"Tokchik" meditation or microdosing LSD for creativity? A Daniel P Brown technique as guided meditation.
- Till Gebel
- Mar 15
- 5 min read
In a Facebook group on Buddhism, it was suggested that "dropping thoughts" might be useful as a way to "become one".
A followup question was : "can I bring something back from being ONE, that would be useful for my life?". A sensible and practical question.
The deceased meditation teacher and psychologist Daniel P Brown used to teach a particular technique in his Performance Excellence courses for executives. This technique is not the classical "insight" meditation.
Tokchik meditation as a creativity technique
It´s a creativity technique from advanced Mahayana meditation. The purpose is to generate new ideas and connections. It is like a kind of solo-brainstorming session.
The core of this method is the "tokchik" (also spelled togcik), which means single-minded thought.
It involves stabilizing the mind, entering a state of expansive awareness, and drawing insights from a "cosmic database" (a metaphor related to the term "storehouse", one of the "subminds"(Culadasa) in the Buddhist mind model. |
The Tokchik meditation process
This. is a high-level description of the process.
Develop a Tokchik (Single-Minded Thought)
Focus on a specific problem or topic you want insights about.
Reflect on it single-mindedly for 5-10 minutes.
Enter Deep Meditation
Use emptiness meditations: first, emptiness of self, then emptiness of time.
Expand awareness into a state of ocean-like changeless boundless awareness.
Let the Thought Dissolve
In this deep state, the initial tokchik disappears, but its imprint remains.
Re-emerge & Capture Insights
After 10-15 minutes, transition back to ordinary awareness.
As you emerge, the mind pulls insights related to the tokchik from an interconnected "cosmic database."
These insights come clearly and completely, similar to how Buddhist sutras were said to be written in this state. Dan said that sutras and major philosophical works, like Shantideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, were traditionally composed using this state of mind.
A guided metaphorical Tokchik meditation
The following audio is a creative transformation of the idea in a metaphorical Tokchik session. The metaphor is that of a fisherman with a line and a lure.
Other useful metaphors for this approach could be (thank you Claude):
A "mental quantum dive" - sending a focused query into the quantum field of all possibilities
"Targeted stargazing" - pointing a telescope at one specific area of the night sky to reveal an entire constellation
"Seed crystal immersion" - placing a tiny seed crystal in a supersaturated solution, causing organized structures to form around it
"Deep root networking" - planting a single thought-seed that develops an extensive, interconnected root system underground before blooming
Tokchik meditation, microdosing and creativity
Dan Brown repeatedly compared this technique with the equivalent use of psychedelics for creativity, a practice that is wide spread since the 1960s. Some scientists "confessed" to have brilliant ideas under the influence of psychedelics. Dan Brown had been a self-confessed expert in psychdelics in his youth, like most of the Western meditation teachers in the 1960s psychedelics has brought him to meditation.
However, in his later teachings he would recommend meditation over microdosing to increase creativity. Meditation, he said, resulted in more stable deep-reaching results, as opposed to the short-lived experiences with psychedelics. He granted, though, that psychedelics could have profound positive effect, and in his last years considered supporting this research.
Neuroscience of Tokchik and Psychedelics
This diagram gives a quick overview of the mechanisms said to be responsible for increased creativity.
More info is in the Deep Research report by ChatGPT.
Tokchik Meditation (Left side):
Operates through internal mental training
Strengthens attention networks (ATN) while consciously quieting the Default Mode Network (DMN)
Increases prefrontal cortex (PFC) control over mind-wandering
Enhances connectivity between control regions and DMN
Employs a "mind over brain" approach where mental discipline creates neural changes
Microdosing (Right side):
Works through chemical modulation
Activates 5-HT2A serotonin receptors
Pharmacologically disrupts the Default Mode Network
Increases global neural connectivity and cross-talk between brain regions
Promotes neural plasticity through BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)
Represents a "brain chemistry over mind" approach
A formal meditation script
(Note: this meditation was largely written by Claude based on research and ideas of Dan Brown).
