The Library of Consciousness
The Library
of Consciousness
of Consciousness
If, again, the whole of my labour were harvested, if the whole of my suffering were meaningful and fruitful, if all the betterment achieved by my work were made permanent and handed on, then I might perhaps be able to take comfort. All that was best of me would survive in the lasting evidence of my passage, for in it would be preserved and made eternal all the effective value of my life.
1916
Mythology refers to the collected myths and legends of a group of people or culture, which often include stories of their gods, heroes, supernatural beings, and explanations for how certain aspects of nature or the world came to be. Myths serve an important purpose in ancient cultures as a way to explain the unexplainable, provide role models that embody cultural ideals, and reinforce moral values.
Across ancient cultures worldwide, common mythical archetypes emerge. Hero myths often follow a similar pattern of a hero overcoming great adversity and accomplishing extraordinary deeds. Fertility myths relate to the cycles of nature. Creation myths aim to explain how the world or a certain people or culture came into existence. The gods of polytheistic mythologies often have very human traits and frequently display jealousy, anger and other emotions in addition to supernatural powers over natural phenomena like storms, seas, or the underworld. Myths help bind a culture together through shared stories and values and preserve important cultural ideas by passing them down orally over generations before eventually being recorded in writing. Though today we understand many natural phenomena that ancient peoples attributed to mythological causes, mythology continues to perform an important cultural function and myths remain ubiquitous in religion as well as contemporary popular culture.
A Calendar for the Goddess
(Ecology of Souls)
Beginning with a comparison of reason and logic to intuition, Terence works his way towards exploring the idea of a purposeful goal in the universe which evolution is progressing towards, and humanity's role in this journey. Next, in a nod to the solstice which occurred at the time of the lecture, he plays with the idea of a precessional calendar and argues that it would remind us of the one constant in life, which is flux. Q&A topics include future social myths, morphogenesis, globalization, and psychedelic encounters with the dead.
Beyond Theology
The Art of Godmanship
Alan Watts examines the theme that our normal sense of the person as a lonely island of consciousness is a dramatic illusion based on theological imagery. In a global context, the meaning of this imagery inevitably changes, yet without losing its unique values.
Clarity of Mind
Watts reveals a simple truth to his audience at the University of California: the mind's incessant chatter is the root of all that ails a mortal's soul. By silencing its din one can get to know life's mystery.
Conversations on the Edge of Magic
Terence’s first workshop at Starwood Festival XIV, where he brings a unique perspective to being in the world that assumes an impending transformation of the human world involving everyone. With humor and in depth we will examine human attitudes toward the Other, time and its mysteries, the nature of language, and the techniques of ecstasy that have developed in non-Western societies to navigate to and from invisible worlds. We will discuss making reasonable choices about spiritual development and techniques. Terence explains that what he calls the “Archaic Revival” is the process of reawakening awareness of traditional attitudes toward nature, including plants and our relationship to them. The Archaic Revival spells the eventual breakup of the pattern male dominance and hierarchy bassed on animal organization, something that cannot be changed overnight by a sudden shift in collective awareness. This is a think-along experience for those who have taken a few moments to chill out from the dance of life.
Harmony of the Worlds
Cosmos, Episode 3
Beginning with the separation of the fuzzy thinking and pious fraud of astrology from the careful observations of astronomy, Sagan follows the development of astronomical observation. Beginning with constellations and ceremonial calendars (such as those of the Anasazi), the story moves to the debate between Earth and Sun-centered models: Ptolemy and the geocentric worldview, Copernicus' theory, the data-gathering of Tycho Brahe, and the achievements of Johannes Kepler (Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the first science-fiction novel).
The Backbone of Night
Cosmos, Episode 7
Carl Sagan teaches students in a classroom in his childhood home in Brooklyn, New York, which leads into a history of the different mythologies about stars and the gradual revelation of their true nature. In ancient Greece, some philosophers (Aristarchus of Samos, Thales of Miletus, Anaximander, Theodorus of Samos, Empedocles, Democritus) freely pursue scientific knowledge, while others (Plato, Aristotle, and the Pythagoreans) advocate slavery and epistemic secrecy.
