Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind

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Jamie Wheal maps out a revolutionary new practice—Hedonic Engineering—that combines the best of neuroscience and optimal psychology. It’s an intensive program of breathing, movement, and sexuality that mends trauma, heightens inspiration and tightens connections—helping us wake up, grow up, and show up for a world that needs us all. For me, Jamie's "cool kid" language sometimes gets in the way. When an idea being expressed is deeply impactful, I find having it expressed in a way that is "cool sounding" can detract from its impact. The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.”― Ken Kesey All stages involve increasing degrees of privation - fasting, sleeplessness, dehydration, dancing. Once you have been initiated, you are permitted to use the substances…” - Then continues referring to the ritual: “Now that we have considered the utility of sacramental use… “ I have bought and given away six copies and am committed to getting this book into as many hands as possible, partly because I want there to be a better world (a world that hasn't been destroyed by our stupidity) for my children and their children, and partly because I want my friends to join me in the big adventure of changing our hearts and minds with the simple practices outlined in the second part of the book.

Notice which persona feels most true for you. The Hedonist values pursuing the fullest range of experience possible. The Purist values sanctity of mind and body. The Conformist values expert advice and evidence. If we can integrate these three orientations, we’ll be stronger and more effective technicians of the sacred. The world lies at a crossroads, getting both exponentially better and exponentially worse; this would be a lot for any civilisation to handle, never mind one without any sense of meaning and one that seemingly everyone in believes to be coming to an end. So how can we collectively recapture the Rapture? In this book, Jamie argues that to do this we must recapture the lower case 'rapture', our access to peak states; experiences of extreme pleasure and joy, through which we can experience greater ecstasy, healing and connection to others.Healing – the second nutrient we all need. “The world breaks everyone,” said Hemingway, “and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills.” We all suffer micro-PTSD nearly all the time. Having a way to digest our grief, rather than choke on it, is essential. As Bessel Van Der Kolk writes in his brilliant book, the body really does keep the score.

Meaning 2.0 = modern capitalist / democratic societies, salvation based on inclusion. Everyone gets a chance Biological imperative for procreation - woman’s ability to conceive with a new sexual partner is extended +/-3 days Even without the substances, one may be delusional in that setting. Add psychedelics on top, and then you have your true answers. :)Favourite word mentioned: "Golden Shadow" - not the dark parts we have a hard time owning up to but the bright parts we are afraid to own. A highly personal, richly informed and culturally wide-ranging mediation on the loss of meaning in our times and on pathways to rediscovering it, from breath through psychedelics--a search fueled by Jamie Wheal’s boundless curiosity and commitment to transformation." — Gabor Maté M.D., Author: In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction Full Book Name: Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost its Mind