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The High and the Higher Still

By Matthew Webb

Part 1

What follows is a factual account of many extraordinary experiences, which most will find completely unbelievable. For the last 7 years I’ve returned to the woods for a period of personal transformation, and this last period was by far the most meaningful. I confess that it was frankly startling in many respects. Contained herein are spiritual encounters with God and Nature, revelations as to the purpose of life, the expansion of consciousness, the right use of entheogens, the greater mastery of intent, and many other spiritual facts which, to my knowledge, have never before been written. This series of articles is a chronology, a short diary if you will, of the Immense and Profound available to us all. It describes the transcendental events which occurred during the June 2006 vision quest in the deep woods. While it recounts events with as much clarity as may be expected of the written word, it also focuses on how the reader may themselves begin to undertake such a journey. In fact, many of the revelations of this period center themselves around the combination of two key factors, which can be described, (clumsily) as, 1) the nature and will of God, and, 2) the employment of the group mind principle for the sake of expanding mutual consciousness. Were such revelations to be understood and applied by even a handful of practitioners, the course of human history would be changed forever. I am thus compelled by a Will not entirely my own, to report these experiences to a select minority of persons around the world. It is hoped that those who are ready to undertake the Path in fuller measure, will find this information of aid in greater attainment.

[Please note that these particular writings are definitely not intended for the general public. They are meant for the intermediate to advanced practitioner of the expansion of consciousness, or at least the very serious-minded, spiritually focused individual.]

June 4, 2006

Having arrived yesterday in the usual wooded place far from "civilization", I set up camp by mid morning. This meant little more than cleaning up, after unpacking a few 5 gallon propane tanks and cook stove near my RV-equipped van. A short walk down the steep hill to the condemned creek bridge, yielded 3 gallons of excellent water by backpack.

Upon return to camp an extreme meditative calm suddenly swept over me. The compulsion to lie in bed even after a long and sound nights’ sleep was overwhelming. Intuition told me that this unexpected shift was due mainly to a purging of the psychic impact of town-living for so long. Various effects of stress, primarily the pain and fear so prevalent in the apartment complex Sandi and I had been, "house-sitting" in for the last month, (and which permeate the entire modern world) were, I was told, being "purified out" by the consciousness of the woods. I was also told after about an hour of deep meditative slumber, that this represented a turning point of spiritual change. It was a personal threshold of transformation for things to come, now that I had returned to, "my native element" of the deep woods.

As I lay in the bed of my van, the depth of this spontaneous meditation was causing some unusual perceptual effects. After about two hours, sensations of not being in the physical body were increasing. To be more exact, it felt as though the body was in fact becoming a large-scale field of energy and awareness. The exact center of this, "field of self" seemed to fluctuate and waver. I focused my intent to get the most from this experience, and sensed a much larger source of consciousness. The presence of the Earth Mind was clearly flowing through me like a conduit. Intuition was again indicated that the, "intent at large", (God/Earth Mind) were aiding my long-standing process to expand consciousness, and fully express the spirit of soul while still in this body. It was indicated that I should relax completely and in all the subtle feeling/intent elements of the body and aura. I was further compelled to draw in chi, (energy) omni-directionally from the forest, and to use the intent of incorporating the state of the local Earth Mind to improve my own. This entire process went on for about three hours, (though time was difficult to estimate, seeming simultaneously slow and fast-moving).

I arose in the early afternoon, with the sun filtering through old Douglas fir and thick growths of huckleberry bushes and rhododendrons. The spongy soil was still damp from the recent rains, and smelled of spring growth. Walking around the short, encircling road near camp proved difficult, due to a body-wide sensation that could only be described as a kind of, "system shock". The feeling might be compared to overexertion combined with a mild sunburn, although it was not entirely unpleasant. After walking one lap of that short loop of gravel road, the idea of having a Smoke kept coming into my mind, just as it had while lying down. I’ve previously made it a policy to never smoke the sacramental Herb upon freshly arriving in the woods, because a process of purification of two days or more is usually advisable. On this occasion however, it was indicated to me that a Smoke would be extremely useful regardless of ill-preparation and the symptoms of system shock that sometimes accompany great personal change. In addition, this impulse to Smoke did not entirely originate with me, and so, I immediately obeyed it.

