"Nothing frustrates the mind more than its attempts to be spontaneously natural without any intention to do so." — Jason Gregory

Yesterday I received the most unexpected birthday present. While getting ready for sleep, I entered a state of trance and quickly experienced qualified primal fears (fear of death, fear of others, fear of scarcity....) At first awareness would be drawn to the fear and identified with it, "I" was afraid, scared, dread. Then the fear would become familiar, less intense, letting an observer emerge. Eventually the observer would take a step back, and fears would become mere elements on a scenery. Ultimately, awareness moved from identification with fear to a stable observation position. The mind enjoyed the rest of the trance freely moving from one state to the other. Today no milk, has my fear gone away?

We've all heard the spiritual talk: "Meditation can dissolve the ego," or "True enlightenment is just a moment away." But how does that stack up against a chemical shortcut, like a powerful psychedelic? ​Imperial College London, led by Dr. Chris Timmermann, decided to find out. They put one of the world's most advanced Mahamudra meditators—a Lama with 17 years and over ten thousand hours of practice—into the lab. ​The question that drives this research? Can the sense of self switch off in more than one way? ​The Experiment: Nond Gual vs. 5-MeO-DMT ​This was a first-of-its-kind experiment. They directly compared the Lama's brain and self-awareness across three different conditions, all within one protocol: - ​Nond Gual Meditation: The Lama entered a deep meditative state where the boundary between "me" and the world softened. He reported clarity and equanimity. - ​Low Dose 5-MeO-DMT: A small dose of the psychedelic, which brought imagery, emotional shifts, and a quieter sense of self. - ​High Dose 5-MeO-DMT: A stronger dose that completely removed the body and the environment, leaving only a bright, empty awareness. The Lama described the awareness as subtle, with no notion of the "gross aspect of self". ​They tracked brain data, psychological ratings, and interviews moment-by-moment. ​🧠 What the Brain Waves Told Us ​Brain rhythms are just electrical waves that shift with different states of mind. The recordings revealed some seriously intriguing differences: - ​Nond Gual Meditation & Low Dose 5-MeO: The brain became quieter and more stable. Alpha activity (linked to calm focus and a quiet mind) increased, and gamma activity (linked to active thinking and intense sensory processing) dropped. - ​High Dose 5-MeO: This was a different beast entirely. Gamma activity increased, and the signal became chaotic. The brain signal showed high Neural Entropy (a measure of chaotic brain signal), matching the flood of intense internal experience. - - The Big Takeaway: An AI trained on the Lama's nond Gual brain activity recognized the low dose of 5-MeO as similar—they shared an overlapping neural signature. But the AI did not recognize the high dose.

Effortless mindfulness frames trauma work as shifting the “place you are aware from.” Core points: 1. Do not drop into traumatic material from the thinking mind. First shift into open, spacious awareness. 2. From that wider awareness, let traumatic sensations or memories appear as objects in the field, not as your identity. 3. Maintain separation: awake awareness is stable, the trauma content moves inside it. 4. Let awareness “receive” the sensations without pushing for catharsis or narrative. 5. If intensity rises, widen awareness again until regulation returns. 6. Work in short cycles. No deep immersion. Integration happens by repeated brief contact from a safe vantage. It is a regulation approach, not a replacement for clinical treatment.

​"When I look back, I see nothing. This is wisdom. When I look forward, I see the world. This is love." — Nisargadatta