Zubin Damania, MD is a UCSF/Stanford-trained hospital doctor and host of The ZDoggMD Show. Interviews and live rants on healthcare, depolarizing our divided society, and the non-dual nature of reality.
Videos are informational and are not medical advice, more info: zdoggmd.com/terms
Maybe , but its not that simple , for instance whos idea was it to wake up ? Was it yours ? The curiosity needs to be in you already , psychedelics dont actually ' give ' you anything , they merely offer up a powerful mirror of your soul / psychology / current personal state / current environment for you to make that deep special connection with the self, the experience will involve a spiritual insight but only if sought genuinely , this is what ultimately gives the momentum towatds lesson learning within psychedelic experience. Then you have to consider safety , of yourself and others , and beyond that ' the set and setting ' has to be considered vital , beyond that , its up to you but infinite understandings can be recieved through the magical nature of that deep connection with everything in the universe where everything makes sense , around within and without , might sound wooooo but its true . The trick is you have to stop indulging in the trip momentarily at times to punctuate into memory what you have learned , otherwise you will have trouble digging it out later .
Awakening is like realizing you are dreaming. You were always dreaming. Nothing you experienced was not the dream. And even the realization that you're dreaming is part of the dream. And yet you know that it is a dream and that changes everything while changing absolutely nothing.
I've been an RN for over 40 years and have seen too many bad changes in healthcare. Not in the staff in the trenches trying to give good care, but in where the money is directed. Hospitals are way too top-heavy with CEOs and VPs, etc. Layoffs to save money - not administrators, but nurses! Huge administrative pensions, even if their decisions were bad for an organization. Makes me sick.
Psychedelics generate a state within/of mind. Awakening is not a "state". It is what we are. If nothing is 'needed' to recognize this, then psychedelics are nothing more than a tool that point to "something" much like all the teachings in zen, buddhism etc. I have gone down so many dead ends during these experiences that at the time I thought were great revelations, but later saw that the "medicine" was simply showing me the delusions I have.
I recommend changing the title, I almost didn’t click on the video because I thought it was about literally waking up from bed. Loved the video in the end! Super insightful
For me, everything started with an unstoppable desire to find the essence of the universe, true Love and the archetype of the spiritual master in order to get closer to this all encompassing essence. After a full life of exciting search, you sure do come across those tools, described above. By then I had the maturity to use those tools rarely and wisely for a very short period of time. That was 16 Years ago. Those tools have the astonishing function to provide you with long lists of homework (work on yourself) for decades to come. Decades. Since those lists of homework are so long and work intensive, frequent use is not recommended. However, repeating lessons and already submitted homework can be revisited anytime, depending on your intention. My shamanic recommendation: Once a decade really works great as a rough schedule.
I found it through playing the cello 😅! I was practicing and thinking about technique but realized: it’s not about certain parts of the body -but about BALANCE. Between Arm,shoulder, back,string, bow, finger head, earth, sun …. And than understanding kicked in that it is ALL about balance 😆. And it’s so interesting that quantum „mechanics“ seem to tell the same story I was FEELING. That potentiality shows the blooming of events through balances
After an in office allergy test due to my extremely swollen face and eyes (could not work), we discovered an egg allergy. However I DID NOT react immediately after eating them. Was eating them seven days a week and was told I have a delayed reaction sensitivity to eggs. Cut them out for a while and can now eat them occasionally with no problem. If I did an elimination diet and re-introduced eggs, I would have no idea how they affected me unless I was eating them daily.
I ate mushrooms last winter to help me get over the cognitive impairment of my first COVID infection. It really helped. Why did It really help? Hard to say, but one thing I know for sure, is that it helped me not think about COVID for a solid 2 hours. For 2 hours I listen to the same two songs on repeat and visualized every lyric. I had not had a moment in the present in a long time. It's like shortcut meditation.
Psychedelics people sound very societal, so I think psychedelics just amplify societal content rather than enlightening people. I'd say there is liberation from illusion and there's spiritual realisation and altered states of consciousness. But enlightenment is not real because it is laden with all sorts of dubious hopes and claims - permanent bliss, eternal life, godhood, etc.
Ram Dass gave his guru in India a large dose of LSD in 1967. His guru didn't seem to be affected by it either way. This is what his guru said: "To take them with no effect, your mind must be firmly fixed on God. Others would be afraid to take. Many saints would not take this.” And he left it at that. When I asked him if I should take LSD again, he said, “It should not be taken in a hot climate. If you are in a place that is cool and peaceful, and you are alone and your mind is turned toward God, then you may take the yogi medicine.” As a hippie child from the '70s I have toyed with psychedelics. It did open my mind back then, but you must still do your spiritual journey and it may take many turns along the way.
Im a loner . I find people dislike the art of debating any subject . Took me a long time before I realized they hate having their ignorance exposed . People are deeply superficiel ( excuse the pun).
