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Entheogens-Return of the Ostracized

Entheogens-Return of the Ostracized

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AUTHOR Roberts, Thomas B.; Hruby, Paula Jo TITLE Return of the Ostracized. PUB DATE 96 NOTE 69p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, April 8-12, 1996) . PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Drug Use; *; Pharmacology; *Philosophy; *; *Religion Studies; Religious Differences IDENTIFIERS *Entheogens

ABSTRACT This paper explores the roles that "entheogens" have played in from early shaman times to contemporary indigenous and syncretic practices. The word "" was coined to denote pschyoactive chemicals and botanicals which engender the experience of within (Ott, 1993). Part 1 of the paper points to three background changes that provide a more supportive climate for investigating entheogens than has occurred for many years. Part 2 discusses entheogens' possible contributions to religious and educational research. Part 3 describes provocative pilot studies and research questions which can guide additional research. Some of these topics are: the nature of the human mind; pastoral counseling; experimental mysticism; and the dispute over drug-assisted primary . Contains 95 references. (EH)

******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** .0 I efilthecoir00' wow oftheT:ostrCO°

Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. ([email protected])

Paula Jo Hruby, M.S.Ed. ([email protected])

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND Northern Illinois University DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY "Th s 13. Ro 6efk_S

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)

_ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION Children of a future age, CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization Reading this indignant page, originating it. Minor changes have been made to Know that in a former time improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent A path to God was thought a crime. official OERI position or policy. (adapted from William Blake)

Presented at the American Educational Research Association

1996 Annual Meeting, New York, April 8-12

Sponsored by the Religion and Education SIG

BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 Ought it to be assumed that in all men the mixture of religion with other elements should be identical? Ought it, indeed, to be assumed that the lives of all men should show identical religious elements? In other words, is the existence of so many religious types and and creeds regrettable?

To these questions I answer "No" emphatically. And my reason is that I do not see how it is possible that creatures in such different positions and with such different powers as human individuals are, should have exactly the same functions nor should we be expected to work out identical solutions. Each, from his peculiar angle of , takes in a certain sphere of fact and trouble, which each must deal with in a unique manner. , The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902 Mentor edition, 1958, page 368

TIMELY NOTES

PBS television stations are now airing a 5-part serieson with Bill Moyers interviewing Huston Smith. Youmay want to suggest that your students, colleagues, and congregants read Smith's writings on entheogens. These are listed in our bibliography.

On Wednesday, April 10th, Tom Roberts, one of the coauthors of this paper, will be giving a lecture Psychoactive Sacraments: My Entheogenic Religion at the Open Society Institute of the Lindesmith Center, 888 Seventh Ave., from 4-6 PM. Enter on 56thor 57th Street. It is free and open to the public, but be sure to call ahead toreserve a place since seating is limited: 212-887-0695. 3 Entheogens 1

Abstract

The word "entheogen" was coined to denote chemicals and botanicals which engender the experience of god within (Ott, 1993). From the early origins of shamanic religions through contemporary indigenous and syncretic religions, entheogens have played a number of roles. Sometimes they were perceived as sacraments, sometimes as gifts of the , sometimes as demonic, sometimes as gods themselves. Summarizing the research, Grinspoon and Bakalar (1979, p. 267) conclude that, "It should not be necessary to supplyany more proof that psychedelic drugs produce experiences that those who undergo them regardas religious in the fullest sense." Fascinating and important questions remain to be researched concerning these "plants of the gods." What research opportunities do entheogens present for educational and religious researchers?

Part 1 of this paper points to three background changes which provide a more supportive climate for investigating entheogens than has occurred for many years. Theseare: (1) a multistate , that is, an intellectual climate that recognizes that human behavior and experience occur in many mindbody states; (2) the growth of to consider whether human nature includes a spiritual aspect, the effects of ego transcendence, and mystical experiences; and (3) within religious communities the growing recognition that, along with the usual foundations of religionbelief, , the written word, and religious organizationprimary religious experience forms an additional and essential foundation for religion.

Part 2 exemplifies entheogens' possible contributions to religious and educational research. Examples are drawn from three areas research: (1) theoretical and conceptual research, defining concepts such as "transpersonal," "mystical experience," and "unitive mindbody states" while exploring the theoretical connection of humanity's spiritual aspect with mystical or intense religious mindbody states; (2) empirical research, describing previous research using psychoactive substances for entheogenic or therapeuticpurposes; (3) current research study, correlational studies reporting on people who currentlyuse entheogens for primary religious experiences using the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975).

Part 3 presents some provocative pilot studies, and research questions whichcan guide additional research. Topics are: (1) the nature of the human mind, (2) pastoralcounseling, (3) experimental mysticism, (4) the dispute over the authenticity of drug-assistedprimary religious experience, (5) entheogenic origins of religion, and (6) policy issues.Finally, part 3 makes recommendations for an entheogen-based research agenda. Entheogens 2 Entheogens return of the Ostracized

The decisive question in the human being's life is this, am I related to something infinite or not? C. G. Jung

Introduction

Humans are not only physical, mental, and emotional beings but also spiritual ones. This spiritual aspect is innate to humankind according to Assagioli (1965), Fowler (1991), Grof (1992), Maslow (1968), Jung (1958, 1973), Walsh and Vaughan (1993), Wilber (1995), and the world's major religious traditions (Smith, 1958, 1992). Whereas this spiritual aspect is natural, actualizing it is not universal, albeit the potential exists (Greeley, 1974; James, 1982; Maslow, 1968; Stace, 1961). Experiencing intense religious or mystical phenomena often increases the individual's awareness of an underlying unity with others, nature, life, God, , the One, or Ultimate Reality. This unity exists beyond the finite boundaries of the physical human body (Assagioli, 1965; Steindl-Rast, in press).

In this paper we will discuss entheogens, psychoactive plants and chemicals used religiously (Lucas, 1995; Ruck, Bigwood, Staples, Ott, & Wasson, 1979). Common entheogens are peyote, LSD, psychoactive mushrooms, ayahuasca, marijuana, and a host of other synthetic and natural compounds. While these substances may also be used for other purposes, it is their spiritual use that qualifies them as entheogens. Apparently the entheogen-based spiritual quest is making a return to Western religion after being exiled for many years.

Part 1 of this paper describes some ongoing background changes in the intellectual climate, psychology, and religion: these provide a nurturing context which fosters the return of entheogens. Part 2 describes a study of mystical experience among university students and attendees at a religious conference-retreat about entheogens. Part 3 presents leads to future research. Part 1Contextual Shifts

Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing today, we see three broad background shifts that facilitate the return of entheogens; all of these are changes in the general intellectual background, psychology, and religion. Intellectual Context

In contrast to two or three decades ago, there is increasing recognition in today's intellectual environment that humans produce and use many mindbody states in additionto our ordinary awake state (Murphy, 1992; Roberts, 1989). Most everyone is familiar with the ordinary awake state of , the sleeping state, and the dreamingstate. Each state of consciousness differs distinctly from another; for example, sleeping discretely varies from the normal awake state and from the state of intoxication. Other labels have been applied to these discrete states of consciousness such as psychophysiologicalstates and mindbody states (Roberts, 1989). Instead of using state of consciousness,we have chosen to use the more descriptive phrase mindbody state to emphasize the interconnection between

5 Entheogens 3 the mind (psychological) and body (physiological).The ideas that all worthwhile abilities occur only in our ordinary awake state and its correlate, that other states are useless and/or harmful, are increasingly recognized as erroneous assumptions that interfere with and restrict scholarship; Roberts and Hruby (1996) name this the "Singlestate Fallacy."

In the 1950s and 1960s altered states were less acceptable as topics of intellectual inquiry, but with their acceptance has come the recognition that a complete psychologymust include of psychological processes in all states, not just our ordinary state. "The most important obligation of any science is that its descriptive and theoretical language embrace all the phenomena of its subject matter; the data from [altered states of consciousness] cannot be ignored if we are to develop a comprehensive psychology" (Tart, 1960, p. 6). The same principle applies equally to education and religion as wellas to psychology.

Today psychotechnologies for achieving a greater range of mindbody states suchas , dreams, hypnosis, imagery, sensory isolation and overload, someprayer and spiritual routines, biofeedback, yoga, the martial arts, and so forth are ground breaking topics for scholarly and intellectual study. Many, if not most, introductory textbooks in psychology feature chapters or sections on altered states of consciousness. While a climate of openness to a multistate model of human nature is by no means universal, the singlestate proponents are dying and retiring as Kuhn (1962) describes. The increasing acceptance of the multistate paradigm by the younger replacements places entheogens (as another method for changing mindbody states) in a friendlier climate of ideas. Psychological Context

Within psychology a number of related topics has emerged. Ego-transcendence (Journal of , 1969+) has opened questions which have to do with experiences that entheogens often, but not always, provide. Does human nature includea natural desire to transcend the ego? In his later writings, Maslow (1967, 1968) describes ego-transcendence as a stage "beyond self-actualization." In Religions, Values and Peak Experiences (1964, p. xiv) he specifically refers to the LSD-assisted work of Grof. Jungian psychology (Jung, 1958, 1973) particularly the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1987), even though it is not oriented toward transcendence, has directed the attention of many people toward Jung's psychology with its emphasis on the and archetypes. Entheogens often put one in touch with archetypical experiences. In both theoretical and empirical articles (e.g., Lukoff & Lu, 1988) The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (1969+) chronicles much of the pioneering researchon mindbody experiences and psychotechnologies, including meditation, psychedelics, mystical experiences, egoless experiences, and psychotechnologies for achieving these states. Religious Context

In the past few years several events have occurred whichmay indicate that entheogens are being seriously reconsidered within segments of the American religious community and government. These events include, among others, :

the growth of Pentacostalism with its emphasis on religious experienceas more fundamental than , organization,or established ritual (Cox, 1993);

6 Entheogens 4

the disenchantment of many people, especially young people, with some traditional religions whose legitimacy is based on dogmatic beliefs, the written word, unfulfilling ritual, and religious organization. "Where are religious experiences?" they ask;

the Chicago Theological Seminary cosponsored an entheogenically oriented conference, Psychoactive Sacraments,which is anticipated to be the first of a series of such conference-retreats;

publication of a book which reviews the entheogenic literature during the past four decades, Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: A Bibliographic Guide (Roberts & Hruby, 1995);

the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Native American Act by Congress (also see Aberle 1991);

the growth of American and immigrant religions which use entheogens;

interest in Eastern and experience-based religions;

rave masses and services [raves usually involve the use of the psychoactive substance MDMA also know as ecstasy, "E" or Adam which is described as an empathogen (Adamson, 1985) or entactogen, "touching the self within," (Shulgin, 1995)];

the founding of the Council on Spiritual Practices, San Francisco (1994+).

A growing distinction is being made between religious uses of psychoactive plants and chemicals such as that by the (Aberle, 1991) and their secular uses (The Entheogen Law Reporter, 1993+; Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, 1990+). Distinctions are being made on the basis of spiritual intent (Jesse, 1995), liturgical use within ecclesiastical settings (Lucas, 1995), substances used (those promoting mystical states and which are non-addictive), and preferred outcomes (mystical, sacred, and/or primary religious experience). Ongoing research on the Uniao do Vegetal Church (McKenna & Grob, 1994), one of two contemporary Brazilian religions which use ayahuasca, may point the way to similar religious practices and research in the .

One of Pahnke's (1964) subjects in the entheogen-based Good Friday Experiment (see below), Rev. Mike Young, currently a Unitarian-Universalist Minister, poses entheogen- based questions which combine pastoral and theological concerns and raise topics which entheogen researchers need to address (Young, 1995):

Here are some drugs that reshape and reframe our -making in ways thatwe religious leaders have always said were good. How could that be naughty? (p. 37)

How will we respond to our own followers telling us that the drug experience is religious experience, that our boundaries are fluid, if not passé? (p. 38)

How do we learn to most usefully and effectively evoke the and create the setting for non-particularistic religious experience? (p. 38) Entheogens 5

The expansion of intellectual context to accept a multistate paradigm, the growth of psychology to study all mindbody states and ways of achieving them, the expansion of religion to recognize the importance of primary religious experience, and the expansion of experience-based religionstogether these chronicle a shifting social climate that is hospitable to entheogens. Part 2The Varieties of Mystical Experience: Theory and Rese rch

Entheogens, psychoactive plants and substances used for spiritual/religious purposes, have been employed for centuries by shamans and indigenous peoples as a kind of "skeleton key" (Richard, 1975) to unlock the door to the other world, the spiritual or transcendent realm (Furst, 1972; Samorini, 1995; Schultes & Hofmann, 1992; Walsh, 1990). This part of the paper has three purposes: (1) to explore the theoretical and conceptual connection of humanity's spiritual aspect with mystical mindbody states; (2) to present empirical research of psychoactive substances used spiritually or therapeutically; and (3) to report the results of a recent research study of individuals who currently use entheogens by examining their experience of mystical phenomena through theuse of the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975). Theoretical and Conceptual Research Transpersonal Experiences. "Transpersonal experiences may be defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, , and cosmos" (Walsh & Vaughan, 1993, p. 3). Therefore, mystical, peak, ecstatic, , transcendent, intense spiritual, and primary religious experiences can be viewed as one group of similar transpersonal experiences. These numerous terms, although not identical, overlap in their definitions and share some of the same characteristics or qualities. Specifically, they all express an underlying sense of unity or experience of oneness (James, 1982; Pahnke, 1963; Stace, 1961).

These unitive experiences or unitive mindbody states might be considered the most intense subset of transpersonal experiences since they not only expand the boundaries of the ego to include wider aspects of life but also dissolve these boundaries in such a way as to momentarilyconnect with Supreme Reality. Grof (1975), besides defining transpersonal experiences as going beyond the usual ego boundaries, adds an alteration in the usual sense of time and/or space. Meditative, shamanic, contemplative, and entheogenic mindbody states, to name a few, are othergroups of transpersonal experiences which may or may not lead to mystical or primary religious experience.

Maslow discovered the transpersonal realm when he was studying self-actualized individuals, that is, individuals who seemed to have reached their potential (Maslow, 1964, 1968; Roberts, 1978). Maslow found that many of these self-actualizers had what he labeled "peak" experiences which connected the percipient to what he termed the "transhuman"or "transpersonal" realm of existence. He equated peak experiences to "secularized religiousor mystical or transcendent experiences" (1964, p. xii).

Since the term "peak experience" was coined by Maslow, it has been employed in various contexts both generally, encompassing the entire range of exceptionally meaningful human experiences, and specifically, delineatinga transcendental form of consciousness, the hallmark of which is unity. (Richards, et al., 1977,p. 1)

8 Entheogens 6

As in the research study by Richards et al. (1977), this paper deals exclusively with the latter definition of "peak experience." Mystical or primary religious experiences which have been posited to be the inspirational source for creating ritual, developing beliefs, and obligating actionthe foundations of traditional religions (Campbell, 1988; Maslow, 1964; Steindl-Rast (in press).

Mystical Mindbody States. Peak experiences are similar to the mystical experiences described in the some of the classic works on mysticism, Bucke's (1961) , originally written in 1901, James' (1982)Varieties of Religious Experience, originally written in 1902, Stace's (1961) Mysticism and Philosophy, and Underhill's (1930) Mysticism. Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) description of "flow" Greeley's (1974) ecstatic experience, and the integral level of Masters and Houston (1966) are also descriptions of transcendent mystical experiences. Maslow (1964; 1968) preferred the term "peak"over "mystical" in order to prevent any confusion with the various connotations of "religious." Hood (1974) explains that intense religious experiences are commonly labeled "mystical," "peak," or "ecstatic."

Stace (1961) examined the written accounts of mystical experiences of Eastern and Western religious and philosophical traditions across the centuries and categorized the phenomenological characteristics of what he termed extrovertive and introvertive [sic] mystical experiences. The basic difference between the extrovertive and introvertive mystical experience lies in the type of unity that is experienced. Extrovertive mystical unity focuses on an outward type of unity in which the One is seen shining through the multiplicity of the world. The two characteristics of extrovertive unity are the Unifying Vision where all things are seen as One and the more concrete apprehension of the One asan inner subjectivity or a sense that life is present in all things.

The introvertive mystical experience is inner directed awareness oras Stace labels it "consciousness" in which the multiplicity has been transcended. He explains that thistype of unity is more deeply rewarding and, in a sense, a more full or real mystical experience because it also transcends time and space. The two characteristics of introvertive unityare the Unitary Consciousness, pure consciousness of the One or the Void.

Stace also delineates five characteristics which are common to both the extrovertiveand introvertive mystical experience. These are: (1) sense of objective reality,a noetic knowing, as James (1982) termed it; (2) deep of blessedness, peace, joy, etc.; (3) feelings of the holy, sacred, or divine; (4) paradoxicality, the experience of the simultaneoustruth of polar opposites; and (5) the alleged ineffability of these experiences by the mystics themselves. See Table 1 which outlines the separate and similar characteristics ofStace's extrovertive and introvertive mystical experiences. Other researchers alsosee the unity experience as the hallmark of mystical experience and use the terms internal andexternal unity rather than Stace's introvertive and extrovertive (Pahnke, 1963; Richards,1975; Richards et al., 1977).