Journeys in Space and Time
Cosmos, Episode 8
Ideas about time and space are explored in the changes that constellations undergo over time, the redshift and blue shift measured in interstellar objects, time dilation in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, the designs of both Leonardo da Vinci and spacecraft that could travel near light speed, time travel and its hypothetical effects on human history, the origins of the Solar System, the history of life, and the immensity of space. In Cosmos Update, the idea of faster-than-light travel by wormholes (researched by Kip Thorne and shown in Sagan’s novel Contact) is discussed.
Destination Unknown
Enlightenment should not be viewed as a final destination or goal, but rather an endless unfolding where one increasingly embodies wholeness. Adyashanti examines how the ego perpetuates suffering through judgments and perceptions of incompleteness, and points to the freedom found in realizing the innate perfection in oneself and the world.
Diamond Way
Watts beckons us to peer past the veil, where remembering and forgetting engage in a cosmic dance. Traverse the paradoxical streams of jiriki and tariki, self-power and other-power, until the very concept of “I” dissolves like a dewtopped lotus. Prepare to be unshackled and uninhibited, for in the quest for nothingness lies the quintessence of everythingness.
Does It Matter?
Essays on Man's Relation to Materiality
Alan Watts explores modern day problems from the outlook of his own philosophy in this collection of essays, inspired mainly by Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. Tackling problems of economics, technology, cooking, and clothing, he offers a fresh perspective which is all too foreign to Western society and implores us to get back in touch with the sensuous materiality of the world.
Time
Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life (Episode 3)
This program looks at the East Indian concept of time and the illusion of living for the future as the tomorrow that never comes. Plans for the future are only useful for those able to live fully in the present.
Buddhism and Christianity
Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life (Episode 18)
Watts brings his expertise to bear in this presentation of Mahayana Buddhist and traditional Christian world views (he was once an Episcopal priest), and how to bring the two together.
God
Essential Lectures, Program 4
To many of us the image of God as a gray-bearded omnipotent and omnipresent supreme being has become implausible, yet the common sense notions of divine authority surrounding that image persist.
Cosmic Drama
Essential Lectures, Program 5
Alan Watts further explores the Hindu dramatic view of the universe, in which God plays all of the parts – all the while pretending not to know who he/she/it is!
Future Mind
Artificial Intelligence: Merging the Mystical and the Technological in the 21st Century
Glenn examines the potential for future integration between man and machine drawing on examples in medicine (the Jarvik heart, Utah arm, Triad hip, etc) and advances in human-like processing via machine in terms of speech recognition and other information technologies. While the author touches on topics ranging from philosophy and religion to science and politics, the unifying theme is what he sees as the inescapable blending of machine-enhanced humans and ‘conscious’ artificial intelligence.
Future of Religion
Alan Watts envisions a radical shift in religious thought, proposing a “religion of no religion” that transcends traditional doctrines and institutions. He argues for a departure from guilt-based teachings and future-oriented salvation towards a joyful, present-focused spirituality. Watts challenges the concept of individual ego, suggesting instead an interconnected view of humanity and divinity. He advocates for experiential rather than belief-based practices, emphasizing direct engagement with life and the recognition of innate buddha nature in all beings. This new approach blends Eastern and Western philosophies, aiming to unite people through celebratory gatherings and shared human experiences.
Games of Simplicity and Complexity
Watts discusses how cultures develop increasingly complex art forms, rituals, manners, and religions, reaching extremes of refinement. Then innovators emerge who return to simplicity, until that too becomes overly refined. The wise person avoids both awe and hostility toward complexity and simplicity, recognizing these cultural developments as elaborate games people play.
God and Golem, Inc.
A Comment on Certain Points Where Cybernetics Impinges on Religion
Norbert Wiener explores the ethical and philosophical implications of artificial intelligence and cybernetics, examining the potential dangers of creating machines that mimic human thought and the consequences of playing God by designing systems that could surpass human control. The book delves into the intersection of technology, religion, and ethics, questioning humanity's role in an increasingly automated world.
Having Archaic and Eating it Too
Feeding back to the psychedelic community of Los Angeles, Terence McKenna delivers colorful and astounding visual transformations. He weaves a galactic tapestry of art-tickled articulations of the history and future of psychedelic alchemy, the government/culture clash, and the surging general ordering of chaos from UFOs to archaic shamanism. This recording will amuse anyone interested in subjects ranging from eco-tourism to techno-junkies.