Making sure I was equipped with lighter, kitchen matches and staff, I walked barefoot to that place near that old casting circle where I hid some sacrament last year. This, "stash" was in perfect condition, kept dry regardless of the heavy rains this year. I packed a liberal bowl, re-buried the Herb, and stepped into the casting circle with my staff. The circle is small, about 6 feet in diameter, marked off by three lesser staves, and various crystals, stones and shells from local beaches.

Without much of the usual meditational preparation, I took the first puff, drawing chi into the entire body via my main staff. I then employed the intent of vibrational raising to augment the natural effects of the Herb, using the high as a foundation for further, "travel" into higher states of consciousness. The vibrational raising intention was only partly successful. In part this was because that particular piece of Herb was of low quality, and in part it was due to the lingering psychic effects of the last 4 weeks in town. Never the less, I gained some significant ground in the high after five minutes or so, and raised my staff with both hands above my head to, “cast” this high to the immediate meadow which surrounds the circle. I also intended benefit upon the local Earth Mind presence via the high, while using intonation of the, "eww" and, "ohh" sounds of the second and third chakras.

Upon taking the second puff, I raised my level of high using the first puff as a foundation, or starting point. This time the results were quite intense. A promising moment of silent yet turbulent expectation shivered through my body then, heralding the approach of a threshold soon to be crossed. With unbending intent I crossed through this vibrational threshold. The message encoded into this new state of consciousness was,

Use the raising to raise itself

This reminded me of the essential fact that while the intent to raise ones’ state of consciousness is good, but the intent to raise that intent is even better. As centers of consciousness, we ARE intent at the most fundamental level of being. There is nothing in life we can accomplish, including walking from one room to the next, or the attainment of Buddha/Christ-level consciousness, without the intent to do so already in place. The practitioner knows that the intent to accomplish something can be elevated, and with that elevation comes greater accomplishment. The Olympic, gold medal-winning runner for instance, employs by necessity a far greater level of intent than the casual jogger. In essence, it is a natural and spiritual law that the degree of success in accomplishment is directly proportional to the level of intent employed. It is therefore very efficient to raise ones’ level of intent, rather than trying to modify one’s actions while using the same level. All of this is of course even more applicable to spiritual advancement, and most specifically, the expansion of consciousness. The intent to raise one’s body-wide vibration is good, whereas a higher intent/expectation to raise is that much more effective, assuming of course that the practitioner has sufficient inner knowledge to employ it. The average practitioner raises. The Adept practitioner raises well through much experience. The Master raises further still and with less effort, implying that the levels of spiritual proficiency ranging from novice, to Adept to Master, are but levels of intent that have been firmly embodied. Herein lies the key to spiritual advancement itself!

All of the above flashed through my mind like a memory many times forgotten and many times remembered, after taking the second puff. At the same time, the quality of my intonations took on tones of greater purity, while employing this realization of the raising of intent. The following "mantra" then occurred to me, which reinforced the earlier Seeing;

The intent to raise the intent to raise,
(repeat this mantra while contemplating it’s deeper implications).

