psychedelics and spirituality

Definitely psychedelics had some input into shamanistic type belief systems. Also in the vedas there is the mysterious 'soma', which could possibly have been a mushroom.

As for psychedelics being bad for some - I can assure you from personal experience that they can be very bad for some. In people with hidden mental imbalance or issues of that kind, they can in fact be a catalyst which can cause on-going mental problems.
Probably, in such people, the problems would surface one day anyway, but certainly for some psychedelics are contra indicated.
And of course, some people don't need that kind of stimulus at all.

It would be foolish to pretend that psychedelics are entirely safe and free of risks in every case. However, in reasonably intelligent and well balanced people who make sensible use of them, they can be a unique and very useful thing.
Nothing is for everybody.

Also, there certainly are limitations with psychedelics - they can only show you so much, and don't necessarlily lead to anything positive beyond a short term experience.

 

I get where your coming from BlackBillBlake, but your psychedelic experiences, are just that, yours, and that is doesn't make it necessarily true for anyone else. As Leary and others have said before, "Any reality is an opinion". Maybe there are limits for what psychedelics can do for you, but I find that the consensus of many lifelong users, gurus, shamans, etc is that there isn't any limits, and is a infinitely creative realm. Maybe, possibly, did you not have a knowledgeable guide into the experience? In the context of cultures/religions that use psychedelics, I am not aware of anyone that is excluded from the use of them. To the contrary, they are often used for curing things like mental illness and mental problems. This a probably a foreign concept to how most westerns experience psychedelics, and it is in a very different context. Some of the first legal uses of LSD was for psychotherapy. Some of these groups have been using them continuously for at least several thousands of years, maybe tens of thousands. I would tend to think with that much practice that they at least partially know what they are doing.

Some people maintain that christianity and Judaism were an outgrowth of a fertility cult that also used a psychedelic mushroom, as in John Allegro's "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross".

 

You have a rose tinted view there. I personally know at least one case where ongoing life-long mental illness was triggered by psychedelics.


As to their suitability for everyone, it is simply not the case.

Probably when you get a bit more experience, you'll begin to see reality, rather than a hippie dream.

Personally, I think the idea that c/anity came from mushroom use is utterly absurd. It is an anti life, and very anti psychedelic cult, full of morons to whom things like acid should never be given.

 

I never said everyone can do them,however they want, I said if they were done correctly. There is a big difference. There is always a potential for hurting one's self, when doing things wrong, like walking, if a person trips over their own feet and falls, could break their head open. I'm not sure what your disagreeing with.

 

Right. Well what I'm saying is there are some people who should never do any psychedelic substance regardless of how they do it or under what conditions.


Also, I think there are definite limits to how far they can take you.

Hope that clarifies my position.

 

psychodellics can maybe be a cool experience. shaired celibration can be a cool experience. real spirituality is entirely another kind of cool experience that has nothing to do with either of them, nor for that matter, with any kind of defined or defining of belief.

whatever kind of experience you get from mind altering, whateven kind you get from shaired euphoria, these are all great things, but the're just totally seperate from that sense of loving and loved connectedness with the spaces between trees and rocks and the little spirits that live down by the creak or dance in the breeze through the blackberry leaves.

=^^=
.../\...

=^^=
.../\...

 

A person can meditate or think about anything on psychedelics, so how can there be a limit to what a person thinks, other then what they know about and their imagination?

 

It's all down to personal experience - probably you haven't reached the limit with psychedelics, perhaps one day you will.

 

All paths lead to one.

 

lsd has been a porthole that i use on occasion to cross the veil. my experiences have only ever been beautiful and filled with light. i find it medicinal-for body, mind and spirit.


i also use marijuana daily as part of my spiritual lifestyle.

 

Ever try Ketamine?

It's more pwerful than acid and because of the shorter duration is easier to fit into a busy schedule.
Just one thing though - never do K alone - always have a minder because it can take you out of the body ( into the 'K-hole'), and takes away full bodily functionality so you could injure yourself by falling etc.
Otherwise if used moderately it is pretty safe.
Also in the UK (don't know about America) it isn't actually under the dangerous drugs act, but is only a controlled medicine, so the legal position is also less risky.

 

i have heard of ketamine--from my hubby--but i have never tried it....i'm up for a try!!!! i'd also like to try dmt & salvia.

 

you've just got to be aware of the dangers of psychedelics instead of being all gung-ho "psychedelics sound fun, i'm about to eat all of these dangerous dangerous drugs"

and speaking of ketamine, please don't do it with some creepy strangers either....you might not want to "do it alone" but at least do it with good people you know aren't going to pull any bad stuff on you either

 

great visuals, mara-aum! didn't even have to do any psychedelics to see them!

 

I may not have pushed myself as far as you have, but I've found the mind to be an incredibly underrated thing. The mind isn't limited, it's just held back by a lack of knowledge, by being easily distracted and by being easily manipulated.

You manage to get something out of ketamine?! Kudos to you, sir!
I find it a bit hollow... there's not much meaning in anything - it's just a pure mindfuck with some CRAZY thought patterns.
Then there's the occasional moment where I think I've fucked it and I'm going to die... but it definitely isn't an enlightening experience, for me anyway.