Preliminary Stabilization
[Begin with 30 seconds of silence]
Begin by taking a dignified, balanced posture. Sit with your spine straight but not rigid, allowing your body to be at once alert and at ease. Place your hands in a comfortable position, either on your knees or in your lap.
Allow the body to become still. Let it settle, becoming increasingly motionless as you prepare the foundation for practice.
Direct your attention to the breath at the nostrils. Feel the subtle sensations of air passing in and out. Simply observe each breath cycle with clear attention, without altering its natural rhythm.
Continue focusing on the breath for several minutes, cultivating one-pointed attention. If the mind wanders, gently but firmly return attention to the sensations of breathing.
[Pause for 2 minutes]
Expanding Into Open Awareness
Now, while maintaining clarity, begin to expand your field of awareness beyond the breath. Allow your attention to open into a panoramic, boundless awareness that encompasses all experience.
Notice the spacious quality of this awareness. It is vast, clear, and cognizant—like an open sky that contains all phenomena yet remains unaffected by what arises within it.
Rest in this recognition of awareness itself, prior to and encompassing all thoughts and perceptions. This awareness is naturally present, requiring no effort to create or maintain it.
[Pause for 2 minutes]
Formulating The Tokchik
While maintaining connection with this open awareness, bring to mind the specific question, creative challenge, or area of inquiry you wish to explore.
Formulate this question precisely, refining it until it has a clear, concentrated quality. This is your Tokchik—your single-pointed thought or intention.
Hold this Tokchik with steady attention until it becomes vivid and well-defined in your awareness. Notice its specific qualities and parameters.
[Pause for 1 minute]
Integrating The Tokchik With Awareness
Now, maintaining both the vivid presence of your Tokchik and the sense of boundless awareness, allow them to coexist without tension.
The Tokchik remains clear and distinct, yet it exists within the vast field of open awareness. Do not contract around the question, but allow it to rest within spaciousness.
Maintain this unity of focused intention and expansive awareness. This is what the tradition calls "non-referential mindfulness with support."
[Pause for 3 minutes]
Abiding In The Balance
Continue to abide in this perfect balance between specificity and openness. Neither grasping at insights nor becoming distracted.
If you notice the mind becoming dull or sleepy, emphasize the clarity and precision of your Tokchik.
If you notice the mind becoming agitated or contracted, emphasize the spacious quality of awareness.
Remain in this balanced state, allowing the mind to stabilize in clarity and openness.
[Pause for 5 minutes]
Allowing Insights To Emerge
As you maintain this unified state, begin to notice how insights and understanding may naturally form around your Tokchik.
Do not actively search for answers or force connections. Instead, allow the organizational process to occur spontaneously within awareness itself.
Notice how related elements begin to connect, how patterns emerge, how understanding develops of its own accord when the proper conditions are present.
[Pause for 5 minutes]
Gathering The Understanding
As a coherent structure of insight forms, simply receive it. Without grasping or rejecting, allow the understanding to stabilize and clarify itself.
Notice the relationships between different aspects of the insight—how they connect, support, and illuminate each other.
Appreciate the elegant organization that emerges naturally when the mind operates in this way.
[Pause for 3 minutes]
Integration And Conclusion
Now, while maintaining connection to the insights received, begin to gently return your awareness to your surroundings.
Feel the weight and position of your body. Notice the contact points with the surface beneath you. Become aware of sounds in your environment.
Slowly open your eyes, maintaining an inward connection to the understanding that has emerged.
When you are ready, consider recording the insights you received, noting both their content and their organizational structure. Allow these insights to settle before analyzing them further.
[End with 30 seconds of silence]
References
ChatGPT Deep Research on Tokchik and Psychedelics
James Fadiman
The Psychedelic Explorer´s Guide
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