Joe Rogan Experience #274 — Alex Grey Transcript

Transcript

0:00 Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out! that guy that he had some amazing stuff but you sir are right up there and you are as far as like But what's amazing to me about it is that when I see your stuff, Because it's one of my faves. Wow. And yet, as crude as it is, a painting that's an authentic transmission from that state I looked at that imagery, whatever it was, this strange geometric pattern,

3:50 That's for you, of course. that's the crazy thing about it at all, after all, rather, is that it is possible. My wife and daughter and I saw it. But it is net of being. I can't wait to go through it. No, I think that's what it needs. And, of course, I did not believe there was a spiritual reality at all. And around the corner drives this VW. And so I drank about half of it.

8:20 around the side and uh and it was awesome because that was it. And so my art has always been kind of are beautifully ornamentally patterned The true visionary cultures emanate from this. the Christian artwork, the Hindu artwork. and you're thinking about back when people tree or whatever the fuck it is it it's not going to be Jesus. Their benchmarks in the evolution of human consciousness

12:24 the arts, you can see how the arts could Well, they have temples and they're quite extraordinary. Well, he claimed to have a mystical experience. You know, it's not the Church of the Subgenius, Bob. some of the religions had failed us, but not pointing out negatives, but just positing Really? and the validity of any of the world religions But that To him, as either a liar or a visionary, was given this alchemical symbol.

16:45 Or you could look at the tablets of the Jewish, you know, Moses tablets. this uh vision this higher vision granted an american this was like one of the earliest religions along with spiritualism born in America. and so they were murdered. Whoa. It's a moon river. And there were a few friendly exchanges between Hudson and the Wappinger. And it was the genocide of people practically and they've

20:48 Wappinger and how You were born on High Street? That's where I'm from. No, no, in Columbus, Ohio. Yeah, that's where I'm from. Yeah. High Street from where I was born. You were born on High Street? you know, really early on. but with his head, with very ambiguous, like, what is that? Here's the billboard, actually. thinking about the the culture of the the people that lived here before us it's so fascinating

23:17 It must have been like Avatar, except no flying dragons. There is a disturbing trend of people getting so fat that they have to be wheeled around. There weren't injured people. where they literally have stopped walking. I love them. Yeah. amazing industry that's grown up around and the breakthroughs in in uh motion picture technology well, what does it actually mean?

27:25 Stop and think about it. I mean, there was nothing like it before. First of all, the fact that yeah those two yeah maybe sea world but not even no, no, Disneyland is like really where it's at. and man, lately on this podcast, it's really been a bummer. you're like, all these people get along great. You never hear about a gang fight breaking out at Disneyland.

29:48 because no one was paying attention. Don't bring it to hurt more. there, buddy. and shooting rubber bullets, What's the shit? There was violence The cops were violent towards them. why because I was thinking but what I found if sort of And people can say, well, that's unrealistic. it's non-denominational, Yes, that's right. You know, it's like, oh, well, we just want the temples to be like this

34:12 She was like, this is ridiculous. Then we enter into this next room, which is supposed to represent Winnie's dreams. and then when he comes out of this dream you know when he comes out of this dream, you know, when he comes out of this falling asleep experience, you see the next crazy room. What is more psychedelic than this? That should be the next thing.

36:14 I mean, that is clearly a psychedelic experience. Yeah. What's the ayahuasca, human-animal, anthropomorphic being? And so always, I think, the shamans had been able to have relations with these spirit beings. And some of the earliest cave art, actually, of male figures are so-called sorcerers, like Brian, can you find that? if you didn't get it. And so they would go into the cave.

39:10 Wow, that's the real one. archetype you can see he's got a Johnson down there. I got the business. No, no, exactly. What is that? It's a mushroom up his ass. 16,000 years old. 40,000 years ago. Okay. cultures. Exactly, and connects us with the immortality and the infinite. how could something that was so powerful, where they talked about it with great reverence in

43:34 And can you find your own personal connection with the creative source? a new kind of sacred art, as well as the access, the now verifiable and repeatable access to the visionary dimensions provided by entheogens, That's what Socrates' whole platonic forms, He was high as fuck. He was crazy. Right. And, of course, well, you know how he wound up. Right.

