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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 407 298 SO 026 897
AUTHOR Roberts, Thomas B.; Hruby, Paula JoTITLE Entheogens Return of the Ostracized.PUB DATE 96
NOTE 69p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the AmericanEducational 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; *Mysticism; Pharmacology; *Philosophy; *Religion;
*Religion Studies; Religious DifferencesIDENTIFIERS *Entheogens
ABSTRACTThis paper explores the roles that "entheogens" have played
in religions from early shaman times to contemporary indigenous and syncreticpractices. The word "entheogen" was coined to denote pschyoactive chemicalsand botanicals which engender the experience of God within (Ott, 1993). Part1 of the paper points to three background changes that provide a moresupportive climate for investigating entheogens than has occurred for manyyears. Part 2 discusses entheogens' possible contributions to religious andeducational research. Part 3 describes provocative pilot studies and researchquestions which can guide additional research. Some of these topics are: thenature of the human mind; pastoral counseling; experimental mysticism; andthe dispute over drug-assisted primary religious experience. Contains 95references. (EH)
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.0I efilthecoir 00'
wow of theT:ostr CO°
Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. ([email protected])
Paula Jo Hruby, M.S.Ed. ([email protected])
Northern Illinois University
Children of a future age,
Reading this indignant page,
Know that in a former time
A path to God was thought a crime.
(adapted from William Blake)
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE ANDDISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL
HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
"Th s 13. Ro 6e f k_S
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
_
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)
This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.
Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.
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
Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.
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 sects 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 observation, takes in a certain
sphere of fact and trouble, which each must deal with in a unique
manner.
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902
Mentor edition, 1958, page 368
TIMELY NOTES
PBS television stations are now airing a 5-part series on world religionswith Bill Moyers interviewing Huston Smith. You may want tosuggest that your students, colleagues, and congregants read Smith'swritings on entheogens. These are listed in our bibliography.
On Wednesday, April 10th, Tom Roberts, one of the coauthors of thispaper, will be giving a lecture Psychoactive Sacraments: MyEntheogenic Religion at the Open Society Institute of the LindesmithCenter, 888 Seventh Ave., from 4-6 PM. Enter on 56th or 57th Street. Itis free and open to the public, but be sure to call ahead to reserve aplace since seating is limited: 212-887-0695.
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Entheogens 1
Abstract
The word "entheogen" was coined to denote chemicals and botanicals which engender theexperience of god within (Ott, 1993). From the early origins of shamanic religions throughcontemporary indigenous and syncretic religions, entheogens have played a number of roles.Sometimes they were perceived as sacraments, sometimes as gifts of the gods, sometimesas demonic, sometimes as gods themselves. Summarizing the research, Grinspoon andBakalar (1979, p. 267) conclude that, "It should not be necessary to supply any more proofthat psychedelic drugs produce experiences that those who undergo them regard as religiousin the fullest sense." Fascinating and important questions remain to be researchedconcerning these "plants of the gods." What research opportunities do entheogenspresent for educational and religious researchers?
Part 1 of this paper points to three background changes which provide a more supportiveclimate for investigating entheogens than has occurred for many years. These are: (1) amultistate paradigm, that is, an intellectual climate that recognizes that human behavior andexperience occur in many mindbody states; (2) the growth of psychology to consider whetherhuman nature includes a spiritual aspect, the effects of ego transcendence, and mysticalexperiences; and (3) within religious communities the growing recognition that, along withthe usual foundations of religionbelief, ritual, the written word, and religiousorganizationprimary religious experience forms an additional and essential foundation forreligion.
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 mindbodystates" while exploring the theoretical connection of humanity's spiritual aspect withmystical or intense religious mindbody states; (2) empirical research, describing previousresearch using psychoactive substances for entheogenic or therapeutic purposes; (3) currentresearch study, correlational studies reporting on people who currently use entheogens forprimary religious experiences using the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975).
Part 3 presents some provocative pilot studies, and research questions which can guideadditional research. Topics are: (1) the nature of the human mind, (2) pastoral counseling, (3)experimental mysticism, (4) the dispute over the authenticity of drug-assisted primaryreligious experience, (5) entheogenic origins of religion, and (6) policy issues. Finally, part 3makes 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 tosomething infinite or not? C. G. Jung
Introduction
Humans are not only physical, mental, and emotional beings but also spiritual ones. Thisspiritual aspect is innate to humankind according to Assagioli (1965), Fowler (1991), Grof(1992), Maslow (1968), Jung (1958, 1973), Walsh and Vaughan (1993), Wilber (1995), andthe world's major religious traditions (Smith, 1958, 1992). Whereas this spiritual aspect isnatural, actualizing it is not universal, albeit the potential exists (Greeley, 1974; James, 1982;Maslow, 1968; Stace, 1961). Experiencing intense religious or mystical phenomena oftenincreases the individual's awareness of an underlying unity with others, nature, life, God,Goddess, the One, or Ultimate Reality. This unity exists beyond the finite boundaries of thephysical human body (Assagioli, 1965; Steindl-Rast, in press).
In this paper we will discuss entheogens, psychoactive plants and chemicals usedreligiously (Lucas, 1995; Ruck, Bigwood, Staples, Ott, & Wasson, 1979). Commonentheogens are peyote, LSD, psychoactive mushrooms, ayahuasca, marijuana, and a host ofother synthetic and natural compounds. While these substances may also be used for otherpurposes, it is their spiritual use that qualifies them as entheogens. Apparently theentheogen-based spiritual quest is making a return to Western religion after being exiled formany years.
Part 1 of this paper describes some ongoing background changes in the intellectualclimate, psychology, and religion: these provide a nurturing context which fosters the return ofentheogens. Part 2 describes a study of mystical experience among university students andattendees at a religious conference-retreat about entheogens. Part 3 presents leads to futureresearch.
Part 1Contextual Shifts
Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing today, we see three broad background shiftsthat facilitate the return of entheogens; all of these are changes in the general intellectualbackground, psychology, and religion.
Intellectual Context
In contrast to two or three decades ago, there is increasing recognition in today'sintellectual environment that humans produce and use many mindbody states in addition toour ordinary awake state (Murphy, 1992; Roberts, 1989). Most everyone is familiar with theordinary awake state of consciousness, the sleeping state, and the dreaming state. Eachstate of consciousness differs distinctly from another; for example, sleeping discretely variesfrom the normal awake state and from the state of intoxication. Other labels have beenapplied to these discrete states of consciousness such as psychophysiological states andmindbody states (Roberts, 1989). Instead of using state of consciousness, we have chosen touse the more descriptive phrase mindbody state to emphasize the interconnection between
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the mind (psychological) and body (physiological).The ideas that all worthwhile abilitiesoccur only in our ordinary awake state and its correlate, that other states are useless and/orharmful, are increasingly recognized as erroneous assumptions that interfere with science andrestrict scholarship; Roberts and Hruby (1996) name this the "Singlestate Fallacy."
In the 1950s and 1960s altered states were less acceptable as topics of intellectualinquiry, but with their acceptance has come the recognition that a complete psychology mustinclude observations of psychological processes in all states, not just our ordinary state."The most important obligation of any science is that its descriptive and theoretical languageembrace all the phenomena of its subject matter; the data from [altered states ofconsciousness] 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 well as topsychology.
Today psychotechnologies for achieving a greater range of mindbody states such asmeditation, dreams, hypnosis, imagery, sensory isolation and overload, some prayer andspiritual routines, biofeedback, yoga, the martial arts, and so forth are ground breaking topicsfor scholarly and intellectual study. Many, if not most, introductory textbooks in psychologyfeature chapters or sections on altered states of consciousness. While a climate of opennessto a multistate model of human nature is by no means universal, the singlestate proponentsare dying and retiring as Kuhn (1962) describes. The increasing acceptance of the multistateparadigm by the younger replacements places entheogens (as another method for changingmindbody states) in a friendlier climate of ideas.
Psychological Context
Within psychology a number of related topics has emerged. Ego-transcendence (Journalof Transpersonal Psychology, 1969+) has opened questions which have to do withexperiences that entheogens often, but not always, provide. Does human nature include anatural desire to transcend the ego? In his later writings, Maslow (1967, 1968) describesego-transcendence as a stage "beyond self-actualization." In Religions, Values and PeakExperiences (1964, p. xiv) he specifically refers to the LSD-assisted work of Grof. Jungianpsychology (Jung, 1958, 1973) particularly the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1987),even though it is not oriented toward transcendence, has directed the attention of manypeople toward Jung's psychology with its emphasis on the collective unconscious andarchetypes. Entheogens often put one in touch with archetypical experiences. In boththeoretical and empirical articles (e.g., Lukoff & Lu, 1988) The Journal of TranspersonalPsychology (1969+) chronicles much of the pioneering research on mindbody experiences andpsychotechnologies, including meditation, psychedelics, mystical experiences, egolessexperiences, and psychotechnologies for achieving these states.
Religious Context
In the past few years several events have occurred which may indicate that entheogensare being seriously reconsidered within segments of the American religious community andgovernment. These events include, among others, :
the growth of Pentacostalism with its emphasis on religious experience as morefundamental than belief, church organization, or established ritual (Cox, 1993);
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the disenchantment of many people, especially young people, with some traditionalreligions whose legitimacy is based on dogmatic beliefs, the written word, unfulfillingritual, 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 suchconference-retreats;
publication of a book which reviews the entheogenic literature during the past fourdecades, Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: A Bibliographic Guide (Roberts &Hruby, 1995);
the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Native AmericanFreedom of Religion 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 substanceMDMA 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 andchemicals such as that by the Native American Church (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), liturgicaluse within ecclesiastical settings (Lucas, 1995), substances used (those promoting mysticalstates and which are non-addictive), and preferred outcomes (mystical, sacred, and/orprimary religious experience). Ongoing research on the Uniao do Vegetal Church (McKenna& Grob, 1994), one of two contemporary Brazilian religions which use ayahuasca, may pointthe way to similar religious practices and research in the United States.
One of Pahnke's (1964) subjects in the entheogen-based Good Friday Experiment (seebelow), Rev. Mike Young, currently a Unitarian-Universalist Minister, poses entheogen-based questions which combine pastoral and theological concerns and raise topics whichentheogen researchers need to address (Young, 1995):
Here are some drugs that reshape and reframe our meaning-making in ways that wereligious 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 religiousexperience, that our faith boundaries are fluid, if not passé? (p. 38)
How do we learn to most usefully and effectively evoke the set and create the setting fornon-particularistic religious experience? (p. 38)
Entheogens 5
The expansion of intellectual context to accept a multistate paradigm, the growth of psychologyto study all mindbody states and ways of achieving them, the expansion of religion to recognize theimportance of primary religious experience, and the expansion of experience-basedreligionstogether 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, havebeen 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 threepurposes: (1) to explore the theoretical and conceptual connection of humanity's spiritual aspectwith mystical mindbody states; (2) to present empirical research of psychoactive substances usedspiritually or therapeutically; and (3) to report the results of a recent research study of individualswho currently use entheogens by examining their experience of mystical phenomena through the useof the Mysticism Scale (Hood, 1975).
Theoretical and Conceptual Research
Transpersonal Experiences. "Transpersonal experiences may be defined as experiences inwhich the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompasswider aspects of humankind, life, psyche, and cosmos" (Walsh & Vaughan, 1993, p. 3). Therefore,mystical, peak, ecstatic, numinous, transcendent, intense spiritual, and primary religious experiencescan be viewed as one group of similar transpersonal experiences. These numerous terms, althoughnot 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 intensesubset of transpersonal experiences since they not only expand the boundaries of the ego to includewider aspects of life but also dissolve these boundaries in such a way as to momentarily connectwith Supreme Reality. Grof (1975), besides defining transpersonal experiences as going beyond theusual 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 other groups oftranspersonal 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" experienceswhich connected the percipient to what he termed the "transhuman" or "transpersonal" realm ofexistence. He equated peak experiences to "secularized religious or mystical or transcendentexperiences" (1964, p. xii).
Since the term "peak experience" was coined by Maslow, it has been employed invarious contexts both generally, encompassing the entire range of exceptionallymeaningful human experiences, and specifically, delineating a transcendental form ofconsciousness, the hallmark of which is unity. (Richards, et al., 1977, p. 1)
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As in the research study by Richards et al. (1977), this paper deals exclusively with thelatter definition of "peak experience." Mystical or primary religious experiences which havebeen posited to be the inspirational source for creating ritual, developing beliefs, andobligating actionthe foundations of traditional religions (Campbell, 1988; Maslow, 1964;Steindl-Rast (in press).
Mystical Mindbody States. Peak experiences are similar to the mystical experiencesdescribed in the some of the classic works on mysticism, Bucke's (1961) CosmicConsciousness, 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) ecstaticexperience, and the integral level of Masters and Houston (1966) are also descriptions oftranscendent 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 andWestern religious and philosophical traditions across the centuries and categorized thephenomenological characteristics of what he termed extrovertive and introvertive [sic]mystical experiences. The basic difference between the extrovertive and introvertivemystical experience lies in the type of unity that is experienced. Extrovertive mystical unityfocuses on an outward type of unity in which the One is seen shining through the multiplicityof the world. The two characteristics of extrovertive unity are the Unifying Vision where allthings are seen as One and the more concrete apprehension of the One as an innersubjectivity or a sense that life is present in all things.
The introvertive mystical experience is inner directed awareness or as Stace labels it"consciousness" in which the multiplicity has been transcended. He explains that this type ofunity is more deeply rewarding and, in a sense, a more full or real mystical experiencebecause it also transcends time and space. The two characteristics of introvertive unity arethe Unitary Consciousness, pure consciousness of the One or the Void.
Stace also delineates five characteristics which are common to both the extrovertive andintrovertive mystical experience. These are: (1) sense of objective reality, a noetic knowing,as James (1982) termed it; (2) deep feelings of blessedness, peace, joy, etc.; (3) feelings ofthe holy, sacred, or divine; (4) paradoxicality, the experience of the simultaneous truth ofpolar opposites; and (5) the alleged ineffability of these experiences by the mysticsthemselves. See Table 1 which outlines the separate and similar characteristics of Stace'sextrovertive and introvertive mystical experiences. Other researchers also see the unityexperience as the hallmark of mystical experience and use the terms internal and externalunity 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, psychologists, and researchers
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such as Bucke (1961), James (1982), and Underhill (1930) have been used as springboardsfor empirically assessing mystical phenomena (Hood, 1974, 1975; Pahnke, 1969; Richards etal., 1977). Using Stace's (1961) work, Hood (1975) developed the Mysticism Scale (MScale), a self-report of past experiences of mystical phenomena, which is the most commonlyused 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 currentresearch section (Hruby, 1996).
These phenomenological experiences of mysticism are associated with a wide range oftriggers or antecedents such as attending religious services, chanting, childbirth, dreaming,drumming, entheogens, fasting, guided imagery, psychoactive substances, meditation, near-death experiences, contemplative prayer, relaxation techniques, sensory deprivation, sexuallovemaking, and various physical routines such as regulated breathing, yoga, aikido, anddancing (Greeley, 1974; Maslow, 1964; Noble, 1987).
This long list of triggers suggests that there are many experiences, practices, spiritual orotherwise, that seem to catalyze mystical experiences. Sometimes mystical experiencesseem to occur "out of the blue" as if something extra happens one particular time whilewatching a sunset or meditating. This extra something has been conceptualized as a force orenergy, and sometimes referred to as grace, that exists beyond the individual's personal egoboundaries (Greeley, 1974; Smith, 1992; Zaehner, 1961).
Adjunctive methods are often used to aid shifting from one mindbody state to anothersuch as chanting, drumming, ecstatic dancing, administration of psychoactive substances, andmeditative or yogic practices (McKenna, 1992). Entheogens have been used for thousands ofyears to alter mindbody states (Wasson, 1968). Maslow (1968) suggests that psychedelicsmight be used in the right settings and with the right people to enhance the possibility of suchan 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 tothroughout 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 oftheir 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 altered state ofconsciousness experience with psychedelic drugs in a religious setting, and (2) to comparethese data with the nine categories of a mystical mindbody state formulated from the work ofStace (1961) and others. The nine categories that Pahnke delineated were: (1) Unity, thehallmark of mystical consciousness, both internal and external unity; (2) Transcendence ofSpace and Time; (3) Deeply-Felt Positive Mood; (4) Sense of a Sacredness; (5) Objectivityand Reality, similar to James' "noetic quality;" (6) Paradoxicality; (7) Alleged Ineffability;(8) Transiency, the duration of a mystical mindbody state is finite, lasting anywhere from afew seconds to a maximum of a few hours. This is the important difference between mysticalstates and psychosis; and (9) Positive Changes in Attitude and/or Behavior.
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The volunteer subjects were 20 volunteer, middle-class, Christian theological students whowere screened extensively. Half of the subjects received 30 mg of psilocybin before the GoodFriday service began, the other half received a placebo. All the subjects and group leaderswere in a lounge in a chapel with a loud speaker that piped in the Good Friday service whichconsisted of prayers, 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 tried tocreate an atmosphere similar to the atmosphere achieved by tribes who use naturalpsychedelic substances in religious ceremonies.
Both shortly after the experiment and then 6 months later, the subjects were asked to write adescription of their experience, answer a questionnaire, and participate in an interview.Statistical analysis of these data indicated that the psilocybin subjects had a significantlymore intense experience than the controls in 8 of the 9 categories of the mystical typology inall methods of measurement. The only category which less clearly differentiated the twogroups was Sense of Sacredness.
Since the set and setting were the same in the experiment for both groups, the drug wasconcluded to be the facilitating factor in the difference between the psilocybin subjects and thecontrols. Eight of the 10 psilocybin subjects described the experienced as profoundlyimpacting them which caused them to contemplate the experience, rethink their lifephilosophies 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 FridayExperiment in addition to a methodological critique. After a great deal of effort, Doblin wasable to locate 16 of the original 20 subjects and to interview them along with administeringthe original 100-item questionnaire from the experiment 25 years previously. Nine from thecontrol group were found and seven from the psilocybin group. Of the three absent from thepsilocybin subjects, Doblin discovered that one was deceased, one was unable to beidentified, and one refused to participate citing concerns over privacy.
All psilocybin subjects participating in the long-term follow-up, but none of thecontrols, still considered their original experience to have had genuinely mysticalelements and to have made a uniquely valuable contribution to their spiritual lives.The positive changes described by the psilocybin subjects at six months, which insome cases involved basic vocational and value choices and spiritualunderstandings, had persisted over time and in some cases had deepened. (Doblin,1992, p. 23)
The most outstanding criticisms Doblin had for the experiment were that Pahnke (1)minimized the psychological struggle and difficulties that a number of the psilocybin subjectshad in working through the negative material the psilocybin seemed to activate, and (2)omitted mentioning that one psilocybin subject was administered the tranquilizer thorazine tocalm him down because of the fear reaction catalyzed by the psilocybin. Doblin believes thatthis is probably the subject that refused to be interviewed; and, although such an omission isunjustifiable in the reporting of scientific results, he speculates as to why these occurred,particularly noting the media hype around the topic of psychedelics at the time. Pahnke (1963)explains that this subject did not prepare seriously for the experiment, and he had an attitudethat it was only a psychological experiment. At one point the subject described his fear
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reactions as "a psychotic episode" but at the six-month follow-up reported that he felt thatthe persistent negative effects were only "slightly harmful" (p. 232).
Despite the two criticisms mentioned above, Doblin concludes that "the original GoodFriday Experiment is one of the preeminent psychedelic experiments in scientific literature"(p. 23). The results of which robustly support the hypothesis that psychedelic drugs canassist in facilitating mystical experiences in individuals with a religious psychological set in areligious setting. We echo Doblin's call to replicate this study under a variety of sets andsettings 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) Objectivityand Reality; (4) Deeply-Felt Positive Mood; (5) Sense of a Sacredness; (6) Paradoxicalityand Ineffability. Transiency, since it occurs in many mindbody states, was eliminated alongwith assessing the long term positive effects of the experience. Paradoxicality and AllegedIneffability were combined into one category and are considered as a single unit.
Richards et al. (1977) explored what the contribution of peak experiences (usingPahnke's criterion as modified above) might be for short-term therapy with cancer patients.DPT, a short-acting psychedelic drug, was used and administered only once with each of 34subjects. There were three phases of the study: (Phase I) psychotherapy for 3 or 4 weekswith the subject to develop rapport, to address relevant issues and to prepare for the DPTsession; (Phase II) consisted of the DPT-assisted therapy session which began and endedwith the family therapy; (Phase III) "began on the day immediately following the DPT-assisted therapy session and focused on the process of integrating new insights into thefabric of every day existence" (p. 3). This phase lasted three weeks involving several morehours of therapy.
Fifteen of the subjects were found to have had peak experiences while the other 19 didnot. Richards et al. (1977) found that the peakers had significantly higher scores on all sixcategories of peak experience as compared with the nonpeakers. "Those who had peakexperiences impressed the therapists as being most free of psychological distress at thetermination of therapy" (p. 8). Specifically, the peakers showed significant gains in twoscales on the Personal Orientation Inventory, "Capacity for Intimate Contact" and"Existentiality" in comparison to the nonpeakers. Also see Richards' (1975) dissertationwhich involved research with cancer patients and their families and Grof and Halifax's (1977)book on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with the terminally ill, The Human Encounterwith Death.
Psychedelic exploration and mystical mindbody states. Grof, a psychiatrist, studiedthe effects of psychedelics, particularly LSD, on patients in a therapeutic settings (1975,1985, 1992). His research, spanning four decades, started in Czechoslovakia and then movedto the United States. From information from over five thousand of sessions with his andcolleagues' patients, he was able to chart a map of the human unconscious. He discoveredthat the human unconscious consists of three realms: (1) the biographical or psychodynamic;(2) perinatal or Rankian; and (3) the transpersonal. Grof believes that if a client is given achance to work through her psychodynamic material that eventually she will come to thetranspersonal realm and have transpersonal experiences not dissimilar to peak or mystical
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The population with which this paper is particularly concerned is the 42 researchparticipants 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 entheogenusers and the remaining 476 who do not.
Instrument. Hood's M Scale attempts to assess eight of the nine characteristicsdelineated 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) religiousquality; he doesn't assess paradoxicality. There are 32 items on the scale, four items for eachof the eight qualities. Two of which are stated positively and the other two negatively. SeeTable 2 for the operational definitions and scale items.
Insert Table 2 About Here
Procedures. The M Scale and a questionnaire containing demographic andspiritual/religious questions regarding belief, religious affiliation, spiritual practices, and druguse were administered over a two year period, 1993 to 1995. The data gathered from the MScale was scored according to Hood's (1975) instructions, and a total was obtained for eachrespondent (negative items are reversed scored). The lowest score possible is 32 and thehighest 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'sdescription applied to their own experience.
M Scale forms were considered incomplete if 25% (8+) or more of the 32 items were leftblank and/or had a question mark (?) for a response. Although a "?" was a legitimateanswer, 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% without amore specific response. This definition of incomplete forms eliminated 49 university studentrespondents from the sample.
Results. This section will present only some of the results regarding entheogen users,for a more full treatment of the data consult Hruby (1996). All analyses were performed usingSPSS-X version 4.
Table 3 is a breakdown of the demographic and religious/spiritual items, providing thenumber and percent of the respondents by their spiritual use of drugs (entheogen users vnonusers). It also gives the results of the Pearson chi-square tests of independencesupplying the means and standard deviations where applicable. The 2 (users v. 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 variableAge, too many of the cells had an expected frequency less than 5 so a chi-square was unableto be performed.
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mindbody states.
Tart's (1969) classic, Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Readings, is one ofthe first books that helped focus the scientific community on alternate mindbody states. His(1971) subsequent scientific study of the psychological and subjective experiences ofexperienced marijuana users while under the drug's influence provided a unique view of theeffects of the mild psychedelic marijuana. The extensive questionnaire devised for the studywas completed by young California college students (N = 150). Chapter 19, SpiritualExperiences, gives data regarding the religiously and spiritually oriented questions. To one ofthese questions, "I have spiritual experiences, discrete experiences which have had apowerful, long-term religious effect on me, while stoned" 25 percent of the anonymousrespondents reported a positive response.
Although not all users who had had spiritual experiences while intoxicated feltthis had made getting intoxicated an act of religious significance for them, 22 percentof the users did : "Getting stoned has acquired a religious significance for me."Another 4 percent indicated LSD use, rather than marijuana, had acquired religioussignificance. (p. 218)
Current Research Study
Some studies of spiritual, transcendent, and/or mystical experiences specifically avoiddrug-induced experiences (Campbell, 1983), others accept drug experiences as a possibleantecedent (Greeley, 1974; Maslow, 1968), still some studies compare drug experiences withnon-drug experiences (Pahnke, 1969), while others only use drug-induced experiences(Masters & Houston, 1966; Richards, 1975; Richards et al., 1977; Tart, 1971). Asresearchers, instead of avoiding mystical experiences which have been potentially triggeredby psychedelics, we have chosen to focus on such experiences by exploring the varieties ofmystical experience of those who have used drugs spiritually using demographic informationand the scores on the Mysticism Scale.
