A Planetary Sense of Being, Part V: The Molecules of Being

Senanque

A peripheral but nonetheless related subject that brings together the questions of perception, molecular being, and the nature of our existence on earth relates to the reason that the surface of cells within human beings sports active receptors that bind with molecules producing what are nowadays called ”psychedelic“ experiences. 

The word psychedelic was originally coined in 1957, meaning “to make the mind visible.” The meaning is poorly crafted; the word psyche means, more properly, soul, not mind. 

Psychedelic drugs, in other words, help to make the soul visible—not the intellect. And as those who have taken them know, this is a more accurate description of the effect that they have on Being than on any gross enhancement of knowledge. It tends, rather, to dissolve the bonds of “knowledge” we think we have; we discover how little we actually know about the nature of the soul. Liberated from the conventional restraints imposed by the strict limitations of intellect alone, we discover a new kind of Being.

Human cells have evolved to have surface receptors for substances naturally produced in the body — not concentrated from outside sources and then ingested – that can make the soul more visible. The “chemical factory” within the human body, in other words, has the ability to produce any and all of the molecules that the substances in marijuana, opium, psilocybin, LSD, and so on bind to. 

The difference is that the cell receptors in the human body are specifically designed to receive very slightly different molecules — not the ones in the drugs. The drugs do an interesting and dramatic job of binding to cell surfaces, producing a wide range of psychic effects. However, if the body’s harmonic resonances are better integrated, slowly and carefully developed over a long period of time to raise the levels of inward vibration harmoniously – which was always Gurdjieff’s aim — then the substances that we know so well as psychedelic drugs are produced in our bodies naturally. 

This includes, by the way, a substance analogous to but not the same as nicotine, a drug which mimics the effect of the substances that produce an organic sensation of Being.

 All of these natural molecules produced inwardly and binding to cell receptors are related, in one way or another, to the development of the organic sensation of Being. That lays the foundation for a capacity to concentrate higher substances related to it which then bind to the cell surfaces in lasting ways.

It’s worth noting the way Gurdjieff used the word “coat” to describe the way that substances act on beings — he frequently referred to this action of higher being-bodies:

“Yes,” replied Beelzebub, “on almost all the planets of that solar system also, three-brained beings dwell, and in almost all of them higher being-bodies can be coated. 

“Higher being-bodies, or as they are called on some planets of that solar system, souls, arise in the three-brained beings breeding on all the planets except those before reaching which the emanations of our ‘Most Holy Sun Absolute’, owing to repeated deflections, gradually lose the fullness of their strength and eventually cease entirely to contain the vivific power for coating higher being bodies. “

— Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson,  pages 60 – 61.

 This describes molecular binding to cell surfaces of the various substances related to intensified rates of harmonic vibration. 

In summary, human beings are constructed with a molecular capacity to see and sense their place in the universe and the way in which they’re related to both the moon, the earth, and the solar system. Our intelligence is a tool for perception of place. Hence Gurdjieff’s tremendous emphasis on the words “I am”.

Wishing the best for you on this day,

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.