I’ve been thinking recently about this idea of ‘spiritual highs’ becoming a trap – something that can become one’s focus in life, to the detriment of other areas of life. The result of chasing spiritual highs ultimately becomes a barrier to personal growth, or ‘spiritual development’. I came across this Tweet that got me thinking…
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Competitiveness amongst psychonauts exists and can take many forms. James Nolan, in a piece for Vice, reported that competitive psychedelic users are chasing the experience of ‘ego death’ – the dissolution of one’s sense of personal identity – because this is seen as the apex of tripping. Indeed, certain hierarchies of tripping may be constructed,…
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Mudita (sympathetic/empathetic joy) is one of the four brahma-viharas (also known as the sublime attitudes or Four Immeasurables), which are the Buddha’s “heart practices” – those that develop particular emotional states, or virtuous emotions, that help to cultivate happiness in ourselves and others. “Brahma-vihara” literally means “dwelling place of brahmas”, and brahmas are gods who…
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As much as psychedelics hold great promise in alleviating all kinds of psychological distress, they are not a mental health panacea, which they are sometimes touted to be. Based on positive media stories surrounding psychedelic research and anecdotal reports of people being forever cured of chronic, severe mental illnesses, it’s easy to get the impression…
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Asteroid mining is the exploitation of raw materials from asteroids and bringing these resources back to Earth. With an exponentially rising global population, precious resources are quickly becoming depleted. Luckily, asteroids contain many materials that we need and so mining them could set us on the path to a sustainable future. There are, however, some…
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