WILDERISM DOCTRINE---2.  SUSTAINABLE ECSTASY

Version 4.01.02               11/04/2022

2.   SUSTAINABLE ECSTASY

Definition

“Ecstasy” is the state of consciousness involving happiness, a lot of happiness---the release of endorphins and other mood enhancers in the brain.

There are thousands of ways to get ecstatic and every individual has their own unique set of methods, kind of like a fingerprint.  There’s good food, good sex, drugs, love, and any kind of creativity which makes us happy.  There are also meditation, gambling, sports, and music.

Nature naturally awards good behavior and punishes bad behavior.  The reward is in the form of happiness, laughter.  The punishment is pain.  Therefore, to go with the flow of nature, one should look to what makes us happy.  It is a process of discovery because nobody tells us as kids what those things are.  Our parents can show us their own happiness, which is highly important, but should not be construed to be our own happiness. 

I have found that when I watch myself and find happiness, if I focus on it and submit to it, it has branches coming from it, other possibilities and variations, ad infinitum.  Following ecstasy is like growing trees, each trunk leading to branches, some more powerful than others.  Follow the best.  Ecstasy is a process which continues an entire lifetime, getting more and more refined and tuned to only ourselves.  Build your ecstasy trees.

Drugs are good, but they are enhancers of ecstasy which borrow from the future.   Expect a payment, and that’s ok as long as you can accept the cost. 

Addiction

The big problem with any ecstasy is that it can become addictive.   This is especially a problem for those with addictive personalities.  Most people can stop having fun when it is no longer appropriate, but there are others who can’t quit.  One of the problems with a culture is that it makes rules based on the bad experiences of the addictive, forcing the “normal” people to abandon some forms of ecstasy.  This leaves people anxious and unsatisfied, which causes other problems in the culture.

That is where “sustainable” comes in.  A person who is not addictive knows when to quit and take on the responsibilities of living.  Can you get high today and do it again tomorrow?  Sustainable.

For those who are addicted to some form of ecstasy, so far there isn’t any solution except to stay away from it.  The 12-step programs sometimes work, but again they are basically building up the will to say "no" to the drug.  I wonder if there are better techniques than abstinence.  Whatever, again it is a process of self-discovery---which ecstasies can I play with, and which ones are dangerous for me.  That’s what I call the real adventure of life, exploring my own set of ecstasies.

Needs

To get more detailed, let’s examine Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Physiological

Safety

Belonging and Love

Esteem

Cognitive

Aesthetic

Self-Actualization

Transcendence

The theory is that once a lower need is taken care of, then it is possible to move up to the next higher need.  It is hard to work on Esteem if Safety is being threatened.  Of course, some people may decide to skip levels and there is no reason that multiple levels can’t be attempted at the same time. 

Progress

Success at each level delivers endorphins, which is what keeps us trying to improve our lives.  Taking  basic biology, it is in the nature of cells that when the conditions are beneficial, it is time to split.  In other words, when a level is complete, the endorphins are reduced and can be regained by going to the next level.  So progress is built not only into biology, but also into consciousness in general.

It isn’t only need-achievements which release endorphins, there are some things that are more direct.  Eating is naturally high producing.  Sex is great.  Drugs go right to the source in the brain.  Wilderism promotes all of these, the more the better.  But in a balanced way.  There are responsibilities involved in just living and focusing on endorphin production only is not sustainable.  Take care of business first, then there will be time for the higher pursuits.

This is very important.  Metaphysics says that if you ignore what is being requested of you, it won’t go away and will limit your time to get high.  Pay attention to what or who requires your attention now, satisfy it as soon as possible, and then you will be free to work on your pleasures.

Pleasures

As mentioned before, a personal pleasure is like a branch on a tree with many smaller more detailed branches coming from it.  Enlarge the branch you are on, look at the smaller branches for what excites you, and then spend time enhancing that branch, and on and on.  It is a form of creativity, the creativity leading to becoming more and more who you are, more defined as you get older.  It’s kind of fun! 

But don’t forget sustainable.

Pain

Now let’s look at pain.  This is nature saying, “don’t go this way.”  Note however that there are some pains that are translated into ecstasy, kinky things---that’s different.  For some people, the greatest ecstasies are the result of pain from the one you love.

First there is the pain from just having a body, especially as it slows down when you get older.

Second is the pain from making a bad decision.

And third is the pain from paying back karma.

For the first body pain, there may be exercises or procedures that can be done to reduce the pain, possibly medical things.  All of these are worth trying, some with limited success.  I have found that as I get older, there are parts of my body that require attention that weren’t needed before.  These things take time and money, and at some point, they will overwhelm the pleasures.  For me, when that happens it will be time to exit this body.  No longer worth it.  According to metaphysics, I’ll get a new one.  Wilderism is in favor of suicide, hopefully pleasant and not messy.

The karmic pain is easier to deal with if you realize that that is what it is.  Then you may be able to aid the process and speed it up.  Just work through it as quickly as possible.  How can you tell if the pain is from karma?  Not too hard.  Just think of the other 2 reasons for pain and if it is neither of those, it is probably karmic.

The second pain is the easiest to deal with.  Just change whatever decision led to it---if you can.  I have had many decisions which I wasn’t sure which way to go, so I just chose one and watched the results, pleasure or pain.  Then I knew.  Many times, it isn’t too late to reverse course, and even if it is too late, there is the learning which comes from it.  Don’t do it again.