Subjects. The results reported in this paper are part of a larger study that explores theprevalence and varieties of mystical experience among both undergraduate and graduatestudents (504, 97%) at a large midwestern university, Northern Illinois University (Hruby,1996), and the participants (14, 3%) at a small entheogenically oriented conference held inMenlo Park, California. The majority of the university student respondents were enrolled incourses offered through the somewhat conservative College of Education (472, 94%) and theremaining students were enrolled in several art courses (32, 6%). The breakdown by sex ofthe 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 educational psychology special topics courses,Psychedelic Mindview and Drug Legalization Research, were intentionally surveyed toincrease the number of respondents who had used psychedelic drugs. These specific courses,offered over the past 17 years by Tom Roberts, typically have attracted students who havehad intense psychedelic experiences, or have had friends who have, and are desirous of moreconcrete and specific information about them. At least one lecture and discussion onmysticism were part of these courses along with a meditation exercise. Readings and classdiscussions dealt with altered mindbody states.
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Insert Table 3 About Here
II
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. TheTraditional religions category consisted of respondents who marked that they were Catholic,Jewish, or Protestant. The Nontraditionals were respondents who reported that they wereOther, had No Affiliation, or were Muslims (3 users and 2 nonusers). More respondents whowere Nontraditionals and fewer respondents of Traditional religious affiliation wereentheogen users. The Religious/Spiritual Orientation item ("Indicate your religious/spiritualorientation 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. Entheogenusers reported themselves to be more liberal in their religious/spiritual orientation than thenonusers. In fact, not one of the entheogen users considered themselves more conservativethan mainstream. The 2 (users v. nonusers) x 4 (1 = Unmeaningful to 4 = Usually verymeaningful) chi-square test for Meaningfulness of Religious/Spiritual Practice ("Howmeaningful 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 beUsually Very Meaningful than the nonusers (119, 25%).
The total mysticism score was used as the dependent variable in a one-way analysis ofvariance which compared the independent variable of using drugs spiritually (users v.nonusers). The higher the mysticism score the more likely that mystical phenomena wereexperienced (Hood, 1975). The mysticism scores were significantly different by spiritual druguse F(1, 518) = 85.58, p < .000. The entheogen users (n = 42) had a mean of 142, a median of150, and a SD of 18; the range was 81 to 159. In contrast, the nonusers (n = 476) had a meanof 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 currentlyengaged 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 tests were performed,one on each of the ten spiritual activities. Fasting and Attend Study Groups were the onlytwo activities that indicated no difference between the observed and expected frequencies ofthe two groups.
The chi-square tests for the remaining eight spiritual activities were significant indicatingthat there was a relationship between the use of entheogens and each spiritual practice:Prayer x2 (1, N = 518) = 22.18, p < .000; Meditation x2 (1, N = 518) = 53.42, p < .000;Yoga/Aikido x2 (1, N = 518) = 42.41, p < .000; Special Postures x2 (1, N = 518) = 60.15, p <.000; Breath Control x2 (1, N = 518) = 36.18, p < .000; Attending Services x2 (1, N = 518) =19.59, p < .000; Read Spiritual Writings x2 (1, N = 518) = 21.81, p < .000; and Other x2 (1, N= 513) = 42.35, p < .000. Of these eight spiritual activities only two, Prayer and AttendingServices, indicated that the entheogen users had fewer expected in the "yes" category andthe nonusers had more than expected. In other words, the entheogen users engaged inMeditation, Yoga/Aikido, Special Postures, Breath Control, Read Spiritual Writings, and
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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 spiritualpractice items above. The phi coefficient is a measure of relationship between the twovariables, use of entheogens and each spiritual practice. It is interpreted exactly like aPearson's product-moment correlation coefficient, that is, the closer to 1, the stronger thecorrelation. Although the phi coefficients were all significant (p < .000), the strength of therelationship only ranged from very low to low: Attending Services ro =.194, Prayer r4 = .207,Read Spiritual Writings ro =.205, Breath Control r4, = .264, Yoga/Aikido r4, = .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 inunderstanding the prevalence and varieties of the mystical experience. As was obvious in thetheoretical and conceptual research section, there is no one definition for what a mystical orprimary religious experience is exactly. In fact, many researchers and scholars regardmystical 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, thephenomena that are at the core of mystical experience.
In his research, Pahnke (1963, 1969) set the criterion for determining whether subjectshad a mystical experience if they scored 60 percent or more on the questionnaire created toassess the categories of mystical phenomena. Richards et al. (1977) used a modified versionof Pahnke's original questionnaire to assess six categories of mystical phenomena (asdiscussed above) implementing the same 60 percent criterion. This questionnaire is known asthe Psychedelic Experience Questionnaire (PEQ).
Applying this criterion for determining whether a respondents in the current study had amystical experience or not, 39 (93%) of the entheogen users had a mystical experience (scoregreater 107); whereas only 209 (44%) of the nonusers could be said to have had a mysticalexperience. Still, 44 percent for the nonusers, although not a majority, indicates a rathercommon experience or set of experiences. Research such as this may develop a clearerperception of the "normalness" of such experiences so that a climate of greater opennessmay be promoted in considering their benefits.
Indeed, the results of our research study indicate that this select group of entheogenusers had significantly higher mysticism scores than the nonusers, they had a more liberalspiritual/religious orientation, the majority were male, and did have traditional religiousaffiliations (Catholic, Jewish, or Protestant). The entheogen users engaged in Meditation,Yoga/Aikido, Special Postures, Breath Control, Read Spiritual Writings, and Other activitiessignificantly more than the nonusers. Examining the relationship between the varieties ofmystical experience and various spiritual practices or psychotechnologies, in particular theuse of entheogens, may increase knowledge and acceptance of such practices. It may alsoserve to encourage a more accepting attitude regarding mystical and primary religiousexperiences themselves thereby further strengthening the paradigm shift in Western culturefrom a material worldview to a more transpersonal worldview.
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Part 3Toward An Entheogenic Research Agenda
Part 2 illustrated how current research into religious topics is energized from anentheogenic 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 withmystical or primary religious mindbody states;
O empirical researchpresenting past research with psychoactive substances forentheogenic or therapeutic purposes and bridging these to the current study;
current researchlooking at relationships among mystical experiences, demographicfactors, entheogen use, and other spiritual practices using Hood's Mysticism Scale.
Going beyond conceptual, descriptive and correlational studies, we'd like to point outsome entheogenic leads that deserve additional research. These leads have been organizedunder six research topics: the nature of the human mind, pastoral counseling, experimentalmysticism, 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 inresearch, particularly entheogenic research.
Entheogenic research done to date revolves around several thematic questions. Moreoften than not, these questions are implicit rather than explicit: (1) what are the relationshipsamong entheogens, mystical experiences, and religion?, (2) does the human mind include aspiritual part?
Nature of the Human Mind
Considering entheogens as magnifiers of psychological processes, what do we learn aboutour minds, specifically about our minds' spiritual aspects? Is there a natural motivation forself-transcendence? Assagioli (1965), Jung (1968), Maslow (1968), and others cited in theintroduction of this paper are among the psychologists who answer "yes" to an inherentspiritual aspect of humanity. Perhaps Grof (1968) expresses the innate spirituality of ourminds most strongly:
The observations from psychedelic therapy and other forms of deep experiential workfully confirm the views of [Assagioli, Jung and Maslow] and suggest an even moreradical reformulation of the relationship between the human personality and spirituality.According to the new data, spirituality is an intrinsic property of the psyche that emergesquite spontaneously when the process of self-exploration reaches sufficient depth. Directexperiential confrontation with the perinatal and transpersonal levels of theunconsciousness is always associated with a spontaneous awakening of spirituality thatis quite independent of the individual's childhood experiences, religious programming,church affiliation, and even cultural and racial background. The individual who connectswith these levels of his or her psyche automatically develops a new world view withinwhich spirituality represents a natural, essential, and absolutely vital element ofexistence. In my experience, a transformation of this kind has occurred without exception
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in a wide range of individuals, including stubborn atheists, skeptics, cynics, marxistphilosophers, and positivistically oriented scientists. (p. 368)
Working from the assumption that we have a spiritual aspect, however it may beconceived, transpersonal psychologists provide a psychology that supports research onreligion and religious education (Tart, 1975; Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1969+).Entheogens are especially important to transpersonal psychologists, not only because theysometimes stimulate transpersonal experiences, but also because they can provide aresearch 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 contributesto this goal because the broader desire to explore mindbody states may be one manifestationof the more specific spiritual quest to explore ego-transcendent states.
Research proposal. We propose that researchers on religion, education, andtranspersonal psychology become more informed of each other's work, cooperate on researchprojects, examine transpersonal models, and use them in secular and religious education. Ifour minds do contain a spiritual element, then the fullest education would have to include itsdevelopment, and entheogens are one way to venture into this terrain. We are notrecommending entheogens for children, but if and when entheogens become legal, graduatestudents who are entering these fields and have been carefully screened and prepared wouldno doubt learn from a guided entheogenic session. Then their own experiences would informtheir research. In a broader multistate framework, since we are capable of producing andusing many mindbody states, educational goals and practices would have to recognize thiscapacity too (Roberts, 1989; Roberts & Hruby, 1996).
Pastoral Counseling
Can entheogenic experiences and an entheogenic model of our minds help in pastoralcounseling? The Grof quotation above indicates that entheogens can be useful in existentialcrises and helping people find meaning in their lives. If our culture and our churches were ableto 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 inthis 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 substituting aspiritual 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 spoke verypositively 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 eliminate manybarriers erected by the self, or ego, that stand in the way of one's direct experienceof the cosmos and of God. He thought he might have found something that couldmake a big difference to the lives of many people who still suffered. (p. 371)
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A second promising use of entheogens in pastoral counseling is with dying patients. Amajor part of the difficulty of facing death is the fear of letting go of the ego. Entheogens cangive one a practice session; clients learn this fear is unfounded and that ego transcendencecan be spiritually enlightening and emotionally positive. Several studies of entheogens pointto their possible use as adjuncts in psychotherapy with the dying (Grof & Halifax, 1977;Pahnke, 1969a; Richards, et al 1972; Richards, 1975). In overlapping studies, theseresearchers found four common benefits of entheogenic counseling with dying patients:decreased general anxiety, decreased specific anxiety about death, decreased desire for painkillers, and increased communication with family and friends. The last seems especiallyimportant. At a time when a dying person most needs the support of loved ones, mutualdenial often builds a wall. The patient knows he or she is dying, but wants to spare the familystress, and the family knows the patient is dying, but maintains a brave face in hopes of notdiscouraging the dying person.
Far from being odd or destructive, exploring transpersonal mindbody states serves egotranscendence. As mentioned in Part 1, mindbody exploration also expands psychology toinclude 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 theSpirit within can be considerable (Hruby, 1996; Lukoff & Lu, 1988; Nobel, 1987; Pahnke,1963; Richards, 1975).
Research proposal. The use of entheogens in the mental health professions ismultifold. 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 transpersonalexperiences, which are often helpful in understanding spiritual crises. Grof's map of thehuman mind describes levels where religious imagery, archetypes, mythology, symbols andreligious experiences occur (Grof, 1975, 1980). In addition to being useful for alcoholism,death counseling, and existential issues, entheogens provide a wider theory of human naturewhich includes spirituality. Separate from entheogenic experiences, these models should helppastoral and secular counselors understand and work with clients. If and when they becomelegally available, we recommend entheogenic training for carefully selected religiousprofessionals. Additionally, we think transpersonal views would be valuable in psychology ofreligion classes. Answering how best to include these in professional curricula, and what arethe results of doing so are questions that need research too.
Experimental Mysticism
Using entheogens, is it now possible to give people mystical experiences? If so, what arethe outcomes? If you are familiar with entheogenology, you may have noticed that we'veappropriated the title "Experimental Mysticism" from the best instance of experimentalentheogenic research done to date (Pahnke, 1963; Pahnke & Richards, 1966). Using a double-blind experimental protocol in the "Good Friday Experiment," Pahnke (1963) examinedpsilocybin-induced religious experiences with twenty divinity students during a Good Fridayservice. In part 2 we mentioned some of the experimental research that has been done.
A standard argument against entheogen-derived primary religious experiences is thatthey may provide temporary feelings and thoughts, but have no staying power; however, inhis 25-year follow-up of Pahnke's Good Friday Experiment, Doblin (1991) found the opposite
Entheogens 17
to be true. The original differences between the psilocybin treatment group and the placebogroup increased over time, suggesting that the experience had a long-term effect on thebehavior and/or cognitions of the treatment group, possibly restructuring their beliefs,feelings, and worldview.
esearch proposal. The Good Friday Experiment needs to be replicated with diversebotanical and chemical entheogens, various sets and settings, and subjects with a multiplicityof personality types, religious affiliations and beliefs, and demographic factors. Among otherthings, researchers should compare the phenomenology of entheogen-stimulated primaryreligious experience with similar experiences of other origins. Entheogenically oriented andother oriented primary religious experience should also be compared by the interaction ofpersonality types, religious beliefs, etc. More precise descriptions of these experiences willprovide empirical evidence so that further discussions can be informed scientifically andtheologically. This research would inform the authenticity question also. (See below).
Because this type of religious exploration is censored by the federal government, wehope it's clear we are anticipating the lifting of bans on this mode of the religious quest. If theresearch cannot be performed here, perhaps it can be facilitated in a foreign country.
Authenticity
Are chemically and/or botanically derived mystical experiences genuine, religiouslylegitimate? On one side, scholar R. C. Zaehner (1974) claims that while drugs can produce asense of the holy and a form of nature mysticism, they cannot result in the exclusive love of apersonal 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 based on thereports of others, hundreds of investigators (Roberts & Hruby, 1995) claim that under theright set and setting entheogens can produce genuine religious experience or ones whichclosely resemble non-entheogen experiences.
An outstanding expert on mysticism who considers entheogen-based mysticismauthentic is W. T. Stace, whose work on mysticism (1961) formed the foundation for Hood'sM Scale and the instrument that Pahnke used in the Good Friday Experiment. When Stacewas asked whether the drug experience is similar to the mystical experience, reports HustonSmith (1964, pp. 523-524), Stace answered, "It's not a matter of its being similar to mysticalexperience; it is mystical experience."
It's perfectly possible to recognize entheogenic experiences as beneficial without havingto give them the status of authentic or unauthentic. We should not let the possibly fruitlessauthentic /fake debate keep us from using substances which have good effects. To bepragmatic, the results count, not the name we use.
Research proposal. Adequately describing the similarities and differences betweenauthentic and unauthentic mystical experiences would be another benefit from replicating theGood Friday Experiment.
From an educational perspective, the authenticity question takes on a differentperspective, especially when it comes to adult religious education, the preparation of clergy,
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and their in-service education. Even if one takes the position that entheogens are not genuinetriggers, they can still provide worthwhile knowledge. One can learn a great deal from a goodapproximation, from simulations. Just as kindergartners learn where to walk safely and tocross at crosswalks by following tape on a classroom floor, students of religion may learn agreat deal from simulated primary religious experience. Their teachers can instruct them inhow entheogenic experiences resemble authentic ones and how they differ. Accuratelydescribing 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 adults aboutprimary religious experience, not just with words but with firsthand, direct experience. Areligious education which does not provide them to capable adults is impeding the spiritualquest.
Origins of Religion
What influence, if any, did psychoactive substances have on the origins and developmentof religion? Eliade (1987), Wasson (1968), Wasson et al (1978), and others speculate thatencounters with psychoactive plants were an origin of religions throughout the world. Hintingat a research agenda, Barnard (1963) challenges researchers, "I am willing to prophesy thatfifty theo-botanists working for fifty years would make the current theories concerning theorigins of much mythology and theology as out-of-date as pre-Copernican astronomy" (p.586). She and her opinion are in good company. In addition to the clergy and theologiansmentioned above, mythologist Joseph Campbell recognized scholarly research on entheogensas making significant contributions to understanding religious symbols and mythology (1982,1988).
Relying on his own entheogenic experience (reported in Leary, 1968) and on hisfamiliarity with subsequent research, philosopher Huston Smith addressed the issue in 1964with 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 toooften, 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). Usedcorrectly, they can be beneficial adjuncts to spiritual development, but they are not a path bythemselves.
Research Proposal. To investigate Barnard's challenge and Wasson's claim, perhapsreligious 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 coursesin mysticism in seminaries and philosophy departments of universities will have laboratorysections in which their students can use entheogens as religious instructional technologies.Of course, the lab should be voluntary, and students should be screened physically andmentally beforehand, prepared thoroughly, and guided through the process. Until entheogenicresearch is re-legalized, professors can familiarize their students with the writings on
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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 undesirableones? How would one go about studying these questions? These and similar questions awaitresearchers' attention.
The professional education of clergy, theologians, church historians, and alliedresearchers should include a familiarity with existing entheogenic research and the skills ofdesigning research which, hopefully, some day will use entheogens. Who has the right tomake these decisions? The control over religious research by governmental agencies andconflicts about religious freedom brings us to a nest of issues which demands attention: policyissues.
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 andtopics need to be examined: To what extent would Americans like to include entheogens aspart of their religious practices? Surveys are needed. With immigration from countries inSouth 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 toentheogenic sacraments? If a new church wanted to use entheogenic botanicals andchemicals, would governmental policy toward it be different from policy toward an establishedchurch? If a seminary wanted to include entheogens in the education of its seminarians or forspiritual renewal of clergy, what church-state issues would arise? Informed answers to thesequestions require policy research.
Summary Recommendations
We recommend that researchers on religion and religious education, churches, religiousorders and groups, ecumenical associations, seminaries and other professional educationalinstitutions, and nonreligious groups whose interests include education, law and religion:
1. promote scholarly discussion and scientific investigation of entheogens;2. produce empirical evidence about entheogens and scholarly opinions on them;3. study drug policy and religious activities as they relate to entheogens;4. make recommendations to the public and to law-making bodies on 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, in a
manner consistent with public safety, and within the law.
We further recommend that religious organizations inform their members about these issuesand encourage their open discussion.
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Jung, C. G. (1958). Psychology and religion: West and East (Vol. 11) (R. F. C. Hull,Trans.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
Jung, C. G. (1973). Memories, dreams, reflections (R. & C. Winston, Trans.). New York:Vintage Books.
Kuhn, T. C. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University ofChicago Press.
Lucas, A. M. (1995). Entheology. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 27(3), 293-295.
Leary, T. (1968). High priest. New York: World Publishing Co.
Lukoff, D., & Lu, F. G. (1988). Transpersonal psychology research review: Topic:Mystical experiences. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 20(2), 161-184.
Maslow, A. H. (1964). Religions, values, and peak-experiences. Columbus, OH: OhioState University Press.
Maslow, A. H. (1967). Self-actualization and beyond. Chapter 29 in J. F. T. Bugental(Ed.), Challenges of humanistic psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being. (2nd ed.). New York: VanNostrand Reinhold. (See Preface to the 2nd ed. for "beyond self-actualization.")
Masters, R. E. L., & Houston, J. (1966). The varieties of psychedelic experience. NewYork: Dell Publishing.
McKenna, T. (1992). Food of the gods: The search for the original tree 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 evolution ofhuman nature. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher.
Myers, I. B. (1987). Introduction to type. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Noble, K. (1987). Psychological health and the experience of transcendence. TheCounseling Psychologist, 15(4), 601-614.
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Pahnke, W. N. (1969a). The psychedelic mystical experience in the human encounterwith death. Harvard Theological Review 62, 1-20.
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Richards, W. A., Grof, S., Goodman, L., & Kurland, A. (1972). LSD-assistedpsychotherapy and the human encounter with death. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology,(4)2, 121-150.
Richards, W. A., Rhead, J. C., DiLeo, F. B., Yensen, R., & Kurland, A. A. (1977). Thepeak experience variable in DPT-assisted psychotherapy with cancer patients. Journal ofPsychedelic Drugs, 9(1), 1-10.
Roberts, T. B. (1978). Beyond self-actualization. ReVISION: The Journal of
2f
Entheogens 24
Consciousness and Change, (1)1, 42-46.
Roberts, T. B. (1989). Multistate education: Metacognitive implications of the mindbodypsychotechnologies. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, (21)1, 83-102.
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Ruck, C. A. P., Bigwood, J., Staples, D., Ott, J., & Wasson, R. G. (1979). Entheogens.Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, 11, 1-2, 145-146.
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Smith, H. (1967). Psychedelic theophanies and the religious life. Christianity and Crisis,27(11), 144-147.
Smith, H. (1988). Psychedelics and religion: An addendum. ReVision: Journal ofConsciousness and Change, 11(1), 35-37.
Smith, H. (1992). Forgotten truth: The common vision of the world's religions. NewYork: HarperSanFrancisco. (Original work published 1976 as Forgotten truth: The primordialtradition). (See Appendix: The psychedelic evidence).
27
Entheogens 25
Smith, H. (1994). The illustrated world's religions: A guide to our wisdom traditions.New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
Stace, W. T. (1961). Mysticism and philosophy. London: Macmillan.
Steindl-Rast, D. (in press). Explorations into God. In R. Forte (Ed.), Entheogens and thefuture of religion. San Francisco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
Tart, C. T. (Ed.). (1969). Altered states of consciousness: A book of readings. New York:John Wiley.
Tart, C. T. (1971). On being stoned: A psychological study of marijuana intoxication.Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books.
Tart, C. T. (Ed.). (1975). Transpersonal psychologies. New York: Harper & Row.
Too lan, D. (1987). Facing west from California's shores: A Jesuit's journey into new ageconsciousness. New York: Crossroads.
Underhill, E. (1930). Mysticism: A study in the nature and development of man'sspiritual consciousness. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company.
Walsh, R. (1990). The spirit of shamanism. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher.
Walsh, R., & Vaughan, F. (1993). Introduction. In Paths beyond ego: The transpersonalvision ( pp. 1-10). Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee.
Wasson, R. G. (1968). Soma: Divine mushroom of immortality. New York: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich.
Wasson, R., Ruck, C. & Hofmann, A. (1978). The road to Eleusis: Unveiling the secretof the mysteries. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Wilber, K. (1995). Sex, ecology, and spirituality: The spirit of evolution. Boston:Shambhala.
Wulff, D. (1991). Psychology of religion: Classic and contemporary views. New York:John Wiley & Sons.
Young, Mike. (1995). An invitation to entheological dialogue. MAPS Bulletin, 6(1), 37-38.
Zaehner, R. C. (1961). Mysticism: Sacred and profane. New York: Oxford UniversityPress.
28
Entheogens 26
Table 1
Common Characteristics of Extroveritive and Introvertive Mystical Experiences (Stace. 1961,
p. 131)
ommon charxteristics of ExtmvotiveMeal ,igiperietlees ,
Common Characteristics of introvertiveiiiystical Experiences .
1. The Unifying Vision-all things are One 1. The Unitary Consciousness; the One,the Void; pure consciousness
2. The more concrete apprehension of theOne as an inner subjectivity, or life, inall things
2. Nonspatial, nontemporal
3. Sense of objectivity or reality 3. Sense of objectivity or reality
4. Blessedness, peace, etc. 4. Blessedness, peace, etc.5. Feeling 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 COPYMUNI29
Entheogens 27
Table 2
Mysticism Scale. Research Form D (Items are listed under each criterion from which they
w r o ration lized and numbered ccordin to a tual scale osition Hood 19 31-
121
EGO QUALITY: Refers to the experience of a loss of sense of self while consciousness isnevertheless maintained. The loss of self is commonly experienced as an absorption intosomething greater than the mere empirical ego.
3. I have had an experience in which something greater than myself seemed to absorb me.4. I have had an experience in which everything seemed to disappear from my mind until I
was conscious only of a void.6. I have NEVER had an experience in which I felt myself to be absorbed as one with all
things.24. I have NEVER had an experience in which my own self seemed to merge into something
greater.
UNIFYING QUALITY: Refers to the experience of the multiplicity of objects of perceptionas nevertheless united. Everything is in fact perceived as "One."
12. I have had an experience in which I realized the oneness of myself with all things.19. I have had an experience in which I felt everything in the world to be part of the same
whole.28. I have NEVER had an experience in which I became aware of a unity to all things.30. I have NEVER had an experience in which all things seemed to be unified into a single
whole.
INNER SUBJECTIVE QUALITY: Refers to the perception of an inner subjectivity toall things, even those usually experienced in purely material forms.
8. I have NEVER had an experience in which I felt as if all things were alive.10. I have NEVER had an experience in which all things seemed to be aware.29. I have had an experience in which all things seemed to be conscious.31. I have had an experience in which I felt nothing is ever really dead.
TEMPORAL/SPATIAL QUALITY: Refers to the temporal and spatial parameters of theexperience. Essentially both time and space are modified with the extreme being one of anexperience that is both "timeless" and "spaceless."
1. I have had an experience which was both timeless and spaceless.11. I have had an experience in which I had no sense of time or space.15. I have NEVER had an experience in which time and space 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 ison a nonrational, intuitive, insightful experience that is nevertheless recognized as not merelysubjective.
13. I have had an experience in which a new view of reality was revealed to me.16. I have NEVER experienced anything that I could call ultimate reality.17. I have had an experience in which ultimate reality was revealed to me.26. I have NEVER had an experience in which deeper aspects of reality were revealed to
me.
INEFFABILITY: Refers to the impossibility of expressing the experience in conventionallanguage. The experience simply cannot be put into words due to the nature of the experienceitself and not to the linguistic capacity of the subject.
2. I have NEVER had an experience which was incapable of being expressed in words.21. I have NEVER had an experience which I was unable to express 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 theexperience is of joy or blissful happiness.
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 with a feeling of wonder.
RELIGIOUS QUALITY: Refers to the intrinsic sacredness of the experience. This includesfeelings of mystery, awe, and reverence that may nevertheless be expressed independently oftraditional religious language.