Insert Table 1 About Here

In addition to Stace, the writings of other philosophers, ,and researchers

9 Entheogens 7 such as Bucke (1961), James (1982), and Underhill (1930) have been used as springboards for empirically assessing mystical phenomena (Hood, 1974, 1975; Pahnke, 1969; Richards et al., 1977). Using Stace's (1961) work, Hood (1975) developed the Mysticism Scale (M Scale), a self-report of past experiences of mystical phenomena, which is the most commonly used instrument for assessing mystical experience (Doblin, 1990; Hood, Morris, & Watson, 1993; Lukoff & Lu, 1988). The M Scale is discussed and presented in detail in the current research section (Hruby, 1996).

These phenomenological experiences of mysticism are associated with a wide range of triggers or antecedents such as attending religious services, chanting, childbirth, dreaming, drumming, entheogens, fasting, guided imagery, psychoactive substances, meditation,near- death experiences, contemplative , relaxation techniques, sensory deprivation, sexual lovemaking, and various physical routines such as regulated breathing, yoga, aikido, and dancing (Greeley, 1974; Maslow, 1964; Noble, 1987).

This long list of triggers suggests that there are many experiences, practices, spiritualor otherwise, that seem to catalyze mystical experiences. Sometimes mystical experiences seem to occur "out of the blue" as if something extra happens one particular time while watching a sunset or meditating. This extra something has been conceptualized as a forceor energy, and sometimes referred to as grace, that exists beyond the individual's personal ego boundaries (Greeley, 1974; Smith, 1992; Zaehner, 1961).

Adjunctive methods are often used to aid shifting from one mindbody state to another such as chanting, drumming, ecstatic dancing, administration of psychoactive substances, and meditative or yogic practices (McKenna, 1992). Entheogens have been used for thousands of years to alter mindbody states (Wasson, 1968). Maslow (1968) suggests that psychedelics might be used in the right settings and with the right people to enhance the possibility of such an occurrence rather than wait for it to occur naturally. Previous Empirical Research

There is only room for the consideration of a few studies in this section of Part 2. Pahnke's study in experimental mysticism is presented in detail since it is referred to throughout this paper and is regarded as a classic in the scientific study of psychedelics. Other studies are mentioned and examined in varying degree; all are presented because of their relevance to our discussion of entheogens.

Pahnke's Good Friday Experiment. On Good Friday in 1962 Pahnke (1963, 1969) conducted a double-blind experiment: (1) to gather empirical data about the alteredstate of consciousness experience with psychedelic drugs in a religious setting, and (2)to compare these data with the nine categories of a mystical mindbody state formulated from thework of Stace (1961) and others. The nine categories that Pahnke delineatedwere: (1) Unity, the hallmark of mystical consciousness, both internal and external unity; (2) Transcendenceof Space and Time; (3) Deeply-Felt Positive Mood; (4) Sense ofa Sacredness; (5) Objectivity and Reality, similar to James' "noetic quality;" (6) Paradoxicality; (7) AllegedIneffability; (8) Transiency, the duration of a mystical mindbody state is finite, lasting anywherefrom a few seconds to a maximum of a few hours. This is the important differencebetween mystical states and psychosis; and (9) Positive Changes in Attitude and/or Behavior.

10 Entheogens 8

The volunteer subjects were 20 volunteer, middle-class, Christian theological students who were screened extensively. Half of the subjects received 30 mg of psilocybin before the Good Friday service began, the other half received a placebo. All the subjects andgroup leaders were in a lounge in a chapel with a loud speaker that piped in the Good Friday service which consisted of , organ music, solos, and personal meditation which lasted for 2.5 hours. Pahnke designed the experiment to be meaningful and familiar to the participants. He triedto create an atmosphere similar to the atmosphere achieved by tribes who use natural psychedelic substances in religious ceremonies.

Both shortly after the experiment and then 6 months later, the subjectswere asked to write a description of their experience, answer a , and participate inan interview. Statistical analysis of these data indicated that the psilocybin subjects hada significantly more intense experience than the controls in 8 of the 9 categories of the mystical typology in all methods of measurement. The only category which less clearly differentiated thetwo groups was Sense of Sacredness.

Since the set and setting were the same in the experiment for bothgroups, the drug was concluded to be the facilitating factor in the difference between the psilocybin subjects and the controls. Eight of the 10 psilocybin subjects described the experiencedas profoundly impacting them which caused them to contemplate the experience, rethink their life philosophies and values, and integrate what they learned.

Doblin's 25 year follow-up of the Good Friday Experiment. In his article, Doblin (1992) does a follow-up study with the original participants of Pahnke's Good Friday Experiment in addition to a methodological critique. After a great deal of effort, Doblinwas able to locate 16 of the original 20 subjects and to interview them along with administering the original 100-item questionnaire from the experiment 25 years previously. Nine from the control group were found and seven from the psilocybin group. Of the three absent from the psilocybin subjects, Doblin discovered that one was deceased, onewas unable to be identified, and one refused to participate citing concerns over privacy.

All psilocybin subjects participating in the long-term follow-up, butnone of the controls, still considered their original experience to have had genuinely mystical elements and to have made a uniquely valuable contribution to their spirituallives. The positive changes described by the psilocybin subjectsat six months, which in some cases involved basic vocational and value choices and spiritual understandings, had persisted over time and in somecases had deepened. (Doblin, 1992, p. 23)

The most outstanding criticisms Doblin had for the experimentwere that Pahnke (1) minimized the psychological struggle and difficulties thata number of the psilocybin subjects had in working through the negative material the psilocybin seemedto activate, and (2) omitted mentioning that one psilocybin subjectwas administered the tranquilizer thorazine to calm him down because of the fear reaction catalyzed by the psilocybin.Doblin that this is probably the subject that refused to be interviewed; and,although such an omission is unjustifiable in the reporting of scientific results, he speculatesas to why these occurred, particularly noting the media hype around the topic of psychedelicsat the time. Pahnke (1963) explains that this subject did not prepare seriously for the experiment,and he had an attitude that it was only a psychological experiment. Atone point the subject described his fear Entheogens 9 reactions as "a psychotic episode" but at the six-month follow-up reported that he felt that the persistent negative effects were only "slightly harmful" (p. 232).

Despite the two criticisms mentioned above, Doblin concludes that "the original Good Friday Experiment is one of the preeminent psychedelic experiments in scientific literature" (p. 23). The results of which robustly support the hypothesis that psychedelic drugscan assist in facilitating mystical experiences in individuals with a religious psychological set ina religious setting. We echo Doblin's call to replicate this study under a variety of sets and settings in Part 3 of this paper. Therapeutic use of DPT with cancer patients. Richards (1975) and Richards et al. (1977) modified Pahnke's original categories of mystical or peak experience from nine to six: (1) Unity, both external and internal; (2) Transcendence of Time and Space; (3) Objectivity and Reality; (4) Deeply-Felt Positive Mood; (5) Sense of a Sacredness; (6) Paradoxicality and Ineffability. Transiency, since it occurs in many mindbody states, was eliminated along with assessing the long term positive effects of the experience. Paradoxicality and Alleged Ineffability were combined into one category and are considered as a single unit.

Richards et al. (1977) explored what the contribution of peak experiences (using Pahnke's criterion as modified above) might be for short-term therapy withcancer patients. DPT, a short-acting , was used and administered only once with each of 34 subjects. There were three phases of the study: (Phase I) for 3or 4 weeks with the subject to develop rapport, to address relevant issues and to prepare for the DPT session; (Phase II) consisted of the DPT-assisted therapy session which began and ended with the ; (Phase III) "began on the day immediately following the DPT- assisted therapy session and focused on the process of integrating new insights into the fabric of every day existence" (p. 3). This phase lasted three weeks involving severalmore hours of therapy.

Fifteen of the subjects were found to have had peak experiences while the other 19 did not. Richards et al. (1977) found that the peakers had significantly higher scores on all six categories of peak experience as compared with the nonpeakers. "Those who had peak experiences impressed the therapists as being most free of psychological distressat the termination of therapy" (p. 8). Specifically, the peakers showed significant gains intwo scales on the Personal Orientation Inventory, "Capacity for Intimate Contact" and "Existentiality" in comparison to the nonpeakers. Also see Richards' (1975) dissertation which involved research with cancer patients and their families and Grof and Halifax's(1977) book on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with the terminally ill, The HumanEncounter with Death.

Psychedelic exploration and mystical mindbody states. Grof,a , studied the effects of psychedelics, particularly LSD, on patients ina therapeutic settings (1975, 1985, 1992). His research, spanning four decades, started in Czechoslovakiaand then moved to the United States. From information from over five thousand of sessions with hisand colleagues' patients, he was able to chart a map of the human unconscious.He discovered that the human unconscious consists of three realms: (1) the biographicalor psychodynamic; (2) perinatal or Rankian; and (3) the transpersonal. Grof believes that ifa client is given a chance to work through her psychodynamic material that eventuallyshe will come to the transpersonal realm and have transpersonal experiences not dissimilarto peak or mystical

12 Entheogens 11

The population with which this paper is particularly concerned is the 42 research participants who reported that they currently engage in the spiritual use of drugs (entheogens). These 42 respondents consist of 31 of 504 (6%) university students and 11 (79%) of the 14 conference participants. Comparisons will be made between the 42 entheogen users and the remaining 476 who do not.

Instrument. Hood's M Scale attempts to assess eight of the nine characteristics delineated by Stace: 1) ego quality, 2) unifying quality, 3) inner subjective quality, 4) temporal/spatial quality, 5) noetic quality, 6) ineffability, 7) positive affect, and 8) religious quality; he doesn't assess paradoxicality. There are 32 items on the scale, four items for each of the eight qualities. Two of which are stated positively and the other two negatively. See Table 2 for the operational definitions and scale items.

Insert Table 2 About Here

Procedures. The M Scale and a questionnaire containing demographic and spiritual/religious questions regarding belief, religious affiliation, spiritual practices, and drug use were administered over a two year period, 1993 to 1995. The data gathered from the M Scale was scored according to Hood's (1975) instructions, and a total was obtained for each respondent (negative items are reversed scored). The lowest score possible is 32 and the highest is 160. Respondents marked a five-point Likert scale (1 = definitely not true, 2= probably not true, 3 = ?, 4 = probably true, 5 = definitely true) as to how much the item's description applied to their own experience.

M Scale forms were considered incomplete if 25% (8+) or more of the 32 items were left blank and/or had a question mark (?) for a response. Although a "?" was a legitimate answer, we believe that a respondent must have been unclear/unsure regarding the scale, perhaps the item(s) and its/their phraseology and/or her own experience, leave 25% withouta more specific response. This definition of incomplete forms eliminated 49 university student respondents from the sample.

Results. This section will present only some of the results regarding entheogenusers, for a more full treatment of the data consult Hruby (1996). All analyses were performed using SPSS-X version 4.

Table 3 is a breakdown of the demographic and religious/spiritual items, providing the number and percent of the respondents by their spiritual use of drugs (entheogenusers v nonusers). It also gives the results of the Pearson chi-square tests of independence supplying the means and standard deviations where applicable. The 2 (usersv. nonusers) x 2 (female v. male) chi-square analysis for Sex was significant, x2 (1, N= 518) = 37.70, p < .000; more males and fewer females were entheogen users than expected. For the variable Age, too many of the cells had an expected frequency less than 5 soa chi-square was unable to be performed.

i3 Entheogens 10 mindbody states.

Tart's (1969) classic, Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Readings, isone of the first books that helped focus the scientific community on alternate mindbody states. His (1971) subsequent scientific study of the psychological and subjective experiences of experienced marijuana users while under the drug's influence provided a unique view of the effects of the mild psychedelic marijuana. The extensive questionnaire devised for the study was completed by young California college students (N = 150). Chapter 19, Spiritual Experiences, gives data regarding the religiously and spiritually oriented questions. To one of these questions, "I have spiritual experiences, discrete experiences which have had a powerful, long-term religious effect on me, while stoned" 25 percent of the anonymous respondents reported a positive response.

Although not all users who had had spiritual experiences while intoxicated felt this had made getting intoxicated an act of religious significance for them, 22 percent of the users did : "Getting stoned has acquired a religious significance for me." Another 4 percent indicated LSD use, rather than marijuana, had acquired religious significance. (p. 218) Current Research Study

Some studies of spiritual, transcendent, and/or mystical experiences specifically avoid drug-induced experiences (Campbell, 1983), others accept drug experiences as a possible antecedent (Greeley, 1974; Maslow, 1968), still some studies compare drug experiences with non-drug experiences (Pahnke, 1969), while others only use drug-induced experiences (Masters & Houston, 1966; Richards, 1975; Richards et al., 1977; Tart, 1971). As researchers, instead of avoiding mystical experiences which have been potentially triggered by psychedelics, we have chosen to focus on such experiences by exploring the varieties of mystical experience of those who have used drugs spiritually using demographic information and the scores on the Mysticism Scale.

Subjects. The results reported in this paper are part of a larger study that explores the prevalence and varieties of mystical experience among both undergraduate and graduate students (504, 97%) at a large midwestern university, Northern Illinois University (Hruby, 1996), and the participants (14, 3%) at a small entheogenically oriented conference held in Menlo Park, California. The majority of the university student respondentswere enrolled in courses offered through the somewhat conservative College of Education (472, 94%) and the remaining students were enrolled in several art courses (32, 6%). The breakdown bysex of the total 518 respondents was female (372, 72%) and male (146, 28%). The majority (436, 84%) were traditionally aged students, under the age of 25.

Students (57, 11%) enrolled in two special topicscourses, Psychedelic Mindview and Drug Legalization Research, were intentionally surveyedto increase the number of respondents who had used psychedelic drugs. These specificcourses, offered over the past 17 years by Tom Roberts, typically have attracted students who have had intense psychedelic experiences, or have had friends who have, andare desirous of more concrete and specific information about them. At least one lecture and discussionon mysticism were part of these courses along with a meditation exercise. Readingsand class discussions dealt with altered mindbody states.

14 Entheogens 12

Insert Table 3 About Here

The 2 (users v. nonusers) x 3 (Agnostic/Atheist v. Traditional v. Nontraditional) chi- square for Religious Affiliation was significant,x2(2, N = 518) = 24.88, p < .000. The Traditional religions category consisted of respondents who marked that they were Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant. The Nontraditionals were respondents who reported that they were Other, had No Affiliation, or were Muslims (3 users and 2 nonusers). More respondents who were Nontraditionals and fewer respondents of Traditional religious affiliation were entheogen users. The Religious/Spiritual Orientation item ("Indicate your religious/spiritual orientation on the following continuum)" 2 (users v. nonusers) x 5 (1 = Conservative to 5= Liberal) chi-square analysis was significant, X2 (4, N = 514) = 74.17, p < .000. Entheogen users reported themselves to be more liberal in their religious/spiritual orientation than the nonusers. In fact, not one of the entheogen users considered themselves more conservative than mainstream. The 2 (users v. nonusers) x 4 (1 = Unmeaningful to 4 = Usually very I meaningful) chi-square test for Meaningfulness of Religious/Spiritual Practice ("How meaningful is the usual practice of your religious/spiritual life to you?") was not significant, although many more entheogen users (17, 41%) found their religious/spiritual life to be I Usually Very Meaningful than the nonusers (119, 25%). The total mysticism score was used as the dependent variable in a one-way analysis of variance which compared the independent variable of using drugs spiritually (users v. nonusers). The higher the mysticism score the more likely that mystical phenomena were experienced (Hood, 1975). The mysticism scores were significantly different by spiritual drug use F(1, 518) = 85.58, p < .000. The entheogen users (n = 42) had a mean of 142, a median of 150, and a SD of 18; the range was 81 to 159. In contrast, the nonusers (n = 476) had a mean of 101, a median of 103, and a SD of 28; the scores ranged from 32 to 160.

The respondents answered dichotomously, yes or no, as to whether they currently engaged in a list of ten spiritual activities: Prayer, Meditation, Yoga/Aikido, Special Postures, Breath Control, Fasting, Attending Services, Read Spiritual Writings, Attend Study Groups, and Other. A series of 2 (users v. nonusers) x 2 (yes v. no) chi-square testswere performed, one on each of the ten spiritual activities. Fasting and Attend Study Groups were the only two activities that indicated no difference between the observed and expected frequencies of the two groups.

