s population Africa has less than 3% COVID death rate? Admittedly a life-long Kennedy fan I am inclined to side with RFK Jr. in his appraisal of the situation. It’s a king size corporate scam. He’s got it documented and he’s not the only well informed critic I’m seeing. So where are we now? I’m on my way to the beach, it’s low tide and I might catch a barrel. I have a guest house, you’re welcome anytime.
I'm disappointed. Not in you, but in myself, that I don't spark your curiosity. I've expressed my enthusiasm and my appreciation for your work, it's genuine; and above that, I dearly appreciate being included in Edge Realms; that means the world to me. But the feeling isn't mutual. It feels as though you want to change the subject, and speak to someone else...anyone else, when I speak. Lol. So, I'm disappointed that I don't seem to spark your interest. I've had direct experience with the otherworld. In truth, more than anyone I know. I'd hope that might pique your curiosity. But I seem to annoy you. I've had that same feeling around others, like Robert Bly, and James Hillman, who appeared more annoyed with, than interested in, my comments. So, it isn't just you. But it leaves me in the position of the prophet who isn't appreciated in his own town...only in my case, "the town" would be among the other shaman poets, or seekers of the knowledge of the otherworld. I only mention this because the tone of your article feels resonant with me. Another reason I mention it, is what I call "the Holy Grail", by which I mean, the opening of the heart mind, and the access to information there, which flows like the awen, when the right person shows genuine interest. It's chemistry, it's a mystery, and it's the catalyst for some of the greatest inspiration in the world. I hunger for the "guest" that is genuinely interested in the unusual stories I can share; "true" stories that defy mundane rational explanation. Much of what I've experienced was in the "otherworld", so I don't expect a lot of people to show much interest. But I half expected you might, because our curiosity seems to run along some of the same veins, not everything; you're far more diverse, and well informed on myriad topics. But I've spent more time in the otherworld than anyone I know personally, and I insight into topics that are inherently difficult, paradoxical, and mysteries in essence. If I could simply sit down and write, I would. But I long for the "guest" who is genuinely curious to know what I've lived through. I'm no saint, but I "suffered the spirit of prophecy" in the mid to late 1970's, and that is a possession by archetypal forces. I suspect you have been through something similar. Perhaps it would behoove you to inquire what I know about it. I don't mean to sound cryptic or pretentious, but I would rather ask now, than miss the opportunity should I be of service to someone whose work I appreciate and respect. No hard feelings if you aren't interested, as I already know how weird I must come across to others. But timing is everything, and Jupiter just entered Pisces, so perhaps it's time for a little review. Wishing you all the best in 2022, Daniel, That's a most conspicuous number loaded with mystical significance, but don't lose your head over it. Warm regards. Your friend, Franklin LaVoie
There are those who doubt the existence of the "otherworld", their lack of experience gives them a lame excuse for pontificating on the topic, with as much authority as the blind man espousing on color theory, or Abstract Expressionism. In my view, the current state of Western culture is suffering a collective unconscious narcissistic wound, so in my view, it's a question of degree, not whether narcissism is operating. For 1200 years Western Culture has lacked a stable metaphysics to fully grasp "reality". That's because a re-visioning took place, the old (I'd call it "archetypal") metaphysical model which postulated Spirit/Mind; Soul/Heart-mind; Matter/Body was replaced by a dualistic metaphysics which postulates along the lines of Mind; Body, or Spirit; Matter, conveniently, or inconveniently brushing the Soul, or the Heart-mind aside. The result is what Henri Corbin referred to as a "catastrophe in Western Culture". Corbin coined the term "the Imaginal" to differentiate between a mundane image that appears in the mind, not through the five senses, and the startling experience of the "otherworld" which appears when the mind's-eye opens to reveal something so extraordinary, it's difficult to explain. Poetry is the language appropriate to express the "otherworld". The catastrophe Corbin refers to is Western Culture's deviant and unconscious relationship to this higher octave of Creation. This falsely empowers rational skeptics to mount their high horses and savagely attack anyone who reports on their experiences in the "otherworld". I sarcastically refer to these self-appointed guardians of the sanctity of their rational skepticism as "half-wits", because they mistake the power of a highly evolved Spiritual view, which is rational, logical, temporal, historical, and arising in large part from the five senses for all of "reality". They conveniently disregard Quantum Physics and the completely irrational implications it has regarding the entanglement of consciousness and matter. In other words, the Physical Universe isn't physical, and it appears the way it does because our senses evolved to experience it that way. Furthermore, and in a related matter, Time , as well as Spacetime, is just as irrational, as it is rational. This probably gets to the heart of the trouble, why the Soul, the Heart-mind was side-lined 1200 years ago...it is inherently problematic. What C.G. Jung famously pointed out is, we don't become enlightened by pursuing the spiritual ideals, but rather, by making our darkness conscious. Our darkness is precisely equivalent to our Soul, the instinctual, emotional, and imaginal Heart-mind. The neo-cortex is a marvelous phenomenal instrument capable of computational greatness, engineering feats that put humanity on par with the gods (hence the mythical confrontation, as when Jupiter punished Prometheus for stealing the Fire of the god's temple.) The Soul's nature perfectly attests to the entanglement of consciousness and matter; it's the very essence of the soul, it's the connective tissue between everything that arises out of the Whole Universe. But the Soul, i.e. the instinctual, emotional, imagination is inherently problematic. We are not born tabula rosa. We are born with predilections. These are related to our Fate. This must be made conscious. It's like having a puppy, it has to be trained or it's a constant mess that only gets worse. The soul must be made conscious, or we only get worse.
