Summa Psychonautica: Rabbit Holing

You are held securely in your resting place by the force of gravity. Your field of consciousness is nestled comfortably into your awareness of it. There is nowhere to fall to. It is safe to explore.

The spiritual aspirant seeks enlightenment; some lofty attainment out there in the future which will at long last make them whole and complete. The pursuer of personal growth strives to be better as an individual with self-help practices and therapy. The philosopher seeks to understand the human condition and formulate a rational approach to it. The psychonaut explores consciousness for its own sake, for no other reason than because it is there.

And indeed, spiritual insights, understanding of the human condition and personal growth are all fruits which may be born of that exploration, but they are not sought after and they are not cherished. What motivates the psychonaut is not a desire to attain or understand, but a simple playful curiosity about the nature of experience and how it is happening.

We may call this playful exploration rabbit holing, and this innocent curiosity is all the invitation life requires to begin opening up rabbit holes to you.

There is no greater mystery than the phenomenon of consciousness. Minds have speculated as to why this continuous explosion of sights, sounds, smells, feelings and thoughts might appear in our field of awareness every morning when we emerge from deep sleep, but none have found any solid answers. What we know about anatomy and neurology doesn't tell us anything about why there should be any experiential witness to this field of sense, emotion and thought; anatomy could theoretically function just fine as a biological machine with no consciousness witnessing its sensory and neurological behavior. The human organism could use its capacity for abstract thought to out-survive and out-thrive other competing organisms just fine without the phenomenon of consciousness occurring.

What is this strange field of experience arising unbidden from source unknown? What is the nature of that which witnesses it? Is there a self, an "I" there at all witnessing this play of form? What is the nature of the mind? What is the nature of this mind in particular? Is it making any assumptions about self, world, consciousness and reality that could perhaps be examined more closely? What is it like to explore these things deeply? To emote deeply? To see deeply? To smell deeply? What is the experience of beauty? Of happiness? And can I invite them to flower in my life more? Is it possible that the only reason this field of experience is not far more enjoyable is because I have not yet asked it to be?

These and many, many others are all rabbit holes which will open up to anyone who is sincerely curious about how all this is happening.

It is important to keep the exploration in a spirit of playfulness, because seriousness has a gravity to it which will cause aspects of certain discoveries to be clung to instead of letting the adventure flow on its own terms. Since this entire field of consciousness is pure mystery, there is no reason to take any of it more seriously than a sea otter taking an interest in a glint of shiny metal in the water.

Rabbit holes take many forms, but the attitude of playful and open curiosity is the same throughout. Perhaps you will find curiosity drawing you toward some aspect of your field of consciousness and its apparent boundary line that you had never noticed before. Perhaps you will be drawn towards some old childhood trauma and accept life's invitation to swim around in it for a while. Perhaps the invitation will occur inside the play of forms itself as a new relationship or a conversation with a stranger at the park. Perhaps it will be playing around with a new lightly held belief system and seeing how it changes your perceptual filters. Perhaps it will be the simple appreciation for the beauty and majesty of a piece of garbage in the gutter. Perhaps it will be an urge to create artwork and stare into your own inner emptiness until creative ideas emerge.

Hold playful curiosity about your conscious experience as your sole guiding principle, without concerning yourself if you're "doing it right" beyond that. When you've got no destination in mind, it is impossible to get lost. This vast ocean of consciousness is yours to swim in, so don't take it for granted. Explore.

 

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