I spend a fair amount of time on the road, so I have found a handful of podcasts I like to listen to that keep me entertained and informed. This is a good thing for me. I am and always have been curious about countless things and an avid reader. However, reading and driving is not good for one's health, so podcasts have become the next best thing.
I like listening to fitness-related podcasts, and I have found there is a groundswell of solid common sense fitness-based perspectives arising that cover everything from strength training, to mindfulness, to indigenous/shamanic healing, to whole-life solutions for anything that comes along. I don't agree with everything (of course), but I find it refreshing, especially considering the fear-based conventional mindset that portrays life as dangerous and toxic, but seems to have a corporate/chemical/pharmaceutical solution for everything. There appear to be more people these days proclaiming that life is not necessarily dangerous, it doesn't have to be toxic, and our biological systems--such as natural immunity--work just fine, thank you. Of course, that makes those of us who think this way a threat to the system. Odd, isn't it?
As I noted above, I don't agree with everything I find. One of the things I personally take exception to is bio-hacking. Now, before I go any further with that, I should say this is my personal perspective. I don't care if other people do these things. However, I am not personally interested and do have my own rather unoriginal position on this.
The human organism is a natural product of this universe. Everything it needs, mentally, physically, spiritually is provided and simply acquired, albeit with a dose of effort and discipline. In most cases the vitamins, minerals, and energy sources we need to function optimally can be found in a sensible diet. These can be supplemented with strength and internal-energy training to further optimize and approach actualization. And of course, the above can be supplemented even further with spiritual practice to the point of realizing self-actualization. Now reams of material can and has been written to further elaborate on the above, and many lifetimes of practice and training can and have been dedicated to said actualization. But it can all be done without more than the basic supplements, without psychedelics, without transfusions or other proto-medical procedures, and without self-flagellating diets, training regimes, or extreme personal adventures. What it does require is time, effort, and discipline. Researching, learning, and understanding Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Raja Yoga for example will take much longer than some of the more popular hacks to achieve a certain mind-body condition or bio-function, but they will deliver a natural solution that is in keeping with the natural flow of the Universe, not to mention being safer. To that end, I am sure so-called plant medicines can reveal the non-dual nature of the Universe, but so will dedicated spiritual practice, especially if one is fortunate enough to find a master teacher to study with. Given, it may take longer, but I have to wonder about the final product.
Again, I am not criticizing those who chose bio-hacking as much as I am arguing for what I consider to be a better, more holistic way to achieve a state of self-actualization. It takes a caterpillar a certain amount of time to break free of the cocoon. One could help the poor thing and free her earlier. But of course, the question then remains, would she still be the same butterfly. The trip is rarely about the destination. In fact, I feel quite sure that the trip itself is indeed the destination. And I can testify that the trip of engaged living is not in any sense of the word a short trip, nor is it ever really over. I feel it continues even after we leave this plane. Perhaps it's easier to dissolve supplements in our coffee, sit in a sweat lodge for a weekend, or be fed mescaline by a South American Shaman rather than follow a strict daily diet determined by one's constitution along with a regimen of long periods of meditation and many years of embodied energetic practice, and/or follow a template such as the Nobel Eightfold Path or Ashtanga Yoga. A life following the narrow path takes commitment, discipline, years of constant study and practice. So yeah, hacking may be easier. But personally, I can't imagine it is more rewarding.
I like listening to fitness-related podcasts, and I have found there is a groundswell of solid common sense fitness-based perspectives arising that cover everything from strength training, to mindfulness, to indigenous/shamanic healing, to whole-life solutions for anything that comes along. I don't agree with everything (of course), but I find it refreshing, especially considering the fear-based conventional mindset that portrays life as dangerous and toxic, but seems to have a corporate/chemical/pharmaceutical solution for everything. There appear to be more people these days proclaiming that life is not necessarily dangerous, it doesn't have to be toxic, and our biological systems--such as natural immunity--work just fine, thank you. Of course, that makes those of us who think this way a threat to the system. Odd, isn't it?
As I noted above, I don't agree with everything I find. One of the things I personally take exception to is bio-hacking. Now, before I go any further with that, I should say this is my personal perspective. I don't care if other people do these things. However, I am not personally interested and do have my own rather unoriginal position on this.
The human organism is a natural product of this universe. Everything it needs, mentally, physically, spiritually is provided and simply acquired, albeit with a dose of effort and discipline. In most cases the vitamins, minerals, and energy sources we need to function optimally can be found in a sensible diet. These can be supplemented with strength and internal-energy training to further optimize and approach actualization. And of course, the above can be supplemented even further with spiritual practice to the point of realizing self-actualization. Now reams of material can and has been written to further elaborate on the above, and many lifetimes of practice and training can and have been dedicated to said actualization. But it can all be done without more than the basic supplements, without psychedelics, without transfusions or other proto-medical procedures, and without self-flagellating diets, training regimes, or extreme personal adventures. What it does require is time, effort, and discipline. Researching, learning, and understanding Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Raja Yoga for example will take much longer than some of the more popular hacks to achieve a certain mind-body condition or bio-function, but they will deliver a natural solution that is in keeping with the natural flow of the Universe, not to mention being safer. To that end, I am sure so-called plant medicines can reveal the non-dual nature of the Universe, but so will dedicated spiritual practice, especially if one is fortunate enough to find a master teacher to study with. Given, it may take longer, but I have to wonder about the final product.
Again, I am not criticizing those who chose bio-hacking as much as I am arguing for what I consider to be a better, more holistic way to achieve a state of self-actualization. It takes a caterpillar a certain amount of time to break free of the cocoon. One could help the poor thing and free her earlier. But of course, the question then remains, would she still be the same butterfly. The trip is rarely about the destination. In fact, I feel quite sure that the trip itself is indeed the destination. And I can testify that the trip of engaged living is not in any sense of the word a short trip, nor is it ever really over. I feel it continues even after we leave this plane. Perhaps it's easier to dissolve supplements in our coffee, sit in a sweat lodge for a weekend, or be fed mescaline by a South American Shaman rather than follow a strict daily diet determined by one's constitution along with a regimen of long periods of meditation and many years of embodied energetic practice, and/or follow a template such as the Nobel Eightfold Path or Ashtanga Yoga. A life following the narrow path takes commitment, discipline, years of constant study and practice. So yeah, hacking may be easier. But personally, I can't imagine it is more rewarding.
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