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The Benefits of Psilocybin Mushrooms: A New Frontier in Mental Health and Personal Growth

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Self-Help and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , .

Psilocybin mushrooms, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” have been used for centuries in spiritual and healing rituals by indigenous cultures around the world. Today, modern science is catching up with ancient wisdom, exploring the therapeutic and psychological benefits of psilocybin, the primary psychoactive compound found in these fungi. With research accelerating and legal frameworks beginning to shift, psilocybin mushrooms are becoming a focal point in conversations around mental health, addiction treatment, and personal development.

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1. Mental Health Breakthroughs

One of the most promising areas of psilocybin research lies in its ability to treat mental health conditions that are often resistant to traditional therapies.

• Depression: Clinical trials conducted by institutions like Johns Hopkins University and Imperial College London have shown that psilocybin-assisted therapy can produce rapid and sustained reductions in depressive symptoms, often after just one or two sessions.

• Anxiety: Particularly in individuals facing life-threatening diagnoses such as cancer, psilocybin has helped reduce existential anxiety and increase acceptance and emotional resilience.

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): While more research is needed, early findings suggest that psilocybin can help patients process traumatic experiences more constructively by temporarily disrupting ingrained thought patterns and allowing new perspectives to emerge.

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2. Addiction Treatment

Psilocybin has shown significant potential in treating various forms of addiction, including alcohol dependence and smoking.

• In clinical settings, patients report a newfound sense of clarity and motivation following psilocybin experiences, often citing a sense of being “reset” or realigned with their core values.

• A study from Johns Hopkins University found that 80% of participants in a smoking cessation trial were still abstinent six months after treatment with psilocybin-assisted therapy—a far higher success rate than traditional methods.

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3. Cognitive and Emotional Flexibility

Psilocybin alters activity in the brain’s default mode network (DMN), which is linked to self-referential thinking and rumination. Reducing activity in this area can help users break out of repetitive, negative thought patterns.

• Users often describe experiences of ego dissolution, where the boundaries between self and world temporarily dissolve, leading to increased feelings of connection and empathy.

• These insights can result in improved emotional regulation, greater creativity, and a shift in life priorities—benefits that extend well beyond the duration of the psychedelic experience itself.

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4. Spiritual and Existential Insights

Many people who take psilocybin report deeply meaningful spiritual experiences, even when the context is clinical rather than religious.

• These experiences often lead to lasting changes in values, attitudes, and behaviors, including greater appreciation for life, improved relationships, and increased openness.

• A landmark study published in Psychopharmacology found that over 60% of participants rated their psilocybin session as one of the five most meaningful experiences of their lives.

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5. Low Risk of Harm and Dependency

Unlike many pharmaceutical drugs or substances of abuse, psilocybin has a very low potential for addiction and physical harm.

• It is not considered physically addictive, and the body quickly builds tolerance, making frequent recreational use unlikely.

• When used responsibly in a supportive setting, the risks of adverse psychological effects can be significantly mitigated.

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Looking Ahead: Cautious Optimism

Despite their benefits, psilocybin mushrooms are not a panacea. They are powerful psychoactive substances that can cause distressing experiences, particularly in unsupervised or unprepared contexts. However, with growing support for medicalization, decriminalization, and regulated therapeutic use, the future of psilocybin as a tool for healing and transformation is bright.

As more clinical trials are conducted and public perceptions shift, psilocybin may well become a central part of how we address some of the most persistent challenges in mental health and human well-being.

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https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-Trip-Journal-Psil-Silva/dp/B08FP7SQMS

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Psilocybin remains illegal in many jurisdictions and should only be used where legal and under appropriate guidance.

19 Terence McKenna Quotes To Ignite Your Journey of Self Discovery

Posted on by in Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

1 “We have been to the moon, we have charted the depths of the ocean and the heart of the atom, but we have a fear of looking inward to ourselves because we sense that is where all the contradictions flow together.”

2 “We are told No, you’re unimportant, you’re peripheral – get a degree, get a job, get a this, get that, and then you’re a player. You don’t even want to play 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.”

3 “The major adventure is to claim your authentic, true being, which is not culturally given to you. The culture will not explain to you how to be a real human being. It will tell you how to be banker, politician, Indian chief, masseuses, actress, whatever, but it will not give you true being.”

4 “Claim your place in the sun and go forward into the light. The tools are there; the path is known; you simply have to turn your back on a culture that has gone sterile and dead, and get with the programme of a living world and a re-empowerment of the imagination.”

5 “Life lived in the absence of the psychedelic experience upon which primordial shamanism is based is life trivialized, life denied, life enslaved to the ego.”

6 “There is no liberation to compare with freeing oneself from the illusions and delusions of the age in which one lives.”

7 “You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.”

8 “The world which we perceive is a tiny fraction of the world which we can perceive, which is a tiny fraction of the perceivable world.”

9 “One thing that these Buddhists have certainly gotten right is that attention to attention is the key to taking control of your mental life.”

