Psychedelics & Mystical Experience: A Spark to an Eternal Flame

Psychedelics & Mystical Experience: A Spark to an Eternal Flame By Greg Tilden, Philosophy & Religion major, Music minor – Class of 2014 Intro to Mysticism – Brian Karafin This paper discusses the spiritual and therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances, used as tools for awakening to a larger sense of reality. I go over the basics of what a mystical experience can be defined as, and the relationships which various cultures around the world have with entheogenic plants. A taboo topic, the facts about psychedelics are often suppressed by the ideologies of mainstream society, but this paper shows how there is still much hope for the healing potentials of psychedelics on an individual level. I also discuss the importance of set and setting, and careful integration of a psychedelic experience as necessary factors in providing a positive and perhaps even mystical experience.

For thousands of years, people of various cultures around the world have engaged in the consumption of entheogenic, or god-releasing plants, for ceremonial or religious purposes. Even in modern America, the psychedelic experience has created quite a stir, beginning a spiritual revolution in the 1960's which has continued onward today. Plants and chemicals, from LSD and DMT to amanita muscaria and peyote are widely prohibited, but the criminalization of such substances says nothing about the experience of ecstasy, illumination, and wonder which one can experience from them. In this essay, I plan to address the mystical potential of psychedelic substances, as well as the historical evidence and reports of such substances being used as a vehicle to witness a momentary glimpse of the divine. This by no means condones the use of psychedelic substances as “instant enlightenment,” or as drugs to be misused, but rather, advocates for respectful, open and learned use of such substances, emphasizing the importance of set and setting. Based on my own direct experiences as well as those of shamans and thinkers around the world, I believe that these visionary plants and substances can be used as an upaya for spiritual purposes. Alan Watts categorizes the most prominent effects of a mystical experience into four general terms: a concentration in the present, an awareness of polarity, an awareness of relativity, and an awareness of an eternal energy. In concentrating in the present, one loses the everyday awareness of future plans, worries, and contemplations and realizes the significance of the eternally present moment. In this moment, it becomes much easier to realize the depth of colors in a nearby leaf, the music orchestrated by the singing of the birds, or the stillness of water in a glass, rather than worrying about what one has to do when one gets home from work, or feeling anxiety towards a future situation. Many people who become stuck in a fast-paced culture may think to themselves that such a feeling would be bad for business reasons, but perhaps this is just the change that is needed in our culture. If we are to imagine the stereotypical idea of a business man, his life is entirely based on constant material consumption, providing only transient happiness, and a lack of realization of what is truly going on around him due to his continual worry of not being up-to-date on his business operations. In “Breaking

Open The Head” by Daniel Pinchbeck, he quotes Levi Strauss, after his realization that Native American tribesmen can see the planet Venus with the naked eye: ““Today we use less and we use more of our mental capacity than we did in the past,” [Levi Strauss] realized. We have sacrificed perceptual capabilities for other mental abilities—to concentrate on a computer screen while sitting in a cubicle for many hours at a stretch (something those Indians would find “utterly impossible and incredible”), or to shut off multiple levels of awareness as we drive a car in heavy traffic. In other words, we are brought up within a system that teaches us to postpone, defer, and eliminate most incoming sense data in favor of a future reward. We live in a feedback loop of perpetual postponement. For the most part, we are not even aware of what we have lost.” It is as if people who live in the future are not fully in the future when they are fretting about it, but also not fully here in the present moment. When one operates in this way, life will fly by, and death will come riding in, and one may be left feeling a sense of incompleteness. The awareness of polarity is a realization that things which we see as opposite in our everyday lives are actually completely interdependent. Take the common concept of self and other: without having any idea of self, who we are, what makes us up, there would also be no concept of other, for the other is fully dependent on our own realization that we exist, and our senses are able to process this other. In less abstract terms, police would never exist if criminals ceased to exist, and there would be no such thing as criminals if police did not conceive them as such. Left and right, male and female, all are interdependent forces; the force of the entire universe is a game of push and pull between all other forces inside of it, and it acts as a machine in which everything is a cog. From this awareness comes the awareness of relativity. When we see a house fly, swirling about our house, it is easy to see it as just a fly, like every other. However, in the mystical state, one may realize that the fly's conception of being is the same as our human conception, and it inevitably recognizes differences among its common fly folk just as we can relate more to people who are similar to ourselves. Seeing through this dichotomy allows us to realize that the sense of “I” which we possess

