On collapse - part 2
The incense smoke curls upward like the unfurling frond of some ethereal fern, the smell of burning sage hangs in the air mixing with the recognisable odour of marijuana. There is a soft low chanting of “Om Namaha Shivaya” that is barely audible as the rain drums gently on the roof. The room is dimly lit with a soft mellow glow of candle light, gently illuminating the faces of those present. All are seated on the floor, legs crossed, hands folded in their laps and eyes half lidded. Dressed in comfortable flowing clothes these are the adepts awaiting initiation. A copper bowl is passed between them, its contents a tangle of dried stems and the puckered golden caps of mushrooms, some as large as your thumb. Each person takes what they need from the bowl and reverently begins to chew, they don’t swallow, they chew until the flesh of the mushroom breaks down to a slush in the mouth and becomes one with them from the inside. The journey will begin shortly, the participants sit patiently and listen to the rain while softly reciting their mantra. They have prepared for this night for months through Asana, meditation, study and discourse. Each of them holds an intention in their mind, a teaching they would like from the children of the forest. Their preparation has instilled within them a deep reverence for the wisdom of the sacred mushroom, a wisdom that has guided their people for years since the great fall. Allowing them to reintegrate with the biosphere, recognise that they are part of the natural world and heal the deep wounds of the times gone by. In listening to the teachers their community has learned how to live in harmony with mother nature, taking only what they need when they need it, and in return they are blessed with abundance and fulfilment in life.
The more I’ve been thinking about and reflecting on the collapse we are facing as outlined in my previous essay, the more I’ve come to see that what we are facing, is in my opinion, a meaning crisis. Modern lives for most of us have become nothing more than a cycle of rinse and repeat until you retire from work, if you are lucky, and can live out your existence in comfort. But by then you are probably too old to enjoy it, most likely you will while away your final years in a home, shoved out of sight and out of mind by a society that worships perpetual youth.
This loss of meaning has resulted in a void of sorts within our lives, a void that we are constantly trying to fill with consumption. Industrial consumer society needs more consumers to keep the wheels turning, no matter the cost to mental health, the biosphere and our spirituality. Its important to understand this is not our fault, we are caught in a trap, conditioned to believe this is the peak of our civilisation that it doesn’t get better than this. And that is simply a lie, we are caught in an illusion, our job is to awaken.
We are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that. And then you're a player, you don't want to even play in that game. You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.” - Terrence Mckenna
What have we lost that has made our lives so meaningless? I would argue its the connection to God, the Sacred or the Divine. When Nietzsche proclaimed “God is dead” did he sound the end of our recognition of the Divine in all things?
Dr John Vervaeke - a Professor of cognitive science and Buddhist Psychology at Toronto University has done a series of lectures on Awakening from the Meaning crisis. Link to - Awakening from the meaning crisis
This meaning crisis is what is manifesting as the economic, societal and ecological crises we are experiencing. If you find 50 hours of lectures daunting I came across a great summary of Dr Vervaeke’s talks on the blog of The Mortal Atheist. Link to - The Mortal Atheist
In the lectures Dr Vervaeke argues that modern society is in the depths of an unfolding meaning crisis because our ways of thinking have become narrowed by the “progress” of human scientific development. The rejection of the animate world view revered by our ancestors and indigenous cultures who see spirit and animism in all things, has given way to physicalist reductionist way of perceiving the world. Where spirit and transcendence has largely been negated by a science which has sought to debunk spiritual or supernatural claims through empiricism. All of this has resulted in our total disconnect from the natural world and the “othering” of the biosphere and our fellow beings.
Modern quantum physics and neuroscience is beginning to show that the reductionist world view of physicalism is not as solid as it may seem. In fact quantum physics is showing that the universe is not even locally real, meaning it has no independent measurement prior to observation. The Universe Is Not Locally Real - Scientific American Article
What this points to is the primacy of of something else rather than matter as the ground of being, and thereby turning the so called hard problem of consciousness on its head, and making it rather the hard problem of matter. The work of scientists like Dr Bernardo Kastrup is pointing us towards a world view that has consciousness as primary and matter, time and space arising from it, this world view is what Dr Kastrup refers to as Analytic Idealism. Link to - Dr Bernardo Kastrup's website
Dr Kastrup’s work resonates with me deeply and accords with Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and other non-dual spiritual lineages. Lineages that are over 3000 years old in some cases, in which the universe is described as being the manifestation of primeval consciousness and we are individualised expressions of this greater awareness living in a dream. Dr Kastrup uses a great analogy of a whirlpool within a body of water, the whirlpool is its own thing but is still very much part of the water. The Zen teacher Thich Naht Hahn also said:
Enlightenment is when the wave realises it is the ocean.
I feel like the resurgence in psychedelic studies, and what seems to be a greater interest in mindfulness, meditation and yoga are pointing towards an increased curiosity in what existence is all about. This is what the mystics and sages have known for aeons, our species needs to wake up so that we can survive the changes coming and realise our ultimate potential. Maybe it’s time to reconsider what’s important in life, stop running on the treadmill of consumption, smell the flowers, gaze at the stars and reconnect with nature and each other?
I have taken the time to cultivate an ecology of practices to help me to enquire into the nature of the mind, reality and our role in it. This is what has worked for me, but remember your mileage may vary.
Meditation and mindfulness force you to confront the nature of your mind and begin to unpack the tangled knot of ego and conditioning that you call yourself. The ego is a great servant but terrible master. Connecting with higher states of consciousness through entering the flow state in physical activities like yoga, martial arts and dance, these practices can help with connection to our embodied nature, we are physical beings on this plane and our bodies are sacred vessels. Psychedelic medicines; these medicines open your perception to a wider field of view of the universe and your place in it if used in a respectful way and with intention. A word of caution though if engaging in psychedelic exploration seek out and experienced guide, these molecules are powerful and you can very easily have difficult experiences if not fully prepared. It’s also important for us to engage in authentic discourse on these practices and insights derived from them, largely so we don’t end up believing our own bullshit. Therefore the cultivation of a Sangha or spiritual community is also essential to round out a healthy ecology of practices which have helped me with the acceptance of collapse.
Thats it for this post, another long one which took me a while to put together, so many rabbit holes to go down with this topic. Thank you for reading if you made it this far consider subscribing if you haven’t already. Also let me know if you want more on any of the topics touched on in this post I have barely skimmed the surface on these.
Peace and love to all beings.