It seems that the many worldwide problems facing us today are at their root a crisis of consciousness.
First: a couple of problems...
Ecological decline, including global warming and accelerating species extinction, is largely a result of human activity. The industrial revolution is fueled by the high energy content of (once) abundant fossil fuels. Fossil fuels pump large amounts of heat trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The earth's average temperatures are rising. The ice caps are melting. Rain forests are being cut down to make room for farm land. The list of ecological problems is long. Most all are a result of human decisions on a massive scale. Technological
Economic problems are inevitable. We're seeing cracks in the system today. A debt-heavy system is using more debt to bail our economy out of this banking mess. We can only throw good money after bad for so long. An economy dependent on perpetual exponential growth has limits. Perhaps we're seeing those limits now. Maybe later. The limits will be reached some day.
Politically, we are witnessing senseless wars and failed states. Pakistan is a failed state. These guys have nuclear weapons. Most people agree that the Iraq war was a bad idea that benefited an elite few. Political tensions in the world is simple ego-posturing on a large scale. Game playing with human lives.
The list of man-made crises goes on. We did this to ourselves over many years. It's taken several decades to recognize our lifestyles aren't sustainable. That term, "sustainability" has been enjoying plenty of currency the past few years. Understandably so. We're starting to wake up to the fact that we did this to ourselves. No amount of finger pointing will make it different. Time marches on. Unfortunately, the level of thinking that got us into this mess, won't be able to get us out. Einstein has a great quote about this.
So what are the solutions??
The potential for doom and gloom can be disorienting. But that's not the point I'm hoping to make. The point being that our methods of thinking are outmoded. So how does someone go about changing thought processes on a global scale? How do we expand our perceptions to levels that encompass all of humanity? How do we stop focusing on issues of scarcity? And learn to live from worldcentric perspectives? What would it take to raise our collective psychological center of gravity enough to begin understanding what a sustainable civilization would have to look like in the future... and then live that future today?
My proposal is that cannabis can be a catalyst for us to wake up to who we really are. There is still time.
I've found that since I started using cannabis with deliberate intent, my capacity for creative thought is naturally improved. Match that up with other effects of THC. Effects like an enhanced ability to see life from a worldcentric (as opposed to egocentric or ethnocentric) perspective. There is an experience of deep empathy. It's possible to conceive what life might be like as a person who is more mature psychologically. Sub-personalities (often disowned) that hinder this psychological maturation come into focus. Sometimes they're painful, but real just the same.
Cannabis produces an existential awareness. An awareness that you have a limited time on earth and that you're responsible for your actions while you're here. Perhaps people from archaic and mythic religious traditions may disagree. They probably don't smoke much pot either. If this abundant plant is capable of giving users a glimpse at their true nature — and exposing false beliefs, expanding awareness, exhibiting other qualities that encourage psychological growth - wouldn't this tsunami of marijuana awareness washing over the country be a ripe opportunity for us to deliberately accelerate the maturation process?
Does anyone else here agree that the many problems facing humanity and civilization are man-made?
Has anyone else here noticed similar effects from smoking pot that enhance the sphere of awareness?
Do any of the readers here suspect that cannabis provides a legitimate opportunity to accelerate psychological growth deliberately?
My intent here is not to focus on all the problems we're facing. Or all the disastrous outcomes if humanity doesn't pull together in time. Instead, I'm looking for solutions to a crisis of consciousness. It seems the potential for enhanced self-improvement is available to any smoker who's willing to ask if greater maturity is possible. And to any person who's brave enough to do the necessary work.
Peace,
~Garrett
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein
First: a couple of problems...
Ecological decline, including global warming and accelerating species extinction, is largely a result of human activity. The industrial revolution is fueled by the high energy content of (once) abundant fossil fuels. Fossil fuels pump large amounts of heat trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The earth's average temperatures are rising. The ice caps are melting. Rain forests are being cut down to make room for farm land. The list of ecological problems is long. Most all are a result of human decisions on a massive scale. Technological
Economic problems are inevitable. We're seeing cracks in the system today. A debt-heavy system is using more debt to bail our economy out of this banking mess. We can only throw good money after bad for so long. An economy dependent on perpetual exponential growth has limits. Perhaps we're seeing those limits now. Maybe later. The limits will be reached some day.
Politically, we are witnessing senseless wars and failed states. Pakistan is a failed state. These guys have nuclear weapons. Most people agree that the Iraq war was a bad idea that benefited an elite few. Political tensions in the world is simple ego-posturing on a large scale. Game playing with human lives.
The list of man-made crises goes on. We did this to ourselves over many years. It's taken several decades to recognize our lifestyles aren't sustainable. That term, "sustainability" has been enjoying plenty of currency the past few years. Understandably so. We're starting to wake up to the fact that we did this to ourselves. No amount of finger pointing will make it different. Time marches on. Unfortunately, the level of thinking that got us into this mess, won't be able to get us out. Einstein has a great quote about this.
So what are the solutions??
The potential for doom and gloom can be disorienting. But that's not the point I'm hoping to make. The point being that our methods of thinking are outmoded. So how does someone go about changing thought processes on a global scale? How do we expand our perceptions to levels that encompass all of humanity? How do we stop focusing on issues of scarcity? And learn to live from worldcentric perspectives? What would it take to raise our collective psychological center of gravity enough to begin understanding what a sustainable civilization would have to look like in the future... and then live that future today?
My proposal is that cannabis can be a catalyst for us to wake up to who we really are. There is still time.
I've found that since I started using cannabis with deliberate intent, my capacity for creative thought is naturally improved. Match that up with other effects of THC. Effects like an enhanced ability to see life from a worldcentric (as opposed to egocentric or ethnocentric) perspective. There is an experience of deep empathy. It's possible to conceive what life might be like as a person who is more mature psychologically. Sub-personalities (often disowned) that hinder this psychological maturation come into focus. Sometimes they're painful, but real just the same.
Cannabis produces an existential awareness. An awareness that you have a limited time on earth and that you're responsible for your actions while you're here. Perhaps people from archaic and mythic religious traditions may disagree. They probably don't smoke much pot either. If this abundant plant is capable of giving users a glimpse at their true nature — and exposing false beliefs, expanding awareness, exhibiting other qualities that encourage psychological growth - wouldn't this tsunami of marijuana awareness washing over the country be a ripe opportunity for us to deliberately accelerate the maturation process?
Does anyone else here agree that the many problems facing humanity and civilization are man-made?
Has anyone else here noticed similar effects from smoking pot that enhance the sphere of awareness?
Do any of the readers here suspect that cannabis provides a legitimate opportunity to accelerate psychological growth deliberately?
My intent here is not to focus on all the problems we're facing. Or all the disastrous outcomes if humanity doesn't pull together in time. Instead, I'm looking for solutions to a crisis of consciousness. It seems the potential for enhanced self-improvement is available to any smoker who's willing to ask if greater maturity is possible. And to any person who's brave enough to do the necessary work.
Peace,
~Garrett
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein
