I am fascinated with the mystical/psychedelic experience and all the narratives in this text. What exactly causes these states of mind? I agree with a few of my classmates that it doesn't matter if the mystical experience is attained through the conception of a deity or not. I would take this further by saying that it doesn't matter if this state of consciousness is attained through meditation, yoga, religion, psychoactive plants or synthetic psychoactive drugs, as long as you are not harming or putting yourself and/or others in danger in any way. Just for the record, I will use the terms 'mystical experience' and 'psychedelic experience' interchangeably. As Michael G. Kenny notes,
context is very important in the mystical experience. A spiritual guide is useful in helping one through a journey of a mystical experience. In some cultures, the ceremonial and guided use of ayahuasca is normal and shamans are revered. If the psychedelic state of mind is attained without any prior knowledge that this experience would be forthcoming, it could be a terrifying experience. Too bad that the mainstream West fails to see the inherent value in guided psychedelic experiences!
Dr. Gabor Mate, a DTES physician who specializes in addiction used ayahuasca to help his addicted patients as he believes in a healthy-minded (and healty-body) approach to healing mental wounds, addictions and other harmful practices. It is unfortunately that this practice has been stiffled by the RCMP and Canadian government alike. Western drugs (medicine) retain legal status but there is no context to the current practice of western medicine and cures may not come by conventional western medicines. Laws surrounding psychoactive drugs are archaic, causing more harm than good. Perhaps we are putting too much faith in science.
The fact that ingesting certain plants ranging from mushrooms, herbs, cacti, etc. brings the human-animal into mystical states of consciousness must surely have some meaning that we do not understand, that cannot be put into words. The main goal of our lives, happiness - in the sense of an inner bliss - is essentially a way for us to mitigate the sufferings, evils (for the lack of a better term) and absurdity of our lives, no?
I wished that William James would have had a personal mystical experience himself. How would this text change, had he had one? I like that he acknowledges that the experience is 'truth' only to the person who experienced the state of transcendence herself. As an atheist, I view my mystical experiences through a secular lens. The inner bliss that I attain through these experiences change the way I view plants, animals and human-animals around me. It helped me to shift perspectives and to see the interconnectivity of live around us. It helped to affirm my veganism, propelled through my experiental and sensory experiences. I felt the pain, the abuse, the torture of animals for food, clothing and beyond - in a context in which we do not need to do this for our survival in a psychedelic experience last year...
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| artwork by Alex Grey |
The talk of unity with the divided souls and the cosmic universe - I wonder if this is in part due to the fact that we are all relational. By this, I mean that we are made of up DNA of our ancestors. Are we not in essence a continuation of their thoughts, knowledge and emotions? If we look at reincarnation in a metaphorical rather than literal sense, this now makes good sense. We are all matter of this earth, and in a sense share much of our DNA with plants, birds, etc. Since we are made up of the same materials as other beings, would it not make good sense that our mystical experience connects us to the all of nature and more generally the whole universe? When we die, do we really die? Our organic body may decay but perhaps there is an essence/soul that blends into the larger universe. Energy cannot be created or destroyed makes sense here in a cosmic spiritually.
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