9. I have NEVER had an experience which seemed holy to me.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 of awe.
Entheogens 29
Table 3Number andYercent of Respondents inSelectedflemographis/Spiritual Itemsby Users hi = 42) and Nonusers in = 476) of Entheazens with Pearson Chi- square Results
Variable, M (SD)Users
n (%)Non Usersn (%) 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 .000Orientation
(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 NSReligious/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
11,1
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itial
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appo
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eup
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ost p
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he o
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itsel
fw
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the
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to a
ppea
r on
our
soc
ial a
nd in
telle
ctua
lsc
ene
in s
ome
time.
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rodu
ced
the
firs
t fir
ings
in H
arva
rd's
his
tory
,an
ulti
-m
atum
to g
et o
ut o
f M
exic
o in
fiv
e da
ys, a
nd "
the
mir
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of
Mar
sh C
hape
l," in
whi
ch, d
urin
ga
two-
and-
one-
half
-hou
r G
ood
Frid
ay s
ervi
ce, t
en th
eolo
gica
l stu
dent
s an
dpr
ofes
sors
inge
sted
psilo
cybi
n an
d w
ere
visi
ted
by w
hat t
hey
gene
rally
repo
rted
to b
eth
e de
epes
t rel
igio
us e
xper
ienc
es o
f th
eir
lives
.D
espi
te th
e la
st o
f th
ese
phen
omen
a an
d its
num
erou
s if
less
dram
atic
par
alle
ls, s
tude
nts
of r
elig
ion
appe
ar b
y an
d la
rge
to b
edi
smis
sing
the
psyc
hede
lic d
rugs
that
hav
esp
rung
to o
ur a
ttent
ion
in th
e '6
0s a
s ha
ving
littl
e re
ligio
us r
elev
ance
.T
he p
ositi
on ta
ken
in o
ne o
f th
e m
ost f
orw
ard-
look
ing
volu
mes
of th
eolo
gica
l ess
ays
to h
ave
appe
ared
in r
ecen
t yea
rsSo
undi
ngs,
edi
ted
by A
. R.
Vid
ler
'acc
epts
R. C
. Zae
hner
's M
ystic
ism
Sacr
ed a
nd P
rofa
ne,
as h
avin
g "f
ully
exa
min
ed a
nd r
efut
ed"
the
relig
ious
clai
ms
for
mes
calin
whi
ch A
ldou
s H
uxle
y sk
etch
ed in
The
Doo
rs o
f Pe
rcep
-tio
n.T
his
clos
ing
of th
e ca
se s
trik
esm
e as
pre
mat
ure,
for
itlo
oks
as if
the
drug
s ha
ve li
ght t
o th
row
on th
e hi
stor
y of
rel
igio
n,
The
em
ende
d ve
rsio
n of
a p
aper
pre
sent
edto
The
Woo
drow
Wils
onSo
ciet
y, P
rinc
eton
Uni
vers
ity, o
n M
ay 1
6, 1
964.
1 So
undi
ngs
: Ess
ays
conc
erni
ng C
hris
tian
Und
erst
andi
ngs,
A. R
. Vid
ler,
ed. (
Cam
brid
ge: U
nive
rsity
Pre
ss, 1
962)
.T
he s
tate
men
t cite
d ap
pear
s on
page
72,
in H
. A. W
illia
ms'
s es
say
on "
The
olog
y an
dSe
lf-a
war
enes
s."
517
© C
opyr
ight
196
4 by
Jou
rnal
of
Philo
soph
y, I
nc.
34
MO
518
.11
TH
E J
OU
RN
AL
OF
PHIL
OSO
PHY
the
phen
omen
olog
y of
rel
igio
n, th
e ph
iloso
phy
of r
elig
ion,
and
the
prac
tice
of th
e re
ligio
us li
fe it
self
.
1. D
rugs
and
Rel
igio
n V
iew
ed H
isto
rica
lly
In h
is tr
ial-
and-
erro
r lif
e ex
plor
atio
ns m
an a
lmos
t eve
ryw
here
has
stum
bled
upo
n co
nnec
tions
bet
wee
n ve
geta
bles
(eat
en o
rbr
ewed
) an
d ac
tions
(yo
gi b
reat
hing
exe
rcis
es, w
hirl
ing-
derv
ish
danc
es, f
lage
llatio
n) th
at a
lter
stat
es o
f co
nsci
ousn
ess.
From
the
psyc
hoph
arm
acol
ogic
al s
tand
poin
t we
now
und
erst
and
thes
e st
ates
to b
e th
e pr
oduc
ts o
f ch
ange
s in
bra
in c
hem
istr
y.Fr
om th
e so
cio-
logi
cal p
ersp
ectiv
e w
e se
e th
at th
ey te
nd to
be
conn
ecte
d in
som
ew
ay w
ith r
elig
ion.
If w
e di
scou
nt th
e w
ine
used
in C
hris
tian
com
mun
ion
serv
ices
, the
inst
ance
s cl
oses
t to
us in
tim
e an
d sp
ace
are
the
peyo
te o
f T
he N
ativ
e A
mer
ican
[In
dian
] C
hurc
h an
dM
exic
o's
2000
-yea
r-ol
d "s
acre
d m
ushr
oom
s,"
the
latte
r re
nder
edin
Azt
ec a
s "G
od's
Fle
sh"s
trik
ing
para
llel t
o "t
he b
ody
ofou
rL
ord"
in th
e C
hris
tian
euch
aris
t.B
eyon
d th
ese
neig
hbor
ing
in-
stan
ces
lie th
e so
ma
of th
e H
indu
s, th
e ha
oma
and
hem
p of
the
Zor
oast
rian
s, th
e D
iony
sus
of th
e G
reek
s w
ho "
ever
ywhe
re.
.
taug
ht m
en th
e cu
lture
of
the
vine
and
the
mys
teri
es o
f hi
s w
orsh
ipan
d ev
eryw
here
[w
as]
acce
pted
as
a go
d,"
2 th
e be
nzoi
n of
Sou
th-
east
Asi
a, Z
en's
tea
who
se f
ifth
cup
pur
ifie
s an
d w
hose
six
th "
calls
to th
e re
alm
of
the
imm
orta
ls,"
8 th
e pi
turi
of
the
Aus
tral
ian
abor
igin
es, a
nd p
roba
bly
the
mys
tic k
ykeo
n th
at w
as e
aten
and
drun
k at
the
clim
actic
clo
se o
f th
e si
xth
day
of th
e E
leus
inia
nm
ys-
teri
es.4
The
re is
no
need
to e
xten
d th
e lis
t, as
a r
easo
nabl
y co
m-
plet
e ac
coun
t is
avai
labl
e in
Phi
lippe
de
Felic
e's
com
preh
ensi
vest
udy
of th
e su
bjec
t, Po
ison
s sa
cres
, ivr
esse
s di
vine
s.M
ore
inte
rest
ing
than
the
fact
that
con
scio
usne
ss-c
hang
ing
devi
ces
have
bee
n lin
ked
with
rel
igio
n is
the
poss
ibili
ty th
at th
eyac
tual
ly in
itiat
ed m
any
of th
e re
ligio
us p
ersp
ectiv
es w
hich
, tak
ing
root
in h
isto
ry, c
ontin
ued
afte
r th
eir
psyc
hede
lic o
rigi
ns w
ere
for-
gotte
n.B
ergs
on s
aw th
e fi
rst m
ovem
ent o
f H
indu
s an
d G
reek
sto
war
d "d
ynam
ic r
elig
ion"
as
asso
ciat
ed w
ith th
e "d
ivin
era
p-tu
re"
foun
d in
into
xica
ting
beve
rage
s; 6
mor
e re
cent
ly R
ober
tG
rave
s, G
ordo
n W
asso
n, a
nd A
lan
Wat
ts h
ave
sugg
este
d th
at m
ost
relig
ions
aro
se f
rom
suc
h ch
emic
ally
indu
ced
theo
phan
ies.
Mar
y
2 E
dith
Ham
ilton
, Myt
holo
gy (
New
Yor
k: M
ento
r, 1
953)
, p. 5
5.8
Quo
ted
in A
lan
Wat
ts, T
he S
piri
t of
Zen
(N
ew Y
ork:
Gro
ve P
ress
,19
58),
p. 1
10.
4 G
eorg
e M
ylon
as, E
leus
is a
nd th
e E
leus
inia
n M
yste
ries
(Pr
ince
ton,
N.J
.:Pr
ince
ton
Uni
v. P
ress
, 196
1), p
. 284
.T
wo
Sour
ces
of M
oral
ity a
nd R
elig
ion
(New
Yor
k: H
olt,
1935
), p
p.20
6-21
2. 35
IMM
MN
MO
EN
ND
O D
RU
GS
HA
VE
RE
LIG
IOU
SIM
POR
T ?
519
Bar
nard
is th
e m
ost e
xplic
itpr
opon
ent o
f th
is th
esis
."W
hich
..
. was
mor
e lik
ely
to h
appe
n fi
rst,"
she
ask
s,°
"the
spo
ntan
eous
lyge
nera
ted
idea
of
an a
fter
life
inw
hich
the
dise
mbo
died
sou
l,lib
er-
ated
fro
m:th
e re
stri
ctio
ns o
f tim
ean
d sp
ace,
exp
erie
nces
ete
rnal
blis
s, o
r th
e ac
cide
ntal
dis
cove
ryof
hal
luci
noge
nic
plan
ts th
atgi
vea
sens
e, o
f eu
phor
ia, d
islo
cate
the
cent
er o
f co
nsci
ousn
ess,
and
dist
ort'.
tim
e an
dsp
ace,
mak
ing
them
bal
loon
out
war
d in
grea
tlyex
pand
ed v
ista
s?"
Her
own
answ
er is
that
"th
e [l
atte
r]ex
peri
-en
ce m
ight
hav
e ha
d.
.. a
n al
mos
t exp
losi
ve e
ffec
t on
the
larg
ely
dorm
ant m
inds
of
men
, cau
sing
them
to th
ink
of th
ings
they
had
neve
r th
ough
t of
befo
re.
Thi
s, if
you
like
, is
dire
ctre
vela
tion.
"H
er u
se o
f th
e su
bjun
ctiv
e"m
ight
" re
nder
s th
is f
orm
ulat
ion
ofhe
r an
swer
equ
ivoc
al, b
ut s
heco
nclu
des
her
essa
yon
a n
ote
that
isco
mpl
etel
y un
equi
voca
l: "L
ooki
ngat
the
mat
ter
cold
ly, u
nint
oxi-
cate
d an
d un
entr
ance
d, I
am w
illin
g to
pro
phes
y th
at f
ifty
theo
-bo
tani
sts
wor
king
for
fif
tyye
ars
wou
ld m
ake
the
curr
ent t
heor
ies
conc
erni
ng th
e or
igin
s of
muc
hm
ytho
logy
and
theo
logy
as o
ut-o
f-da
te a
s pr
e-C
oper
nica
n as
tron
omy.
"T
his
is a
n im
port
ant h
ypot
hesi
sone
whi
ch m
ust s
urel
yen
gage
the
atte
ntio
n of
his
tori
ans
of r
elig
ion
for
som
e tim
e to
com
e.B
utas
I a
m c
once
rned
her
e on
ly to
spo
t the
poin
ts a
t whi
ch th
e dr
ugs
erup
t ont
o th
e fi
eld
of s
erio
us r
elig
ious
stud
y, n
ot to
rid
e th
ege
yser
s to
wha
teve
r he
ight
s, I
sha
ll no
tpu
rsue
Mis
s B
arna
rd's
thes
is.
Hav
ing
loca
ted
wha
tap
pear
s to
be
the
crux
of
the
his-
tori
cal q
uest
ion,
nam
ely
the
exte
nt to
whi
ch d
rugs
not m
erel
ydu
plic
ate
or s
imul
ate
theo
logi
cally
spon
sore
d ex
peri
ence
s bu
t gen
er-
ate
or s
hape
theo
logi
es th
emse
lves
,I
turn
to p
heno
men
olog
y.
2. D
rugs
and
Rel
igio
n V
iew
edPh
enom
enol
ogic
ally
Phen
omen
olog
y at
tem
pts
a ca
refu
l des
crip
tion
of h
uman
ex-
peri
ence
.T
he q
uest
ion
the
drug
spo
se f
or th
e ph
enom
enol
ogy
ofre
ligio
n, th
eref
ore,
is w
heth
er th
eex
peri
ence
s th
ey in
duce
diff
erfr
om r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
rea
ched
natu
rally
, and
ifso
how
.E
ven
the
Bib
le n
otes
that
che
mic
ally
indu
ced
psyc
hic
stat
esbe
ar s
ome
rese
mbl
ance
to r
elig
ious
ones
.Pe
ter
had
to a
ppea
lto
aci
rcum
stan
tial c
rite
rion
the
earl
yho
ur o
f th
e da
yto
defe
ndth
ose
who
wer
e ca
ught
up in
the
Pent
ecos
tal e
xper
ienc
eag
ains
tth
e ch
arge
that
they
wer
e m
erel
ydr
unk
:"T
hese
men
are
not
drun
k, a
s yo
u su
ppos
e, s
ince
it is
onl
yth
e th
ird
hour
of
the
day"
(Act
s 2:
15)
; and
Pau
l ini
tiate
s th
eco
mpa
riso
n w
hen
he a
dmon
ishe
sth
e E
phes
ians
not
to "
get d
runk
with
win
e.
.. b
ut [
to]
be f
illed
5 "T
he G
od in
the
Flow
erpo
t," T
he A
mer
ican
Scho
lar
32, 4
(A
utum
n,19
63):
584
, 586
.
36
52,/
RIS
E P
AN
Alig
PPR
SOM
I11
.11
with
the
spir
it" (
Eph
esia
ns 5
:18)
.A
re s
uch
com
pari
sons
, par
al-
lele
d in
the
acco
unts
of
virt
ually
eve
ry r
elig
ion,
sup
erfi
cial
?H
owfa
r ca
n th
ey b
e pu
shed
?N
ot a
ll th
e w
ay, s
tude
nts
of r
elig
ion
have
thus
far
insi
sted
.W
ith r
espe
ct to
the
new
dru
gs, P
rof.
R. C
. Zae
hner
has
dra
wn
the
line
emph
atic
ally
."T
he im
port
ance
of
Hux
ley'
s D
oors
of
Per-
cept
ion,
" he
wri
tes,
"is
that
in it
the
auth
or c
lear
ly m
akes
the
clai
m th
at w
hat h
e ex
peri
ence
d un
der
the
infl
uenc
e of
rae
scal
inis
clo
sely
com
para
ble
to a
gen
uine
mys
tical
exp
erie
nce.
If h
e is
righ
t,.
..
the
conc
lusi
ons
..
. are
alar
min
g."
IZ
aehn
er th
inks
that
Hux
ley
is n
ot r
ight
, but
I f
ear
that
it is
Zae
hner
who
ism
ista
ken.
The
re a
re, o
f co
urse
, inn
umer
able
dru
g ex
peri
ence
s th
at h
ave
no r
elig
ious
fea
ture
; the
y ca
n be
sen
sual
as
read
ily a
s sp
iritu
al,
triv
ial a
s re
adily
as
tran
sfor
min
g, c
apri
ciou
s as
rea
dily
as
sacr
a-m
enta
l.If
ther
e is
one
poi
nt a
bout
whi
ch e
very
stu
dent
of
the
drug
s ag
rees
, it i
s th
at th
ere
is n
o su
ch th
ing
as th
e dr
ug e
xper
i-en
ce p
er s
eno
expe
rien
ce th
at th
e dr
ugs,
as
it w
ere,
mer
ely
secr
ete.
Eve
ry e
xper
ienc
e is
a m
ix o
f th
ree
ingr
edie
nts:
dru
g, s
et(t
he p
sych
olog
ical
mak
e-up
of
the
indi
vidu
al),
and
set
ting
(the
soci
al a
nd p
hysi
cal e
nvir
onm
ent i
n w
hich
it is
take
n).
But
giv
enth
e ri
ght s
et a
nd s
ettin
g, th
e dr
ugs
can
indu
ce r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
indi
stin
guis
habl
e fr
om e
xper
ienc
es th
at o
ccur
spo
ntan
eous
ly.
Nor
need
set
and
set
ting
be e
xcep
tiona
l.T
he w
ay th
e st
atis
tics
are
curr
ently
run
ning
, it l
ooks
as
if f
rom
one
-fou
rth
to o
ne-t
hird
of
the
gene
ral p
opul
atio
n w
ill h
ave
relig
ious
exp
erie
nces
if th
ey ta
keth
e dr
ugs
unde
r na
tura
listic
con
ditio
ns, m
eani
ng b
y th
is c
ondi
tions
in w
hich
the
rese
arch
er s
uppo
rts
the
subj
ect b
ut d
oes
not t
ry to
infl
uenc
e th
e di
rect
ion
his
expe
rien
ce w
ill ta
ke.
Am
ong
subj
ects
who
hav
e st
rong
rel
igio
us in
clin
atio
ns to
beg
in w
ith, t
he p
ropo
rtio
nof
thos
e ha
ving
rel
igio
us e
xper
ienc
es ju
mps
to th
ree-
four
ths.
Ifth
ey ta
ke th
e dr
ugs
in s
ettin
gs th
at a
re r
elig
ious
too,
the
ratio
soar
s to
nin
e in
ten.
How
do
we
know
that
the
expe
rien
ces
thes
e pe
ople
hav
e re
ally
are
relig
ious
? W
e ca
n be
gin
with
the
fact
that
they
say
they
are
.T
he "
one-
four
th to
one
-thi
rd o
f th
e ge
nera
l pop
ulat
ion"
fig
ure
isdr
awn
from
two
sour
ces.
Ten
mon
ths
afte
r th
ey h
ad h
ad th
eir
expe
rien
ces,
24
per
cent
of
the
194
subj
ects
in a
stu
dy b
y th
eC
alif
orni
a ps
ychi
atri
st O
scar
Jan
iger
cha
ract
eriz
ed th
eir
expe
ri-
ence
s as
hav
ing
been
rel
igio
us.8
Thi
rty-
two
per
cent
of
the
74
7 M
ystic
ism
, Sac
red
and
Prof
ane
(New
Yor
k: O
xfor
d, 1
961)
, p. 1
2.3
Quo
ted
in W
illia
m H
. McG
loth
lin, "
Lon
g-la
stin
g E
ffec
ts o
f L
SD o
nC
erta
in A
ttitu
des
in N
orm
als,
" pr
inte
d fo
r pr
ivat
e di
stri
butio
n by
the
RA
ND
Cor
pora
tion,
May
, 196
2, p
. 16.
37
MO
in O
M E
MD
O D
RU
GS
HA
VE
RE
LIG
IOU
SIM
POR
T?
521
subj
ects
in D
itrna
n an
d H
aym
an's
stud
y re
port
ed, l
ooki
ng b
ack
on th
eir
LSD
exp
erie
nce,
that
it lo
oked
as if
it h
ad b
een
"ver
ym
uch"
or
"qui
tia b
it"a
relig
ious
exp
erie
nce;
42
per
cent
che
cked
as tr
ue th
e st
atem
ent t
hat t
hey
"wer
ele
ft w
ith a
gre
ater
awar
enes
sof
God
, or
a hi
gher
pow
er, o
r ul
timat
e re
ality
." 9
The
sta
tem
ent
that
thre
e-fo
urth
s of
sub
ject
sha
ving
rel
igio
us "
sets
" w
illha
vere
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
esco
mes
fro
m th
e re
port
s of
six
ty-n
ine
relig
ious
prof
essi
onal
s w
ho to
ok th
edr
ugs
whi
le th
e H
arva
rdpr
ojec
t was
in p
rogr
ess.
"In
the
abse
nce
of (
a)a
sing
le d
efin
ition
of
relig
ious
expe
rien
ceac
cept
able
to p
sych
olog
ists
of
relig
ion
gene
rally
and
(b)
fool
-pr
oof
way
s of
asc
erta
inin
g w
heth
erac
tual
exp
erie
nces
exe
mpl
ify
any
defi
nitio
n, I
am
not
sur
e th
ere
is a
ny b
ette
r w
ay o
f te
lling
whe
ther
the
expe
rien
ces
ofth
e 33
3 m
en a
ndw
omen
invo
lved
inth
e ab
ove
stud
ies
wer
e re
ligio
us th
an b
y no
ting
whe
ther
they
seem
ed s
o to
them
.B
ut if
mor
e ri
goro
usm
etho
ds a
re p
refe
rred
,th
ey e
xist
; the
y ha
ve b
een
utili
zed,
and
they
con
firm
the
conv
ictio
nof
the
man
in th
e st
reet
that
drug
exp
erie
nces
can
inde
ed b
e re
-lig
ious
.In
his
doc
tora
l stu
dyat
Har
vard
Uni
vers
ity, W
alte
rPa
hnke
wor
ked
out
a ty
polo
gy o
f re
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
e(i
n th
isin
stan
ce o
f th
e m
ystic
al v
arie
ty)
base
d on
the
clas
sic
case
s of
mys
-tic
al e
xper
ienc
es a
s su
mm
ariz
edin
Wal
ter
Stac
e's
Mys
ticis
man
dPh
iloso
phy.
He
then
adm
inis
tere
dps
ilocy
bin
to te
n th
eolo
gyst
uden
ts a
nd p
rofe
ssor
s in
the
setti
ng o
f a
Goo
d Fr
iday
serv
ice.
The
dru
g w
as g
iven
"do
uble
-blin
d,"
mea
ning
that
nei
ther
Dr.
Pahn
ke n
or h
is s
ubje
cts
knew
whi
ch te
n w
ere
getti
ngps
ilocy
bin
and
whi
ch te
n pl
aceb
os to
cons
titut
e a
cont
rol
grou
p. S
ubse
quen
tlyth
e re
port
s th
e su
bjec
tsw
rote
of
thei
r ex
peri
ence
sw
ere
laid
suc
-ce
ssiv
ely,
bef
ore
thre
e co
llege
-gra
duat
eho
usew
ives
who
, with
out
bein
g in
form
ed a
bout
the
natu
re o
f th
e st
udy,
wer
e as
ked
to r
ate
each
sta
tem
ent a
s to
the
degr
ee (
stro
ng,
mod
erat
e, s
light
, or
none
)to
whi
ch it
exe
mpl
ifie
d ea
ch o
fth
e ni
ne tr
aits
of
mys
tical
ex-
peri
ence
enu
mer
ated
in th
ety
polo
gy o
f m
ystic
ism
wor
ked
out i
nad
vanc
e. W
hen
the
test
of
sign
ific
ance
was
app
lied
to th
eir
sta-
tistic
s, it
sho
wed
that
"th
ose
subj
ects
who
rec
eive
d ps
ilocy
bin
ex-
peri
ence
d ph
enom
ena
whi
chw
ere
indi
stin
guis
habl
e fr
om, i
fno
tid
entic
al w
ith.
.. t
he c
ateg
orie
s de
fine
d by
our
typo
logy
of
mys
ticis
m."
11
9 Ib
id.,
pp. 4
5, 4
6.10
Tim
othy
Lea
ry, "
The
Rel
igio
us E
xper
ienc
e:It
s Pr
oduc
tion
and
Inte
r-pr
etat
ion,
" T
he P
sych
edel
ic R
evie
w,
1, 3
(19
64):
325
.11
"D
rugs
and
Mys
ticis
m :
An
Ana
lysi
sof
the
Rel
atio
nshi
p be
twee
nPs
y-ch
edel
ic D
rugs
and
the
Mys
tical
Con
scio
usne
ss,"
a th
esis
pre
sent
ed to
the
Com
mitt
ee o
n H
ighe
r D
egre
es in
His
tory
and
Philo
soph
y of
Rel
igio
n, H
arva
rdU
nive
rsity
, Jun
e 19
63.
1.10
MIN
522
NM
IIO
NIM
OIN
OE
NO
TH
E J
OU
RN
AL
OF
PHIL
OSO
PHY
With
the
thou
ght t
hat t
he r
eade
r m
ight
like
to te
st h
is o
wn
pow
ers
of d
isce
rnm
ent o
n th
e qu
estio
n be
ing
cons
ider
ed,
I in
sert
here
a s
impl
e te
st I
gav
e-to
a g
roup
of
Prin
ceto
n st
uden
ts f
ollo
win
ga
rece
nt d
iscu
ssio
n sp
onso
red
by .t
he W
oodr
ow W
ilson
*Soc
iety
:
Bel
ow a
re a
ccou
nts
of tw
o re
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
es.
One
occ
urre
d un
der,
the
infl
uenc
e of
dru
gs, o
ne w
ithou
t the
ir in
flue
ncer
Che
ck th
e on
e Y
OU
thin
k w
asdr
ug-i
nduc
ed.
Sudd
enly
I b
urst
into
a v
ast,
new
, ind
escr
ibab
ly w
onde
rful
uni
vers
e.A
l-th
ough
I a
m w
ritin
g th
is o
ver
a Y
ear
late
r, th
e th
rill
of th
e su
rpri
se a
ndam
azem
ent,
the
awes
omen
ess
of th
e re
vela
tion,
the
engu
lfm
ent i
n an
ove
r-w
helm
ing
feel
ing-
wav
e of
gra
titud
e an
d bl
esse
d w
onde
rmen
t, ar
e as
fre
sh,
and
the
mem
ory
of th
e ex
peri
ence
is a
s vi
vid,
as
if it
had
hap
pene
d fi
vem
inut
es a
go.
