Returning to the TV analogy, these cases suggest that, rather than merely adjusting the brightness, contrast, and color of the previous program, we have changed the channel. No longer is the show we are watching everyday reality, Channel Normal.
DMT provides regular, repeated, and reliable access to “other” channels. The other planes of existence are always there. In fact, they are right here, transmitting all the time! But we cannot perceive them because we are not designed to do so; our hard-wiring keeps us tuned in to Channel Normal. It takes only a second or two—the few heartbeats the spirit molecule requires to make its way to the brain—to change the channel, to open our mind to these other planes of existence.2
How might this happen?
I claim little understanding of the physics underlying theories of parallel universes and dark matter. What I do know, however, causes me to consider them as possible places where DMT might lead us, once we have rushed past the personal.
Theoretical physicists propose the existence of parallel universes based upon the phenomenon of interference. One of the simplest demonstrations of interference is what happens to a light beam passing through narrow holes or slits in cardboard. Various rings and colored edges appear on the screen on which the light lands, not the simple outlines of the cardboard one would expect. Scientists conclude from this and more complex experiments that there are “invisible” light particles that interfere with those we can see, deflecting light in unexpected ways.
Parallel universes interact with each other when interference happens. There are, theoretically, an inconceivably large number of parallel universes, or “multiverses,” each similar to this one and possessing the same laws of physics. Thus, there would not necessarily be anything especially odd or exotic about these different realms. However, what makes them parallel is that the particles composing them are located in different positions in each universe.
DMT may allow our receiver brain to sense these multiverses.
British scientist David Deutsch, author of The Fabric of Reality, is a leading theorist in this field.3 Deutsch and I have corresponded about whether DMT could modify brain function so as to provide access to or awareness of parallel universes. He doubted that this was possible, because it would require “quantum computing.” Quantum computing, according to Deutsch, “would be capable of distributing components of a complex task among vast numbers of parallel universes, and then sharing the results.” Thus, its potential power is unimaginably great. One of the conditions necessary for quantum computing is a temperature near absolute zero, as cold as deep space. Thus, prolonged contact between universes is unlikely in a biological system.
Nevertheless, physicists once believed that superconductivity—when electricity passes through wires or other material with almost no resistance—could occur only at similarly low temperatures. Over the last ten to fifteen years, however, chemists have developed new materials that allow superconductivity at higher and higher temperatures. In fact, it is conceivable that superconductivity may one day actually occur at room temperature.
I asked Deutsch if the future of quantum computing might follow a similar trajectory. While he considered this a “reasonably good” analogy, he held that the complexity of quantum computing was much greater than that of superconductivity: “A room-temperature quantum computer would be an enormously more surprising thing than room-temperature superconductivity.”4
Because I know so little about theoretical physics, there are fewer constraints reining me in regarding such speculations. That the analogy between superconductivity and quantum computing is “reasonably good” encourages me to take the next step in theorizing about DMT and the brain.
In such a scenario, DMT is the key ingredient changing the brain’s physical properties in such a way that quantum computing may occur at body temperature. If this were the case, “seeing into” parallel universes is a possible outcome.
Along these lines, however, Deutsch did not think that glimpsing parallel universes would be particularly strange. He said, “Even if there were quantum computation in the brain, it would definitely not feel, subjectively, like ‘seeing into quantum realms’ [my phrase]. It would not feel special at all at the time. Just as in any other interference experiment, one would have to work backward from the logic, statistics, and complexity of the outcome of one’s thoughts to infer that one must have been ‘thinking in a quantum manner’ at an earlier time to achieve that outcome.”5
Deutsch’s comment about how normal a parallel universe might seem reminds me of some of the stories we did hear about in chapter 12, “Unseen Worlds”: Encounters with relatively normal-appearing, everyday existences that had no relationship at all to what was occurring at the Research Center. People, scenes, and interactions that to all intents and purposes appeared to be going on parallel to this here-and-now existence.
Consider, for example, Sean’s landing in the middle of an remarkably ordinary family scene in what seemed to be rural Mexico, and Heather’s meeting with the Spanish-speaking woman who repeatedly threw a white blanket in front of her. Many volunteers also found themselves in empty rooms, halls, or apartments that seemed similar to this world, but also different.
On the other hand, I wonder if parallel universes that formed, like ours, billions of years ago would appear especially familiar to us. For while the same laws of physics, and therefore biology, would hold sway in our world and theirs, the organisms and the technologies they developed might have taken fantastically different turns. Reptilian, insectlike, and unrecognizable shapes possessing intelligence should not be unexpected, nor should be highly advanced technology of space travel, supercomputation, and a blending of biology and technology, such as those reported by many of our volunteers.
The strangest realms to which DMT might lead are those that exist within the mysterious realms of dark matter. There, which may indeed be here, no one knows what we will find.
