"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

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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.

08/29/2010 12:00 PM
243-Ram Das & Leary: "Albert Hofmann Fund Raiser in 1988"
This recording is from the second half of an event that was held on July 24, 1988 to raise money for the Albert Hofmann Foundation. The first half (which I haven't found a recording of yet) included talks by Paul Krassner, Laura Huxley, and Timothy Leary. However a few minutes of the Leary talk are included here. The main part of this recording is a scintillating talk by Ram Das in which he says things such as: "And it feels to me that as long as I live I will still be growing into what happened to me on the first psychedelic experience," and "What has happened is that the Sixties unleashed something extraordinarily powerful that is still reverberating and echoing in this culture, and actually in the world. And what that released was a recognition in people that they were free to change, institutions and themselves."

08/19/2010 05:37 PM
242-McKenna: "Philosophical Gadfly" Part 3
In this final installment of a 1984 workshop, Terence McKenna begins by answering a question about how he sees the role of the I Chang in human life. From there he progresses to Marshall McLuhan and on to a consideration that "We cannot afford the unconscious anymore."

08/06/2010 12:43 PM
241-McKenna: "Philosophical Gadfly" Part 2
In this continuation of a 1984 workshop in which he gave himself the title of Philosophical Gadfly, Terence McKenna takes us on a journey through the place he calls the invisible landscape. One of his raps is that "history is the departure of a species for the stars", which may give us a clue as to why he departed for the stars so early, paving our way, no doubt. His consideration of how we now control the biological evolution of our own species leads him to say, "We are creatures of information and the imagination. The monkey we are already beginning to transform and shed. We don't look like the other monkeys, and we look less like them all the time." ... And an interesting little factoid comes out that already in 1984, before the Web, Terence was already using the Internet with his Apple II and a $350 modem.

08/04/2010 05:53 PM
240-McKenna: "Philosophical Gadfly" Part 1
In this recording of a small 1984 gathering in Northern California, Terence McKenna holds forth on ayahuasca, his research in the Amazon, and the amanita muscaria mushroom. As is often the case, this workshop was shaped mainly by questions from the participants, which brought about this interesting quotation: "You must be aware that I have other wrinkles, the extraterrestrial angle, the end of history angle, several different things, but all of these things were inspired by our belief that these Amazon peoples have a technology for exploring the modalities of the unconscious that is centuries ahead of us." And his 1984 take on death is also notable: "I imagine death to be a kind of release into the imagination."

07/28/2010 03:28 PM
239-McKenna: "Shamanism, Alchemy, and the 20th Century"
This may be one of Terence McKenna's finest and most important talks. It was recorded in 1996 in Mannheim, Germany and was recorded during the time he and Sheldon Rocklin were filming the documentary for Mystic Fire, which was originally titled 'Coincidencia Oppositorum: A Union of Opposites'. And while it has now been more than a decade since it was given, you will find that it remains as fresh as if it was delivered last night. The program notes for this podcast contain the most McKenna quotes of any talk we have yet heard here in the salon. Just one quote may give you the flavor of what you will hear: "In the 60's then, LSD was not sufficient, even coupled with rock and roll it only brought repression. It was like a failed alchemy. Instead of the dissolving and recrystallizing at a higher and more angelic level thousands of prisons were built, and the entire thing failed. But this spirit is THE spirit, the spirit of life itself, the spirit of novelty itself, and it will not be suppressed for long in any time or place. So now again it comes. ... It's a spirit of dissent that says we will not serve the values of materialism, the values of the ego, and the values that separate and break down the community. So here it is again."