The chi-square tests for the remaining eight spiritual activities were significant indicating that there was a relationship between the use of entheogens and each spiritual practice: Prayerx2(1, N = 518) = 22.18, p < .000; Meditationx2(1, N = 518) = 53.42, p < .000; Yoga/Aikidox2 (1, N =518) = 42.41, p < .000; Special Posturesx2(1, N = 518) = 60.15, p < .000; Breath Controlx2(1, N = 518) = 36.18, p < .000; Attending Servicesx2(1, N = 518) = 19.59, p < .000; Read Spiritual Writingsx2(1, N = 518) = 21.81, p < .000; and Otherx2(1, N = 513) = 42.35, p < .000. Of these eight spiritual activities only two, Prayer and Attending Services, indicated that the entheogen users had fewer expected in the "yes"category and the nonusers had more than expected. In other words, the entheogenusers engaged in Meditation, Yoga/Aikido, Special Postures, Breath Control, Read Spiritual Writings,and

15 Entheogens 13

Other activities significantly more than the nonusers but in two of the spiritual activities, Prayer and Attending Services, the reverse was true.

The phi coefficient ro was calculated for each of the 2 x 2 chi-squares for the spiritual practice items above. The phi coefficient is a measure of relationship between thetwo variables, use of entheogens and each spiritual practice. It is interpreted exactly likea Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient, that is, the closer to 1, thestronger the correlation. Although the phi coefficients were all significant (p < .000), the strength of the relationship only ranged from very low to low: Attending Services ro =.194, Prayerr4 = .207, Read Spiritual Writings ro =.205, Breath Control r4, = .264, Yoga/Aikidor4, = .286, Other r4, = .287, Meditation ro = .321, and Special Postures r4, = .341.

Significance of the study. Using an instrument such as the M Scale can aid in understanding the prevalence and varieties of the mystical experience. Aswas obvious in the theoretical and conceptual research section, there is no one definition for whata mystical or primary religious experience is exactly. In fact, many researchers and scholars regard mystical experiences on a continuum (James, 1982; Maslow, 1964; Pahnke, 1963, 1969; Stace, 1961; Steindl-Rast, in press). The M Scale attempts to assess, by self-report, the phenomena that are at the core of mystical experience.

In his research, Pahnke (1963, 1969) set the criterion for determining whether subjects had a mystical experience if they scored 60 percent or more on the questionnaire createdto assess the categories of mystical phenomena. Richards et al. (1977) used a modified version of Pahnke's original questionnaire to assess six categories of mystical phenomena (as discussed above) implementing the same 60 percent criterion. This questionnaire is knownas the Psychedelic Experience Questionnaire (PEQ).

Applying this criterion for determining whether a respondents in the current study hada mystical experience or not, 39 (93%) of the entheogen users hada mystical experience (score greater 107); whereas only 209 (44%) of the nonusers could be said to have hada mystical experience. Still, 44 percent for the nonusers, although not a majority, indicatesa rather common experience or set of experiences. Research such as this may develop a clearer of the "normalness" of such experiences so that a climate ofgreater openness may be promoted in considering their benefits.

Indeed, the results of our research study indicate that this selectgroup of entheogen users had significantly higher mysticism scores than the nonusers, they hada more liberal spiritual/religious orientation, the majority were male, and did have traditionalreligious affiliations (Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant). The entheogenusers engaged in Meditation, Yoga/Aikido, Special Postures, Breath Control, Read Spiritual Writings, and Otheractivities significantly more than the nonusers. Examining the relationship between thevarieties of mystical experience and various spiritual practices or psychotechnologies, inparticular the use of entheogens, may increase knowledge and acceptance of such practices. Itmay also serve to encourage a more accepting attitude regarding mystical and primary religious experiences themselves thereby further strengthening the paradigm shift inWestern culture from a material worldview to a more transpersonal worldview.

16 Entheogens 14 Part 3Toward An Entheogenic Research Agenda

Part 2 illustrated how current research into religious topics is energized from an entheogenic perspective. We illustrated entheogenic approaches to:

theoretical and conceptual researchthe invention, refining, and application of concepts, and building typologies while exploring the connection of humanity's spiritual aspect with mystical or primary religious mindbody states;

O empirical researchpresenting past research with psychoactive substances for entheogenic or therapeutic purposes and bridging these to the current study;

current researchlooking at relationships among mystical experiences, demographic factors, entheogen use, and other spiritual practices using Hood's Mysticism Scale.

Going beyond conceptual, descriptive and correlational studies, we'd like to point out some entheogenic leads that deserve additional research. These leads have been organized under six research topics: the nature of the human mind, pastoral counseling, experimental mysticism, the dispute over the authenticity of drug-assisted primary religious experience, entheogenic origins of religion, and policy issues. Together these call for a new direction in research, particularly entheogenic research.

Entheogenic research done to date revolves around several thematic questions. More often than not, these questions are implicit rather than explicit: (1) what are the relationships among entheogens, mystical experiences, and religion?, (2) does the human mind include a spiritual part? Nature of the Human Mind

Considering entheogens as magnifiers of psychological processes, what dowe learn about our minds, specifically about our minds' spiritual aspects? Is there a natural for self-transcendence? Assagioli (1965), Jung (1968), Maslow (1968), and others cited in the introduction of this paper are among the psychologists who answer "yes" toan inherent spiritual aspect of humanity. Perhaps Grof (1968) expresses the innate ofour minds most strongly:

The observations from psychedelic therapy and other forms of deep experiential work fully confirm the views of [Assagioli, Jung and Maslow] and suggestan even more radical reformulation of the relationship between the human personality and spirituality. According to the new data, spirituality is an intrinsic property of the psyche thatemerges quite spontaneously when the process of self-exploration reaches sufficient depth. Direct experiential confrontation with the perinatal and transpersonal levels of the unconsciousness is always associated with a spontaneous awakening of spiritualitythat is quite independent of the individual's childhood experiences, religious programming, church affiliation, and even cultural and racial background. The individual whoconnects with these levels of his or her psyche automatically developsa new world view within which spirituality represents a natural, essential, and absolutely vital element of existence. In my experience, a transformation of this kind has occurred withoutexception

i7 Entheogens 15

in a wide range of individuals, including stubborn atheists, skeptics, cynics, marxist philosophers, and positivistically oriented scientists. (p. 368)

Working from the assumption that we have a spiritual aspect, however it may be conceived, transpersonal psychologists provide a psychology that supports research on religion and (Tart, 1975; Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1969+). Entheogens are especially important to transpersonal psychologists, not only because they sometimes stimulate transpersonal experiences, but also because they can provide a research variable or treatment. We now have ways to explore transcendence experimentally.

Our view of the human mind is at stake heremore exactly our view of our minds' spiritual aspects. For if we have a natural motivation to transcend ego-centered awareness (Walsh & Vaughan, 1993), then exploring and developing other mindbody states contributes to this goal because the broader desire to explore mindbody states may be one manifestation of the more specific spiritual quest to explore ego-transcendent states.

Research proposal. We propose that researchers on religion, education, and transpersonal psychology become more informed of each other's work, cooperate on research projects, examine transpersonal models, and use them in secular and religious education. If our minds do contain a spiritual element, then the fullest education would have to include its development, and entheogens are one way to venture into this terrain. We are not recommending entheogens for children, but if and when entheogens become legal, graduate students who are entering these fields and have been carefully screened and prepared would no doubt learn from a guided entheogenic session. Then their own experiences would inform their research. In a broader multistate framework, since we are capable of producing and using many mindbody states, educational goals and practices would have to recognize this capacity too (Roberts, 1989; Roberts & Hruby, 1996). Pastoral Counseling

Can entheogenic experiences and an entheogenic model of our minds help in pastoral counseling? The Grof quotation above indicates that entheogens can be useful in existential crises and helping people find meaning in their lives. If our culture and our churcheswere able to provide healthy ways of facing these crises and exploring transcendent mindbody states, we might not rely so heavily on unhealthy ways. Some alcohol and drug abuse may be seen in this light, probably not all.

For example, it is well-known that Bill Wilson, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, thought that we are all "thirsting for spiritual knowledge," and he found that substitutinga spiritual viewpoint often worked for alcoholics (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1984). It is less well- known that Bill took LSD under the guidance of philosopher Gerald Heard and spokevery positively about his session and LSD's potential for alcoholics (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1984, Chapter 23). In the following quotation, note the sequence of entheogen,ego transcendence, religious element, and improved life (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1984):

Bill was enthusiastic about his experience; he felt it helped him eliminatemany barriers erected by the self, or ego, that stand in the way of one's direct experience of the cosmos and of God. He thought he might have found something that could make a big difference to the lives of many people who still suffered. (p. 371)

18 Entheogens 16

A second promising use of entheogens in pastoral counseling is with dying patients. A major part of the difficulty of facing death is the fear of letting go of the ego. Entheogens can give one a practice session; clients learn this fear is unfounded and that ego transcendence can be spiritually enlightening and emotionally positive. Several studies of entheogens point to their possible use as adjuncts in psychotherapy with the dying (Grof & Halifax, 1977; Pahnke, 1969a; Richards, et al 1972; Richards, 1975). In overlapping studies, these researchers found four common benefits of entheogenic counseling with dying patients: decreased general anxiety, decreased specific anxiety about death, decreased desire for pain killers, and increased communication with family and friends. The last seems especially important. At a time when a dying person most needs the support of loved ones, mutual denial often builds a wall. The patient knows he or she is dying, but wants to spare the family , and the family knows the patient is dying, but maintains a brave face in hopes of not discouraging the dying person.

Far from being odd or destructive, exploring transpersonal mindbody states serves ego transcendence. As mentioned in Part 1, mindbody exploration also expands psychology to include all human behavior and experience, not just that of our ordinary state (Tart, 1968, 1975). As mentioned in Part 2, the personal and social benefits of getting in touch with the Spirit within can be considerable (Hruby, 1996; Lukoff & Lu, 1988; Nobel, 1987; Pahnke, 1963; Richards, 1975).

Research proposal. The use of entheogens in the professions is multifold. They can be helpful with specific problems such as alcoholism and facing death. They give a fuller map of the human mind including birth memories and transpersonal experiences, which are often helpful in understanding spiritual crises. Grof's map of the human mind describes levels where religious imagery, archetypes, mythology, and religious experiences occur (Grof, 1975, 1980). In addition to being useful for alcoholism, death counseling, and existential issues, entheogens provide a wider theory of human nature which includes spirituality. Separate from entheogenic experiences, these models should help pastoral and secular counselors understand and work with clients. If and when they become legally available, we recommend entheogenic training for carefully selected religious professionals. Additionally, we think transpersonal views would be valuable in classes. Answering how best to include these in professional curricula, and whatare the results of doing so are questions that need research too. Experimental Mysticism

Using entheogens, is it now possible to give people mystical experiences? Ifso, what are the outcomes? If you are familiar with entheogenology, you may have noticed that we've appropriated the title "Experimental Mysticism" from the best instance of experimental entheogenic research done to date (Pahnke, 1963; Pahnke & Richards, 1966). Usinga double- blind experimental protocol in the "Good Friday Experiment," Pahnke (1963) examined psilocybin-induced religious experiences with twenty divinity students duringa Good Friday service. In part 2 we mentioned some of the experimental research that has been done.

A standard argument against entheogen-derived primary religious experiences is that they may provide temporary feelings and thoughts, but have no stayingpower; however, in his 25-year follow-up of Pahnke's Good Friday Experiment, Doblin (1991) found theopposite Entheogens 17 to be true. The original differences between the psilocybin treatment group and the placebo group increased over time, suggesting that the experience had a long-term effect on the behavior and/or of the treatment group, possibly restructuring their beliefs, feelings, and worldview.

esearch proposal. The Good Friday Experiment needs to be replicated with diverse botanical and chemical entheogens, various sets and settings, and subjects with a multiplicity of personality types, religious affiliations and beliefs, and demographic factors. Among other things, researchers should compare the phenomenology of entheogen-stimulated primary religious experience with similar experiences of other origins. Entheogenically oriented and other oriented primary religious experience should also be compared by the interaction of personality types, religious beliefs, etc. More precise descriptions of these experiences will provide empirical evidence so that further discussions can be informed scientifically and theologically. This research would inform the authenticity question also. (See below).

Because this type of religious exploration is censored by the federal government,we hope it's clear we are anticipating the lifting of bans on this mode of the religious quest. If the research cannot be performed here, perhaps it can be facilitated in a foreign country.

Authenticity

Are chemically and/or botanically derived mystical experiences genuine, religiously legitimate? On one side, scholar R. C. Zaehner (1974) claims that while drugs can producea sense of the holy and a form of nature mysticism, they cannot result in the exclusive love of a personal God. However, other scholars and theologians do not fully share Zaehner's position (Clark, 1969; Cox, 1977; Eliade, 1987; Ellwood, 1994; Fox, 1976; Greeley, 1974; Smart, 1984; Smith, 1977; Toolan, 1987; Wulff, 1991). From their own experiences and basedon the reports of others, hundreds of investigators (Roberts & Hruby, 1995) claim that under the right set and setting entheogens can produce genuine religious experienceor ones which closely resemble non-entheogen experiences.

An outstanding expert on mysticism who considers entheogen-based mysticism authentic is W. T. Stace, whose work on mysticism (1961) formed the foundation for Hood's M Scale and the instrument that Pahnke used in the Good Friday Experiment. When Stace was asked whether the drug experience is similar to the mystical experience, reports Huston Smith (1964, pp. 523-524), Stace answered, "It's not a matter of its being similarto mystical experience; it is mystical experience."

It's perfectly possible to recognize entheogenic experiences as beneficial withouthaving to give them the status of authentic or unauthentic. We should not let the possibly fruitless authentic /fake debate keep us from using substances which have good effects. To be pragmatic, the results count, not the name we use.

Research proposal. Adequately describing the similarities and differences between authentic and unauthentic mystical experiences would be another benefit from replicatingthe Good Friday Experiment.

From an educational perspective, the authenticity question takeson a different perspective, especially when it comes to religious education, the preparation of ,

20 Entheogens 18 and their in-service education. Even if one takes the position that entheogens are not genuine triggers, they can still provide worthwhile knowledge. One can learn a great deal from a good approximation, from simulations. Just as kindergartners learn where to walk safely and to cross at crosswalks by following tape on a classroom floor, students of religion may learn a great deal from simulated primary religious experience. Their teachers can instruct them in how entheogenic experiences resemble authentic ones and how they differ. Accurately describing the similarities and differences is an area where research needs to be done.

If one agrees with Stace that entheogen-based mystical experiences are legitimate, clergy and educators have a marvelous new opportunity to teach informed about primary religious experience, not just with words but with firsthand, direct experience. A religious education which does not provide them to capable adults is impeding the spiritual quest.

Origins of Religion

What influence, if any, did psychoactive substances have on the origins and development of religion? Eliade (1987), Wasson (1968), Wasson et al (1978), and others speculate that encounters with psychoactive plants were an origin of religions throughout the world. Hinting at a research agenda, Barnard (1963) challenges researchers, "I am willing to prophesy that fifty theo-botanists working for fifty years would make the current theories concerning the origins of much mythology and as out-of-date as pre-Copernican astronomy" (p. 586). She and her opinion are in good company. In addition to the clergy and theologians mentioned above, mythologist Joseph Campbell recognized scholarly research on entheogens as making significant contributions to understanding religious symbols and mythology (1982, 1988).

Relying on his own entheogenic experience (reported in Leary, 1968) and on his familiarity with subsequent research, philosopher Huston Smith addressed the issue in 1964 with a key article "Do Drugs Have Religious Import?". To which he answered a qualified "yes." In 1977 he cautioned:

For though the experiences may be veridical in ways, the goal, it cannot be stressed too often, is not religious experiences; it is the religious life. With respect to the latter, psychedelic "theophanies" can abort a quest as readily as, perhaps more readily than, they can further it. (p. 155)

Since then he has maintained his opinion on the usefulness of entheogens (1988). Used correctly, they can be beneficial adjuncts to spiritual development, but they are not a path by themselves.

Research Proposal. To investigate Barnard's challenge and Wasson's claim, perhaps religious researchers will one day be able to use entheogens as research instruments, pending the end of censorship of this research method. Perhaps a day will come when courses in mysticism in seminaries and philosophy departments of universities will have laboratory sections in which their students can use entheogens as religious instructional technologies. Of course, the lab should be voluntary, and students should be screened physically and mentally beforehand, prepared thoroughly, and guided through the process. Until entheogenic research is re-legalized, professors can familiarize their students with the writings on

21 Entheogens 19 mysticism, especially those having to do with entheogens. No doubt Wasson's, Bernard's, and similar writings would provoke active classroom discussions.

Why are these experiences profoundly life-changing for some people and not for others? Are there ways of increasing the likelihood of desirable outcomes and decreasing undesirable ones? How would one go about studying these questions? These and similar questions await researchers' attention.

