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 mickdawg666
wake up! youvegot sickle cell
Registered: 07/06/04
Posts: 2,356
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 Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark
#8081555 - 02/28/08 01:44 PM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Here is an article I found by Walter Houston Clark. I had to convert it from PDF, to text, to word, and now to the shroomery, so hopefully its not too messed up. If it is,  .
Religious Aspects of Psychedelic Drugs
Walter Houston Clark
California Law Review, Vol. 56, No. 1. (Jan., 1968), pp. 86-99.
Religious Aspects of Psychedelic Drugs
Walter Houston Clark*
Even so, this organ of knowledge must be turned around from the world
of becoming together with the entire soul, like the scene shifting peri-
act in the theater, until the soul is able to endure the contemplation of
essence and the brightest region of being.
-Plato
ONE ASPECT of the very controversial "hallucinogenic" or "psychedelic"
drugs is whether they generate religious experience, and if
so, whether this experience is genuinely religious. This Article examines
the available evidence that psychedelic drugs do induce religious experi-
ence in hopes that its conclusions might promote rational consideration of
legal issues surrounding drugs.
Before considering the religious potential of psychedelic drugs, how-
ever, one must supply a working definition of "religion." Further, to iden-
tify the characteristics of a profoundly religious experience we shall study
several historical figures to indicate how a person undergoing such an ex-
perience may be expected to feel and act.
THE DEFINITION OF RELIGION
Defining religion is difficult because each individual defines it to suit
himself, his purposes, and perhaps his prejudices. I once circulated a
questionnaire among social scientists interested in religion-a group who
might be expected to supply definitions with some rigor-asking them to
define religion. No two agreed, and their definitions ranged from percep-
tion of the supernatural to loyalty to institutions and creeds1 Webster's
New International Dictionary lists nine definitions. It is obvious that
each definition reflects, at least to some degree, that aspect of religion un-
der study-in this case, religion as experienced. It is experiential religion
that is claimed to accompany ingestion of psychedelic drugs.
The dictionary definition of religion closest to this purpose reads in
part, "An apprehension, awareness, or conviction of the existence of a
supreme being, or more widely, of supernatural powers or influences con-
trolling one's own, humanity's or nature's destiny; also, such an appre-
hension, etc., accompanied by or arousing reverence, love, gratitude, the
will to obey and serve, and the like; religious experience or insight ...."
This definition approaches my own. I see religion as the inner individ-
ual's experience of a Beyond, especially as evidenced by his attempts to
harmonize his life with the Beyond. These definitions indicate that re-
ligion may be an individual affair presupposing neither church nor religi-
ous institution.
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND THE LAW
One salient characteristic of intense religious experience is its ten-
dency to create within the beholder deeply held convictions which cause
him to place religious considerations above all others. Those unsympa-
thetic with such convictions may find them to be mere fanaticism or
lunacy, which may in fact sometimes be the case. But it is difficult for
contemporaries, without the benefit of history, to determine the whole-
someness of belief and behavior. Many of the world's great religious fig-
ures were once considered criminal, mad or both. Moses was a fugitive; the
early Christians were accused of "hatred of the human race"; the religious
integrity of George Fox sent him to prison many times; and Martin Luther
was forced to maintain his integrity in the shadow of martyrdom. Con-
temporary America has confronted conscientious objectors whose religious
convictions impel1 them to resist the draft and has watched the Amish sell
their ancestral lands rather than compromise their religious convictions by
sending their children to state approved schools.
In such cases the position of the law supported by contemporary
public opinion finds echo in a Second Century document concerning
Christians written by Pliny, Roman Governor of Bithynia, to his mas-
ter, the emperor Trajan. Pliny gave those culprits who confessed Chris-
tianity a chance to recant. "Those who persisted I ordered to be executed,
for I did not doubt that whatever it was they professed they deserved to
be punished for their inflexible obstinacy."~
A. The Mystical Experience
This lack of understanding and failure of communication is compounded
when the offense involves mystical religion-according to Wil-
liam James the "root and centre" of personal religious experience.