I've been watching a lot of testimonies from people that have experienced a Near Death Experience (NDE) and I'm thinking that enlightenment in the physical form shouldn't be a primary focus. It seems to me that the true enlightenment comes after this physical experience. Find out what your passion is and go for it and try and experience as much as possible in this physical world. BTW, if you want to watch a wild NDE, look up Dr Mary Neal's NDE story.
I've taken my fair share of psychedelics and had some amazing experiences. But all they really showed me is that mind/consciousness has more nuance and depth than I was aware of before. For me, enlightenment occurred when all that dropped away and all I was left with was the "realization" that this is it. There is no better version of myself to achieve, no cosmic perspective to become aware of or some story or myth I need to buy into. Just this. This moment. This feeling. This personality. This experience. It is it. Nothing to do. Words fail completely. It sounds insane. Just the awareness of this personality experiencing this life at this time and that it is all just part of the unfolding of the cosmos through me and around me. But there really isn't a me other than a story. Ugh! Language! I think you get it.
I am commenting before watching (only watched the first 10 seconds) so there's very limited bias... I have suffered from moderate/severe depression for roughly 25 years. Approximately 3 years ago I started really slipping downhill and became very suicidal. I tried SSRIs for a bit and they DID work but I was worried about what would happen after several years of being on them. Would I build up a tolerance or have to switch to a new drug and end up responding horribly to it? I have lost a few friends to suicide who were medicated and had adverse effects to it. I didn't want that to happen to me so I started seeking alternatives. In my search, I was advised by a trusted person to research magic mushrooms and depression. Especially microdosing. After much research I decided to try them out. Microdosing seemed a little iffy as far as effectiveness went so I stayed closer in the range of small macrodoses (~1 gram). First thing I did was slowly wean myself off of the SSRI I was taking. Then I waited a couple weeks once I was off of it to ensure my system was clear of all drugs. My wife (who was NOT a supporter of this choice) noticed my mood changing back to the old me and made it a point to tell me that clearly the mushrooms weren't working...at which point I informed her that's probably good since I had to take a dose. 😂 Then I took a dose...first dose was tiny. Maybe half a gram. Noticed nothing. Tried again several days later with approximately 1.2g. That time I experienced a pretty full body high. It was very relaxing until my comforter tried to swallow me while I was floating in the ocean. But overall it was a very unique and enjoyable experience. But the thing is...within just a couple days, I felt just like I did on the Zoloft. I assumed placebo effect. 6 months later...still no signs of depression...still wondered if it was placebo effect. Almost a year later my best friend who was struggling with a really bad divorce confessed he had attempted to kill himself and chickened out. He had tried antidepressants but after doing the GeneSight (sp?) testing learned he was incompatible with almost every medication out there. The only one he found that worked made him extremely sick to his stomach so he refused to take it. I told him to try the shrooms...what did he have to lose? So he did. Several weeks later we were working on building my shed and I asked him if he had noticed anything different since taking the shrooms. He asked me if it was like a light switch when I took them. Like I was just suddenly happy. I said, nope... I just noticed after a while that the thoughts of worthlessness and suicide stopped going through my head but I still wasn't "happy" per se...and even after a year I was still questioning if I was actually depression-free or if it was still just the placebo effect. He said, "Ok...maybe they are working then..." He didn't suddenly feel happy but he had stopped sleeping 14+ hrs a day and when he woke up, he looked forward to climbing out of bed and actually getting things done for the day. He felt like the darkness was lifted off his shoulders. We both also use weed edibles, but neither of us have ever found them useful for waking up. Quite the opposite actually. We have bad trouble falling asleep...he has horrible insomnia and takes 6-10 sleeping pills a night. I don't use sleeping pills but my mind is so overactive I will pay in bed for hours each night til the exhaustion kicks in. The weed allows our brains to shut off so we actually sleep at night. He doesn't have to use as many sleeping pills (if any) and I just turn music on and almost immediately get relaxed and pass out. We both wake up feeling super refreshed each morning. Anyway...point to all of this is...I know it's anecdotal but psychedelics have saved my life and my best friend has said they worked for him too. I wish more studies would be performed on psychedelics. I don't think they're the cure all for everyone but I think for many people they could be a real lifesaver.
Also just to add, prior to all this the worst drugs I had ever tried was weed a couple of times and alcohol way too much. I have never tried or used any other drugs recreationally and I rarely ever drink now.