The professional education of clergy, theologians, church historians, and allied researchers should include a familiarity with existing entheogenic research and the skills of designing research which, hopefully, some day will use entheogens. Who has the right to make these decisions? The control over religious research by governmental agencies and conflicts about religious freedom brings us to a nest of issues which demands attention: policy issues. Policy Issues: Religious Freedom

What role, if any, should entheogens play in contemporary American religious education, practice, and research? What regulation, if any, is appropriate? The following questions and topics need to be examined: To what extent would Americans like to include entheogensas part of their religious practices? Surveys are needed. With immigration from countries in South America and Asia where entheogens are an established part of religious practices, what policies should American law and religions adopt? Does the movement toward "diversity" include religious diversity, and does freedom of religion include the right to entheogenic sacraments? If a new church wanted to use entheogenic botanicals and chemicals, would governmental policy toward it be different from policy toward an established church? If a seminary wanted to include entheogens in the education of its seminariansor for spiritual renewal of clergy, what church-state issues would arise? Informed answers to these questions require policy research.

Summary Recommendations

We recommend that researchers on religion and religious education, churches, religious orders and groups, ecumenical associations, seminaries and other professional educational institutions, and nonreligious groups whose interests include education, :

1.promote scholarly discussion and scientific investigation of entheogens; 2. produce empirical evidence about entheogens and scholarly opinionson them; 3.study drug policy and religious activities as they relate to entheogens; 4. make recommendations to the public and to law-making bodieson issues of religious freedom; 5.after legalization, include entheogens as religious instructional technologies,as options for professional and lay spiritual education; 6. consider entheogens as adjuncts in pastoral counseling, notably in hospice situations; 7.support religious groups which use entheogens or wish to do so with care, ina manner consistent with public safety, and within the law.

We further recommend that religious organizations inform their membersabout these issues and encourage their open discussion. Entheogens 20

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McKenna, T. (1992). Food of the gods: The search for the originaltree of knowledge.

25 Entheogens 23

New York:. Bantam Books.

McKenna, T., & Grob, C. (1994). The hoasca project update. MAPS Bulletin (4)4, 6-8.

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. (1990+). MAPS Bulletin. Charlotte, NC: MAPS.

Murphy, W. (1992). The future of the body: Explorations into the further of human nature. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

Myers, I. B. (1987). Introduction to type. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.

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2f Entheogens 24

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27 Entheogens 25

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28 Entheogens 26

Table 1

Common Characteristics of Extroveritive and Introvertive Mystical Experiences (Stace. 1961, p. 131)

ommon charxteristics of Extmvotive Common Characteristics ofintrovertive Meal ,igiperietlees , iiiysticalExperiences. 1. The Unifying Vision-all things are One 1.The Unitary Consciousness; the One, the Void; pure consciousness 2.The more concrete apprehension of the 2.Nonspatial, nontemporal One as an inner subjectivity, or life, in all things 3.Sense of objectivity or reality 3.Sense of objectivity or reality 4.Blessedness, peace, etc. 4.Blessedness, peace, etc. 5. of the holy, sacred, or divine 5.Feeling of the holy, sacred, or divine 6.Paradoxicality 6.Paradoxicality 7.Alleged by mystics to be ineffable 7.Alleged by mystics to be ineffable

EST COPYMUNI 29 Entheogens 27

Table 2

Mysticism Scale. Research Form D (Items are listed under each criterion from whichthey

w r oration lized and numbered ccordinto a tual scaleositionHood 19 31- 121

EGO QUALITY: Refers to the experience of a loss ofsense of self while consciousness is nevertheless maintained. The loss of self is commonly experiencedas an absorption into something greater than the mere empirical ego.

3.I have had an experience in which something greater than myself seemedto absorb me. 4.I have had an experience in which everything seemed to disappear frommy mind until I was conscious only of a void. 6.I have NEVER had an experience in which I felt myself to be absorbedas one with all things. 24.I have NEVER had an experience in which my own self seemedto merge into something greater.

UNIFYING QUALITY: Refers to the experience of the multiplicity of objectsof perception as nevertheless united. Everything is in fact perceived as "One."

12.I have had an experience in which I realized the oneness of myself withall things. 19.I have had an experience in which I felt everything in the worldto be part of the same whole. 28.I have NEVER had an experience in which I becameaware of a unity to all things. 30.I have NEVER had an experience in which all things seemedto be unified into a single whole.

INNER SUBJECTIVE QUALITY: Refers to the perception ofan inner subjectivity to all things, even those usually experienced in purely material forms.

8.I have NEVER had an experience in which I feltas if all things were alive. 10.I have NEVER had an experience in which all things seemedto be aware. 29.I have had an experience in which all things seemedto be conscious. 31.I have had an experience in which I felt nothing isever really dead.

TEMPORAL/SPATIAL QUALITY: Refers to the temporal andspatial parameters of the experience. Essentially both time andspace are modified with the extreme being one ofan experience that is both "timeless" and "spaceless."

1.I have had an experience whichwas both timeless and spaceless. 11.I have had an experience in which I hadno sense of time or space. 15.I have NEVER had an experience in which time andspace were non-existent. 27.I have NEVER had an experience in which time,place, and distance were meaningless. Entheogens 28

NOETIC QUALITY: Refers to the experience as a source of valid knowledge. Emphasis is on a nonrational, intuitive, insightful experience that is nevertheless recognized as not merely subjective.

13.I have had an experience in which a new view of reality was revealed tome. 16.I have NEVER experienced anything that I could call ultimate reality. 17.I have had an experience in which ultimate reality was revealed tome. 26.I have NEVER had an experience in which deeper aspects of realitywere revealed to me.

INEFFABILITY: Refers to the impossibility of expressing the experience in conventional language. The experience simply cannot be put into words due to the nature of the experience itself and not to the linguistic capacity of the subject.

2.I have NEVER had an experience which was incapable of being expressed inwords. 21.I have NEVER had an experience which I was unable toexpress adequately through language. 23.I have had an experience that is impossible to communicate. 32.I have had an experience that cannot be expressed in words.

POSITIVE AFFECT: Refers to the positive affective quality of the experience.Typically the experience is of joy or blissful .

5.I have experienced profound joy. 7.I have NEVER experienced a perfectly peaceful state. 18.I have had an experience in which I felt that all was perfection at that time. 25.I have NEVER had an experience which left me witha feeling of wonder.

RELIGIOUS QUALITY: Refers to the intrinsic sacredness of the experience.This includes feelings of mystery, awe, and reverence that may nevertheless beexpressed independently of traditional religious language.

9.I have NEVER had an experience which seemed holy tome. 14.I have NEVER experienced anything to be divine. 20.I have had an experience which I knew to be sacred. 22.I have had an experience which left me with a feeling ofawe. Entheogens 29

Table 3 Number andYercent of Respondents inSelectedflemographis/Spiritual Items by Users hi = 42) and Nonusers in = 476) of Entheazens with Pearson Chi- square Results Users Non Users Variable, M (SD) n (%) n (%) x2 Sex 37.7 .000 female 13 (31%) 359 (75%) male 29 (69%) 117 (25%)

Age NA 15-19 years 3 (7%) 121 (25%) 20-24 years 26 (62%) 286 (60%) 25-29 years 4(10%) 31 (7%) 30-34 years 0 9 (2%) 35+ years 9 (21%) 29 (6%)

Religious Affiliation 24.9 .000 Agnostic/Atheist 4 (10%) 18 (4%) Traditional 12 (28%) 319 (67%) Non-Traditional 26 (62%) 139 (29%)

Religious/Spiritual 457 (.782) 3.24 (1.11) 74.2 .000 Orientation (1) Conservative 0 36 (8%) (2) 0 70 (15%) (3) Mainstream 5 (12%) 183 (39%) (4) 8 (19%) 111 (23%) (5) Liberal 29 (69%) 72 (15%)

Meaningfulness of 3.22 (.782) 2.83 (.891) 7.3 NS Religious/Spiritual Practice

Unmeaningful 1 (2%) 36 (8%) Slightly meaningful 6 (14%) 127 (27%) Sometimes very meaningful 18 (43%) 193 (40%) Usually very meaningful 17 (41%) 119 (25%)

