hello space cadets,

has anyone read anything by stanislov grof? i was turned on to the holotropic mind after reading the holographic universe and just finished reading when the impossible happens: adventures in non-ordinary realities. after doing a bit of detective work i found this video of him discussing the recent expansion of the collective unconscious.

from my first introduction to the idea i had always assumed that the collective unconscious was this absolute connection to every other life form. something that is, was and always will be. static. so after hearing about stan's experience with the collective unconscious becoming more encompassing i started to rethink my understanding. i have a feeling the rest of this post is going to feel a bit disorganized and scatterbrained, but i'll blame it on being nervous my first time speaking in front of the class.

i'm starting to see the collective unconscious as self-aware (us knowing ourselves through it and vice versa) and evolving rather than a static construct.

so what would cause it to expand? stan mentioned at the end about technology's role in unified communication and awareness, so it seems the internet is the big influence over this collective unconscious evolution. what's weird for me is that i always thought of technology as this lifeless tool, but now it's starting to feel like a conscious, organic entity. an inseparable element in the path of human evolution.

to digress a bit, in when the impossible happens... a few of stan's recollections account for people entering states of consciousness in much simpler life forms like sequoias or even inanimate objects such as stones, another passage touches upon gregory bateson's idea of the earth being a living organism, which i was reminded of in nagash's recent post on the expanding earth. connecting these dots leads me to think consciousness and matter are one.