The Divine Spark: Psychedelics, Consciousness and the Birth of Civilization by Graham Hancock

Author:Graham Hancock
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Hay House UK Ltd
Published: 2015-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

LETTING GO

Once we have completed as much preparatory work as possible before a session and clarified our intent—thus choosing our setting—we are ready to turn our attention to the actual trip.

On the day of the session, we should be well rested and clear-eyed, feeling ready for whatever may come our way. Though it’s a good idea to have water or ice chips available during the session to address thirst and dehydration, a person should not plan on eating any food or drinking alcohol.

The fundamental task required for an optimal psychedelic experience is somewhat paradoxical: it consists of actively establishing the direction in which we decide to let go. We consciously choose the cliff from which we will jump and with what attitude we make that leap. This is especially the case in high-dose sessions during which we hope to encounter the most radical and unusual experiences.

Resistance to high-dose, powerful trips can be extraordinarily painful and confusing. An open-eyed, level-headed surrendering of resistance is the most effective way to prevent being thrown into this maelstrom and is the best method for pulling ourselves out of it if we do find ourselves overboard. Prayers, mantras, mudras, visualization, music, bodywork, and other aids may be helpful at various points in our trip to redirect the flow of experience. At the deepest, most exposed, raw, and vulnerable moments of the psychedelic encounter, however, it is only through letting go that we find ourselves making the most progress. From the five minutes of the DMT flash to the twelve hours of an ibogaine ordeal, this surrender is the crux of a successful journey.

The foundation laid by any previous inner work will hold us in good stead at such times by virtue of the attention skills we have developed. These skills make it easier to remain focused when confronted with the unexpected. In addition, effective psychotherapy or spiritual practice will have made us familiar with the skeletons in our closets and will have better equipped us to contend with them if and when they emerge. Thus, not only do we clearly perceive what is garnering our attention, but also we subsequently open up and drop our resistances to it. We will know when we are resisting and when we are moving forward at any given moment of the psychedelic experience.

Yet it is not only in negative aspects of a trip that we may become blocked. We also might be unable to move out of pleasant or neutral states. For example, we might find ourselves deeply blissful but also sense that we can go even deeper into what lies beneath and supports that bliss. Seemingly innocuous images or feelings, such as the curtain of psychedelic lights that is often a hallmark of the drug experience, may stand in our way. We want to see even more, but we cannot take the next step.

All these states can be managed to facilitate our moving forward; we can slow down, right ourselves, and then go on. We regain our balance through the proper application of attention and awareness.

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