I just finished the book
For me, a person who has read about and actively done meditation, lucid dreaming and Out-of-Body experiences (which is essentially Lucid Dreaming but consciously entering the dream scape) this book was
extremely thought provoking.
Why? It looks as though DMT is the active chemical that causes lots of the phenomena with each of those activities. Those are the main aspects that impacted me the most since I've experienced them myself. It was truly a "puzzle piece fitting in place" moment. It just sounds right.
I'm just going to go through each aspect I pulled from the book and type out in my own words how DMT
may be tied to them.
Meditation: The euphoric feeling, expanding surroundings can be attributed to DMT. It sounds like (when compared to the case studies in the book) minor DMT trips. So negligible that one isn't able to fully go psychedelic (as in see actual hallucinations and lose all sense of place and time) but one gets the euphoric and basic spacial changes.
Also the true blue mystical experiences from Meditation could be attributed also. The case studies in the book had feelings of "Being one with God" and having those sort of experiences. Also epiphanies and "light bulb moments".
Lucid Dreaming, OBE, pretty much dreaming in general: Its all a trip. You seem to be essentially tripping of your own entheogenic supply of DMT (meaning the supply
your body created). The theory is, your body creates DMT thats secreted from the Pineal gland within the brain. From what I understood, its a mixture of Melatonin (also coming from the Pineal gland) and DMT. The Pineal gland is somehow synthesizing DMT! Whats the purpose of this? Not sure. Very much a mystery.
What I also pulled from the book is that Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) look to be a DMT trip. The difference is, your using your own knowledge of your familiar surroundings to construct this image of it (within your head, during the trip). Your not
truly out of your body. I can say this because, the "room" your in is easily manipulated. Things change around you, mainly the placement of specific things. Books, cups, writing on paper. Nothing is truly solid but the general walls and furniture.
Also, once you move away from the room, out into the street and beyond, the scenario starts to break down. This seems to be due to your lack of familiarity with things beyond your room. So essentially, your brain is using its knowledge of the layout of the room and constructs it! But its still just a dream (and dreams are possibly DMT trips!)
Alien abductions: Strassman links unexpected, high dosage entheogenic DMT to people who experience phenomena. The case studies have shown that lots of the volunteered patients had trips that involved being operated on in various forms. Some even tripped and saw the basic "Alien" archetype.
He theorizes that these "abductees" went through some traumatic experience where a large amount of entheogenic DMT was released. The "abductees" don't know any better and think they've actually been abducted (which isn't the "abductees" fault since DMT trips are so real that even the patients knowing they're tripping off DMT believe what happened to them was real).
Schizophrenia: I already explained that DMT is a chemical thats naturally created within us. I also explained in the former post that people afflicted with Schizophrenia possibly have a safe guard function that isn't working that allows more DMT to be released than should be. Causing the symptoms a Schizophrenic will usually have.
---The case studies are very interesting. You get to read excerpts (the interesting parts) of their (patients) experiences. Some sounded like random dreams, others like dreams with meaning (dreams with a theme that pertains to the persons subconscious issues) and some had actual Mystical experiences (Feeling, Meeting, Being God).
Some were positive, others were negative. Some felt like they were dying. One dude thought he was being anally raped by two aligators...heres an excerpts from the Chapter "Pain and Fear" (recounting and grouping the patients who had negative DMT tripts)...
He settled down at about the 5-minute point, but grimaced and shook his head. Within a couple of more minutes he took off his eyeshades and started straight ahead. His pupils remained large, so Laura and I sat quietly, waiting for him to come down further. At 14 minutes, looking shaken but keeping some composure, he started,
There were two crocodiles. On my chest, Crushing me, raping me anally. I didn't know if I would survive. At first I thought I was dreaming, having a nightmare. Then I realized it was really happening.
I was glad he didn't have a have the rectal probe in place, this being a screening day.
Good stuff
---Strassman also goes into theories on what DMT actually is. Like it being a device to actual tune one in and out of Parallel Universes. Its way out there. I don't think that to be the case but its interesting nonetheless. His reason for believing this is due to some trips taking patients to fantastical worlds where they meet sentient beings. I personally think these trips are just very powerful dreams, I submit that to you Strassman!.
He also speaks on how he got the DMT project approve (from the FDA, DEA and Psychiatric Organization he worked for which was for funding). Also touches on if DMT is actually beneficial. It seems like the test subjects didn't pull any longstanding experiences (where they would dramatically change their lives due to the experiences). The approval aspect may bore people to death but I found it interesting. It was the culmination that built into the actual testings that was enjoyable to me.
Finally, he ends the book with why the DMT project eventually fell apart (pressure from the Buddhist monastery he was formerly from, issues with management within the DMT project and losing focus of what he was trying to do with DMT in the first place). It truly does suck since the project was extremely interesting.
All in all, great book. Some of his ideas about what the Pineal gland is and the purpose for DMT I disagreed with but it opened my eyes to many things. If your remotely interested in psychedelic drugs, consciousness and/or psychology you should check out this book.