Dark matter comprises at least 95 percent of this universe’s mass. In other words, nearly all of the matter in the universe is invisible. We cannot see it. It neither generates nor reflects radiation of any type, visible or otherwise. The only way we know it is there is by its gravitational effects. It must exist by virtue of the fact that the visible universe maintains its particular shape. Without this mass, there would not be enough gravity to hold the universe together—it would fly apart.
Scientists have nominated several candidates for the “stuff” that comprises dark matter. “Normal” matter that radiates little or no light—planets, dead or unborn stars, and black holes—may account for about 20 percent of dark matter.
However, it’s likely that most, if not all, dark matter consists of particles quite different from our familiar protons, electrons, and neutrons. These “black” particles may obey entirely different laws of physics, unlike those in parallel universes. Finding ourselves in a world composed of them, we most likely would not recognize much.
The leading candidates for being the building blocks of dark matter are WIMPS, or “weakly interacting massive particles.” They are called massive only in a relative sense, meaning they are larger than a proton or a hydrogen atom.
Recent thinking about WIMPS suggests their strange nature, one that immediately causes us to hearken back to many of our volunteers’ reports: “If WIMPS were indeed created in the Big Bang, we will be surrounded by them because of their gravitational interaction with the visible matter in the universe. Indeed, as you read this article there could be a billion WIMPS streaming through your body every second, travelling at a million kilometers per hour. However, as WIMPS only interact weakly with matter, most will pass straight through you with no hindrance.”6
Science agencies in the United States and other nations are spending billions of dollars on WIMPS sensors buried deep in the earth. They are looking for the occasional flash of light that indicates a rare collision of a dark-matter particle with one of regular matter. These sensitive machines require such subterranean de
pths so as to block out other sources of radiation.
Maybe we do not need such expensive detectors. It may be that DMT alters the characteristics of our brains so that it is possible to perceive WIMPS interacting with normal matter.
It is difficult to imagine what a dark-matter world might look like, let alone how its residents might appear. Maybe some of what several volunteers described as a “visualization of information” in chapter 12 is a variety of dark-matter “life”: moving hieroglyphics pregnant with meaning, numbers and words floating by, imparting information.
Either of these invisible levels of existence, parallel universes or dark matter, are present at the same time as this reality. Thus, they both are options we must consider for where DMT takes us when our consciousness is no longer in this plane of experience. The immediacy of the transition makes appealing these two alternate viewpoints regarding the incredibly unusual places our volunteers describe. This is because they are as much here as there. So the question about “inside” versus “outside,” as many volunteers posed it, really no longer has any meaning.
The concept of these different levels of reality permeating and suffusing ours leads us next to the surprisingly common report by the volunteers that “They were expecting me,” “They welcomed me back.” The beings are at home working in this environment, and “it’s business as usual” for them. We, on the other hand, can only gape slack-jawed in awe, barely able to respond.
Since we usually do not see or feel these beings’ presence at other times, it’s worth wondering how they know when to anticipate our arrival. Perhaps before we see them our presence is less real for these beings, too. They might sense us, but not especially clearly or in a way that allows interaction with us. It is as if they see us, but only our images, as in a mirror or through a window. Thus, they could be ready, but not be able to act upon us until we step through the door or walk around to their side of the window.
Think of an instrument that requires an extremely hot temperature to record and send information. While at room temperature, not functioning, it is a dusty gray color and appears nearly invisible as it blends into the background. When it reaches its operating temperature, in addition to being able to perform its new receiving and transmitting functions, it now glows bright red and stands out quite clearly. Perhaps by changing our consciousness in such a way that we perceive denizens of alternate planes of existence, DMT modifies the “appearance” of our consciousness, too. Thus we become real for the beings once they become real for us.
How might these beings be even dimly aware of our presence, if we normally don’t have an inkling of theirs? Once more, we’re treading on extraordinarily thin ice by even thinking about explanations for this phenomenon. The mere need to attempt an understanding shows us how far afield our thinking has come. Nevertheless, we can take another small step in the suspension of disbelief, and consider this question.
Perhaps we are not “dark” for the denizens of dark matter, or “parallel” to those intelligent beings who have mastered quantum computing. We are limited to inferring these alternative realities exist by employing powerful mathematical treatment of massive amounts of experimental data. It may be that those who have evolved in different universes, or according to their own unique laws of physics, actually can observe us directly with their own senses or by using particular types of technology.
We must ask the next question that naturally follows. Once we are “there” and the beings and we have made contact, with what body do they interact? As we have heard, all manner of manipulations took place: adjustments, implants, pleasant and fearful sexual or physical contact. It’s not an especially difficult leap to accept consciousness-to-consciousness exchanges in dark matter or parallel universes. More problematic is imagining how changes in our ability to receive new levels of reality affect our “bodies.” Nevertheless, I think we need to consider this, if only in a preliminary manner.
While we are watching, or rather are existing in, Channel Normal, our body is solid, has discrete boundaries, and responds to gravity. While we are perceiving, or established in, Channel Dark Matter, we may be experiencing our body using WIMPS rather than visible light and gravity. With our brain receiving such new and different levels of reality, our body also no longer appears the same. Just as the certainty of what we see, hear, and know is unquestionably true in the DMT state, so too does the nature of our physical self assume a radically different, but similarly real, nature.