32 11,1111 riliff M. ,r1. LIM IllumE1.1, No 18 UNII MN CTOBER 1, 1964 OCT 1 3 1964 ff FOUNDED BY THE JOURNAL. OF PHILOSOPHY E C ETV E.: :1!.) FREDERICK J. E. WOODBRIDGE IL SO AND DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS IMPORT? ° WENDELL T. BUSH EDITED BY letter"If-if." equivalents of an arbitrarily assignedUNTIL telephonesix months bridgeago, if Iarea picked and dialed KISS-BIG, These were coincidences: KISS-BIG happened up my phone in the Cam- a voice would answer, number, and to be the JOHNROBERT H. RANDALL, D. CUMMING JR.GEORGE L. KLINE attitudepoetic.dom.probableI.F.I.F. But thatrepresented name the characterized coincidences of the the International initials this most of publicizedFederation of for "Kiss big" caught the euphoric, manic, life-embracing were apposite to the point of being an organization with the im- the organizations Internal Free- SIDNEY MORGENBESSER ARTHUR DANTO AND time.phenomenasubstances;formed to explore theto appear organization the on newly our itself social synthesized and intellectual It produced the first firings in Harvard's history, was surely one of the "iffy-est" consciousness-changing scene in some an ulti- JAMES J. WALSH thepsilocybinFridayMarshmatum deepest Chapel,"service, toand religious get were ten outin which,theological visitedexperiencesof Mexico duringby what students ofin their fivethey days,lives.generallyand and "the a two-and-one-half-hour Good professors ingested reported to be miracle of VOLUME LXI indismissing dramatictheone '60s of the as theparallels, mosthaving psychedelic forward-looking little students religious drugs of thatreligionDespite relevance. volumes have the last of these phenomena and its appear by and large to be sprung to our attention of theological essaysThe position takennumerous if less JANUARY-DECEMBER, 1964 tion.mescalinasVidler tohaving have 'accepts which "fullyappeared AldousR. examined C. in Zaehner's Huxleyrecent and yearsSoundings, sketchedrefuted" Mysticism inthe The religious edited This closing of the case strikes Sacred and Profane, Doors of Percep- claimsby for A. R. Society,looks as Princeton if the drugs University, have onlight May to 16, throw1 1964. Soundings : EssaysThe emended concerning version Christian of aUnderstandings, paper presented on theme history as premature, of religion, for it to The Woodrow Wilson A. R. Vidler, 33 1964 pageed. (Cambridge: 72, in H. A. University Williams's Press, essay 1962).on "Theology and © Copyright 1964 by Journal of Philosophy, Inc. 517 The statement cited appears on Self-awareness." 34 518 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY .11 IMM MN MO ENN DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS IMPORT ? 519 1. practicetheDrugs phenomenology and of Religionthe religious ofViewed religion, life itself.Historically the , and the bliss,atedgeneratedBarnard. or from:the the accidental idea is the restrictions of .mostan discovery afterlife explicit of timein. was more likely to happen first," she asks,° "the spontaneously proponent of this whichthesis.of hallucinogenic the disembodied plants , thatand space, experiences eternal "Which liber- give brewed)has stumbled and actions upon connections (yogi breathingIn between his exercises, trial-and-error vegetables whirling-dervish life explorations man almost everywhere (eaten or expandeddistort'.a sense, time of vistas?"euphoria, and Her dislocate the space, making them balloon outward .in . center of consciousness, and greatly waylogicaltopsychopharmacologicaldances, be with the perspectiveflagellation) products religion. of we thatchanges see standpoint alter that in states they brain we tendof chemistry. nowconsciousness. to understandbe connected these in somestates From the socio- From the Herneverdormant enceuse thought of might mindsthe of subjunctivehave before.of had men, causing them to think of things they . an almostown explosiveanswerThis, is effect that if you "theon like,the [latter] largely "might"is direct renders this formulation revelation." experi- had of Mexico'scommunioninare Aztec the 2000-year-oldpeyote as services, "God's of The the Flesh"striking "sacred instancesNative mushrooms," American closest parallel to us[Indian] theto in "thetimelatter Church bodyand rendered space of and If we discount the wine used in Christian our concerningbotanistscatedcompletelyher answer and working the unentranced, equivocal,unequivocal: origins for fifty of but much I"Looking she am willingyears to prophesywould make that the fifty currentconcludes theories her essaymythology and theology at the matter coldly, unintoxi- on a note that is as out-of- theo- andtaughtZoroastrians,stancesLord" everywhere menin lie the the Christian the culturesoma [was] Dionysus of acceptedof eucharist. the the of ,vine the as and aGreeks god," the the haoma mysteries 2who the benzoin"everywhere and of hemp his of South- of the Beyond these neighboring in- . . eruptasthe dateI attentionam onto as concerned pre-Copernican the of fieldhistorians here of onlyseriousThis astronomy." of to religionis spotanreligious important the hypothesisone for some time to whichpoints must at which surely the drugs come. engage But teries.4drunkaborigines,to eastthe atAsia,realm the andZen'sclimactic of probablythe tea immortals," whoseclose the of fifth mysticthe cup sixth8 the purifieskykeon day pituri of andthat theof whosetheEleusinian was Australian eaten sixth and"calls There is no need to extend the list, as a reasonably com- mys- ateduplicatetoricalthesis.geysers or shape orquestion, to simulatetheologies whatever namely theologically themselves, heights, the I shall not Having located what extentappears to which to be thedrugs crux of the his-sponsored experiences but pursuestudy, Miss not Barnard's to ride the not merely gener- devicesstudyplete accountof havethe subject, been is available linked Poisons with in sacres, Philippe religionMore ivresses deinterestingis Felice'sthe divines. possibility comprehensive than thethat fact they that consciousness-changing perience.2. Drugs and Religion ViewedPhenomenology attempts The question the drugs a careful description Phenomenologicallyof human pose for theI phenomenologyturn to phenomenology. of ex- ture"towardgotten.rootactually in found history, "dynamicinitiated in continuedintoxicating many religion" of afterthe beverages;as religious their associated psychedelic perspectives 6 morewith theoriginsrecently which,"divine were Robert taking for- Bergson saw the first movement of Hindus and Greeks rap- bearfromreligion, some religious resemblance therefore, experiences is to whether religious reached Eventhe the notes that chemically ones.naturally,experiences and theyif induce Peter had to appealinduced psychic so how. statesdiffer to a 1958),religionsGraves, p. 110.Gordon arose from Wasson, such andchemically Alan Watts2 Edithinduced8 Quoted have Hamilton, theophanies.insuggested Alan Mythology Watts, that The most(New Spirit York: of ZenMentor, (New 1953), York: p. Grove55. Press, Mary drunk,thethose(Actscircumstantial charge who as 2:15) you were that ;suppose, and theycaught criterionthe Paul were since initiates merely it is early theonly up in the Pentecostal experience comparison when hedrunk admonisheshour : of the daytothe third hour of the "These men are againstdefend day" not 206-212.Princeton Univ. Press, 1961), p. 284. 4 George35 Mylonas,Two Eleusis Sources and of the Morality Eleusinian and Mysteries Religion (Princeton, (New York: N.J.: Holt, 1935), pp. 1963):the Ephesians 584, 586. not to "get drunk with5 "The God in the Flowerpot," The American wine . Scholar .32, 4 (Autumn,. but [to] be filled 36 farleled52,/with can thein theythe spirit" accounts be pushed? (Ephesians of virtually 5:18). every religion, superficial? RISE PANAlig PPRSOMI Are such comparisons, paral- How 11.11 much"onsubjects their or LSD"quitiain Ditrnan experience, bit" and Hayman's that it looked MO DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS a religious experience; 42 study reported, looking back as if it had been "very IMPORT? in OM EM 521 claimception,"lineWith emphatically. respect that hewhat towrites, thehe experiencednew "is drugs, that in Prof. underitNot the R.all author theC. the Zaehnerinfluence way, clearly students has of makes drawnraescalin of thereligion have thus far insisted. "The importance of Huxley's Doors of Per- professionalsreligiousthatofas three-fourthstrueGod, experiencesthe or statementawho higher tookof subjects thatthe they "were power,comes or ultimate from the reality." reports of9 sixty-nine having religious "sets" will left with a greater per cent checked The statement awarenessreligious have mistaken.thatright,is closely Huxley comparable is not right, to a genuine but I fear mystical that it experience. is Zaehner who is. . . the conclusions . . . are alarming." I Zaehner thinks If he is proofacceptablein progress." ways toof psychologists ascertaining whether of In the absence of (a) a single definition of religiousdrugs while the Harvard religion generally and (b) actual experiences exemplify project wasexperience fool- drugsmental.trivialno religious agrees,as readily feature; it is as that transforming, they there can is benoThere sensual suchcapricious are,thing as of readily ascourse, thereadily drugas innumerable spiritual, as experi- sacra- drug experiences that haveIf there is one point about which every student of the theyseemedthewhether anyexist; above so definition, totheythe studiesthem. experiences have Ibeen am utilized,not of sure there were religious Butthan if by more noting rigorous whether the 333 men and is any better way of telling methods are preferred, women involved in they thesocialsecrete.ence right(the and per setpsychological physical andseno setting, experience environment themake-up drugs that in canof whichthe the induce drugs,individual), it is religious taken). as it were,and experiences setting merely (the Every experience is a mix of three ingredients: drug, set But given ticalinstancePahnkeligious. ofexperiences the worked ofman the in asmystical out thesummarized street variety) that In his doctoral study a typology of religious experience drug experiences based onat theHarvard classic University,and they confirm Walter the conviction can indeed be re- cases of mys- (in this thecurrentlyneedindistinguishable drugsgeneral set and underrunning, population setting naturalistic from it be looks experienceswill exceptional. conditions,haveas if religiousfrom that one-fourthmeaningoccur experiences spontaneously. by to this one-third ifconditions they take of The way the statistics are Nor PahnkeThestudentsPhilosophy. drug nor and hiswas professorssubjects given "double-blind," knew in the He then administered whichsetting ten of were a Goodin getting Walter Friday Stace's Mysticism psilocybinmeaning to ten theology that neither Dr. psilocybin service. and ofwhoinfluencein whichthose have having thestrongthe researcherdirection religiousreligious his supports inclinationsexperiences experience the to willjumpssubject begin take. to with,but three-fourths. does the proportion not try to Among subjects If eachbeingcessively,theand statement reportsinformedwhich beforeten the as aboutplacebos subjectsto three the the degree college-graduateto (strong, wrote of constitutetheirnature experiences a ofcontrol the study, moderate,housewives slight, or who, none) without group. Subsequentlywere asked to rate were laid suc- Thearesoarsthey religious? "one-fourth taketo nine the in drugsWe ten. to can one-third in begin settings withof thethatHow the general are dofact wereligious that population"know they thattoo, say the the theyfigure experiences ratio are. is these people have really periencedtistics,advance.perienceto which it phenomena enumeratedshowedWhen it exemplified the that whichtest in"those theof eachsignificance of typology of mysticismsubjects who worked received psilocybin the nine traits of mystical was applied to their sta- out in ex-ex- encesexperiences,drawnCalifornia as from having two psychiatrist 24 been sources.per centreligious.8 Oscar of the Janiger 194 subjects characterized in a study their by experi- the Ten months after they had had their Thirty-two per cent of the 74 mysticism."identical with 11 109 Ibid., Timothy pp. 45, Leary, 46. "The Religious Experience: . . . the categories defined by our typology of were indistinguishable from, if Its Production and Inter- not Corporation,Certain Attitudes May, in 1962, Normals," p. 16. printed for private37 Mysticism,Quoted distribution in William Sacred by and H.the McGlothlin,ProfaneRAND (New "Long-lasting York: Oxford, Effects 1961), of p. LSD12. 37on University,Committeechedelicpretation," Drugs TheonJune Higher Psychedelicand 1963. the Degrees Mystical Review, in HistoryConsciousness,"11 "Drugs and Mysticism : An Analysis 1, 3 (1964): 325. and Philosophy of Religion, Harvardof the Relationship between a thesis presented to the Psy- 1.10 522 MINWith the thought that the reader might like to test his own NMI THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY ION IMO INO ENO INN 1. Ais own experience was "utterly trivial." DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS IMPORT? NMI INE This of course MIN 523 11.1 herepowers a simple of discernment test I gave-to on thea group question of Princeton being considered, students following I insert thatproves no thatdrug not exPerieneeS:are: all:ding experiences religious: are religious; it does not . prove drug-induced.influenceBelowa recent are ofdiscussion accounts drugs, one of sponsored withouttwo religious their by influencer experiences. .the Woodrow Check the Wilson one YOU think was One occurred under, the *Society : World::eiSin:naturethem arena monistic mystiCiSra,truly so.inyiticism, in which in2: whichthe soul the is unitedsoul with the exPeriences of .others that appearZaehner religious distingniShes to three kinds of mysti- natural whelmingamazement,Suddenlythough Ifeeling-wave burst amthe writingawesomeness into a vast,thisof gratitude overnew, of the aindescribably Year andrevelation, blessed later, the the wonderment,wonderful thrillengulfment of universe.the are insurprise asan fresh,over- and Al- theistic.firstliving,impersonal two speciespersonal absolute of God. mysticism, ; and He , concedes but innot which thatits drugs the soul As proof, he analyzes Huxley's experience supreme instance, the merges withcan inducean the confrontsas recounted the minutessuchevenand the anago.hint impossiblememory at the magnitude,of task. the experience the sense is as of vivid, ultimate as if reality it had .happened five And yet to concoct anything by way of description that would The knowledge which has infused and affected . . this seems ley'sacceptblend.in The case, Zaeliner'S ofDoors nature and of indeed andevaluationPerception monistic Zaehner's Of to mysticism.the show entire three that book, it produced would forms of mysticism, Hux- Even if we were to at best a ofevery certainty aspect that of my it was life impossible,came instantaneously then or since, and withto doubt such its complete validity. force II Insofarthatcannot not asevery induceZaehner mystical theiStic goes experience beyond mysticism, this induced to heimply not by that onlythe drugs drugsgoes do beyond not and the prove onlyis theistic. byofcoloredAll theexultation, anat fireonce,intellectual cloud. was without of within immense illumination warning myself. joyousness of impossibleany kind, accompanied I foundto describe. myself or immediately Among wrapped other in followed a things,flame- For an instant I thought of fire Directly afterward there came upon me a sense . . . the next, I knew that shortcomingstheySoinetintestheevidence .peyote .become but whichIndians. theyproceeds aware hearmust "see of in thebethe visions,the corrected voicepresence face which ofof it.if theof they God Great and Spirit. of may Jamesbe of ChristSlotkin Himself. reports that are to do His will." 13 those personal Sometimes thatconsciousposedI did the not of cosmic deadmerely in myself matter, order come of is but eternal tosuch believe,is, thaton life. thewithout but contrary, I saw any that preadventurea living the universe Presence; all thingsis notI became com-work . . . I saw that all men are immortal: YouinAnd India, G.:get M.aquotes very Carstairs, gooda Brahmin bhaktireporting with hhang," bhakti as saying, "It gives good bhakti. on the use of psychedelic bhang being precisely . . . theworldtogether long . runfor theabsolutely good of certain. each and all;On that the the occasion foundation referred principle to, of twicethe as. many students. (46) an-is what we call love, and that the happiness of each and all is in Catholic,canHinduism's induce and genuinelytheistic Roman variant.14 mysticalCatholic experiences.doctrine3. There teaches is a third that reason why Zaehner might Zaehner is a Roman doubt that drugs mystical rap- holdhimself.22answerswered that incorrectlyin druga footnote experiences as answeredto preserve cannot correctlyWhy, the be reader's in authentically (23). the face opportunity of this religious? considerable to test evidence, does Zaehner I bury the correct periences.logicaldoescontrol.ture isnot adifference giftpreclude of grace thebetween possibilityand as natural such of canand drug-induced This may be true ; certainlyAt this point,the empirical however, evidence we a genuine ontological or theo- never beare reduced considering to man's phenome- religious ex- cited temberOctober,sciousness-expendingThere appear to1963): be Drugs,"three 10-11. reasons: Alain Currents12 in The Modern first accountThought, is 20, quoted 1 (Sep- anonymously in "The Issue of the Con- The second experience was that of Dr. P.. cism,counterpart.periencesandnology on W. ratherthis T. cannot Stace,level When than there wasbeontology, the distinguished asked iscurrent no descriptionwhetherdifference. philosophical fromthe rather drug their authority Descriptively, drug ex- experiencethan is similar interpretation, natural religious on mysti- thepp.TheM. 390- Bucke,latter Varieties -391. did the not.ofauthor Religious of Cosmic Experience Consciousness, (New York: as quoted Modern in Library,William James,1902),39 The former experience occurred under the influence of drugs; 1956).(1954): 229. 1413 James"Darn S.and Slotkin, Bhang," Peyote Quarterly Religion Journal (New York:of the FreeStudy Press of Alcohol,of Glencoe, 15 40 524 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OM MN 1=- Min MO DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS MIMI IMPORT? Min 525 1.1 Ell OM Ell beingto the similar mystical to mystical experience,What experience; we seem he answered, to it beis mysticalwitnessing "It's experience."not in a Zaehner'smatter of Mysticismits Sacred thatheofHad religiousthesupPOsed. not people Marx phenomena 7.--apparently already warned he Freud was likewise too mild. are to be understood only on the model was moreus that literally religion accurate is the than "opiate" He "never doubted admitsciencearises,andflict Profane thatbetweenreligion's has drugsproduced. is sciencea firstreenactmentcan impulseinduce and religion. experiences isof to the deny age-old the descriptively disturbing pattern in evidence theindistin- con- Seen in perspective, Zaehner's refusal to Whenever a new .controversy fundamentallyreligioussaidof the " psychoticAymptoms." neuroticbeliever? delusory, symptoms of theSo the religious skeptic is likely Convinced that religious experiences individual." 16 to reason. W hatHe about should the have are not sistencetocurrentguishable look on counterpartthrough dismissing from Galileo'sthose of what the which theyseventeenth-centurytelescope aresaw spontaneously as or, machinations when theytheologians' religious did,of the their devil. refusal is per- the tenablebewords)can separated occasion "a admixture" conceptual fromthem? specious being framework is To do so he needs (to can he admit that psychotomimeticand drugsuntenable admixtures," the this"un- case the conclusion that in which [the discoveries can] return to Polanyi's re- incontrovertible,Whenleadsof how the beyond factthis that newphenomenology discussion drugs fact canis willto trigger be intomove interpreted. religiousphilosophy. to the more experiences diffieult becomes question The latter question difference.religiousphenoMenologicalligious experiences,experiences similarities they One way to effect the separation are in general delusory. are separated by a crucial ontologicalbetween natural and drug-induced would be to argue that, despite toening, 3.utilize Drugs we maythis and suppose.mode Religion of defense. ViewedWhy Philosophically do people reject evidence? Theologians are not the only professionals In his Personal. _Knowledge,"Because they find it threat- dents"sionbloodlogians that rather inchemical who the than breadargue Analysis, "essences," andfor thewine Such an argument would follow "realconfined presence"of as the itof is Christ'sEucharist to the level despite of "acci- their would not disclose this the pattern of theo- bodypresence. and admis- concludingperformedsuchMichael palpable Polanyi before that facts recounts thetheir as subjects theown the painless eyes way were in the hundredsamputation imposters medical of professinn whoofsuccessive Inman. were ignored limbs,eases,either andInsteadonBut non-drug an thiS essence- of distinction fighting religious accident will metaphysics which a rear-guard action by insisting that if experiencesnot cannot appeal be distinguishedto many today, for it is not widely accepted. turnsdrug em- PolanyicouldmesmericEsdaile,deluding he attributes carriedtheir gettrance medicalphysicians out in this India,about closed-mindedness journals or but300 colluding neither major to print operationsin with India accountsto them. "lack nor painlessly. in of Greatof a conceptualhis Britain work.under One physician, religiouseiploregnishespirically the experiencewithout them possibilitythere and relinquishingmust generally.renders ofbe accepting the drug some transempirical factor that distin- confidence in the truth-claims experience drug-inducedprofane, I wish experiences ofasto thatdrugsspeciousframework religious can and induce untenable indisclosures which religious admixtures."their are experience discoveries noThe more "untenable isveridical couldits apparent be admixture" than separated implicate:psychotic in from the fact that psychotomimetic haswhichcurredauthority become he whileretrospectively :classic, William his brain but James it chemistryevaluatesis didTo begin with the weakest of all not discount his insightswas altered. that arguments,his nitrous the oxide argument experiences from The paragraph in oc- realityreligionones.tenable by retiringat all; into dream worlds of make-believe; what betterFor religious skeptics,is this at conclusionheart an escape is obviously from reality.not un- it fits in beautifully with their thesis that all Psychotics avoid consciousness,OfOnethat its conclusion truth it merits has rational everwas quoting forcedsince consciousness remainedonce again. unshaken.upon my mind at that time, and so pertinent to the present discussion It is that our normal waking my impression identicalevidence changes that religious in brain visionarieschemistry produce 15do Chicago: the same both Univ. thanstates of Chicagothe of factmind? Press, that 1958. 