And
yet
to c
onco
ct a
nyth
ing
by w
ay o
f de
scri
ptio
n th
at w
ould
even
hin
t at t
he m
agni
tude
, the
sen
se o
f ul
timat
e re
ality
..
. thi
s se
ems
such
an
impo
ssib
le ta
sk.
The
kno
wle
dge
whi
ch h
as in
fuse
d an
d af
fect
edev
ery
aspe
ct o
f m
y lif
e ca
me
inst
anta
neou
sly
and
with
suc
h co
mpl
ete
forc
eof
cer
tain
ty th
at it
was
impo
ssib
le, t
hen
or s
ince
, to
doub
t its
val
idity
.
II
All
at o
nce,
with
out w
arni
ng o
f an
y ki
nd, I
fou
nd m
ysel
f w
rapp
ed in
a f
lam
e-co
lore
d cl
oud.
For
an in
stan
t I th
ough
t of
fire
..
. the
nex
t, I
knew
that
the
fire
was
with
in m
ysel
f.D
irec
tly a
fter
war
d th
ere
cam
e up
on m
e a
sens
eof
exu
ltatio
n, o
f im
men
se jo
yous
ness
acc
ompa
nied
or
imm
edia
tely
fol
low
edby
an
inte
llect
ual i
llum
inat
ion
impo
ssib
le to
des
crib
e. A
mon
g ot
her
thin
gs,
I di
d no
t mer
ely
com
e to
bel
ieve
, but
I s
aw th
at th
e un
iver
se is
not
com
-po
sed
of d
ead
mat
ter,
but
is, o
n th
e co
ntra
ry, a
livi
ng P
rese
nce;
I b
ecam
eco
nsci
ous
in m
ysel
f of
ete
rnal
life
..
..
I sa
w th
at a
ll m
en a
re im
mor
tal:
that
the
cosm
ic o
rder
is s
uch
that
with
out a
ny p
read
vent
ure
all t
hing
s w
ork
toge
ther
for
the
good
of
each
and
all;
that
the
foun
datio
n pr
inci
ple
of th
ew
orld
..
.is
wha
t we
call
love
, and
that
the
happ
ines
s of
eac
h an
d al
l is
inth
e lo
ng r
un a
bsol
utel
y ce
rtai
n.
On
the
occa
sion
ref
erre
d to
, tw
ice
as m
any
stud
ents
(46
) an
-sw
ered
inco
rrec
tly a
s an
swer
ed c
orre
ctly
(23
).I
bury
the
corr
ect
answ
er in
a f
ootn
ote
to p
rese
rve
the
read
er's
opp
ortu
nity
to te
sthi
mse
lf.2
2W
hy, i
n th
e fa
ce o
f th
is c
onsi
dera
ble
evid
ence
, doe
s Z
aehn
erho
ld th
at d
rug
expe
rien
ces
cann
ot b
e au
then
tical
ly r
elig
ious
?T
here
app
ear
to b
e th
ree
reas
ons:
12 T
he f
irst
acc
ount
is q
uote
d an
onym
ousl
y in
"T
he I
ssue
of
the
Con
-sc
ious
ness
-exp
endi
ng D
rugs
," A
lain
Cur
rent
s in
Mod
ern
Tho
ught
, 20,
1 (
Sep-
tem
berO
ctob
er, 1
963)
: 10-
11.
The
sec
ond
expe
rien
ce w
as th
at o
f D
r. P
..M
. Buc
ke, t
he a
utho
r of
Cos
mic
Con
scio
usne
ss, a
s qu
oted
in W
illia
m J
ames
,T
he V
arie
ties
of R
elig
ious
Exp
erie
nce
(New
Yor
k: M
oder
n L
ibra
ry, 1
902)
,pp
. 390
- -3
91.
The
for
mer
exp
erie
nce
occu
rred
und
er th
e in
flue
nce
of d
rugs
;th
e la
tter
did
not.
39
INN
NM
IIN
EM
IN11
.1D
O D
RU
GS
HA
VE
RE
LIG
IOU
S IM
POR
T?
523
1. A
is o
wn
expe
rien
ce w
as "
utte
rly
triv
ial."
Thi
s of
cou
rse
prov
es th
at n
ot a
ll:di
ng e
xper
ienc
es a
re r
elig
ious
; it d
oes
not
prov
eth
at n
o dr
ug e
xPer
iene
eS:a
re: r
elig
ious
:.
2:ex
Peri
ence
s of
.oth
ers
that
app
ear
relig
ious
toth
em a
rena
trul
y so
.Z
aehn
er d
istin
gniS
hes
thre
e ki
nds
of m
ysti-
eiSi
n:na
ture
mys
tiCiS
ra, i
n w
hich
the
soul
is u
nite
d w
ith th
ena
tura
lW
orld
:: m
onis
tic in
yitic
ism
, in
whi
ch th
e so
ulm
erge
s w
ith a
nim
pers
onal
abs
olut
e ; a
nd th
eism
, in
whi
ch th
e so
ulco
nfro
nts
the
livin
g, p
erso
nal G
od. H
e co
nced
es th
at d
rugs
can
indu
ce th
efi
rst t
wo
spec
ies
of m
ystic
ism
, but
not
its
supr
eme
inst
ance
, the
thei
stic
.A
s pr
oof,
he
anal
yzes
Hux
ley'
s ex
peri
ence
as r
ecou
nted
in T
he D
oors
of
Perc
eptio
n to
sho
w th
at it
pro
duce
dat
bes
t abl
end.
of
natu
re a
nd m
onis
tic m
ystic
ism
.E
ven
if w
e w
ere
toac
cept
Zae
liner
'S e
valu
atio
n O
f th
e th
ree
form
s of
mys
ticis
m, H
ux-
ley'
s ca
se, a
nd in
deed
Zae
hner
's e
ntir
e bo
ok, w
ould
prov
e on
lyth
at n
ot e
very
mys
tical
exp
erie
nce
indu
ced
by th
e dr
ugs
is th
eist
ic.
Inso
far
as Z
aehn
er g
oes
beyo
nd th
is to
impl
y th
atdr
ugs
do n
ot a
ndca
nnot
indu
ce th
eiSt
ic m
ystic
ism
, he
not o
nly
goes
bey
ond
the
evid
ence
but
pro
ceed
s in
the
face
of
it.Ja
mes
Slo
tkin
rep
orts
that
the
.pey
ote
Indi
ans.
"se
e vi
sion
s, w
hich
may
be
of C
hris
t Him
self
.So
inet
inte
s th
ey h
ear
the
voic
e of
the
Gre
at S
piri
t.So
met
imes
they
.bec
ome
awar
e of
the
pres
ence
of
God
and
of
thos
e pe
rson
alsh
ortc
omin
gs w
hich
mus
t be
corr
ecte
d if
they
are
to d
o H
is w
ill."
13
And
G.:
M. C
arst
airs
, rep
ortin
gon
the
use
of p
sych
edel
ic b
hang
in I
ndia
, quo
tes
a B
rahm
inas
say
ing,
"It
giv
es g
ood
bhak
ti..
..
You
get
a v
ery
good
bha
kti w
ith h
hang
," b
hakt
ibe
ing
prec
isel
yH
indu
ism
's th
eist
ic v
aria
nt.1
43.
The
re is
a th
ird
reas
on w
hy Z
aehn
er m
ight
doub
t tha
t dru
gsca
n in
duce
gen
uine
ly m
ystic
al e
xper
ienc
es.
Zae
hner
is a
Rom
anC
atho
lic, a
nd R
oman
Cat
holic
doc
trin
e te
ache
s th
atm
ystic
al r
ap-
ture
is a
gif
t of
grac
e an
d as
suc
h ca
nne
ver
be r
educ
ed to
man
'sco
ntro
l.T
his
may
be
true
; ce
rtai
nly
the
empi
rica
l evi
denc
eci
ted
does
not
pre
clud
e th
e po
ssib
ility
of
a ge
nuin
e on
tolo
gica
l or
theo
-lo
gica
l dif
fere
nce
betw
een
natu
ral a
nd d
rug-
indu
ced
relig
ious
ex-
peri
ence
s.A
t thi
s po
int,
how
ever
, we
are
cons
ider
ing
phen
ome-
nolo
gy r
athe
r th
an o
ntol
ogy,
des
crip
tion
rath
erth
an in
terp
reta
tion,
and
on th
is le
vel t
here
is n
o di
ffer
ence
.D
escr
iptiv
ely,
dru
g ex
-pe
rien
ces
cann
ot b
e di
stin
guis
hed
from
thei
rna
tura
l rel
igio
usco
unte
rpar
t. W
hen
the
curr
ent p
hilo
soph
ical
aut
hori
tyon
mys
ti-ci
sm, W
. T. S
tace
, was
ask
ed w
heth
er th
e dr
ugex
peri
ence
is s
imila
r
13 J
ames
S. S
lotk
in, P
eyot
e R
elig
ion
(New
Yor
k: F
ree
Pres
sof
Gle
ncoe
,19
56). 14
"D
arn
and
Bha
ng,"
Qua
rter
ly J
ourn
al o
f th
e St
udy
ofA
lcoh
ol, 1
5(1
954)
: 229
.
40
Ell
OM
Ell
OM
MN
1=-
524
TH
E J
OU
RN
AL
OF
PHIL
OSO
PHY
to th
e m
ystic
al e
xper
ienc
e, h
e an
swer
ed, "
It's
not
a m
atte
r of
its
bein
g si
mila
r to
mys
tical
exp
erie
nce;
it is
mys
tical
exp
erie
nce.
"
Wha
t we
seem
to b
e w
itnes
sing
in Z
aehn
er's
Mys
ticis
m S
acre
dan
d Pr
ofan
e is
a r
eena
ctm
ent o
f th
e ag
e-ol
d pa
ttern
in th
e co
n-fl
ict b
etw
een
scie
nce
and
relig
ion.
Whe
neve
r a
new
.con
trov
ersy
aris
es, r
elig
ion'
s fi
rst i
mpu
lse
is to
den
y th
e di
stur
bing
evi
denc
esc
ienc
e ha
s pr
oduc
ed.
Seen
in p
ersp
ectiv
e, Z
aehn
er's
ref
usal
toad
mit
that
dru
gs c
an in
duce
exp
erie
nces
des
crip
tivel
y in
dist
in-
guis
habl
e fr
om th
ose
whi
ch a
re s
pont
aneo
usly
rel
igio
us is
the
curr
ent c
ount
erpa
rt o
f th
e se
vent
eent
h-ce
ntur
y th
eolo
gian
s' r
efus
alto
look
thro
ugh
Gal
ileo'
s te
lesc
ope
or, w
hen
they
did
, the
ir p
er-
sist
ence
on
dism
issi
ng w
hat t
hey
saw
as
mac
hina
tions
of
the
devi
l.W
hen
the
fact
that
dru
gs c
an tr
igge
r re
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
es b
ecom
esin
cont
rove
rtib
le, d
iscu
ssio
n w
ill m
ove
to th
e m
ore
diff
ieul
t que
stio
nof
how
this
new
fac
t is
to b
e in
terp
rete
d.T
he la
tter
ques
tion
lead
s be
yond
phe
nom
enol
ogy
into
phi
loso
phy.
3. D
rugs
and
Rel
igio
n V
iew
ed P
hilo
soph
ical
ly
Why
do
peop
le r
ejec
t evi
denc
e?B
ecau
se th
ey f
ind
it th
reat
-en
ing,
we
may
sup
pose
.T
heol
ogia
ns a
re n
ot th
e on
ly p
rofe
ssio
nals
to u
tiliz
e th
is m
ode
of d
efen
se.
In h
is P
erso
nal.
_Kno
wle
dge,
"M
icha
el P
olan
yi r
ecou
nts
the
way
the
med
ical
pro
fess
inn
igno
red
such
pal
pabl
e fa
cts
as th
e pa
inle
ss a
mpu
tatio
n of
Inm
an. l
imbs
,pe
rfor
med
bef
ore
thei
r ow
n ey
es in
hun
dred
s of
suc
cess
ive
ease
s,co
nclu
ding
that
the
subj
ects
wer
e im
post
ers
who
wer
e ei
ther
delu
ding
thei
r ph
ysic
ians
or
collu
ding
with
them
.O
ne p
hysi
cian
,E
sdai
le, c
arri
ed o
ut a
bout
300
maj
or o
pera
tions
pai
nles
sly.
und
erm
esm
eric
tran
ce in
Ind
ia, b
ut n
eith
er in
Ind
ia n
or in
Gre
at B
rita
inco
uld
he g
et m
edic
al jo
urna
ls to
pri
nt a
ccou
nts
of h
is w
ork.
Pola
nyi a
ttrib
utes
this
clo
sed-
min
dedn
ess
to "
lack
of
a co
ncep
tual
fram
ewor
k in
whi
ch th
eir
disc
over
ies
coul
d be
sep
arat
ed f
rom
spec
ious
and
unt
enab
le a
dmix
ture
s."
The
"un
tena
ble
adm
ixtu
re"
in th
e fa
ct th
at p
sych
otom
imet
icdr
ugs
can
indu
ce r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nce
is it
s ap
pare
nt im
plic
ate:
that
rel
igio
us d
iscl
osur
es a
re n
o m
ore
veri
dica
l tha
n ps
ycho
ticon
es.
For
relig
ious
ske
ptic
s, th
is c
oncl
usio
n is
obv
ious
ly n
ot u
n-te
nabl
e at
all;
itfi
ts in
bea
utif
ully
with
thei
r th
esis
that
all
relig
ion
is a
t hea
rt a
n es
cape
fro
m r
ealit
y.Ps
ycho
tics
avoi
dre
ality
by
retir
ing
into
dre
am w
orld
s of
mak
e-be
lieve
; wha
t bet
ter
evid
ence
that
rel
igio
us v
isio
nari
es d
o th
e sa
me
than
the
fact
that
iden
tical
cha
nges
in b
rain
che
mis
try
prod
uce
both
sta
tes
of m
ind?
15 C
hica
go: U
niv.
of
Chi
cago
Pre
ss, 1
958.
41
Min
MO
MIM
IM
in1.
1D
O D
RU
GS
HA
VE
RE
LIG
IOU
SIM
POR
T?
525
Had
not
Mar
x al
read
y w
arne
dus
that
rel
igio
n is
the
"opi
ate"
of th
e pe
ople
7.-
-app
aren
tly h
ew
as m
ore
liter
ally
acc
urat
e th
anhe
sup
POse
d.Fr
eud
was
like
wis
e to
o m
ild.
He
"nev
er d
oubt
edth
at r
elig
ious
phe
nom
ena
are
to b
e un
ders
tood
onl
y on
the
mod
elof
the
neur
otic
sym
ptom
s of
the
indi
vidu
al."
16
He
shou
ld h
ave
said
" p
sych
otic
Aym
ptom
s."
So th
e re
ligio
us s
kept
ic is
like
lyto
rea
son.
W h
at a
bout
the
relig
ious
bel
ieve
r?C
onvi
nced
that
rel
igio
us e
xper
ienc
esar
e no
tfu
ndam
enta
lly d
elus
ory,
can
he a
dmit
that
psy
chot
omim
etic
dru
gsca
n oc
casi
on th
em?
To
do s
o he
nee
ds (
tore
turn
to P
olan
yi's
wor
ds)
"a c
once
ptua
l fra
mew
ork
in w
hich
[th
e di
scov
erie
s ca
n]be
sep
arat
ed f
rom
spe
ciou
san
d un
tena
ble
adm
ixtu
res,
" th
e "u
n-te
nabl
e ad
mix
ture
" be
ing
isth
is c
ase
the
conc
lusi
on th
atre
-lig
ious
exp
erie
nces
are
in g
ener
al d
elus
ory.
One
way
to e
ffec
t the
sep
arat
ion
wou
ld b
e to
arg
ue th
at, d
espi
teph
enoM
enol
ogic
al s
imila
ritie
sbe
twee
n na
tura
l and
dru
g-in
duce
dre
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
es, t
hey
are
sepa
rate
d by
a c
ruci
al o
ntol
ogic
aldi
ffer
ence
.Su
ch a
n ar
gum
ent w
ould
fol
low
the
patte
rn o
f th
eo-
logi
ans
who
arg
ue f
or th
e"r
eal p
rese
nce"
of
Chr
ist's
body
and
bloo
d in
the
brea
d an
d w
ine
of th
e E
ucha
rist
des
pite
thei
rad
mis
-si
on th
at c
hem
ical
Ana
lysi
s,co
nfin
ed a
s it
is to
the
leve
l of
"acc
i-de
nts"
rat
her
than
"es
senc
es,"
wou
ld n
ot d
iscl
ose
this
pres
ence
.B
ut th
iS d
istin
ctio
n w
illno
t app
eal t
o m
any
toda
y, f
or it
turn
son
an
esse
nce-
acc
iden
t met
aphy
sics
whi
chis
not
wid
ely
acce
pted
.In
stea
d of
fig
htin
ga
rear
-gua
rd a
ctio
n by
insi
stin
g th
at if
drug
and
non-
drug
rel
igio
usex
peri
ence
s ca
nnot
be
dist
ingu
ishe
dem
-pi
rica
lly th
ere
mus
t be
som
e tr
anse
mpi
rica
l fac
tor
that
dis
tin-
gnis
hes
them
and
ren
ders
the
drug
expe
rien
ce p
rofa
ne, I
wis
hto
eipl
ore
the
poss
ibili
ty o
f ac
cept
ing
drug
-ind
uced
exp
erie
nces
asre
ligio
us w
ithou
t rel
inqu
ishi
ngco
nfid
ence
in th
e tr
uth-
clai
ms
ofre
ligio
us e
xper
ienc
e ge
nera
lly.
To
begi
n w
ith th
e w
eake
st o
f al
lar
gum
ents
, the
arg
umen
t fro
mau
thor
ity :
Will
iam
Jam
es d
idno
t dis
coun
t his
insi
ghts
that
oc-
curr
ed w
hile
his
bra
in c
hem
istr
yw
as a
ltere
d.T
he p
arag
raph
inw
hich
he
retr
ospe
ctiv
ely
eval
uate
shi
s ni
trou
s ox
ide
expe
rien
ces
has
beco
me
clas
sic,
but
it is
so p
ertin
ent t
o th
e pr
esen
t dis
cuss
ion
that
it m
erits
quo
ting
once
aga
in.
One
con
clus
ion
was
for
ced
upon
my
min
d at
that
tim
e, a
ndm
y im
pres
sion
Of
its tr
uth
has
ever
sin
cere
mai
ned
unsh
aken
.It
is th
at o
ur n
orm
al w
akin
gco
nsci
ousn
ess,
rat
iona
l con
scio
usne
ssas
we
call
it, is
but
one
spe
cial
type
of
cons
ciou
snes
s, w
hils
t all
abou
t it,
part
edfr
om it
by
the
film
iest
of
scre
ens,
ther
e lie
pot
entia
l for
ms
ofco
nsci
ousn
ess
entir
ely
diff
eren
t.W
e m
ay g
o16
Tot
em a
nd T
aboo
(N
ew Y
ork:
Mod
ern
Lib
rary
, 193
8).
42
I= M
O52
6T
HE
JO
UR
NA
L O
F PH
ILO
SOPH
Y
thro
ugh
life
with
out s
uspe
ctin
g th
eir
exis
tenc
e; b
ut a
pply
the
requ
isite
stim
u-lu
s, a
nd a
t a to
uch
they
are
ther
e in
all
thei
r co
mpl
eten
ess,
def
inite
type
s of
men
talit
y w
hich
pro
babl
y so
mew
here
hav
e th
eir
fiel
dof
app
licat
ion
and
adap
tatio
n.N
o ac
coun
t of
the
univ
erse
in it
s to
talit
y ca
n be
fin
al w
hich
leav
es th
ese
othe
r fo
rms
of c
onsc
ious
ness
qui
te d
isre
gard
ed. H
ow to
reg
ard
them
is th
e qu
estio
nfor
they
are
so
disc
ontin
uous
with
ord
inar
y co
nsci
ous-
ness
.Y
et th
ey m
ay d
eter
min
e at
titud
es th
ough
they
can
not f
urni
sh f
orm
ulas
,an
d op
en a
reg
ion
thou
gh th
ey f
ail t
o gi
ve a
map
.A
t any
rat
e, th
ey f
orbi
da
prem
atur
e cl
osin
g of
our
acc
ount
s w
ith r
ealit
y.L
ooki
ng b
ack
on m
y ow
nex
peri
ence
s, th
ey a
ll co
nver
ge to
war
d a
kind
of
insi
ght t
o w
hich
I c
anno
t hel
pas
crib
ing
som
e m
etap
hysi
cal s
igni
fica
nce
(op.
cit.
, 378
-379
).
To
this
arg
umen
t fro
m a
utho
rity
, I a
dd tw
o ar
gum
ents
that
try
to p
rovi
de s
omet
hing
by
way
s of
rea
sons
.D
rug
expe
rien
ces
that
ass
ume
a re
ligio
us c
ast t
end
to h
ave
fear
ful a
nd/o
r be
atif
icfe
atur
es, a
nd e
ach
of m
y hy
poth
eses
rel
ates
to o
ne o
f th
ese
aspe
cts
of th
e ex
peri
ence
.B
egin
ning
with
the
omin
ous,
"fe
ar o
f th
e L
ord,
" aw
e-fu
l fea
-tu
res,
Gor
don
Was
son,
the
New
Yor
k ba
nker
-tur
ned-
myc
olog
ist,
desc
ribe
s th
ese
as h
e en
coun
tere
d th
em in
his
psi
locy
bin
expe
rien
ceas
fol
low
s :
"Ecs
tasy
!In
com
mon
par
lanc
e.
.ec
stas
y is
fun
..
.. B
ut e
csta
sy is
not
fun
.Y
our
very
sou
l is
seiz
ed a
nd s
hake
nun
til it
ting
les.
Aft
er a
ll, w
ho w
ill c
hoos
e to
fee
l und
ilute
d aw
e ?
..
The
unk
now
ing
vulg
ar a
buse
the
wor
d; w
e m
ust r
ecap
ture
its f
ull a
nd te
rrif
ying
sen
se."
17
Em
otio
nally
the
drug
exp
erie
nce
can
be li
ke h
avin
g fo
rty-
foot
wav
es c
rash
ove
r yo
u fo
r se
vera
lho
urs
whi
le y
ou c
ling
desp
erat
ely
to a
life
-raf
t whi
ch m
ay b
esw
ept f
rom
und
er y
ou a
t any
min
ute.
It s
eem
s qu
ite p
ossi
ble
that
suc
h an
ord
eal,
like
any
expe
rien
ce o
f a
clos
e ca
ll, c
ould
-aw
aken
rat
her
fund
amen
tal s
entim
ents
res
pect
ing
life
and
deat
han
d de
stin
y an
d tr
igge
r th
e "n
o at
heis
ts in
fox
hole
s" e
ffec
t.Si
mi-
larl
y, a
s th
e su
bjec
t em
erge
s fr
om th
e tr
aum
a an
d re
aliz
es th
athe
is n
ot g
oing
to b
e in
sane
as
he h
ad f
eare
d, th
ere
may
com
eov
er h
im a
n in
tens
ifie
d ap
prec
iatio
n lik
e th
at f
requ
ently
rep
orte
dby
pat
ient
s re
cove
ring
fro
m c
ritic
al il
lnes
s."I
t hap
pene
d on
the
day
whe
n an
y be
d w
as p
ushe
d ou
t of
door
s to
the
open
gal
lery
of th
e ho
spita
l," r
eads
one
suc
h re
port
:
I ca
nnot
now
rec
all w
heth
er th
e re
vela
tion
cam
e su
dden
ly o
r gr
adua
lly; I
only
rem
embe
r fi
ndin
g m
ysel
f in
the
very
mid
st o
f th
ose
won
derf
ul m
omen
ts,
beho
ldin
g lif
e fo
r th
e fi
rst t
ime
in a
ll its
you
ng in
toxi
catio
n of
love
lines
s,in
its
unsp
eaka
ble
joy,
bea
uty,
and
impo
rtan
ce.
I ca
nnot
say
exa
ctly
wha
tth
e m
yste
riou
s ch
ange
was
.I
saw
no
new
thin
g, b
ut I
saw
all
the
usua
lth
ings
in a
mir
acul
ous
new
ligh
t---
in w
hat I
bel
ieve
is th
eir
true
ligh
t.I
17 "
The
Hal
luci
noge
nic
Fung
i of
Mex
ico:
An
Inqu
iry
into
the
Ori
gins
of th
e R
elig
ious
Ide
a am
ong
Prim
itive
Peo
ples
," H
arva
rd B
otan
ical
Mus
eum
Lea
flet
s, 1
9, 7
(19
61).
43
MO
MS
1111
ID
O D
RU
GS
HA
VE
RE
LIG
IOU
S IM
POR
T?