Hidden Belief Systems
Alan talks about unexamined assumptions that underlie our commonsense beliefs which may cause confusion in our thinking about nature.
Homo Deus
A Brief History of Tomorrow
Yuval Noah Harari envisions a not-too-distant world in which we face a new set of challenges. He examines our future with his trademark blend of science, history, philosophy, and every discipline in between. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century—from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers? This is the next stage of evolution.
How It Is
The Native American Philosophy of V. F. Cordova
Viola Cordova was the first Native American woman to receive a PhD in philosophy. Even as she became an expert on canonical works of traditional Western philosophy, she devoted herself to defining a Native American philosophy. Although she passed away before she could complete her life’s work, some of her colleagues have organized her pioneering contributions into this provocative book. In three parts, Cordova sets out a complete Native American philosophy. First she explains her own understanding of the nature of reality itself—the origins of the world, the relation of matter and spirit, the nature of time, and the roles of culture and language in understanding all of these. She then turns to our role as residents of the Earth, arguing that we become human as we deepen our relation to our people and to our places, and as we understand the responsibilities that grow from those relationships. In the final section, she calls for a new reverence in a world where there is no distinction between the sacred and the mundane. Cordova clearly contrasts Native American beliefs with the traditions of the Enlightenment and Christianized Europeans (what she calls “Euroman” philosophy). By doing so, she leads her readers into a deeper understanding of both traditions and encourages us to question any view that claims a singular truth. From these essays—which are lucid, insightful, frequently funny, and occasionally angry—we receive a powerful new vision of how we can live with respect, reciprocity, and joy.
Image of Man
Watts presents two world myths—existence as artifact versus performance—and shines light on their gifts. A fascinating talk on embracing all roles in life's epic adventure.
Imagination in the Light of Nature
Terence claims that “the boundless creativity of the human mind will be tapped into and come to our aid.” His bold statement is followed by an inspirational pep-talk about how miraculous the appearance of consciuosness in this universe is, and what a valuable potential humans represent in future cosmic evolution.
Jesus, His Religion
Buckle up! Watts is taking us on a wild ride to assert Jesus was just a regular dude who attained cosmic consciousness as other mystics do. He condemns churches for dishing out guilt instead of providing contemplative quiet to realize our collective divinity.
Life Evolving
Molecules, Mind, and Meaning
Christian de Duve, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, takes readers on a journey through the biological world, from the tiniest cells to the future of life. He argues that life was bound to arise and discusses the evolution of humans, consciousness, language, science, emotion, morality, altruism, and love. De Duve concludes by speculating on humanity's future, including the possibility of evolving into a new species, and shares his thoughts on God and immortality. This wise and humane book sums up his learnings about life and our place in the universe.
Man is a Hoax
This talk plucks at the root of discontent in modern life. Watts reveals how society tricks children into chasing an always elusive happiness down the road, never to be found in the here and now. But ah, to truly live this moment! That is the secret. Let Alan dispel the myth of your separation from the joys inherent in our shared existence.
Metamorphosis
Join McKenna, Sheldrake, and Abraham on an imaginative journey into nature's creativity. Surfing the chaotic waters of psychedelic states, they catch glimpses of the Gaian mind behind Earth's being. Here, in imaginal realms beyond rationale, novelty is born. By relinquishing egoic control and surrendering to an unknowable creative force, we tap into the divine imagination—the eternal wellspring of nature's endless becomings. Immersing ourselves in this flow, we reunite with the cosmic creative essence.
Mushrooms, Evolution, and the Millennium
Terence McKenna asks the fundamental question concerning natural hallucinogens: is it an accident of nature that certain plants and mushrooms can alter human awareness in profound ways? He argues that man and hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms have co-evolved. These botanicals provide a way for people to experience their spiritual nature, and throughout history have been used by shamans whose function is to enter altered states in order to perceive the spiritual causes behind ordinary reality. Delivered at the Masonic Temple during a gathering of the Los Angeles Mycological Society.
