Fourth-Level Digital Dharma: The Broken Heart of Television

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In my book, Digital
Dharma
, I look at the seven core spiritual communications
challenges encoded by the different technologies of the Infosphere, and relate
them to the "stages of consciousness" described by the world's esoteric
traditions, the work of philosophers such as Ken Wilber, and the "spiral
dynamics" model of Don Beck, Christopher Cowan, and Claire Graves. An earlier
excerpt
on Reality
Sandwich discussed our
fascination with the "codes of reality." This one looks at our addiction to
television, and connects it to the hunger of the heart center for authentic
connection with "the other," and in failing to meet this goal, its retreat into
either hard-heartedness or the self-medication of consumption.

At the fourth level of the digital dharma path comes the discovery
that every wave we send out ripples across other waves, creating a hologram of
interrelating life stories; that the "other" we see actually reflects a part of
ourselves. Fourth level values are held at the heart chakra, the center that
radiates our desire to fully love and be loved. The pivot point between the
body and the mind, this center's work is to integrate the reality of life's
limitations with our dreams of a world of unconditional love. The heart
intuitively yearns for connection at the deepest levels of experience. Its
greatest desire is to reveal our dreams, joy and sadness, beauty and light to
others.

This center
naturally desires to open to every one and everything. Yet, as the Buddha tells
us, the world we live in is one of suffering, wounding and limitation. While
mystics of all faiths tell us that it is the blows of life that awaken the
heart, for most of us, openly receiving all of this can easily overwhelm. This
chakra's core challenge at each and every second is to remain open and fully
compassionate to whatever comes its way; and its deepest shadow behaviors are
rooted in its attempt to sidestep the inconsolable grief when it looses again
and again, the objects of its attachment. It may "close down" in self-defense,
and reject true intimacy in favor of the defensive strategies of intolerance
and cynicism. Or it may react with hypersensitive clinging codependence and
the "victim syndrome," always meeting the needs of others, one's never-healed
"inner child," or one's aggrieved identity group. More often, it is a combination
of these responses: guilt for all the world's victims, especially oneself,
mixed together with addiction to material consumption, the acting out of grand
dramas, all made possible by a lack of discernment and self-discipline.[1]

Out in the
Infosphere, these are the same polarities held for us by the medium of
television: the caring openness of the lover and the false self of the
actor/actress archetypes; the utopian hope for community and the ever-present
shadow of dysfunctional family wounding.[2] TV is both a tool of addictive consumption,
and the harbinger of the enlightened global village. It reflects both a new
compassionate consciousness — a projection of the world's desire for
reconciliation and understanding — as well as all of its materialism,
over-stimulation, arrogance, greed and self-pity.

TV addiction
starts by transferring our needs for loving connection into over-consumption,
and pleasure in the humiliation of others — sometimes the self-important and
self-deluded, but often the hapless, helpless and weak. Seen through this
filter, it is no surprise that critics have called TV a "plug-in
drug" that "colonizes" our minds with lies and seduction. However, let us
not forget that television is also the medium through which a generation
discovered – and continues to discover — the humanity of all "the others" who
share Spaceship Earth.

Marshall McLuhan believed that the
fuzzy pictures of early television drew viewers into their electronic reality
not so much by stimulating sight, but above all, the emotionally powerful sense
of touch. The viewer, he wrote, is constantly "filling in the spaces" in
the flickering mosaic mesh, interacting with the picture tube in a creative
dialog with the medium's vague and blurry images.[3]
This "tactile" participation in completing the television image cuts two
ways: we know on some level that the people we "see" on-screen are in fact our
own mind-projections. But we also sense that we are engaging with an artificial
world. Television, like many of our contemporary relationships, seems forever
to be drawing us in to a half-full glass, yet leaving us thirsty for real
connection.

Television's use
of the close-up — originally necessitated by its small, low-resolution image — stimulates the fourth center's always-primed emotional energy receptors,
creating instant empathy with its on-screen characters. TV's critics argue that
the small screen is no substitute for the "big-picture" of real life.
But let's not forget that the close-up is by its nature subversive of
establishment power and pretense. It reveals the human face behind the false
front of the politician, and "de-deifies" world leaders.