is also held by every other living thing. We have a sense of self just the same as all living things do, and this is akin to the Hindu idea of paramatman, or “the self of all selves.” The final of Watts' characteristics of a transcendental experience, and the most difficult to explain via language, is that of the awareness of an eternal energy. Combining elements of the past three characteristics, this feeling is a sense of oneness, “that all existence is a single energy and that this energy is one's own being.” One can sense that oneself is the godhead, because God is all there is within everything. It is also worth noting that William James has his own four characteristics of a mystical experience, written many years earlier and in simpler terms. Such an experience is transient, the everlasting moment fading away soon after it arises. It is also ineffable, and nearly impossible to put into words, for words are a creation of humankind which God transcends, and therefore, a direct experience of God is able to reach beyond words. James also notes that such an experience has a sense of noetic quality, or that knowledge is gained from the experience. The experience is also passive, or having a sense that the experience is occurring not directly because of one's own ego control. However you look at the qualities of a mystical experience, and whether such an experience is initiated through fasting, meditation, drumming and chanting or psychedelics, the feeling remains universal across the board. An ecstatic experience transcends duality in the respect that it can be simultaneously hilarious, awe-inspiring, terrifying, familiar, and bizarre. Taking a psychedelic substance is absolutely no guarantee that such an experience may occur; as a matter of fact, taking it in hopes of encountering the mystical, if anything, would decrease the likelihood of it occurring. However, if one wishes to pursue psychedelics and entheogens for spiritual or insightful purposes, there are a number of factors involved in the preparation for such a powerful experience. The most important factors in a psychedelic experience are the set and setting of the individual. A set consists of one's own interiorized feelings, even at the subconscious level, as well as any hopes, fears, or expectations of the experience to come. If one approaches the experience with a negative attitude or doubts, then it will be most likely that the person would have a negative experience, seeing

as the person's conscious or unconscious thoughts are what is namely in play within the experience. If something negative has happened in a person's life prior to the experience, or there is a general feeling of discomfort and unsureness in the air, then it is best not to embark on such a voyage. Instead, the most advisable time to consume a psychedelic substance would be when one is feeling harmonious, calm, and contented with one's life. The setting of an experience basically means one's material, external situation where the experience occurs. External stimuli such as phones or computers are usually seen as a hindrance to the experience, seeing as they are a material representation of the fastpaced, technological society we are born into, rather than the ideal, natural aspects of the world, such as a forest, or a brook. Noise, light level, familiarity and attachments to a particular place can also have an effect on the experience. From this, it is not wise to dismiss any particular substance as good or bad, seeing as the effects that the substances have are, besides knowing whichever psychedelic is being ingested, fully based on the individual. In an interview with Richard Scheinin, Huston Smith says, “Aldous Huxley told me, “Never say that these experiences are caused by mescaline” or whatever substance it was. Say they are occasioned by” the ingestion of these substances. He saw the distinction, and how they are enabling, but they are not the sole cause. I think they direct our awareness by certain configurations that happen —neuron firing—which let revelations come through to us. But they do not generate those revelations. They cleanse the doors of perception.” It is as if our perception of existence is in looking through a window- a window that has been covered in the dirt, dust, and dead bugs that represent our corrupting reality of selfish politics, monetary gains, and egoistic aversion towards others. If we tune in with an open mind to deeper reality that can potentially be accessed through psychedelics, then the windows of our life can be cleansed, and what is taken from the experience will keep the windows clean for some time, if one is mindful of integrating the experience into daily life. In Daniel Pinchbeck's “Breaking Open The Head,” he writes of Alexander Shulgin, an exploratory chemist: “He realized the tiny amount of white powder he had ingested could not have

