Psychedelic Salon

Psychedelic researcher and author James Fadiman discusses the concept of the 'self' as a collection of personalities, challenging the idea of a unified self. He explores monotheism in different religions, personality theories, multiple personalities emerging from childhood trauma, and the collaboration with psychotherapists to navigate the psyche. Fadiman also discusses radical transpersonal theory suggesting the mind can exist independently of the body, drawing insights from Buddhist perspectives and belief systems like Christianity.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Jack Kornfield PROGRAM NOTES: Jack Kornfield Mickey Hart Today's podcast features Jack Kornfield speaking at the 1988 International Transpersonal Conference in Santa Rosa, California. Kornfield is an American writer, teacher, and psychologist who is known for his work in making Buddhism more accessible for Westerners. He trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India, and Burma, and has been teaching meditation internationally since 1974. He has also spoken about psychedelics in the context of spiritual practice. His views on the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics highlights the importance of intention, caution, and ethical boundaries when considering their use. Kornfield also recommends getting trained in mindfulness, compassion and equanimity before using psychedelics. As he says, they are not for beginners. Are Psychedelics Useful in the Practice of Buddhism? by Myron StolaroffJOURNAL OF HUMANISTICC PSYCHOLOGY

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Ralph Metzner PROGRAM NOTES: RALPH METZNERImage source: Wikipedia Today we're going to dip back in time to 1988 and the recording of a talk by Ralph Metzner at the Transpersonal Vision Conference. Ralph has been mentioned by several or our past speakers, but this is my first podcast in which Ralph is the main speaker. Ralph was a German-born American psychologist, writer and researcher, who worked with Leary and Ram Das at Harvard. Sadly, Ralph died in 2019. In addition to being a psychotherapist, he was also Professor Emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California Although he first appeared at Esalen in the early 1970s, this may be the earliest recording of a Terence McKenna workshop there. It is from June of 1984. I think this is Terence's best and most clearly detailed description of the psychedelic experience. And that is why I'm repodcasting it now, rather than refer you to a podcast that I first published in April of 2014.Among other little gem in this talk where Terence said that of all the people he'd given DMT to over many years, only FOUR of them reported an experience like the ones he described. And then, he admitted that, and I quote: "every single one of them had been primed by me." Podcast 396 – “A Freely Evolving Topology of Light & Sound” (This is the first podcast of this talk.(The title on the cassette is Mind, Molecules and Magic)

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Terence McKenna, Dennis McKenna, Eduardo Luna, Kat Harrison PROGRAM NOTES: This is a recording of a workshop session at the Esalen Institute from August of 1985 featuring a conversation between three of the early pioneers of the psychedelic resurgence. The recording begins with Terence postulating the importance of pyschedelics in the early mental development of humans.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features a recording of a morning workshop that Terence McKenna let at the Esalen Institute in August of 1985. As you will hear, it takes place just before their noon lunch break, and there is no lecture per se. Instead it turns into a salon-like atmosphere with no particular topic, other than the then-current concerns about the millinium and the year 2012.

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Rick Doblin, Lester Grinspoon, Richard Yensen, Donna Dryer, Myron Stolaroff, Willis Harman, Ralph Abraham, and Robert Anton Wilson PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features the continuation of Podcast 684, the Psychedelic Summit that was held in Santa Cruz in 1992. As you can tell from the list of speakers, it was another celebrity-packed speakers' list. While all of the names will be famaliar to you, this is the first time that we've had talks by Lester Grinspoon, Willis Harman and Robert Anton Wilson here in the salon. PSYCHEDELIC AGENTS IN CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING: A PILOT STUDY (1966) The Issue of the Consciousness-Expanding Drugs - Willis Harman (1963)

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna PROGRAM NOTES: Today's program features a 1985 conversation between Terence McKenna and Ralph Abraham that took place at the Esalen Institute near Big Sur, California. Their conversation centers on the science of chaotic attractors and models of their actions. While mathematicians will more fully understand some of these concepts, Ralph has a way of explaining them so we can all grok what he explains. The concept of using mathematical models for things like tracking hurricanes is common to most of us, ideas about modeling society may be new to many of us, and exciting as well. If ever there was a time to project the track of our culture's future, this is it. Ralph Abraham's recent book, Schims, is an excellent companion to this conversation. Schism: The Madness of Crowds, Toxicity of Social Media, Social Polarization, and Political Violence; A Cybernetic Approach

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speaker: John Beresford PROGRAM NOTES: Dr. John Bereford delivering this talk in 2006 at the conference celebrating Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday. Today's program features a lecture by psychedelic researcher Dr. John Beresford. Here is Erowid's introduction to him: "British-born John Beresford began his psychedelic research interests in 1961, and shortly thereafter he resigned his post as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at New York Medical College. In 1963 he founded the Agora Scientific Trust, the world's first research organization devoted to investigating the effects of LSD. In contrast to Leary's invitation to "tune in, turn on, and drop out", Beresford initially wanted to keep LSD as a tool of scientifically trained specialists. However, later in his life he adopted a viewpoint that was opposed to the medicalization of psychedelics." Of course, the story that he is best known for is the time that he wrote to Sandoz Laboratories and requested one gram of LSD! (If my math is correct, that's about 4,000 doses of 250 mics each.) Amazingly, Sandoz sent him a gram through the mail and attached a note that read, "Good luck." The talk we are about to listen to was given by Dr. Beresford at the conference celebrating Albert Hofmann's 100th birthday. He titled it: "Psychedelic Agents and the Structure of Consciousness: Stages in a Session Using LSD and DMT".

Support Lorenzo on Patreon.com Guest speakers: Matthew Brederick, Bruce Eisner, Rick Doblin, Oscar Jannigar, Albert Hofmann, Humphry Osmand, John Beresford, Laura Huxley, Francis Huxley PROGRAM NOTES: Today's podcasta features talks from the 1992 Psychedelic Summit that was held in Santa Cruz. As you can see from the names of the speakers, this was a star-studded event. While this 1992 conference features much talk about the War on Drugs, it is an interesting counterpoint to the conference that was held in Denver earlier this year in which the focus was the scientific importance of psychdelic substances.