41 thereconsciousness, lie potential whilst forms all of about it, parted16 (New York: consciousness entirely different. as we call it, is but oneModern special Library, type 1938).of from it by the filmiest of We may go screens, 42 526lus,through and lifeat a withouttouch they suspecting areI= there theirMO in allexistence; their completeness, but apply the definite requisite types stimu- of THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY of sawmine for to thedescribe, first time is the how whole wildly of life. beautiful and joyous, beyond DO DRUGS HAVE RELIGIOUS IMPORT?MOMS 1111 I Every human being moving across any words 527 ness.themleavesadaptation.mentality is these the which questionfor other probably forms they of somewhere consciousness are so discontinuous have quite their disregarded. with ordinary HowYet conscious- to they regard may determine attitudes though they cannot furnish formulas,No account of the universe in its totality can be final which field of application and Ifimportance,caughtthat we porch, do in notand every of discount wasintoxication sparrow a part religious of that of the life.18 flew, whole intuitions mad ecstasy because of every branch tossing in the wind, was they loveliness,are prompted of joy, of a prematureascribingexperiences,and open someaclosing region they metaphysical allof though convergeour accounts they significance toward fail with toTo agive reality.kindthis (op. a of map.argument cit., insight 378-379). to which from I authority,cannot help I add two arguments that Looking backAt any on myrate, own they forbid thatneedingby battlefields ustrigger comparable to our them senses" and areintuitions physical of an inner, becrises; discounted psychicTurning if from the hellish to the heavenly more often than they seduce us into delusions, we regard the latter as "call- variety?simply because the crises aspects of the drug offeatures,thattry the to assume provideexperience. and aeach somethingreligious of my casthypotheses by waystendBeginning toof relates havereasons. fearful towith one the ofand/or theseominous, beatific aspects "fear of the Lord," awe-ful fea- Drug experiences reasoncannotattendsjustexperience, stated;thatpossibly the the sense somethatpositive account ofis,of escape thetheyepisodes for latter allmay from the mayoften he beatifichigh beoccasioned come explainabledanger. episodes, first, But this hypothesisby the reliefor to bypersonsthat the hypothesis who for the simple as.describestures, follows Gordon these: Wasson, as. he encountered the New Yorkthem inbanker-turned-mycologist, his psilocybin experience . . ofexperience the National no negative Institute episodesof Mental whatever. Health reports that among hisDr. Sanford Unger .until it tingles. . But ecstasy is notThe fun. unknowing vulgar abuse the word; we must recapture "Ecstasy ! After all, who will choose to feel undiluted awe ? In common parlance Your very soul is seized and shaken ecstasy is fun. tions."episodeworthysubjects 19 ofin "50 whichdiscussion," to 60%exaltation, will yet "aroundnot rapture, manifest 75%and joy will How are we to account for the drug's any real disturbanceare the key descrip-capacityhave at to least induce one swepthourscanits full be while andfromlike terrifying having underyou cling youforty-foot sense." desperatelyat any 17 wavesminute. to crash a life-raft over you which for mayseveral be Emotionally the drug experience It seems quite possible body.Abypeak feeling fear? experiences, of great peace such and as contentment the following, seemed which All sound ceased and I seemed to be floating in to flow through my entire are not precededa great, very very larly,andawakenthat destinysuch as ratherthe an and subjectordeal, fundamental trigger emergeslike the any "no sentiments fromexperienceatheists the in traumarespecting foxholes" of a close and lifeeffect. realizes call, and could- death that Simi- andandcouldofstill wonder peace, peacevoid feel or that contentment,thatmy hemisphere. suchbodywas alladissolving feeling around and couldbeing me. and actuallyhavea part occurred of becoming goodness It is impossible to describe the overpowering feeling Words can't describe this. to me.coa part of the goodnessitself that I felt. I feel an awe I ofthebyoverhe the ispatientsday himnot hospital," when goingan recoveringintensified any toreads bed be wasinsaneone appreciationfrom pushedsuch ascritical report:he out had like illness.of feared,doors that frequently to there the open may reported gallery come "It happened on mentpowersManof life, has seems man's of specialized this less nature instrument able inhas todeveloping becomeprovide are a standingdistinctiveConsider wonder, the following but the line instru- of argument. a cerebral cortex. through specialization.Like every other form The analytic theinbeholdingonlyI cannot its mysterious remember unspeakable now life recall changeforfinding joy,the whether was.firstmyselfbeauty, time thein and thein revelation importance.all very its midst young came of intoxication those suddenly wonderful or of gradually; loveliness, moments, I I saw no new thing, but I saw all the usual I cannot say exactly what Minn.:historymeaningfully Macalester in their related wholeness. Park, 1947), to his pp. environment: 15, 17.18 Margaret to life, Prescott Montague, Twenty Minutes of Reality As Albert Camas describes the situa- man with the sense that he is the world, and (St. Paul, Leaflets,ofthings the Religious in 19, a miraculous 7 (1961). Idea among new Primitivelight---in Peoples,"what17 I "Thebelieve Harvard Hallucinogenic is theirBotanical true light.Museum Fungi of Mexico: An Inquiry into the Origins 43 I ed.,at theSocial The Conference ConsciousResearch, on May Expanders Methods 3, 1964, in (New andPhilosophy scheduled York: Putnam,and2019 for Quoted"The the publication , fallCurrent by Dr. Scientific Unger in Statusthe paper of Psychedelicjust mentioned. Drug Research," readof 1964). in David Solomon, New School for 44 528 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY .1111 GI 529 11111.11111=1=111=IIIIIMINNIMII opposedbelongation, meaning, "If to by Ithis mywere or world.wholerather . consciousness." this problem would21 not arise, . . a cat among I would be this world to which I am now animals, this life would have Note that it is CaMus? con- for I should toward:butreligionless itevident may"the is more bereligion that a usefulthanthey of religiouscan religiousreminder, produce experiences. experience"; especiallyreligious lives. =DO PUGS 11 Ei "IMP.? toThis those is hardly who incline news, which is to sayIt follows that areactivatesciousnessawareness.this taking consciousness areas thateffect of opposes the is thebrain out, himdilation Witthat to whilenormallyhis they world. they produce lie leave beloW in it theoperative itSi-threshold they ofalso One of the clearest objective signs that the drugs The drugs do not knock pupils of the toponents.irrespectivetoward-lives regard man bentof as their havingon the relation acquisitiona mind, to aDespitelife's will, of desiredother and the feelings. demandsdangers of faculty psychology, it states of experience remains useful One of theand com- werearcontrolledtensificationeyes, know than and the thatone by mechanismsof theofportions visual thehuman most perception. of organism that predictablethe governbrain is that interlacedconsciousness. lie deep, with further to the Both of these responses aresubjective signs is the in- its world in Meanwhile struggleperienceofrouselessons reason and (nothave of involvegrow religious always their arid; comparableall successful) history threereligions components is pitfalls, that, ofto duty,keep to beof fromleaden. man'sadequate, nature. as evidenced by 's degenerating intoReligions of ex- a faith must Religions boundary.untilfields,innumerable man's body skinrespiration, ways began it normally to and seem the cannot morelike : thelikesensethrough list a thoroughfare could begravitational multiplied than a Perhaps the deeper regions of the brain which evolved kensho-.---whichnentoatsistedquietism, here, of thatit, forback and once it pivotstheinto somestudents vehemence the on(but world. anhave not enlightenment all)withattained Zennists which satori, Zenexperiencesatori, they The case of is especially perti- say resembles LSD. has in- must be driven or ourrelatednessearlier. awareness. and better are than more. can like the those cerebral .of a cortexthecat lower. which animals"If now dominates I were . . I shouldIf so, belongwhen the to drugs this world"canrearrange the sense neurohumors this EvenexperienceAlike the or Buddha different, is joined the to pointdiscipline, is that it Zen will recognizes . . . had to sit. . . . Without joriki, the particular power come to naught: that unless the nessman'sthat chemically might consciousness for atransmit spell and become impulseshis submerged, interlaced. across intuitive,synapses betweenecological neurons, aware- This is, of course, no dailypleasantindeveloped enlightenment life. memory through . instead zazen [seated of remaining meditation], an omnipresent the vision . . To be able to live in accordance with what the Mind 's eye . in time becomes clouded and eventually fades into a realityof oneness attained our keynoteconflictextraordinarymore thanof makewhich a hypothesis, incidence all ItJames isour as describeddifficultiesif underthe but opposites how the as and drugs"invariablyelse oftroubles, are ofthe thatwe world, a to kindwerereconciliation"? account whose of melted insight contradictorinessfor into the and stancesitthe followshas development revealed that that induce through ofno personality, religionreligious satori requires, that aexperiences ripening fixesIf likethe period itsthereligion faithpurification of of religious experience is can be expected toa comesnare and a delusion, saeen.22 primarily in sub- of character and 4.sitesbetterone The and into one, Drugs the itself" is sameitself and (op. Religionthegenus, cit.,genus, 379).but Viewed and one so of soaks"Religiously" the species,up and absorbs the nobler its oppo- and Churchfaithrogate.ato short a is good seemsanother circuit; end. to indicatequestion.what began that asthey a religioncan be; anthropologistswill end Whether chemical substances can be helpful What promised to be a short cut will The peyote-using Native American as a religion sur- adjunctsprove to to be Dooffrom they the religious religiousshed any experienceslife?light, not (we and now thatOneSuppose ask) we thing on can thatlife, they respect drugsbut may on theircando the is induce nature reports.throw experiencesreligious experience indistinguishable itself into athat contextconclusionresistchurch chemicals alcohol ofa good faith to can andwhich report,(meaning aid alcoholism theevidence noting religious by thisbetter currentlyamong life,the than conviction butother points do only nonmembers.2things wherewould that what they that members seem to beset within give this The whole.perspective by clarifying its relation22 Theto the Myth religious of Sisyphus life (New as Yorka : Vintage,45 1955),Drugs p. 38. appear able to induce religious experiences; it is of publication. 2822 Slotkin,Philip Kapleau, op. cit. Zen Practice and Attainment, a manuscript in process 46 NM MI 111111 NM NM MI MI NMI MI INN MI NM MI MI NMI 530 THE JOURNAL OP PHILOSOPHY jointlyforwill disclosefulfilled. the in theliving attemptis true) of life andto inwork disciplineNowhere today in Western Churches lack faith in the the everyday, out the implications of thecivilization are these(meaning diligent exercise common-sense world). sense just mentioned; two conditions disclosures of the theteriumthe phenomenondrugs,hipsters tremendunz, were lack that itof discipline. not drugs for nuzjestas,one mysterium fact : the fascinans;distinctive religiousunquestionably can Thisoccasion--Otto's might lead us to forget about the in a phrase,emotion and TheseveralAs question Paul years Tillich our ago century said in : religious aweseems puts anbefore address us [is]: to the Is Hillelit Society to be declining sharply: at Harvard century.Tillichnotthelost worlddimension, may ofbut subjectivity isbethe the right;encounter mystery thisand objectivity may be the and religiouswith the Holy, the ofdimension the Ground of Beings goes down to that which is possible to regain the questionwhich cuts of throughour with religious experiences, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE For if (as we have neitherOF can TECHNOLOGY it long survive insisted) religion HUSTONcannot SMITH be equated their absence. 47 48 MI MI I= MI NM MI 11111 Oil MI MI IIIIII IIIIII MI MI MI MI AppENdiX: ThE pRiMORdiAl TRAdITION q TIEN Know tenThE things, PsychEdELic the Chinese EVidENCE nextexists,connection toto questionimpossible it isas with inwhether the Godto speakcomparable andit is wiseofthe it even to mentionInfinite. the psychedelics For thoughcase in of thewithout role of being sex in misunderstood. Tantrasay; tell nine---there It is reason a connection conceal,amongis for thisthen the reason, deliberatelybest-keptIf inthe forget, history, only thing and to we suspect, that the Eleusinian mysteries say about the psychedelics was that the identity of soma.' Brahmins came eventually werethey to UST N SM1T ourittheplanesseem peace. goal, on as occasion For itwell cannot though as (into be offer suchstressed isdirect experiences the redisclosures igious rare instances) the Infinite itself, too often, is jotre.experiences; mayof bethe veridicalpsychic and in ways,celestial we would hold psychedelicsthan,"theophanies" they can occasionfurthercan abort Itit. that isa not, therefore, the isolated de. And with respect quest as readily as, perhaps lead us to add this appendix mystical experiences which the to the latter, psychedelic more readily on the entertosionallysubject, be called,it becausegarneredbut rather if anything ofand evidence the carefully ways in this in of a different order. Long-term,weighed, thisarea latter merits evidencewhich, the term, and scientific. extent to Wewhich, deserves. profes- this 49 NEWHARPER YORK, /it ROW, HAGERSTOWN, COLOPHON PUBLISHERS SAN BOOKS FRANCISCO, LONDON Americanevidence Academy seems toof corroborateReligion,1. See the author's the "Wasson's SOMA: XL, 4 (Dec. 1972). primordial anthropology that A Review Article," Journal of the Chap- 50 -, I= =MEM 11111 OM OM NM MI terpsychede156 4 sketched / APPENDIX ics win ichparadigm. are occupied In contradistinction with experiences to writings the mind on thecan' \ oped:dominant psycholytic approaches therapy to psychedelic (used at Prague therapy and that favored have been in Europe devel- THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 157 mindbutbeenhave, recently reportedis.2 the concern off only the here inpress. a fewis Atwith relatively the evidence same obscure time; they judged jour,_j_alLaiacta-book-iafford bothe asevidence toby what quantity in the vi is not widely known, for to date it has1-- fewpsychedeliciumgenerally), highdoses doses ofwhich therapy LSD in involves aor The(confinedshort variant first period numerous thing overto America),of Grof treatment. administrations and which his associates involves of low discovered a long therapeutic program, and one or a to med- ferpsychedelicsthat is that make which sensehave has thusof emerged this far data, produced. through it is the Thethe most work evidence formidable of Stanislav to which evidence Grof.3 we re- the encompassed and by t e exp anatory power of the-hypotheses inconsidered "Iisany nohave ofspecific the not an areas invariantbeen pharmacological studiedperceptual,able product to find effect ofa singlethe which chemical emotional, phenomenon LSD action invariably ideational, ofthat the produces: was that there could be drugand thatPragueworked developed and in an for interdisciplinary outanother of this seven ; in complex the on Psychiatric rof'scoming of work research to Research thebegan Unitedinstitutes in Institute Czechoslovakia, States where for four years he in lattermydriasis,effectsonephysical."4 of thevary most Noteven nausea, commoneven more mydriasis and than symptoms, vomiting, do physiological,(prolonged occurs enhanced invariably. dilatation but intestinal ofPsychological the pupils), the range of the move- sessment,Springin First,facts1967 Grove about inhe his the continued experiencehis Stateuse work of Hospital psychedelics hisare is investigationsworthby in far Baltimore, notingthe for vastest therapeutic before Maryland.at that the we anyResearch and turn singleTwo personality to itscovering individ-Unit content. of as- vertigo,mouth,cationasments, retardation and reddening inner diarrhea, dyspnea, trembling, ofof constipation,pulse, theexcessive skin, cardiac fine hot muscle sweatingfrequent distress flushes tremorsexceeds urination, andand pain,hypersalivation,chills, accelerationpalpitations, instability that assuffo- well of any anddry conducted.iesspentual coverhas a minimumamassed, another Second, covering ofSao infive casesspanning hours as his it withdoes colleaguesthe Atlantictheover subject. 2,500 at his Baltimore sessions Inwork addition spans inand which his thePrague stud- two he variationsiblesymptomsother drug n are the that practically symptoms affects independentthe a single autonomic subject of dosage will experience and undercombinations. Variability between subjects nervous system. These somatic occur inis all pos- equaled dif- by -L-51Tsessionsunderlieessentially is only human an an exteriorization nature unspecific and2. "LSD, human amplifier and themagnification civilization. most of mental powerful ofProperly processes. dynamics psycho-active used, Whatthat the wedrug drug see is ever in known to man, is of therapeuticferentview arecircumstances; the process. differences All particularly this that led appear Grof important from to conclude that LSD is notat different stages in the theis, clinical point HumanAbridgeda tool for Unconscious: froma deeper the writingsunderstanding 3.Observations His of book, Stanislav ofthe from the first Grof, LSDhuman in acitedResearch projected mind in footnote and (New five-volume human York: 3. nature." Viking series, is Realms of the . theByindicates,a specific patientexteriorizing causalanhimself upecific foragent, material the amplifier buttherapist otherwiserather of anda neuralcatalyzer. buried, raising and and It mental by to consciousness for enlargingas footnote this 2 processes. Drugs,"II,Humansonality,"tionsPress, of 1975). Culture," 1970;LSD Darshana His Research"Varieties journalJournal International forofarticlesof Transpersonal theUnderstanding Study are: (India, "Beyond of1971; Consciousness,1970); Experiences: Dimensions "ThePsychoanalysis: "LSD Use Psychotherapy Observations Partof of LSD Human I, I.1970, Implica-in Psychotherapy," fromPer- Partand Journal of Psychedelic magnifyingmaterial to glass,the4. point "Theoretical the psychedelicsof caricature and Empirical are, so thatGrof Basis it became of Transpersonal convinced, Psychology appears as if under a an 51 JournalfootnoteitandLSD is thehis ofPsychotherapy," latesttheCosmic 4. Study paper, Game: of willConsciousness, Journal Outline be quoted ofof TranspersonalPsychedelic most 1972: often and inoneCosmology Psychology,this more chapter. which, and 1972;It Ontology," becauseis cited "LSD in LSD,coverspersonalinPsychotherapy: thisso a Psychology,we wideappendix shall spectrum limit willObservations 1973. our be of references Unlessto psychedelic this, otherwise fromGrof's to it. LSD substances,latest indicated, Research," subsequentmost Journal of it referenceswas of with paper. Also, though his work Trans-52 and um ow ow No Ns EN No ow ow EN ow wis ow =I am diagnosis(theunrivaled158 problem / APPENDIX instrument:(determining that is causing first, the characterfor the identifying difficulty); type ofcauses thesecond, subject in for in personality question); design.drugs, we shall confineThe ourselvesbasic study to atit inPrague reporting covered his experimental fifty-two psychiatric patients. THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 159 wayorpsychiatrynotand of seem third, tothe the telescope inappropriate forunconscious.'and understanding psychology in astronomy. to The compare to the statementthat ..human of their the is potentialmicroscopemind valid generally. to significancea greater for medicine "It extent does for . Freud called dreams the 'royal taingroup.disordersordersAll high-quality major throughPatients to borderlineclinical psychoneuroses, with introspective above-averagecategories and clear-cut psychosomatic werereports; psychosesrepresented, .otherwise diseases, inwere fromthe cases favoredschizophrenic anddepressive with character to dim ob- dis- studyenlargingcernsfor LSD that us ourexperiences."5 evenin thisunderstanding flickers book.Of Theofthe light nature drug'sof the from ofthreehuman manGrof's potentials, hasmind work been and would so itselfthat central make con- to itour is the thirdits resources for ducted.hundredThetwenty-twoprognosis number Each per inpatientofpatient's of each psycholytic the withcategorysubjects, treatment a total sessions werehis beganof two chosen.over rangedcolleagues with 2,500 Grof several from sessions himself with fifteenweeks the being worked remainder.of drug- con- with to one workmakesininteresting. Chapter points it important. to 4That presentedthe thesameWe light conclusion.comehim proves as at aonce multilayeredto beAs to remarkably longthe point. as creature, the The clear matter view and is of steady Grof'sput man that was outlined sessionsfourteen-daydosesfree psychotherapy. of 100of the intervals. to same250 micrograms ThereafterpersonThe basic was finding the ofcompared LSDtherapy was administered thatit was became "when punctuated evident atmaterial seven- with that from to consecutive LSD psychiatry,Grof'stheimpliesthus writings generally work as psychoanalysissays much, lies of it Freud,signalsin and the metaphors precision Jung,nothing and thenovel,with of their same;archaeology which for colleagues. existingthe the adjective levels and depth The excavation of psychologynoveltythe"depth" mind dotof it a verycessivebeingthere definite wasunrelated unfolding a definitetrend" and of (U41). deeperrandom,continuityThe trendand the deeperbetween materialregularly levels these seemed led of sessions.through the to unconscious represent three Rather successive a withthansuc- stages preceded V traditionbrings to describes. view correspondIn chemo-excavation with the levels ofthe selfhood the levels come to view sequentially. In rimordial primarilyaby preliminary another on which, the phase. subject's being In lessthis body. importantopening In this phasepsychologically, respect the it chemical resembles Grof works whatcalls sequencesion;therapyuncoveredthis respect, the of to deeper therapeutic get too, at images levelsones that sessions. appearof archaeologylie deeper. later The in sequences In theapply: psychedelic course surface are of aparallel, levels(high-dose) singlein must ses- psycholyticbut be (low-dose) therapy they surface later in the thatexperienceLSDareearlier notGrof's directly researchersidentical. morein caused the extensive early Proponents thehad stages manifold called evidence of of thepsychedelic somatic a vegetativevegetativecountered responses sessions. this phasephase, view.patients Weassumed but Vegetative have typicallythe twothat seen sincecoveringwork the in levels Prague, eleven first ofand came the5. since "Theoryseventeen to thatGrof's and earlier years attentionPractice work he hasof during wasLSD been the Psychotherapy" his working more psycholytic extensive, with (U68).the Instead of being thanprobableandsymptoms for by a the thatsingle are chemical's they real subject areenough, occasioned underdirect but varying theyaction. more vary circumstancesThereby so anxieties much is also between and thethat resistances fact itsubjects that seems 53 withreferencesthereportpublishedthe first a paperofU, of his indicatingas to which, named astudythe single comprehensive is asinunpublished. volumebeing indicatedfootnote reworked as Grof4. originalin Page footnote originally for numbers reportprojected 3. intended, will appearednot issue hereafterthus inthisprefixed in five long,1975.be volumes, prefixed refer initial Page to perceptualaThese tendencyphasethey considerations are per andfarat se. the from particularlyThe start mostconfined led to heaffectGrof is toprepared toone early doubt specific phases tothat admit partthere of isthe of isthat the LSDa vegetativethe body: drug its has its optical apparatus. Colors 5.c4me sequence. MI OM MN I= OM MI MO NM ION I= OM MI MI "flabbergasted"title162 The / APPENDIX Trauma of Birth, and to use Grof's own word, he was to find how closely the second-stage psycholytic itthe third stage is not, strictlyis (as speaking, Grof's words that it indicate)is religious mystically but that religious: religious in a THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 163 theclinicalexperiences secondpatient condition stageexperiences conformed perinatal worsens.During theto or The it. agonyRankian. theHe stage weeksand of climaxes dyinghis through colleagues and in appears awhich session fell the toto in himselfstagecalling which extends, the patient's byotherwithintomode which presentfeature, the in the wholewhich itself itsstage transpersonal evil (a) in should the endwhole be asaspect, designated. predominatesthe logical which A wascandidate trend over so pronouncedtowardthe for part, the and name as (b) is rescinded. This connects with the stage's actually to die. muscularThetortions, subjects tension gasping can spend in for various breath hours tremors, andin agonizing discharging twitching, pain, enormous withviolent facial amounts shaking con- of lectedoneseample,personal autobiographical which experiences in the first traumas,that stage is ones presentedhad occu in the ieditself second in thestage form taken of recol- the, sa. a ready shown itself in stage two. Suffering, for ex- i hin s other than sweatingcelerated.darkandfrequent complex purple canThe occurrence. or be twistingbody deadprofuse. temperature pale, [ibid.]movements. and and nausea usuallythe The pulsewith oscillates color projectile rate ofconsiderably inthe vomitinga facewide can range. isac- be a SisyphusChristmankindothers:form on famineof asrollinghis identifying a cross,whole victims, his Tantalus boulderwith with prisoners its the sufferingincessantly,exposed suffering in Nazi tosymbolized eternal of Ixionconcentration others, fixed tortures archetypallyusually on hiscamps,in groupsHades, wheel, byor of ofThis ana new deathexplosive order experience areecstasy theOutside tendsdominant in which to thehe joy,motifs. followedLSD freedom, sequence immediately and the the new promise by life rebirth, showed of life itself in the pa- continuesworkor byPrometheus stagewhich this two was outbound. "thechained 'beyond subjects totranspersonalindividual his felt rock. that death' Likewise they momentum. were with operating Now death; the in alreadypheno- a frame- (U125). The third stage onlyclimatedducedtients' major a third markedto psychologistit, experiential clinical improvement. tolandscape. have dealt When seriously Within Grof's the and eyes sequence relatively became it intro-ac-un- it appeared at first to be Jungian. Jung being the extentconsciouselementsormena even with the to and of subject-objectwhichliving himselfforces theforms. from assubject separate whichdichotomyThey identifies arelife from proceeds.cosmic, is what are not he having And restrictedperceives. the to subject do to To withmankind a is large lessthe itself transcended. clearerreductionistically to refer to the withTwo stage the features as visions transpersonal. defined that appeared. this third Later and finalit seemed stage. First, . its most and explanation. So much for description of the three stages. NoW to interpretation -periences"typical characteristics (U125).