29 Comments
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Nico Versluys's avatar

Ah Doug, you light me up. I read this while coming to terms with an illness I recently found will affect me for the rest of my life, after finding out my brother in law passed today and it gave me light and hope. You affected me my mate, and I hope this affects you, beautiful soul.

Bruno Selun's avatar

What a truly awe- and wonder-full report. Thank you for trusting yourself and us enough to share it here, it was a privilege to read.

Ronald Fel Jones's avatar

One of the most profound and beautiful things I've ever read, Douglas. Thank you.

Tom Valovic's avatar

Nice. Thanks for trashing the transhumanist "live forever" and "reverse aging" agenda. Trouble is when this becomes a public meme, many will actually believe it and go with the program and most likely Big Pharma/Tech will reap the benefits. Even Fox news is in the act --- reporting on their evening news show yesterday about reversing aging.

Hannah's avatar

Your experience sounds almost exactly like the time I died. From an illness. Leaving this consciousness feels much like that. I have no frame of reference to put words to it, but this sounds close. Words just get in the way.

Zadi Diaz's avatar

Reading this was quite the ride. Uncomfortable and very familiar at once. Thanks so much for sharing this experience.🌀

Susan Fernbach's avatar

I’m grateful to read this today. Thank you.

T a s t e  by Christine Choi's avatar

“Find the others” captures what I’ve been seeking all along. The story of the young man who recognized you beyond achievement is perfect. Thank you for what you do and how you say it.

Randi's avatar

Agreed! Those immediate connections that cut to the core of emotional experience are beautiful.

darius/dare carrasquillo's avatar

The ppl who need this kind of message the most are not fucking reading articles like this.

Randi's avatar

But sending it out there with the love to invite them in is a powerful agent for change.

Dave Smith's avatar

This was a beautiful read. Please never doubt that you have profoundly affected legions of people in a positive manner through the work that you've done. I've certainly benefitted from it. In my own past experience chasing dissolution through entheogenic means, I once regained awareness laughing hysterically. Some day I hope to remember the joke.

Glenn A. Melcher's avatar

You’ve out done Yourself Mr. Rushkoff with Your timing as well as essence ..

thank You for allowing us a seat at Your table

Steve K's avatar

Hey Douglas,

Once upon a time many years ago, I got a copy of Cyberia at a huge publishers' outlet store. In the parking lot took a look at the first chapter and... then I noticed the sun had gone down so I stuck in a bookmark and drove home.

Near as I can tell you are a version of me with way better access to resources and information, determined to spread them around. Your work has not changed the direction my world view points in - just added a LOT of depth and detail, and opened new paths for exploration.

Your latest post makes it clear that you are a natural born Gnostic. I should have guessed, though it came as no surprise. I had my first "great revelation" experience at age 23, following some years of obsessive study and even more obsessive meditation and self observation.

Pray do continue: The world as we know it only has single digit decades left, so there's a lot of work to be done and you are handing out essential tools. Thank you for that.

Glenn A. Melcher's avatar

Your observation regarding decades is titch off Steve K

we maybe looking at weeks not decades

John Spivey's avatar

I deeply appreciate what you have written. You articulate some of the experience I've had during my 79 years. To die and come back reinvigorated for this brief, but incandescent and beautiful moment in time. Today my wife and I were out walking in the woods and any number of trees caused me to stop and examine their bark and form. It was all new and just so.

nutrient  poeisis's avatar

Maybe *answering* has become the addiction, and thinking is not required?

If I were a student of Michael Levin, I’d keep swearing I was born stupid and bipolar.

The conventional wisdom searches for balance, yet the heart is not in the middle by design.

Imagine if surgery put the heart in the middle, as does machine learning.

We put the word balance as guru to individualism, or *genius*

Yes we need to die, to again see what is unbalanced in freakonomics and endless addictive staged lies.

Evangelism can not go analogue and never has, children are just too unpredictable.

mini t's avatar

instead of sneaking ayahuasca into the local cacao ceremony my mystical trip involved a job at a building site where my colleague who was a ... brick short ha, was bombing them off the scaffold, i didnt realize at the time until the other builders started cautioning at me 'oh glad to see you still have a head' etc

you too can have this! for free! your perfect little reminder of how stupidly cheap your life is

Philip Rosedale's avatar

Thank you, sir. Beautiful.