LSD and the Mind of the Universe Diamonds from Heaven
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This book is dedicated to
Stanislav Grof
and
Christina Hardy
Without Stan this journey would not have been taken;
without Christina this book would not have been
written.
LSD
AND THE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE
“Chris Bache demonstrated tremendous courage to embark on the
73 high dose LSD sessions that form the core of this book. The
insights and lessons he brought back are fascinating and profoundly
relevant as we seek to answer fundamental questions of the meaning
and purpose of our own lives. LSD and the Mind of the Universe:
Diamonds from Heaven is a diamond from Chris!”
RICK DOBLIN, PH.D., FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASSOCIATION
FOR PSYCHEDELIC STUDIES (MAPS)
“Chris Bache is an intrepid psychonaut whose 20-year odyssey has
yielded an extraordinary harvest of luminous insights into the
deeper structure of reality and the underlying dynamics of human
existence. Prepare to be amazed, energized, purged, shattered,
illuminated, and reborn by penetrating to the heart of this stunning
revelation for our times.”
DAVID LORIMER, PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT THE
SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL NETWORK
“This most remarkable book fuses the critical reasoning of
philosophy of religion and the epiphanies of mind that come from
direct gnostic access to some of the deepest structures of the
universe. That these impossible epiphanies were made possible by a
most remarkable scientific discovery, LSD, which is now
criminalized, only adds to the power of Chris’s remarkable
revelation of who and what we really are.”
JEFFREY J. KRIPAL, HOLDS THE J. NEWTON RAYZOR
CHAIR IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS THOUGHT AT
RICE UNIVERSITY
“Every now and then a genuine pioneer arises in our midst. With
modest yet profound intelligence, Chris Bache takes us with him on
his courageous journey into the depth of the universe as a field of
reality that transcends all our beliefs and consciousness. With him
we experience the intense suffering and ecstasy of universal reality.”
BARBARA MARX HUBBARD, AUTHOR OF EMERGENCE
AND CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION
“This book is an extraordinarily rich journey, and Professor Bache’s
cosmic insights represent a rare but profound gift to humanity.
Highly recommended!”
EBEN ALEXANDER, M.D., NEUROSURGEON AND AUTHOR
OF PROOF OF HEAVEN
“We have extensive historical, cross-cultural, and experimental
evidence that psychedelics can have significant therapeutic and
religious benefits. Now we have a new kind of data: the careful
reflections by an eminent philosopher and theologian of his own
intensive and systematic psychedelic explorations into the farther
reaches of human experience.”
ROGER N. WALSH, M.D., PH.D., PROFESSOR OF
PSYCHIATRY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE
“A stunning and uplifting vision of the cosmos and humanity. This
revelatory and transformative text is a genuine treasure; to read it is
to open a portal into the vast and mysterious beauty of life.”
G. WILLIAM BARNARD, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF
RELIGIOUS STUDIES AT SOUTHERN METHODIST
UNIVERSITY
“Chris Bache has traveled into largely uncharted realms to explore
the further reaches of psychedelic experience and brought back
hard-won insights into our world and our moment in history. His
memoir will be a guidebook for generations to come. This is a gem
of a book.”
DUANE ELGIN, AUTHOR OF THE LIVING UNIVERSE
“A fascinating and inspiring work by an intrepid explorer. A rare
glimpse into realms of consciousness and the transformation such
journeys can bring, including a revelatory vision of an enlightened
human future.”
PETER RUSSELL, AUTHOR OF THE GLOBAL BRAIN
“Words can barely begin to describe the power and the importance
of this book. If you open yourself to the paradigm-shattering
wisdom of this remarkable book, you will be changed, and you will
sense great possibilities for humanity. Essential reading for a species
at the crossroads.”
STEPHEN GRAY, EDITOR OF CANNABIS AND SPIRITUALITY
“Chris Bache’s controlled LSD experiences have been meticulously
logged, analyzed, and synthesized in this extraordinary book, which
greatly extends our known entheogenic cartography. A must-read for
all those interested in psychedelics, psychology, and the furthest
reaches of subjective experience.”
