Quite a few years ago, I accidentally was drawn from philosophy into the sphere of human evolution, mysticism and psychedelics. It all started with a single remark. I was stuck with the psychic world of the Neanderthal man in a science documentary, which I had recorded with my VCR for appropriate viewing moments. Yet, something was baffling in the illustrated scene where a Neanderthal man momentarily encountered the modern human face to face.
I suddenly realised what caught my attention
It took me a while to understand why I was puzzled. At first, it was the seeming “simplicity” of the Neanderthal man. I did not want to think of it as stupid, but it was impossible to put words like ‘what’, ‘why’ or ‘where’ in its mouth. I tried, but I had to give up. It simply could not ask questions. If it could, it would not have given up its lands to the southern invader, Homo sapiens.
This curious creature took everything as given and accepted the world as it was. Why was that? Perhaps something was missing in its psyche? Could it be missing the ability to use cognition? Then, suddenly out of the blue, I realised what I was tracing. It was just this rationally limited psyche that reminded me of my own transcendental experience, which happened to me when I was barely twenty-one years old.
I still vividly remember the situation when I lost my interest in all causes and culprits. My cognition was wiped out and replaced by a vast heartfelt desire to accept everything as it was. The feeling was confusing yet blissful at the same time. The Neanderthal man must have had something in common with my experience. Did that mean the Neanderthal man was in some way similar to me? I finally realised that it was me who was missing something! I was devoid of the real adulthood—that of the Neanderthal man!