caused such profound visions. It had only revealed what was inside of him. He understood that “our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit. We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can catalyze its availability.” Difficulties may occur within a psychedelic experience if one remains closed to it, letting one's ego cling to one's own idea of the world as it appears, rather than it actually is. Unlike alcohol or other intoxicating substances, psychedelics provide an aspect of clarity, which instead of acting as a repressive force, can bring about subconscious truths that may be difficult to face. As long as one remains open to the experience, connected to a more holistic view of reality rather than the touch-andgo materialistic culture that surrounds us, there can be immense therapeutic and mystical value in the consumption of psychedelics. If we look back over the past 10,000 years, there are countless examples of groups and cultures of East and West who partake in ritualistic consumption of entheogens; many more than I could possible cover in one short paper. However, I'd like to begin to address some examples of how various cultures have utilized psychedelic substances for positive means. For one, the Bwiti people of Gabon ceremonially take part in the ingestion of the tabernanthe iboga plant, which contains ibogaine, a psychoactive chemical producing a visionary experience with a long duration. According to Daniel Pinchbeck's personal experience and interaction with the Bwiti people, the first few hours of the experience produce a profound, dreamlike, visionary state, followed by many hours of introspection into personal issues, which are intertwined with the spiritual. The plant is often known to immerse the voyager with his or her connections to family, and in Daniel's case, he realized that he had a looming attachment to his grandmother which was limiting his potential. One of the Bwiti tribesman was actually able to sense this, even knowing which grandmother was limiting Daniel with her presence after she had passed. Months later, Pinchbeck encountered a dream in which his grandmother appeared, rifling through his stuff and intruding in his life. In the dream, he was able to tell her to stop, effectively letting himself be freed from her presence and freeing her spirit from its final attachments and longings

to the life that has already passed. Some other West African groups, such as the Fang, take part in more dramatic ceremonies of iboga, in which the initiate begins the experience by having his or her tongue pierced, and her head banged on three times with a hammer, in order to break open the head, literally or figuratively, for the experience. The Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico are known for their ceremonial usage of salvia divinorum, (among many other psychedelic substances such as psilocybin mushrooms and morning glory seeds). Salvia is often referred to as “Ska Pastora,” holding associations to the Virgin Mary. A very short-lasting psychedelic experience, users often report contact with a female presence, and travels to an alternate reality which is somehow linked to our own. In regards to responsible, mindful use of such visionary substances, it is interesting to note that many in the Western world who experience salvia note that smoking it is followed by uncontrollable laughter. However, the Mazatec people believe that the spirit of salvia is “shy like a deer,” believing that she speaks with a quiet voice, and any laughter or loud noises in the experience could scare her away. Perhaps we laugh because we don't understand. This may be connected to our ways of living outside of the current moment, and just as we fail to notice the subtlety of intricate markings on a leaf, we may not be ready to embrace the subtle spirit that can communicate outwardly through this plant. One of the most well-known and studied of psychoactive substances used for spiritual means is that of ayahuasca, a brew of various plants used by shamans throughout the Amazonian basin. The mixture contains the banisteriopsis caapi vine, containing DMT, as well as an MAOI such as harmaline to extend the duration of the experience. DMT occurs naturally in over 60 different species, including the human brain, and there are many theories up in the air about whether or not DMT may be “the spirit molecule,” potentially responsible for our dreams, near-death experiences, and subconscious thought. Whether or not this is true, there is much to be said, but the experience of DMT is like no other. When smoked, it is known to produce a rushing effect, a breaking through into what feels like another dimension, or another aspect of this reality, though the experience lasts for less than ten minutes. In

“Food Of The Gods,” Terence McKenna writes, “The experience that engulfs one's entire being as one slips beneath the surface of the DMT ecstasy feels like the penetration of a membrane. The mind and the self literally unfold before one's eyes. There is a sense that one is made new, yet unchanged, as if one were made of gold and had just been recast in the furnace of one's birth. Breathing is normal, heartbeat is steady, the mind clear and observing. But what of the world? . . . Color and the sense of a reality-unlocking secret nearby pervade the experience. There is a sense of other times, and of one's own infancy,and of wonder, wonder, and more wonder.” The shamans of the Amazon ingesting the ayahuasca brew often encounter profoundly spiritual experiences, with realizations of their purpose on Earth as well as the true nature of the universe. Though difficult to prove in any rational mindset that this chemical may be responsible for at least one direct connection to the ever-pervasive spirit, speculation arises based on the direct experience which many across the world encounter. After all, direct experience holds much more validity than theories and hypotheses heard through the grapevine, enforced by a societal aversion towards mind expansion. Aside from these well-studied examples of psychoactive plants and their connection to mystical experience, there is also evidence of substances that were used in ancient times. Tales are told of their consumption, which is undoubtedly one of visionary plants and ecstasy, though the details have faded with time. One of these mysterious substances is that of soma, a juice or sap that was pressed out of the swollen fibers of the soma plant. Though we can only speculate on what this substance is today, there are wealths of information about its psychoactive use. Utilized by many Indo-European peoples, it is even referenced repeatedly in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest religious doctrines known to Hinduism. It has also been referred to as Haoma in the pre-Zoroastrian times of religion in Iran, and some believe that its disappearance was partially due to the suppression of the Zoroastrian religion. If soma still exists today, it has been thought to be ephedra, harmaline, and most notably by R. Gordon Wasson, amanita muscaria, a red, white spotted mushroom which was used ceremonially by tribes of Siberia. Another psychedelic of the mysterious past hides within the Eleusinian Mysteries. Each year, a

