The Library of Consciousness
The Library
of Consciousness
of Consciousness
The universe is a system which, by means of living bodies, becomes aware of itself.
The numinous, also known as mysterium tremendum, captures the experience of encountering something vast, sublime, and overwhelmingly divine—an awe that feels both transcendent and ineffable. It’s the moment when we glimpse a reality far beyond human comprehension, where beauty and terror intertwine. This divine presence is not simply magnificent but mysterious, drawing us toward it while reminding us of our own smallness. It stirs a sense of reverence, a deep awareness of the sacred that exists just outside the reach of our understanding.
In the face of the numinous, we are humbled by the grandeur of what lies beyond our grasp, struck by the immense and unfathomable power of the divine. It is not a force we can fully control or define, but one that envelops us in its wonder, urging us to contemplate the mystery of existence. Whether through the vastness of the cosmos, the quiet majesty of nature, or the ungraspable presence of an unknown force, the numinous invites us to stand in awe, aware of both our insignificance and our connection to something far greater than ourselves.
A Beautiful Death
When Aldous Huxley was on his deathbed, he asked his wife Laura to administer him with LSD. She agreed. Two weeks after her husband’s death, Laura wrote this moving and detailed account of Aldous’s last days to her brother-in-law, Julian.
A Calendar for the Goddess
(Ecology of Souls)
Beginning with a comparison of reason and logic to intuition, Terence works his way towards exploring the idea of a purposeful goal in the universe which evolution is progressing towards, and humanity's role in this journey. Next, in a nod to the solstice which occurred at the time of the lecture, he plays with the idea of a precessional calendar and argues that it would remind us of the one constant in life, which is flux. Q&A topics include future social myths, morphogenesis, globalization, and psychedelic encounters with the dead.
A Note on Progress
A cosmic battle rages between those who proclaim “We are moving!” and the immobilists who insist “Nothing changes.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin passionately argues that the universe progresses through mankind’s collective evolution of consciousness. For him, Christianity’s future lies in recognizing this biological genesis unfolding—the cosmos physically realizing its psychic fulfillment through humanity striving to form one united Body of Christ.
Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown
A Mountain Journal
Over the course of nineteen essays, Alan Watts ruminates on the philosophy of nature, ecology, aesthetics, religion, and metaphysics. Assembled in the form of a mountain journal, written during a retreat in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais in California, Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown is Watts’ meditation on the art of feeling out and following the watercourse way of nature, known in Chinese as the Tao. Embracing a form of contemplative meditation that allows us to stop analyzing our experiences and start living into them, the book explores themes such as the natural world, established religion, race relations, karma and reincarnation, astrology and tantric yoga, the nature of ecstasy, and much more.
Contemplative Ritual
Alan Watts critiques sermonizing verbosity and champions contemplative rituals as paths to oneness with cosmic energy. Casting aside guilt and intellect, he beckons participants to listen, breathe, and hum into profound awareness. Meditation, he says, isn’t about effort but about letting thought dissolve into silence. Through sound, breath, and presence, he invites all to transcend ego and words, glimpsing the eternal present—a hymn to the harmony of self and cosmos.
DMT and Integrated Information Theory
Neuroscientist Christof Koch’s 5-MeO-DMT experience, marked by self-dissolution and “terror and ecstasy,” sparks a deep discussion on consciousness, Integrated Information Theory (IIT), and reality. IIT suggests consciousness is non-computable and may exist beyond individual brains, potentially forming higher-order minds. Koch inquires whether his psychedelic journey was a mere brain state or a glimpse into a universal mind.
The Void
Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life (Episode 4)
Buddhism symbolizes its basic spiritual experience as a void, but Alan Watts explains this must not be taken literally. Watts explores the void as a symbol of freedom and of a world feeling which can be described poetically though not logically as the "absolute rightness" of every moment.
On Death
Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life (Episode 6)
Alan Watts explores Buddhist ideas of the value of death as the great renovator, including the Wheel of Life, and the idea of reincarnation as it is understood by philosophical Buddhists.
