Well we sure feel separate, but from the perspective of cosmic oneness I experienced on the 5-MeO-DMT, this was revealed to me as an illusion. It is a trick concocted by our ego's this feeling of being an individual, separate and distinct from others and the universe. And of course this perspective really has its advantages, we feel separate as in evolutionary terms as living organisms on this planet, there is great incentive to feel this way, so we can live out our lives and pass on our genes. Still though, in cosmic or universal terms, this ego concoction of separateness and individuality is a very sophisticated and convincing illusion. And I don't think this view contradicts a scientific outlook either...if you think about it, all the universe definitely is one...rewind the clock until the beginning and it was a very tiny speck of incomprehensible energy, and we and everything is a ultimately product of this one energy. The 5-MeO-DMT breakthrough experiences also gave me the purest direct experience of infinity and eternity I've ever had, and this realisation that we're all one, was accompanied by the strong conviction that that one has been given other labels, such as God/Tao/Brahman, and that the force of infinity I was in contact with was tied to the genesis of the universe/multiverse itself. No other experience of my life felt as intrinsically sacred as these experiences. I go into more detail about this in the linked thread, but this was I think the biggest event of my life thus far, and I feel it is very likely I would have experienced an insight like this without having used 5-MeO-DMT. The insight remains fresh in my mind too; as it happens I had a brief reactivation experience shortly before waking this morning.

This dialogue, alone, is valuable. Encourages self critique. As do psychedelics, often.

If we can agree that this "entheogen" catalyzed "mystic" experiencing is likely(much evidence) a deeply rooted, cross cultural, particularly human endeavor, I think some perspective may be gained. Much of myth and religious story telling is psychedelically informed. The messages so conveyed have utility for the literalist(uninitiated) and the esoterist(initiated). With practice and guided study, the initiate is introduced to the more subtle epistemology of gnosis, as opposed to the strictly reductionist, primacy of matter, scientific "system of knowing", knowledge. These are complementary, and equally valuable approaches to gaining insight into the human experience of reality.

In essence, our capacity to glean understanding of the life experience exists along a spectrum betwixt the poles of, emergence(matter primacy) AND non-locality(consciousness primacy). When combined and seen as coequal in "value", a new paradigm(epistemology) arises that allows one to benefit from both genuinely insightful perspectives.

Peace

When I was younger I thought I saw myself as "God" when in psychedelics. Being the center of the universe and all I experience. A new realisation

As I grew older I experienced a sense of "oneness". That we are all the same, connected and whole. Another new realisation.

Now I just see transmutation. An ever changing all connected passage of energy flowing through all entities and dimensions. My latest major realisation.

I'm a little tired to elaborate on the concepts right now, though I'm sure many of you know exactly what I mean. Without psychedelics I don't think I would have grasped these things as deeply as I have.

Whether or not these things actually help, well I'm not sure about that. But I know they do help me internally with my processing of what is happening around me, my current "illusion".

I agree! But does it matter then where the experience lies? That is a mental construct as well. Why should the raw experience of being lie any more in the human than in a trillion symbiotic eukaryotes, than in a system of biochemicals? Are you having the individual experience of human or a collective experience of something else? Is there any real difference except in our mind? And why assume that your collective experience only comes from within and extends to the boundaries of your skin. Perhaps the raw experience of being is in the plurality of our essence and we've chosen to collapse it to a single description of being human. To me that's the difference between a psychedelic and waking state. In the egoless state I am not just human but fundamental essence in all it's expression. To me that is the "raw" experience, void of any decorative flair that might deceive my senses. However, over the years as I've learned and grown I've been less and less able to see the human as a distinct being in the sober state either. More like a node where many highways intersect. I simultaneously envision myself in a macrobiologic, microbiologic, biochemical, and energetic sense as well as branch out the other direction into my sociological and cosmological expression. Individualism vs collectivism is a matter of perceptual orientation and there's no obligation to be in one or the other all the time.