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Smorgasfnord In reply to margaret-oliver [2010-08-22 01:54:08 +0000 UTC]

It consists of about 30 cut/pasted paper objects. The only "effect" I added was burning the edges of the earth with a lighter, so theres no digital manipulation aside from cropping.

I believe in rebirth and recapitulation of forgotten experiences, and that conditioning during an individual's lifetime obscures awareness of the transpersonal or "naked" state of consciousness that so many mystics and philosophers have alluded to throughout history. I extend that belief to an optimistic view of death, which I assert based on what ive learned about the neurochemistry involved with near-death and psychedelic experiences. Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is a schedule 1 substance (felony to possess) that is scientifically known to be produced in small amounts of the human brain. DMT is also known to be an enormously potent psychedelic drug that seems to open up extremely vivid, almost mystical realms that are as real to the user as waking consciousness. The mechanisms and implications of DMT in the brain are not well understood, but many theorize that this neurotransmitter is involved with dreaming, religious experiences, alien abductions, and a whole host of other bizarre phenomenon that modern knowledge has a difficult time accounting for. If this neurotransmitter is also implicated in the process of death, one could make the argument that every human being is biologically wired to have at least 1 extremely powerful psychedelic experience during their lives. In any case, its interesting to consider that everyone in the country is guilty of felony drug possession.

To quote one of the colleagues of Walter Evan-Wentz's (translator and researcher of The Tibetan Book of the Dead): "In whatever country we may be, I believe that we are forever immersed in the spiritual world; but most of us cannot perceive it on account of the unrefined nature of our physical bodies. Through meditation and psychical training one can come to see the spiritual world and its beings. We pass into the spirit realm at death and come back into the human world at birth; and we continue to reincarnate until we have overcome all earthly desires and mortal appetites. Then the higher life is open to our consciousness and we cease to be human; we become divine beings."

This piece attempts to capture the process of re-acquaintance with what might exist when not confined to a body, in the time between being "reborn" or evolving into some kind of "divine being." I tried to illustrate an organic DMT breakthrough in someone who might not have gotten high on anything in their lives besides maybe a roller coaster, and that I believe their experiences would be wildly ecstatic and existentially validating in a way similar to positive psychedelic experiences.

Hope you enjoyed my explanation, Im glad you asked me to elaborate on it. I really appreciate your time and interest

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