The mystical state of mind as it has appeared throughout time has been most
perceptively studied by W. T. Stace of Princeton University.Tontrary
to much educated though ill-informed opinion, mysticism is neither su-
perstition nor vague emotion but, at least in its essential characteristics,
an identifiable state of mind, probably the most intense and captivating
of which human nature is capable. In the seventh book of The Republic
Plato describes it as ('the brightest region of being."6 At its core is a
perception of the world so different from what is usually called reality
that mystics universally failed in conveying its nature to those who have
not enjoyed some measure of mystical perception themselves. The annals
of mysticism reveal that mystics perceive a simple and yet marvelous
unity underlying the appearance of all living things and matter. From
this derives the compassion, empathy, and understanding so often devel-
oped as a prime fruit of the mystic's consciousness. The mystic also feels
himself in touch with the Holy and Divine-that objective, ultimate
reality beyond time and space that brings with it the "peace that passes
understanding," yet which can be described to nonmystics only through
paradox and riddles. Hence, the mystic is the artist and poet of the relig-
ious life. To ask the mystic to renounce his perception or to eschew be-
havior contingent on it is therefore tantamount to asking him to deny him-
self. The mystic's position is like that of a seeing man in a society of the
blind. How would he justify his experience of sight? His stammering at-
tempts to convey to the blind his experience of sight would only mark him
as peculiar; and his adventures into the world based on a sense of sight
would only appear as the sheerest madness and probably as a threat to the
society. Plato tries to make this point in the seventh book of The Repub-
lic through his famous analogy of the Cave,7 a passage containing special
significance for any mystic who delightedly comes upon it.
B. Historical Persecutions of Mystics
1. The Trial of Socrates
Because the mystic faces an inevitable struggle in sharing a truth
which he may feel is "death to hide," Plato emphasizes his need for cour-
age. Plato derived this conviction from perhaps history's most notable
encounter between a mystic and the law-the trial and execution of So-
crates. The jury was the total Athenian electorate. Speeches were made
by the accused, his accusers, and his defenders according to clear rules
of procedure. Socrates stood accused of corrupting the youth of Athens.
Some of the fruits of this "corruption" appear in the writings of Plato,
who became a disciple of Socrates. In his dialogues, Plato ascribes to
Socrates many statements of a mystical nature, as in the allegory of the
Cave. One can imagine that the people of Athens who acted as a col-
lective jury at his trial unconsciously convicted Socrates as much for his
mysticism as for anything. The tragedy of Socrates' execution was not
the failure of a good judicial system or the failure of democracy, for both
operated consistently according to their own rules. The tragedy was the
failure of the solid citizens to communicate with the younger genera-
tion-the rebels and the hippies of their day-whose leader, Socrates,
became the scapegoat for contemporary civic frustrations. Condemned
to death by his contemporaries, Socrates, the mystic, was unable to con-
vey his vision to those who were imprisoned in the Cave of delusion that
caused them to regard anyone with a wider vision as a madman and a men-
ace
2. Mystics and the Law during the Middle Ages
This same breakdown of communication between the accused and
their judges occurred during the Middle Ages. Though some victims ex-
ecuted were doubtless evil characters who deserved their punishments,
others were sensitive mystics guilty only of communicating their visions
and experiences in terms which antagonized their theological judges.
Ecclesiastical law, the most influential law of the time, considered heresy
the most heinous of offenses, for, although it did not kill the body, it led
the soul into everlasting damnation. But heresy was not always easy to
detect; its determination sometimes took years of theological considera-
tion. And often, as in the case of Socrates, the determination reflected
a breakdown of communication since the theologians, though experts in
ecclesiastical law, frequently had no intuitive or psychological under-
standing of the mystic's essential religious experience.
A case in point is that of Meister Eckhart, the great German Domini-
can mystic of the 13th and 14th centuries. Much bolder than some of his
more docile followers who escaped condemnation, he interpreted theology
in his writings and sermons directly and immediately from his own en-
counters with reality. Modern studies have discovered that his writings
reflect the mystical consciousness with subtlety and precision? Yet the
necessities of dogma demanded censure in the eyes of the ecclesiastical
courts.
Eckhart's theological crime was pantheism-equating God with all of
the natural world and identifying oneself with this Whole, as did the great
English poet, William Blake. Theoretically mysticism leads to confusing
oneself with God and therefore to delusions of grandeur and theological
arrogance. Eckhart often spoke of identity with God as a Christian
virtue: "If I am to know God directly, I must become completely He
and He I; so that this He and this I become and are one I."1°Fortunately
Eckhart was a well-known preacher and influential ecclesiastic. Hence it
was not until two years after his death that he was finally declared
heretical and so saved from the flames that, as with Jeanne d'Arc, might
well have been his lot. Nevertheless his judges lacked that keenness of
spiritual consciousness that would have enabled them to identify Eckhart
with some of the greatest Fathers of the Church and his religious experi-
ence with the piety to which centuries of Christian opinion had paid
verbal homage.