So I think people who have "genuine" mystical experiences have difficulty talking with each other about it, because the territory is inherently difficult. J.R.R. Tolkien coined the term the "Perilous Realm" to describe this trickster, mercurial, irrational side of "reality". Modern rational skeptics have a field day trash talking about the Perilous Realm. Because they have no training, the puppy of their soul has a grown-up and become a mean vicious attack dog; they are in essence half-wits desperate to prove the neo-cortex is the absolute ruler of the kingdom. As in the fairy stories, hubris and ignorance will prove the weakness in their arguments. The Perilous Realm is the territory of immortal beings, what C.G.Jung called the "archetypes". When an archetype touches a mere mortal, it produces an inflation of the psyche, a potentially dangerous situation. At its best it can reveal the genius in the individual; but at its worst it can destroy their reputations, their sanity, and their lives. It's inherently a dangerous territory to tread. For tens of thousands of years, in so called primitive cultures shamans have trained candidates suffering from this, to walk between the worlds. This gives the shaman access to timeless archetypal principles, and energies that are infinitely better informed than our best trained scientists. But it's still a tricky business, and deception, delusion, and inflation are always playing tricks on us mere mortals. So enter at your own risk. Does that answer your question, Mr, Hoopes; and what all the hoopla is about?
I don't have such difficulty in discussing my own "mystical" experiences, but I know you love to be dismissive, and look for vulnerabilities so you can ridicule / feel superior.
Yes, the ultimate long, strange trip. It's been grand, at times. Yet, also grim and deeply discouraging, mostly. The ultimate source is ever unperturbed and we are reliant upon and stabilized by that as we live these lives of exploration and mystery.
Daniel, Thanks for your interesting confession. It is actually nice for me to hear that even you - who has battled on the front lines of engagement for so long have been struggling to maintain a hopeful attitude. In 1991 there was ITA conference, in Prague, titled Science Spirituality and the Global Crisis at which all the issues of the predictable collapse were brought out on the table for discussion. Rupert, David Bohm, Terence, Shulgin, Grof and a lot of Jungians presented. At the end, Ram Das gave the closing remarks in which he suggested that we might very well not be able to collectively avert the crisis just ahead. As I recollect, his admonition was to acknowledge this possibility, and to realize that our job may be to bear witness to the collapse and to hold our spiritual center, like sitting with a person who is dying.
Following that, I became touched and synchronistically inflated with the passion to Save the World and was drawn into the service of the real world project of the Earth Charter and its artistic heart of the Ark of Hope. Anyway, I consider where we are now a crying shame and feel great respect for those who have the energy to do battle on the myriad fronts. It is a collective issue bigger than any of us and, for my own part, I do my best to cherish this incredible moment of awareness and suffering and to be as cheerfully hopeless as possible. One of Ram Das's last meditation instructions was to repeat the mantra 'Love your breath' - over and over....
thanks for your thoughts Mr Earl!
Daniel, I write you from Cape Cod, Mass, where we were forecast to get 5" of snow overnight. Such joy, awaiting that beautiful silencing, transformative water. However, it did not happen. Disappointed, I made myself a good cuppa and found joy in that and your words. Yes. Confirmation that we are, still pondering, exploring and reducing that we are in transformation. I am reminded that there are three sides to a coin. As one who has enjoyed your explorations ( and have met, conversed with grandmother too) I have recognized the entropic space. that deeper place that disturbs all that we... think we know. So, good morning. Thank you for the question. We are, on a rim: one channel that leads to yet another spoke of reality. Gratitude: You have reminded me to re-read some of Rupert Sheldrake's writing on pansychism, ( " Is the Sun Conscious?), intertwining it with some of his younger son, Cosmo's music ( "tardigrade song") and Allow... then get out of my own way.
i will have to look up Sheldrake on panpsychism!