Television favors
not objective facts or reason, but in-close, emotional involvement. Television
is best when it touches the emotional body, relying on the more feminine forms
of expression, such as narratives and self-disclosure.[4]
Leonard Shlain, in the Alphabet Versus the Goddess, tells us that it was
primarily the flickering electronic hearth of television that derailed
centuries of masculine linear text, bringing the return of the more feminine
mode of image pattern-recognition, and with it, massive changes in social
consciousness.[5]
Television has always challenged the establishment by directly appealing to its
audience's fourth chakra intelligence, and its self-reflective awareness that
there is "more between the lines."

While radio's
earliest critics and promoters saw it as an extension of centralized knowledge,
artistry and political power, television was almost immediately recognized as a
visitor that would bring the outside world in all of its diversity into the
viewer's home. And indeed, it was television's right brain orientation that
first brought us face-to-face (and heart-to-heart) with the world's and our own
community's "foreigners." Despite a predominance of cowboys and Indians,
violent crime shows and cartoons, TV also introduced the boomer generation to
outsiders of differing classes, gender, color, language, tribes and nations.[6]
The movements that nurtured the first generation of the new culture — the Civil
Rights, feminist, peace and the environmental and holistic health movements of
the 1960's — had their roots in television's way of seeing the world.[7]

Telling
compassionate stories is what drives the best television programming. Previously disenfranchised people — the poor
and homeless, even endangered species like whales and dolphins — have all found
a place in TV's all-embracing portrait of the global family. Throughout the
1970's and 1980's, Sesame Street
and the early versions of Star Trek embodied television's
heart-softening magic, connecting us with other families, neighborhoods,
cultures and even distant galaxies. Captains James Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard
taught us overcome intolerance and injustice without violence; Mister Rogers
was there to guide families into the dark corners of their childhood closets,
and a generation raised on Lassie and Flipper, began to insist on
"dolphin-safe" tuna.

This medium not
only brings the ugliness of war "home;" it tends to humanize the "enemy." In
the 70's, television coverage of the Vietnam War helped turn the tide of public
opinion against this otherwise remote conflict. This subversion of military
victories by TV's coverage of its consequences on "regular citizens" continues
today. The horrific images of American soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu
Ghraid
Prison shown on television in the summer of 2004 did more to turn
the world against the Iraq
war than dozens of street protests.

In the Balkans, television
is now reuniting people separated by the (radio-driven) ethnic wars of the
1990's. Nashe Maalo, a children's program in Macedonia,
is bringing together Albanians, Turks, Roma, and Serbs. Encouraged by UNICEF,
Children's Television Workshop created Rruga Sesam (Albanian language) and Ulica Sezam (Serbian
language) in 2004. The programs, in addition to teaching literacy and numbers,
include locally produced live actions segments developed in collaboration with
both ethnic Albanian and Serbian content advisors that emphasize respect and
understanding.[8]

Television's
emotional hook however, has its downside. It can ignite compassion, but also
seduce and beguile. "At its very best," Christian essayist, David Dark tells
us, "television can function as a kind of Trojan Horse that ambushes our
minds with the lives of individuals and cultures to whom we might not otherwise
be inclined to connect ourselves." It encourages us, he says, to cultivate
the quality of empathy. Yet, at the same time, it taps our most base emotions,
"driving us to base our identity on what we able to purchase, hijacking our
hopes with the emptiest of slogans and scenarios, and wasting our sympathies on
tales that are devastatingly shallow and sentimental."[9]

Why is this? I
believe that television is reflecting the heart's challenge of responding to a
world of limitation: of the frightened ego and its ever-present personal and
global "pain body."[10]
Yes, it offers us real emotional connection with the fellow inhabitants of our
small planet, showcasing liberal values of tolerance and self-esteem; but it
also enables us to avoid experiencing all of the consequences of our actions
(and inaction) — the suffering we
ourselves cause other humans, other species, and our environment. Clear television
viewing demands that we look deeply into all of the pain we hold in our own
energy field and in all of mass consciousness. It asks the heart to break open
in compassion. But for most of us, this is too much to ask. Without a strong
grounding in the lower chakras and without the connections to the divine self
held by the higher centers, the ego-mind turns away from all the painful data
TV brings from the outside world, and quite naturally searches for some kind of
"jamming signal."