Yet another witness to the mystical experience was the more docile
and orthodox Blessed Angela of Foligno, an influential thirteenth century
Italian mystic. When she was informed that her charity and consequent
poverty were too radical, she cried, "Lord, even if I am damned, I will
nevertheless do penance and will strip myself of everything and serve
Thee!"ll This attitude emphasizes the passion and the conviction of
even the more conventional mystics.
C. Mysticism and Freedom of Religion
The confrontations which occur when the mystic's intense feeling
collides with the judge's lack of experience lead at best to impass and at
worst to tragic miscarriages of justice. A mystic like the Blessed Angela
who can show such independence in the face of God would probably also
defy an earthly judge who required her to desist from certain religious
activities. This kind of passion has doubtless influenced Western peoples,
so far as possible, to respect the religious ways of deeply convinced
religious partisans. To harass a patently sincere person for pursuing a
profound religious leading not only offends religious sensitivities, but
also causes civil disturbance. In part this explains the development of
religious freedom.
PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
The history of mysticism provides a background for assessing the
religious potential of psychedelic drugs. We understand cases like those
of Socrates and Eckhart involving historical episodes about which we
have had time to make up our minds. Because history never exactly re-
peats itself, it would be specious to argue with particularity from
Socrates and Eckhart to the prosecution of contemporary psychedelic
mystics. But there are close parallels worth considering-perhaps too
close for us to feel completely comfortable about restrictive narcotics
legislation.
Before reaching conclusions on these problems, it will be necessary
to determine whether psychedelics in fact release profound mystical or
other religious experiences. If so, religious groups and even individuals
may be constitutionally protected in using psychedelic drugs in the pursuit
of religious aims.
A. Psychedelic Drugs Help Induce Religious Experiences
I have already indicated my conviction that mystical experience is
at the heart of the religious life. It is significant that religious experience
so often has been reported in connection with the psychedelic drugs. The
ingestion of a psychedelic drug will not invariably touch off a mystical
experience. Therefore, we cannot think of the psychedelics as the cause
of religious experience. It is true that a mystical experience is more likely
to occur the larger the dosage of the drug taken. But the participant's in-
tention, his personality, and the setting in which he ingests the drug all
play a part in the production of a religious experience. Probably the
primary and necessary cause of mystical experience is the mystical
capacity residing within the person himself. Whether all have this
capacity is a matter of dispute; but probably, like the capacity to experi-
ence beauty, it is present in everyone to some degree. Some simply are
more apt to have mystical perceptions than others. Psychedelic drugs,
in common with such stimuli as scenes of natural beauty, childbirth, the
dance, music, poetry, liturgical splendor, and the presence of other
mystically sensitive people, will trigger mystical experience. Furthermore
they constitute the most reliable triggers that we have. Millions of Ameri-
cans, if they are ever to enjoy profound religious experience, will only
do so through psychedelic drugs. I have been persuaded of this quality
of psychedelic drugs mainly by one well-designed experiment at Harvard
University. Dr. Walter N. Pahnke, who has university degrees in both
medicine and religion, obtained twenty theological students as volunteers.
After suitable preparation, ten were given 30 mg. of psilocybin
and ten a placebo, and all were sent to a two and a half hour Good Friday
service. Of the ten that received the psilocybin nine reported unmistakable
features of mystical experience. Of those who had the placebo only one
did so, and he to a minor degree. Six months later the two groups could
still be distinguished significantly, the experimental group reporting
more positive signs of having benefited from the experience than the
control group. One of the experimental group, for example, had been
seriously thinking of dropping out of school and even of committing
suicide before the experiment. He experienced an intense mystical experi-
ence and afterward gave up both ideas and finished his work for a degree.
He is now (five years later) serving a church.
It is not necessary, however, to study the therapeutic values of
religious experience from religious scholars alone. The Second Inter-
national Conference on the use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism
at Amityville, New York, included leading psychotherapists and researchers
in the field from North America and Europe.13 Again and again
in the papers presented at the conference, allusion was made to subjects
and patients who had reported transcendental experiences of a profound
nature. For example, Dr. Ruth Fox, Medical Director, National Council
on Alcohol, stated:
In this transcendental experience there may be a recognition of 'cosmic
consciousness'. Not every patient experiences this complete feeling of
'being at one with the universe'. It seems that the closer one comes to
it, however, the more effective and lasting is the change in personality.14
Like Dr. Fox, most of these therapists had little or no initial interest in
religion as a psychotherapeutic agent until LSD began releasing religious
experiences which, not universally but often, produced amazingly effective
therapeutic results.
