The Reptilian Within

Recent research into addiction has shown where in the brain drugs work. The drug in the brain does not affect, as previously assumed, the frontal cortex, or the section of the brain located at the third eye (right behind the forehead above the eyebrows) to cause the selfish and seemingly insensitive behavior of the drug addict. The frontal cortex is the part of the brain that assigns meaning to anything we perceive. For example, you see a chair, and you realize its shape, the fact that you can sit on it, or perhaps use it to stand on to put a painting on the wall. But the frontal cortex is what allows you to also perceive that chair metaphorically, such as, the chair of the philosophy department at a university, or allow you to attach personal emotion to that object. The chair was your grandfather's, and he would read in it every day, etc. Instead, the drug affects the midbrain, or the part that decides instinctually, immediately, in terms of survival, before you get to think a thought. For example, you see that chair, and in an instant, decide whether or not to kill or fuck it, right off of the bat. This is why an addict can profess all the deepest desire to change and perform well for the rest of their lives and sincerely mean it, but when they see that crack pipe, it all goes out the window. It has become a problem of survival: Right now they have to have that drug! It is a deep painful craving, and they want that drug just like someone would want to back away from the edge of the empire state tower. INTERESTINGLY enough, this part of the human brain is identical, or developed directly from, that of the REPTILE, from an evolutionary standpoint. The snake thinks and acts entirely on this dimension: something fuzzy: kill, eat. Another snake, male or female: fuck it. Hey, 50/50 chance right? This is also why the snake is the fastest attacking animal that we are really aware of. No hesitation. I remember watching the doors movie, and there is a part where Jim is guiding the band through a poyote trip. "Kiss the snake, kiss the snake... but if he senses fear, any fear at all, he will consume you, instantly!" There is a reason Jim called himself the Lizard King, he spent much time mastering this instinctual nature, for he decided he was going to enlighten through the midbrain, as opposed to the frontal cortex, or in conjunction with. This instinct from a spiritual perspective, when pure, can be flawless at interpreting people, even from a few seconds of interaction, or knowing what to do in a situation where there seems to be no way to come to a logical conclusion, at least that fast, or with an inadequate amount of information. Basically, we are all part Reptilian, a very important part. We need to integrate perfectly our frontal cortex's reasoning and spiritual belief abilities with our own innate instincts. This requires complete self-awareness, and complete self-trust. I believe the human way to do this is to lead or suppress the midbrain, the reptilian, until the frontal cortex comes to complete realization. I believe the Reptilian way is to follow the midbrain until realization is obtained through sheer experience. This is why the Reptilians might be perceived as evil: they can kill with little or no regard. I should note that apart from the above about the research, this is all my own speculation. Unfortunately, I think we all hit walls were we can't understand anymore, at least not within this lifetime, or without dying and directly experiencing the seperation from the material world. This is when we have to let go, as the buddhists or zen monks say, and simply allow the instinctual side to take over. I remember a story of a man going up to a zen monk and asking him to help him find his true self. The zen monk ignored him, completely. The man asked repeatedly and repeatedly, and still, was ignored. Finally, the man simply said, "Well screw you man! I'm out of here!" The monk promptly turned and said, "There! There is your true self!" Become an observer of the self, not a controller so much. So how do we do this without becoming the evil reptilian? We purify our intent, not just based on belief, like, I want the world to be happy and everything is one, because these are thoughts that come AFTER the midbrain functioning process, not before. You need to either see without a doubt or have a profound experience that changes your perception of this reality to such as that our oneness is the only logical, rational conclusion that you can see at all, and I mean oneness more from the scientific perspective, for this is all inclusive by nature. Then you let the instincts take over. You may still do things that the old self would have considered negative, or bad, but in the end, I believe, if you truly have had this deep realization, and have truly surrendered to a higher will, they are in accordance with that higher will. In Hindu mythology, there is Sri Caitanya - Caritamrta, a Jesus basically, a direct manifestation of Krishna, or God. He is known for bringing the Hari Krsna movement to us in this age, or for saying that the purest way to enlightenment is through chanting the Lord's name(s). There is a section where his guru growing up describes to him, as he is passing this knowledge on, to the awakening of a true love of God, which I believe is a syncronization of the frontal cortex with the midbrain, and he says such as follows:


"The conclusion of all revealed scriptures is that one should awaken his dormant love of Godhead..." "It is a characteristic of love of Godhead that by nature it induces trancendental symptoms in one's body and makes one more and more greedy to achieve the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord." "When one actually develops love of Godhead, he naturally sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes chants and sometimes runs here and there just like a madman."


This is also I believe the purpose of most shamanistic rituals, tribal dancing, etc. This type of action requires amazing amount of detachment, because you cannot be second guessing yourself: the moment you do, you have lost the ability to instinctually interact to that situation.