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by Arjun Walia

February 2, 2015

from Collective-Evolution Website



Arjun Walia

I joined the CE team in 2010 and have been doing this ever since. There are many things happening on the planet that don't resonate with me, and I wanted to do what I could to play a role in creating change. It's been great making changes in my own life and creating awareness and I look forward to more projects that move beyond awareness and into action and implementation. arjun@collective-evolution.com When you think about Steve Jobs , meditation and LSD are probably two things that don't come to your mind. Although I myself do not use LSD and/or other psychedelic substances, I am aware of the negative and unnecessary stigma that's been attached to them for decades. It's another example where the quote, "condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance". William Paley , ... holds true. Many are quick to judge and speak out against these types of substances without looking deeper, without examining the science, or really anything about them at all. A lot of research and information has surfaced, especially within the past decade, showing that these types of substances that nature has provided for us could actually be good for your health (if used correctly), and can play a part in shifting your world view perception for the better. That being said, they are definitely not required or needed to do that. I compare psychedelics to the same thing as equal human rights, whether it be gay rights, women's rights, men's rights, animal rights or anything else. They have a stigma attached to them that should definitely not be there. I would like to stress that psychedelics are not needed, and you can still experience the same creativity, ask the same questions and achieve a similar "state of being" without them. I would also like to point you towards two articles we've published that touch on this very topic: How to Open The Doors of Perception at Will Without Psychedelics

This Popular Practice is Known to Induce a Psychedelic State Without the Use of Psychedelics Did Steve Jobs Really Do Psychedelics? Some of you might be asking, did he really do Psychedelics? It's true that there is no way to verify it with 100 percent certainty, or is there? I can't seem to find a comment directly from him from an interview, or from a family member. On the other hand, we do have a video below with Daniel Kottke in it, he is an American computer engineer and one of the first employees of apple. In the video below, he expresses what some still don't believe to be true: "Steve and I developed a friendship when we both read this amazing book called 'be here now' which is about psychedelics and spirituality." He also points to the fact that Steve Jobs said that psychedelics was one of the best things he ever did because, "it expands your consciousness. It could have been mushrooms, it could have been peyote, it could have been a number of other things." These statements by Daniel alone are quite convincing, but I did some more looking. Here is a New York Times article claiming that he said that taking LSD "was one of the most important things he had done in his life." Here is an article published by Business Insider claiming the same thing. Here is a CBC News article that claims his experiences with psychedelics has been well documented. Steve Jobs also requested Walter Isaacson, a former executive at CNN and Time to write his biography. He has also written best-selling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein. In the book he describes the use of psychedelics by Steve. As you can see, the idea that Steve Jobs did use psychedelics seems to hold a lot of merit. "Taking LSD was a profound experience, one of the most important things in my life. LSD shows you that there's another side to the coin, and you can't remember it when it wears off, but you know it. It reinforced my sense of what was important - creating great things instead of making money, putting things back into the stream of history and of human consciousness as much as I could." Steve Jobs, Quote taken from the autobiography mentioned above Hopefully this video contributes in getting rid of the negative stigma that is attached to the use of psychedelics, and encourages others to look into a topic before instantly judging it from a place of belief. It's important that we all keep open minds, especially in today's day and age where new information is constantly coming to light. Sometimes new information and evidence that goes against our ingrained belief systems that we hold onto so much can cause cognitive dissonance. It can completely shut down the mind, as it doesn't want to believe something that goes against what they've thought for so long. "It is the mark of an educated person to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle

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