Sight and sound play such an inordinately important role in our normal awareness, and we notice our new location first with these senses. However, touch, body sensation, and matter also may assume entirely different capabilities. Using the gray and red instrument analogy above, we can just as easily substitute “insubstantial” for gray, and “palpable” or “solid” for red.
Once the dark-matter beings and we are perceiving each other in the same medium, using WIMPS, they may begin to work on our dark-matter bodies: adjusting Sean’s ear, placing an implant under the skin of Ben’s forearm, inserting a probe into Jim’s eye, reprogramming Jeremiah’s brain.
Those interventions take place using “things” made of dark matter (or existing in parallel universes). Because of this, there is no “physical evidence” of these interventions back in Channel Normal. They don’t use the material of this universe. Nevertheless, these interventions did take place.7
These speculations regarding unseen worlds and their residents return us to alien abduction experiences. In fact, this discussion could just as well have been about those experiences and how they happen. This striking similarity is at the basis of the hypothesis that the alien abduction experience is related to abnormally elevated levels of brain DMT.
In chapter 4, “The Psychedelic Pineal,” I proposed a pineal-DMT link for the pivotal experiences of birth, near-death, mystical states, and death. I had little interest in or knowledge about alien encounters. The results of the DMT study challenged my ignorance and require that I now include “contact” as another phenomenon mediated by extraordinarily high levels of brain DMT.
In his work with naturally occurring alien encounters, John Mack refers to how often these experiences occur at times of personal crisis, trauma, and loss. Perhaps in these individuals, stress and pain overcome the pineal’s ability to prevent excessive DMT release and trigger access to these unusual experiences. In addition, many abductees have a history of these encounters that dates back to childhood. Such individuals may possess especially active DMT-production capacities due to a biological hard-wiring predisposition, possibly combined with chronic or repeated overwhelming stress. We previously discussed how some of the tendencies for excessive DMT formation might manifest using specific enzymes or enzyme inhibitors.
Mack also notes that many abductions from people’s homes take place in the early morning hours. The pineal gland is most active at this time. Might early morning DMT production open the portals to alien encounters in these predisposed individuals?
It’s fascinating to note that Mack has recently suggested that “reconnection with spirituality” is at the heart of the abduction phenomenon. Similarly, some of our DMT-induced being contacts, for example, those of Cassandra, Sean, and Willow, demonstrated a transition from surprise and shock at the presence of intelligent beings to a greater depth of spiritual and psychological equilibrium.
These mystical experiences are the last set of encounters to which the spirit molecule may lead. They were the ultimate goals of many volunteers who participated in our research. Why, then, did so many of our research subjects instead find themselves in unexpected unseen worlds?
It may be that the raw, unbridled power of DMT caused our research subjects to overshoot, or miss, their target. It reminds me of the first time we get in the saddle of a powerful motorcycle. The thrust is so unimaginably forceful that we often fly off the back of the vehicle or head straight into a ditch. Only by learning how to deal with its strength can we harness the machine and go straig
ht ahead to our goal.
In a similar vein, I believe research subjects with primarily contact experiences would have gone beyond that level and reached the transpersonal if given adequate time and practice. Sean’s and Cassandra’s cases support this theory: They moved on from contact with beings to mystical and healing experiences with repeated exposure to high doses of DMT in the tolerance study.
Another explanation is less sanguine. That is, high doses of IV DMT thrust people into being-inhabited planes of reality because that is what it does. Give enough DMT to people, and this is what happens.
I’m reminded of Jeremiah, in chapter 13, “Contact Through the Veil: 1,” when he was swept into the alien laboratory-nursery. He attempted to steer the sheer intensity of the experience into a spiritual encounter by “opening to love.” However, he immediately realized it was impossible to do so. Maybe contact through the veil is the real ultimate function of DMT, rather than initiating mystical awareness. If the sheer numbers of volunteers’ reports are any indication of the truth of this suggestion, we must consider it likely.
In the case of near-death and mystical states, let’s consider that DMT does more than just change channels, providing us with a view of another channel’s program. I suggest this because of the empty, or contentless, nature of the peak mystical experience. There is no sound, touch, vision, smell, or taste. No thoughts or words, and no time. Simultaneously there is an indescribable completeness, power, and understanding.
In between TV channels is “snow,” the white noise and images associated with what is “between” the various stations’ programming material. What is there if we look and listen carefully? It is the very nature of the activated television itself, electricity coursing through it, energizing and driving it to display something, but that something seems like nothing to the pattern-seeking everyday mind.
In this case, the best analogy might be that DMT has reconfigured the brain’s receptive qualities to now stop receiving “outside” information. It is only aware of its own existence, its own intrinsic nature. It displays its own consciousness or resonating frequencies, which have no particular content. Nevertheless, it is the ground upon which all of the programs depend for support—the space that the channels fill.
DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences Page 34