DAVID LUKE, PH.D., COEDITOR OF DMT DIALOGUES
Acknowledgments
This was a challenging book to write on many levels, and I want to express
my deepest thanks to a circle of friends who helped me give birth to it. Each
brought a unique sensitivity to the early manuscript, and their many
suggestions greatly improved the narrative. At a deeper level, their love and
support sustained my hope that this story might be useful to others. My
heartfelt thanks to Manuel Aicher, Anne Baring, Jessica and Travis
DiRuzza, Duane and Coleen Elgin, Roger and Brenda Gibson, Bob Lyman
and Kaia Svien, Amey Park, Janis Phelps, Richard Welker, and Tom Zinzer.
I also want to thank Jorge Ferrer, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Tarnas for
their very helpful feedback on the manuscript. A special thanks to Bill
Roepke, with whom I spent many days going through these chapters and
discussing the experiences they contain. I also want to thank the editorial
staff at Inner Traditions for their tremendous support and help making this a
better book.
I owe Stanislav Grof more than I can express. Without the clarity of his
scholarship and the power of his personal example, I would not have
undertaken this journey or had the courage to follow it where it led. I will
be forever in his debt.
Lastly, I want to thank my wife and partner, Christina Hardy, who
believed in me and in this work so deeply. She has been my life companion
on the long trek down the psychedelic mountain. I could not have done this
without her.
Contents
Cover Image
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Ervin Laszlo
INTRODUCTION. 73 Days
CHAPTER ONE. The Path of Temporary Immersion
The Therapeutic Protocol
In a Philosopher’s Hands
LSD Sessions as a Path of Spiritual Awakening
Low-Dose vs. High-Dose Sessions
LSD Sessions as a Journey of Cosmic Exploration
Two Phases of a Session
The Craft of Remembering
Defining the Conversation
The Participatory Dynamics of Disclosure
Platforms of Experience
Calling Down Heaven
The Suffering of Death and Rebirth
CHAPTER TWO. Crossing the Boundary of Birth and Death
The Welcoming
The Perinatal Domain
Ego-Death
Addendum: The Perinatal Level of Consciousness
CHAPTER THREE. A Session Day
CHAPTER FOUR. The Ocean of Suffering
The Ocean of Suffering
The Riddle of the Ocean of Suffering
On the Eve of Stopping
CHAPTER FIVE. Deep Time and the Soul
My Life as a Completed Whole
The Great Oak and the Hillside of Karma
Rooted in Time
Reincarnation and the Soul
Stepping-Stones
Stopping My Sessions
Addendum: Other Instances of Future-Seeing
Six-Year Interval
CHAPTER SIX. Initiation into the Universe
Expanding the Narrative—Who Is the Patient?
Why Did the Suffering End?
CHAPTER SEVEN. The Greater Real of Archetypal Reality
Entering Archetypal Reality
The Living Forces of Archetypal Reality
The Tissue of Our Collective Being
A Note on the “Gods” of the Subtle Level
Session 28
The Cycle of Purification
Reincarnation and Collective Purification
A Note on Learning How to Learn in Psychedelic States
A Flash of “God”
Addendum: Plato, Jung, and Archetypes
CHAPTER EIGHT. A Benediction of Blessings
Reflections
CHAPTER NINE. The Birth of the Future Human
The Visions of Awakening
The Great Awakening
The Nonlinear Dynamics of Awakening
What Form Will the Future Human Take?
Another Voice: Bede Griffiths
CHAPTER TEN. Diamond Luminosity
The Hunger to Return
New Insights into the Psychedelic Process
Vajrayana Buddhist Practice
The Pivot
The Transparency of Embodied Presence
CHAPTER ELEVEN. Final Vision
The Good-Bye Sessions
Why I Stopped My Sessions
CHAPTER TWELVE. Coming off the Mountain
The Deep Sadness
The Sickness of Silence
Entering the Sweet Valley
APPENDIX I. What Dies and Is Reborn?
