| The origins of and spiritual practise are shrouded | | | | emotions such as joy and unconditional love, the |
| in mystery, belonging as they do to that period | | | | mystical elements of this experience were not |
| known as "prehistory" of which our factual | | | | trumpeted in the same way as with the LSD |
| knowledge is very limited. The roots of drug use | | | | experiment of the sixties. |
| also date back to that primordial era. Equally | | | | The fundamental question regarding these induced |
| ancient and mysterious is the link between these | | | | experiences of trance, vision and ecstasy is: are |
| two - the use of mind-altering substances as part | | | | they real? |
| of the search for truth. | | | | In comparing the effects of spiritual practise |
| Early accounts of the use of drugs in an attempt | | | | (prayer, meditation, devotional song, chanting etc.) |
| to induce spiritual visions or ecstatic trances are | | | | with those of drugs, the key is to examine the |
| mostly connected with the practises collectively | | | | effects on the individual not just at the time of |
| known as "Shamanism". The ancient Shaman used | | | | the experience but in the days, months and years |
| a variety of methods to achieve these altered | | | | that follow. Spiritual practise is undertaken for its |
| states, including prolonged, repetitive, ritual dancing | | | | transformational power, expressed in the learning, |
| and/or drumming, sensory deprivation, fasting and | | | | change and personal growth of the individual. In |
| the use of hallucinogens found in plants. These | | | | different spiritual and religious traditions, this |
| techniques were employed to either free the | | | | journey of transformation is seen in different |
| Shaman'sspirit from the body, allowing it to travel | | | | ways. The Christian aspires towards salvation |
| in the spiritual worlds, or to call down spiritual | | | | from all sin, the Buddhist is travelling towards |
| entities into the shaman. Shamanic practises of | | | | enlightenment, the Yogi seeks first liberation from |
| this kind are still to be found among indigenous | | | | attachment then the realisation of his or her |
| and tribal peoples in Africa, Asia and South | | | | oneness with God. |
| America. Echoes of these practises are found in | | | | Examine, if you will, two individuals. One has |
| many different religious cultures and in all parts of | | | | pursued for many years what Dr Timothy Leary |
| the world, with the longing for otherworldly | | | | called "the chemical route to enlightenment" while |
| experience driving individuals to explore all the | | | | the other has engaged in the more challenging |
| techniques open to them as part of their quest - | | | | pursuits of spiritual discipline, perhaps including daily |
| including the use of substances that fundamentally | | | | prayer and meditation and the renunciation of a |
| change the individual's perceptions and bring about | | | | worldly life. What differences do you see? Are |
| altered states of consciousness. | | | | their attainments of the same order? Have their |
| In the late twentieth century, the discovery and | | | | experiences carried them forward on their spiritual |
| popularisation of synthetic drugs which appeared | | | | journey,answered their inner questions, brought |
| to induce visionary or trance states led to a | | | | them inner peace and insight? I leave it to you to |
| resurgence of interest in the spiritual nature of | | | | make your own observations and decide for |
| these experiences. The writer Aldous Huxley, a | | | | yourself. |
| spiritual man with an interest in Eastern | | | | Let us close with the words of Sri Chinmoy, an |
| philosophies such as Vedanta, detailed his | | | | Indian spiritual teacher who came to America in |
| experiments with psychotropic substances in his | | | | the sixties and began teaching spirituality when |
| book "The Doors of Perception". Huxley felt that | | | | the hippy movement was in full swing: |
| the human mind in its ordinary state acted to limit | | | | "I have spoken hundreds of times on drugs. Here |
| our awareness of higher or cosmic reality, and | | | | all I wish to say is that if you have a real coin and |
| that drugs could be used to reduce this limiting | | | | a counterfeit coin, they look similar; but when you |
| effect, opening the individual to a new and higher | | | | examine them properly, you know that one is real |
| state of being. Huxley's book became a | | | | and the other one is false. I have a few disciples |
| must-read among hippies and counter-culturalists in | | | | who once upon a time were addicted to drugs. |
| the sixties, as did works by Dr Timothy Leary | | | | They had very high, lofty experiences according |
| and Robert Anton Wilson, both of whom saw | | | | to their own understanding and realisation at that |
| drugs as an effective tool for opening people to | | | | time. But now these same disciples have been |
| higher spiritual realities within and around them. | | | | meditating with me for a couple of years and by |
| Later, in the nineteen nineties, the use of MDMA | | | | the Grace of the Supreme they have had spiritual |
| (ecstasy) as a recreational drug spread rapidly. | | | | experiences. They say that the difference |
| Despite the powerful effects of the drug, and | | | | between the two is like the difference between a |
| users reporting states in which they felt powerful | | | | counterfeit or false coin and a real coin. |