Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:56 am
Since these things are a bit off topic, I will keep this synopsis brief.
1. The Sufis have been considered one of two things: either the mystical dimension of Islam, or the very blood of the tree of all religions. But basically, they are an esoteric, dispersed group of individuals who have a special knowledge and lore about the development of the human being and it's consciousness. There are many different groups or brotherhoods of these folks out there, even still today (Mevlevi, Shazzaliya, Jerrahi, Naqushbandi, etc.) Each one has a different focus, uses a different medium for its dervishes to practice and develop. They come in all walks of life; some are lawyers, doctors, teachers, plumbers, garbage men, florists, carpet makers, grocers, etc.
These special tools are given only to those who are ready to receive them, to those who can put them to a purposeful use. All manner of paranormal or psychic powers (telepathy, telekinesis, shape shifting, etc.) have been attributed to Sufis throughout the ages, yet the acquisition of these abilities only underscores the Sufis quest or development; it is not the end goal. Rather, they are side effects of having reached higher levels of development. Only the Sufi knows what those true goals are, in what context their acquisition is undertaken.
For further interest, read "The Sufis" by Indries Shah, or "In Search of the Miraculous" by PD Ouspensky (Gurdjieff's main pupil, Gurdjieff himself having got his system from a Sufi school in Central Asia).
2. Terrence McKenna was an ethnobotanist who had a life-transforming experience in the Amazon in the early 70s. While experimenting with hallucinogenic plants, namely mushrooms and DMT, he gained an understanding of Time through a vision of the I Ching's Wen Sequence. His model of the Time Wave he sets forth in a book co-written with his brother, Dennis, called "The Invisible Landscape." Since I'm reading this one currently, I can't really say much more than that.
However, he also wrote a book called "Food of the Gods" in which he promotes the idea that all of human history is about the relationships between humans and plants. He further proposes what he calls the 'resacralization of the world', which is a technical way of saying a return to the partnership, matriarchal, goddess worshipping, mushroom eating, ectstatic mode of existence rather than the hierarchical, patriarchal, god worshipping, earth destroying model we now live in. His most bold contention, though, is that the very development of language and consciousness in the human animal is directly due to its relationship with psychotropic plants. The very thinning of the skull that coincided with this development of language is due to the interaction of these elements inside the human organism. That this is why a chemical identical to DMT is produced naturally in the pineal gland.
Ok, enough tangent.
1. The Sufis have been considered one of two things: either the mystical dimension of Islam, or the very blood of the tree of all religions. But basically, they are an esoteric, dispersed group of individuals who have a special knowledge and lore about the development of the human being and it's consciousness. There are many different groups or brotherhoods of these folks out there, even still today (Mevlevi, Shazzaliya, Jerrahi, Naqushbandi, etc.) Each one has a different focus, uses a different medium for its dervishes to practice and develop. They come in all walks of life; some are lawyers, doctors, teachers, plumbers, garbage men, florists, carpet makers, grocers, etc.
These special tools are given only to those who are ready to receive them, to those who can put them to a purposeful use. All manner of paranormal or psychic powers (telepathy, telekinesis, shape shifting, etc.) have been attributed to Sufis throughout the ages, yet the acquisition of these abilities only underscores the Sufis quest or development; it is not the end goal. Rather, they are side effects of having reached higher levels of development. Only the Sufi knows what those true goals are, in what context their acquisition is undertaken.
For further interest, read "The Sufis" by Indries Shah, or "In Search of the Miraculous" by PD Ouspensky (Gurdjieff's main pupil, Gurdjieff himself having got his system from a Sufi school in Central Asia).
2. Terrence McKenna was an ethnobotanist who had a life-transforming experience in the Amazon in the early 70s. While experimenting with hallucinogenic plants, namely mushrooms and DMT, he gained an understanding of Time through a vision of the I Ching's Wen Sequence. His model of the Time Wave he sets forth in a book co-written with his brother, Dennis, called "The Invisible Landscape." Since I'm reading this one currently, I can't really say much more than that.
However, he also wrote a book called "Food of the Gods" in which he promotes the idea that all of human history is about the relationships between humans and plants. He further proposes what he calls the 'resacralization of the world', which is a technical way of saying a return to the partnership, matriarchal, goddess worshipping, mushroom eating, ectstatic mode of existence rather than the hierarchical, patriarchal, god worshipping, earth destroying model we now live in. His most bold contention, though, is that the very development of language and consciousness in the human animal is directly due to its relationship with psychotropic plants. The very thinning of the skull that coincided with this development of language is due to the interaction of these elements inside the human organism. That this is why a chemical identical to DMT is produced naturally in the pineal gland.
Ok, enough tangent.