Mystical, Spiritual & Psychedelic Experiences

Imagination is all there is

It is your categories that keep you from love
The knot of your categories needs to be undone!

We have to set off from home, 
And leave the port into the mists

Lose yourself in this:
There is something to be taken out
Of this phantasmagoria we call existence

Imagination is all there is…

In today's discussion we covered:

• Ego expansion vs Ego contraction - do we really ever lose the ego? 
• Bad trips vs Good trips: a case of perspective?
• It is your categories that keep you from love
• The continuous spectrum of categories of imagination
• How to use imagination to enter the spiritual world
• Autonomous dream agents
• The dark all-knowing space vs the peace of “I am”
• Capitalism as a distraction from enlightenment
• The vertigo of eternity: delightful or terrifying? 
• Are mystical experiences more common than we think? 
• The dangers and wonders of psychedelics 
• Right now you are on drugs

Two papers relevant from today are:

Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01209-2

Exploring 5-MeO-DMT as a pharmacological model for deconstructed consciousness
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12010161/#R25

The results of the recent publication on 5-MeO EEG brain dynamics are consistent with AI. Next the same research team will be examining advanced meditators on 5-MeO. Basically the brain scans are managing to map a high level of reassociation.

Also below is the video from Tuesday, where members shared their introductions and ideas related to idealism. So many thanks to everyone that participated, it was so great to see your creativity and wide variety of perspectives!

We have truly set the stage for next week, when we are joined by Rupert Spira, a well-known and much loved teacher of the direct path to enlightenment.

I look forward to seeing you this coming Tuesday!

With appreciation,

Amir

Members’ sharing — 6 May 2025

0:00:00 Members share their ways into idealism
0:01:20 Colette: from self-improvement to self-realisation
0:05:43 A framework that is rational without being overly technical
0:12:02 When emotional upheaval becomes an invitation to look inward
0:15:36 Giving feedback that helps the speaker
0:18:12 Kiri: explaining idealism to someone new to it
0:29:43 Why your audience changes your explanation
0:31:27 Exploring the Trinity through a visual model
0:44:03 Imagination as a bridge between traditions
0:48:10 Ron: how anomalous voices challenged his worldview
1:00:23 Can idealism open a different conversation about evidence?
1:01:40 Sebastian introduces an experimental film
1:09:17 Time and strength: a creative exploration
1:14:27 Turning philosophical ideas into AI-generated imagery

Speakers

Bernardo Kastrup

Analytic idealism

Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence).

As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV.

Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in Scientific American, the magazine of The Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. His most defining book is Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.

Explore Bernardo’s work →