Hallucinogenic
Drugs and Religious Mysticism
Foreword
This excellent document was prepared at our request by Ms. Kathleen G.
Hess. We provided the conceptual leads from illumination granted by God
to miguel de Portugal and Ms. Hess did the rest.
Our purpose to have this document prepared and published worldwide was,
and is, to alert those who need to be alerted about the multitude, and
variety, of snares that are littering their way Home.
Drug induced mysticism IS NOT mysticism at all. To use a blunt, but
very illustrative example: The desire to have, and the enjoyment of
having, sexual interaction with someone DOES NOT mean that love is
present.
There is no substitute for God, nor love, which, in itself, is a
manifestation of God.
We thank Ms. Kathleen G. Hess for a job well done!
Introduction
LSD’s discovery by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1938 set in motion two decades
of scientific and corporate research on the drug’s usefulness to treat
mental health disorders including schizophrenia, alcoholism and
narcotic addiction and depression and anxiety in the terminally ill. (1)
The Swiss laboratory from which the drug was synthesized provided LSD
free to research scientists until 1966.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, both the CIA and the US Army
conducted large-scale, secret experiments with the drug using human
subjects to study its potential as a mind controlling agent and to
facilitate interrogations.
At Harvard, Dr. Timothy Leary researched LSD as a tool to achieve
spiritual enlightenment. Eventually, his pursuits became so
controversial they led to his dismissal from the university and
marginalizing of his research findings.
LSD’s high profile in the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960’s led
to its US ban in 1967 and in other countries shortly thereafter. The
consequent lack of legal availability of the drug effectively ended
sanctioned academic research, and sent those wishing to continue this
line of study underground. Some legal, academic research experiments on
the effects and mechanisms of LSD continued, but rarely involved human
subjects. (2)
Background
Nearly every early culture used certain naturally occurring compounds
for medicinal and/or religious ritual purposes, for example peyote and
psilocybin mushrooms by native North Americans, fermented beverages and
cannabis by Europeans and the fly agaric mushroom by Asians. Today
these psychoactive botanicals or natural compounded substances are
still in use, for example ibogaine —a root, used by the Bitwi
religious of Gabon and Cameroon in Africa and ayahuasca— a beverage
brewed from an Amazon rain forest vine by indigenous peoples of South
America.
These “medicines” are typically held in great reverence by their users.
Mythological significance is imparted to discovery and history of their
use. Often, the “recipe” or method of compounding the drug for
ingestion is complex and strictly guarded and passed down through
generations of medicine men or shamans.
Use may be steeped in ritual, for tribal initiation rites or festivals,
and may be accompanied by ceremony, dance, song, music, chanting, or
other activities that enhance or supplement the trance like altered
state of consciousness. A period of fasting or practicing of other
austerities may be fulfilled before partaking of the substance.
Current religions use such compounds as a sacrament in their worship
ceremonies, including the Native American Church (psilocybin), Santo
Daime (ayahuasca) and Bitwi (ibogaine).
Enlightenment or New Age (3) type
experimentation occurs using these substances and manufactured
hallucinogens today, presumably
for consciousness expansion and to
bring about meditative states. User intentions may vary, with a fine
line separating those seeking genuine transcendence or religious
experience from curiosity seekers or recreational users.
In an effort to legitimize their use for enlightenment purposes, a new
term was coined in 1979 to replace psychedelic — the new term is
entheogen (4).
Literally it means “God-within”
or “God-inspired”, or “that which generates God (or godly inspiration)
within a person”. The meanings was formally defined by Ruck et al.:
« In
a strict sense, only those vision-producing drugs that can be shown to
have figured in shamanic or religious rites would be designated
entheogens, but in a looser sense, the term could also be applied to
other drugs, both natural and artificial, that induce alterations of
consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of
traditional entheogens. » (5)
Research
Revisited
The most renowned research of hallucinogenic drugs and religious
mysticism was conducted in the early 1960s by Walter Pahnke for his
1963 doctoral thesis in Religion and Society at Harvard. Twenty
Christian theology students participated in an extended Good Friday
religious service conducted at Marsh Chapel of Boston University, half
of the participants were medicated with the hallucinogen psilocybin.
