Cosmic Trigger
Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of The Illuminati is the first book in the Cosmic Trigger series, first published in 1977 and the first of a three-volume autobiographical and philosophical work by Robert Anton Wilson. It has a foreword by Timothy Leary, which he wrote in the summer of 1977. The first volume was published without numbering, as the second volume did not appear for nearly 15 years. Wilson is perhaps best known as the co-author of the award-winning science fiction work The Illuminatus! Trilogy. Cosmic Trigger revisits many of the themes from that earlier work in a more autobiographical fashion. After publishing the first volume of Cosmic Trigger, Wilson wrote two sequels, Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth (1991) and Cosmic Trigger III: My Life After Death (1995), the title of the first book retroactively changing to reflect the series. Cosmic Trigger I deals with Wilson's experiences during a time in which he put himself through a process of "self-induced brain change" as well as vignettes of his earlier life. The main discovery of this process—which, he tells us, is known in certain traditions as Chapel perilous—is that "reality" (although a noun in most Indo-European language systems, and therefore[citation needed] commonly conceptualized as being a definite, unchanging "'thing") is mutable and subjective to the observer.
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- Robert Anton Wilson: Cosmic Trigger and Quantum Psychology Isaac Asimov: Beginnings Alex Garland: The Beach Buddha: The Dhammapada
- All books from Robert Anton Wilson, but especially the Cosmic Trigger series and Quantum Psychology.
Also: The Goal.
If you're intellectually capable, they're life changing.
If you're more for leasure, consider reading the longest running science fiction series in history: Perry Rhodan.
It's been running for ... 60? ... years now. A new 60 page booklet every week.
There's the silver books, as well, instead of having to buy them all separately.
- I can recommend all books written by Robert Anton Wilson, especially the Cosmic Trigger series, Quantum Psychology and The New Prometheus.
Another book that's definitely worth a read, or two, is "The Goal", which teaches you how to think goal-oriented while not being a bore to read.
- Highly recommend the author of this post, or any other psychonauts, to read Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson. He recounts a period of several years in his life where his psychonautic explorations left him believing he was in contact with an alien intelligence.
He wrestles with trying to find scientific explanations and whether that’s important or not since the experience deeply impacted him regardless of its cause.
I don’t personally dabble in hallucinogenics, but I’m always fascinated by what bubbles up from the brain given various stimuli.
- Probably Robert Anton Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger or Prometheus Rising back in 2010. The “reality tunnel” concept has defined much of my personal and intellectual exploration of the past 10 years.
“ When we meet somebody whose separate tunnel-reality is obviously far different from ours, we are a bit frightened and always disoriented. We tend to think they are mad, or that they are crooks trying to con us in some way, or that they are hoaxers playing a joke. Yet it is neurologically obvious that no two brains have the same genetically-programmed hard wiring, the same imprints, the same conditioning, the same learning experiences. We are all living in separate realities. That is why communication fails so often, and misunderstandings and resentments are so common. I say "meow" and you say "Bow-wow," and each of us is convinced the other is a bit dumb.”
- Cosmic Trigger was great, but I must say it's hard to speak of Robert Anton Wilson without mentioning his magnum opus, The Illuminatus Trilogy.