10 “Not to know one’s true identity is to be a mad, disensouled thing — a golem. And, indeed, this image, sick-eningly Orwellian, applies to the mass of human beings now living in the high-tech industrial democracies. Their authenticity lies in their ability to obey and follow mass style changes that are conveyed through the media. Immersed in junk food, trash media, and cryp-tofascist politics, they are condemned to toxic lives of low awareness. Sedated by the prescripted daily television fix, they are a living dead, lost to all but the act of consuming.”

11 “The surface of things is not where attention should rest.”

12 “I see the psychedelic experience as a birthright, and we can’t have a free society until people are free to explore their own mind.”

13 “Nobody is smarter than you are. And what if they are? What good is their understanding doing you?”

14 “If the words ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on.”

15 “How do we fight back? By creating art.

16 “Science is the exploration of the experience of nature without psychedelics. And I propose, therefore, to expand that enterprise and say that we need a science beyond science. We need a science which plays with a full deck.”

17 “Capitalism is not a human being. Capitalism is a Moloch, a god, a god of bloody sacrifice that sees human beings as ants.”

18 “Think about our dilemma on this planet. If the expansion of consciousness does not loom large in the human future, what kind of future is it going to be?”

19 “For me, what all these years of psychedelic taking came to was a new model of how reality works, a new model of what the world is.”

The Death (& Hopefully Rebirth) of Enthusiasm

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , .

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.”

— Thoreau 

We live in strange societies…societies ruled by mostly miserable & angry & hateful & jealous “adults” … those people also usually don’t like enthusiasm & often beat the life out of as many people as they can… 

the walking dead … & they can be contagious, so how do we counter the lifeless miserable rulers on this planet? 

For one – to stop listening to them. They often violently try killing people’s spirit & scaring people to control them… ignore the lifeless losers in the government & in all the places these dead beings reside… 

ignore them completely & go your own way … 

What do you enjoy?  What makes you happy? What makes you feel alive?  

Do more of that, & ignore any hate & attacks from the mindless lifeless losers on this planet who’s only laughter comes at the pain of another person… 

Some societies we are all living in these days… 

Opinions and Reality

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .

“In Zen they say: ‘Don’t seek the truth. Just cease to cherish opinions.’ What does that mean? Let go of identification with your mind. Who you are beyond the mind then emerges by itself.”

— Eckhart Tolle

This idea is one that I am still practicing, and it is of a zen-type origin.

The reality that we all are much more & less than the opinions we create & speak about ourselves & others.

The idea that our real self is an experience beyond words.

This is an idea & a reality that is difficult to comprehend & even more difficult to experience, yet it is liberating to practice.

It’a at least a meditation, and at most a way of life.

What opinions are you holding within yourself that weigh you down? Opinions that anger you? Opinions that limit your experience?

Here’s a meditation guide to get you started.

Who Do You Listen To?

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Motivation, Philosophy, Success and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

“If you go to Paris you know more about reality than people who don’t. If you smoke DMT you know more about reality than people who don’t.”

— Terence McKenna

Would you listen to someone talk to you about Paris if they have never been there?

Same thing with psychedelics… so many people love having an opinion about psychedelics, but almost no one has actually gone on any deep & true psychedelic trips.

Why listen to people who have never lived? Have never experienced?

Choose who you listen to.

Truly this world is filled with liars & cheaters & schemers who live through an egoic awareness – ego breeds ego. So many people love having an opinion about things they know nothing at all about.

Learn to discern what you hear and who you listen to.

This world doesn’t need any more liars & criminals & thieves in high places.

This world needs some truth, some love…something real.

Learn who to ignore, and who you should actually listen to.

The Fragile Ego

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .

“The ego is always on guard against any kind of perceived diminishment. Automatic ego-repair mechanisms come into effect to restore the mental form of “me.” When someone blames or criticizes me, that to the ego is a diminishment of self, and it will immediately attempt to repair its diminished sense of self through self-justification, defense, or blaming.”

— Tolle

The ego can be fragile – easily offended, easily angered, feeling threatened easily, quick to blame others…

Is there anything beyond the human ego?

Obviously, yes, but most of us grow up in environments that enforce & reinforce individual egos – in both inferior & superior ways; artificial identities.

We learn to identify with our race & country – & to feel threatened by other races & countries… We are taught to identify with where we were born & to imagine that our country & race is superior to other countries.

Is anyone’s country or race superior to another? No, but people are not taught this. People learn egoic identities from an early age & egos are reinforced time & time again until people genuinely start believing in lies: that their race & country are superior to other races & countries .. politicians especially reinforce theirs & others egos by preaching supremacy, & then pastors in churches reinforce politics by preaching supremacy by supporting racism, sexism, egoic ways of thinking…

the blind flow of the ego has led us all here… will we continue with the fragile & easily threatened egoic ways that cause wars, hatred, violence?

… or will something new emerge?

Something beyond the ego? …

From The Outside In To The Inside Out 

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

In the United States & places of the West, people are often, if not always, living from an outside-in perspective. 

