Foreword

Ervin Laszlo

When the author of this remarkable book approached me about writing a foreword to it, knowing his previous work I accepted with pleasure. Having now read the manuscript, I do not regret my decision. I feel compelled to produce a genuine “fore-word”—not a lengthy treatise but a few words. Nothing more is called for because the information conveyed in these pages stands by itself. It needs to be apprehended and absorbed, not explained. However, in view of the controversy surrounding the use of psychedelics to obtain information about the real world, the intellectual conditions under which this book has been written do need a word of introduction. This foreword is dedicated to this task.

This is one of the most insightful and significant books I have ever read. But to understand its significance and to endorse its message, one must be willing to entertain three premises:

That there is an intelligence behind the things that exist in the universe,

That there is purpose exhibited by this intelligence, and

That it is humanly possible to access some elements of this intelligence and learn some aspects of its purpose.

These premises have been debated for millennia, with the debates usually confined to the domains of theology and spirituality. Today, however, they can be raised in the context of the new paradigm emerging in science. If they are raised and debated in this context, the usual objections to using psychedelics to obtain valid knowledge about the universe lose their cogency. If we sit with this emerging body of evidence with an open mind, we recognize, as Bache says, that our mind is a window on the universe and through this window comes information not only about its physical objects and processes but also about the agency that lies behind them and the purpose exhibited by this agency.

Our window on the universe is not a narrow slit that allows only the penetration of physical information, as mainstream science holds. Under the right conditions, our window opens to holographically complete information sourced in the intelligence that pervades the universe. In its ordinary state, our brain is not equipped to decode all or even most of this information; it is designed to decode only those aspects and segments that are necessary or useful for our immediate life. Under certain conditions, however, the receptivity of the brain can be increased and these aspects and segments can be expanded. There are many ways of doing this, and it is immaterial which means are chosen as long as they are effective and do not damage the brain, the rest of the organism, or the web of life in which the brain and the organism are embedded. Among the various methods for expanding our field of awareness, such as holotropic breathing, meditation, and trance dancing, Bache shows that psychedelics are a particularly powerful method when used in a safe and therapeutically structured manner.

Of course, we need to distinguish valid and real information from misleading and illusory information. Under the influence of psychedelics, we get an expanded stream of information, and most of that stream is still considered illusory by the modern mind. We need to take steps to ensure that the information we apprehend through the chemically modified receptivity of our brain is genuine, even when it goes beyond the modern mind’s understanding of reality, and this is the task of critical philosophical reflection.

With his expansion of the therapeutic protocol into the protocol of psychedelic exploration, Chris Bache has provided us with a guide for gathering genuine information from deep states of consciousness induced by psychedelics.

Following his protocol does not guarantee the truth of the three premises stated above; these are premises, not conclusions. However, there are independently compelling reasons to assume the validity of these premises, as I have argued in my recent books, in particular What Is Reality? (2016) and The Intelligence of the Cosmos (2017).

When we recognize the validity of these premises, our mind becomes more receptive to the information that reaches us in these expanded states. As we do, we apprehend deeper and wider layers of reality and come closer to understanding the purpose of our existence. This is amply illustrated in Bache’s fascinating and courageous investigation of the deep domains of consciousness that open under the influence of LSD.

Ervin Laszlo, is a philosopher, systems scientist, and founder of the Club of Budapest think tank. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he has published more than seventy-five books and over four hundred articles and research papers. He lives in Tuscany.