DRUG HELL
posted by Anthony North | June 16, 2009
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IcerocketShoot. Smoke. Snort. There are many way to do it – get high. The trip has been described as similar to a mystical experience; indeed, it is well accepted that the ancients used narcotics to help induce such experiences. Experimental mystics have used drugs and testify to the similarity. This was once used as an attempt to glorify their use, which is, of course, a load of rubbish.
I don’t deny the connection between drugs
and mystical experiences. But the difference
is in the intent.
A mystic tends to spend his whole life in a search for the Divine. The lessons he learns during this journey are taken into his life, and in this sense he is enriched. This is totally different to the attitude of the average user. A few manage to use them as recreational – usually the rich – but to most it is a means of escape from a deplorable life. No lesson is learnt, and in being an ‘escape’, their only need is to get back there as soon as they can. Hence, there may be a theoretical link, but in terms of experience it is a road to hell.
Comments
Road to Hell
— Jun 16, 2009
Howdy Tony,
Good to see you here.
Of course intent is important in anything we do, but a heroic dose of any of the major hallucinogens washes away the set, setting and intent in a flood of raw power.
"The trip has been described as similar to a mystical experience..."
I think it is quite the opposite... the religious mystical state is similar, an attempt to mimic the original drug induced state.
Seems to me that the ingestion of the amanita muscaria mushroom predates religion by maybe millions of years. The first primates to get down out of the trees would have eaten them, looking so much like a ripe tree fruit.
Eating just a couple of these things raw produces a certifiable near death experience, complete with resurrection and a sense of mission. This is original religion. As bad has human behavior has been in the name of religion, 'tis the road to hell, indeed.
cheers,
jim
Let theoretical become practical and recreate the context
— Jun 16, 2009
In my understanding it is more common for a "mystic" to begin their life long search for the Divine after a revelatory experience which challenges their perception of reality. It is very rare for a being to enter the path as a child. That seems more the making of an avatar.
For some the revelatory experience is induced by the consumption of powerful and natural compounds. It seems to be a relationship that has changed little over time. Intent as well as cultural context and available knowledge will make the difference between "heaven and hell".
It's not the plants that need to be rescind to the past and those ancients don't hold a monopoly on proper intent and dedication to the Divine. Create a cultural context for dedication to the Divine right now and don't assume others haven't.
In lak'ech Ala Kin
It is intent and
— Jun 16, 2009
It is intent and circumstance i am going on about here, mainly. Two very different people can have two very different outcomes from such use. I've always rejected such drug use. But from my experience of people who have taken them, their thoughts on use is always geared to the person. In the UK when typically middleclass people speak of their value, they don't take account of those totally subsumed by their society.
Rudra, I agree with your assessment of an overbearing society, but that is a side issue, I think.
And it's good to hear from you again, Jim.