Tape recordings were produced of the experiment, and quantitative
surveys as well as follow-up interviews were conducted immediately and
over the course of six following months. The survey rated participants’
responses based on a 9 item mystical typology developed by Pahnke. The
conditions describing mystical experience were structured by the
investigator to capture “the
universal phenomena of the mystical
experience, whether considered ‘religious’ or not”. The events
addressed included:
1. Internal and external unity (internal meaning loss of usual sense
impressions and loss of self without becoming unconscious, and
external, that the observer feels that the usual separation between
himself and an external object —inanimate or animates— is no longer
present in a basic sense; yet the subject still knows that on another
level, at the same time, he and the objects are separate)
2. Transcendence of time and space
3. Deeply felt positive mood
4. Sense of sacredness
5. Objectivity and reality (insightful
knowledge or illumination is
felt at an intuitive, non rational level and gained by direct
experience; along with the authoritative nature of the experience, or
the certainty that such knowledge is truly real, in contrast to the
feeling that the experience is a subjective delusion)
6. Paradoxically (accurate
descriptions and even rational
interpretations of the mystical experience tend to be logically
contradictory when strictly analyzed)
7. Alleged ineffability (in spite of
attempts to relate or write about
the mystical experience, mystics insist either that words fail to
describe it adequately or that the experience is beyond words)
8. Transiency
9. Persisting positive changes in attitude and behavior (6)
Pahnke’s psilocybin testers achieved much higher scores in each
category versus the control subjects; however, they did not report
consistently high scores for each phenomenon, suggesting a lack of
“completeness” to their mystical state. Follow-up interviews left the
experimenter with the impression,
«
that the experience had made a
profound impact (especially in terms of religious feeling and thinking)
on the lives of eight out of ten of the subjects who had been given
psilocybin. Although the psilocybin experience was unique and different
from the “ordinary” reality of their everyday lives, these subjects
felt that this experience had motivated them to appreciate more deeply
the meaning of their lives, to gain more depth and authenticity in
ordinary living, and to rethink their philosophies of life and values. »
(7)(8)
The original research was reviewed some 25 years later. Rev. Mike
Young, one of the student subjects, recalls,
« Rick Doblin, a psychology
student at New College in Sarasota… wanted to do a 25 year follow-up
study. The result of Doblin’s interviews is the final chapter of the
Good Friday story. His report was published in the Journal of
Transpersonal Psychology. “Everyone
I talked to who had the psilocybin
felt after 25 years of reflection that the experience was a genuine
mystical experience”, Doblin says. “It was a clear viewing of some
ultimate level of reality that had a long-term positive impact on their
lives.” Although many of the subjects endured frightening or
painful
moments during their drug trip, as Young did, they still felt it was
worthwhile. Quite a few reported later mystical experiences, either in
dreams, prayer or natural settings. “The
primary feeling of unity from
their drug trip led many of them to a feeling of compassion for
oppressed minorities and the environment”, Doblin says. » (9)(10)
New
Research
A study recently published in Psychopharmacology
represents the first
new research on human subjects in over forty years which addresses
relationships between psychedelic drugs and mystical or religious
experiences. Roland Griffiths, a John Hopkins neuroscientist, and
others conducted a double-blind controlled experiment with 36 adult
participants to gauge mystical experiences achieved using psilocybin,
the active ingredient in psilocybin mushrooms.
The experiment was remarkable mainly because it heralded a new
generation of psychedelic research after four decades of stagnation;
but also because its careful design and execution anticipated possible
challenges in administering psilocybin.
The subjects were recruited for a “study
of states of consciousness
brought about by a naturally occurring psychoactive substance used
sacramentally in some cultures”. 36 participants, who met
medical and
psychiatric health requirements and had no history of hallucinogenic
drug use, were selected from 135 respondents. Participant average age
was 46 years, they were well educated and all indicated participating,
at least monthly, in religious or spiritual activities such as prayer,
meditation, religious services, church choir or educational or
discussion groups. They received no remuneration and their motivation
for participation was described as “curiosity
about the effects of
psilocybin and the opportunity for extensive self reflection in the
context of both the day long drug sessions and the meetings with the
monitors that occurred between sessions”.
The volunteers completed a variety of questionnaires on the test day, a
hallucinogen rating scale, an addiction research center inventory scale
and a test to assess altered states of consciousness, modeled on both
the Pahnke-Richards Mystical Experience Questionnaire (utilized in the
Good Friday Experiment) and the Hood Mysticism Scale (which had not
been previously utilized to evaluate drug experiences.) Responses to
the Mysticism Scale and State of Conscious Test were “significantly
higher” after psilocybin than after the control, with 22 of 36
volunteers achieving a complete mystical experience after psilocybin,
while only 4 of 36 did so under control conditions.
Approximately 2 months after each session, the participants were tested
for persisting positive changes in attitudes, mood or behavior and
spirituality and answered three questions: How personally meaningful
was the experience? Indicate the degree to which the experience was
spiritually significant to you, and do you believe that the experience
and your contemplation of that experience have led to change in your
current sense of personal well being or life satisfaction?