527
saw
for
the
firs
t tim
e ho
w w
ildly
bea
utif
ul a
nd jo
yous
, bey
ond
any
wor
dsof
min
e to
des
crib
e, is
the
who
le o
f lif
e.E
very
hum
an b
eing
mov
ing
acro
ssth
at p
orch
, eve
ry s
parr
ow th
at f
lew
,ev
ery
bran
ch to
ssin
g in
the
win
d, w
asca
ught
in a
nd w
as a
par
t of
the
who
le m
ad e
csta
sy o
flo
velin
ess,
of
joy,
of
impo
rtan
ce, o
f in
toxi
catio
n of
life
.18
If w
e do
not
dis
coun
t rel
igio
us in
tuiti
ons
beca
use
they
are
pro
mpt
edby
bat
tlefi
elds
and
phy
sica
l cri
ses;
ifw
e re
gard
the
latte
r as
"ca
ll-in
g us
to o
ur s
ense
s"m
ore
ofte
n th
an th
ey s
educ
e us
into
del
usio
ns,
need
com
para
ble
intu
ition
s be
dis
coun
ted
sim
ply
beca
use
the
cris
esth
at tr
igge
r th
em a
re o
f an
inne
r, p
sych
icva
riet
y?T
urni
ng f
rom
the
helli
sh to
the
heav
enly
aspe
cts
of th
e dr
ugex
peri
ence
, som
e of
the
latte
r m
ay b
e ex
plai
nabl
eby
the
hypo
thes
isju
st s
tate
d; th
at is
, the
y m
ay h
e oc
casi
oned
by th
e re
lief
that
atte
nds
the
sens
e of
esc
ape
from
hig
h da
nger
.B
ut th
is h
ypot
hesi
sca
nnot
pos
sibl
y ac
coun
t for
all
the
beat
ific
epi
sode
s,fo
r th
e si
mpl
ere
ason
that
the
posi
tive
epis
odes
oft
en c
ome
firs
t,or
to p
erso
ns w
hoex
peri
ence
no
nega
tive
epis
odes
wha
teve
r.D
r. S
anfo
rd U
nger
of th
e N
atio
nal I
nstit
ute
of M
enta
l Hea
lthre
port
s th
at a
mon
g hi
ssu
bjec
ts "
50 to
60%
will
not
man
ifes
tan
y re
al d
istu
rban
cew
orth
y of
dis
cuss
ion,
" ye
t "ar
ound
75%
will
have
at l
east
one
epis
ode
in w
hich
exa
ltatio
n, r
aptu
re, a
nd jo
yar
e th
e ke
y de
scri
p-tio
ns."
19
How
are
we
to a
ccou
nt f
or th
e dr
ug's
capa
city
to in
duce
peak
exp
erie
nces
, suc
h as
the
follo
win
g, w
hich
are
not p
rece
ded
by f
ear?
A f
eelin
g of
gre
at p
eace
and
con
tent
men
t see
med
to f
low
thro
ugh
my
entir
ebo
dy.
All
soun
d ce
ased
and
I s
eem
ed to
be
floa
ting
ina
grea
t, ve
ry v
ery
still
voi
d or
hem
isph
ere.
It is
impo
ssib
le to
des
crib
e th
e ov
erpo
wer
ing
feel
ing
of p
eace
, con
tent
men
t, an
d be
ing
a pa
rt o
f go
odne
ssits
elf
that
I f
elt.
Ico
uld
feel
my
body
dis
solv
ing
and
actu
ally
bec
omin
ga
part
of
the
good
ness
and
peac
e th
at w
as a
ll ar
ound
me.
Wor
ds c
an't
desc
ribe
this
.I
feel
an
awe
and
won
der
that
suc
h a
feel
ing
coul
d ha
ve o
ccur
red
to m
e.co
Con
side
r th
e fo
llow
ing
line
of a
rgum
ent.
Lik
e ev
ery
othe
r fo
rmof
life
, man
's n
atur
e ha
s be
com
e di
stin
ctiv
eth
roug
h sp
ecia
lizat
ion.
Man
has
spe
cial
ized
in d
evel
opin
ga
cere
bral
cor
tex.
The
ana
lytic
pow
ers
of th
is in
stru
men
t are
a s
tand
ing
won
der,
but
the
inst
ru-
men
t see
ms
less
abl
e to
pro
vide
man
with
the
sens
e th
at h
e is
mea
ning
fully
rel
ated
to h
is e
nvir
onm
ent:
to li
fe,
the
wor
ld, a
ndhi
stor
y in
thei
r w
hole
ness
.A
s A
lber
t Cam
as d
escr
ibes
the
situ
a-
18 M
arga
ret P
resc
ott M
onta
gue,
Tw
enty
Min
utes
of
Rea
lity
(St.
Paul
,M
inn.
: Mac
ales
ter
Park
, 194
7), p
p. 1
5, 1
7.19
"T
he C
urre
nt S
cien
tific
Sta
tus
of P
sych
edel
icD
rug
Res
earc
h,"
read
at th
e C
onfe
renc
e on
Met
hods
in P
hilo
soph
y an
d th
e Sc
ienc
es,
New
Sch
ool f
orSo
cial
Res
earc
h, M
ay 3
, 196
4, a
nd s
ched
uled
for
pub
licat
ion
in D
avid
Sol
omon
,ed
., T
he C
onsc
ious
Exp
ande
rs (
New
Yor
k: P
utna
m, f
all
of 1
964)
.20
Quo
ted
by D
r. U
nger
in th
e pa
per
just
men
tione
d.44
1111
1.11
111=
1=11
1=III
IIMIN
NIM
II52
8T
HE
JO
UR
NA
L O
F PH
ILO
SOPH
Y
tion,
"If
I w
ere
..
. a c
at a
mon
gan
imal
s, th
is li
fe w
ould
hav
ea
mea
ning
, or
rath
er th
is p
robl
em w
ould
not
ari
se,
for
I sh
ould
belo
ng to
this
wor
ld.
I w
ould
be
this
wor
ld to
whi
ch I
am
now
oppo
sed
by m
y w
hole
con
scio
usne
ss."
21
Not
e th
at it
is C
aMus
? co
n-sc
ious
ness
that
opp
oses
him
to h
is w
orld
.T
he d
rugs
do
not k
nock
this
con
scio
usne
ss o
ut, W
it w
hile
they
leav
e it
oper
ativ
e th
ey a
lso
activ
ate
area
s of
the
brai
n th
at n
orm
ally
lie
belo
W it
Si-t
hres
hold
of
awar
enes
s.O
ne o
f th
e cl
eare
st o
bjec
tive
sign
s th
at th
e dr
ugs
are
taki
ng e
ffec
t is
the
dila
tion
they
pro
duce
in th
epu
pils
of
the
eyes
, and
one
of
the
mos
t pre
dict
able
subj
ectiv
e si
gns
is th
e in
-te
nsif
icat
ion
of v
isua
l per
cept
ion.
Bot
h of
thes
e re
spon
ses
are
cont
rolle
d by
por
tions
of
the
brai
n th
at li
e de
ep, f
urth
er to
the
rear
than
the
mec
hani
sms
that
gov
ern
cons
ciou
snes
s.M
eanw
hile
we
know
that
the
hum
an o
rgan
ism
is in
terl
aced
with
its w
orld
inin
num
erab
le w
ays
it no
rmal
ly c
anno
t sen
seth
roug
h gr
avita
tiona
lfi
elds
, bod
y re
spir
atio
n, a
nd th
e lik
e : t
he li
st c
ould
be
mul
tiplie
dun
til m
an's
ski
n be
gan
to s
eem
mor
e lik
e a
thor
ough
fare
than
abo
unda
ry.
Perh
aps
the
deep
er r
egio
ns o
f th
e br
ain
whi
ch e
volv
edea
rlie
r an
d ar
e m
ore
like
thos
e of
the
low
er a
nim
als"
If I
wer
e.
.. a
cat
..
.I
shou
ld b
elon
g to
this
wor
ld"c
an s
ense
this
rela
tedn
ess
bette
r th
an c
an th
e ce
rebr
al c
orte
x w
hich
now
dom
inat
esou
r aw
aren
ess.
If s
o, w
hen
the
drug
s re
arra
nge
the
neur
ohum
ors
that
che
mic
ally
tran
smit
impu
lses
acr
oss
syna
pses
bet
wee
n ne
uron
s,m
an's
con
scio
usne
ss a
nd h
is s
ubm
erge
d, in
tuiti
ve, e
colo
gica
l aw
are-
ness
mig
ht f
or a
spe
ll be
com
e in
terl
aced
.T
his
is, o
f co
urse
, no
mor
e th
an a
hyp
othe
sis,
but
how
els
e ar
e w
e to
acc
ount
for
the
extr
aord
inar
y in
cide
nce
unde
r th
e dr
ugs
of th
at k
ind
of in
sigh
t the
keyn
ote
of w
hich
Jam
es d
escr
ibed
as
"inv
aria
bly
a re
conc
iliat
ion"
?It
is a
s if
the
oppo
site
s of
the
wor
ld, w
hose
con
trad
icto
rine
ss a
ndco
nflic
t mak
e al
l our
dif
ficu
lties
and
trou
bles
, wer
e m
elte
d in
toon
e an
d th
e sa
me
genu
s, b
ut o
ne o
f th
e sp
ecie
s, th
e no
bler
and
bette
r on
e, is
itse
lf th
e ge
nus,
and
so
soak
s up
and
abs
orbs
its
oppo
-si
tes
into
itse
lf"
(op.
cit.
, 379
).
4. T
he D
rugs
and
Rel
igio
n V
iew
ed "
Rel
igio
usly
"
Supp
ose
that
dru
gs c
an in
duce
exp
erie
nces
indi
stin
guis
habl
efr
om r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
and
that
we
can
resp
ect t
heir
rep
orts
.D
o th
ey s
hed
any
light
, not
(w
e no
w a
sk)
on li
fe, b
ut o
n th
e na
ture
of th
e re
ligio
us li
fe?
One
thin
g th
ey m
ay d
o is
thro
w r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nce
itsel
f in
tope
rspe
ctiv
e by
cla
rify
ing
its r
elat
ion
to th
e re
ligio
us li
fe a
s a
who
le.
Dru
gs a
ppea
r ab
le to
indu
ce r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
; it i
s
22 T
he M
yth
of S
isyp
hus
(New
Yor
k : V
inta
ge, 1
955)
, p. 3
8.
45
.111
1=
DO
PU
GS
11E
iG
I"I
MP.
?52
9
less
evi
dent
that
they
can
pro
duce
rel
igio
us li
ves.
It f
ollo
ws
that
relig
ion
is m
ore
than
rel
igio
us e
xper
ienc
es.
Thi
s is
har
dly
new
s,bu
t it m
ay b
e a
usef
ul r
emin
der,
esp
ecia
llyto
thos
e w
ho in
clin
eto
war
d: "
the
relig
ion
of r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nce"
;w
hich
is to
say
tow
ard-
lives
ben
t on
the
acqu
isiti
on o
f de
sire
dst
ates
of
expe
rien
ceir
resp
ectiv
e of
thei
r re
latio
n to
life
's o
ther
dem
ands
and
com
-po
nent
s.D
espi
te th
e da
nger
s of
fac
ulty
psy
chol
ogy,
itre
mai
ns u
sefu
lto
reg
ard
man
as
havi
ng a
min
d, a
will
, and
fee
lings
.O
ne o
f th
ele
sson
s of
rel
igio
us h
isto
ry is
that
, to
be a
dequ
ate,
a fa
ith m
ust
rous
e an
d in
volv
e al
l thr
ee c
ompo
nent
s of
man
's n
atur
e.R
elig
ions
of r
easo
n gr
ow a
rid;
rel
igio
ns o
f du
ty, l
eade
n.R
elig
ions
of
ex-
peri
ence
hav
e th
eir
com
para
ble
pitf
alls
,as
evi
denc
ed b
y T
aois
m's
stru
ggle
(no
t alw
ays
succ
essf
ul)
to k
eep
from
dege
nera
ting
into
quie
tism
, and
the
vehe
men
ce w
ith w
hich
Zen
Bud
dhis
m h
as in
-si
sted
that
onc
e st
uden
ts h
ave
atta
ined
sat
ori,
they
mus
t be
driv
enoa
t of
it, b
ack
into
the
wor
ld.
The
cas
e of
Zen
is e
spec
ially
per
ti-ne
nt h
ere,
for
it p
ivot
s on
an
enlig
hten
men
t exp
erie
nces
ator
i,or
kens
ho-.
---w
hich
som
e (b
ut n
ot a
ll) Z
enni
sts
say
rese
mbl
es L
SD.
Alik
e or
dif
fere
nt, t
he p
oint
is th
at Z
en r
ecog
nize
sth
at u
nles
s th
eex
peri
ence
is jo
ined
to d
isci
plin
e, it
will
com
e to
nau
ght:
Eve
n th
e B
uddh
a.
.. h
ad to
sit.
..
. With
out j
orik
i, th
e pa
rtic
ular
pow
erde
velo
ped
thro
ugh
zaze
n [s
eate
d m
edita
tion]
, the
vis
ion
of o
nene
ss a
ttain
edin
enl
ight
enm
ent .
. in
time
beco
mes
clo
uded
and
eve
ntua
lly f
ades
into
apl
easa
nt m
emor
y in
stea
d of
rem
aini
ng a
n om
nipr
esen
tre
ality
sha
ping
our
daily
life
..
. To
be a
ble
to li
ve in
acc
orda
nce
with
wha
t the
Min
d 's
eye
has
reve
aled
thro
ugh
sato
ri r
equi
res,
like
the
puri
fica
tion
of c
hara
cter
and
the
deve
lopm
ent o
f pe
rson
ality
, a r
ipen
ing
peri
od o
fsa
een.
22
If th
e re
ligio
n of
rel
igio
us e
xper
ienc
e is
a sn
are
and
a de
lusi
on,
it fo
llow
s th
at n
o re
ligio
n th
at f
ixes
its
faith
prim
arily
in s
ub-
stan
ces
that
indu
ce r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
can
be e
xpec
ted
to c
ome
to a
goo
d en
d.W
hat p
rom
ised
to b
e a
shor
t cut
will
prov
e to
be
a sh
ort c
ircu
it; w
hat b
egan
as
a re
ligio
n w
ill e
ndas
a r
elig
ion
sur-
roga
te.
Whe
ther
che
mic
al s
ubst
ance
s ca
n be
hel
pful
adju
ncts
tofa
ith is
ano
ther
que
stio
n.T
he p
eyot
e-us
ing
Nat
ive
Am
eric
anC
hurc
h se
ems
to in
dica
te th
at th
ey c
an b
e; a
nthr
opol
ogis
tsgi
ve th
isch
urch
a g
ood
repo
rt, n
otin
g am
ong
othe
r th
ings
that
mem
bers
resi
st a
lcoh
ol a
nd a
lcoh
olis
m b
ette
r th
an d
o no
nmem
bers
.2T
heco
nclu
sion
to w
hich
evi
denc
e cu
rren
tly p
oint
s w
ould
seem
to b
eth
at c
hem
ical
s ca
n ai
d th
e re
ligio
us li
fe, b
ut o
nly
whe
rese
t with
ina
cont
ext o
f fa
ith (
mea
ning
by
this
the
conv
ictio
n th
at w
hat t
hey
22 P
hilip
Kap
leau
, Zen
Pra
ctic
e an
d A
ttain
men
t,a
man
uscr
ipt i
n pr
oces
sof
pub
licat
ion.
28 S
lotk
in, o
p. c
it.
46
NM
MI
1111
11N
M N
M M
I MI N
MI
MI I
NN
MI N
M M
I MI N
MI
530
TH
E J
OU
RN
AL
OP
PHIL
OSO
PHY
disc
lose
is tr
ue)
and
disc
iplin
e(m
eani
ng d
ilige
nt e
xerc
ise
of th
ew
ill in
the
atte
mpt
to w
ork
out t
he im
plic
atio
ns o
f th
edi
sclo
sure
sfo
r th
e liv
ing
of li
fe in
the
ever
yday
,co
mm
on-s
ense
wor
ld).
Now
here
toda
y in
Wes
tern
civi
lizat
ion
are
thes
etw
o co
nditi
ons
join
tly f
ulfi
lled.
Chu
rche
s la
ck f
aith
in th
ese
nse
just
men
tione
d;hi
pste
rs la
ck d
isci
plin
e.T
his
mig
ht le
adus
to f
orge
t abo
ut th
edr
ugs,
wer
e it
not f
oron
e fa
ct :
the
dist
inct
ive
relig
ious
emot
ion
and
the
emot
ion
that
dru
gsun
ques
tiona
bly
can
occa
sion
--O
tto's
teri
um tr
emen
dunz
,nu
zjes
tas,
mys
teri
um f
asci
nans
;in
a p
hras
e,th
e ph
enom
enon
of
relig
ious
aw
esee
ms
to b
e de
clin
ing
shar
ply:
As
Paul
Till
ich
said
inan
add
ress
to th
e H
illel
Soc
iety
at H
arva
rdse
vera
l yea
rs a
go:
The
que
stio
n ou
r ce
ntur
ypu
ts b
efor
e us
[is
]: I
s it
poss
ible
to r
egai
n th
elo
st d
imen
sion
, the
enc
ount
erw
ith th
e H
oly,
the
dim
ensi
onw
hich
cut
s th
roug
hth
e w
orld
of
subj
ectiv
ityan
d ob
ject
ivity
and
goes
dow
n to
that
whi
ch is
not w
orld
but
is th
e m
yste
ryof
the
Gro
und
of B
eing
s
Till
ich
may
be
righ
t;th
is m
ay b
e th
e re
ligio
usqu
estio
n of
our
cent
ury.
For
if (
as w
e ha
vein
sist
ed)
relig
ion
cann
ot b
e eq
uate
dw
ith r
elig
ious
exp
erie
nces
, nei
ther
can
it lo
ng s
urvi
veth
eir
abse
nce.
MA
SSA
CH
USE
TT
S IN
STIT
UT
EO
F T
EC
HN
OL
OG
Y
47
HU
STO
N S
MIT
H
48
MI M
I I=
MI N
M M
I11
111
Oil
MI M
IIII
IIIIII
IIIM
I MI M
I MI
49
q T
IEN
ThE
pR
iMO
Rdi
Al T
RA
dIT
ION
UST
N S
M1T
HA
RPE
R C
OL
OPH
ON
BO
OK
SH
AR
PER
/it R
OW
, PU
BL
ISH
ER
S
NE
W Y
OR
K, H
AG
ER
STO
WN
, SA
N F
RA
NC
ISC
O, L
ON
DO
N
App
EN
diX
:
ThE
Psy
chE
dELi
cE
Vid
EN
CE
Kno
w te
n th
ings
, the
Chi
nese
say;
tell
nine
---t
here
is r
easo
nto
que
stio
n w
heth
er it
is w
ise
even
to m
entio
n th
e ps
yche
delic
s in
conn
ectio
n w
ith G
od a
nd th
eIn
fini
te. F
or th
ough
a co
nnec
tion
exis
ts, i
t isa
s in
the
com
para
ble
case
of
the
role
of
sex
in T
antr
ane
xt to
impo
ssib
le to
spe
ak o
f it
with
out b
eing
mis
unde
rsto
od. I
tis
for
this
rea
son,
we
susp
ect,
that
the
Ele
usin
ian
mys
teri
esw
ere
amon
g th
e be
st-k
ept i
n hi
stor
y, a
ndB
rahm
ins
cam
e ev
entu
ally
toco
ncea
l, th
en d
elib
erat
ely
forg
et,
the
iden
tity
of s
oma.
'If
the
only
thin
g to
say
abou
t the
psy
ched
elic
s w
as th
atth
eyse
em o
n oc
casi
on to
off
er d
irec
t dis
clos
ures
of th
e ps
ychi
c an
d ce
lest
ial
plan
es a
s w
ell a
s (i
nra
re in
stan
ces)
the
Infi
nite
itse
lf,
we
wou
ld h
old
our
peac
e. F
or th
ough
suc
h ex
peri
ence
sm
ay b
e ve
ridi
cal i
n w
ays,
the
goal
, it c
anno
t be
stre
ssed
too
ofte
n, is
jotr
e.ex
peri
ence
s;it
is th
e re
igio
usde
. And
with
res
pect
to th
e la
tter,
psy
ched
elic
"the
opha
nies
" ca
n ab
ort a
ques
t as
read
ily a
s, p
erha
psm
ore
read
ilyth
an, t
hey
can
furt
her
it.It
is n
ot, t
here
fore
, the
isol
ated
mys
tical
exp
erie
nces
whi
ch th
eps
yche
delic
s ca
n oc
casi
on th
atle
ad u
s to
add
this
app
endi
xon
the
subj
ect,
but r
athe
r ev
iden
ceof
a d
iffe
rent
ord
er. L
ong-
term
,pr
ofes
-si
onal
ly g
arne
red
and
care
fully
wei
ghed
, thi
s la
tter
evid
ence
dese
rves
.to
be
calle
d, if
any
thin
g in
this
area
mer
its th
e te
rm, s
cien
tific
. We
ente
r it
beca
use
of th
e w
ays
inw
hich
, and
ext
ent t
o w
hich
,th
isev
iden
ce s
eem
s to
cor
robo
rate
the
prim
ordi
al a
nthr
opol
ogy
that
Cha
p-
1. S
ee th
e au
thor
's "
Was
son'
s SO
MA
:A
Rev
iew
Art
icle
," J
ourn
al o
f th
eA
mer
ican
Aca
dem
y of
Rel
igio
n,X
L, 4
(D
ec. 1
972)
.
50
-,
I= =
ME
M11
111
OM
OM
NM
MI
51
156
/ APP
EN
DIX
ter
4 sk
etch
ed in
par
adig
m. I
n co
ntra
dist
inct
ion
to w
ritin
gs o
n th
e\
psyc
hede
ics
w ic
h ar
e oc
cupi
ed w
ith e
xper
ienc
es th
e m
ind
can'
have
, the
con
cern
her
e is
with
evi
denc
e th
ey a
ffor
d as
to w
hat t
he
e ev
iden
ce in
is n
ot w
idel
y kn
own,
for
to d
ate
it ha
s1--
been
rep
orte
d on
ly in
a f
ew r
elat
ivel
y ob
scur
e jo
ur,_
j_al
Lai
acta
-boo
k-i
but r
ecen
tly o
ff th
e pr
ess.
At t
he s
ame
time;
judg
ed b
oth
by q
uant
ityen
com
pass
ed a
nd b
y t
e ex
p an
ator
y po
wer
of
the-
hypo
thes
esth
at m
ake
sens
e of
this
dat
a, it
is th
e m
ost f
orm
idab
le e
vide
nce
the
psyc
hede
lics
have
thus
far
pro
duce
d. T
he e
vide
nce
to w
hich
we
re-
fer
is th
at w
hich
has
em
erge
d th
roug
h th
e w
ork
of S
tani
slav
Gro
f.3
rof's
wor
k be
gan
in C
zech
oslo
vaki
a, w
here
for
fou
r ye
ars
hew
orke
d in
an
inte
rdis
cipl
inar
y co
mpl
ex o
f re
sear
ch in
stitu
tes
in
Prag
ue a
nd f
or a
noth
er s
even
in th
e Ps
ychi
atri
c R
esea
rch
Inst
itute
that
dev
elop
ed o
ut o
f th
is c
ompl
ex; o
n co
min
g to
the
Uni
ted
Stat
esin
196
7 he
con
tinue
d hi
s in
vest
igat
ions
at t
he R
esea
rch
Uni
t of
Spri
ng G
rove
Sta
te H
ospi
tal i
n B
altim
ore,
Mar
ylan
d. T
wo
cove
ring
fact
s ab
out h
is w
ork
are
wor
th n
otin
g be
fore
we
turn
to it
s co
nten
t.Fi
rst,
in th
e us
e of
psy
ched
elic
s fo
r th
erap
eutic
and
per
sona
lity
as-
sess
men
t, hi
s ex
peri
ence
is b
y fa
r th
e va
stes
t tha
t any
sin
gle
indi
vid-
ual h
as a
mas
sed,
cov
erin
g as
it d
oes
over
2,5
00 s
essi
ons
in w
hich
he
spen
t a m
inim
um o
f fi
ve h
ours
with
the
subj
ect.
In a
dditi
on h
is s
tud-
ies
cove
r an
othe
r Sa
o ca
ses
his
colle
ague
s at
Bal
timor
e an
d Pr
ague
cond
ucte
d. S
econ
d, in
spa
nnin
g th
e A
tlant
ic h
is w
ork
span
s th
e tw
o
2. "
LSD
, the
mos
t pow
erfu
l psy
cho-
activ
e dr
ug e
ver
know
n to
man
, is
esse
ntia
lly a
n un
spec
ific
am
plif
ier
of m
enta
l pro
cess
es. W
hat w
e se
e in
-L-5
1Tse
ssio
ns is
onl
y an
ext
erio
riza
tion
and
mag
nifi
catio
n of
dyn
amic
s th
atun
derl
ie h
uman
nat
ure
and
hum
an c
ivili
zatio
n. P
rope
rly
used
, the
dru
g is
a to
ol f
or a
dee
per
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
hum
an m
ind
and
hum
an n
atur
e."
Abr
idge
d fr
om th
e w
ritin
gs o
f St
anis
lav
Gro
f, c
ited
in f
ootn
ote
3..
