Get the latest from The Mind Unleashed in your inbox. Sign up right here.

Alcohol is the most consumed mind altering tool in society today. And it’s no wonder; legally it’s basically all we’ve got to work with.

Stay close to a pub and without fail you’ll quickly hear two or more people dribbling in an ego duel of discourse. It then has a high potential to escalate into a violent exchange, although due to their diminished capacity, it doesn’t end up that violent at all. So much damage is thankfully avoided.

Exposure to the therapeutic sector will show us how addictive alcohol is. It lowers our IQ. It ruins people’s lives, or better put, people allow it to ruin their lives. Or even more accurately put, people ruin their own lives, because irrespective of how poorly influenced an individual is, they still make the final decisions. In any case, regardless of how we do say it, families are regrettably broken apart too.

But that’s just one side of the story, so let me be clear: there’s nothing inherently wrong with getting drunk. Hanging with our best mates and having a drink can loosen our minds, which inevitably leads to comedy, connection and insight. Some of our best times are arguably in that place, so it’s simply a lifestyle that many of us are always going to choose.

Unfortunately though, a strong proportion of society’s use of it is not at a respectable level. Most people lose their minds on it at least once, if not many times over many years. Without the proper education of altered states in our classrooms – and at home – we’ve been destined to wander through the dark shadows of this potion until we each learn the wisdom that it can generate.

That goes for all types altered states as well. We not only perceive but think, feel and act differently depending on the chemical concoction inside of us, no matter if it was externally consumed or made from within. Some states are strong and others are subtle.

For example, M******** is a much better substance for an angry, disconnected and ego-based society. For starters, it’s notorious for making us face ourselves through uncovering our internal truth and lies. Basically zero people die from it and very few fight on it too. It has many medicinal applications. The personal and social benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, yet it’s still mostly illegal.

The medicinal benefits are now finally being publicly realized. Belatedly, it’s finally beginning to be accepted in the Western world with three US states now legalizing it for recreational use, and over twenty who have sanctioned it for medicinal use.

Nevertheless, the powers that govern have strictly restricted how we can legitimately explore our minds.

But what else can we expect when we are in a war on consciousness and freedom: be a productive economic citizen, believe what we say, don’t believe others, consume material goods, science is your god. The only altered state that we consider acceptable is a mix of sugar and alcohol which may result in aggression-fueled mania. Good luck, each man for themselves. And by the way, if you try anything else, we’ll label you a criminal.

There’s little worth in the education of alcohol as well, because most of it misses the core of the issue. Yes, the individual needs to have a crack at making the right decisions in their life, but the problems associated with it stem from a cultural existential crisis where we are disconnected from ourselves and each other. Our community heart beats in despair.

Alcohol is only a fragment of this issue – there are many ways that we alter our minds in dysfunctional ways and become addicted. For what it’s worth though, we do have good intentions.

Love, lust and other emotions are powerful elixirs that can either damage an individual or empower them on their journey of enlightenment. These animal traits alter our minds more than what we actually give them credit for; we literally have free highs waiting for us on the inside if we use them the right way.

Food is probably the biggest dysfunctional habit in society but it doesn’t have the powerful mind altering qualities that other substances have. Nevertheless, a huge proportion of the population have been unhealthy and even addicted eaters for nearly their entire lives.

Now don’t get me wrong, obviously we all need to eat; yet living in an obese Western world is an ironically immature consequence of “civilized society.”

Then there are the ridiculously harmful p************* drugs, as well as the unregulated and criminalized market of recreational drugs. No matter what, there’s a pill to pop, regardless of whether you’re playing victim or hero.

As naturally inquisitive mind expanding creatures, humans will always seek out ways to break apart the boundaries which are conditioned by our environment since birth. It’s inescapable. This truth will one day reach critical mass and a ‘regulated and educated’ substance market, designed in a safe, healthy and legitimate way, will eventuate as the key to assimilating this birth right into a reborn society. And any such as related dysfunction will also be treated rightly as a health issue, instead of a criminal one.

It’s simply backwards as any other way.

People also love the fantasy world. The imagination is the realm of art and dreams. That’s why all the stories and images constructed by the entertainment business have been getting people drunk since its inception. It’s so successful that consumerism has been amplified by an image-driven and ego-based society. There are even magazines that dedicate their stories to intruding on the lives of those who contribute to the industry.

Yeah I know, it’s sad.

Therefore, it isn’t just alcohol that society is drunk on. Food, sex, drugs, emotions, drama, love, sex, celebrities, ego, image and ideology all have their ropes tightly bound in a noose around society’s neck.

Go home society, you’re drunk.

And when I say go home, I mean back to a place of balance, health and peace. Experiencing altered states of being – whether it is subtle or explosive – is obviously a natural process for us to undertake, but when it’s misused and abused then its purpose has been lost.

It wasn’t always this way though, we should pay more tribute to the old school. So often tribal society nailed it and thankfully the recent generations have been awakening to their sacred arts, such as trance, dance and spiritual romance.

As a society we should advocate altered states – both of mind and body – as long as it’s done through educational and regulatory frameworks. Ever since we were kids spinning around until we fell over in bodily malfunction we have searched for it. It’s simply a natural human quest, so whilst we do it, let’s make sure we keep it balanced for the health of ourselves and our community.

It’s such a normal human experience that we even explore our minds in our dreams. Done the right way we can use our altered mindsets to help heal and grow ourselves, such as through the sophisticated art of meditation.

But for the ultimate altered reality, the one that we seem to be deeply searching for, generally we look towards the source. It’s another altered state of mind which can lead us on a philosophical adventure into the core of reality.

Even though there are still a huge proportion of religious followers on Earth, many unfortunately remain spiritually poor like their fellow materialists. Some give up their power to a backwards conception of an outside “God.” Some pray outwardly instead of within. As it is assumed across mainstream religious and scientific circles that the concept of God is an ‘external thing’, this has been a major misunderstanding that has led to the increased loss of our spiritual riches.

Once we started to separate God, instead of just being it, we raced further away from the place which all energy is sourced.

Yet, it’s not all despair, there actually is a solution. Looking both within our minds and without to nature, we will find a symbolic dance which is interconnected with the source of all reality.

This is the altered state that we should truly search for.

©2015 The Mind Unleashed, Inc, all rights reserved. For permission to re-print this article contact [email protected] , or the respective author.

Featured image: Source