four IDs and four quotations
IDs
Aldous Huxley (The Doors of Perception)
- experimented for decades with psychedelics
- both found tremendous benefits in those experiences
- Huxley avoided its downside, Leary may not have
- A first-timer in the throes of a bad trip.
- introduced to Hindu spirituality (Vedanta philosophy)
- learned the philosophy of Vedanta, techniques of meditation, and other spiritual
practices of the Vedanta by becoming a disciple of Prabhavananda for several decades
while in Southern California
- decided that he wanted to experiment with mescaline, a mild psychedelic that can
actually be found in nature (in the peyote cactus)
- The doors of perception: the psychedelic experience, a dose of mescaline from a
psychiatrist, which he ingested one day (at 11 am) under controlled circumstances
- notes that psychedelic drugs can give us a glimpse of "heaven" or a trip straight to "hell".
One has to be smart—or at least careful—to take these things
- Huxley has a number of interesting observations about what happens to his mind (his
ego or his individual consciousness) during the trip
- describes the individual mind as a kind of filtered consciousness
- brain and the nervous system play a role in creating this individual "ego" consciousness
Psychedelics (and the counterculture)
- Members of the counterculture generation tended to avoid overt associations with
religion or any particular religion
- Psychological explanations were more appealing to members of the counterculture
generation than religious ones
- psychology became the dominant lens through which they understood their spiritual
experimentation
- Maslow - psychedelics produce effects in the human consciousness that resembled
those of peak experiences mystics experiences - self-actualization
- produce peak experiences without the need for long years of efforts toward
self-actualization
- for some, drug-fueled experiences were a gateway to an eventual interest in spirituality
and self-actualization. for others, they were an end in themselves
- Psychedelics could open doors to powerful experiences of unity, connectedness,
empathy, awe, and wonder (similar to the peak experiences of the world's mystics)
- but also a double-edged sword - the wrong drugs are taken at the wrong time could
open a gateway to "hell"—to paranoia, hopelessness, and psychosis
- could jump-start a spiritual life, but also destroy it (life-changing love could turn into
disillusionment, depression, and despair)
IDs
Aldous Huxley (The Doors of Perception)
- experimented for decades with psychedelics
- both found tremendous benefits in those experiences
- Huxley avoided its downside, Leary may not have
- A first-timer in the throes of a bad trip.
- introduced to Hindu spirituality (Vedanta philosophy)
- learned the philosophy of Vedanta, techniques of meditation, and other spiritual
practices of the Vedanta by becoming a disciple of Prabhavananda for several decades
while in Southern California
- decided that he wanted to experiment with mescaline, a mild psychedelic that can
actually be found in nature (in the peyote cactus)
- The doors of perception: the psychedelic experience, a dose of mescaline from a
psychiatrist, which he ingested one day (at 11 am) under controlled circumstances
- notes that psychedelic drugs can give us a glimpse of "heaven" or a trip straight to "hell".
One has to be smart—or at least careful—to take these things
- Huxley has a number of interesting observations about what happens to his mind (his
ego or his individual consciousness) during the trip
- describes the individual mind as a kind of filtered consciousness
- brain and the nervous system play a role in creating this individual "ego" consciousness
Psychedelics (and the counterculture)
- Members of the counterculture generation tended to avoid overt associations with
religion or any particular religion
- Psychological explanations were more appealing to members of the counterculture
generation than religious ones
- psychology became the dominant lens through which they understood their spiritual
experimentation
- Maslow - psychedelics produce effects in the human consciousness that resembled
those of peak experiences mystics experiences - self-actualization
- produce peak experiences without the need for long years of efforts toward
self-actualization
- for some, drug-fueled experiences were a gateway to an eventual interest in spirituality
and self-actualization. for others, they were an end in themselves
- Psychedelics could open doors to powerful experiences of unity, connectedness,
empathy, awe, and wonder (similar to the peak experiences of the world's mystics)
- but also a double-edged sword - the wrong drugs are taken at the wrong time could
open a gateway to "hell"—to paranoia, hopelessness, and psychosis
- could jump-start a spiritual life, but also destroy it (life-changing love could turn into
disillusionment, depression, and despair)
