The other week theadvancedapes joined our Hubski call to catch up and to share what it is he is working on etc. One of the the things he has been studying are hallucinogens and how their study has been neglected. theadvancedapes, what is your take on drugs and their ability to connect us to the realm of the "spiritual?" Have your thoughts on spirituality and the existence of some higher power/force been changed by your research of hallucinogens? Thanks for the comment Cumol, you have an experience that I do not think is unique to islam. There are kids that I grew up with that had doubts about christianity but were forced to conceal them for fear of alienation within their family and even community. Good luck!
I think learning about the existence of DMT in particular has changed my views on a lot of things. In terms of experience people are going to other worlds and universes. That is a subjective fact as Benny Shanon said in "The Antipodes of Mind". And you will therefore be impressed by the DMT experience depending on whether you think subjectivity is an important property in our universe that needs to be explained. In my opinion, science undervalues subjectivity as a phenomenon because it doesn't really understand subjectivity. There are also outdated paradigms that hold research back. Either way, in my encounter with learning about psychedelics (which is still evolving) I feel like I can start to take spirituality seriously for the first time. The overall message from ayahausca appears to be "live in mystery" (which I could mean to be "live in the questions"), and it's nice to know that there is an entity in nature giving us that courage.
Since the day I tried MDMA, I have also experimented with Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) and LSD. And even though the effect is very different than MDMA, I can see where people might get a feeling of the experience being spiritual on hallucinogens. During my first LSD experience (it was in nature), I had a feeling of being connected to trees and grass. No idea what to do with this...
I spent what seemed like hours, but was actually the length of The Beatles Abby Road, talking with a tree at the banks of a lake in Michigan. I also ran my fingers through the water of the lake while sitting beside the tree. The next day I sat at the base of that same tree, baffled by the fact that the water was at least 20 yards away. LSD is a powerful thing, be careful and enjoy.