B. Therapy through Drug Induced Religious Experience
1. An Experiment with Alcoholics
Early researchers stumbled across the value of religious experience
in psychotherapy. The value of LSD in treating alcoholics was demon-
strated initially by two Canadian psychiatrists, Drs. Humphry Osmond
and Abram Hoffer, in connection with provincial health services in Sas-
katchewan. Relying on its supposed psychotomimetic properties, they had
intended to frighten very difficult alcoholics with large doses of LSD.
Instead, a great many sustained profound transcendental experiences. In
an informal report Hoffer stated that five years afterward half the treated
group were still abstainers; most of these had had a religious experience.15
Hoffer has also summarized eleven studies of LSD use with alcoholics
involving a total of 269 cases,16 with varying dosages and follow-up
periods. Of these cases 145 were judged clinically much improved-in
effect no drinking-forty-four improved, and eighty unimproved. In a
comparison group of eighty alcoholics treated, but without LSD, eleven
were much improved, seven improved, and sixty-two unimproved. As a
direct result of hysteria concerning the drugs there are now only a few
similar projects underway at hospital centers in the United States. One
of these is based at the Spring Grove State Hospital in Baltimore, Mary-
land, where deliberate stimulation of the transcendental experience is
used to treat both alcoholism and depression.17
Since severe alcoholism is a life and death affair, it would seem that
not even the possibility of genetic damage to future generations should
hinder science in investigating the uses of psychedelic drugs as treatment.
The situation may be illustrated by a middle-aged alcoholic who was
referred to me with the mistaken idea that I could administer LSD as
treatment for alcoholism. An educated man, he had lost his skilled
position and had alienated his family and children. No firm would hire
him. He had tried psychiatry, Alcoholics Anonymous, and several varieties
of cure. He was in despair and was seriously considering suicide. I knew
that LSD had improved if not cured cases as serious as his. Although I
referred him to one or two research projects, I had little hope that he
would be accepted as a volunteer. I could not but wonder in what legal
position he would be if he broke the Massachusetts law against the use
of hallucinogenic drugs in pursuit of his right to health.
2. Rehabilitation of Criminals
LSD has also led to religious experience associated with favorable
clinical and rehabilitative results in the field of criminology. In 1961
and 1962, Dr. Timothy Leary, then at Harvard, obtained permission to
administer psilocybin to thirty-five inmates at Concord State Reforma-
tory, a maximum security prison in Massachusetts. Recidivism rates
were considerably improved, though the results must be considered sug-
gestive rather than definitive, due to the collapse of the project following
Dr. Leary's troubles at Harvard.
Somewhat skeptical, I obtained through Dr. Leary an introduction
to those subjects still in prison to investigate for myself the depth of
their religious experiences and to perform a follow-up investigation.ls I
concluded that there was no doubt of the notable religious experiences
reported by several of the convicts. Those who were serving long terms
started a seIf-directed therapy group within the waIIs, somewhat modeIed
on Alcoholics Anonymous. Through the enthusiasm of those who had used
the drug, this group spread its influence among many both inside and
outside prison walls. Well over a hundred members of the "Self-Develop-
ment Group," as it is called, have now been released, with recidivism rates
considerably better than the general ex-prison population.
One member of the original group is a former armed robber who was
serving a twenty-year term at the time of the experiment. Aged thirty-six,
he had not been beyond the eighth grade and had spent most of his
adult life behind bars. His bleak prognosis was reversed through the
drug experience. Starting with low doses, he was given 60 mg. of psilocy-
bin on the eighth administration. There followed a vision of Christ and a
realistic symbolic participation with Christ in some events of the Cruci-
fixion. Shortly after this, he told me, he looked out of the window,
"Suddenly all my life came before my eyes, and I said to myself, 'What
a waste!' "I have followed his career carefully during the last five years.
Information from prison guards and officials have confirmed my im-
pression that the man has been rehabilitated. Recently he was released
and offered a job in the loan business by a former fellow inmate at 300
dollars a week. Being penniless he was tempted, but he turned it down.
