Plants, power, and perception
Psychedelic mysticism is a religion, or like a religion, because of its one core practice- the ingestion of a psychoactive substance, generally cannabis, for attaining transcendental spiritual experience. The Atharva Veda considers cannabis to be of divine origin and one of the five most sacred plants on Earth.
Cannabis has been used in the form of Bhang, Ganja, and Charas in Hindu ritual settings since approximately 1000 BCE. The cannabis plant has male and female forms. Male cannabis leaves are known as Bhang and are legal in many states of India. The female cannabis plant grows a pod, and the latex of the female plant is Hashish/ Charas, and the leaves, along with the pods, is Ganja. Even if a blood test is performed, there is no clear way to determine if a person is consuming cannabis from male plant leaves (Bhang), which is legal, or cannabis from female plant pods (Ganja) only, as the difference is in the potency.
Hindu saints known as ‘Sadhus’ consume cannabis to achieve a transcendental state and to expand their spiritual consciousness. The Naga Sadhus, and Aghoris in particular, are ardent users of cannabis since they consider it integral for their religious ceremonies and practices. Sadhus claim that the use of cannabis brings them closer to God, and thus closer to salvation. The use of the hemp plant in the religious rituals of the worship of Lord Shiva is noteworthy. Drinking of ‘Bhang’ (a drink made out of cannabis) is considered highly auspicious by these Sadhus as it is said to unite the disciple with the Lord and open a way to achieve salvation and get rid of the miseries of life and death. According to religious beliefs, it is said that Bhang is capable of cleansing one’s soul of all forms of sin. Naga Sadhus also have extreme dietary restrictions. They can eat only once in each 24-hour cycle. They cannot ever buy food, but must beg. Each day, a Naga Sadhu may beg at a maximum of seven houses and eat whatever he is given. If after seven houses none gave him food, he must go hungry until the next day!
Marijuana has long been used as a spiritual tool and mood enhancer, and it is also said that a person taking marijuana has a heightened emotional experience and that the intake of the drug purifies the soul.
In the book ‘Secret Drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic sacraments and the origins of the Vajrayana’, author Michael Crowley does a historical study of psychedelic uses. The book presents evidence from many countries in which the Vajrayana movement flourished. These include Bhutan, Japan, Mongolia, and Tibet, but importance is given to India, the land of its origin.
Ascetics who intentionally take psychedelics and other entheogenic plants, with spiritual exploration in mind and return from their experiences with a profound vision of reality and interconnectedness of all living beings, are only broadening the cosmic understanding; should they not be recognized? Entheogenic plants are plants containing psychoactive compounds used to induce altered states of consciousness for religious, spiritual, or Shamanic purposes. These plants are often used in rituals and ceremonies of Hinduism and Buddhism to connect with the spiritual realm. If those monks who have undergone psychedelic mystical experiences, by using psychoactive substances, report enlightenment, should they not be believed?
Psychedelic mysticism poses challenges to common theoretical, historical, and methodological perspectives. When one voluntarily undergoes a psychedelic-induced mystical state, they use plant power to access supernatural dimensions, unknown to the majority of humanity. The most common psychedelic substances used are LSD, DMT, Psilocybin, and Mescaline.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, a transcendental experience is not a one-time event; the religious experience does not end once the effects of the drug wear off, rather it is a continuous quest to explore, understand, and accept the mysteries of life, death, and Karma. Religious and ethical wisdom is gained after these experiences. The value of studying these experiences lies in how they are to be spiritually understood.
Unlike the terms ‘Sadhus’ and ‘Aghoris’, German author Ernst Jünger called such psychedelic seekers ‘Psychonauts’. He first used this term in his 1970 essay, Annäherungen: Drogen und Rausch (Approaches: Drugs and Inebriation), to describe a person who journeys through the mind/ consciousness, typically by ingestion of psychedelics. The term is a combination of the Greek words psuchē (soul/ spirit/ mind) and naútēs (sailor/ navigator), meaning a “sailor of the soul”. Some pioneering psychonautic figures include Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs, Alexander Shulgin, and Albert Hoffman.
