So you were high on drugs, experienced something frighting, and acknowledged that your life was worthless unless you changed it . . . sounds, deep, man, kinda.
Hahaha, well, from my perspective it was more that the angle I was viewing it from was somewhat novel. I don't really believe in the eternal return, and my views have changed quite a bit since then as that experience was over two years ago. But thinking of death as
not being an end and perceiving an endless cycle of fate paradoxically made me less... fatalistic. Now I don't think that these are true perceptions, but at the time they got me thinking in a different way enough that I could find what I think now is an appropriate view.
Have you ever thought that based on psychedelics, your pseudo, self-induced (meta-?)death, that lead to your philosophical understanding of the universe, may not have lead you to the right answer? (Your current goals.) I mean, it was a deep experience that has changed your life. When you're close to death, you think of the impending consequences of your life. Since you didn't die, you got a chance to reassess yourself. I recall some of your previous posts. You make mention of drugs often. If you hadn't taken them, would you not have arrived at such a conclusion? To me, it seems that you're living your life because of a very visceral -- yet enlightening -- drug dream. Is that a smart decision? (Edit NVM: You don't have to answer that, actually. Since it's more a question of drugs and the human psyche, and whether their effects invalidate or validate behavior.) Will you be happy if you do reach that goal? Will you be satisfied? Enlightened?
I'm cool with my life amounting to nothing. 8) As I said, when I was about to die, all I was thinking was, Fuuuuuuuuu. I can't die now! My HDD is too impure!
Not really! I mean, even immediately afterwards I wasn't sure if I had the right answer. In fact that wasn't really something that I thought about, I interpreted my experience in more of a metaphorical way. It was
like truth, but it wasn't
truth. I knew that my motivation came from a very real place and that was enough for me.
I'm not sure what conclusions I would have reached without that. I don't really use it as a basis for much aside from an example of how I've responded to 'death' (or the perception of it) in the past. In Buddhism there's something called samvega-pasada where the intention is to inspire a sense of urgency in one's practice. Death is just a really powerful motivator, and these days that's essentially all I see that experience as in the greater context of my current philosophy... a particularly poignant kick in the ass.
But yeah, I'm not sure what my philosophy would be without some of the experiences that I've had. Some things like the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism seem so intuitive and sensible to me, I think I'd have come around to them eventually even if I hadn't experienced some things, because for a long time I've tended to have a fairly strong grasp of
dukkha, so it seems like the next logical step would have been me appreciating that. But probably not with the same sense of desperation

The benefit from my experience was mostly that it got me thinking about death, and by extension how I wanted to spend my life. While maybe Buddhist doctrine would have appealed to me without such an experience, I doubt I would have had the same sense of urgency of "this is what I want to do with my life," at least not quite so soon. It's tough to say, though.
If I was living my life based on the memory of one experience, I'd agree with you (or what I assume is your position), it isn't wise. I more so regard that experience as when things
began to click for me, as opposed to when they actually clicked. All my investigation since then has been entirely sober (I don't do drugs anymore) and more analytical, if some of my suspicions weren't confirmed or solidified I wouldn't still hold this perspective that I do. In fact I kind of have a doubting temperament by nature, I'm not really capable of that kind of faith

I've had to renew my commitment hundreds of times and on entirely different bases since then.
But assuming that weren't true... that's an interesting question. I think like I mentioned earlier it's more about the semblance of truth than actual truth. It's sort of like how fiction can resonate with you even if it's not strictly 'real', but obviously different since drug induced experiences are entirely 'real', but they're temporarily induced states without accomplishment. I'm not sure, I've since doubted everything about the perception of the Universe that I had during that experience, but not the sincerity of my motivation. Some things we have little choice but to believe. Like sometimes when you apply skepticism to something, you only become
further convinced, not less convinced
I think I'll be happy. As I mentioned, I've tended to independently have a strong understanding of dukkha, on an unconscious level I was pretty much always looking for the solution to that problem. So it kind of transcends any one experience, I could pretty much relate all of my deepest yearnings to that.
I had those thoughts too ("oh god, I hope they don't find my porn!"), but I was trapped in a thought-loop and by about the dozenth rotation I was so far removed from most "worldly concerns" that I was busy thinking about my next birth and the one after that, etc
