Reality starvation
Another study to "evaluate psilocybin or similar substances for their potential to increase self-awareness and a sense of spirituality". In my opinion, it's another study to show the sad affair of state-starvation so common at this time everywhere. Stuck in their flattened waking awareness, bereft of depth and meaning and authentic spiritual pursuits, people are hungry for some chemical enlightenment. Quote:
Give mushrooms to 24 spiritually realized individuals and asked them if that was the most significant experience of their lives. Besides, experiences do not carry significance, awareness does. Of course, the research has unfortunately been scarce for the last 30-40 years, and hopefully some of it is coming back. Read the whole article.
Two months later, 24 of the participants filled out a questionnaire. Two-thirds called their reaction to psilocybin one of the five top most meaningful experiences of their lives. On another measure, one-third called it the most spiritually significant experience of their lives, with another 40 percent ranking it in the top five.
Give mushrooms to 24 spiritually realized individuals and asked them if that was the most significant experience of their lives. Besides, experiences do not carry significance, awareness does. Of course, the research has unfortunately been scarce for the last 30-40 years, and hopefully some of it is coming back. Read the whole article.
Labels: society
2 Comments:
Hi Hokai. I accept that drugs generally don't lead to lasting insight, but shouldn't it at least be acknowledged that experiences with drugs served as the inspiration for many on spiritual paths? To steal a line from Bill Hamilton's excellent book Saints and Psychopaths, "Although they rarely mention it, many of the best Western spiritual teachers today began their spiritual evolution with psychedelics." Bill Hamilton himself, who eventually became an arhat, became interested in spirituality after his first experience with LSD. In this sense, it seems that drugs can be compared with Big Mind in that they may allow people to temporarily tap into aspects of the unconscious, but they will then have to go back and do the work to achieve a permanent transformation.
Lloyd, I agree with your points. Still, the interpretation that we usually get from these research reports, is that mystical experience can be reduced to chemical processes in the brain. A more balanced interpretation would acknowledge at least that chemical processes may facilitate certain experiences to arise. LSD or mushrooms can indeed crack-open the doors for some, but an extremely small percentage will continue with longterm practice. Other diligent practitioners will be prompted without entheogens, so can we assume there's a common deeper issue at work in both case? Also, I would give advantage to methods such as BM, since they're legal.:-)
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