-Everyonevincing insightswho experientially into the utmost reached relevance these oflevels spiritual developed and religious con- . were profound religious and mystical ex- childhood,Freudtermsof ontogenetic ofhad antecedent minedbut Grof'sexplanation: these experiences workGrof experiences washad andledin the tois as aregionslife psychiatrist.they history occur Freud's of inPsychiatrythe mapinfancy individual. did andisnot the study and practice it accounts for present syndromes in coredimensionsthecynics, materialists, Marxist uncompromising in thephilosophers, positivistically-orienteduniversal atheists scheme became and of suddenly things.antireligious scientists, Even interested thecruaders skeptics most in spiritual suchhard- and as attendingologysavefit. furtherClearly, forced in himas the psychiatrist, to same take directionfurtherseriously Grof had the nowhere possibility back. to His turn that very for experiences explanations method- birth and even gestation could affect ensuing life 55 crisis"rebirthGrof of speaks the are second ofultimates levels stagesearch in theoris afteralready pluralnone they here,exist. religious confronted for The the in "agonizingdistinguishirireits these way: levels death existential in andthemselves. of [p. 25] third-stageimportanttrajectories. respects, LSD experiences GrofTaking worked his are cues out correlated a from typology The with inTrauma fou which ofsecond- Birth andwhile emending it in inct stages s. MB MO MO NM MI MI NM MO IIIIN MI IMO fetusonsetin 164the suffersofbirth j APPENDIXlabor; process: the womb's (a) a comfortable,contractions andintrauterine has "no stageexit" beforeinasmuch the (b) an oppressive stage at labor's start when the infancy!"WhenFrom whence?he adds we againin "From the concur;line God," that asfollows:Wordsworth the celestial "Heaven tells plane lies itabout THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 165 us, and we agree. envelops our us in our canal;assequence.seemed laborthe cervixand duringto InGrof (d) thehas thewhich to reliving not vectorfreedom opened;the ofthefetus b,and second (c)theis releaseviolently theoppressiveness or traumatic Rankian of ejected birth stageensuing ofthrough the in wombthestage the LSD birth ofis itself. B and c in forWhereasever,soulsthe mentalprimordial itnot inonly occurrences the in psychiatricpsychology their infancy are perspective sought body but representsinalways. body's body More isendowments basic proximately, and is the intermediate or psychic plane from which a kind of shaking explanations or history, we stem. how-. Thesionoppressive.generalizedtraumatic rebirth through experience andejectionC, the when the birth entire from relivedthe in canalproduces which theworld, only the agonyexistence life-giving Rankian ofthe laboritself, stageexperience context and climaxes forcedone of has derives dying:expul- known. is experienced as muchtheexistout ofpointthat prior what we Chapter to hasdream body condensed 4 asand made that are we on inmore arethe dreamedplanerealcontext than of ofmental body. dreams: Wephenomena it that if we may use this are back at is not so frombeforethatfor relivingthe dominates ensuingthe wombthe experience transpersonalthis grew final crowded, stageof physicalstage. taps when The the birth sensetheearliest (d) fetus ofand unshadowedmemories blendedpaves the with ofway bliss all: its Way of sayingviewgoverntheypull that in thegovern whichthethem strings forces entirelymanbodythem that paysis governcloser the is piperto ourman, the puppetand truth not calls manikinbutthan existences. the is the epiphenomenal toThey come to the fore in our dreams tunes that dreams say thatdo not ourgavefleshedmother entering rise inout to mystic itwith here) (material theembrace it iscase thatdoublyEven histories(a). is fascinatingin so. bare When and outline experiential butsubjects which Grof's in space theirhypothesisaccounts precludes Rankian that is plausible, and when ourconformplay saying out. tothat the they stages are Thus ofinfluenced the tobirth Grof's by those finding stages, that later process to a degree that warrants stages in the LSD sequence we add: in- partpersuadedinstage which in report triggering, not that first only revived suffocation bloodshaping, memories but and andurine energizingthen of and the a fecesviolent, birth later-stage are process projective everywhere, play LSD explosion at experi- leastone isa recognizedandarchetypalthesefluenced death stages...put that.only, are forces notphysical not ofphysicalthe caused. which subject birth only.hisTo and in life deathEveryonedirect is distillation touch knows and this, a greater degree the experiences of are relatively minor mani- withthe psychic and product. Birthbut it is less earlierRankhasnoted,ences. been didTheinlibido exhaustedthe andquestion psychiatricpositions, Grof is: theredoes: Are finally model is thesethe nowhere ego, reenterstheof man, onlydriven to lookthecausesonce backuterus. for the at causes towork?Freudian Inearlier the Assave model wedomainand where have yet of foundtitya-samictpadathefestations terrestrial things of forceson and this (Formulation intermediate that point, are butcosmic allof planes Dependent in blanketing combined. we shall say is that when a psychic Origination) says pro- the manifest world, Buddhism's pra- soleThereman resourcethat the was social sketchedfor andexplanation. biological in Chapter "The history 4, soul however, of that the rises thingsorganism with are us isdifferent. ... not the shouldersthehaveinsertquantum, whole, an immediatelythat certain independent germ and consequences. settingof an career,ego, itselfit would decidesout Becausein thereby be interesting it of distinguishing ignorance, the in ways against the whole, the ego is finite, things will not to go it alone and itself fromBuddhists Hath had elsewhere itsAnd setting, cometh from afar: . temporalalways go sideits way: of the hence self's suffering finitude in ordains its manifold that it willvarieties. diepiece- And the 57 But trailing clouds of Notglory in do entire we come.forgetfulness . .. . . inmeal its fromentirety. the start Energy as cells is indestructible, and minor dreams however, collapse, so in some form but eventually 58 1111. =I I= NM MN MN 1E11.M OM Ell IMO I= MO there166. is / rebirth.APPENDIX Confrontation of these principal truths in their ing with spatial imagery, we can visualize LSD THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 167 as a seeingaye probe sequencestufftranspersonalconceivably of later-stage from the with and timeLSD trans-specieslittle I experience. was more forged than scopes Biologicaland a "medelivered. and too": intensity memory enters, but I too know the is the basic somaticsubject'sIn thethat responses,early penetrates sessions most progressively of regularly the LSD onestoward relating the to perception, body in two steps. The first of these triggers peripheral sequence it moves through the core of the subject's being:, to theandstudysequence self levels," of which the would westructure Grof's see run it studyas Spelleduncovering of follows. human brings out toAccepting personality; thein light. greatersuccessively Grof's LSD detail, of psychiatric itsas deeper thevariousa "tool primordial layersexplana- for facets the of explanation of the areThatgraphicof producethe the the brain ones record events the where, that aestheticof that rush everything Wilder were forward phase. mostPenfield the for Theimportant subject attention has second posited, has in movesstands experiencedthe subject's tointo reason. liesformation We stored. are a complete cinemato- memory regions tionandgreatloosened,tion isshifts degree. experienced for thewhy resistances Deep accent. it indoesunconscious a Onlycomplex decrease,so isin the materialsymbolic andfirst memory star emerges way" are (0277).recallthe into defertse isconsciousness Our facilitated explana- systems to a that "defense systems are considerably andchemicalsthe swimsinto psychodynamic the in enterfirstthe medium of the the or region PassageFreudianthree of the ofmain psychic thefrom stage. stagesmind the Freudianthat of the outdistances psycholytic to the Rankian the brain stage or intermediate plane. The occurs when the sequence, =nemories.Thathigher:non are theFor loosened the rest, ones what that isthe loosened individual are ego structures builds to screentha out pain- its 'man mo e o existe corporealityce an and compliance with the spatio-temporal separate it from modes thatai:e subject'sphenomenological body, in this consequences2. Theircase1. Biographicalthe place memory could is taken almost region dataevents by have theof his "existentials"conditioning been brainrecede.that predicted: imprinted themselves on the struc- chiatristexperiencesstructuresisrecall activated thatcontinues of LSDthatthe as theterrestrial hadfacilitates. to subject befallensee as plane. relives, Inmemoryan it,the but The first directly in same stage latereven or holdsitstages earlier, inis symbolicindeed for what intrauterinethe memory thememory guise, psy- thatthe fromsufferingbirth,couldturesof the butbe humanityfact due thehuman that torment,in part the andexistence larger toindeed the memories sense purviewin life general. ofin of theall ofthe itswistfulness Thethe ordealsforms, intermediategrim derives ofaffect and gestation pathos ofmainly plane this and stageof a "peculiarconceptiondiscovery:memorythe double thebut ontologist discoveryare orientation normally (short of layers obscured and of invoking ofdouble selfhood from role view. reincarnation) that of Likewise theare subject"present withsees from that theas Rankianthanrenders when factors the thelimitations couldsubjectS. .again isIn immersedthe cooperate death inand them.without rebirth precluding experience that climaxes this (dukkha) of the terrestrial plane more visible causesphase, simultaneouslyofencesGrof childhood; describes. full and the oncomplex "On positionthe theother age one corresponding hand, regression hand," he canhe intowrites, assume to histhe therealtraumatic alternately subject age" (U279). situations "experi- or even (reborn).thisHindusthroughthat sequence, are say, morethe the mind soul's basic. must assumption The be selfdissolved had ofcompression entered (die) for the soul intermediate intomind; jiva assumed a subtle body. Now, in the reversal of to be released as the plane selfpsychologicalthatfirstThis thatstagewhich oscillation is is normally is its space,not not-immediate characterizes immediate ofin course.view. isreferentIt the removedlies entire below the sequence, past.not the insurface In time the but later ofbut onlythe sessions,in exterior space in the signalsinphenomenological the the transpersonal Tact that consequences the stage,The probe sensethe has main are ofreached therelease the from level the imprisoning ones being the following:ones Grof's subjects reported structures of mind of soul. The 59 it. to be composed_The parof four diartt parts: of the f-that was sketched in Chapter 4 showed ibosiv polarity between very positiveI. Whereas and very in thenegative Rankian experience" stage "there ... was ... a very distinct 60 (U 125), NM MI MI MO NM MN MI MN MN MI MI MI experiencetlielusionhaps168 its / most-reported APPENDIXis of now the redorninantlysubjective theme. with beatific, the objective with "melted world, ecstacy".p2-- identification .ubjects speak about mystic union, Preliminary THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 169 essencewith(U29).harmony the universe,of being, of worlds cosmicthe 2. Buddhistand Experience consciousness, spheres, nirvanam, theis more approximationthe the intuitiveabstract. Vedic insight Atsamadhi, to its God, peakinto theetc." it "is usually content- stagesPsycholyticphase are(ibid.)(heavenlyless moreand or accompanied is concreteblue, associated gold, they the bywith tend visionsrainbow space to beof orspectrum, archerblinding sound. Whenlightpeacock or its beautiful feathers,accouterments colors etc.)" al, with the archetypes pologicalAnthro- distinctionaninhabitsseeming ontology tois,between be weof limitless fiverecall, the tiers two,inthe insteadnumber. planewhich of of Theif four Godfleshed celes (see an 'al outfootnote, plane would which page result the 51), insoul the archetypes. The is levels so nountheforfar purposespresentremoved "it." This book. offrom issimplification in contrast3. The to G-3glaQ and the symmetrygods as of to the elicit, being Rankian often, played stage the down pro-which in almost encountered is single and havebeen more noted: dynamic the psycholytic consequences sequences than Grof showed and his the strictly birth Freudian trauma to itthetend seeing to be eyemultiple, strikes Olympian,Beyondis "beyond" the and soul essentially lies and only enlargedSpirit, an titans.essence so ineffable that when moreit, virtually than" all all that that had can been he reportedencountered is that lightdate,associates1956 ofbut everydayas not hada convinced the supposed. oneclinical that and This observations followed. dedicated change psychoanalysis"Ipsychoanalyst;" instarted LSD sessions,my LSD could he writes.Iresearch accommo-found "In this in the psychedelictheretofore. sequenceThe canUp correlations heto diagramedthis point between weas shown have the notedopposite: primordial Grof's empiricalanthropology findings, and the and greatconceptionable extent was untenable""theinfluenced present This by(p. psychoanalysis" picture of man, (U382).7 . .. gloomy . 1'7). Basically, what proved to be unten- . image of man, which is to a comparedtheon the other. one the Itwayhand remains they and fit into to into point the his primordial Rank-extendedout how the understanding findings psychiatric of ofseventeen theories man on sessionsinstinctualthat of ora forces socialat least animal appears basically superficial governed and limited.by blind Most and irrational of the . . . contradicts the experiences from the LSD wouldterritories"years affected lead. (U267), Whathis own he Engagedthinking. foundcould not wasas hehave that was foreseen in in "the"the mostfirstwhere mapping fascinating his inquiry of completely unknown thesetions,murderousinstinctual observationscoprophilia, tendencieswishes, etc.) cannibalisticare described soare common very impulses,bystriking psychoanalysisthat theyin sadomasochistic the could early (incestuousalmost LSD sessions; inclina-be and con- 61 frameworks"fantasticintellectual areas and (U250). and spiritual forced The adventure firstme tochange break of myin with his life thethinking [it] old opened systems has upalready newand bestwork .. in one of its 7.stages The flyleafcarries of a quotationRank's book front which Nietzsche: served as "The almost very the bible .for Grof's is, not to be born... . The next best .. . is .. . to diegc17." MI MN MI MI MI , MI OM 170 / APPENDIXsideredof psychoanalysis. experimental Mostevidence of them, for some however, of the appear basic assumptionsin the sessions be encountered concretely,God isas not the limitedGod of tothe his Old foregoing, and New "abstract"Testa. modes. He can THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 171 harmonyinnermostwhichscendedfor only is rWhereupon]adiametricallywith nature.limited his appears environmentperiod weopposed thenof are time. confrontedas and to a This beingtheis governed previous whole that with is area anfundamentallyby one. image intrinsic can Man be of in tran-highman his in whichfinal.however,ments, Mind Buddha, weardoes thenot Shiva, mantleitselfThe phenomenal orbecome of in ultimacy other implicated modes. worlds or provide Theseinowe their their modes categories. existence do not, to Universal Mind, answers that are f discovereddelic evidence the onimportance Grof'sThisand thinking. universal change of infantile inInvalues. anthropologypsychoanalytic experience [U382 -S3, hason terms, deletions ontogenstic-been if the Fr not solid u& indicated.] effect of psyche- offerman'sitself.butMan, themselves onematerial togetherThe of "heavyinnumerable world, withas ifphysicality" thetheyits three-dimensionalspace-time modeswere sineand through seeminglygridqua nons andwhich world laws of objective Mindexistencehe of experiences, nature experiences finality itself that ofis .developmenrarrcl-RarrIc-dreiffipTrairce-a tlie-6cperienceofGrof's birth discoveries carry this search for ever earlier etiologis-- whereexceptionalall these he sees arecircumstances that in taken together man can they rise toconstitute a level of butconsciousness fact highly provisional and relative. Under one of optimisticthiswerelatentin psychoanalytic revised when power view the anthropology,of wombearly-gestation of theory man was earlierstill deriveshowever, memories;uncongested = strongerto fromGrof memories has anddiscoverience toyedits all absolute was of with the well. waya limit: changed Beyond and things his chess.assaddle inumerabletrying that to Mind understand sets itself of limiting with the these constructshuman categories mind Universal wouldthrough Mindbe the rules of as assumes.ridiculous To an frompetencesontologyabiding the ontological havestartas well. tohelped his Endowments interest.subjects' him here: These reports thathe hascaused supplement on an the "ear"him nature to forhis listen ofmetaphysicspsychiatric reality, attentively and corn- and in andcontactInoriginal obviously the with initial source their tentative. stage and source ofthe this CreatedAn awarenessand fallingimage the entities separation thataway, of theirwould tend created pristine is illustrateprogressively playful, entities identity this relative, maintain with to lose it. contact with their stage researchgivesPsychedelicone of these his psychiatrist, recent reportsCosmology papers, full which rein. and "LSD Ontology"requiredLaying and aside theseeing (see Cosmic for footnote patients' the interval Game: 3, experiences page hisOutline 156), role he asof of evidentfoamyareisthe that ocean.individual ofwave, that waves in for entities;spite on example. the of itsocean.we relative can At From thespeak individuation same a ofcertain atime large, pointit thefast, of green, view theyand is transparentlywave is part &te theinpapershaped their one Grof byownthat if turns nothasright. projectedphenomenologistbeen The outlined view from of earlyrealityin andthis formative allows thatboo resultsc their experiences, reportsis so uncannil to in this t at, interlacing, stand identifiesanunityand actor we with can on with the observestage thesource can character the At virtuallycan beginnings the be nexthe temporarily forgetportrays. stage of "cosmic hiscreated own forgotten screenwork." entitiesidentity in assume while he a partial independence the way Here ,araphrasesit, we present of passages it here in in Silence,Grof's summary. article the untreated with direct Theand quotations ultimateabsolutely source fron. ineffable of existence Supreme. is the Void, the supracosmic originalposesin which complete, wholeness individuation and resurface. onlyContinuation is occasionally permanently This can of be the do andillustrated process intimations for all of practicalby partitioning the of results in a situation. rela-pur- the 63 Infinitedescriptionpolarities,Here, Intelligence, and is attempted, paradoxes TheInfinite the thatfirst Vedantic harry Blissispossible the as ternaryInfiniteformulationrelative adequate world. as of any. Existence, thisInsofar source as is Universaltoo, words Mind. fail, for Mind transcends the dichotomies, theirtionThewhole.tionship roles arelatter Cells indialectically between havethe are complete evenseparate cells combined.more organism.of entities aindependence, body, Complex but Individuation function biochemical but they and participa- interacticg4 organs, and the body as a as parts of organs. too play out IIIII111M MI IIIII MI ENV OM NM IMO MO I= MI I= MI 172 / APPENDIXbridge provisional boundaries to ensure the functioning of the latter concept presents at least as many incongruences, paradoxes THE PSYCHEDELIC EVIDENCE / 173 gotten.withorganismtive the change The source as "screen"a whole.is isrequired isIn now thefor allfinalthe but original stage impermeable; the unity separation to be restored. is practically complete. Liaison lost and the original identity completely for- radical qualita- thatofenigmaTheand the absurditiesoneproblems prime of seriously the origin of as finityquestionsthe ofappear described matter, versus towhy beenergy infinity concept sothis overwhelming approachand of of space; time the shouldUniversal and and thespace; bedefeating mystery givenMind. the occur.of itsevaporatedthis source might and befrom must. a snowflake, the undergo ocean.Human Itcrystallizeda beings changebears littlewho in structure from manageoutward water if to similarityreunion effectthat has theis toto change just referred priority in our thinking. [p. 11] subjectecstasy,good/evil,andto do andnot etc. stability/motion, exist.object, In the This observer last holds analysis andheaven/hell, for observed, suchtherefind contraries is beauty/ugliness, noexperiencer difference as spirit/matter, and experi-agony/ thereafter that life's polarities paradoxically both do between T------its reports and theoriesInenced, on the account earlycreator years of and their ofcreation. astonishingpsychoanalysis novelty, when hostility was shown to . and andhadthattions,they they nointerlockingwere Freud human not dismissed beenused brain observations. persistentlyto couldas hold products haveup againstforced Grofinvented of their mighton this authors' itsuch byobjection have afacts series perverted argued and theof connections converging equally:argument imagina- to I Lcatrie up withogisthowever,wit, isthat he thelets he "psychedelic doesthe picture not do cosinolo so.speak In the fo manner of a good phenomenol- as uninventable as Freud's own system. In and ontology"itself, that neither his patients belittling it by fact, themselvesexplainreferringpatientsthe truth it it away,said wouldquestionback about norto say, causes arguingandit. he contents"brackets that that in purporting to explain it would urase 't hisis own 'udgment regardingtrue. As phenomenologistswith reporting what his many experiential worldsThe idea created that the "three-dimensional world" is only one of the UniversarVind . . . 65 organizedsciousnessw7r1:71;717-Othata. seared is so frequenttote matter,and m the)77.117 nmcn ytheconcept ta. human more tiltreality for of Godgrantebrain.of its are ownWhen merely and closely that products the analyzed human of con- the ton--*--"`''71rnntNe''c73posite a ternative , name y, t at t e matena highly 66 Psychedelics andelligion: An Addendum

