How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan Post #2

How to Change Your Mind is about expanding one's view of the world by getting to an ego-free state of consciousness. Yes, this book is about mushrooms and LSD, but if you take a step back and forget about the negative stigma, you are able to see how useful these drugs are in helping humans learn more about themselves and their connection with the world.

The first half of the book was about the history and all the necessary research Michael Pollan conducted before trying psilocybin (active ingredient in mushrooms) and LSD. He spoke about every person who made an impact in the psychedelic community over the last 50 years, and had interviews with several of them, my favorite being Bob Jesse. Bob Jesse was an engineer that worked for AT&T and then Oracle. But if you asked him what he is the proudest of, he would say it was when he established the Council of Spiritual Practices – which explores the potential of psychedelics contributing to "the betterment of well people." Bob Jesse believed that psychedelics could do wonders for normal healthy people, and that the drugs shouldn’t only be used for people who are drying, depressed, or addicted. Stating that a mystical experience seems to offer a graduate education in the obvious. Bob Jesse teamed up with Bill Richards, who has led hundreds if not thousands of psychedelic journeys. All Bill Richard’s experience with psychedelics lead him to three conclusions:  1) that the experience on high doses of LSD/Psilocybin are real 2) that these types of experiences are the primal basis of religion and 3) consciousness is the property of the universe, not of brains.

The final point really stuck out to me and made me think. What if consciousness was everywhere and inherit in our universe, what if consciousness isn’t created by our brain. What if our everyday walking consciousness, our default state, was just one of the many conscious states humans have. If consciousness was universal, then the human brain only gives us access to one of the many stations available. And who is to say that our everyday conscience is the best way to live? This question of universal consciousness is a huge reason why Michael Pollan decided to try psychedelics himself. He didn’t want to prematurely close the door to other aspects of reality.  

After Michael Pollan did all his research, we move onto the second part of the book – his personal journeys. He interviewed 15 spiritual guiders and wound up working with 5 of them. Michael Pollan first tried 100 micrograms of LSD but didn’t get the mystical experience he was looking for. He then tried psilocybin and took a dose that equaled double the amount he did for the LSD. Pollan’s guide coached him on challenges he might face - paranoia, spooky places, feelings of losing one’s mind or even dying. "It's like when you see a mountain lion...If you run it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” This time Pollan was trippin very hard. He had connections with his grandpa, aunt, wife, and he even watched his own ego disappear. Saying he was watching his familiar “self” start to fall away, that he saw himself “as a thin smear spread over the landscape like paint or butter, coating the world with a substance he recognized as himself.” After learning so much about himself from this trip, he decided to try one other psychedelic – the Toad which contains 5-MeO-DMT. Pollan spoke about his trip but reiterated that words cannot do it justice. He said he experienced the big bang of the universe in reverse, then the universe began to reassembly itself, then he experienced giving birth to his son. After the trip Pollan vowed to do less "doing" and more "being". To savor the moment, without trying to change it or even describe it. Pollan than states that “perhaps spiritual experience is simply what happens in the space that opens up in the mind when egotism vanishes.”

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. I usually don’t get much pleasure from reading, but this one is special. The book allowed me to think deeply and question everything about human consciousness. But, the most incredible part, is that everyone Michael Pollan interviewed were intelligent people who went to universities like Harvard, NYU, and John Hopkins. Which makes me wonder the role psychedelics may have in our futures?