I have been reminded that there is another kind of pain, the pain of compassion.  This is when empathy kicks in and you feel the pain another person is going through.  This pain is selective, in other words you can choose to feel it or not and can choose who to feel it for.  We couldn’t survive if we felt it for everyone.

Meditation

Meditation is another good method of achieving ecstasy.  I try to have a yoga/meditation session several times a week.  I do my own modified Kripalu Yoga flow for 15 minutes followed by transcendental meditation for 15 minutes.

The yoga gets my body into a calm state through stretching muscles and relaxing them---a lot of deep controlled breathing.  It isn’t the primary purpose, but the yoga also helps my physical body, especially in old age.   I have incorporated some physical therapy positions in my yoga flow.

Then the meditation.  I let my breath dwindle down to almost nothing and focus on my mantra.  There are 4 stages in transcendental meditation:  1) meditating, 2) monkey chatter, 3) realization of monkey chatter, and 4) getting back to meditation, in a continuous cycle.  I have found that I can enhance the ecstasy by visualizing waves of pleasure sweeping slowly across my brain.

I believe that one of the major results of practicing meditation is the ability to control the brain.  The quote I like is, “The brain is an excellent tool, a horrible master.”  Having the ability to stop the brain when it is headed in a paranoid direction is very useful, and leads to a life of peace.

Love

Love is a great ecstasy, basically the desire to be with someone or something.  It not only releases endorphins in the brain, but also oxytocin, the love hormone.  If it is shared between two people, it creates feelings that are like no other.  In the beginning of a love relationship, it is capable of extending consciousness beyond the body and mind into super ecstasy.   There are many internal and external benefits in loving.

Naturally, like anything else, love has a negative side because it can turn to pain and hatred, either through exploitation or rejection.  As an image, I like to think of standing balanced on my own 2 feet, then leaning over to the loved one, so that if they move away, I won’t fall over.  On the other hand, I believe in combining our talents letting one partner take over where they are stronger.  Doing everything as equals seems a waste of talents.

Sex

Now let’s talk about sex.  People accuse me of “having sex on the brain”.  And it’s true.  I do.  Why?  Because it is so easy to shock people when talking about it.  Plus, I think having sex is even better than good food at releasing endorphins.  Just my experience.  Another thing, it is a great way to share with someone, not that that is necessary.

There are many variations of discussions about sex, all the way from those who don’t want to talk about it at all to those who can’t help sharing everything.  There are some sex subjects that are taboo, and some allowed.  How did this happen?  How did sex become a dirty word?  The prohibition about sex seems to have arisen with the 2 main Western religions, Christianity and Islam.  Before them the Romans had lots of fun.  In the East, there is Tantric Yoga, where their bible enumerates the various positions. 

Maybe the unease is about how animalistic it becomes if done right.  For those who need to believe that humans are “better” than animals, sex is a throwback.  To let go of your sophistication and get loud and messy, can’t be handled by those who need to think of themselves as “better”.  Why do they need that?  Because they are afraid it is not true in their case. 

I like the story of the hippie couple living in an old church building up in New England; after sex, he would ring the church bell---let the whole town know.  I suppose it would get kind of noisy if everyone did that.  On the other hand, there are those who don’t get any thrill from sex at all, and that is ok too.  The point is to figure out who you are with it. 

Fantasies

There are those who have no imagination when it comes to sex, no creativity.  They still like it, but “vanilla” sex is fine for them.  The creative kinky ones generally fall into two categories:  dominant and submissive, some people switching between them.  From my experience we are born with that.  It arises in the form of fantasies, which by the way, is another excellent way to release endorphins.  Like the tree analogy, fantasies can be explored, also getting more and more detailed with time. 

Real nirvana occurs when you can find someone else to share your fantasies.  And if love is involved, it gets much more ecstatic because each partner is trying to enhance the experience for the other.  I don’t know how sex can be good the first time, because usually it takes learning about each other’s fantasies to get it right.  Then when that happens, it is possible to merge fantasies and let them grow. 

Variations.  That’s what it is all about.  Some things get us excited, and some don’t.  But whatever it is, allow yourselves to explore fantasies and then act on them, sustainably of course.  There is no wrong sex act as long as it isn’t done in a hurtful way, unless the agreed on kinky hurt induces ecstasy also.

Drugs 

All drugs should be legal and easy to get.  Making laws against drugs just creates a whole criminal class and demeans laws in general.  Rock-climbing can be dangerous but should not be illegal.  Taking drugs to get high can be dangerous too.  It depends on which drugs and how much taken.  We can’t put a fence around every cliff, and we can’t protect everyone from every drug.  So just make sure that the education is out there to describe the dangers of every drug and put into place good treatment clinics which can deal with those who go beyond their own limits.

Some drugs are physically addictive, hard to quit.  Those drugs release dopamine as well as endorphins.  Dopamine production in the brain requires more and more to get high.  It becomes a downward spiral.  Some people can break free of this, and some can’t.  But just because some things are addictive doesn’t mean that they should be banned.  One part of human nature is the desire to get high and just because a particular drug is injurious to some doesn’t mean it will be bad for all.

Humiliation

If a person has permanent damage from a drug, that is just the price for the ecstasy.  What about death?  Question:  which comes first, the downward-spiral drug or the lack of self-respect which accepts the danger from the drug?  There are some people who don’t care if they go down into humiliation, so let them go.  It is ok.  There is no need to save everyone.  There are too many people on the planet anyway. 

This is the way of nature.  When there are too many of any species, there is a culling.  Just because we are humans doesn’t mean that we can escape the laws of nature, the laws of biology.