"That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing."
The Emerald Tablet
If I could describe my ideal life - a life that integrates my passions with my path of service - it would probably look like that of a freelance journalist and modern-day 'spiritual anthropologist' (in the tradition of Living Dialogues by Duncan Campbell), roaming the world, speaking to great, and mostly un-sung healers and teachers of our age, and recording in-depth conversations with them - making their teachings and perspective more accessible to the world-at-large. These 'interviews' (soul-searching conversations) would be conducted face-to-face, rather than over the telephone or via Skype. It's my very strong belief that there is a subtle but powerful exchange during a personal meeting of souls (in the same sacred space?). These personal interviews would also give me the opportunity to photograph these great teachers in their own, unique environments. If this resonates with you, and you are blessed with the ability to finance such a venture - whether to produce a book, a companion Web site and podcast, a column/series in a periodical, etc. I would be very interested in speaking with you and making it happen. OM Shantih.
Oh, and my imagination is never too far from the idea of a Fish Taco truck à la Maui - but in the Hamptons, or a cool little Hampton's coffee shop à la Jack's.
Here's my list of intentions as of February 17, 2008. I submit it to the universe and let it go...
- Pay-off all my debts
- Develop work that is lucrative and that allows me to make my own schedule - a schedule that supports the other important aspects of my life - yoga, health, family, self-inquiry, creative expression, etc.
- Spend more quality time with Dana and Lefty in a 'life' that's not just confined to weekends or vacations
- Have more fun! Get a scooter or a motorcycle!
- Start my own successful business - café, consultancy, travel/spiritual pursuits blog, etc.
- Go on a 10-day Vipassana retreat
- Take voice and sitar lessons
- Renovate the apartment
- Travel to Peru for shamanic healing - shamanic apprenticeship
- Obtain a professional-level Nikon DSLR and take photography lessons
- Obtain professional-level portable digital recording equipment for podcasting program / interviews
- Actively pursue writing/blogging, photography, traveling
- Get weekly deep-tissue bodywork
- Get weekly accupuncture
- Develop a consistent meditation practice
- Buy a house in the country - Upstate or the North Fork
- Spend a month in India every year
- Have the ability to take the time off I want and have the resources to travel and pursue my passions
- Actively undergo individual and couples therapy - pursue shadow work
- Pursue advanced yoga studies
- Train in the martial arts (Aikido)
- Develop self-sufficiency and financial independence
- Heal myself so that I may be able to help others heal themselves - develop
my service as path - Spend more time by the sea - surfing, sailing, writing, being
Psychedelic Salon
Your source for cutting edge information about the exploration and expansion of consciousness. Featured speakers include Terence McKenna, Alex Grey, Daniel Pinchbeck, Erik Davis, Ann and Sasha Shulgin, Nick Sand, Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson and more. You can access all of these podcasts for free at PsychedelicSalon.org or through MatrixMasters.com/podcasts.
03/09/2010 03:45 PM
218-Claudia Little: "The Truth About Cannabis"
In this information-packed program, registered nurse and medical cannabis activist Claudia Little tells the story of her investigations into the use of cannabis as a medicine. Claudia is also a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access and a former U.S. Navy Nurse.
03/05/2010 03:32 PM
217-McKenna: "Under the Teaching Tree" Part 3
Among other stories, Terence tells of his UFO encounter in the Amazon in great detail ... one of his best tellings of this experience. He then goes on in an almost ambivalent way about his feelings about crop circles. Before long, though, he gets back to answering more questions about the smoked DMT experience, eventually comparing it to the archetype of the circus. He also explains his theory that crop circles may be the work of stem-bending Ninja Japanese tourists and that schizophrenics may actually be driven mad because they smell funny.
03/01/2010 03:17 PM
216-McKenna: "Under the Teaching Tree" Part 2
Today we pick up on the Terence McKenna workshop that he conducted in April of 1985 in Ojai, California. Among his other insightful observations was, "Cannabis holds many benefits, not necessarily related to its properties as an intoxicant, but as a source of food, lubricants, plastics, fuels, etc. The reason the establishment is so hysterical on the subject of cannabis is because it errodes loyalty to the industrial state."
02/20/2010 03:06 PM
215-McKenna: "Under the Teaching Tree" Part 1
This is the first part of a talk that Terence McKenna gave at the Ojai Foundation in April of 1985. In it he speaks about death and DMT among other things, such as: "I came to feel, and I still sometimes offhandedly refer to it like this, that it [DMT] is secret. It is not a secret. It is THE secret. There is a secret, and this is it. It is the secret that the world is not only not the way you think it is. It's that the way the world is, is a way that you can't think it is, because you simply do not have the imaginative capacity to conceive of such overwhelming peculiarity."
02/12/2010 11:51 AM
214-Leary: "Live in San Francisco 1979" Part 1
This is the first of a two part recording of a performance Dr. Timothy Leary gave in San Francisco early in 1979. After being introduced by Grace Slick, Timothy does his best to provoke the crowd with statements such as, "For the last four or five thousand years, freedom and intelligence and individualism have been moving in an unbroken chain from East to West. So that here on the banks of the Pacific Ocean we obviously have assembled the most advanced nervous systems on the planet."