festival was held in ancient Greece for the cults of Persephone and Demeter, in which thousands flocked, ecstatic to come into contact with this “mystery.” On arrival, the attendees would drink something known as Kykeon which would change their lives forever, making anyone who had experienced the mystery return to celebrate continuously over the course of almost two thousand years. An English poet named Robert Graves was the first to suggest that perhaps the ceremony contained the usage of a hallucinogenic plant. Terence McKenna quotes him in Food Of The Gods, saying “The secret which Demeter sent around the world from Eleusis in charge of her protege Triptolemus is said to have been the art of sowing and harvesting grain. . . Something is wrong here. Triptolemus belongs to the late second millennium B.C.; and grain, we now know, had been cultivated at Jericho and elsewhere since around 7000 B.C. So Triptolemus's news would have been no news. . . Triptolemus's secret seems therefore concerned with hallucinogenic mushrooms, as my guess is that the priesthood at Eleusis had discovered an alternative hallucinogenic mushroom easier to handle than the amanita muscaria.” Perhaps this insight, which did not appear until 1964, occurred so late due to the suppression of altered states of consciousness of the dominator society. Whether the drink was prepared from psilocybin mushrooms or ergotized beer (ergot is the plant which Albert Hoffman began research on when he accidentally discovered LSD), it is no doubt that the mysteries that occurred at Eleusis, having such profundity to the individuals, were due to the hallucinogenic spiritual components of a visionary plant. Despite all of these legendary tales of shamanic rituals and ancient ceremonies, using psychedelic substances for therapeutic and spiritual purposes, nearly all of these substances remain controlled today, most of which became criminalized in the 1960's, during the influx of political paranoia against free-spirited spiritual seekers. Due to their illegal status, governments restrict research on these substances that could not only yield medical or psychological insights, as we are beginning to realize with cannabis, but they also prevent religious and spiritual usage of psychedelics, besides the gradual allowance of peyote in the Native American church. It is as if the capitalist patriarchy has

chosen to hide the doors of perception, not even allowing seekers the potential to cleanse these doors. In “Food Of The Gods,” McKenna borrows a view from Riane Eisler, stating that we are in a dominator culture, as opposed to a partnership culture. In this culture, we are exposed to systems of hierarchy, paternalism, materialism, and patriarchy. We become so involved with dichotomies that more separation occurs than working together, and in this state, there is inherent suppression of the feminine, foreign, exotic, and transcendental experience. In such a male-dominated and material culture, leaders have essentially put blinders on to the problems at bay by disregarding not only women in society, but feminine ideals as well. In a partnership society, female and male would work together, and thereby allow the best of both worlds to co-inhabit symbiotically. The use of psychedelics throws into question this entire worldview, revealing a potential for humanity that would be much more ecologically sound. However, this partnership tradition did exist in Archaic traditions, and is still in effect in tribal groups and shamanic cultures throughout the world. This tradition has largely been replaced in the West by religious dogma, and fervent forcing of religion on others, which is a great distortion of what lies at the core of our collective nature. Not only this, but it has also been replaced by patriarchy and warfare; violence like this is only created when a dichotomy between two or more groups exist, creating unnecessary tension between various people and animals who are all here with the same reason and purpose. Dominator values have lost touch with emotion and intuition, trading harmonious concepts of mind, spirit, and body for rational and scientistic values, which view science in a totalitarian perspective, as the end-all-be-all answer to our existence. What psychedelics possess the key for is to open up one's perspective to the idea that rational and scientific inquiry, though a great way to answer “how” questions about the world we live in, create more questions than answers. Each new scientific advancement answers a question about the state of the world as-it-is-now, but since the world is an ever-changing reality, questions are only able to provoke more questions, answers simply penciled in. Through these processes combined, we are gradually killing the planet for the sake of keeping intact our ego-oriented assumptions of the dominator society. To some, it feels good to destroy and dominate,

