Drugs-I've done everything under the sun except heroin-can be extremely beneficial.
When I took acid for the first time, I remember thinking, "I had a feeling this was out there, but I wanted to see with my own eyes." If you haven't taken hallucinogens, that sentence might not make much sense. I've had some real "What Dreams May Come" moments on hallucinogens, of seeing the most beautiful and awe-inspiring things. I've also been down the dark path and seen plenty of fucked up shit, got friends who've been locked up, attempted suicide, all kinds of shit. It all led to a very serious phase in my life when I was into meditation, mystics, mental and spiritual exploration, eastern religion. It's been years since I've come out of all of it, and the one very positive thing that it instilled in me was unattachment. People today get attached to everything that's tactile: sex, money, possessions, etc. Psychedelic and meditative exploration was so much more rewarding and exciting to me (actually to the point that you get attached to that too, so you have to realize that at some point), I realized that possessions meant very little. I met some crazy motherfuckers, homeless guys that were fucked up and diseased but absolutely ecstatic and high on life. It felt good to be part of a subculture for a while; I was genuinely happy. I was exposed to something that showed me I could be happy without the wife, house, kids, car, belongings. Those things never felt right to me on an instinctual level, I never craved them in a natural state.
When I started getting "worldly", concerned with making money, banging hot sluts, etc, I did it to experience that too, not to get attached to it. I like to think I still carry this mindset. I went into this worldly nonsense knowing it's all a game, and that at any moment, I can cop out and go back to the internal world and find peace.
It's a naive assumption, especially with those just getting into drugs/psychedelics/meditation, that everyone has a similar, usually positive reaction. They don't. I've seen some bad times. *I've* never had a bad trip (probably 60+ acid/mushroom trips) because of who I am. I'm not capable of having a bad trip. Bad trips happen when people resist the thing that is passing over them. People can have bad trips when they do a meditation they're not ready for. Despair and depression while under the influence of a drug or meditative state can really fuck you up.
I mention hallucinogens and meditation because I think they are the most potent red pills that exist; taken properly, they literally rearrange your hardwiring and can change you for life. This is one of the roles of the medicine man, to guide initiates and travellers around their internal world and guide them. These substances and practices are merely very strong tools, not to be taken lightly or just for recreation purposes (although it's fun as fuck)
I disagree that those of us who consider them sacred have lost touch with anything. It certainly happens to people who abuse the tools, and this is common in the states with such a high drug use problem, but taken under the right circumstances and the right amount of understanding, it's an experience that firmly solidifies one's place in the world.
I might've just outed myself as the forum loony toon with this post, but so be it.
When I took acid for the first time, I remember thinking, "I had a feeling this was out there, but I wanted to see with my own eyes." If you haven't taken hallucinogens, that sentence might not make much sense. I've had some real "What Dreams May Come" moments on hallucinogens, of seeing the most beautiful and awe-inspiring things. I've also been down the dark path and seen plenty of fucked up shit, got friends who've been locked up, attempted suicide, all kinds of shit. It all led to a very serious phase in my life when I was into meditation, mystics, mental and spiritual exploration, eastern religion. It's been years since I've come out of all of it, and the one very positive thing that it instilled in me was unattachment. People today get attached to everything that's tactile: sex, money, possessions, etc. Psychedelic and meditative exploration was so much more rewarding and exciting to me (actually to the point that you get attached to that too, so you have to realize that at some point), I realized that possessions meant very little. I met some crazy motherfuckers, homeless guys that were fucked up and diseased but absolutely ecstatic and high on life. It felt good to be part of a subculture for a while; I was genuinely happy. I was exposed to something that showed me I could be happy without the wife, house, kids, car, belongings. Those things never felt right to me on an instinctual level, I never craved them in a natural state.
When I started getting "worldly", concerned with making money, banging hot sluts, etc, I did it to experience that too, not to get attached to it. I like to think I still carry this mindset. I went into this worldly nonsense knowing it's all a game, and that at any moment, I can cop out and go back to the internal world and find peace.
It's a naive assumption, especially with those just getting into drugs/psychedelics/meditation, that everyone has a similar, usually positive reaction. They don't. I've seen some bad times. *I've* never had a bad trip (probably 60+ acid/mushroom trips) because of who I am. I'm not capable of having a bad trip. Bad trips happen when people resist the thing that is passing over them. People can have bad trips when they do a meditation they're not ready for. Despair and depression while under the influence of a drug or meditative state can really fuck you up.
I mention hallucinogens and meditation because I think they are the most potent red pills that exist; taken properly, they literally rearrange your hardwiring and can change you for life. This is one of the roles of the medicine man, to guide initiates and travellers around their internal world and guide them. These substances and practices are merely very strong tools, not to be taken lightly or just for recreation purposes (although it's fun as fuck)
I disagree that those of us who consider them sacred have lost touch with anything. It certainly happens to people who abuse the tools, and this is common in the states with such a high drug use problem, but taken under the right circumstances and the right amount of understanding, it's an experience that firmly solidifies one's place in the world.
I might've just outed myself as the forum loony toon with this post, but so be it.