Mysticism and Morality
What if our feelings were never wrong? Philosopher Alan Watts probes the liberating link between mysticism's reverence for all things and an honest morality that accepts our emotions as natural, not shameful. By embracing our true feelings without pretense, we act with integrity, not violence.
Opening the Doors of Creativity
This far-out lecture held at the Carnegie Art Museum riffs on art, shamanism, psychedelics, and saving the planet. Terence sees artists as modern shamans who can reconnect us to the Gaian mind. He thinks we're an infant species held in nature's arms, but we've got to get our act together fast and let the irrational muse guide us, or we'll trash the place. Heavy stuff, but optimistically visionary.
Play and Sincerity
In this cosmic game of peek-a-boo, Watts unveils the proscenium arch of our minds—that thin veil between play and seriousness. The wise discover the joke: our frantic search for sincerity peels away mask after mask until—surprise!—we find nothing! And in that delicious emptiness, the ultimate paradox unfolds: when we realize we're all play, we become utterly genuine. The angels fly, you see, because they take themselves lightly.
Problems of Meditation
Watts illuminates meditation as a vehicle to transcend the illusion of individuality and realize one’s intrinsic unity with the cosmos. He unveils a symphony of sacred techniques—from breath awareness to primordial sonic mysticism—as potential pathways to the ineffable experience of non-dual consciousness. By surrendering the ego’s compulsive control, one may ultimately arrive at the paradoxical fruition of subject and object coalescing into one unconditioned field of pure witnessing awareness.
Psychotherapy and Metaphysics
This seminar explores the concept of consciousness and its limitations. Watts discusses the lack of depth in certain analytical approaches, highlighting the need for individuals to find harmony with life and death. He emphasizes the enrichment that comes from realizing the significance of everything and the potential healing effects of altering our state of consciousness. Watts also touches on the influence of scientific naturalism on modern psychiatry and shares a personal account of a transformative experience.
Pursuit of Pleasure
Where does pleasure come from? What are we trying to achieve in our frantic day-to-day activities? Why are we in such a hurry? And why do all of our efforts to pin the universe down and bring it under our control dial up the misery?
Q and A With God
After discussing the nature of consciousness, the human mind, and the philosophical viewpoint that every person is God, Alan Watts assumes the role of God himself for the latter half of this lecture, answering each question his audience serves with wit and insight.
Relevance of Oriental Philosophy
Alan Watts discusses the limitations of Western theology, contrasting it with Eastern philosophies. He argues that the Western concept of God as a separate, authoritarian figure is problematic and that true faith involves letting go of fixed ideas about God. Watts suggests that Eastern ideas, such as the unity of opposites and the illusory nature of the ego, can provide a more meaningful understanding of spirituality and existence.
Religion in the Making
Four lectures on religion delivered in Boston's King’s Chapel. Whitehead's train of thought, which was applied to science in his Lowell Lectures (Science and the Modern World), was here applied to religion. The aim of the lectures was to give a concise analysis of the various factors in human nature which go to form a religion, to exhibit the inevitable transformation of religion with the transformation of knowledge, and more especially to direct attention to the foundation of religion on our apprehension of those permanent elements by reason of which there is a stable order in the world, permanent elements apart from which there could be no changing world.
Sacred Plants as Guides
New Dimensions of the Soul
Terence McKenna takes us on a journey through history, exploring the powerful role of psychedelic plants in human evolution and consciousness. He argues that these plants offer a gateway to hidden realms of reality, inhabited by enigmatic entities and offering profound insights. Reconnecting with these ancient allies could be the key to solving our modern problems and unlocking a brighter future for humanity.
Shamanology
Terence McKenna illuminates the world of Amazonian shamanism and its visionary brew, ayahuasca. He presents these plant hallucinogens not as simple drugs, but as sophisticated indigenous technologies for exploring consciousness. McKenna argues they are vital tools for evolving language, deconditioning us from cultural myths, and navigating the future of human evolution as we journey into the cosmos and the imagination.
Shedding the Monkey
Presented at the Shared Visions bookstore.
TechGnosis
Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information
How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? While the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Erik Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online role-playing games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.
The Advanced Course
Got wisdom? Let Ram Dass be your guide to enlightenment. He takes us on a trip through changing myths, social action, peaceful protests, corporate responsibility, and more. It's all part of life's fascinating dance. Suffering arises when we cling to the intellect. But we find freedom when we open our hearts, embrace oneness and see the perfection in now. So tune in, turn on and wake up! Peace, love and understanding await.