I Am That
In the heart of Mumbai’s bustling streets, a humble beedi shop owner named Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj delved deeply into the nature of existence, emerging with profound insights that have since captivated spiritual seekers worldwide. I Am That is a collection of his dialogues, where complex metaphysical concepts are unraveled with startling clarity and simplicity. Through conversations steeped in Advaita Vedanta, Maharaj guides readers beyond the illusion of individuality to the realization of their true, unbounded self. Each page invites you to question, reflect, and ultimately transcend the confines of the mind, offering not just philosophical musings, but a transformative experience that promises to change the very way you perceive reality. If you're seeking a profound spiritual awakening, I Am That is not just a book—it's a portal to understanding your true nature.
Linear Societies and Nonlinear Drugs
Speaking on the first day of the 1999 Palenque Entheobotany Conference at the Chan Kha Hotel, Terence McKenna probes the mind-blowing philosophical revelations of psychedelics. He contends these consciousness-expanding substances can shatter Western rationality, unveiling mystical realities beyond mainstream paradigms. Psychedelics may hold the key to reimagining society's connection with nature and technology. McKenna passionately argues these drugs can catalyze new ways of thinking, fueling an intellectual revolution to change the world.
Man on his Nature
Sherrington had long studied the 16th century French physician Jean Fernel, and grew so familiar with him that he considered him a friend. In the years of 1937 and 1938, Sherrington delivered the Gifford lectures at the University of Edinburgh; these focused on Fernel and his times, and came to form the principal content of Man on His Nature. The book was released in 1940, and a revised edition came out in 1951. It explores philosophical thoughts about the mind, the human existence, and God, in connection with natural theology. In his ideas on the mind and cognition, Sherrington introduced the idea that neurons work as groups in a "million-fold democracy" to produce outcomes rather than with central control.
No Frames, No Boundaries
Astronaut Russell Schweikart speaks about his transformative experience in outer space when a camera malfunctioned and he had an unscheduled moment to contemplate his home planet. During his “glimpse of the big picture” he reflected on the implications of humanity looking back on itself from the perspective of space, and his consciousness began to identify with the whole planet Earth.
Opening the Doors of Creativity
This far-out lecture held at the Carnegie Art Museum riffs on art, shamanism, psychedelics, and saving the planet. Terence sees artists as modern shamans who can reconnect us to the Gaian mind. He thinks we're an infant species held in nature's arms, but we've got to get our act together fast and let the irrational muse guide us, or we'll trash the place. Heavy stuff, but optimistically visionary.
Religion in the Making
Four lectures on religion delivered in Boston's King’s Chapel. Whitehead's train of thought, which was applied to science in his Lowell Lectures (Science and the Modern World), was here applied to religion. The aim of the lectures was to give a concise analysis of the various factors in human nature which go to form a religion, to exhibit the inevitable transformation of religion with the transformation of knowledge, and more especially to direct attention to the foundation of religion on our apprehension of those permanent elements by reason of which there is a stable order in the world, permanent elements apart from which there could be no changing world.
Sense of Nonsense
In this public radio broadcast, Alan explores the origin of the desire for meaningfulness. In the search for satisfaction, what is it that is really sought for or yearned after? The talk turns from academic discussion into poetry. What is the meaning of significance?
Swimming Headless
Watts explores the Taoist concept of Te, or virtue, as a kind of natural excellence arising when one lives in harmony with the Tao. He examines how this spontaneous virtue contrasts with contrived virtue, relating it to wu wei and the power that comes from flowing with rather than against the river of existence.
TechGnosis
Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information
How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? While the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Erik Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online role-playing games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.
The Archaic Revival
Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History
In these essays, interviews, and narrative adventures, McKenna takes us on a mesmerizing journey deep into the Amazon as well as into the hidden recesses of the human psyche and the outer limits of our culture, giving us startling visions of the past and future.