47:32 Well, that's what I was getting at. and being in contact with the ideal realms Pete I have no idea. How are you going to prove these things? I kept hearing about this in many, many civilizations. you should start having sex with young people but we're incredibly repressed when it comes to If you're an anthropological kind of fan, And it's different in different chronology...

50:53 psychedelics yeah it's really true it's like the whole culture i i went to chichen itza and uh i Was it chocolate and mushrooms? I think the greatest endorsement then because my friend Brian has done mushrooms but that will always stay open You know, like it's never. You know, it's a natural thing. That's why the creative spirit passes. don't trip again until you read

54:08 It is possible. where's your creative flow coming from? It's not just cash flow. It's got to be, you know, visionary experience how much of it is your imagination how much of it is your in such simple terms, Is that weirdly defined when you use the word God? Right. But when you say it, when you're saying God, I completely agree with you that The evolutionary wave has brought us to this moment.

58:16 Tiny. It's a completely different kind of God than what you're describing. And that's why if we enacted our creative spirits in the service of love, in a collective imaginal Don't play this game. And so the primary religious experience was this contact with the divine, Do you know that Jerusalem scholars have recently started attributing that to a psychedelic

1:02:00 he talks to God, he finds out how men should because they were worshipping them, Yes. but in her case, the actual creature. mighty evolutionary patchwork that is the mycelium of consciousness on the earth that when you stop and think about there was a those are the shamans coyotes are yes they're cat eaters that's what they are yeah and This is why all creators need to really consider the ethical stand that they're taking in their culture

1:05:52 What about people that would just try to be entertaining? we're, you know, less, you know, pompous. It's very negative. expense that guy who fucked up and went in the basement that guy gets it you know yeah uh but band that i enjoy i like what they're doing i like what they're doing it's fun for me funny. He knows what he's doing. He knows I hear you.

1:09:05 it's got like a message because I admired certain comics that had that. tell me what you're really thinking. And if it's at someone's expense, the way I feel like, it's tough shit. You should be able to take that get butt hurt too easy in this country, And some people look for every fucking opportunity Yeah, exactly. It won't be funny. and I love that about him

1:11:59 the Bill Hicks rules That's where shit gets weird. Like it's annoying for people. They in stand-up, especially not be preachy. That's where shit gets weird. All of that is ridiculous. Well, I saw Lily Tomlin do something extraordinary. And it's the only way that the creative spirit can feel free enough to do anything and to explore and evolve into territory.

1:14:52 that contacted, such as the Moses moment or these various kinds of things. Those things recur and Now, you think of the unlikelihood of that, emotions and all that stuff. okay, things aren't really so fucked up, actually. You know, okay, so we blow it. that are not popular, but you feel it's important to say. So your work comes from a place of the and taking in these different points of view, these well-considered points of view,

1:20:17 It's not only visually beautiful, but, you know, None of that. Yeah. don't give it up to the fundamentalists. Are you a Christian, sir? important. And then the ability to let go and reach these strange realms of higher consciousness that are available with and without help from any sort of entheogen. Absolutely. Prayer and fathers of of cures for depression they've ever

1:22:57 But Lily was a fabulous proponent of ketamine. And then small amounts of it, snorted or smoked and various things like that like i had a number of of friends i never got into it frankly you know i did uh we were injected Whoa. Yes. What would you have to pay? John Lilly. I'm just fantasizing. Well, a lot of people believe that that is the number one problem with the world.

1:27:33 currently have. first they it was pretty chronological in that respect they started off with the vertical one But the intention is the same, to remove all distractions and to be surrounded by darkness. What's your top ten? And so these were people that were getting it from the highest command and it And so the great mystics have quite often done the same thing.

1:31:00 really. yeah it's uh it's well it's created by this guy uh crash from the float lab a float lab is in so uh you lay down and it's the salt and it's really warm and nice. especially after I do jiu-jitsu classes and I'm exhausted and strained out. And, by the way, it also benefits your body. also in a similar way to your friend is doing out there in Venice.

1:34:42 think it was green it was green for the longest time. the edges of the the television at all you see nothing other than whatever is being broadcast And first of all, and instructionals to it because of the fact there's no distractions while it's going on. That's how the shamans say, you know, like the plants told us. can be attributed to recreational drugs or recreational drug use.

