irman_p: Ah yes, I've seen that video. I usually have trouble relating to McKenna's teachings but that one definitely got me thinking. So would you say its the culture taking up all that valuable brainspace, as opposed to this 'ego' thing? And what would constitute culture exactly? All media manufactured here, or just commercially interested media? Also, it seems rather difficult to give it up, seeing as it literally surrounds me all day.

grasshoppa: I see where you're coming from, and you make a great point. The way I see it, there's two different paths to the state of liberated receptivity I want to be in. The best way I've heard it put is liberation 'of' the ego versus liberation 'from' the ego. On the one hand, you can get to know the way your mind works well enough to take control of it and create your own patterns. Using the tool instead of letting it use you. Its certainly possible to free the ego from fear, delusion, etc. But the mind is often an elusive and paradoxical thing, which makes it very difficult.

On the other hand you can just free the ego. Exist without patterns, ditch the tool. Obviously they're both good paths. But I've tried controlling my mind for a while now (meditation, NLP, drugs, philosophy etc.) and years later its just led me to more frustration and suffering. Without many positive results to speak of. At this point I just want to take the easy way out. Only reason I'm personally against the ego is cause of my subjective experiences.

This guy said it best:

"We're all looking at the point of view from our own reality tunnels. And when we begin to realize that we're all looking at the point of view from our own reality tunnels we find that it is much easier to see where other people are coming from, or the ones who don't have the same reality tunnel as us do not seem ignorant or deliberately perverse, or lying, or hypnotized by some ideology, they just have a different reality tunnel. And every different reality tunnel may tell us something interesting about our world. If we're willing to listen."
-Robert Anton Wilson

By the way, I do realize how paradoxical it is for someone who aims to be liberated from the ego to be spewing forth his opinions over the internet. I just couldn't resist contributing to this thread .