What is DMT?
DMT or N, N-Dimethyltryptamine is a hallucinogenic tryptamine drug. It naturally occurs in plants and animals, including human beings. Despite it being a simple molecule that is extremely abundant throughout nature, it has a profound effect on the human psyche when taken recreationally. It is the effects on the mind and the messages it reveals that interests scientists and spiritualists alike.
DMT Structure
The biological structure of DMT is rather basic. It can easily be transformed into amino acids such as tryptophan. Amino acids are the very building blocks of biology itself. They existed as prime ingredients in primordial soup - the hypothesised broth, 3.7 billion years ago, that provided the spark of life, turning the inanimate into the animate. For this reason, DMT is pretty much ubiquitous throughout nature. All living organisms hold the key enzymes which can be transformed into DMT, meaning that, at any point, a living organism can synthesise DMT in its biological structure. In humans, the body and the pineal gland in the brain both can produce DMT. However, even though DMT is so abundant throughout nature, there is no real explanation for why it is there.
What is its Purpose?
Secondary compounds such as DMT, which were once considered to be an evolutionary mistake, have more recently been decoded as the language of plants. They are messenger molecules that plants utilise to understand their relationship between other plants, organisms, and the environment as a whole. Humans and plants co-evolved, and these molecules, which we all share, could be the language underpinning and connecting us all. The profound effect DMT has on the human mind, when taken recreationally, could be trying to explain something about our origins and our position in the universe, or it could be some deeper answer to a question we have not asked yet. DMT is simply able to expand our awareness. The possibilities of its use could be in the realm of helping us create better social structures with alternative priorities and more interconnectedness. DMT is, in a sense, a way of breaching the barrier between science and spirituality. It is the main ingredient of Ayahuasca, the hallucinogenic medicine used in shamanic traditions across the Amazon. Shamans use it to delve into other natural realms. It offers a sort of symbolic death from which they garner many profound insights.
The Pineal Gland
The pineal gland, which is located in the brain, has been referred to as the third eye. During times of great stress, the pineal gland releases the hormone DMT into the body. DMT is supposed to help souls enter and exit the body. Using certain techniques such as meditation makes it possible to stimulate the pineal gland into releasing DMT, creating mystical and near-death experiences. In fact, when someone is dying, the pineal gland releases a lot of DMT to help the person dying pass from life into death.
Consciousness and Reality
The pineal gland could be releasing DMT into the brain all the time in small doses. This could be having a drastic effect on how we perceive reality. If DMT is being released all the time, what does this mean for the actual reality we evolved in? Could ultimate reality be the reality seen through the eyes of a DMT trip? DMT makes disembodied consciousness a reality. When someone smokes DMT, they feel as if they are breaking free from their body and delving into a whole new realm of experience. It seems to enable people to project their psyches out into the universe itself. Somewhere where time is meaningless, the sense of self completely dissolves, and you are one with the ultimate reality, with no sense of difference. You are, in essence, everything all at once. Being at one with the Godhead - the divine nature of all things. It allows you to break free of all the layers which make up your humanity, and then you transcend them. All attachment to the material world seems to be stripped away, allowing the soul to be free. By doing this, does DMT allows you to experience what core reality really is? Does DMT remove the filter through which we experience the world in our ordinary lives? We already know that the body and the senses do not allow us to see nature as it truly is.
“To make biological survival possible, Mind at Large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out at the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this Particular planet.” Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception.
Our senses have evolved over time to enable us to survive on this planet. So, can DMT set us back to the raw state? And if so, what are the potential benefits of this? There is a theory that consciousness is the ultimate reality. That the universe is consciousness, and the in the beginning, the universe existed as pure consciousness. This theory resolves the issue of eternal regress, i.e. what created the big bang, what created that, etc., etc., and so on into infinity. Consciousness can create itself, and from this universal consciousness, the material world sprung. Does DMT give us a tiny embryonic understanding of this concept?
Anyway, chemicals such as DMT could be used to advance consciousness and help us grow, adapt, and learn.
Experimentation in Theory
In my novel Tears of Blood, I play with the idea of micro-dosing soldiers with DMT and the potential positive effects on children if conceived during this experimentation period. The inspiration for this came from Jon Ronson’s ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats,’ about the real LSD experiments on soldiers in the ’70s and ’80s. Could DMT in low levels enable you to have more enhanced senses? If DMT is the language of plants, of nature, what happens when we are more in tune with this reality? Can it improve our relationship with the world itself?
Ability to Use DMT to Break Free of the Body
This blog is not meant to be seen as an advocate for the use of DMT. In fact, the very act of breaking free of the body to actually have the full DMT experience is not possible for a lot of people. There is the possibility of intense trauma if DMT is used incorrectly. Due to evolution and the body, the mind, in general, has a very hard time letting go of the material world, and for that reason, DMT could cause psychosis in people who are extremely materially orientated.
Conclusion
There are more questions than answers here, so there is probably no conclusion other than more investigation, experimentation, and research is needed. However, what is certain is that DMT offers people some profound life-changing experiences that they feel have an essential message for all of humanity. I guess the DMT story is to be continued…
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