These ratings were significantly higher after psilocybin than after the
control.
« 67%
of the volunteers rated the hallucinogenic experience
with as either the single most meaningful experience of their life or
among the top five most meaningful experiences of his or her life. In
written comments, the volunteers judged the meaningfulness of the
experience to be similar to the birth of a first child or death of a
parent. Thirty-three percent of the volunteers rated the psilocybin
experience as being the single most spiritually significant experience
of his or her life, with an additional 38% rating it to be among the
top five most spiritually significant experiences. In written comments
about their answers, the volunteers often described aspects of the
experience related to a sense of unity without content (pure
consciousness) and/or unity of all things. » (11)
Nonetheless, a full one third of the subjects characterized their
experience of fear at some point during the psilocybin session as
“strong” or “extreme”. Four of those said the entire session was
dominated by anxiety or psychological struggle, and another four
reported the same anxiety and struggle throughout a significant portion
of their session. (12)(13)(14)
The researchers noted that the proportion of subjects who fulfilled
Pahnke’s criteria for experiencing a complete mystical experience (61%)
was higher than Pahnke reported for his Good Friday experiment, and
that was probably due to differences in the experiment setting —
private setting vs. group setting.
The researchers summarized,
«
psilocybin produced a range of acute
perceptual changes, subjective experiences, and labile (changeable or
unbalanced) moods including anxiety. Psilocybin also increased measures
of mystical experience. At two months, the volunteers rated the
psilocybin experience as having substantial personal meaning and
spiritual significance and attributed to the experience sustained
positive changes in attitudes and behavior consistent with changes
rated by community observers. » They concluded, « When administered under
supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to
spontaneously occurring mystical experiences. The ability to occasion
such experiences prospectively will allow rigorous scientific
investigations of their causes and consequences. »
Conclusion
Five guest reviewers were invited by Psychopharmacology
to comment on
the study and its findings. Each expressed optimism about the potential
of psychedelic drug research and an almost palatable relief that,
finally, the barrier to research on human subjects had been breached. (15)
These commentators may soon know whether their optimism is warranted,
as a glance at the studies underway or in development reveals. Ecstasy,
LSD, Ketamine are among the synthesized drugs being studied, as well as
the naturally occurring ones such as peyote, ayahuasca and ibogaine. (16)
References
(1) Psychedelic
LSD research
(2) Wikipedia:
LSD
(3) The
real dangers of the
New Age movement.
(4) The
Utilization of Hallucinogenic Drugs as a Way to Approach God
(5) Wikipedia:
Entheogen
(6) Toward self:
Increased integration of
personality is the basic inward change in the personal self.
Undesirable traits may be faced in such a way that they may be dealt
with and finally reduced or eliminated. As a result of personal
integration, one’s sense of inner authority may be strengthened, and
the vigor and dynamic quality of a person’s life may be increased.
Creativity and greater efficiency of achievement may be released. An
inner optimistic tone may result, with a consequent increase in
feelings of happiness, joy, and peace.
Toward others: more
sensitivity, more tolerance, more real love, and
more authenticity as a person by virtue of being more open and more
one’s true self with others.
Toward life in a
positive direction: philosophy of life, sense of
values, sense of meaning and purpose, vocational commitment, need for
service to others, and new appreciation of life and the whole of
creation. Life may seem richer. The sense of reverence may be
increased, and more time may be spent in devotional life and meditation.
Toward the mystical
experience itself: it is regarded as valuable and
that what has been learned is thought to be useful. The experience is
remembered as a high point, and an attempt is made to recapture it or,
if possible, to gain new experiences as a source of growth and
strength. The mystical experiences of others are more readily
appreciated and understood.
(7) “Drugs
& Mysticism: An Analysis of the Relationship between Psychedelic
Drugs and Mystical Consciousness” By Walter M Pahnke, Harvard
University, 1963
(8) Drugs
and
Mysticism
(9) Pahnke’s
“Good Friday Experiment” A long term follow-up and methodological
critique
(10) The
Good Friday Marsh Chapel Experiment, THEN —Rev. Mike Young— NOW
(11) Psilocybin
can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained
personal meaning and spiritual significance
(12) Drug’s
Mystical Properties Confirmed
(13) Go
Ask Alice: Mushroom drug is studied anew
(14) Mushroom
Drug Produces Mystical Experience
(15) Commentaries
and Editorial on article by Griffiths et. al.
(16) Psychedelic
Research Around The World
Related Documents within The M+G+R
Foundation
May be found within the above references.
Published on January 23rd, 2008
- Mary’s Wedding
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