even in minute ways, because it feeds our hungry egos. Unfortunately, these egos are the hungry ghosts of Buddhism, and eventually these destructive ways will pile up until we reach a point where we cannot continue on such a path any longer. We may face our own destruction at an omega point, and be forced to make a change. McKenna writes, “The suppression of the natural human fascination with altered states of consciousness, and the present perilous situation of all life on earth are intimately and causally connected. When we suppress access to shamanic ecstasy, we close off the refreshing waters of emotion that flow from having a deeply bonded, almost symbiotic relationship to the earth.” Of course, it is entirely up to the individual to do what we want with our bodies, and that includes whether or not we choose to ingest entheogenic substances; the experiences may prove remarkable for some, but not all. However, denying access to any facet of reality, as dogmatic religion, despotic science, and dominator-oriented laws have will not serve a benefit to either individuals or society. The sensation that one feels when encountering the mystical through use of a psychedelic can be described as ecstasy, wonder, or connectivity. However, though this feeling is so powerful in its simplicity, it is important not to take for the whole answer to the meaning of life. Psychedelics are simply objects, just tools to help create a spark, but not necessarily a fire. The fire can only be fully lit with one's own potential outside of the experience. Some may take a meaningful psychedelic experience as an all-guiding-light, but it is important to realize that it is only a glimpse into the full spectra of human potential; like looking at the universe through a telescope, what one sees may be beyond belief, but that is only one small element of truth. Psychedelics may help oneself break out of an imprisoning mindset, whether it is one of spiritual longing, or even issues with oneself in relation to others, but the therapeutic values of a substance can only be achieved mindfully and with careful integration of the experience. And, as Ram Dass notes in “Be Here Now,” if one already understands such concepts of the divine at a basic level, the use of a psychedelic spark may not even be necessary; most mystical experiences tend to take the user by a wondrous surprise. There is undoubtedly potential for attachment to psychedelics, but not in the sense that there is

potential for attachment to heroin or nicotine. If one experiences something so powerful and ineffable as a mystical experience through use of hallucinogens, there may be a craving to repeat the experience, possibly even over and over again. However, the fact of the matter is that it will never be the same, and if anything, such overuse is counterproductive to advancement on any spiritual path, as it is an attachment to a transient feeling. Ram Dass writes, “Psychedelics as an upaya at first seem to hold infinite promise. But as one works with them further, one comes to realize the possible finiteness of the method. At this point, however, the individual may have become so attached to the experience of “getting high” that he doesn't want to continue on his way by finding other methods. At this point he is being dishonest with himself.” Though a transcendental experience through the guiding hand of psychedelics can be powerful, it is also ephemeral. The best way to overcome such a sense is to take the initial value that may come from such an experience into the real world. A mystical experience is like a glimpse into a higher power that is all around us, but that's just it: it is all around us. Holding onto the experience as only within the psychedelic is treating a mere material object as God, when in fact it is only the vehicle, only part of the picture that still continues to exist after the chemical effect has worn off. As Alan Watts has famously said, “When you get the message, hang up the phone.” Repeated use of psychedelics will hold about as much value as taking your favorite college course over and over again. In writing about the broad topic of psychedelics and mysticism, I suppose I may be lucky to be able to speak easily about such a topic due to my own experience. I wish to pour my heart and soul into this topic, because I am forever thankful to the divine faculties of the universe for allowing me to, at least somewhat, break free from the chains which held me down prior to my first psychedelic experience. Never would my atheist self have thought that I would jettison my Dawkins and Harris books for the likes of Huston Smith or Paul Tillich, largely in part to an LSD experience. But it was not just the chemical that instantly changed me from who I was then to who I am now; it was a gradual process, encompassing my relationships, experiences, and education along the way. However, I do look

back on that day in the brush and vines of Amherst, Massachusetts to be a particularly bright memory that will ring true to me throughout my life. Due to my direct experience, I think it is unquestionable that psychedelics can be used as a vehicle for spiritual pursuits, and that the criminalization of such plants and substances is a result of the dominator society which we have birthed ourselves into. An escape is still possible, if we as an entire ecosystem simply choose to work together, rather than apart.

Bibliography: Dass, Ram. Be Here Now. [S.l.]: Crown Pub, 1971. Print. Fadiman, James. The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys. Rochester, VT: Park Street, 2011. Print. McKenna, Terence K. Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge : A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution. New York: Bantam, 1992. Print. Pinchbeck, Daniel. Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism. New York: Broadway, 2002. Print. Smith, Huston, and Phil Cousineau. The Way Things Are: Conversations with Huston Smith on the Spiritual Life. Berkeley: University of California, 2003. Print.