The Atomism of Spirit
Teilhard de Chardin argues that human plurality mirrors the multiplicity of atoms and stars. Just as matter progresses in complexity from subatomic particles to living cells, so consciousness evolves through increasing unification, culminating in the “Omega point”—supreme consciousness and union.
The Biology of Ultimate Concern
Finding meaning in a meaningless universe is the biological imperative, argues pioneering evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky. He contends human consciousness, evolved over eons to seek pattern and purpose, offers a path to discover genuine meaning by exercising our capacities for creativity, ethics, spirituality, and ensuring our choices advance life. While many claim the universe is absent of meaning, Dobzhansky critiques this perspective as incompatible with our nature. He affirms humanity's calling is to embrace life's purpose not vainly impose it. Our evolved mind perceives life's meaning because meaning exists embedded in existence itself. Overall, Dobzhansky makes a stirring case that being human means pursuing meaningful living.
The Birth of a New Humanity
Terence McKenna explored themes of accelerating complexity, impending radical shifts in human reality, and the continuity between our changing relationship with Earth and a new cosmic modality transcending our fragile ecosystem. He posited history as a self-limiting 25,000-year process reaching its climax, suggesting individual acts of “midwifery” can ease this epochal transition. He also cautioned about combining psychoactive compounds without proper expertise.
The Doors of Perception
Aldous Huxley recounts his transformative experience on a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon in May 1953. He explores how it altered his perception of reality, revealing a world rich in beauty and significance, unfiltered by the mind’s utilitarian focus. Drawing parallels to religious mysticism and artistic inspiration, Huxley critiques the limitations of normal consciousness, which he sees as a “reducing valve” that narrows reality to what is necessary for survival. The book invites readers to reconsider the nature of perception, creativity, and humanity’s spiritual potential.
The Dream of the Earth
Noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity. Drawing on the wisdom of Western philosophy, Asian thought, and Native American traditions, as well as contemporary physics and evolutionary biology, Berry offers a new perspective that recasts our understanding of science, technology, politics, religion, ecology, and education. He shows us why it is important for us to respond to the Earth’s need for planetary renewal, and what we must do to break free of the “technological trance” that drives a misguided dream of progress. Only then, he suggests, can we foster mutually enhancing human-Earth relationships that can heal our traumatized global biosystem.
The Evolution of a Psychedelic Thinker
Terence recounts his lifelong fascination with the transcendent, psychedelic realm, arguing that these mind-expanding experiences are central to the human condition and hold the key to understanding and transforming our troubled world. Drawing on personal anecdotes and a deep dive into the history and science of psychedelics, he makes a compelling case for embracing this forbidden, yet vital, aspect of our shared reality. If allowed to blossom, it could inspire a cultural renaissance and guide humanity's transition to an ecological partnership society.
The Gnostic Astronaut
Going off the deep end at Shared Visions Bookstore in Berkeley, trailblazer Terence McKenna plunges into freaky psychedelic phenomena that unravel consensual reality. He describes gonzo techniques for sparking glossolalia on 'shrooms—speaking pure alien word salad in an ecstatic state beyond language. McKenna argues these kooky experiences expose the limits of our linguistic operating systems, suggesting our minds are hardwired into a deeper bio-lingo. He ponders far out connections between psychedelics, paranormal events, and alien contact, and emphasizes riding the wave of raw experience over textbook pharmacology in grokking the psychedelic sphere.
The Joyous Cosmology
Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness
The Joyous Cosmology is Alan Watts’ exploration of the insight that the consciousness-changing drugs LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin can facilitate when accompanied with sustained philosophical reflection by a person who is in search, not of kicks, but of understanding. More than an artifact, it is both a riveting memoir of Alan’s personal experiments and a profound meditation on our perennial questions about the nature of existence and the existence of the sacred.