APPENDIX II. Pushing the Limits of Astrological Correspondence
Reference List
Footnotes
About the Author
About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company
Books of Related Interest
Copyright & Permissions
Index
Alienation from nature and the loss of the experience of being part
of the living creation is the greatest tragedy of our materialistic era.
It is the causative reason for ecological devastation and climate
change. Therefore I attribute absolute highest importance to
consciousness change. I regard psychedelics as catalyzers for this.
They are tools which are guiding our perception toward deeper
areas of our human existence, so that we again become aware of
our spiritual essence.
ALBERT HOFMANN
APRIL 19, 2007
Foreword
Ervin Laszlo
When the author of this remarkable book approached me about writing a
foreword to it, knowing his previous work I accepted with pleasure. Having
now read the manuscript, I do not regret my decision. I feel compelled to
produce a genuine “fore-word”—not a lengthy treatise but a few words.
Nothing more is called for because the information conveyed in these pages
stands by itself. It needs to be apprehended and absorbed, not explained.
However, in view of the controversy surrounding the use of psychedelics to
obtain information about the real world, the intellectual conditions under
which this book has been written do need a word of introduction. This
foreword is dedicated to this task.
This is one of the most insightful and significant books I have ever read.
But to understand its significance and to endorse its message, one must be
willing to entertain three premises:
That there is an intelligence behind the things that exist in the universe,
That there is purpose exhibited by this intelligence, and
That it is humanly possible to access some elements of this intelligence
and learn some aspects of its purpose.
These premises have been debated for millennia, with the debates
usually confined to the domains of theology and spirituality. Today,
however, they can be raised in the context of the new paradigm emerging in
science. If they are raised and debated in this context, the usual objections
to using psychedelics to obtain valid knowledge about the universe lose
their cogency. If we sit with this emerging body of evidence with an open
mind, we recognize, as Bache says, that our mind is a window on the
universe and through this window comes information not only about its
physical objects and processes but also about the agency that lies behind
them and the purpose exhibited by this agency.
Our window on the universe is not a narrow slit that allows only the
penetration of physical information, as mainstream science holds. Under the
right conditions, our window opens to holographically complete
information sourced in the intelligence that pervades the universe. In its
ordinary state, our brain is not equipped to decode all or even most of this
information; it is designed to decode only those aspects and segments that
are necessary or useful for our immediate life. Under certain conditions,
however, the receptivity of the brain can be increased and these aspects and
segments can be expanded. There are many ways of doing this, and it is
immaterial which means are chosen as long as they are effective and do not
damage the brain, the rest of the organism, or the web of life in which the
brain and the organism are embedded. Among the various methods for
expanding our field of awareness, such as holotropic breathing, meditation,
and trance dancing, Bache shows that psychedelics are a particularly
powerful method when used in a safe and therapeutically structured manner.
Of course, we need to distinguish valid and real information from
misleading and illusory information. Under the influence of psychedelics,
we get an expanded stream of information, and most of that stream is still
considered illusory by the modern mind. We need to take steps to ensure
that the information we apprehend through the chemically modified
receptivity of our brain is genuine, even when it goes beyond the modern
mind’s understanding of reality, and this is the task of critical philosophical
reflection.
With his expansion of the therapeutic protocol into the protocol of
psychedelic exploration, Chris Bache has provided us with a guide for
gathering genuine information from deep states of consciousness induced
by psychedelics.
Following his protocol does not guarantee the truth of the three
premises stated above; these are premises, not conclusions. However, there
are independently compelling reasons to assume the validity of these
premises, as I have argued in my recent books, in particular What Is
Reality? (2016) and The Intelligence of the Cosmos (2017).
When we recognize the validity of these premises, our mind becomes
more receptive to the information that reaches us in these expanded states.
As we do, we apprehend deeper and wider layers of reality and come closer
to understanding the purpose of our existence. This is amply illustrated in
Bache’s fascinating and courageous investigation of the deep domains of
consciousness that open under the influence of LSD.
Ervin Laszlo, is a philosopher, systems scientist, and founder of the Club
of Budapest think tank. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has
published more than seventy-five books and over four hundred articles and
research papers. He lives in Tuscany.
