Risks of STER, and therefore, remember The Three Commandments

Today we continue our dialog from yesterday.   Please read that one first. 

In their book, Stealing Fire, Kotler and Wheal do us a great favor and not only extoll the virtues of STER, but also warn us against possible risks. 

Of course they are not as succinct, nor as complete, as

            The Three Commandments    :-D 

Remember that there is a strict order to The Three Commandments. 

          1-There is only one Source.

                    2-Love everything.

                              3-Enjoy yourself.

http://enlightenedmdphd.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-second-commandment-love-everything_24.html

They outline the risks of STER as follows, pp 202-9:

Selflessness, can feel as though you are G-d.  Mistaking your little self, for Source… 

Timelessness, a feeling that can lead to overconfidence, and life threatening, or at least career threatening, mistakes in the physical world. 

Effortlessness, can lead one to be a “bliss junkie.”  With risks of addiction to ecstatic drugs, or high-risk behaviors. 

Richness, they warn, “not to dive too deep.”  Don’t try to go to the deepest limits of consciousness, it is limitless, and you may not make it back… 

They even come up with an equation:  Value = Time x Reward/Risk… 

Time, is the learning curve.  For example, how long to master meditation vs “the peek at the peak” from taking an enthogen… 

Reward, is the retention of positive insights… 

Risk, the chance you could lose your life, or your mind, perhaps with extreme sports, unprotected sex, or using powerful drugs in the bathtub or rooftop… 

You may be able to calculate an overall Value for any method… 

Further, in the book, pp 213-218, they then go on to try help you formulate a possible plan or flow to your unfolding… 

Only one glaring error, p 88, describing one of Roland Griffith and colleague’s studies, they write that 3 grams of psilocybin were given to volunteers, the dose was 30 mg per 70 kg.  I suspect that they were probably mixing up their own use of dried mushrooms… 

A more general criticism relates to where they fail to distinguish between the map and the territory.  STER is just one of many maps of the territory.  As so, maps are useful, but incomplete.  They also fail to make explicit that the territory is our baseline state of consciousness.   A state covered over by our survival ego.  This later understanding might help one to better choose a path, or paths, toward “letting go.” 

Nonetheless, a good book, highly recommended. 

Let me know what you think… 

Namaste