The Omega Point as Eschaton
Answers to Pannenberg's Questions for Scientists
Frank Tipler presents an outline of the Omega Point theory, which is a model for an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, evolving, personal God who is both transcendent to spacetime and immanent in it, and who exists necessarily. The model is a falsifiable physical theory, deriving its key concepts not from any religious tradition but from modern physical cosmology and computer science; from scientific materialism rather than revelation. Four testable predictions of the model are given. The theory assumes that thinking is a purely physical process of the brain, and that personality dies with the brain. Nevertheless, he shows that the Omega Point theory suggests a future universal resurrection of the dead very similar to the one predicted in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. The notions of “grace” and the “beatific vision” appear naturally in the model.
The Perennial Philosophy
Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy examines the shared essence of mystical traditions worldwide. It posits a universal core of spiritual experience centered on the divine Ground of being. Synthesizing Eastern and Western wisdom, Huxley explores self-transcendence, contemplation, and ultimate reality, arguing that diverse religions share fundamental truths about consciousness and divinity, emphasizing direct spiritual experience over dogma.
The Plot Thickens, the Stakes Rise
McKenna discussed his theory that humanity is accelerating towards a transcendental object at the end of time, propelled by ever-increasing novelty. He argued that the internet and new technologies like virtual reality are expanding consciousness in this trajectory. McKenna was especially excited about the legal psychedelic salvia divinorum, urging people to explore it and other plants as allies toward reaching higher states of awareness before the culmination of cosmic evolution.
The Message of the Myth
The Power of Myth, Part 2
Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell compare creation myths from the Bible and elsewhere, and talk about how religions and mythologies need to change with time in order to maintain their relevance in peoples’ lives.
The Primacy of Direct Experience
In this, the closing session of a June 1994 workshop, Terence McKenna tells us directly what he thinks this human life is actually about: the primacy of direct experience; a focus on the present-at-hand.
The Psychedelic Experience
Alan says psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin can provide religious insight, but should be used with spiritual discipline to integrate the mystical experience into everyday life. He critiques psychiatry’s lack of metaphysical grounding and calls for medical and religious professionals to work together on psychedelics. Watts emphasizes psychedelics’ potential as a bridge between mystical and ordinary consciousness, while warning against spiritual inflation or romanticizing substances. Overall he presents a balanced perspective, exploring psychedelics as tools for self-knowledge that require wisdom in application.
The Smell of Burnt Almonds
Watts recounts a woman's experience of mystical insight under anesthesia and her yearning to regain it. He suggests not seeking the experience, but realizing one's ordinary state is still part of the universal harmony glimpsed then. Like the disciple who ignored the mahout's warning because all is Brahman, we should heed our present feelings too as part of the whole.
The Varieties of Scientific Experience
Carl Sagan's prescient exploration of the relationship between religion and science, and his personal search for God.
The World Wide Web and the Millennium
Seldom do we have an opportunity to test the accuracy of oracular predictions, but this fascinating conversation between two great thinkers has already proven to be right on target. Speculations include the future evolutionary development of the Internet, whether it is an embryonic intelligence, whether it will merge our minds into a planetary consciousness, or whether it is an alien brain waiting for humanity to cross an evolutionary threshold. Let the bard and the chaos theorist weave an exquisite cybernetic fantasy for you in this evening seminar.
Turning the Head, or Turning On
Talking to an audience at San José State University, Alan Watts recounts the first time he tried consciousness-altering substances after meeting Aldous Huxley. He argues that Western society largely isn’t ready for the mystical experience which can be triggered in these mental states, but nonetheless advocates for them, as they may arouse positive transformation in the human collectivity.
Visionary Experience
Presented at the 14th Annual Congress of Applied Psychology. Aldous Huxley had been invited to the symposium by Timonthy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). The two had met some months earlier, when Tim invited the author of the first two major works of modern psychedelic literature (The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell) to participate in the Harvard research program. Huxley agreed and was “Subject no.11” in a group psilocybin session run by Leary in November 1960.
You Are Not What You Look Like
Harding invites us to investigate who we really are, beyond appearances. He argues we are not the body we see in the mirror; rather, the mystics say we are the unseen awareness peering out. So look within and discover you are not merely a mortal form, but the deathless source beholding this mirage called “life.”