Reeling from the overpowering
experience of true grief, psychologists tell us that many people respond by
either hardening their hearts, retreating to other levels of consciousness, or
translating the uncomfortable message to something less scary. Television
reflects all three of these defense strategies: cynicism, avoidance, and
self-numbing addiction. Television's shadow side destroys our peace and
tranquility because we demand it! We empower this industry to use all of its
artistic power to cover the possibility of confronting global grief with
attention grabbing, but essentially empty, mini-dramas. We self-medicate, but
of course, the cure is worse than the disease.

At its worst,
contemporary TV programming perpetuates a kind of addictive emotionalism; the
medium's potential for opening the heart has been subverted by its
glorification of desire. Soap operas and reality shows offer psychological
gratification at bargain closeout prices. Politics becomes spectacle; news
becomes fashion reporting, and "media relations" passes for leadership. Instead
of promoting real compassion, which requires a truly vulnerable heart center,
and can only come when one has faced one's own pain, television offers a chance
to feel only pity or distain for the parade of losers brought to our screens,
leaving us in spiritual depression.

Television's
shadow reflects addictive personal consciousness played out in public space: a
nightmare place where the self is defined wholly by want, wish and the capacity
to consume; where avarice, gluttony and lust are disguised as infomercials and
the pretend intimacy of the tell-it-all talk show. For many, stuffing ourselves
with junk media and junk food has become an obsession that no diet can cure.
Commercial television's world is a place where nothing interferes with desire:
a perfect consumer society, a dream world where, in A.P. reporter Erin
Texeira's words, "black and white kids play softball together, where biracial
families email photos online and where Asians and blacks dance in the same
nightclub," (all) united by a shared love for consumer products.[11]

The recent
proliferation of new cable and satellite channels has multiplied the number of
programs both inspiring and disappointing. On the plus side, Oprah
continues to promote feminine values of service and sharing. The Discovery
Channel airs numerous documentaries on the health of the planet; even the
conservative Fox network agreed to carry Morgan Spurlock's "Thirty Days," a
"reality" series featuring such empathetic situations as a homophobic military
man living with a gay roommate in San Francisco, and a southern Christian
staying with a Muslim family — for thirty days.[12]
But for the most part, it's more of the same self-absorption and "junk food for
the wounded heart." Women's channels promise to fill the inner void with
fantasies. Food channels offer extreme close-ups of sensuous vegetables — "food
porn" — for a society that has forgotten its connection to the soil. Men get
twenty-four-hour soft-core sex, "extreme sports" and sensationalism disguised
as news, while the young get heartless cartoon programs delivering post-modern
"slacker" cynicism and juvenile dirty jokes.[13]

 

Living in Full Fourth-level
Teleconsciousness

How can we cope
with such a diet? I suggest that we embrace small doses of television as our
opportunity to see the other as self. The embarrassing excesses of
"reality" television, the advertisements promising us security
through consumption, and the parade of shallow, escapist comedies, can become
the lenses through which we see humanity struggle with its denied and repressed
responsibility for suffering in the world. We can use the medium spiritually,
to better perceive reality, as it is, warts and all. We can hold the broken
heart of humanity in compassion, but not become stuck in our own well-worn
melodramas. The flickering, incomplete mosaic can be the portal to loving
mindfulness
, a state where, in the words of Buddhist eco-philosopher
Richard Grossinger, "instead of wanting to cache and horde, we want to share.
Instead of trying to liberate only ourselves, we mean to set everyone and
everything free."[14]

Perceiving that we
are indeed "all one family" is the challenge of the new Millennium.
The global proliferation of cable and satellite TV has projected this challenge
onto tens of millions of glowing screens. By revealing that which we have
pushed out of our field of vision, television can become the doorway to social
and spiritual transformation. Instead of a "hundred-channel universe," might
this technology enable each of us to become a channel of a hundred universes,
appreciating the beauty and the imperfections in all of Creation? Letting each
retrace line remind us that we can begin again, that we can forgive those that
hurt us, that we can forgive ourselves?

