Deep Timothy Leary quote about addiction

[HandMeSomeOpiates]

I saw this today and really dwelled on it. I am still trying to comprehend everything because it's so deep. I just thought it was some pretty interesting thoughts that you guys might enjoy reading.

"There is nothing to avoid, nothing to escape, nothing to fear. There is just off-on, in-out, start-stop, light-dark, flash-delay.
Death, void, oblivion is the split-second pause. I accept the off.
It is of interest that the heroin addict and the Illuminated Buddha end up at the same place. The void. The junkie is a deeply religious person. The alcoholic is too. Thus our physicians and psychiatrists have no luck in "curing" addicts. If you see an addict as a social misfit, a civic nusiance who must be rehabilitated you completely miss the point.
To cure the junkie and the alcoholic, you must humbly accept that s/he is a more deeply spiritual person than you, and you accept the cosmic validity of his search to transcend the game, and you help him see that blackout drugs are just bad game because you can't just keep holding the off switch.................."

[marshalldylan1]

Honestly, I think Mr. Leary was a bit loony and take what he has to say with a grain of salt.

Interesting quote, but I really don't understand it.

[Russellmeboy]

i like it alot myself. i think hes trying to point out that if someone is an addict theres no point in trying to "cure" them, you just need to point out that you cant just keep yoursellf numb to the world.

[HandMeSomeOpiates]

i like it alot myself. i think hes trying to point out that if someone is an addict theres no point in trying to "cure" them, you just need to point out that you cant just keep yoursellf numb to the world.
Great analysis man!

[shotty]

Yeah good analysis, I like that quote. What does he mean by comparing the heroin addict to the illuminated buddha? Thats interesting, maybe he's comparing how the heroin addict "worships" the high and euphoria.

[insanesteveo]

Yeah good analysis, I like that quote. What does he mean by comparing the heroin addict to the illuminated buddha? Thats interesting, maybe he's comparing how the heroin addict "worships" the high and euphoria.

the enlightened buddha is in a state of nirvana, or as leary puts it, "off". he is not "on", as in he is not experiencing the real world. he is in a place away from here and experiencing many other things. he is in a different state of consciousness from the waking world. the addict is the same in that when he takes his drugs, he goes "off" and stops experiencing the waking world.

what leary is stating is that when one takes drugs, of any kind, they alter your reality and change your consciousness. he also warns that with these drugs, basically moderation is key. you cant spend your whole life "off" not experiencing the real world. you have to abstain from these drugs in some way.

another point he makes in comparing the addict and buddha, he says that the addict is spiritual and searching for more, which is exactly what buddhists do. we are both trying to escape the real world and find more.

of course im not a psychiatrist and just an amateur philosopher so i could be wrong.

one note, i think that leary may also qualify being dead as "off", but just because you are off, doesnt mean you are dead. think of life as a light switch, "on" when you are experiencing it, "off" when you arent.

[firefeind]

ah, the wisdom of leary...the void is something i rarely hear discussed. does he elaborate on it?

[Papa Verine]

What I got out of that... is exactly what I've been trying to do myself and preach to the rest of you.

It's just that we can't be high all the time. We have to find a way to moderate, or maintain. I look at my own withdrawals as a positive thing. Every time I *don't* get high I'm putting some stock in my future highs, and how well I'm going to be able to control my addictions. I spens many a days without opiates, or with just enough to keep the withdrawals away. Because I know no other way... Because I just can't keep getting high every day. It doesn't work for me anymore. About 2 weeks of that and I need 10 bags of dope and a Fent patch to catch the same buzz.

I hope nobody here's getting sick of listening to my bullshit!

[Russellmeboy]

its all good papa, your honestly 100% right, i said in an ealier post it would be a different thing if you had an limitless suply and u didnt get so high that it effected your daily life, but i dont know about all you guys but im certianly not a multi millionaire and even then it wouldnt be a good idea to try and chase it. i would have analized it more but it certainly wasnt 11 pm when i responded it was like 4:45 am w/no sleep..and i still havent slept....SEE this is what happens when yah chase it too much, you get strung the fuck out and u have to detox!