They experience life never within themselves, but always outside of themselves – reacting to environments & people rather than experiencing life. Most have literally become a product of their dead political environments, & not a part of the true living nature that is within us & all around us, at all times. 

I have studied & practiced methods & techniques from both the East & the West, & I enjoy learning about all of them. I do prefer living life from the inside-out though – I prefer living empowered within myself – & not being a reactive machine conformist to nothing – to a dead society. 

I choose life & non-conformity every time. 

This doesn’t make me better than anyone – it just is me making a choice to choose what I believe & how I perceive life – rather than taking someone else’s word for it – rather than being manipulated by the criminal oppressors of this world… 

Here’s Alan Watts with a short relative paragraph to this topic:

“Just try and see something from another point of view for a change. I’m not saying that we should do what the Hindus do, but just look at it in from another point of view. And they would smile at us and say, ‘You really think it’s as real as all that?’

‘Have you never experienced what’s on the inside of this game?’

See the trouble with you Westerners is you never experience first. You never got down to the root of reality. You don’t know that state of consciousness. And so you’re frantically trying to patch everything up, and pin it all together – Screw the universe up so that it’s fixed…

You can never do it. All you’ll be doing is wildly rushing around and creating trouble.”
-Alan Watts

My question to you is, are you experiencing life? 

Or merely existing? 

Do you live as a reaction? 

Or do you live alive & active?

Meditations are a great way to begin going within and trying the inside-out perspective — to at least try it for even a short time and see if it’s for you or not for you. It’s perfect either way! 

Begin your meditations here: 

The Phantom Mind & The Active Present

Posted on by in Book Reviews!, Lifestyle, Motivation, Philosophy, Success and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

“. . Action always happens in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the here and now. But the mind is like a phantom that lives only in the past or future. It’s only power over you is to draw your attention out of the present.”

— Dan Millman

If I were to tell you that there are people & organizations working to manipulate people out of the true present moment, you may or may not believe me.

There are also some who work in love to bring themselves & others into a loving present moment – which is more difficult than living in the past or future, but it’s where everything is truly happening, all the time.

Anyway, Millman talks about the phantom mind & the present moment here. Action happens in the present moment, but even in action many people are living in the past or future & not actually in the present.

The phantom mind is powerful, but the true present moment is more powerful, & usually more beautiful.

Meditation practice is one of the best ways to experience the direct present moment.

Begin here, now 🙂

Being A Mad Philosophical Hatter

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy, Success and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

“It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours.”

— Diogenes

When it comes to reality, there are billions of interpretations of what life is.

Who is to say what the ultimate reality is? Can any human or any species even know or really understand it?

People like to limit reality to their limited views so that they can “understand” reality, &/or “understand” people & other species, but “understanding” a limitless species with a very narrow & limited perception, usually breeds war, violence, hatred – & it usually stems from misunderstanding rooted in ignorance. – rooted in thinking that they know for sure the ultimate reality and they know for sure how humans & other species are & how they “should” behave.

Some tyrants even convince their followers to hurt & kill the “others” because the others are different – or the “others” have an original mind that doesn’t fit into their criminal & oppressive machine systems…

States & religions often punish people for thinking, and they praise conformity.

Emerson said: “For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.” & this is still very true today.

Galileo was put under house arrest for the last 9 years of his life for being smarter than the current government & churches…he spoke the truth about the movement of the planets, which the state & church were ignorant of, and rather than communicating with him & seeing if what he spoke was true, they quickly punished him without any critical thinking.

Societies today too, especially when ruled by tyrants, are often quick to punish any & all forms of non-conformity.

I say don’t conform. Don’t bow down to a system that punishes genius. Don’t bow down to machine systems who only desire to control you, & to never help you. Don’t conform to nothing. Don’t give up your own mind & heart to serve mindless robots. Keep your mind. Don’t be a robot. Be a human.

And when you really are able to experience your human brain & heart deeply, you may get a glimpse into the vast cosmic universe within you, and you will know for sure that your insides are not filled with medal parts like a car is, but that your insides are filled with limitless knowledge & wisdom that should never be dehumanized & treated like a machine.

21 Life-Inspiring Seneca Quotes

Posted on by in Lifestyle, Philosophy, Stoicism and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

1 “There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.”

2 “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”

3 “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”

4 “Associate with people who are likely to improve you.”

5 “If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.”

6 “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”

7 “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”

8 “Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.”

9 “While we wait for life, life passes.”

10 “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”

11 “Life is like a play: it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.”

12 “He who is brave is free.”

13 “Luck is what happens when preparation.”

14 “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.”

15 “It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. … The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully.”

16 “They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.”

17 “People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.”

18 (Above quote, expanded here.) “Were all the geniuses of history to focus on this single theme, they could never fully express their bafflement at the darkness of the human mind. No person would give up even an inch of their estate, and the slightest dispute with a neighbor can mean hell to pay; yet we easily let others encroach on our lives—worse, we often pave the way for those who will take it over. No person hands out their money to passersby, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We’re tight-fisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers.”

19 “As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”

20 “To wish to be well is a part of becoming well.”

21 “Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.”