"I knew what kind of a loan business it was," he told me, "but I knew
also that I would lose the inner freedom I secured from my vision if I
accepted." The latter has become for him a kind of touchstone or point
of reference which stands him in good stead in times of crisis.
Both domestic and foreign studies1Q indicate that psychedelic drugs
may possibly be a most effective agent for treating the criminal psycho-
path-or any psychopath, for that matter. The psychopathic personality
is one of the most resistant types of mental disorder-incurable according
to some authorities. It reflects both on American bureaucracy as well
as on public hysteria concerning the psychedelics that no way has yet
been found effectively to study this subject further.
3. The Use of LSD in Treating Pain
Officials have, however, been more cooperative in authorizing the use
of LSD to alleviate pain. Several years ago Dr. Eric Kast, at the Univer-
sity of Chicago Medical School, administered LSD to 128 patients suffer-
ing from cancer estimated to be terminal in one to two months2' Relief
from pain was striking during the first twenty-four hours after administra-
tion; and there still remained some effective relief from intolerable pain
twenty-one days later. In his reports Kast does not comment on the
religious factor directly though it is implied in his statements concerning
new and more wholesome attitudes toward death. This work is being
followed up at the present time at Spring Grove State Hospital, Balti-
more, Maryland. But it is still surprising that experimentation of such
promising and humane nature is not more widespread.
C. Psychedelic Drug Use by Religious Institutions
If, as I have demonstrated, one of the consequences of ingesting
psychedelic drugs is religious experience, one might expect their use by
religious institutions. This has in fact been the case throughout history
both in this country and elsewhere.
1. The Ancients
In Ancient Greece the Eleusinian Mysteries required the drinking of
a secret potion as part of the initiation ordeal, and Plato made guarded
reference to a drug much like LSD in The Laws.22 There is also good
evidence that in ancient times the Indian inhabitants of Latin America
such as the Aztecs used psychedelic mushrooms. In Mexico's back country
ceremonies are still carried out by local priests utilizing such mushrooms.
2. The Native American Church
In the United States the Native American Church makes religious
use of the psychedelics in its sacramental ceremonies. This church is a
loosely organized association of some 250,000 American Indians repre-
senting a number of the principal American tribes. The drug used is
mescaline from the mescal button on the cactus plant, in its raw form
called peyote, which is dried and then chewed or brewed as a bitter tea.24
The practice and the cult have been traced back for nearly a hundred
years and have doubtless existed in some form for many centuries. The
cult is a syncretistic one combining both Christian and Indian elements,
and peyote use has been a bone of contention not only between the peyo-
tists and certain Christian missionaries but also within the Indian tribes
themselves.
Most of the strictures heard in our society against LSD-such as
that it drives people crazy, debases their morals, and leads to miscellane-
ous vices--can also be heard from Indians themselves. Further, the
restrictive laws and regulations of white America have had their counter-
parts among the Indians. Finally, Indian agents and missionaries, zealous
to protect the Indians from what they consider a debilitating and pagan
influence, have harassed the peyote cults. Some of the regulations have
succeeded in part, but apparently they never have been strictly obeyed.
Detracters have always been handicapped by the inability to produce
hard evidence of harm done by peyote. In fact, the weight of the evidence
indicates that peyotists have reduced their tendencies to drunkenness,
have lived more responsible family lives, and have become reliable mem-
bers of their communities.
For many years the peyote cults, in their contacts with white rnission-
aries and Indian agents have had their ups and downs. The Indians'
chief white supporters have been scholars whose interests have been rela-
tively dispassionate. They have reported the positive aspects of peyote
religion and so refuted the thought that because peyote is a drug and
strange to white people its use in worship must be a debilitating and
immoral practice. In fact, white scientists' favorable testimony has led
to a trend of recent judicial decisions supporting the Indians' right to
use peyote sacramentally against federal, state, and even Indian tribal
laws.
3. The League for Spiritual Discovery and the Church of the Awakening
Based partly on the understandable theory that what is permitted to
Indians should be permitted to other citizens too, and partly on the un-
doubted evidence, as set forth in this Article, that psychedelic drugs
release religious experience, several groups of whites have incorporated
their own cultic use of the psychedelics. Perhaps the most visible of these
is the League for Spiritual Discovery founded by Dr. Timothy Leary,
incorporated as a religious institution in the State of New York with
headquarters at Millbrook, New York. The organization does not insist
on the use of drugs. A recent midnight raid on their headquarters turned
up only a small quantity of marijuana in one guest's possession.
