Journeys into the bright world

My own inner orders to desist from the use of ketamine for an indefinite period combined with the impressions garnered from the interview with John and Toni Lilly did temporarily inhibit my experimentations with this mysterious substance. Then gradually I began taking twelve-milligram "mini-trips." Some of these were for specific purposes, but mostly the experiences were like beautiful gifts pulled out of a psychic grab-bag. Each one was an unexpected delight and different from all others.

At no time was I ever disappointed. When overdoing, however, there would be a taste like burned cinders in my mouth or else, for a few minutes, the world would be edged with a jaundiced yellow hue like the oil that sticks to a baking pan. As this book goes to press I have again increased the dosages and feel far more confident of my ability to regulate the heat required for our ketamine cookery. In many respects it has been like using a modern stove that can turn itself off when the job has been done. Already much new material has come through which will be incorporated in The Alchemy of the Soul.

We also found that while ketamine can greatly facilitate the process of regressing people to former lifetimes, that can be done only in certain cases. Presumably these were instances where the information was needed and could prove helpful. The psyche is never flooded with material with which it cannot deal. In this as in all particulars the effects produced by ketamine remain subordinate to the will of the higher self.

Unquestionably my consciousness expanded more during the four months covered by this narrative than during the whole of my former thirty-five years of metaphysical pursuits. Moreover, the changes seem to be permanent. Probably the main acquisition has been a growth in the capacity to love. In yogic terms, it is the heart center which has been primarily stimulated and this vivification, like honey in tea, has sweetened every aspect of life. Currently, the only factor that limits further development seems to be the restricted capacity of the body and mind to assimilate the energies tapped. The power is all there but the circuitry can take only just so much voltage. This personal insufficiency has been a source of frustration but it can also be taken as a challenge, or even as a kind of game. Sometimes it has been a dangerous game like car racing or ascending the rocky face of a mountain, but it has always been exhilarating.

Now, ruminating over the events described in this book, it seems evident that even though our precious "vitamin K" has worked well for us and for most of our friends we still have an obligation to emphasize that it can be, and has been, misused. It must be handled with due caution and respect if we are to avoid the pitfalls which have accompanied the exploration of other psychedelic substances. Hopefully then, if enough enlightened people will take responsibility for maximizing ketamine's regenerative potential it can be made more widely available. But this distribution cannot be entirely regulated by bureaucratic decree. Rather, initiative will have to be taken by freely acting individuals who can grasp the importance of the issues at stake. It cannot be denied that the beauty of the "bright world" may be just too alluring for some mortals to resist. But this is still no excuse for rape. Nor is it adequate reason for insisting that these enticements remain behind the veil. We must simply educate ourselves to the point where the lust for exotic sensations becomes sublimated into a love for discipline, order and pure esthetic appreciation. The temptations posed by consciousness-altering drugs, like the temptations of sex, are here to stay. If ketamine is banned an equally potent analog will take its place. Hence, we might as well learn to deal with it now, not by suppression but rather through the exercise of good judgment.

On the other hand, for those whose responses are less than ecstatic, samadhi therapy may even prove disappointing. Some people just aren't "turned on" by ketamine; it does nothing for them except to produce a nervous sort of "high." There are also some who deliberately block its effects. In cleaning out the caverns of consciousness there are bound to be grimy deposits which must be painfully scraped away. If an inquirer is unwilling to make the requisite improvements then he may be best advised to avoid unnecessary confrontations with the "dweller on the threshold" of the unknown depths of the psyche.

We conclude, therefore, that while this medicine is not for the use of everyone, it can benefit all. Any widespread process of psychological purgation is bound to purify the mass consciousness and thereby hasten the evolutionary development of this planet. If higher channels are opened up, the resultant influx of redeeming energies can, like water, produce a general softening which prepares the soil for next year's season of growth.