[insanesteveo]

exactly my point too papa. its a little easier to say after all the w/d is gone and youre clean and back to working out. a couple months ago i would have said fuck it, im getting high ALL the time.

but then you come to realize, opiates DO take you away from this world, they dull it down, numb the feelings you have, to the point that what you are experiencing isnt what is actually happening in the world. its a different perception from the one you have when sober. even if opiates make things better for you, no amount is going to fix what is wrong. you have to take breaks.

i know i would consider taking a break, maybe stopping a couple days once a month, but i think the best way would to not be physically addicted. take some every other day, or even less. i couldnt handle chipping like that, and im sure most of you wouldnt either.


soooo, since the dawn of time, ALL humans look for a way to change their consciousness. civilizations around the world have found different things, but in almost every small tribe to giant civilization, they use SOMETHING to get them high, hell, the incas used to make a tea from cacao(chocolate). mostly for spiritual reasons. and they used it in moderation.

MODERATION IS IMPORTANT!

[insanesteveo]

damn, i want to stab myself, im so hypocritical.

[libertine]

this isn't that deep... he's just saying to the squares that addicts aren't lost or in dire need of their help, but rather searching for something beyond their comprehension, but as there is duality in everything, on the other hand, he says that the squares can show the junky that they can't keep searching all the time, they'll miss all experience.

also, the game=life
the void=whatever you personally think about it, i'm not going to try to change your mind

[longduckdong]

I swear Im the only junkie who doesnt dig Timothy Leary or Lou Reed, and thinks Cobain was a poser-moron.

[Shadowsblaze]

Honestly, I think Mr. Leary was a bit loony and take what he has to say with a grain of salt.

Interesting quote, but I really don't understand it. I have mixed opinions on Leary, as a kid I had his record album and it was so deep that I never could get into it, even on acid it was just too mystical and I take the simple route to understanding, and the knowledge I accept I base on reality. Although I believe in transending in a physical way such as going inside yourself mentally I believe you can observe your organs at work even increasing there sensitivity so to be able to go inside yourself when not using and experience the same. It's a condition I have learned to describe as being fluid. To each there own I say and those seeking spirituality through using "turn on".

[libertine]

I swear Im the only junkie who doesnt dig Timothy Leary or Lou Reed, and thinks Cobain was a poser-moron.

Leary wasn't anything special, I can see where you're going with Cobain, but c'mon man, Lou Reed is fucking badass

[WarmCyanide]

I hope nobody here's getting sick of listening to my bullshit!

no way!


Any of you heard Tim Leary's CD? what a trip. Obsessed with off/on. firing off of neurons or not. Binary010101 zero off one on. or is that the other way around?

[dharma bum]

....another point he makes in comparing the addict and buddha, he says that the addict is spiritual and searching for more, which is exactly what buddhists do. we are both trying to escape the real world and find more.


Yes, and 'knowing' that the everyday reality most people experience doesn't mean it's the 'best' or 'right' reality. Like buddhists, we see through most of the unnecessary bullshit that passes for a life for most people. We're less prone to find comfort in material gain and wealth and the life you'd have to live to gain that material wealth.

To touch on what Papa V was writing about moderation, the buddhists call the middle path or the middle way. One doesn't have to be one extreme or the other. In this case, complete abstaining from all drugs is one extreme.....on the other side of that coin is when the addict lets the drugs consume them...the middle path could be, just as an example, for me is suboxone. For Papa V. it could be seed tea instead of letting smack take total control over him......Buddha got this idea from seeing hermetics(sp?) escape from the normal world into the forests to meditate. They would meditate 20 hours a day or something crazy and only eat three gains of rice a day. He saw this and tried to show a middle path to gain enlightenment.

Carl Jung called us " frustrated mystics".

[nick]

Jung describes addiction as "an almost spiritual desire to be whole."