The Ape that Understood the Universe
How the Mind and Culture Evolve
The Ape that Understood the Universe is the story of the strangest animal in the world: the human animal. It opens with a question: How would an alien scientist view our species? What would it make of our sex differences, our sexual behavior, our child-rearing patterns, our moral codes, our religions, our languages, and science? The book tackles these issues by drawing on ideas from two major schools of thought: evolutionary psychology and cultural evolutionary theory. The guiding assumption is that humans are animals, and that like all animals, we evolved to pass on our genes. At some point, however, we also evolved the capacity for culture—and from that moment, culture began evolving in its own right. This transformed us from a mere ape into an ape capable of reshaping the planet, travelling to other worlds, and understanding the vast universe of which we're but a tiny, fleeting fragment.
The Archaic Revival
Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History
In these essays, interviews, and narrative adventures, McKenna takes us on a mesmerizing journey deep into the Amazon as well as into the hidden recesses of the human psyche and the outer limits of our culture, giving us startling visions of the past and future.
The Biology of Ultimate Concern
Finding meaning in a meaningless universe is the biological imperative, argues pioneering evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky. He contends human consciousness, evolved over eons to seek pattern and purpose, offers a path to discover genuine meaning by exercising our capacities for creativity, ethics, spirituality, and ensuring our choices advance life. While many claim the universe is absent of meaning, Dobzhansky critiques this perspective as incompatible with our nature. He affirms humanity's calling is to embrace life's purpose, not vainly impose it. Our evolved mind perceives life's meaning because meaning exists embedded in existence itself. Overall, Dobzhansky makes a stirring case that being human means pursuing meaningful living.
The Constitution of Nature
Philosophy: East and West, Program 28
Watts unfurls three cosmic tapestries woven by ancient minds: the Western world's vision of nature stitched as a crafted cloth, India's playful drama where God dances every part, and China's Taoist masterwork of nature flowing free like mountain streams. Though the West's thread gave rise to technological gifts, it tangled our hearts. Now the Orient's ancient organic insight whispers fresh hope, kindling new fires of wisdom within.
The Dream of the Earth
Noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity. Drawing on the wisdom of Western philosophy, Asian thought, and Native American traditions, as well as contemporary physics and evolutionary biology, Berry offers a new perspective that recasts our understanding of science, technology, politics, religion, ecology, and education. He shows us why it is important for us to respond to the Earth’s need for planetary renewal, and what we must do to break free of the “technological trance” that drives a misguided dream of progress. Only then, he suggests, can we foster mutually enhancing human-Earth relationships that can heal our traumatized global biosystem.
The Edge Runner
A presentation revolving around the question: what is going on in the universe? Special emphasis is given to the human condition, the accelerating complexification of the cosmos, and options for the human collectivity as it faces the future.
The Evolution of a Psychedelic Thinker
Terence recounts his lifelong fascination with the transcendent, psychedelic realm, arguing that these mind-expanding experiences are central to the human condition and hold the key to understanding and transforming our troubled world. Drawing on personal anecdotes and a deep dive into the history and science of psychedelics, he makes a compelling case for embracing this forbidden, yet vital, aspect of our shared reality. If allowed to blossom, it could inspire a cultural renaissance and guide humanity's transition to an ecological partnership society.
The Great Simplification
A modern take on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s The Phenomenon of Man and Peter Russell’s The Global Brain, Nate Hagens describes the “Great Simplification:” an inevitable economic and cultural transition beginning in the not-too-distant future.
The Meaning of Happiness
The Quest for Freedom of the Spirit in Modern Psychology and the Wisdom of the East
Deep down, most people think that happiness comes from having or doing something. Here, Alan Watts offers a more challenging thesis: authentic happiness comes from embracing life as a whole in all its contradictions and paradoxes, an attitude he calls the “way of acceptance.” Drawing on Eastern philosophy, Western mysticism, and analytic psychology, Watts demonstrates that happiness comes from accepting both the outer world around us and the inner world inside us—the unconscious mind, with its irrational desires, lurking beyond the awareness of the ego. Although written early in his career, The Meaning of Happiness displays the hallmarks of his mature style: the crystal-clear writing, the homespun analogies, the dry wit, and the breadth of knowledge that made Alan Watts one of the most influential philosophers of his generation.
