8: Bill Reel - Donald Hoffman, Psychedelics, Mysticism, Automatic Writing, and Esotericism (Part 2)

Bill Reel and I continue our conversation on reality, consciousness, and what that has to do with Mormonism's origins. We discuss Donald Hoffman, Carl Jung, the filter theory of consciousness, psychedelics, and mystical states of consciousness as defined by research. We also discuss automatic writing and its similarities to AI.

With the groundwork finally set, I review some of the evidences that Joseph Smith's cosmology was formed from his own interest in consciousness and reality, through direct exploration, as well as adaptation from estoteric traditions like freemasonry, and folk magic. These evidences includes Joseph Smith's teaching of reincarnation, correlations between the temple endowment and the Apocalypse of James from the Nag Hammadi library discovered in the 1940's, the similarities between some of Joseph Smith's theophanies and criteria in research used to define mystical states, as well as indications that psychedelics were used in the early church. I also discuss the Zionitic Brethren, a group four miles from Peter Whitmer in the 1700's that practiced baptism for the dead, claimed the Melchizedek Priesthood, and used psychedelics. Finally, I review some parallels between Mormon theology and what has evolved into what you might call New Age spiritual beliefs, such as those between the priesthood and Reiki, between Kolob and the star system Sirius, and between Abraham 3 and the New Age concept of Starseeds.

Links:

Bill Reel and Mormon Discussions Podcast - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0lEZJF0ZH6ccoteUP9Z4Fu?si=5777d26b633c4501⁠

New to the podcast? Make sure you watch Episode 2 or read it in on the Substack for the integrative narrative of Mormon origins:

https://youtu.be/5YBeMrR1seM

https://open.substack.com/pub/mormonsmysticsandmuons/p/mormonism-psychedelics-quantum-physics

Please rate, share, and get in touch at [email protected]!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Recap

01:58 Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory of Perception

07:47 Space and Time as Constructs

15:36 Integrating Science and Spirituality

18:06 Consciousness

20:33 Defining God

21:53 Headset Analogy of the Nature of Reality

23:16 Understanding Reality as a Choose Your Own Adventure Book

24:36 Dreams as a Model for Reality

27:04 Hinduism

28:38 Photogrammetry as a Model for Knowledge and Collapsing Paradoxes

34:38 Carl Jung

36:48 Idealism and Oneness - The Antidote to Duality

39:46 Psychedelics and Mystical Experiences

44:07 Bill's Experience with Mushrooms and Ayahuasca

47:33 What is Real?

50:49 The Immortality Key - Religion's History of Psychedelics

54:13 Understanding Mystical States and Different Modalities to Access Them

01:01:38 Gabe's Endogenous Mystical States during his Kundalini Awakening

01:05:47 The Profundity of Mystical States and the Implications

01:07:25 Internal Family Systems Therapy

01:11:03 Idealism's Morality

01:12:59 Idealism as the Antidote to Nihilism

01:16:51 Automatic Writing and Channeling

01:31:11 Mormonism's Connection with Esoteric and Gnostic Traditions

01:40:17 Joseph Smith and Reincarnation

01:42:32 Gnostic Text: Apocalypse of James, and Similarities to the Endowment

01:43:49 Parallels Between Reiki and the Priesthood

01:44:40 Zionitic Brethren in Ephrata, PA

01:45:53 Kolob, Sirius, and the New Age Concept of Starseeds

01:48:09 Psychedelics and Early Mormonism

01:50:34 Conclusion