Other famous proponents of the psychedelic movement are Terrence McKenna and Alan Watts, who advocated for the direct experience and the mystical exploration of one’s inner self and consciousness, and transcendental dimensions, as the birthright of every human being. Terrence McKenna (1946-2000), who was an American ethnobotanist, philosopher, and mystic, was a staunch proponent of plant Shamanism. McKenna argued that “…mushrooms were the source of humanity’s first religious ideas and that entheogens would lead to the next evolutionary step for humanity”.
Another famous advocate of the psychedelic movement was Alan Watts (1915-1973), an English writer, speaker, and philosopher. After experimenting with psychedelics and experiencing mystical states induced by LSD, cannabis, and mescaline, Watts ventured on to study religious philosophy in Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, and Taoism. His famous work ‘A Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness’ sheds light on the revelations experienced during a psychedelic journey and indicates the potential of mystical experiences to create existential harmony and awareness.
Another awesome book is the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’, which is inspired by the cycle of death and rebirth expounded in the Tibetan Buddhist text, Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead). Harvard University researchers and psychonauts, notably Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, created this text in 1964. The book serves as a guide to traversing an awesome psychedelic trip and, more specifically, the unique experience of ego death.
Labelled as instant mysticism, spiritual awakenings caused by the use of psychedelics are seen as erroneous by critics because they do not require much effort and spiritual training. But, ardent users of psychedelics claim that it gives the individual users direct contact with the unknown, the mysteries of life and death, and a first-hand experience of interaction with the supernatural. Constant use of psychedelics sharpens the senses to a supernormal degree of continuous awareness.
Even though LSD, Psilocybin, and Mescaline are classified under Schedule 1 of the United Nations Drug Control Conventions, psychonauts insist on the powerful benefits of psychedelics. The United Nations convention had concluded that these substances had “no potential for medical use.”
Alan Watts supported the individual’s right to understand the secrets of esoteric knowledge, behind creation and death, by reconsidering public policy on psychedelic drugs and advocating for one’s freedom to adventure through consciousness. During the psychedelic experience, psychonauts are susceptible to feelings of mystical unity reminiscent of the Jain notions of ‘Anekantvada’ and ‘Samata’. This state of mystical unity “…involves recognition of the oneness of all, in which one finds unity at the core of the inner subjectivity or inner reality of all things despite the diversity or apparent individual identity and separation of all things”.
On a similar plane as Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain monks, ancient communities in the Amazon basin, living in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador, use a hallucinogenic brew called Ayahuasca. At a chemical level, Ayahuasca is similar to Psychedelics like LSD, Mescaline, and Psilocybin. The experience of drinking Ayahuasca is described as a transformative and introspective journey. Ayahuasca induces altered states of consciousness characterized by vivid visual and auditory hallucinations, emotional introspection, and a sense of connectedness with the self, nature, and the universe. It can evoke intense emotions and bring forth repressed memories and unresolved psychological issues.
Michael Crowley argues that maybe the categorization of psychedelics as intoxicants is flawed. Rather than clouding the mind by intoxication, psychedelics act as “agents that clear the mind, perceptions, and understandings, allowing a clearer, less deluded, mode of appreciating one’s reality”. What if psychedelic drugs are not mind-altering but mind-awakening? Ascetics who consciously ingest psychedelic substances to learn, gain spiritual insight, and have glimpses of the supernatural are not indulging in violence of any kind. The act of ingesting a psychedelic substance is only intended with spiritual progress in mind. Can laws be enacted denying the use of plant-based psychedelics for spiritual explorations?
Many countries have legalized cannabis consumption. If India legalizes cannabis, it would give a spurt to spiritual regeneration, which has been lying dormant due to constant foreign invasions and their tyrannical ways and beliefs. Legalization of cannabis, apart from spiritual and medical benefits, will open a new dimension to combat terrorism, religious fundamentalism, and religious conversions. Once legalized, cannabis can be made into an investigatory tool, in interrogations by enforcement agencies, to elicit critical information and leads from foreign terrorists, who have been indoctrinated in the theory of one religion, one book, one authorized representative. Opening up a new spiritual dimension can create profound changes across the globe.
Terrence McKenna opines, “psychedelics are not suppressed because they are dangerous to users; they’re suppressed because they provoke unconventional thought, which threatens any number of elites and institutions that would rather do our thinking for us.” It is time to boldly change.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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