[longduckdong]

Leary wasn't anything special, I can see where you're going with Cobain, but c'mon man, Lou Reed is fucking badass

I know what you mean. I understand why Reed is so popular or "undergroudly" popular. I totally can see why. But for some reason I just never dug him or the VU. It's kinda the same way I feel about Rush. They are a very talented band, some songs have great lyrics. But for some reason, I cant stand them. Unexplainable.

Cobain on the other hand was in the right place at the right time IMO.

Weird AL said it best: "A garage band, from Seattle".

[taj]

I know what you mean. I understand why Reed is so popular or "undergroudly" popular. I totally can see why. But for some reason I just never dug him or the VU. It's kinda the same way I feel about Rush. They are a very talented band, some songs have great lyrics. But for some reason, I cant stand them. Unexplainable.

Cobain on the other hand was in the right place at the right time IMO.

Weird AL said it best: "A garage band, from Seattle".

I feel the same way about Rush, I can't stand them at all, even though they are talented and yada yada.

I like Lou Reed and the VU, but have to be in a certain mood, and I agree about Nirvana, I don't see how so many people are still enthralled with Kurt Cobain, got old quick, imo

[Papa Verine]

I've never been a fan of Curt Cobain (or Nirvana) myself. I didn't care much for his girlfriend either, and hate to admit I actually liked a couple "Hole" songs.

[hovadagod]

He whined and so did his girl.

[Papa Verine]

He whined and so did his girl.

Fuckin' crybaby's

[libertine]

I feel the same way about Rush, I can't stand them at all, even though they are talented and yada yada.

I like Lou Reed and the VU, but have to be in a certain mood, and I agree about Nirvana, I don't see how so many people are still enthralled with Kurt Cobain, got old quick, imo


fuck rush...


but yeah i only like one nirvana song, and it's not even an original, they're covering leadbelly...

but the Velvet Underground is great, Lou Reed too

[Raz]

Interestin tingy......

One fing i know fo shizzle, havin an unlimited supply aint da answer....Its true, like da man says, ya cant be "off" all da time......You have to somehow grow wiv the tings around you, or you just become too far removed/detachted .....Or you have found ya own personal nirvana,in a bag a powder....

.And before you know it yrs have past you by.....

[SHELLEY]

eh, i wouldn't take what leary says seriously in any case
it's like taking your wisdom from ozzy osbourne :)
to each their own though, no offense

and nirvana is some whiny music, though not at the whine-level of, say, smashing pumpkins

[longduckdong]

I've never been a fan of Curt Cobain (or Nirvana) myself. I didn't care much for his girlfriend either, and hate to admit I actually liked a couple "Hole" songs.

I swear I wont tell anyone I like a coupld Hole songs too if you dont.

Actually some of Hole's early shit was very punk rock driven shit. Violet was a pretty cool song.


OH and post 311 if anyone is a fan of the band. HAHAHA

[losangeleslifer]

this isn't that deep... he's just saying to the squares that addicts aren't lost or in dire need of their help, but rather searching for something beyond their comprehension, but as there is duality in everything, on the other hand, he says that the squares can show the junky that they can't keep searching all the time, they'll miss all experience.

also, the game=life
the void=whatever you personally think about it, i'm not going to try to change your mind

Reading your posts sometimes, I can totally understand why you would think this.

[libertine]

Reading your posts sometimes, I can totally understand why you would think this.

so what does this supposed to mean, and why did you bold the first part?

[insanesteveo]

OH and post 311 if anyone is a fan of the band. HAHAHA

im FROM omaha, and i even hate 311. EVERYONE in omaha likes them, but i just cant get into them. if im stoned enough, and a friend puts it on, ill groove to it, but its never something i intentionally listen to. i just dont understand.

oh, and the singer bought a fucking island. it was for his fiancee or something i guess. what a fucker.


and as for leary, im not so sure i agree with him wholely either. i just like to disect what he says and analyze it, some of it makes sense.

[nick]

I'm not a big Nirvana fan,but any band that has a lyric "I'm a negative creep when I'm stoned." can't be all bad.