From: Michael Hamilton (thethemichael@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Oct 21 2005 - 11:57:35 BST
Hi Platt,
Cutting to the chase...
> > > > Platt:
> > > > > Using the word "solidarity" confirms my suspicion that tripping out
> > > > > makes one become "communal."
> >
> > Mike:
> > > > Not exactly. But it does break down your subjective isolation from
> > > > other subjects and the world at large. As a Pirsig fan, surely you
> > > > can't believe that such an experience is necessarily a bad thing?
>
> > Platt:
> > > Boozing was always delightful. I'd get high and love everybody. So it
> > > wasn't a bad thing. Fortunately, I never go hooked on it. But I know
> > > people who did who ended up dead.
> >
> > Mike:
> > I'm sorry to hear that. Alcoholism is a horrible thing, and it really
> > makes me wonder why it is legal, while comparatively safer and more
> > "educational" drugs such as psilocybin mushrooms are classified as a
> > Class A drug here in England (along with heroin and cocaine, for
> > instance). Psychedelic dependency is pretty rare, I think.
>
> Platt:
> I agree. Why aren't booze, cigarettes and drugs all treated the same?
> Either ban them all, or legalize them all I say.
Mike:
Well, we all know how counter-productive Prohibition was...
> > Mike:
> > And there's a huge difference between 'getting high and loving
> > everyone' and dissolving your ego for a while. Booze is still a fairly
> > egotistical thing by comparason (not that it can't be fun!)
>
> Platt:
> I think I dissolve my ego, if that's the goal, by meditation and contemplating
> beauty. But what about this ego thing? Do you think egos are somehow bad
> and ought to be dissolved? Didn't Mother Teresa act from selfish motives?
> If as some have argued here there's no such thing as a self (ego), what's the
> problem?
Mike:
I agree most definitely that meditation and the contemplation of
beauty can both be ways of dissolving the ego, or bridging out of
one's subjective isolation. The same goes for the caring/working
activities descibed in ZMM.
I should clarify that I was using "ego" in the sense of "small self",
as it is called in Buddhism; in other words, the "self" as conceived
through the subject/object dichotomy - separate and alone. "Dissolving
the ego" could be rephrased as the transition from small self to big
self. "Big self" could still be seen as a kind of ego, if you want,
but it's an ego that doesn't feel itself to be eternally separate,
because it is engaged in Quality activity - like painting or
motorcycle repair. If Mother Teresa was being "selfish", it was
definitely in the sense of "big self", because there can be no doubt
that she was engaged in Quality, caring activity. Note that "small
self" and "big self" will have strikingly different notions of what
activities are in the interests of the "self".
So to answer your question, I do belive that "small self" egos are bad
and ought to be dissolved.
> In another post, Platt asks Rebecca:
> As for finding out what exactly DQ is, I wonder if you and others think
> it's necessary to trip out in order to experience DQ?
Mike:
Like I said, there are an infinite number of Quality/caring activities
that can break down the barriers between subject and object, or in
other words convert small self into big self. I would even say that if
one DOESN'T engage in this sort of activity on a fairly regular basis,
one's psychedelic experience is likely to be very unpleasant.
Terrifying, even.
The unique thing about psychedelics is that, as well as breaking down
the subject/object barriers, they allow you to plumb the depths of
human awareness, and explore the possibilities of the big self. Pirsig
talks about the "mechanic's feel" in ZMM, where the mechanic is
conscious of all the properties of the motorcycle, the give-and-take
of its most minute components. The psychedelic user can gain this
"mechanic's feel" for just about anything, including the minds of
others.
Regards,
Mike
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