3. H
is b
ook,
the
firs
t in
a pr
ojec
ted
five
-vol
ume
seri
es, i
s R
ealm
s of
the
Hum
an U
ncon
scio
us: O
bser
vatio
ns f
rom
LSD
Res
earc
h (N
ew Y
ork:
Vik
ing
Pres
s, 1
975)
. His
jour
nal a
rtic
les
are:
"B
eyon
d Ps
ycho
anal
ysis
: I. I
mpl
ica-
tions
of
LSD
Res
earc
h fo
r U
nder
stan
ding
Dim
ensi
ons
of H
uman
Per
-so
nalit
y,"
Dar
shan
a In
tern
atio
nal (
Indi
a, 1
970)
; "L
SD P
sych
othe
rapy
and
Hum
an C
ultu
re,"
Jou
rnal
of
the
Stud
y of
Con
scio
usne
ss, P
art I
, 197
0, P
art
II,
1971
; "T
he U
se o
f L
SD in
Psy
chot
hera
py,"
Jou
rnal
of
Psyc
hede
licD
rugs
," 1
970;
"V
arie
ties
of T
rans
pers
onal
Exp
erie
nces
: Obs
erva
tions
fro
mL
SD P
sych
othe
rapy
," J
ourn
al o
f T
rans
pers
onal
Psy
chol
ogy,
197
2; "
LSD
and
the
Cos
mic
Gam
e: O
utlin
e of
Psy
ched
elic
Cos
mol
ogy
and
Ont
olog
y,"
Jour
nal o
f th
e St
udy
of C
onsc
ious
ness
, 197
2: a
nd o
ne m
ore
whi
ch, b
ecau
seit
is h
is la
test
pap
er, w
ill b
e qu
oted
mos
t oft
en in
this
cha
pter
. It i
s ci
ted
info
otno
te 4
.
min
d is
.2vi
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
157
dom
inan
t app
roac
hes
to p
sych
edel
ic th
erap
y th
at h
ave
been
dev
el-
oped
: psy
chol
ytic
ther
apy
(use
d at
Pra
gue
and
favo
red
in E
urop
ege
nera
lly),
whi
ch in
volv
es n
umer
ous
adm
inis
trat
ions
of
low
to m
ed-
ium
dos
es o
f L
SD o
r va
rian
t ove
ra
long
ther
apeu
tic p
rogr
am, a
ndps
yche
delic
ther
apy
(con
fine
d to
Am
eric
a), w
hich
invo
lves
one
or a
few
hig
h do
ses
in a
sho
rt p
erio
d of
trea
tmen
t.T
he f
irst
thin
g G
rof
and
his
asso
ciat
es d
isco
vere
dw
as th
at th
ere
is n
o sp
ecif
ic p
harm
acol
ogic
al e
ffec
t whi
ch L
SD in
vari
ably
pro
duce
s:"I
hav
e no
t bee
n ab
le to
fin
d a
sing
le p
heno
men
on th
atco
uld
beco
nsid
ered
an
inva
rian
t pro
duct
of
the
chem
ical
act
ion
of th
edr
ugin
any
of
the
area
s st
udie
dper
cept
ual,
emot
iona
l, id
eatio
nal,
and
phys
ical
."4
Not
eve
n m
ydri
asis
(pr
olon
ged
dila
tatio
n of
the
pupi
ls),
one
of th
e m
ost c
omm
on s
ympt
oms,
occ
urs
inva
riab
ly. P
sych
olog
ical
effe
cts
vary
eve
n m
ore
than
do
phys
iolo
gica
l, bu
tth
e ra
nge
of th
ela
tterm
ydri
asis
, nau
sea,
and
vom
iting
, enh
ance
d in
test
inal
mov
e-m
ents
, dia
rrhe
a, c
onst
ipat
ion,
fre
quen
t uri
natio
n, a
ccel
erat
ion
as w
ell
as r
etar
datio
n of
pul
se, c
ardi
ac d
istr
ess
and
pain
, pal
pita
tions
, suf
fo-
catio
n an
d dy
spne
a, e
xces
sive
sw
eatin
g an
d hy
pers
aliv
atio
n,dr
ym
outh
, red
deni
ng o
f th
e sk
in, h
ot f
lush
es a
nd c
hills
, ins
tabi
lity
and
vert
igo,
inne
r tr
embl
ing,
fin
e m
uscl
e tr
emor
sexc
eeds
that
of a
nyot
her
drug
that
aff
ects
the
auto
nom
icne
rvou
s sy
stem
. The
se s
omat
icsy
mpt
oms
are
prac
tical
ly in
depe
nden
t of
dosa
ge a
ndoc
cur
in a
ll po
s-si
ble
com
bina
tions
.V
aria
bilit
y be
twee
n su
bjec
tsis
equa
led
byva
riat
ion
n th
e sy
mpt
oms
a si
ngle
sub
ject
will
exp
erie
nce
unde
rdi
f-fe
rent
cir
cum
stan
ces;
par
ticul
arly
impo
rtan
t fro
mth
e cl
inic
al p
oint
of v
iew
are
the
diff
eren
ces
that
app
ear
at d
iffe
rent
sta
ges
in th
eth
erap
eutic
pro
cess
. All
this
led
Gro
fto
con
clud
e th
at L
SD is
not
a sp
ecif
ic c
ausa
l age
nt, b
ut r
athe
r a
cata
lyze
r. I
tis
,as
foo
tnot
e 2
indi
cate
s, a
n up
ecif
ic a
mpl
ifie
r of
neu
ral a
nd m
enta
lpr
oces
ses.
By
exte
rior
izin
g fo
r th
e th
erap
ist a
nd r
aisi
ngto
con
scio
usne
ss f
orth
e pa
tient
him
self
mat
eria
l oth
erw
ise
buri
ed, a
nd b
yen
larg
ing
this
mat
eria
l to
the
poin
t of
cari
catu
re s
o th
at it
appe
ars
as if
und
er a
mag
nify
ing
glas
s, th
e ps
yche
delic
s ar
e, G
rof
beca
me
conv
ince
d,an
4. "
The
oret
ical
and
Em
piri
cal B
asis
of
Tra
nspe
rson
al P
sych
olog
yan
dPs
ycho
ther
apy:
Obs
erva
tions
fro
m L
SD R
esea
rch,
" Jo
urna
l of
Tra
ns-
pers
onal
Psy
chol
ogy,
197
3. U
nles
s ot
herw
ise
indi
cate
d, s
ubse
quen
t ref
eren
ces
in th
is a
ppen
dix
will
be
to th
is, G
rof's
late
stpa
per.
Als
o, th
ough
his
wor
kco
vers
a w
ide
spec
trum
of
psyc
hede
lic s
ubst
ance
s, m
ost o
f it
was
with
LSD
, so
we
shal
l lim
it ou
r re
fere
nces
to it
.
52
um o
w o
wN
o N
s E
N N
oow
ow
EN
oww
isow
=I
am
V
53
158
/ APP
EN
DIX
unri
vale
d in
stru
men
t: fi
rst,
for
iden
tifyi
ng c
ause
s in
psy
chop
atho
logy
(the
pro
blem
that
is c
ausi
ng th
e di
ffic
ulty
); s
econ
d, f
or p
erso
nalit
ydi
agno
sis
(det
erm
inin
g th
e ch
arac
ter
type
of
the
subj
ect i
n qu
estio
n);
and
thir
d, f
or u
nder
stan
ding
the
hum
an m
ind
gene
rally
. "It
doe
sno
t see
m in
appr
opri
ate
to c
ompa
re th
eir
pote
ntia
l sig
nifi
canc
e fo
rps
ychi
atry
and
psy
chol
ogy
to th
at o
f th
e m
icro
scop
e fo
r m
edic
ine
or o
f th
e te
lesc
ope
in a
stro
nom
y. ..
. Fre
ud c
alle
d dr
eam
s th
e'ro
yal
way
to th
e un
cons
ciou
s.' T
he s
tate
men
t is
valid
to a
gre
ater
ext
ent
for
LSD
exp
erie
nces
."5
Of
the
drug
's th
ree
pote
ntia
ls, i
tis
the
thir
dits
res
ourc
es f
oren
larg
ing
our
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
the
hum
an m
ind
and
self
that
con
-ce
rns
us in
this
boo
k. T
he n
atur
e of
man
has
bee
n so
cen
tral
to o
urst
udy
that
eve
n fl
icke
rs o
f lig
ht f
rom
Gro
f's w
ork
wou
ld m
ake
itin
tere
stin
g. T
hat t
he li
ght p
rove
s to
be
rem
arka
bly
clea
r an
d st
eady
mak
es it
impo
rtan
t.W
e co
me
at o
nce
to th
e po
int.
The
vie
w o
f m
an th
at w
as o
utlin
edin
Cha
pter
4 p
rese
nted
him
as
a m
ultil
ayer
ed c
reat
ure,
and
Gro
f'sw
ork
poin
ts to
the
sam
e co
nclu
sion
. As
long
as
the
mat
ter
is p
utth
us g
ener
ally
it s
igna
ls n
othi
ng n
ovel
, for
exi
stin
g de
pth
psyc
holo
gyps
ychi
atry
, psy
choa
naly
siss
ays
the
sam
e; th
e ad
ject
ive
"dep
th"
impl
ies
as m
uch,
and
met
apho
rs o
f ar
chae
olog
y an
d ex
cava
tion
dot
the
wri
tings
of
Freu
d, J
ung,
and
thei
r co
lleag
ues.
The
nov
elty
of
Gro
f's w
ork
lies
in th
e pr
ecis
ion
with
whi
ch th
e le
vels
of
the
min
d it
brin
gs to
vie
w c
orre
spon
d w
ith th
e le
vels
of
self
hood
the
rim
ordi
altr
aditi
on d
escr
ibes
.In
che
mo-
exca
vatio
n th
ele
vels
com
e to
vie
w s
eque
ntia
lly. I
nth
is r
espe
ct, t
oo, i
mag
es o
f ar
chae
olog
y ap
ply:
sur
face
leve
ls m
ust b
eun
cove
red
to g
et a
t one
s th
at li
e de
eper
. In
psyc
hede
lic (
high
-dos
e)th
erap
y th
e de
eper
leve
ls a
ppea
r la
ter
in th
e co
urse
of
a si
ngle
ses
-si
on;
in p
sych
olyt
ic (
low
-dos
e) th
erap
y th
ey s
urfa
ce la
ter
in th
ese
quen
ce o
f th
erap
eutic
ses
sion
s. T
he s
eque
nces
are
par
alle
l, bu
tsi
nce
the
leve
ls f
irst
cam
e to
Gro
f's a
ttent
ion
duri
ng h
is p
sych
olyt
icw
ork
in P
ragu
e, a
nd s
ince
that
ear
lier
wor
k w
as th
e m
ore
exte
nsiv
e,co
veri
ng e
leve
n of
the
seve
ntee
n ye
ars
he h
as b
een
wor
king
with
the
5. "
The
ory
and
Prac
tice
of L
SD P
sych
othe
rapy
" (U
68).
Ins
tead
of
bein
gpu
blis
hed
as a
sin
gle
volu
me
as G
rof
orig
inal
ly in
tend
ed, t
his
long
, ini
tial
repo
rt o
f hi
s st
udy
is b
eing
rew
orke
d fo
r pr
ojec
ted
issu
e in
fiv
e vo
lum
es,
the
firs
t of
whi
ch, a
s in
dica
ted
in f
ootn
ote
3. a
ppea
red
in 1
975.
Pag
ere
fere
nces
to th
e co
mpr
ehen
sive
ori
gina
l rep
ort w
ill h
erea
fter
be
pref
ixed
with
a U
, ind
icat
ing
unpu
blis
hed.
Pag
e nu
mbe
rs n
ot th
us p
refi
xed
refe
r to
the
pape
r na
med
in f
ootn
ote
4.
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
159
drug
s, w
e sh
all c
onfi
ne o
urse
lves
to it
in r
epor
ting
his
expe
rim
enta
lde
sign
.T
he b
asic
stu
dy a
t Pra
gue
cove
red
fift
y-tw
o ps
ychi
atri
c pa
tient
s.A
ll m
ajor
clin
ical
cat
egor
ies
wer
e re
pres
ente
d, f
rom
dep
ress
ive
dis-
orde
rs th
roug
h ps
ycho
neur
oses
, psy
chos
omat
ic d
isea
ses,
and
cha
ract
erdi
sord
ers
to b
orde
rlin
e an
d cl
ear-
cut p
sych
oses
in th
e sc
hizo
phre
nic
grou
p. P
atie
nts
with
abo
ve-a
vera
ge in
telli
genc
e w
ere
favo
red
to o
b-ta
in h
igh-
qual
ity in
tros
pect
ive
repo
rts;
.oth
erw
ise
case
s w
ith d
impr
ogno
sis
in e
ach
cate
gory
wer
e ch
osen
. Gro
f hi
mse
lf w
orke
d w
ithtw
enty
-tw
o of
the
subj
ects
, his
two
colle
ague
s w
ith th
e re
mai
nder
.T
he n
umbe
r of
psy
chol
ytic
ses
sion
s ra
nged
fro
m f
ifte
ento
one
hund
red
per
patie
nt w
ith a
tota
l of
over
2,5
00 s
essi
ons
bein
g co
n-du
cted
. Eac
h pa
tient
's tr
eatm
ent b
egan
with
sev
eral
wee
ks o
f dr
ug-
free
psy
chot
hera
py. T
here
afte
r th
e th
erap
y w
as p
unct
uate
d w
ithdo
ses
of 1
00 to
250
mic
rogr
ams
of L
SD a
dmin
iste
red
at s
even
- to
four
teen
-day
inte
rval
s.T
he b
asic
fin
ding
was
that
"w
hen
mat
eria
l fro
m c
onse
cutiv
e L
SDse
ssio
ns o
f th
e sa
me
pers
on w
as c
ompa
red
it be
cam
e ev
iden
t tha
tth
ere
was
a d
efin
ite c
ontin
uity
bet
wee
n th
ese
sess
ions
. Rat
her
than
bein
g un
rela
ted
and
rand
om, t
he m
ater
ial s
eem
ed to
rep
rese
nt a
suc
-ce
ssiv
e un
fold
ing
of d
eepe
r an
d de
eper
leve
ls o
f th
e un
cons
ciou
s w
itha
very
def
inite
tren
d" (
U41
).T
he tr
end
regu
larl
y le
d th
roug
h th
ree
succ
essi
ve s
tage
s pr
eced
edby
ano
ther
whi
ch, b
eing
less
impo
rtan
t psy
chol
ogic
ally
, Gro
f ca
llsa
prel
imin
ary
phas
e. I
n th
is o
peni
ng p
hase
the
chem
ical
wor
kspr
imar
ily o
n th
e su
bjec
t's b
ody.
In
this
res
pect
it r
esem
bles
wha
tea
rlie
r re
sear
cher
s ha
d ca
lled
the
vege
tativ
e ph
ase,
but
the
two
are
not i
dent
ical
. Pro
pone
nts
of a
veg
etat
ive
phas
e as
sum
ed th
atL
SD d
irec
tly c
ause
d th
e m
anif
old
som
atic
res
pons
es p
atie
nts
typi
cally
expe
rien
ce in
the
earl
y st
ages
of
psyc
hede
lic s
essi
ons.
We
have
seen
that
Gro
f's m
ore
exte
nsiv
e ev
iden
ce c
ount
ered
this
vie
w. V
eget
ativ
esy
mpt
oms
are
real
eno
ugh,
but
they
var
y so
muc
h be
twee
n su
bjec
tsan
d fo
r a
sing
le s
ubje
ct u
nder
var
ying
cir
cum
stan
ces
that
itse
ems
prob
able
that
they
are
occ
asio
ned
mor
e by
anx
ietie
s an
d re
sist
ance
sth
an b
y th
e ch
emic
al's
dir
ect a
ctio
n. T
here
is a
lso
the
fact
that
they
are
far
fro
m c
onfi
ned
to e
arly
pha
ses
of th
e L
SDse
quen
ce.
The
se c
onsi
dera
tions
led
Gro
f to
dou
bt th
at th
ere
is a
veg
etat
ive
phas
e pe
r se
. The
mos
t he
is p
repa
red
to a
dmit
is th
at th
e dr
ug h
asa
tend
ency
at t
he s
tart
to a
ffec
t one
spe
cifi
c pa
rt o
f th
e bo
dy: i
tspe
rcep
tual
and
par
ticul
arly
its o
ptic
al a
ppar
atus
. Col
ors
5.c4
me
55
MI O
M M
N I=
OM
MI M
O N
MIO
N I=
OM
MI M
I
162
/ APP
EN
DIX
title
The
Tra
uma
of B
irth
, and
to u
se G
rof's
ow
n w
ord,
he
was
"fla
bber
gast
ed"
tofi
nd h
ow c
lose
lyth
e se
cond
-sta
geps
ycho
lytic
expe
rien
ces
conf
orm
ed to
it. H
e an
d hi
s co
lleag
ues
fell
to c
allin
gth
e se
cond
sta
ge p
erin
atal
or
Ran
kian
.D
urin
g th
e w
eeks
thro
ugh
whi
ch th
e st
age
exte
nds,
the
patie
nt's
clin
ical
con
ditio
n w
orse
ns. T
he s
tage
clim
axes
in a
ses
sion
in w
hich
the
patie
nt e
xper
ienc
es th
e ag
ony
of d
ying
and
app
ears
to h
imse
lfac
tual
ly to
die
.
The
sub
ject
s ca
n sp
end
hour
s in
ago
nizi
ng p
ain,
with
fac
ial c
on-
tort
ions
, gas
ping
for
bre
ath
and
disc
harg
ing
enor
mou
s am
ount
s of
mus
cula
r te
nsio
n in
var
ious
trem
ors,
twitc
hing
, vio
lent
sha
king
and
com
plex
twis
ting
mov
emen
ts. T
he c
olor
of
the
face
can
be
dark
pur
ple
or d
ead
pale
, and
the
puls
e ra
te c
onsi
dera
bly
ac-
cele
rate
d. T
he b
ody
tem
pera
ture
usu
ally
osc
illat
es in
a w
ide
rang
e.sw
eatin
g ca
n be
pro
fuse
. and
nau
sea
with
pro
ject
ile v
omiti
ng is
afr
eque
nt o
ccur
renc
e. [
ibid
.]
Thi
s de
ath
expe
rien
ce te
nds
to h
e fo
llow
ed im
med
iate
ly b
y re
birt
h,an
exp
losi
ve e
csta
sy in
whi
ch jo
y, f
reed
om, a
nd th
e pr
omis
e of
life
of a
new
ord
er a
re th
e do
min
ant m
otif
s.O
utsi
de th
e L
SD s
eque
nce
the
new
life
sho
wed
itse
lf in
the
pa-
tient
s' m
arke
d cl
inic
al im
prov
emen
t. W
ithin
the
sequ
ence
it in
tro-
duce
d a
thir
d ex
peri
entia
l lan
dsca
pe. W
hen
Gro
f's e
yes
beca
me
ac-
clim
ated
to it
,it
appe
ared
at f
irst
to b
e Ju
ngia
n. J
ung
bein
g th
eon
ly m
ajor
psy
chol
ogis
t to
have
dea
lt se
riou
sly
and
rela
tivel
y un
-re
duct
ioni
stic
ally
with
the
visi
ons
that
app
eare
d. L
ater
it s
eem
edcl
eare
r to
ref
er to
the
stag
e as
tran
sper
sona
l.T
wo
feat
ures
def
ined
this
thir
d an
d fi
nal s
tage
. Fir
st,
itsm
ost
typi
cal c
hara
cter
istic
s.
. wer
e pr
ofou
ndre
ligio
us a
nd m
ystic
al e
x-- pe
rien
ces"
(U
125)
.
-Eve
ryon
e w
ho e
xper
ient
ially
rea
ched
thes
e le
vels
dev
elop
ed c
on-
vinc
ing
insi
ghts
into
the
utm
ost r
elev
ance
of
spir
itual
and
rel
igio
usdi
men
sion
s in
the
univ
ersa
l sch
eme
of th
ings
. Eve
n th
e m
ost h
ard-
core
mat
eria
lists
, pos
itivi
stic
ally
-ori
ente
d sc
ient
ists
, ske
ptic
s an
dcy
nics
, unc
ompr
omis
ing
athe
ists
and
ant
irel
igio
us c
ruad
ers
such
as
the
Mar
xist
phi
loso
pher
s, b
ecam
e su
dden
ly in
tere
sted
in s
piri
tual
sear
ch a
fter
they
con
fron
ted
thes
e le
vels
in th
emse
lves
. [p.
25]
Gro
f sp
eaks
of
leve
ls in
the
plur
al h
ere,
for
the
"ago
nizi
ng e
xist
entia
lcr
isis
" of
the
seco
nd s
tage
is a
lrea
dy r
elig
ious
in it
s w
ay: d
eath
and
rebi
rth
are
ultim
ates
or
none
exi
st. T
he d
istin
guis
hiri
re o
f
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
163
the
thir
d st
age
is n
ot, s
tric
tly s
peak
ing,
that
it is
rel
igio
us b
ut th
atit
is (
as G
rof's
wor
ds in
dica
te)
mys
tical
ly r
elig
ious
: rel
igio
us in
am
ode
in w
hich
(a)
the
who
le p
redo
min
ates
ove
r th
e pa
rt, a
nd (
b)w
ithin
the
who
le e
vil
is r
esci
nded
. Thi
s co
nnec
ts w
ith th
e st
age'
sot
her
feat
ure,
its
tran
sper
sona
l asp
ect,
whi
ch w
as s
o pr
onou
nced
as
to p
rese
nt it
self
in th
e en
d as
the
logi
cal c
andi
date
for
the
nam
eby
whi
ch th
e st
age
shou
ld b
e de
sign
ated
. A tr
end
tow
ard
pers
onal
exp
erie
nces
that
is o
nes
occu
ied
ihi
n s
othe
r th
anon
ese
,sa
. a r
eady
sho
wn
itsel
f in
sta
ge tw
o. S
uffe
ring
, for
ex-
ampl
e, w
hich
in th
e fi
rst s
tage
pre
sent
ed it
self
in th
e fo
rm o
f re
col-
lect
ed a
utob
iogr
aphi
cal t
raum
as, h
ad in
the
seco
nd s
tage
take
n th
efo
rm o
f id
entif
ying
with
the
suff
erin
g of
oth
ers,
usu
ally
gro
ups
ofot
hers
: fam
ine
vict
ims,
pri
sone
rs in
Naz
i con
cent
ratio
n ca
mps
, or
man
kind
as
a w
hole
with
its
suff
erin
g sy
mbo
lized
arc
hety
pally
by
Chr
ist o
n hi
s cr
oss,
Tan
talu
s ex
pose
d to
ete
rnal
tort
ures
in H
ades
,Si
syph
us r
ollin
g hi
s bo
ulde
r in
cess
antly
, Ixi
on f
ixed
on
his
whe
el,
or P
rom
ethe
us c
hain
ed to
his
roc
k. L
ikew
ise
with
dea
th; a
lrea
dyby
sta
ge tw
o "t
he s
ubje
cts
felt
that
they
wer
e op
erat
ing
in a
fra
me-
wor
k w
hich
was
'bey
ond
indi
vidu
al d
eath
'(U
125)
. The
thir
d st
age
cont
inue
s th
is o
utbo
und.
tran
sper
sona
l mom
entu
m. N
ow th
e ph
eno-
men
a w
ith w
hich
the
subj
ect i
dent
ifie
s ar
e no
t res
tric
ted
to m
anki
ndor
eve
n to
livi
ng f
orm
s. T
hey
are
cosm
ic, h
avin
g to
do
with
the
elem
ents
and
for
ces
from
whi
ch li
fe p
roce
eds.
And
the
subj
ect i
s le
ssco
nsci
ous
of h
imse
lf a
s se
para
te f
rom
wha
t he
perc
eive
s. T
o a
larg
eex
tent
the
subj
ect-
obje
ct d
icho
tom
y is
itsel
f tr
ansc
ende
d.So
muc
h fo
r de
scri
ptio
n of
the
thre
e st
ages
. NoW
to in
terp
reta
tion
and
expl
anat
ion.
Gro
f w
as a
nd is
a p
sych
iatr
ist.
Psyc
hiat
ry is
the
stud
y an
d pr
actic
eof
ont
ogen
etic
exp
lana
tion:
it ac
coun
ts f
or p
rese
nt s
yndr
omes
inte
rms
of a
ntec
eden
t exp
erie
nces
in th
e lif
e hi
stor
y of
the
indi
vidu
al.
Freu
d ha
d m
ined
thes
e ex
peri
ence
s as
they
occ
ur in
infa
ncy
and
child
hood
, but
Gro
f's w
ork
had
led
to r
egio
ns F
reud
's m
ap d
id n
otfi
t. C
lear
ly, a
s ps
ychi
atri
st, G
rof
had
now
here
to tu
rn f
or e
xpla
natio
nssa
ve f
urth
er in
the
sam
e di
rect
ionf
urth
er b
ack.
His
ver
y m
etho
d-ol
ogy
forc
ed h
im to
take
ser
ious
ly th
e po
ssib
ility
that
exp
erie
nces
atte
ndin
gbi
rth
and
even
gest
atio
nco
uld
affe
cten
suin
glif
etr
ajec
tori
es.
Tak
ing
his
cues
fro
m T
he T
raum
a of
Bir
th w
hile
em
endi
ng it
inim
port
ant r
espe
cts,
Gro
f w
orke
d ou
t a ty
polo
gy in
whi
ch s
econ
d- a
ndth
ird-
stag
e L
SD e
xper
ienc
es a
re c
orre
late
d w
ith f
ouin
ct s
tage
s
s. M
B M
O M
O N
M M
IM
I NM
MO
IIIIN
MI
IMO
57
164
j APP
EN
DIX
in th
e bi
rth
proc
ess:
(a)
a c
omfo
rtab
le, i
ntra
uter
ine
stag
e be
fore
the
onse
t of
labo
r;(b
) an
opp
ress
ive
stag
e at
labo
r's s
tart
whe
n th
efe
tus
suff
ers
the
wom
b's
cont
ract
ions
and
has
"no
exi
t" in
asm
uch
as th
e ce
rvix
has
not
ope
ned;
(c)
the
trau
mat
ic e
nsui
ng s
tage
of
labo
r du
ring
whi
ch th
e fe
tus
is v
iole
ntly
eje
cted
thro
ugh
the
birt
hca
nal;
and
(d)
the
free
dom
and
rel
ease
of
birt
hits
elf.