So let us tread
gently into fourth-level digital dharma, imagining that we are walking behind
all those enlightened souls that preceded us, and all those that will follow.
Start your journey with an examination of what you fondly consider to be your
"heart-centered" relationships. The question is: are they wrapped in
codependence and attachment? Are you living the archetype of the radiant Lover,
or avoiding vulnerability by treating love as a mental exercise? Are you
grounded in spirit or full of emotions and self-pity? Or do you "love" so much
that you're incapacitated by the world's pain? The following visualizations and
meditation exercise are invitations to step into the compassionate vibration of
fourth-level digital dharma.

Watch commercials as tales of longing. Ask
yourself, "What unfulfilled need is this message appealing to?" Allow in to
your very being the true experience of the broken heart of humanity. From your
heart center, emanate love to all victims of commercial exploitation, and to
all beings in general.

Use TV to discover your heart's hidden
desires, lost memories
. When you feel a deep emotional response, turn down
the volume and stay with the feeling in your body. Let it become stronger.
Where is it located? What is its color or sound? Ask your heart center to
embrace the feeling completely. Stay with the experience for a few minutes. Ask
your higher self to take you to the time you first felt this way. Watch the
story as it plays out on your inner TV monitor. If it is painful, send
forgiveness to all involved. If it is a happy moment, thank all present for
giving you this gift.

Clear the Infosphere. Visualize yourself
joining together with others to form a field of Universal Love around all TV
satellites. Envision Spaceship Earth being displayed on everyone's TV set all
around the world. Radiate love, compassion and forgiveness to the hearts of all
watching.

 

Excerpted from Digital Dharma: A Users Guide to Expanding
Consciousness in the Infosphere,
©2007 Quest Books.


[1]
Anodea Judith, Eastern Body Western Mind:
Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to Self,
Berkeley: Celestial
Arts (1996), p.278-79; See also Donna Seaman's
Booklist review of Ken Wilber's Boomeritis. Boston:
Shambahla (2002), at http://archive.ala.org/booklist/v98/je1/31wilber.html.

[2] On
the chakra archetypes, see Ambika Wauters, Chakras and their Archetypes:
Uniting Energy Awareness and Spiritual Growth,
Freedom, CA: The Crossing
Press (1997), p.91.

[3]
"The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan", Playboy Magazine, March
1969.

[4]
Steven D. Stark, Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events that
Made Us Who We Are Today.
New York:
Free Press (1997), p.31.

[5]
Leonard Shlain, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word
and Image.
New York:
Viking-Penguin (1998), p.408-409.

[6]
Duane Elgin, Awakening Earth: Exploring The Evolution of Human
Culture & Consciousness.
New York: William Morrow (1993),
p.140.

[7] Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, The Cultural
Creatives.
New York: Harmony
Books (2000).

[8]
Arie Farnam, "TV Show Helps Macedonia
Heal," The Christian Science Monitor
Online,
October 9, 2003.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1009/p06s01-woeu.html. On Sesame Street,
see http://www.participate.net/sesamestreet/kosovo; this program was featured on Independent
Lens
on many public television stations in October 2006, http://www.itvs.org/pressroom/pressRelease.htm?pressId=329.
Another version of Sesame Street created in South Africa features a puppet character with HIV/AIDS.

[9]
David Dark, Everyday Apocalypse. Grand Rapids:
Brazos Press (2002), p.43.

[10] On "the
pain body," see Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now. Novato
CA: New World Library (1999), and A New
Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose.
New York:
Dutton/Penguin (2005).

[11]
Bill McKibben, The Age of Missing Information. New
York: Random House (1992), p.183. Erin Texeira,
"Racial Unrealties," Associated Press report, published in The Capital Times (Madison WI), February 17 2005. E1. Detroit News carried same
story online at www.detnews.com/2005/nation/0502/17/A09-91078.htm.

[12]
On "Thirty Days," see http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/30days/main.html.

[13]
Bill Buford, "TV Dinners: The rise of food television," New Yorker, October 2, 2006. 42. In mid-2006, New
York Times
columnist Maureen Dowd observed, "As the administration has gotten more hypermasculine and martial (when
will Dick Cheney order us to change all our clocks to military time?), prime
time is getting more feminine and seductive." "From McBeal to McDreamy,"
May 17, 2006.

[14]
Richard Grossinger, On the Integration of Nature: Post 9/11 Biopolitical
Notes,
Berkeley: North Atlantic Books (2005), p.209.

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How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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