The Smoke had started with a fairly typical intent to raise consciousness, via energetic and vibrational gain. Now I successfully, "intended my intent higher" with regard to chi gain and greater feelings of high-spiritedness throughout the body. The effects of, the intent to raise the intent to raise were cumulative. As my consciousness expanded through this focus, my intonations more sophisticated still. I was reminded yet again after the third puff, of much higher levels of consciousness which are available to anyone who has such iron to pursue and achieve them. These can be described in every-day terms as, "that of a Buddha or a Christ". I Saw that such a state of consciousness as a Buddha or Christ is just a level of intent. Raise your intent sufficiently, and you will inevitably achieve such a corresponding level of consciousness. I Saw also that it is my truest need, just as it is the truest need of every human being, to seek out such a level of intent, and to hold, (embody) it on a permanent basis. To See into Christ consciousness for instance, is to understand something of its’ profound height of vibration. It is a certain bliss coupled with an ocean of wisdom and energy upon which to draw. Were humanity to survive its’ current social norms and find true progress, it will do so within such parameters as make possible a Christ or Buddha. In other words, our further evolution in the truest sense of the word, will be found in the significant expansion of consciousness. Furthermore, it is no accident we have at our disposal such tools as the Marijuana Herb to help us along the Path. This plant, like other sacred entheogens, is a way-shower toward those expanded states. It is a guide-proper when used correctly, back to those natural states of transcendent bliss and ever-transmuting excellent joy that are our birthright as cosmic citizens. The high of Herb shows us the Path when we employ spiritual intent in its’ use, because the Path itself is also naturally "high" in terms of both feeling and knowing. The Smoke and my own soul showed me once again as I stood in the meadow, that it is our most fundamental need of all time to regain such natural high(s) as the unblemished child knows, and which our ancestors took for granted. It is that bliss of being which the child knows simply as, "play", combined with wisdom, spiritual love and matter of fact clarity. Through these we can become self-guiding agents in the expansion of consciousness, and therefore the on-going process of evolution!

Accomplishing such love and clarity is largely a matter of self realization. To speak of love is one thing, but to know in subtle detail what it feels like to the point of being able to evoke it at will, is another. To speak of clarity is usually done in the context of being clear about the facts of a given subject. But to actually gain clarity itself through greater awareness of awareness, is another matter altogether. The person who is self realized understands that they ARE consciousness, that they can expand and improve upon this consciousness, and that the intent which is its’ basis can be refined and raised. To realize one’s self as intent is to also realize that they are literally, "that which moves and manifests". To realize ones’ self is to not only understand personal motives, but more importantly, the nature of motive itself. This goes beyond conscious action in life. It is the process of becoming the very action taker, (identification of self as intent) who is the basis of any action to be taken. As the practitioner goes deeper into self as intent, they eventually cross a realizational threshold whose name is the same as its’ content. That threshold is spontaneously known by any who cross it as, "I AM THAT", (consciousness/intent) as well as, "I AM THAT I AM", (consciousness/intent...a center thereof). I passed through this threshold as in many times previously, about 30 minutes after the third puff.

There was a slight breeze stirring the bushes and trees, while the energy of the sun felt invigorating on my back. I continued to elevate my body-wide intent/feeling elements via various intonations, and the mantra, the intent to raise the intent to raise. Accompanying high states was the usual overwhelming desire to convey the essence of such Seeings to others, so that they too can act upon them as I do. Even more overwhelming is the consistent desire to promote group action along these same lines, or in other words, to establish a group mind in the super-high, via three or more experienced practitioners. I’ve been informed on countless occasions, psychically and intuitively, that when three or more practitioners gather to raise together using advanced spiritual intention, a synergy of super highs can occur. This synthesis would create a mutually reciprocating field of high vibration, energy and awareness. With high intent it can create a field of excellent quality and spiritual progressiveness such as this world has never before witnessed. Consider the accomplishments of three Christs or Buddhas working in tandem! Rather than leaving organized group mind action in the basketball court or music hall, consider if you will the merits of applying it to spiritual progression in mutual love and clarity. Consider further still, the potentials of using the Herbs’ high as a starting platform for raising this love and clarity together, and you have a major Pathway for literally becoming such Christs and Buddhas. That Pathway is open to us all, individually and collectively….we need only pursue it with earnest, progressive intention.

[Continued in Part 2]