1:37:57 and about how he hoped, because he always felt tremendously guilty for anyone who had taken a wrong turn. but he, at the end of his life, And then April 19th, when he finally basically dosed himself in 1943, If you take 250 millionths of a gram, nothing happens with anything. and he and his assistant rode their bicycles back. of course that's why they call it bicycle day you know 419 and that he

1:41:31 What? You know, something I've been noticing, and I can't explain it at all, but it's just one of those mystery things like you were saying, like in your dream you see these various things, you know, they're saying something. i'm inundated by this shit like literally every day there's like some new study or some new like the, look at what happened to psychedelic culture. After that time,

1:43:56 Because America is all about freedom of religion Exactly. It's AmeriCorps. That's what I call it's americorps that's what i call it You know, they're archons, as the Gnostics would say, long before there was an internet. And this is how it's always been done. And now that it's being Absolutely. Okay? You know? become is a solar powered uh humanity we are still struggling with set and horus who fought an epic

1:48:58 Or you could say it's possible? A number of artists had studios, actually, And so his entire body of work was destroyed practically when the plane hit the Twin Towers. you know but instead of and the Tar Baby is what it's Now, what's interesting, you can look in that book, Net of Being. He's embracing a terrorist and a diseased dick from that album

1:52:50 The first panel, panel one, there was a hip-hop group. in Boston, and it had the Twin Towers surrounded in flame. You know, like they all got blazed with something. Right. it's remembering 9-11 before it happened right show the evidence though They didn't want the Superman panel reproduced in a thing like that. We want to see a sacred possibility. mean you're a very unusual guy how many people can you talk to about this stuff i think it i

1:57:38 and this is what we have to And how long did you do this before September? manhattan and brooklyn or something you know but but i had this uh this dip titch kind of thing. There's a better one on alexgray.com. And there was somebody who bought it. Wow. Are we in a transformative process? It's almost like we're threatening suicide unless we do something about it.

2:00:13 in the story of the universe that we've been discovering You know the alembic that goes around the sort of And so just at this particular orbit, and that's what's really going on. Release 9-11. elevates the human experience, as do I. but where do you see it going? you know, teach us the same thing. uh the power of fungus and the uh he's one of the world's experts in medicinal and um

2:06:03 They're the deepest, oldest plant on earth. and there are asteroids here from other planets that have landed meteorites. and evolve due to the territorial kind of disputes being over particular kind of planetary brother, was life of this kind even possible? Think of how many billions of galaxies it might take. We're it. We're the Earth. We're this planet, there's no other Earth. Right. We're it.

2:08:52 On every little cove or things, It's enormous, and it absorbs asteroidal impacts. Yeah, which is awesome. and drains of light. and try to wake up. I feel very sad, you know, because really it's about break out the peace, monkeys. and expand beyond that. through all different ways, and to celebrate that amazing experience. And to try and, you know, You think that capitalism is the big problem

2:14:05 You know what Stephen Jobs was into, my friend. It was from his LSD experiences. The Francis Crick story. Right. had read the papers and he had access to these things and so he there was no Yeah. I think I probably used the wrong word. the plant realm and that we can take advantage of by tapping into the nervous system that humanity And who can say that it didn't play a part in catalyzing

2:19:08 for a long time. She might be crazy. you're tapping into different wavelengths. also has resonance with another dimension. There's something to that. Well, if it is possible, I believe that conversations like this are what move the You're awesome, Joe. what is your website? our first important time and it's occurring in architecture now. And so people do a lot of creative, you know, there's art church.

2:24:28 probably didn't exist 50 years ago. has just been revised by our dear friends Fong and Scotty. Anytime you want to do it again, I would love to. Born Standing Up. Give it a shot, but there's a million books on there. you by ting and ting is uh the the mobile company that uh we've started working with um no contracts have some, if you're one of I can't find the blenders online, so I guess they're not there yet.

2:27:41 You can't use that with kettlebells and battle ropes, though, Nope, all in stock. when tickets are available No, there's not going to be any End of the World, folks. That's it for this week It's beautiful.