Chapter 1S

You are a God, Act like One
01 ur Po-It-Yourself -God-Kit fro^rsim—^n innovative step in Self- Determination and the evolution of intelligence which was published in an East Village underground paper in 1966, and is of con- siderable historic interest, not for what it says, but for what it does not say. Our self
determining theology was mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
rooted in the premise: Con^ Our do-lt-yourself
trol your own brain, be your rcilQlO^ aid Wt
own Divinity, make your own dom^nd: Folbw me, world. Master the God Tech^ ^W Up in my f lock. nologies. It pointedly did not mmmmmmmmmmmmm
repeat the injunction classi- cally used by religious prophets — Follow me, sign up in my flock. It imposed no dogma except one — Live out your own highest vision.
Turn On
The experienced psychedelic adept can move con- sciousness from one level to another. But then the experience must be communicated, harmonized with the
36 Your drsinh God
greater flow. The "turned on" person realizes that s/ he is
not an isolated, separate social ego,
but rather one transient energy process
hooked up with the energy dance Control your
around hir. 0\M1 brain, te
T^i « 1 » 1. your own
1 he turned on person realizes Di\/inir\/
that every action is a reflection of where s/ he is at. The "turned on" person knows hir world is created by hir consciousness- existing only because s/ he has arranged hir sensory and neural cameras to shoot these particular scenes. Hir movements , dress, grooming, room, house, the neighborhood in which s/ he lives, are exact external replicas of hir state of consciousness. If the outside environment doesn' t harmonize with hir state of mind, s/ he knows that s/ he must move gracefully to get in tune.
Tune In
"Tune in" means arrange your environment so that it reflects your state of consciousness, to harness your internal energy to the flow around you. If you under- stand this most practical, liberating message, you are free to live a life of beauty.
Let us consider a sad illumination. The Manhattan office worker moves through a clutter of """""""'"" factory- made, anonymous furniture to a UVCOUv plastic, impersonal kitchen, to breakfast on your own canned, packaged anonymous food- fuel; nigncst dresses hirself in the anonymous- city- ^^^' dweller costume, travels through dark
tunnels of sooty metal and gray concrete to a dark metal room, foul with polluted air. All day s/ he deals with symbols that have no relevance to hir divine
Timothy Leary 37
possibilities. This person is surrounded by the dreary, impersonal, assembly- line , mass-produced, anonymous environment o{ an automated robot, which perfectly mirrors hir "turned off awareness.
When this person "turns on, " s/he sees at once the horror of hir surroundings. If s/ he "tunes in, " s/ he begins to change hir movements and hir surroundings so that they become more in harmony with hir internal beauty. If everyone ■■■■■■MiiiiiMi in Manhattan were to "turn on" and 5\/gfy action of "tune in, " grass would grow on First ^ human being Avenue and tieless, shoeless divini- rcflect'o hir
ties would dance or roller- skate ^'tSitC of
down the earless streets. Ecological C0n5Ci0U5ne55 consciousness would emerge within _»«
25 years. Fish would swim in a Evc\y VCToOW \b
clear- blue Hudson. ^^ ^^j^^ ^\^
Every action of a human being CO\T\\T\U\i\C2it€6> reflects hir state of consciousness. hir CXpCriCTlCC.
Therefore, every person is an artist mmmmmmmmmm who communicates hir experience. Most people are not "tuned in" consciously. They expe- rience only in terms of static, tired symbols. Therefore, their actions and their surroundings are dead, robot art.
Drop Out
After you "turn on, " you must "tune in" — start changing your dress, your home, to reflect the grandeur and glory o{ your vision. But this process must be har- monious and graceful. No abrupt, destructive, rebel- lious actions, please start "tuning in" through your body movements. Walk, talk, eat, drink like a joyous forest- dwelling god.
S»3 Your drahh God
Next change your dwelling place. If you have to live in the city for the time being, arrange your apartment so that it becomes a shrine. Your room "'"'''''""''''''''''"^^ should reflect a timeless, eternal
Your estate of beauty. Every object should make Con5CioU5ne66 is immediate sense to the sense organs Reflected in Your of a visitor from the &^ Century En^ironmait. b. C. to the ZP^Century A. D.
^^^^^^^^ When you have made your body
a sacred temple and your apartment a navigational, seduction cabin in a 2P^ Century time- ship you are ready to change your broader social commitments. Do not "drop out" until you have "tuned in. " Do not "turn on" unless you know how to "tune in, " or you will get "hung up! " Every "bad trip" is caused by the failure to "tune in. " Here' s why. . . .
What Happens
When you "tune in" you open up neural receptors. Cannabis flicks on sensory receptors, hashish somatic receptors, LSD cellular and molecular receptors. These forceful energies cannot be harnessed to a hive- ego game board. You cannot hook up 100 million years of sensory- somatic revelation to your puny, trivial- personality chessboard. You cannot access 2 billion years of evolutionary revelation to your petty social program. This is why marijuana and LSD, if used in a closed system, will, sooner or later, freak you out
Of over 5 , 000 persons who have begun the yoga of LSD with me, the large majority could not harness their activated energies to a more harmonious game. You cannot take LSD once a week and stay rigidly rooted in a low- level ego game. You have to grow with the flow, or
Timothy Leary SO
you will stop taking LSD. To continue to use LSD, you must generate around you an ever- widening ring of "tuned in" actions. You must hook up your inner power to a life of expanding intelligence.
How to Tune In & Drop Out
L Go home and look at yourself in the mirror. Start changing your dress, your behavior, so that you float like a god, not shuffle like a robot.
2. Look around your home. What kind of dead robot lives here? Start throwing out every- thing that is not "tuned in" to your highest vision.
3. Make your body a temple, your home a shrine.
4. You are a God, live like one!