Hey Zubin, let me tell you: Propofol did more for "me" than any psychedelics ever did! Two surgeries and a half a year later, what began as a newfound deep sense of relaxation (after facing a visceral fear of death) turned to full-blown, hyperspace kensho. 🎉🎉🎉😂😂😂 For this character at least. "You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep!" 😅
I sat for10 years in our forest. 3 plus hours a day 7 days a week. I sat on the ground completely sober. Then after 10 years I wanted to see if psychedelics would be the same or different from simple soto zen sitting.. My son in law gave me some LSD, and while the colors were different, (almost cartoon like) , I didn't care for the speed effect, but not even close to sitting in the forest. Then I tried 5 grams of mushrooms, and that was closer to some of what I experienced in meditation, but still lacking compared to my sitting practice. So that was the end of my psychedelic experience. Of course, while the sitting was much more profound, it did take 10 years of constant sitting which most folks today might not have time or patience for. So if drugs work for folks, go for it. just my personal experience as an old fart.
It is surely a way to sharpen one's mind yet it sharpen consciousness via mind thus if one has already chaotic mind as soon as it think the hidden informations can not entre except their version is compatible with one's mind's conditioned state so what is good and bad with cannabis is that has simultaneously mescaline s family, cocaine's set of family and analgesic in it but in a very very small quantities say 0.3%may less may more but what is essential evevnthoug one thinks it has awaken by using drugs it will always keeps a doubts in a corner of its mind that may that be the intensifications of senses due to ,or a distorted viewer,all sort of questions raises without any satisfactory Answers THAT IS THE GREAT IMPASSES WITH "DRUGS"even if they are all doubts, you just can't do otherwise besides mystical experiences could all be reduced to one common conclusion where drugs gives different experiences to different minds dependant to their pysche state at that time the quantity of drugs the nature of it and so forth.Drugs are good to stabilise one state of thinking like alcohol, synthetic drugs for one body mind recent or permanent disorders that is why they must be controlled but neither to use that weakened person freedom away because it had has or using drugs for another purpose(s)
References you may/not be aware of: Robin Carhart-Harris’ work with depressed people. Aldous Huxley’s “reducing valve” idea. There’s more, not all of it conclusive,but a clearer picture is emerging. (Ventilators! Mount up.)
Psychedelics are sacred and should be treated with reverence and taken in a ceremonial setting with a knowledgeable person of integrity holding the space energetically, imo. What is seen is symbolic and energetic archetypes-only pointers to ineffable living truth. Great lessons in surrender can be learned as well.
So, is Z-Dogg saying he’s on psychedelic drugs and he’s digging it, and you can, and maybe should, get on psychedelic drugs and be digging it too, but just be careful kids? So we’ve gone from “why would a CHF patient eat Kentucky Fried Chicken” to “eat all the KFC you want as long as your psychedelic guide tells you to?”
I'm not sure what awakening or enlightenment truly is but I know I've had to me, what I call, doors opening in my mind. I think of this as realizing a fact and being able to accept that thought. I had this when I was raving and doing acid when I was 19. The door that opened for me was thinking that I will succeed but I will work hard. It was something that happened after my trip and early in the morning but I felt like I got a path set in my life even though I didn't feel like I succeeded until 20 years later. Actually, from that point on I did work really hard at work, just not at school. It wasn't until I felt like my career had capped out, that I had another realization that pushed me to jump careers. That was to me another door that open without drugs.
Watching multi-colored cobwebs form and dissolve to an Enya soundtrack had nothing to do with my waking up. Mostly slept through my second try. And my initial awakening looked like nothing I expected. So subtle and quiet.
I completely agree with all you say, but it's the people at the top that don't listen. That is where we are stuck. I just came back from vacation. My stress level was at 74 before vacation and got as low as 34 on vacation. It was a real eye opener for all shit we put up with in our jobs.
Cancer likes to rub whip cream on its luscious titties. Fun fact: When cancer-or "SUP3R CANSIR," as the Chief from Arby 'n' the Chief once called it-is done rubbing whip cream all over its voluptuous titties, it proceeds to fist bump with dumping syndrome, and they both subsequently coordinate in an attempt to reap havoc on our health. The SUP3R CANSIR, along with the dumping syndrome, coordinate together to compromise our health so they can jeopardise the Illuminati's attempts to keep us healthy, so the Illuminati won't have any healthy and therefore able-bodied, sufficient debt slaves to serve as an adequate workforce to maintain its globalist dystopia, prohibiting the emergence of the new world order. This is why we can't show enough appreciation for SUP3R CANSIR and its ever-so-succulent titties, mandating that we build a cancer-themed titty land amusement park in honor of the SUP3R CANSIR and its whip cream-covered titties!
Don’t believe this nonsense that chronic pain is in your head. Tell that to end stage cancer patients that have time too past the point of bridge pain and is destination pain. If it’s all in your head, just tell yourself it doesn’t hurt when you have an open fracture or why doctors recommend epidurals for childbirth. Really irresponsible to give false help
Yes, my crushed ankle, bone on bone knee, scoliosis and spondylosis with hemangiomas, all that pain is just in my head. I just gotta think away that’s it. Anybody believes this crap I got some beachfront property for you in Everglades.
My God if we knew then what was coming! Perhaps we might have gotten rid of these dregs in the medical professions that peddled this crap during Covid!