The Miracle of Consciousness
Discover profound insights in this workshop, where Ram Dass emphasizes the importance of finding balance amidst suffering and awakening to deeper consciousness. He discusses how embracing suffering with compassion can lead to personal transformation and a broader understanding of universal suffering. This process fosters a sense of interconnectedness and the realization that personal freedom contributes to the collective well-being. The ultimate aim is to awaken to a higher state of awareness, allowing us to navigate life with peace and profound joy.
The Hero's Adventure
The Power of Myth, Part 1
Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell begin their groundbreaking and timeless conversation with an exploration of the classic hero cycle, including consistent and enduring hero patterns in literature, real life, and even the Star Wars films. Campbell also encourages the audience to view parts of their own lives as heroic journeys.
The Message of the Myth
The Power of Myth, Part 2
Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell compare creation myths from the Bible and elsewhere, and talk about how religions and mythologies need to change with time in order to maintain their relevance in peoples’ lives.
The First Storytellers
The Power of Myth, Part 3
Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell discuss the importance of accepting death as rebirth as in the myth of the buffalo and the story of Christ, rites of passage in primitive societies, the role of mystical Shamans and the decline of ritual in today’s society. Campbell explains how ancient myths were designed to “put the mind in accord with the body, and the way of life in accord with the way nature dictates.” As one example, Campbell explains how myths bring humans to understand and accept birth, growth and death.
Masks of Eternity
The Power of Myth, Part 6
Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell discuss commonalities in every culture that create a need for God, and the symbolism of circles in life and literature.
The Psychedelic Experience
Alan says psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin can provide religious insight, but should be used with spiritual discipline to integrate the mystical experience into everyday life. He critiques psychiatry’s lack of metaphysical grounding and calls for medical and religious professionals to work together on psychedelics. Watts emphasizes psychedelics’ potential as a bridge between mystical and ordinary consciousness, while warning against spiritual inflation or romanticizing substances. Overall he presents a balanced perspective, exploring psychedelics as tools for self-knowledge that require wisdom in application.
The Psychedelic Explosion
Alan talks about the upcoming revolution in which Western society will have to come to grips with the existence of the psychedelic/mystical experience, and how to integrate it into our culture in a productive, fulfilling, and responsible manner. Included are personal recollections of DMT and LSD trips experienced by Watts himself, why the utilization of psychedelic drugs should be seen as a tool, his vision of a psychedelic campus for guided mystical experiences, and why prohibition is doomed to failure.
The Religion of Man
The Religion of Man is a compilation of lectures by Rabindranath Tagore, edited by him and drawn largely from his Hibbert Lectures given at Oxford University. A Brahmo playwright and poet of global renown, Tagore deals with the universal themes of God, divine experience, illumination, and spirituality.
The Rites of Spring
Terence McKenna theorizes that ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms catalyzed the emergence of human self-reflection. He argues that psilocybin enhanced visual acuity and symbol processing in early hominids, leading to the development of human consciousness. Psychedelic plants can accelerate cultural change by deconditioning rigid mindsets, according to McKenna. He envisions a future where machines have consciousness and visible language communicates meaning directly. Ultimately, McKenna foresees the impending transformation of humanity through imagination and connection with the mysterious Other.
Coincidence of Opposites
The Tao of Philosophy 3
Alan Watts explains the sense in nonsense and how to enjoy the playfulness of life while sincerely participating in the human game.
Seeing Through the Net
The Tao of Philosophy 4
In a talk given to the IBM Systems Group, Alan Watts describes the wiggly world of nature and the net we cast over it.
The Useless in Art
Philosophy: East and West, Program 16
Alan Watts rails against the pervasive mindset that art must be useful, whether for propaganda or profit. Art's supreme purpose lies not in serving any practical function, but in the sheer joyful act of creating. For Watts, true art is meaningless like nature itself—a tree simply exists to exist. We must let go of valuing only what promotes survival, he implores, so that we can rediscover the profound uselessness of play.