{ {union Smith

Huston Smith has been apro- fessor of philosophy at the !most 25 years have elapsedsince I wrote my first and main essayon the psyche- Massachusetts Institute of delics, "Do Drugs Have Religious Import?"Published as the psychedelic Technology and is professor were nearing their peak, it addressed sixties emeritus of religion, Syracuse a lively topic on collegecampuses. The issue University. tie is the author of ofThe Journal of Philosophyin which it appeared' had to be re-run, and ithas The Religions of Man, For- been anthologizedmore than any other essay in the gotten Truth: The Primordial tory. Fourteen collections of 85 years of that journal'shis- Tradition, and Hewn(' Post- essays, most of them philosophy Two other essays followed textbooks, have reprinted it. Modern Mind. that one. Whereasmy initial paper argued an affirmative that for some subjects,under some circumstances, thesis-- psychedelics can occasionexperiences that arc phenomenologically(which is to say, descriptively) experiences that occur without indistinguishable from religious themmy secondessay, "Psychedelic Theophanies Religious Life,''2was cautionary. Three additional and the years of the psychedelicmovement did not cause me to retractmy original thesis, but the suggest that my thesis should careening course of thatmovement did be amended. Drug-inducedreligious experiences, this second essay,seem to have less staying I noted in power. Their carry-over intosubsequent life does not seem to equal that ofnon-drug-induced experiences, which typically are backedby a vali- dating theology,a supportive community (a church), to everyday life.' and an ethic that relatesthe experience Only one more step seemed needed: namely, to drawthe logical conclusionthat if the chemicals were ingestedunwittingly, in a society where the reductionistic explanationsof were unknown,their religious mised. R. Gordon Wasson's consequences would not becompro- identification of the soma plantof Vedic India as the Amanita muscariaseemed to nail down that mushroom conclusion. I devoted the lastsummer of the six- ties to studying theresponses of mycologists, Iridologists, Wasson's important (but still anthropologists, and linguiststo too little attended to)Soma: Divine Mushroomof and my review articleon that book rounded off the Four years later, psychedelic decade.` I included a summary ofStanislav Grof's important to my work as an appendix Forgotten Truth: The PrimordialTradition' to highlight the strikingcorrelation be- tween the layers of consciousnessthat LSD-therapy patients hood that religious traditions penetrate and the levels of self- have typically posited, butthere Ilet matters rest. Although much remained to be donetoward understanding how psychedelics affect brainfunctioning, why they occasion the subjectiveexperiences they do, and what therapy, on their relation t heir potential is for psycho- to religion there seemedto be nothing more to appears to me regarding fundamentals. say. And so it still However, two items that fleshout my sixties' conclu- sions have emerged in theinterval, and as they are interesting in their own right,I avail my- self of this opportunityto add them to the record. The first concernsnew findings that might bear on how the psychedelics work; Irefer to the split-brain researchthat gained prominence in the extraordinary the seventies. Pondering inmy initial essay sense of relatedness to the worldthat t...sp subjects frequently reached out for a longitudinal report,I or "vertical" hypothesis. Becausethe opposite of this related- nessour experience of being opposed to the worldis registered bya late evolutionary de- velopment, the cerebral cortex,'I speculated that this sense of unity might derive fromthe drug's having introducedits taker to a deeper, more primitive region of the brain,one that monitors continuities.About this first hypothesis I wrote in my initialessay: One of the clearest objective signs that the drugsare taking effect is the dilation they pupils of the eyes, andone of the most predictable subjective produce in the signs is the intensification ofvisual perception. Both of theseresponses are controlled by portions of the rear than the mechanisms the brain that lie deep; furtherto that govern consciousness.Meanwhile we know that the organism is interlaced with its world human in innumerable ways it normallycannot sensethrough gravita- 67 SUMMER 88 3s The human organism is interlaced is they, not the fever their attacks provoke, that account fdr the visions, for (a) deliriums may with its world in innUmerableways it precede temperature rise and follow its return to normal, (b) fevers experimentally produced normally cannot sense. without infectious organisms do not alter con- sciousness, and (c) some febrile illnesses occa- sion deliriums, whereas others do notsmall- pox, typhoid, and pneumonia fall into the first category; diphtheria, tetanus, and cholera into the second. tional fields, body respiration, and the like: This seemed to me to be an important, point. the list could be multiplied until man's skin began-to,seem more like-a tharoUghfaie, than Mucti:attention was the sikties,(o the a boundary..Perhaps the deeper regionS'of the question of whether our,regard..ifor-the.disclo- . . . . brain which earlier and ,are.morel.like sures of religious experiences shOilld be af- those of the lower animals . can sense. this fected by the discoVery, that pill,taking can relatedness better than can the cerebral cortex trigger them, but that disetiSsion'-typiCally did which now dominates our awareness, If so, when the drugs rearrange the neurohtirnors not go on to ask whether the: saine.'cOnSidera- that chemically. transmit impulSeS,atroSS syn- tions pertain when brain chemistry is involun- apses between neurons,., man's consciousness tarily altered by disease. I made this point in andhissubmerged,intuitive,ecological the. Salzburg Seminar on Anierican Studies..in awareness Might for a spell. beeorne inter- the summer of 1972 where one of.the partici- laced. This"is; of course; no more than a' hy- pothesis;- but how else are we to account for pants was Hilary Jenkins, a biographer of the extraordinary. incidence,tinder .the drugs John Henry Newman, and together we con- of that kind., of insight the keynOteof which cluded .that the experiences of Cardinal New- William James. described as : "invariably arec- man probably provide an important case in onciliatiOn"?.'"It the oPPOSiteS . Of the . point.'" In researching his bobk Newman's world, :Whose: contradictoriness anclr:.eonftict make all our difficUlties and :troubles,: were Mediterranean Voyage," Professor Jenkins melted, into one. .and:tlie,saine-gentlis;:rbut.o.he discovered that Newman's deeiSive. religious ofthe speaies,,the nobler and :better: one,::is experience occurred in the course of a near- itself the ketius, and.Sorsoaks..up.and absorbs fatal bout with a disease now 'induct to have its opposites into itself." been typhoid fever. The experieneeirooted out Split.-brain researchnowOffers an alterna- a crippling anxiety in which Newman had os- tive,lateral or horizontal hYpothesis,:tb.thiscillated between fear of failure on the one earlier,` one. The right hemisphere, hand and an ambitious but .daunting desire.to whielluntiL the last decade -.Wa.S.Itg4ideo as,a put himself forward on the.other. It did so by dark Continent:if:Mit a ukleS.S:appetidage, is . convincing him that God really did have him now:seentb:.be'the seat of the Mind's.integrat-.under his care and had marked .ni'm for lead- ing, sYnifiesizingCaPacities..that,balance theership. He emerged from the experience to be- analytic, linear workings ofj the..:left come quickly and for the rest of his life a sphere. The atorieTinerit syndrome James de- public figure and towrite. "Lead, Kindly'

scribed`. so well may result. in, pal t :frorrl. theLight,"one of Christendom'sbest-loved drug's.' facilitatingliVeliereXehanges.betweert hymns. Recounting the experience; he wrote: the tWo:yeirlisPheres. "At one time Ihad a most consoling and The Other'rnatierthatcarne my way in theoverpowering thought of God's electing love seventies arrived intwbstageS.::AlreadY.in..the,and-seemed to feel I was His. But 1 believe all sixties, PrOfesSorRayMond.prineeof theSec-, myfeelings,painfulandpleasant,were tidn: Of. TrankUltUrai..SYChiairieSlitdieS, at heightened somewhat by deliriiim;though MiGill gue i.'that infectiousthey still are from God in the way of Provi- diseases and . other afflictions. such :as:star>a-dence." tion and.;:exhatiStion on long hunting expedi tibns orpbAbl)..figured..::MOre .piOniinently:than NOTES halineinogetiieplantS:in OPeninkearly.:Mah to the stiPerhatbral; -,theSe'afflietions;,tOO; affect I. Huston Smith,The Journal of Philosophy61(18) brain chemistry in `visionary, difecticins and Oetdher 1, 1964. 2. Huston Smith, and Crisis27(11) June were..prbbably encountered:,mbrei:frequeritly.9 26,1967. The bacteria ..andH:Other.:':MiciOrganisms:-...that. 3. How different this is from the context in which the cause infect iOuS,:diSeases: are themselves :-plantS psychedelics were usuallY:ingeted in the sixties was brought home to me again through air anecdote and fungi:or'elOsely akint6.these;"Mbreaver, it Victor. Turner presented to a-meeting:of the Arneri- 36 ReVISION Vot_.11 No.1 68 can Academy for the Study of Religion. Describing world. I would he this world to which Iant now op- the initiation of a woman into a peyote of Cen- posed by my whole consciousness." Albert Cantu:, tral Mexico, he noted that she was requiredto take The Myth of Sisyphus (New York: Vintage,1955). a long trek during which myths were unfolded at p. 38. every state of the journey. When the first peyote 8. See note I, p. 528. The quoled material is front Wil button was spotted, it was speared as the budding a ttlames, The rurienc.s tO Religiorts Exp,,rience horn of a great ; only then could the pilgrims (New York: Modern Library. 1902), p. 379. pick and cat. When the woman startedto describe 9.D. H. Salman and R. H. Nino:: (eds.), Do Psyche- her visions she was ordered to stop, "Don't reveal delics Ilave Religious Implications? (Montreal: Sle- Such Secrets," she was told. The account appears in Gill University,R. M Bucke Memorial Society, Barbara Mycrhoff, Peyote Hunt, (Ithaca: Cornell 1967), pp. 1-12. University Press, 1974), pp. 39-44. 4. 10. Whether Black Elk does as well, we shall probably R. Gordon Wasson, Soma. Divine MushrOom of never know. His life-empowering vision °coil red in Immortality (New York: Harcourt Brace & World, the course of a near-fatal illness, but its 1969). symptoms are not described in enough detail for us to know if 5. Huston Smith, Wasson's Soma: A Review Article, the disease was one that affects brain functionsin Journal of the American Academy of Religion 40 the way psychedelics do. See John Ncihardt, Black (4) December 1972. Elk Speaks (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 6.Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth: The Primordial 1932), p. 48. Tradition (New York: Harper & Row, 1976). I I.Hilary Jenkins, Newman 'S MCCE/Crratlern?VOI.S/ge 7. . . . "If Iwere a can . . I should belong to this (Dublin: Irish University Press, 1974).

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