In early 2012 I had stumbled upon psychedelic trance and my love for it had overtaken me completely - I was captured, on fire, a rock musician who found a style of music that seemed to embody everything I had always missed in rock music.
My focus started shifting from the tiring activism efforts in TZM, trying to convince people about issues they didn't want to hear about, to occupying myself with this new music genre and its culture. I felt drawn to it and that it was better for my soul than convincing people of something they really had no interest in ;)
But then that kicked into high gear when I stumbled upon the mighty Ozora festival online - thousands of psy people gathering to celebrate life. I was thrilled, I felt called - I had to go!
And so a friend of mine and me decided to hitch a ride with another crew and travelled to Hungary to experience this gathering firsthand the following summer in 2012.
And wow, did that change everything!
I have written about my experiences there extensively, if you want to go deeper check out this post of mine: Psychedelic Trance - A Gateway To Understanding Life As Human Being
But in regards to my activism in the Zeitgeist Movement it was quite the eye-opener back then!
You see, in tzm all we ever talked about and aimed for was to build a better world for all living beings. A world where people could collaborate instead of compete. A world where people share freely because there is enough, where artificial scarcity is a thing of the past and where people of all creeds and colors can come together if they choose to do so. A world where strangers offer a helping hand to one another and where you can always ask anyone for help, recognizing that all human beings are part of the same human family.
And I dug that notion endlessly!
It made sense to me, I felt it was what was sorely missing in our modern society and that I wanted to devote my life to help bringing that about. It was one of the main reasons I had joined tzm in the first place because I felt this movement had the best roadmap to getting humanity there...
But then at my first Ozora in 2012 the most surprising thing to me was:That world already existed!!! Here I was, standing on the mainfloor in the sunshine and that world unfolded around me like a cosmic giggle, full of life, richness and authenticity. No pipe dream, no potential utopia... but tangible, palpable, actual reality.
I saw little kids playing in mud puddles with people three times their age. I saw dogs running around between people, soap bubbles floating, people dancing on hills and under trees. I saw old people with canes nodding their head to the beat with a smile on their face, I saw seeming strangers hug one another in utter trust. I heard people laughing everywhere - belly laughs as if to celebrate life itself. I saw people picking up trash that didn't belong to them, saw smiles and acknowledgment of one's attention when looking to the far side of the mainfloor and catching someone's glance.
It was a magical shift in worldview for me. EVERYTHING I HAD WORKED FOR IN TZM... already existed. Here, right in front of me.
And it obviously had existed for a while. It's like I came late to my own birthday party thinking: Wow, how did this ever get by me unnoticed?
But here it was, plain as day. No need for convincing anyone of anything because everybody was living it freely on their own accord without any dogmas or moral high grounds. No need to argue about problems because here people take decisions to just make stuff work, to solve a problem when it arises and to help each other out because that's what humans do. Everyone here was living at eye-level. No hierarchies, no central authority, only a bunch of colorful people learning from one another and inspiring greatness in one another. Giving each other permision to be kind and patient, to be humble and compassionate. To let sad people be sad but throwing them a smile regardless. To join in on dancing circles of total strangers. And to invite other people you just met to a meal because why not.
We had time, we had beautiful weather, awesome music and everyone felt a great sense of relief having left the matrix life at home 100%. No appointments, no stress, total self-governance.
And so this engrained itself more into me than anything else I can remember really. The sensation of "This is how humanity is supposed to live." Not because anyone decided so but because everyone here decided on their own - and then went and had a massive party about it!
After more than a week of living this, treating this state of humanity as purely theoretical to be aimed for as ideal in the future... seemed utterly absurd to me. I knew now that it already existed, I knew it worked and that it was more powerful than anything I had ever experienced with other human beings. It stayed with me and will stay with me forever.
And so came the moment after our departure from the festival grounds and travelling home that I met up with the main tzm chapter in germany again, in Berlin, talking among coordinators and kinda making a plan for the months ahead in terms of media and activism activities.
But my heart was no longer in it. I had changed. Drastically.
After that week of love, human interaction and psychedelic insights all this talk around the chapter table suddenly seemed void and completely beside the point! Theoretical, nearly dead. It was like a cold brain cave compared to the sunny lively beach of the Ozorian valley. And even before that tzm meeting I had already made up my mind:
I would devote my time to this new culture I had found and reduce my tzm activities to a bare minimum. Only at the meeting did I actually decide to quit tzm altogether. I had to. There was no way back, this wouldn't cut it any more. It felt like I was a at a crossroads, being reminded about tzm's highly materialist stance on things as well after my return from the festival grounds where people had gone so deep into the psyche and looked beyond matter.
Though all of the people at the tzm meeting respected me, there came the moment where one of the people from the Berlin chapter asked me, as politely as he could:
"Dude, I came to this movement partly because of your media work and videos. You have done so much for the German chapters. So let me get this straight... You want to throw the towel and completely quit tzm now so that you can... dance for world peace?"
He looked at me with the maximum of respect he could muster, but I knew he didn't get it at all. And I really couldn't blame him for not getting it, why I gave him that impression.
I said: "Well funny you put it like that but to make a long story short: basically yes."
Ahahahaha.
And that was the end of it. The people around the table were stunned and I couldn't help but giggle at the situation.
Must look pretty stupid from the outside, but then they haven't been to the valley and haven't seen humanity at its best - as it already exists out there - so there is no way I can relay that to them in words.
I tried but they really weren't interested.
And that's where the difference is. The one is words, concepts and ideas. The other is tangible experience that dwarfs any sort of theoretical notion or smart idea. Actuality over theory.
I did talk a a bit about my experiences at Ozora but soon we would return to the agenda for the meeting, talking about the usual - website improvements, chapter meetings, activism ideas. But I was happy: This would be my last meeting with the tzm crew because it seemed I had other places to be and other things to do from now on. I will be forever grateful to tzm and its people but I had to move on!
My passion for life had been rekindled and for that I will be forever grateful to the psychedelic community. Thank you!
others by Ruben @ https://www.facebook.com/venturo.ruben
We're good friends, check out their amazing work!
Why I Left the Zeitgeist Movement - Prologue
Pt.1 - The Psychedelics Conspiracy in Academia
Great read and great conclusion. It also reminds me of the burning man community. I still don't know what to think of it 10 years later. We left that community with my wife, because we realised (and sorry to offend anyone) that it was a bunch of rich kids wanting to play in the mud. What I mean by this, is that at the time we were REALLY STARVING with the kids, and not fucking pretending for one bit.
At the same time, I am being overly critical and borderline hypocritical because I was one of the rich kid playing the in the mud, once. I still prefer these people any day, compared to 99% if the (now masked) population. There still great trance parties where we live, and we will probably go with the kids one day (without the drugs of course haha).
Hey Ed,
ya I got that impression of the buring man crowd as well, videos I sw and firsthand accounts by friends who went.
At Ozora most people are rather non-rich. Just rich enough to get away for a week ;)
I miss the trance scene. would take my kids as well, will do when I have any <3
All the best to ya
Ozora seems to be a chilled place, I still think there's some cool people out there, it's all about finding them!
aye though I gotta say ozora has changed drastically over the last decade. Last time I went I had to concede that it would be my last time...
We really need new places to party, where less of a media campaign has been trotted out and the spirit of the party is fresh and free!
Around my area there are free parties, but right now, they keep the music level very low not to attract any attention
how sad...