B a
nd c
seem
ed to
Gro
f to
vec
tor
the
seco
nd o
r R
anki
an s
tage
in th
e L
SDse
quen
ce. I
n th
e re
livin
g of
b, t
he o
ppre
ssiv
enes
s of
the
wom
b is
gene
raliz
ed a
nd th
e en
tire
wor
ld, e
xist
ence
itse
lf,
is e
xper
ienc
ed a
sop
pres
sive
. C, w
hen
reliv
edth
e ag
ony
of la
bor
and
forc
ed e
xpul
-si
on th
roug
h th
e bi
rth
cana
lpro
duce
s th
e ex
peri
ence
of
dyin
g:tr
aum
atic
eje
ctio
n fr
om th
e on
ly li
fe-g
ivin
g co
ntex
t one
has
kno
wn.
The
reb
irth
exp
erie
nce
in w
hich
the
Ran
kian
sta
ge c
limax
es d
eriv
esfr
om r
eliv
ing
the
expe
rien
ce o
f ph
ysic
al b
irth
(d)
and
pav
es th
e w
ayfo
r th
e en
suin
g tr
ansp
erso
nal s
tage
. The
sen
se o
f un
shad
owed
blis
sth
at d
omin
ates
this
fin
al s
tage
taps
the
earl
iest
mem
orie
s of
all:
befo
re th
e w
omb
grew
cro
wde
d, w
hen
the
fetu
s bl
ende
d w
ith it
sm
othe
r in
mys
tic e
mbr
ace
(a).
Eve
n in
bar
e ou
tline
Gro
f's h
ypot
hesi
s is
plau
sibl
e, a
nd w
hen
fles
hed
out w
ith th
e ca
se h
isto
ries
and
exp
erie
ntia
l acc
ount
s th
atga
ve r
ise
to it
(m
ater
ial t
hat i
s fa
scin
atin
g bu
t whi
ch s
pace
pre
clud
esou
r en
teri
ng h
ere)
it is
dou
bly
so. W
hen
subj
ects
in th
eir
Ran
kian
stag
e re
port
fir
st s
uffo
catio
n an
d th
en a
vio
lent
, pro
ject
ive
expl
osio
nin
whi
ch n
ot o
nly
bloo
d bu
t uri
ne a
nd f
eces
are
eve
ryw
here
, one
ispe
rsua
ded
that
rev
ived
mem
orie
s of
the
birt
h pr
oces
s pl
ay a
t lea
st a
part
in tr
igge
ring
, sha
ping
, and
ene
rgiz
ing
late
r-st
age
LSD
exp
eri-
ence
s. T
he q
uest
ion
is: A
re th
ese
the
only
cau
ses
at w
ork?
As
we
have
note
d, in
the
psyc
hiat
ric
mod
el o
f m
an, o
nce
the
Freu
dian
dom
ain
has
been
exh
aust
ed th
ere
is n
owhe
re to
look
for
cau
ses
save
whe
reR
ank
did
and
Gro
f do
es: t
he e
go, d
rive
n ba
ck to
ear
lier
and
yet
earl
ier
libid
o po
sitio
ns, f
inal
ly r
eent
ers
the
uter
us. I
n th
e m
odel
of
man
that
was
ske
tche
d in
Cha
pter
4, h
owev
er, t
hing
s ar
e di
ffer
ent.
The
re th
e so
cial
and
bio
logi
cal h
isto
ry o
f th
e or
gani
sm is
not
the
sole
res
ourc
e fo
r ex
plan
atio
n. "
The
sou
l tha
t ris
es w
ith u
s ...
Hat
h ha
d el
sew
here
its
setti
ng,
And
com
eth
from
afa
r:N
ot in
ent
ire
forg
etfu
lnes
s ..
.
But
trai
ling
clou
ds o
f gl
ory
do w
e co
me.
..
.
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
165
From
whe
nce?
"Fr
om G
od,"
Wor
dsw
orth
tells
us, a
nd w
e ag
ree.
Whe
n he
add
s in
the
line
that
fol
low
s: "
Hea
ven
lies
abou
tus
in o
urin
fanc
y!"
we
agai
n co
ncur
; as
the
cele
stia
l pla
ne it
enve
lops
our
soul
s no
t onl
y in
thei
r in
fanc
y bu
t alw
ays.
Mor
e pr
oxim
atel
y,ho
w-.
ever
, it
is th
e in
term
edia
te o
r ps
ychi
c pl
ane
from
whi
chw
e st
em.
Whe
reas
in th
e ps
ychi
atri
c pe
rspe
ctiv
e bo
dy is
bas
ic a
ndex
plan
atio
nsfo
r m
enta
l occ
urre
nces
are
sou
ght i
n bo
dy's
end
owm
ents
or h
isto
ry,
in th
e pr
imor
dial
psy
chol
ogy
body
rep
rese
nts
a ki
nd o
f sh
akin
gou
t of
wha
t has
con
dens
ed o
n th
e pl
ane
of m
enta
l phe
nom
ena
that
exis
t pri
or to
bod
y an
d ar
e m
ore
real
than
bod
y. W
ear
e ba
ck a
tth
e po
int C
hapt
er 4
mad
e in
the
cont
ext o
f dr
eam
s: it
is n
ot s
om
uch
that
we
drea
m a
s th
at w
e ar
e dr
eam
edif
we
may
use
this
Way
of
sayi
ng th
at th
e fo
rces
that
com
e to
the
fore
in o
ur d
ream
spu
ll th
e st
ring
s th
at g
over
n ou
r pu
ppet
exi
sten
ces.
The
ydo
not
gove
rn th
em e
ntir
elym
an is
man
, not
man
ikin
but t
osa
y th
atth
ey g
over
n th
em is
clo
ser
to th
e tr
uth
than
is th
e ep
iphe
nom
enal
view
in w
hich
bod
y pa
ys th
e pi
per
and
calls
the
tune
s th
at d
ream
spl
ay o
ut.
Thu
s to
Gro
f's f
indi
ng th
at la
ter
stag
es in
the
LSD
seq
uenc
eco
nfor
m to
the
stag
es o
f th
e bi
rth
proc
ess
to a
deg
ree
that
war
rant
sou
r sa
ying
that
they
are
infl
uenc
ed b
y th
ose
stag
es,
we
add:
in-
flue
nced
onl
y, n
ot c
ause
d. T
oa
grea
ter
degr
ee th
e ex
peri
ence
s of
thes
e st
ages
...pu
t the
sub
ject
in d
irec
t tou
chw
ithth
e ps
ychi
c an
dar
chet
ypal
for
ces
of w
hich
his
life
is d
istil
latio
n an
dpr
oduc
t. B
irth
and
deat
h ar
e no
t phy
sica
l onl
y. E
very
one
know
s th
is,
but i
t is
less
reco
gniz
ed th
at. p
hysi
cal b
irth
and
dea
thar
e re
lativ
ely
min
or m
ani-
fest
atio
ns o
f fo
rces
that
are
cos
mic
in b
lank
etin
gth
e m
anif
est w
orld
,th
e te
rres
tria
l and
inte
rmed
iate
pla
nes
com
bine
d.B
uddh
ism
's p
ra-
titya
-sam
ictp
ada
(For
mul
atio
n of
Dep
ende
ntO
rigi
natio
n) s
ays
pro-
foun
d th
ings
on
this
poi
nt, b
ut a
llw
e sh
all s
ay is
that
whe
n a
psyc
hic
quan
tum
, ger
m o
f an
ego
, dec
ides
out o
f ig
nora
nce,
the
Bud
dhis
tsin
sert
imm
edia
tely
that
it w
ould
be
inte
rest
ing
to g
o it
alon
e an
dha
ve a
n in
depe
nden
t car
eer,
in th
ereb
y di
stin
guis
hing
itsel
f fr
omth
e w
hole
, and
set
ting
itsel
fin
way
s ag
ains
t the
who
le, t
he e
gosh
ould
ers
cert
ain
cons
eque
nces
. Bec
ause
itis
fin
ite, t
hing
s w
ill n
otal
way
s go
its
way
: hen
ce s
uffe
ring
in it
s m
anif
old
vari
etie
s. A
nd th
ete
mpo
ral s
ide
of th
e se
lf's
fin
itude
ord
ains
that
it w
ill d
iepi
ece-
mea
l fro
m th
e st
art a
s ce
lls a
nd m
inor
dre
ams
colla
pse,
but e
vent
ually
in it
s en
tiret
y. E
nerg
y is
inde
stru
ctib
le, h
owev
er,
so in
som
e fo
rm
58
1111
.=
II=
NM
MN
MN
1E
11.M
OM
Ell
IMO
I= M
O
59
166.
/ A
PPE
ND
IX
ther
e is
reb
irth
. Con
fron
tatio
n of
thes
e pr
inci
pal t
ruth
s in
thei
rtr
ansp
erso
nal a
nd tr
ans-
spec
ies
scop
es a
nd in
tens
ityis
the
basi
cst
uff
of la
ter-
stag
e L
SD e
xper
ienc
e. B
iolo
gica
l mem
ory
ente
rs, b
utco
ncei
vabl
y w
ith li
ttle
mor
e th
an a
"m
e to
o":
Ito
o kn
ow th
ese
quen
ce f
rom
the
time
I w
as f
orge
d an
d de
liver
ed.
Spel
led
out i
n gr
eate
r de
tail,
the
prim
ordi
al e
xpla
natio
n of
the
sequ
ence
wou
ld r
un a
s fo
llow
s. A
ccep
ting
LSD
as
a "t
ool f
or th
est
udy
of th
e st
ruct
ure
of h
uman
per
sona
lity;
of
its v
ario
us f
acet
san
d le
vels
," w
e se
e it
unco
veri
ng th
e su
cces
sive
ly d
eepe
r la
yers
of
the
self
whi
ch G
rof's
stu
dy b
ring
s to
ligh
t. G
rof's
psy
chia
tric
exp
lana
-tio
n fo
r w
hy it
doe
s so
isth
at "
defe
nse
syst
ems
are
cons
ider
ably
loos
ened
, res
ista
nces
dec
reas
e, a
nd m
emor
y re
call
is f
acili
tate
d to
agr
eat d
egre
e. D
eep
unco
nsci
ous
mat
eria
l em
erge
s in
to c
onsc
ious
ness
and
is e
xper
ienc
ed in
a c
ompl
ex s
ymbo
lic w
ay"
(027
7). O
ur e
xpla
na-
tion
shif
ts th
e ac
cent
. Onl
y in
the
firs
t sta
r ar
e th
e de
fert
se s
yste
ms
Tha
t are
loos
ened
one
s th
at th
e in
divi
dual
ego
bui
lds
to s
cree
n ou
t pai
n-=
nem
orie
s. F
or th
e re
st, w
hat i
s lo
osen
ed a
re s
truc
ture
s th
ano
n th
e'm
an m
o e
o ex
iste
ce
anse
para
te it
fro
m m
odes
that
ai:e
high
er:
itsco
rpor
ealit
y an
d co
mpl
ianc
e w
ith th
e sp
atio
-tem
pora
lst
ruct
ures
of
the
terr
estr
ial p
lane
. The
sam
e ho
lds
for
the
mem
ory
reca
ll th
at L
SD f
acili
tate
s. I
n th
e fi
rst s
tage
it is
inde
ed m
emor
y th
atis
act
ivat
ed a
s th
e su
bjec
t rel
ives
, dir
ectly
or
in s
ymbo
lic g
uise
, the
expe
rien
ces
that
had
bef
alle
n it,
but
in la
ter
stag
es w
hat t
he p
sy-
chia
tris
t con
tinue
s to
see
as
mem
orya
n ev
en e
arlie
r, in
trau
teri
nem
emor
ythe
ont
olog
ist (
shor
t of
invo
king
rei
ncar
natio
n) s
ees
asdi
scov
ery:
the
disc
over
y of
laye
rs o
f se
lfho
od th
at a
re p
rese
nt f
rom
conc
eptio
n bu
t are
nor
mal
ly o
bscu
red
from
vie
w. L
ikew
ise
with
the
"pec
ulia
r do
uble
ori
enta
tion
and
doub
le r
ole
of th
e su
bjec
t" th
atG
rof
desc
ribe
s. "
On
the
one
hand
," h
e w
rite
s, th
e su
bjec
t "ex
peri
-en
ces
full
and
com
plex
age
reg
ress
ion
into
the
trau
mat
ic s
ituat
ions
of c
hild
hood
; on
the
othe
r ha
nd, h
e ca
n as
sum
e al
tern
atel
y or
eve
nsi
mul
tane
ousl
y th
e po
sitio
n co
rres
pond
ing
to h
is r
eal a
ge"
(U27
9).
Thi
s os
cilla
tion
char
acte
rize
s th
e en
tire
sequ
ence
, but
onl
y in
the
firs
t sta
ge is
its
not-
imm
edia
te r
efer
ent t
he p
ast.
In th
e la
ter
sess
ions
,th
at w
hich
is n
ot im
med
iate
is r
emov
ed n
ot in
tim
e bu
t in
spac
eps
ycho
logi
cal s
pace
, of
cour
se. I
t lie
s be
low
the
surf
ace
of th
e ex
teri
orse
lf th
at is
nor
mal
ly in
vie
w.
_The
par
dia
rtt o
f th
ef-
that
was
ske
tche
d in
Cha
pter
4 s
how
edit.
to b
e co
mpo
sed
of f
our
part
s:ib
osiv
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
167
ing
with
spa
tial i
mag
ery,
we
can
visu
aliz
e L
SDas
a s
eein
gaye
pro
beth
at p
enet
rate
s pr
ogre
ssiv
ely
tow
ard
the
core
of
the
subj
ect's
bei
ng:,
In th
e ea
rly
sess
ions
of
the
LSD
sequ
ence
it m
oves
thro
ugh
the
subj
ect's
body
in tw
o st
eps.
The
fir
st o
f th
ese
trig
gers
per
iphe
ral
som
atic
res
pons
es, m
ost r
egul
arly
one
s re
latin
g to
per
cept
ion,
topr
oduc
e th
e ae
sthe
tic p
hase
. The
sec
ond
mov
es in
tom
emor
y re
gion
sof
the
brai
n w
here
, Wild
er P
enfi
eld
has
posi
ted,
a co
mpl
ete
cine
mat
o-gr
aphi
c re
cord
of
ever
ythi
ng th
e su
bjec
t has
exp
erie
nced
lies
sto
red.
Tha
t the
eve
nts
that
wer
e m
ost i
mpo
rtan
t in
the
subj
ect's
for
mat
ion
are
the
ones
that
rus
h fo
rwar
d fo
r at
tent
ion
stan
ds to
rea
son.
We
are
into
the
firs
t of
the
thre
e m
ain
stag
es o
f th
e ps
ycho
lytic
sequ
ence
,th
e ps
ycho
dyna
mic
or
Freu
dian
sta
ge.
Pass
age
from
the
Freu
dian
to th
e R
anki
an s
tage
occu
rs w
hen
the
chem
ical
s en
ter
the
regi
on o
f th
e m
ind
that
out
dist
ance
s th
e br
ain
and
swim
s in
the
med
ium
of
the
psyc
hic
or in
term
edia
te p
lane
. The
phen
omen
olog
ical
con
sequ
ence
s co
uld
alm
ost h
ave
been
pre
dict
ed:
1. B
iogr
aphi
cal d
atae
vent
s th
at im
prin
ted
them
selv
eson
the
subj
ect's
bod
y, in
this
cas
e th
e m
emor
y re
gion
of
his
brai
nrec
ede.
2. T
heir
pla
ce is
take
n by
the
"exi
sten
tials
"con
ditio
ning
stru
c-tu
reso
f hu
man
exi
sten
ce in
gen
eral
. The
gri
m a
ffec
t of
this
stag
eco
uld
be d
ue in
par
t to
mem
orie
s of
the
orde
als
of g
esta
tion
and
birt
h, b
ut th
e to
rmen
t, th
e se
nse
of th
e w
istf
ulne
ss a
nd p
atho
sof
asu
ffer
ing
hum
anity
and
inde
ed li
fe in
all
its f
orm
s, d
eriv
es m
ainl
yfr
om th
e fa
ct th
at th
e la
rger
pur
view
of
the
inte
rmed
iate
pla
nere
nder
s th
e lim
itatio
ns(d
ukkh
a)of
the
terr
estr
ial p
lane
mor
e vi
sibl
eth
an w
hen
the
subj
ect i
s im
mer
sed
in th
em.
S. I
n th
e de
ath
and
rebi
rth
expe
rien
ce th
at c
limax
es th
isph
ase,
Ran
kian
fac
tors
cou
ld .a
gain
coo
pera
te w
ithou
t pre
clud
ing
caus
esth
at a
re m
ore
basi
c. T
he s
elf
had
ente
red
the
inte
rmed
iate
plan
eth
roug
h th
e so
ul's
ass
umpt
ion
ofco
mpr
essi
on in
tom
ind;
as th
eH
indu
s sa
y, th
ejiv
aas
sum
ed a
sub
tle b
ody.
Now
, in
the
reve
rsal
of
this
seq
uenc
e, m
ind
mus
t be
diss
olve
d (d
ie)
for
soul
to b
e re
leas
ed(r
ebor
n).
The
sen
se o
f re
leas
e fr
om th
e im
pris
onin
gst
ruct
ures
of
min
dsi
gnal
s th
e T
act t
hat t
he p
robe
has
rea
ched
the
leve
lof
sou
l. T
heph
enom
enol
ogic
al c
onse
quen
ces
are
the
ones
Gro
f's s
ubje
cts
repo
rted
in th
e tr
ansp
erso
nal s
tage
, the
mai
non
es b
eing
the
follo
win
g:I.
Whe
reas
in th
e R
anki
an s
tage
"th
ere
... w
as ..
. a v
ery
dist
inct
pola
rity
bet
wee
n ve
ry p
ositi
ve a
nd v
ery
nega
tive
expe
rien
ce"
(U 1
25),
60
NM
MI M
I MO
NM
MN
MI
MN
MN
MI
MI M
I
61
168
/ APP
EN
DIX
expe
rien
ce is
now
red
orni
nant
ly b
eatif
ic, w
ith "
mel
ted
ecst
acy"
.p2-
-ha
ps it
s m
ost-
repo
rted
them
e..u
bjec
ts s
peak
abo
ut m
ystic
uni
on,
tliel
usio
n of
the
subj
ectiv
e w
ith th
e ob
ject
ive
wor
ld, i
dent
ific
atio
nw
ith th
e un
iver
se, c
osm
ic c
onsc
ious
ness
, the
intu
itive
insi
ght i
nto
the
esse
nce
of b
eing
, the
Bud
dhis
t nir
vana
m, t
he V
edic
sam
adhi
, the
harm
ony
of w
orld
s an
d sp
here
s, th
e ap
prox
imat
ion
to G
od, e
tc."
(U29
).2.
Exp
erie
nce
is m
ore
abst
ract
. At i
ts p
eak
it "i
s us
ually
con
tent
-le
ss a
nd a
ccom
pani
ed b
y vi
sion
s of
blin
ding
ligh
t or
beau
tiful
col
ors
(hea
venl
y bl
ue, g
old,
the
rain
bow
spe
ctru
m, p
eaco
ck f
eath
ers,
etc
.)"
(ibi
d.)
or is
ass
ocia
ted
with
spa
ce o
r so
und.
Whe
n its
acc
oute
rmen
tsar
e m
ore
conc
rete
they
tend
to b
e ar
cher
al, w
ith th
e ar
chet
ypes
seem
ing
to b
e lim
itles
s in
num
ber.
The
cel
es 'a
l pla
ne w
hich
the
soul
inha
bits
is, w
e re
call,
the
plan
e of
God
an
the
arch
etyp
es. T
hedi
stin
ctio
n be
twee
n th
e tw
o, w
hich
if f
lesh
ed o
ut w
ould
res
ult i
nan
ont
olog
y of
fiv
e tie
rs in
stea
d of
fou
r (s
ee f
ootn
ote,
pag
e 51
),is
for
purp
oses
of
sim
plif
icat
ion
and
sym
met
ry b
eing
pla
yed
dow
n in
the
pres
ent b
ook.
3. T
he G
-3gl
aQal
mos
ten
coun
tere
d is
sin
gle
and
so f
ar r
emov
ed f
rom
ant
hrop
omor
phis
m a
s to
elic
it, o
ften
, the
pro
-no
un "
it."
Thi
s is
in c
ontr
ast t
o th
e go
ds o
f th
e R
anki
an s
tage
whi
chte
nd to
be
mul
tiple
, Oly
mpi
an, a
nd e
ssen
tially
enl
arge
d tit
ans.
Bey
ond
the
soul
lies
onl
y Sp
irit,
an
esse
nce
so in
effa
ble
that
whe
nth
e se
eing
eye
str
ikes
it, v
irtu
ally
all
that
can
he
repo
rted
is th
atit
is "
beyo
nd"
and
mor
e th
an"
all t
hat h
ad b
een
enco
unte
red
ther
etof
ore.
The
cor
rela
tions
bet
wee
n th
e pr
imor
dial
ant
hrop
olog
y an
d th
eps
yche
delic
seq
uenc
e ca
n he
dia
gram
ed a
s sh
own
oppo
site
:U
p to
this
poi
nt w
e ha
ve n
oted
Gro
f's e
mpi
rica
l fin
ding
s, a
ndco
mpa
red
the
way
they
fit
into
his
Ran
k-ex
tend
ed p
sych
iatr
ic th
eori
eson
the
one
hand
and
into
the
prim
ordi
al u
nder
stan
ding
of
man
on
the
othe
r. I
t rem
ains
to p
oint
out
how
the
find
ings
of
seve
ntee
nye
ars
affe
cted
his
ow
n th
inki
ng.
Eng
aged
as
he w
as in
"th
e fi
rst m
appi
ng o
f co
mpl
etel
y un
know
nte
rrito
ries
" (U
267)
, he
coul
d no
t hav
e fo
rese
en w
here
his
inqu
iry
wou
ld le
ad. W
hat h
e fo
und
was
that
in "
the
mos
t fas
cina
ting
inte
llect
ual a
nd s
piri
tual
adv
entu
re o
f m
y lif
e [i
t] o
pene
d up
new
fant
astic
are
as a
nd f
orce
d m
e to
bre
ak w
ith th
e ol
d sy
stem
s an
dfr
amew
orks
" (U
250)
. The
fir
st c
hang
e in
his
thin
king
has
alr
eady
Prel
imin
ary
phas
e
Psyc
holy
ticst
ages
Ant
hro-
polo
gica
lle
vels
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
169
been
not
ed: t
he p
sych
olyt
ic s
eque
nces
sho
wed
the
birt
h tr
aum
a to
have
mor
e dy
nam
ic c
onse
quen
ces
than
Gro
f an
d hi
s st
rict
ly F
reud
ian
asso
ciat
es h
ad s
uppo
sed.
Thi
s ch
ange
psy
choa
naly
sis
coul
d ac
com
mo-
date
, but
not
the
one
that
fol
low
ed. "
I st
arte
d m
y L
SD r
esea
rch
in19
56 a
s a
conv
ince
d an
d de
dica
ted
psyc
hoan
alys
t;" h
e w
rite
s. "
In th
elig
ht o
f ev
eryd
ay c
linic
al o
bser
vatio
ns in
LSD
ses
sion
s, I
fou
nd th
isco
ncep
tion
unte
nabl
e" (
p.1'
7). B
asic
ally
, wha
t pro
ved
to b
e un
ten-
able
was
"th
e pr
esen
t.
.. gl
oom
y .
. im
age
of m
an, w
hich
is to
agr
eat e
xten
t inf
luen
ced
by p
sych
oana
lysi
s" (
U38
2).7
Thi
s pi
ctur
e of
man
,
that
of
a so
cial
ani
mal
bas
ical
ly g
over
ned
by b
lind
and
irra
tiona
lin
stin
ctua
l for
ces
..
.co
ntra
dict
s th
e ex
peri
ence
s fr
om th
e L
SDse
ssio
ns o
r at
leas
t app
ears
sup
erfi
cial
and
lim
ited.
Mos
t of
the
inst
inct
ual t
ende
ncie
s de
scri
bed
by p
sych
oana
lysi
s (i
nces
tuou
s an
dm
urde
rous
wis
hes,
can
niba
listic
impu
lses
, sad
omas
ochi
stic
incl
ina-
tions
, cop
roph
ilia,
etc
.) a
re v
ery
stri
king
in th
e ea
rly
LSD
ses
sion
s;th
ese
obse
rvat
ions
are
so
com
mon
that
they
cou
ld a
lmos
t be
con-
7. T
he f
lyle
af o
f R
ank'
s bo
ok w
hich
ser
ved
as a
lmos
t the
bib
le f
or G
rof's
wor
k in
one
of
its s
tage
s ca
rrie
s a
quot
atio
n fr
ont N
ietz
sche
: "T
he v
ery
best
...
is, n
ot to
be
born
.... T
he n
ext b
est .
..is
...
to d
iegc
17."