I’m still in Dominical where we met at Envision Festival. Despite the poor acoustics your talk resonated nicely. Some of us invited you to dinner but your time was too limited. I came to Dominical 26 years ago to surf and get away from a government I couldn’t accept. It has followed me Daniel. CitiBank bought up all the private banks and Walmart bought all the big businesses…keep yr name but we own ya. China built the stadium and the freeways – for free? The White House arranged to have the Costa Rican Constitution amended to allow a president to serve a third term. They needed CAFTA passed and Costa Rica was a holdout. US campaign funding put Oscar Arias, the Nobel darling, in office and he had to work at it but he got it approved. I’m originally from So. Cal so I’ve seen a lot of change but when Trump hit the deck the boat here started floundering. The expat sector quickly split apart and the split slowly infiltrated the Tico culture. COVID has rattled the palms. They closed the beaches. World famous surf beaches like ours were yellow taped and patrolled. Masks were mandated without resistance. Roughly three-fourths of the 4M are vaxed. Like much of the world CR was doing well with the treatments they were familiar with: ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, staple anti-inflammatory/anti-histamine agents, vitamin D, Zinc, but here too Fauci repressed repurposed drugs but these treatments are cheap and trusted and widely used regardless of warnings. Remdesivir (known locally as rem-death-is near) at $3000 or ivermectin at $2? CR had a slow rise in cases early on then plateaued around 1000 then around Easter ‘21 a sharp spike hit 2000 cases, dropped some then September climbed to almost 5,000 then dropped to under 50 for the past 7-day average. About the same as Uganda with their 45M people at 2% vax rate. Why do you suppose with 17% of the world’s population Africa has less than 3% COVID death rate? Admittedly a life-long Kennedy fan I am inclined to side with RFK Jr. in his appraisal of the situation. It’s a king size corporate scam. He’s got it documented and he’s not the only well informed critic I’m seeing. So where are we now? I’m on my way to the beach, it’s low tide and I might catch a barrel. I have a guest house, you’re welcome anytime.
thanks, Steve, I may take you up on that.
I'm disappointed. Not in you, but in myself, that I don't spark your curiosity. I've expressed my enthusiasm and my appreciation for your work, it's genuine; and above that, I dearly appreciate being included in Edge Realms; that means the world to me. But the feeling isn't mutual. It feels as though you want to change the subject, and speak to someone else...anyone else, when I speak. Lol. So, I'm disappointed that I don't seem to spark your interest. I've had direct experience with the otherworld. In truth, more than anyone I know. I'd hope that might pique your curiosity. But I seem to annoy you. I've had that same feeling around others, like Robert Bly, and James Hillman, who appeared more annoyed with, than interested in, my comments. So, it isn't just you. But it leaves me in the position of the prophet who isn't appreciated in his own town...only in my case, "the town" would be among the other shaman poets, or seekers of the knowledge of the otherworld. I only mention this because the tone of your article feels resonant with me. Another reason I mention it, is what I call "the Holy Grail", by which I mean, the opening of the heart mind, and the access to information there, which flows like the awen, when the right person shows genuine interest. It's chemistry, it's a mystery, and it's the catalyst for some of the greatest inspiration in the world. I hunger for the "guest" that is genuinely interested in the unusual stories I can share; "true" stories that defy mundane rational explanation. Much of what I've experienced was in the "otherworld", so I don't expect a lot of people to show much interest. But I half expected you might, because our curiosity seems to run along some of the same veins, not everything; you're far more diverse, and well informed on myriad topics. But I've spent more time in the otherworld than anyone I know personally, and I insight into topics that are inherently difficult, paradoxical, and mysteries in essence. If I could simply sit down and write, I would. But I long for the "guest" who is genuinely curious to know what I've lived through. I'm no saint, but I "suffered the spirit of prophecy" in the mid to late 1970's, and that is a possession by archetypal forces. I suspect you have been through something similar. Perhaps it would behoove you to inquire what I know about it. I don't mean to sound cryptic or pretentious, but I would rather ask now, than miss the opportunity should I be of service to someone whose work I appreciate and respect. No hard feelings if you aren't interested, as I already know how weird I must come across to others. But timing is everything, and Jupiter just entered Pisces, so perhaps it's time for a little review. Wishing you all the best in 2022, Daniel, That's a most conspicuous number loaded with mystical significance, but don't lose your head over it. Warm regards. Your friend, Franklin LaVoie
Why do you think people who have “genuine” mystical experiences have so much difficulty talking with each other about it?
“Was this just narcissism or delusion on my part?”
In DP’s case, it may well be narcissism, though there’s no reason it can’t be both.
