Religious Implications Wliarevcr rlie co~iclusion,rl~e debare ant1 rhe ~rsysl~edeliccxl)losion which ser it off, rurncd arrcnrion ro ~lleilrrriglring relarior~sliil)hcrween Psyche, Soul, and Spirit drugs and religion. Ir soon became apparenr rllar rl~ereligious uscofdrllgs to induce sacred stares of consciousness has been widesllread across nunierolrs culrures. Hisrorical examples inclt~de[he fivkco~rof 111s Greek Eleusinian nlysrcries, [he Ausrraliali al)origiries' pirirri, Hinrl~lisnisso,ir,~, Tlbrrc is a conrintlum oicosmic cnnwiousncss against which our ilidi- rhc wine ofDionysis Elcu~lrerios(Diolrysis rlie liberalor), and rlie Zoroas- viduality builds bur accidcn~aliurces and into which our wcral minds rrians' honina.4 Conrenlporary exarnplcs also abutlnd, sucli as rlie use of ylungc 3s into a nn~thersca. -William James1 marijuana hy Rastafarians alrJ some InJian yogis, Narivc American peyote, and rhe Sourh American shaniaris' ayalluasca.1 Nornarrer wliar rl~e currenr debare in rhe Wesr, ir seems clear ihar for cel~n~riesorller cl~lrl~res Psychedelics cerrainly srarrled and shook rhe \\'esrcrn world. Bur one of have agreed rliar psychedelics are capable of produci~~gvaluable religious the grearesr surprises was rhar psychedelics prnduccd religious experiences. experiences. A significanr number of people, including sraunch arheisrs and Marxisrs, claimed ro have found korsho in a capsule, mokslm in amushroom, or U~isuspccringWesterners who experi~~ie~itrdwirli rliese drugs were nor immune to rheir religious and spirirual impacr, and rhis inipacr rook rdtor; in a psychedelic. In hcr, rhcse claims proved so consisrenr over so rhree forms. The firsr was 3 spirirual iniriarion. Many people llad rheir firsr 111any years [hat some researchers have renamed psychedelics signilicar~~religious-spirirual exl~ericnceon psychedelics. Aniolrg rlie con- "enrheogcns," st~bsrancesrhar facilirare awarcncss of God within. rriburors ro rhis hook, James Fadiniart and Rani Dass are srriking exam- Religious scl~olarsimrnediarely splir. For many of rhem, psychedelic pler of people whose lives were clra~ilaricallyreorierired ill rllis way. epiphanies were considered pseudo-spirirual ar besr and del~rsionalar Those who were already cornnlirled lo spirirual concerns, such as worst. How c~uldnlerc micrograms ofa curioirs chemical possibly repli- Rabbi Llrnan Schaclirer-Shalomi and Husron Smirll, f01111cl3 decpelied care [lie lieiglirs of hi~manexperience rradirionally liard won over decades? inrcrcsr in, and understanding of, variorls aspec~sof religion. Spirirualiry. On the othe! side of rhc isle srood researchers like Ram Dass. Rabbi niysricis~n,and Eastern philosophies proved par~ici~larlyilirriguing fctr Zalllian Scl~arl~rer-Shalo~ni.and Husron Smirh, wlio argued for rhe pos- many pcoplc, and the influx of Hinduism and Uud~ll~isn~illrt~ rllr W'esr sibility of experiential equivalence berwecn conremplarive and chemical was one resulr. n~ysricism.They drew on research such as rhe famous Harvard "Good A rhird effecr was to encourage people ro Lwgin a spirinlal liracrice ill Frirlay Srlltly" and on rlieories such as rhe "principle of causnl indiffer- order ro deepen and srahilize rhe experiences arid openirlgs rhey had ence."' This principle suggests rhar if srares are cxperic~iriallyidenrical. For ir rapidly bccamc apparent rhar, while psychedelics niigllr ~llcli lie fact that hey have ditrercnr causes may be irrelevanr. somerimes grace the user \rirll a glinipse of rlie rra~lscendenr,ir ofre11 The debate has raged for decades. Ar rhe present time, borh research Iasred no longer than rhe drug's cfTecr did. As Husron Smi~lrco~rcluded, ant1 rheory suggest an answer ro this q~resrion.That aliswer is a highly "Drl~gsappcar ro induce religious experiences; ir is less evidelir rliat tliey qllalilied "yes." Ycs, ir secnis rhar psychedelics can iriducc genuinc spirirlral can producc religious lives."6 'flie cliallrrtge is to ~ralrsl;irn~peak expcri- 311dniysrical cxpcrielices, bur only on somcoccasions in ro1nc pcoplc under ences inro plarcau cxpcricnces, cpiplialiies inro perso~lalir): alrered srares inro alrercd rrairs, rransielir srares inro en~luril~~srages, or 3s H~ISIOII Smirh so cloqtlcnrly put ir, ro rransforn~"flashes ofillun~inariorrinlo abid- ing lighr." This challenge played a large role in rlte pol~~tlariwrionof prac- rices such as conreniplarion, medirariolr and yoga. 111 sliorr, had a major impacr on rile tlndersraridil~~and pracrice ofreligioli in rlre W'esrern world, and Ranr I>ass. Ralhi Llrnan Sihachrer-Shalo~ni,and Huston Smith wcrc at rhc iorefront of investigat- ing the religiolls significa~iccof these subsranas. I. W lama. \Vi~.rm/~mnon f+hirnl&carrh. (New Yorh: Viking, I'%O]. 324. 2. W. Slacc. .J!~~vicirrnand Philorophy. (Ins Angela. CA: j. Tariher. 1?6411'187). 2!>. 4. H. Smith, "Do dn~grhave wligiaur impart?' /oumol of l'hilorppb 61 (1964): 517-30. 5. H. Srni~h. Clr~nrindrhr Uoon of Prrcrprion: Thr Rrli~iour Signijrlrnrc of E,rrhqtnii Phvrr ~nd(Thtrniralr. (New Yurk: 'rarihcrll'enguin. 20001. 6. hl. Harnrr. d..H~llurinqtn~ and Shomnim. (NFH Yolk: Oxford Unircrlicy Prcrr. 1973). R. U'alrh (2005). 7hr Spinr ofShomunirm. 2nd d.Sr. r'am~l. hlh': llcwellgn l'~~l~li<ation~(in press). .