MI
MN
MI
MI
MI
,M
IO
M
f
63
170
/ APP
EN
DIX
side
red
expe
rim
enta
l evi
denc
e fo
r so
me
of th
e ba
sic
assu
mpt
ions
of p
sych
oana
lysi
s. M
ost o
f th
em, h
owev
er, a
ppea
r in
the
sess
ions
for
only
a li
mite
d pe
riod
of
time.
Thi
s w
hole
are
a ca
n be
tran
-sc
ende
d rW
here
upon
] w
e ar
e co
nfro
nted
with
an
imag
e of
man
whi
ch is
dia
met
rica
lly o
ppos
ed to
the
prev
ious
one
. Man
in h
isin
nerm
ost n
atur
e. a
ppea
rs th
en a
s a
bein
g th
at is
fun
dam
enta
lly in
harm
ony
with
his
env
iron
men
t and
is g
over
ned
by in
trin
sic
high
and
univ
ersa
l val
ues.
[U
382
-S3,
del
etio
ns n
ot in
dica
ted.
]
Thi
s ch
ange
in a
nthr
opol
ogy
has
been
the
solid
eff
ect o
f ps
yche
-de
lic e
vide
nce
on G
rof's
thin
king
. In
psyc
hoan
alyt
ic te
rms,
if F
r u&
disc
over
ed th
e im
port
ance
of
infa
ntile
exp
erie
nce
on o
ntog
enst
ic-
deve
lopm
enra
rrcl
-Rar
rIc-
drei
ffip
Tra
irce
-a tl
ie-6
cper
ienc
eof
birt
hG
rof's
dis
cove
ries
car
ry th
is s
earc
h fo
r ev
er e
arlie
r et
iolo
gis-
-. in
psy
choa
naly
tic th
eory
ear
lier
= s
tron
gert
o its
abs
olut
e lim
it: h
isop
timis
tic v
iew
of
man
der
ives
fro
m d
isco
veri
ence
and
late
nt p
ower
of
earl
y-ge
stat
ion
mem
orie
s; m
emor
ies
of th
e w
ay th
ings
wer
e w
hen
the
wom
b w
as s
till u
ncon
gest
ed a
nd a
ll w
as w
ell.
Bey
ond
this
rev
ised
ant
hrop
olog
y, h
owev
er, G
rof
has
toye
d w
ith a
cha
nged
onto
logy
as
wel
l. E
ndow
men
ts th
at s
uppl
emen
t his
psy
chia
tric
cor
n-pe
tenc
es h
ave
help
ed h
im h
ere:
he
has
an "
ear"
for
met
aphy
sics
and
an a
bidi
ng o
ntol
ogic
al in
tere
st. T
hese
cau
sed
him
to li
sten
atte
ntiv
ely
from
the
star
t to
his
subj
ects
' rep
orts
on
the
natu
re o
f re
ality
, and
inon
e of
his
rec
ent p
aper
s, "
LSD
and
the
Cos
mic
Gam
e: O
utlin
e of
Psyc
hede
lic C
osm
olog
y an
d O
ntol
ogy"
(se
e fo
otno
te 3
, pag
e 15
6), h
egi
ves
thes
e re
port
s fu
ll re
in. L
ayin
g as
ide
for
the
inte
rval
his
rol
e as
rese
arch
psy
chia
tris
t, w
hich
req
uire
d se
eing
pat
ient
s' e
xper
ienc
es a
ssh
aped
by
if n
ot p
roje
cted
fro
m e
arly
for
mat
ive
expe
rien
ces,
in th
ispa
per
Gro
f tu
rns
phen
omen
olog
ist a
nd a
llow
s th
eir
repo
rts
tost
and
in th
eir
own
righ
t. T
he v
iew
of
real
ity th
at r
esul
ts is
so
unca
nnil
&te
the
one
that
has
bee
n ou
tline
d in
this
boo
ct
at, i
nter
laci
ng,
,ara
phra
ses
of p
assa
ges
in G
rof's
art
icle
with
dir
ect q
uota
tions
fro
n.it,
we
pres
ent i
t her
e in
sum
mar
y.
The
ulti
mat
e so
urce
of
exis
tenc
e is
the
Voi
d, th
e su
prac
osm
icSi
lenc
e, th
e un
trea
ted
and
abso
lute
ly in
effa
ble
Supr
eme.
The
fir
st p
ossi
ble
form
ulat
ion
of th
is s
ourc
e is
Uni
vers
al M
ind.
Her
e,to
o, w
ords
fail,
for
Min
d tr
ansc
ends
the
dich
otom
ies,
pola
ritie
s, a
nd p
arad
oxes
that
har
ry th
e re
lativ
e w
orld
. Ins
ofar
as
desc
ript
ion
is a
ttem
pted
, the
Ved
antic
tern
aryI
nfin
ite E
xist
ence
,In
fini
te I
ntel
ligen
ce, I
nfin
ite B
lissi
s as
ade
quat
e as
any
.
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
171
God
is n
ot li
mite
d to
his
for
egoi
ng, "
abst
ract
" m
odes
. He
can
be e
ncou
nter
ed c
oncr
etel
y, a
s th
e G
od o
f th
e O
ld a
nd N
ew T
esta
.m
ents
, Bud
dha,
Shi
va, o
r in
oth
er m
odes
. The
se m
odes
do
not,
how
ever
, wea
r th
e m
antle
of
ultim
acy
or p
rovi
dean
swer
s th
at a
refi
nal.
The
phe
nom
enal
wor
lds
owe
thei
r ex
iste
nce
to U
nive
rsal
Min
d,w
hich
Min
d do
es n
ot it
self
bec
ome
impl
icat
ed in
thei
r ca
tego
ries
.M
an, t
oget
her
with
the
thre
e-di
men
sion
al w
orld
he
expe
rien
ces,
isbu
t one
of
innu
mer
able
mod
es th
roug
h w
hich
Min
d ex
peri
ence
sits
elf.
The
"he
avy
phys
ical
ity"
and
seem
ingl
y ob
ject
ive
fina
lity
ofm
an's
mat
eria
l wor
ld, i
ts s
pace
-tim
e gr
id a
nd la
ws
of n
atur
e th
atof
fer
them
selv
es a
s if
they
wer
e si
ne q
ua n
ons
of e
xist
ence
itse
lfal
l the
se a
re in
fact
hig
hly
prov
isio
nal a
nd r
elat
ive.
Und
erex
cept
iona
l cir
cum
stan
ces
man
can
ris
e to
a le
vel o
f co
nsci
ousn
ess
whe
re h
e se
es th
at ta
ken
toge
ther
they
con
stitu
te b
uton
e of
inum
erab
le s
ets
of li
miti
ng c
onst
ruct
s U
nive
rsal
Min
das
sum
es. T
osa
ddle
that
Min
d its
elf
with
thes
e ca
tego
ries
wou
ld b
eas
rid
icul
ous
as tr
ying
to u
nder
stan
d th
e hu
man
min
d th
roug
h th
e ru
les
ofch
ess.
Cre
ated
ent
ities
tend
pro
gres
sive
ly to
lose
con
tact
with
thei
ror
igin
al s
ourc
e an
d th
e aw
aren
ess
of th
eir
pris
tine
iden
tity
with
it.
In th
e in
itial
sta
ge o
f th
is f
allin
g aw
ay, c
reat
ed e
ntiti
es m
aint
ain
cont
act w
ith th
eir
sour
ce a
nd th
e se
para
tion
is p
layf
ul, r
elat
ive,
and
obvi
ousl
y te
ntat
ive.
An
imag
e th
at w
ould
illu
stra
te th
isst
age
is th
at o
f w
aves
on
the
ocea
n. F
rom
a c
erta
in p
oint
of
view
they
are
indi
vidu
al e
ntiti
es; w
e ca
n sp
eak
of a
larg
e, f
ast,
gree
n, a
ndfo
amy
wav
e, f
or e
xam
ple.
At t
he s
ame
time
itis
tran
spar
ently
evid
ent t
hat i
n sp
ite o
f its
rel
ativ
e in
divi
duat
ion
the
wav
e is
par
tof
the
ocea
n.A
t the
nex
t sta
ge c
reat
ed e
ntiti
es a
ssum
ea
part
ial i
ndep
ende
nce
and
we
can
obse
rve
the
begi
nnin
gs o
f "c
osm
ic s
cree
nwor
k."
Her
eun
ity w
ith th
e so
urce
can
be
tem
pora
rily
for
gotte
n in
the
way
an a
ctor
on
stag
e ca
n vi
rtua
lly f
orge
t his
ow
n id
entit
y w
hile
he
iden
tifie
s w
ith th
e ch
arac
ter
he p
ortr
ays.
Con
tinua
tion
of th
e pr
oces
s of
par
titio
ning
res
ults
ina
situ
atio
n.in
whi
ch in
divi
duat
ion
is p
erm
anen
tly a
nd f
or a
ll pr
actic
alpu
r-po
ses
com
plet
e, a
nd o
nly
occa
sion
ally
do
intim
atio
ns o
fth
eor
igin
al w
hole
ness
res
urfa
ce. T
his
can
be il
lust
rate
d by
the
rela
-tio
nshi
p be
twee
n ce
lls o
f a
body
,or
gans
, and
the
body
as
aw
hole
. Cel
ls a
re s
epar
ate
entit
ies
but f
unct
ion
as p
arts
of
orga
ns.
The
latte
r ha
ve e
ven
mor
e in
depe
nden
ce, b
ut th
eyto
o pl
ay o
utth
eir
role
s in
the
com
plet
e or
gani
sm. I
ndiv
idua
tion
and
part
icip
a-tio
n ar
e di
alec
tical
ly c
ombi
ned.
Com
plex
bio
chem
ical
inte
ract
icg4
IIIII1
11M
MI
IIIII
MI E
NV
OM
NM
IMO
MO
I= M
I I=
MI
65
172
/ APP
EN
DIX
brid
ge p
rovi
sion
al b
ound
arie
s to
ens
ure
the
func
tioni
ng o
f th
eor
gani
sm a
s a
who
le.
In th
e fi
nal s
tage
the
sepa
ratio
n is
pra
ctic
ally
com
plet
e. L
iais
onw
ith th
e so
urce
islo
st a
nd th
e or
igin
al id
entit
y co
mpl
etel
y fo
r-go
tten.
The
"sc
reen
" is
now
all
but i
mpe
rmea
ble;
radi
cal q
ualit
a-tiv
e ch
ange
is r
equi
red
for
the
orig
inal
uni
ty to
be
rest
ored
. Sym
bol
of th
is m
ight
be
a sn
owfl
ake,
cry
stal
lized
fro
m w
ater
that
has
evap
orat
ed f
rom
the
ocea
n. I
t bea
rs li
ttle
outw
ard
sim
ilari
ty to
its s
ourc
e an
d m
ust.
unde
rgo
a ch
ange
in s
truc
ture
if r
euni
on is
tooc
cur.
Hum
an b
eing
s w
ho m
anag
e to
eff
ect t
he c
hang
e ju
st r
efer
red
tofi
ndth
erea
fter
that
life'
spo
lari
ties
para
doxi
cally
bot
h do
and
do n
ot e
xist
. Thi
s ho
lds
for
such
con
trar
ies
as s
piri
t/mat
ter,
good
/evi
l, st
abili
ty/m
otio
n, h
eave
n/he
ll, b
eaut
y/ug
lines
s, a
gony
/ec
stas
y, e
tc. I
n th
e la
st a
naly
sis
ther
e is
no
diff
eren
cebe
twee
nsu
bjec
t and
obj
ect,
obse
rver
and
obs
erve
d, e
xper
ienc
er a
nd e
xper
i-en
ced,
cre
ator
and
cre
atio
n.T
----
---
.
In th
e ea
rly
year
s of
psy
choa
naly
sis
whe
n ho
stili
ty w
as s
how
n to
its r
epor
ts a
nd th
eori
es o
n ac
coun
t of
thei
r as
toni
shin
g no
velty
,an
d
they
wer
e di
smis
sed
as p
rodu
cts
of th
eir
auth
ors'
per
vert
ed im
agin
a-tio
ns, F
reud
use
d to
hol
d up
aga
inst
this
obj
ectio
n th
e ar
gum
ent
that
no
hum
an b
rain
cou
ld h
ave
inve
nted
suc
h fa
cts
and
conn
ectio
nsha
d th
ey n
ot b
een
pers
iste
ntly
for
ced
on it
by
a se
ries
of
conv
ergi
ngan
d in
terl
ocki
ng o
bser
vatio
ns. G
rof
mig
ht h
ave
argu
ed e
qual
ly: t
ow
it, th
at th
e "p
sych
edel
ic c
osin
olo
and
onto
logy
" th
at h
is p
atie
nts
I Lca
trie
up
with
isas
uni
nven
tabl
e as
Fre
ud's
ow
n sy
stem
. In
fact
,
how
ever
, he
does
not
do
so. I
n th
e m
anne
r of
a g
ood
phen
omen
ol-
ogis
t he
lets
the
pict
ure
spea
k fo
itsel
f, n
eith
er b
elitt
ling
it by
refe
rrin
g it
back
to c
ause
s th
at in
pur
port
ing
to e
xpla
in it
wou
ldex
plai
n it
away
, nor
arg
uing
that
'tis
true
. As
phen
omen
olog
ists
them
selv
es w
ould
say
, he
"bra
cket
shi
s ow
n 'u
dgm
ent r
egar
ding
the
trut
h qu
estio
n an
d co
nten
tsur
ase
with
rep
ortin
g w
hat h
ispa
tient
s sa
id a
bout
it.
The
idea
that
the
"thr
ee-d
imen
sion
al w
orld
" is
onl
y on
e of
man
y ex
peri
entia
l wor
lds
crea
ted
the
Uni
vers
arV
ind
..
.
a. s
eare
d to
te m
nm
cn m
ore
ton-
-*--
"`''7
1rnn
tNe'
'c73
posi
te a
tern
ativ
e
that
is s
o fr
eque
nt y
ta. t
ilt f
or g
rant
e, n
ame
y, t
at t
e m
aten
aw
7r1:
71;7
17-O
)77
.117
rea
lity
of it
s ow
n an
d th
at th
e hu
man
con
-sc
ious
ness
and
the
conc
ept o
f G
od a
re m
erel
y pr
oduc
ts o
fhi
ghly
orga
nize
d m
atte
r, th
e hu
man
bra
in. W
hen
clos
ely
anal
yzed
the
TH
E P
SYC
HE
DE
LIC
EV
IDE
NC
E /
173
latte
r co
ncep
t pre
sent
s at
leas
t as
man
y in
cong
ruen
ces,
par
adox
esan
d ab
surd
ities
as
the
desc
ribe
d co
ncep
t of
the
Uni
vers
al M
ind.
The
pro
blem
s of
fin
ity v
ersu
s in
fini
ty o
f tim
e an
d sp
ace;
the
enig
ma
of th
e or
igin
of
mat
ter,
ene
rgy
and
spac
e; a
nd th
e m
yste
ryof
the
prim
e im
puls
e ap
pear
to b
e so
ove
rwhe
lmin
g an
d de
feat
ing
that
one
ser
ious
ly q
uest
ions
why
this
app
roac
h sh
ould
be
give
npr
iori
ty in
our
thin
king
. [p.
11]
66
Psychedelics and elligion:An Addendum
Huston Smith has been a pro-fessor of philosophy at theMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology and is professoremeritus of religion, SyracuseUniversity. tie is the author ofThe Religions of Man, For-gotten Truth: The PrimordialTradition, and Hewn(' Post-Modern Mind.
{ {union Smith
!most 25 years have elapsed since I wrote my first and main essay on the psyche-delics, "Do Drugs Have Religious Import?" Published as the psychedelic sixtieswere nearing their peak, it addressed a lively topic on college campuses. The issueof The Journal of Philosophy in which it appeared' had to be re-run, and it hasbeen anthologized more than any other essay in the 85 years of that journal's his-tory. Fourteen collections of essays, most of them philosophy textbooks, have reprinted it.Two other essays followed that one. Whereas my initial paper argued an affirmative thesis--that for some subjects, under some circumstances, psychedelics can occasion experiencesthat arc phenomenologically (which is to say, descriptively) indistinguishable from religiousexperiences that occur without themmy second essay, "Psychedelic Theophanies and theReligious Life,''2 was cautionary. Three additional years of the psychedelic movement didnot cause me to retract my original thesis, but the careening course of that movement didsuggest that my thesis should be amended. Drug-induced religious experiences, I noted inthis second essay, seem to have less staying power. Their carry-over into subsequent life doesnot seem to equal that of non-drug-induced experiences, which typically are backed by a vali-dating theology, a supportive community (a church), and an ethic that relates the experienceto everyday life.'Only one more step seemed needed: namely, to draw the logical conclusion that if thechemicals were ingested unwittingly, in a society where the reductionistic explanations ofpsychopharmacology were unknown, their religious consequences would not be compro-mised. R. Gordon Wasson's identification of the soma plant of Vedic India as the mushroomAmanita muscaria seemed to nail down that conclusion. I devoted the last summer of the six-ties to studying the responses of mycologists, Iridologists, anthropologists, and linguists toWasson's important (but still too little attended to) Soma: Divine Mushroom ofand my review article on that book rounded off the psychedelic decade.`Four years later, I included a summary of Stanislav Grof's important work as an appendixto my Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition' to highlight the striking correlation be-tween the layers of consciousness that LSD-therapy patients penetrate and the levels of self-hood that religious traditions have typically posited, but there I let matters rest. Althoughmuch remained to be done toward understanding how psychedelics affect brain functioning,why they occasion the subjective experiences they do, and what t heir potential is for psycho-therapy, on their relation to religion there seemed to be nothing more to say. And so it stillappears to me regarding fundamentals. However, two items that flesh out my sixties' conclu-sions have emerged in the interval, and as they are interesting in their own right, I avail my-self of this opportunity to add them to the record.
The first concerns new findings that might bear on how the psychedelics work; I refer tothe split-brain research that gained prominence in the seventies. Pondering in my initial essaythe extraordinary sense of relatedness to the world that t...sp subjects frequently report, Ireached out for a longitudinal or "vertical" hypothesis. Because the opposite of this related-nessour experience of being opposed to the worldis registered by a late evolutionary de-velopment, the cerebral cortex,' I speculated that this sense of unity might derive from thedrug's having introduced its taker to a deeper, more primitive region of the brain, one thatmonitors continuities. About this first hypothesis I wrote in my initial essay:One of the clearest objective signs that the drugs are taking effect is the dilation they produce in thepupils of the eyes, and one of the most predictable subjective signs is the intensification of visualperception. Both of these responses are controlled by portions of the brain that lie deep; further tothe rear than the mechanisms that govern consciousness. Meanwhile we know that the humanorganism is interlaced with its world in innumerable ways it normally cannot sensethrough gravita-
67 SUMMER 88 3s
The human organism is interlacedwith its world in innUmerable ways itnormally cannot sense.
tional fields, body respiration, and the like:the list could be multiplied until man's skinbegan-to,seem more like-a tharoUghfaie, thana boundary..Perhaps the deeper regionS'of thebrain which earlier and ,are.morel.likethose of the lower animals . can sense. thisrelatedness better than can the cerebral cortexwhich now dominates our awareness, If so,when the drugs rearrange the neurohtirnorsthat chemically. transmit impulSeS,atroSS syn-apses between neurons,., man's consciousnessand his submerged, intuitive, ecologicalawareness Might for a spell. beeorne inter-laced. This"is; of course; no more than a' hy-pothesis;- but how else are we to account forthe extraordinary. incidence,tinder .the drugsof that kind., of insight the keynOteof whichWilliam James. described as : "invariably arec-onciliatiOn"?.'"It the oPPOSiteS Of the
..
world, :Whose: contradictoriness anclr:.eonftictmake all our difficUlties and :troubles,: weremelted, into one. .and:tlie,saine-gentlis;:rbut.o.heof the speaies,, the nobler and :better: one,:: isitself the ketius, and.Sorsoaks..up.and absorbsits opposites into itself."
Split.-brain research now Offers an alterna-tive, lateral or horizontal hYpothesis,:tb.thisearlier,` one. The right hemisphere,whielluntiL the last decade -.Wa.S.Itg4ideo as,adark Continent:if:Mit a ukleS.S:appetidage, is
.
now:seentb:.be'the seat of the Mind's.integrat-.ing, sYnifiesizingCaPacities..that,balance theanalytic, linear workings ofj the..:leftsphere. The atorieTinerit syndrome James de-scribed`. so well may result . in, pal t :frorrl. thedrug's.' facilitating liVeliereXehanges.betweertthe tWo:yeirlisPheres.
The Other'rnatierthatcarne my way in theseventies arrived intwbstageS.::AlreadY.in..the,sixties, PrOfesSorRayMond.prineeof theSec-,tidn: Of.TrankUltUrai..SYChiairieSlitdieS, atMiGill gue i.'that infectiousdiseases and . other afflictions . such : as :star>a-tion and.;:exhatiStion on long hunting expeditibns orpbAbl)..figured..::MOre .piOniinently:thanhalineinogetiieplantS:in OPeninkearly.:Mah tothe stiPerhatbral; -,theSe'afflietions;,tOO; affectbrain chemistry in `visionary, difecticins andwere..prbbably encountered:,mbrei:frequeritly.9The bacteria ..andH:Other.:':MiciOrganisms:-...that.cause infect iOuS,:diSeases: are themselves :-plantSand fungi:or'elOsely akint6.these;"Mbreaver, it
36 ReVISION Vot_.11 No.1
68
is they, not the fever their attacks provoke, thataccount fdr the visions, for (a) deliriums mayprecede temperature rise and follow its returnto normal, (b) fevers experimentally producedwithout 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 firstcategory; diphtheria, tetanus, and cholera intothe second.
This seemed to me to be an important, point.Mucti:attention was the sikties,(o thequestion of whether our,regard..ifor-the.disclo-
. . . .
sures of religious experiences shOilld be af-fected by the discoVery, that pill,taking cantrigger them, but that disetiSsion'-typiCally didnot go on to ask whether the: saine.'cOnSidera-tions pertain when brain chemistry is involun-tarily altered by disease. I made this point inthe. Salzburg Seminar on Anierican Studies..inthe summer of 1972 where one of.the partici-pants was Hilary Jenkins, a biographer ofJohn Henry Newman, and together we con-cluded .that the experiences of Cardinal New-man probably provide an important case inpoint.'" In researching his bobk Newman'sMediterranean Voyage," Professor Jenkinsdiscovered that Newman's deeiSive. religiousexperience occurred in the course of a near-fatal bout with a disease now 'induct to havebeen typhoid fever. The experieneeirooted outa crippling anxiety in which Newman had os-cillated between fear of failure on the onehand and an ambitious but .daunting desire.toput himself forward on the.other. It did so byconvincing him that God really did have himunder his care and had marked .ni'm for lead-ership. He emerged from the experience to be-come quickly and for the rest of his life apublic figure and to write. "Lead, Kindly'Light," one of Christendom's best-lovedhymns. Recounting the experience; he wrote:"At one time I had a most consoling andoverpowering thought of God's electing loveand-seemed to feel I was His. But 1 believe allmy feelings, painful and pleasant, wereheightened somewhat by deliriiim; thoughthey still are from God in the way of Provi-dence."
NOTES
I. Huston Smith, The Journal of Philosophy 61(18)Oetdher 1, 1964.
2. Huston Smith, Christianity and Crisis 27(11) June26,1967.
3. How different this is from the context in which thepsychedelics were usuallY:ingeted in the sixties wasbrought home to me again through air anecdoteVictor. Turner presented to a-meeting:of the Arneri-
can Academy for the Study of Religion. Describingthe initiation of a woman into a peyote cult of Cen-tral Mexico, he noted that she was required to takea long trek during which myths were unfolded atevery state of the journey. When the first peyotebutton was spotted, it was speared as the buddinghorn of a great deity; only then could the pilgrimspick and cat. When the woman started to describeher visions she was ordered to stop, "Don't revealSuch Secrets," she was told. The account appears inBarbara Mycrhoff, Peyote Hunt, (Ithaca: CornellUniversity Press, 1974), pp. 39-44.
4. R. Gordon Wasson, Soma. Divine MushrOom ofImmortality (New York: Harcourt Brace & World,1969).
5. Huston Smith, Wasson's Soma: A Review Article,Journal of the American Academy of Religion 40(4) December 1972.
6. Huston Smith, Forgotten Truth: The PrimordialTradition (New York: Harper & Row, 1976).
7. "If I were . . . a can . . I should belong to this
world. I would he this world to which I ant now op-posed by my whole consciousness." Albert Cantu:,The Myth of Sisyphus (New York: Vintage, 1955).p. 38.
8. See note I, p. 528. The quoled material is front Wila ttl ames, The rurienc.s tO Religiorts Exp,,rience
(New York: Modern Library. 1902), p. 379.9. D. H. Salman and R. H. Nino:: (eds.), Do Psyche-
delics Ilave Religious Implications? (Montreal: Sle-Gill University, R. M Bucke Memorial Society,1967), pp. 1-12.
10. Whether Black Elk does as well, we shall probablynever know. His life-empowering vision °coil red inthe course of a near-fatal illness, but its symptomsare not described in enough detail for us to know ifthe disease was one that affects brain functions inthe way psychedelics do. See John Ncihardt, BlackElk Speaks (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,1932), p. 48.
I I. Hilary Jenkins, Newman 'S MCCE/Crratlern? VOI.S/ge(Dublin: Irish University Press, 1974).
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