There are those who doubt the existence of the "otherworld", their lack of experience gives them a lame excuse for pontificating on the topic, with as much authority as the blind man espousing on color theory, or Abstract Expressionism. In my view, the current state of Western culture is suffering a collective unconscious narcissistic wound, so in my view, it's a question of degree, not whether narcissism is operating. For 1200 years Western Culture has lacked a stable metaphysics to fully grasp "reality". That's because a re-visioning took place, the old (I'd call it "archetypal") metaphysical model which postulated Spirit/Mind; Soul/Heart-mind; Matter/Body was replaced by a dualistic metaphysics which postulates along the lines of Mind; Body, or Spirit; Matter, conveniently, or inconveniently brushing the Soul, or the Heart-mind aside. The result is what Henri Corbin referred to as a "catastrophe in Western Culture". Corbin coined the term "the Imaginal" to differentiate between a mundane image that appears in the mind, not through the five senses, and the startling experience of the "otherworld" which appears when the mind's-eye opens to reveal something so extraordinary, it's difficult to explain. Poetry is the language appropriate to express the "otherworld". The catastrophe Corbin refers to is Western Culture's deviant and unconscious relationship to this higher octave of Creation. This falsely empowers rational skeptics to mount their high horses and savagely attack anyone who reports on their experiences in the "otherworld". I sarcastically refer to these self-appointed guardians of the sanctity of their rational skepticism as "half-wits", because they mistake the power of a highly evolved Spiritual view, which is rational, logical, temporal, historical, and arising in large part from the five senses for all of "reality". They conveniently disregard Quantum Physics and the completely irrational implications it has regarding the entanglement of consciousness and matter. In other words, the Physical Universe isn't physical, and it appears the way it does because our senses evolved to experience it that way. Furthermore, and in a related matter, Time , as well as Spacetime, is just as irrational, as it is rational. This probably gets to the heart of the trouble, why the Soul, the Heart-mind was side-lined 1200 years ago...it is inherently problematic. What C.G. Jung famously pointed out is, we don't become enlightened by pursuing the spiritual ideals, but rather, by making our darkness conscious. Our darkness is precisely equivalent to our Soul, the instinctual, emotional, and imaginal Heart-mind. The neo-cortex is a marvelous phenomenal instrument capable of computational greatness, engineering feats that put humanity on par with the gods (hence the mythical confrontation, as when Jupiter punished Prometheus for stealing the Fire of the god's temple.) The Soul's nature perfectly attests to the entanglement of consciousness and matter; it's the very essence of the soul, it's the connective tissue between everything that arises out of the Whole Universe. But the Soul, i.e. the instinctual, emotional, imagination is inherently problematic. We are not born tabula rosa. We are born with predilections. These are related to our Fate. This must be made conscious. It's like having a puppy, it has to be trained or it's a constant mess that only gets worse. The soul must be made conscious, or we only get worse.
So I think people who have "genuine" mystical experiences have difficulty talking with each other about it, because the territory is inherently difficult. J.R.R. Tolkien coined the term the "Perilous Realm" to describe this trickster, mercurial, irrational side of "reality". Modern rational skeptics have a field day trash talking about the Perilous Realm. Because they have no training, the puppy of their soul has a grown-up and become a mean vicious attack dog; they are in essence half-wits desperate to prove the neo-cortex is the absolute ruler of the kingdom. As in the fairy stories, hubris and ignorance will prove the weakness in their arguments. The Perilous Realm is the territory of immortal beings, what C.G.Jung called the "archetypes". When an archetype touches a mere mortal, it produces an inflation of the psyche, a potentially dangerous situation. At its best it can reveal the genius in the individual; but at its worst it can destroy their reputations, their sanity, and their lives. It's inherently a dangerous territory to tread. For tens of thousands of years, in so called primitive cultures shamans have trained candidates suffering from this, to walk between the worlds. This gives the shaman access to timeless archetypal principles, and energies that are infinitely better informed than our best trained scientists. But it's still a tricky business, and deception, delusion, and inflation are always playing tricks on us mere mortals. So enter at your own risk. Does that answer your question, Mr, Hoopes; and what all the hoopla is about?
I think it also explains why I can get CDs with 2700 digitized vintage books on the occult for only $39.99 on eBay. 😉
That’s not a dime a dozen. It’s 0.18¢ a dozen.
I don't have such difficulty in discussing my own "mystical" experiences, but I know you love to be dismissive, and look for vulnerabilities so you can ridicule / feel superior.
The issue is not with your discussing your own experiences, but with your relative lack of interest in the experiences of others.
My comment was prompted by the post by Franklin LaVoie expressing his disappointment that his own experiences don’t spark your interest.
Yes, the ultimate long, strange trip. It's been grand, at times. Yet, also grim and deeply discouraging, mostly. The ultimate source is ever unperturbed and we are reliant upon and stabilized by that as we live these lives of exploration and mystery.