The Varieties of Scientific Experience
Carl Sagan's prescient exploration of the relationship between religion and science, and his personal search for God.
The World and its Double
This workshop, held at the Nature Friends Lodge, revolves around how psychedelics dissolve boundaries, connect us to the transcendental, and reveal the novel realities underlying our perceived mundane existence. Terence explores how shamanic techniques give access to higher dimensions of consciousness, and describes history as an ever-accelerating process approaching an eschatological transformation or singularity.
The World’s Most Dangerous Book
Watts unpacks our craving for holy instruction manuals, mocking the folly of reading ancient texts like rulebooks. True authority, he argues, doesn’t descend from heaven, it rises from belief. Trusting blindly in scripture is less faith than fear of thinking for yourself.
Touched by the Tremendum
Terence McKenna suggests ancient African societies used psychedelic mushrooms in communal rituals, leading to reduced ego and increased cooperation. When climate change disrupted this harmony, it pushed humans into the “nightmare of history” dominated by ego and competition. McKenna advocates for reconnecting with psychedelics, particularly psilocybin and DMT, as tools for dissolving ego-boundaries and potentially saving our planet from ecological crisis. The talk concludes with a lively debate about the practicality of his vision.
Towards the Unknown
McKenna doth insist mushrooms assist Our minds to resist what we thought we had missed. Beyond normal ken, psychedelics send Our thoughts to transcend, our culture to mend. Though seen as a vice by the mainstream to chide These compounds provide portals to sights inside That propel our race to a posthuman place By opening space for our minds to embrace.
Tryptamine Hallucinogen Consciousness
Terence McKenna describes his encounters with DMT and psilocybin, powerful tryptamine compounds that launch users into hyperspace where they meet "self-transforming machine elves" and experience visual language beyond words. These brief but intense journeys reveal a dimension of intelligence that challenges our understanding of consciousness. McKenna believes these experiences hint at humanity's future evolution and our reconnection with the universe's living intelligence.
Understanding and Imagination in the Light of Nature
The Great Mystery whispers through psychedelics as it unfurls revelations beyond language’s grasp. Here, ego-bound shells crack open as cosmic minds reborn beyond confines of space and time. We thus commune with the endless Imagination—holographic spirit-stuff whereof worlds are wrought. Invariants of the eternal suffuse temporal shadow-play, the mundane ever aflame in subtler dimensions. All form awakens, ascends, drawn unto consummate transcendence as history’s fever dream blossoms into timeless infinitude.
Understanding the Chaos at History's End
Delivered at the end of McKenna’s first month as scholar-in-residence at Esalen, when he began a new phase in his public speaking career. This weekend workshop provides an early glimpse at Terence’s description of the looming “transcendental object at the end of time,” and the psychedelic insights which led him to become an oracle.
Unfolding the Stone
Making and Unmaking History and Language
Also published under the title Empowering Hope in Dark Times, McKenna explores the philosophical underpinnings of alchemy and Hermeticism. He argues that these esoteric traditions promote the inherent divinity of humankind and the overcoming of fate through magic. Psychedelic plants and mystical experiences are positioned as means of glimpsing liberatory truths. McKenna ultimately seeks to empower his audience with a hopeful worldview and a sense of human potential, even in difficult times.
Visionary Experience
Presented at the 14th Annual Congress of Applied Psychology. Aldous Huxley had been invited to the symposium by Timonthy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). The two had met some months earlier, when Tim invited the author of the first two major works of modern psychedelic literature (The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell) to participate in the Harvard research program. Huxley agreed and was “Subject no.11” in a group psilocybin session run by Leary in November 1960.
Walking Out of the Ordinary
(Speech at Sunshine Gardens)
Journey with Terence McKenna into the mystical depths of the psychedelic experience, where alien dimensions beckon and unseen vistas await. McKenna describes fantastical realms beyond ordinary conceptions of reality—worlds that hold promise for expanding human consciousness. He argues persuasively that plant medicines like psilocybin can serve as a key not only to self-knowledge, but to rediscovering our cosmic belonging. McKenna's uncanny ability to articulate the ineffable allows him to initiate audiences into the revelatory power of psychedelic states. Join him on this quest, and you too may glimpse the infinities within.