Probably the most conservative and careful of many such institutions
in the United States is the Church of the Awakening, incorporated in New
Mexico with headquarters at Socorro, New Mexico. It was founded by
two retired physicians, Drs. John and Louisa Aiken, who ceased their
practice in order to embark on a personal search for the spiritual meaning
of life and to encourage others to do the same. The psychedelic drugs are
regarded not as the sole means of pursuing a religious life but simply
as one auxiliary which, when properly used, may aid in the quest. As
licensed physicians the Aikens have been entitled to administer mescaline
and peyote, though the present, more dubious status of these drugs has
led them to be more cautious in recent years. In the past they have
administered both mescaline and peyote under sacramental conditions
after several preparatory and screening sessions. Recently the Food
and Drug Administration refused a request by the Church of the Awaken-
ing for permission to use peyote, as does the Native American Church,
in sacramental ceremonies. The Church of the Awakening is now con-
sidering whether to make a test case of its right to use psychedelic drugs
under the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.
PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS AND THE LAW
Law enforcement agents tend to assume that the psychedelic drugs
can be dangerous and that therefore no individual or group may be
allowed to use them. Conceivably an irresponsible group might form a
church as a cloak for engaging in activities harmful to the public. How-
ever, the experience encountered through drugs is usually so awesome,
and the total process requires so much of those in attendance, that the
ceremony is not apt to be pursued except by the earnest. In addition,
however much religiously minded people may pioneer and innovate in a
way that is shocking to the conventional religious mind, as soon as
institutionalization of a new idea begins, conservatism begins to assert
itself. This characteristic is much more effective than the law in keeping
dangerous religious tendencies under control. Consequently, granting
permission to religious groups to use psychedelic drugs may in the long
run be the most effective method of minimizing the dangers of drugs.
Finally, whatever the conventions of the law may be, the disinterested
citizen's common sense attitude might be that the law has no right to
assume that a given religious institution would abuse its right to use
the drugs. The wiser course might seem to be to wait until irresponsibility
has been demonstrated before imposing sanctions. Even then it ought
to be demonstrated that more harm than good has been caused by the
right to use the drugs.
In its most profound and essential aspects, the mystical consciousness
which can be released by the psychedelic drugs is like nothing before
experienced. In a study of LSD's religious effects, eight normal volunteers
were given low to moderate doses daily for a period of four to sixteen
days. They were asked to rate their experiences on a number of param-
eters of mystical experience such as unity, timelessness, blessedness and
peace, experience of God and the Holy, the feeling of death and rebirth,
and the subjective sense of the significance of the experience, compared
to their usual everyday experiences. They could designate six different
levels of intensity, ranging from "no different from everyday life" to
"beyond anything ever experienced or imagined." Of 160 ratings only
seventeen were rated "no different from everyday life," while fifty-two
were rated "beyond anything experienced or imagined." This was about
one and two-thirds greater than the next most used category two grades
below, "markedly and intensely above
This study lends empirical confirmation to the mysticaI feeling that
it is impossible to describe the experience to those who have not partici-
pated in similar experiences. It also further supports my point that
prosecuting religiously motivated individuals who violate drug laws ironi-
cally forces violators to conduct their defenses before those who, no
matter how well intentioned and experienced in the law, are nevertheless
unable to appreciate the defendant's religious experiences. This is not
to say that all ingesters of the psychedelic drugs are responsible citizens.
But at least some will bear comparison with Socrates, Meister Eckhart,
and Francis of Assisi in their apprehension of truth, their compassionate
concern for mankind, and their willingness to hold to their vision in the
face of threats of imprisonment and extreme punishment.
It is one of the tragedies of our time that dispassionate evaluation
of the psychedelic drugs-their values and their dangers too-has been
made so difficult, partly by the inability of even the educated mind to
tolerate the intrusion of new methods and experiences on their accustomed
comfortable thought patterns. So far, the voices most influential in sway-
ing public attitudes toward the drugs and their users have been eminent
medical men, mostly well-meaning psychiatrists acquainted only with
the deleterious effects of drugs. What if the only information the public
had about automobiles came from ambulance drivers! Quite contrary
to public assumptions, the true experts are those who have had experi-
ence in carefully supervising a wide sampling of volunteer drug users.
Since the important subjective dimension will always be missing for
those who limit themselves simply to objective observation, the truly
conscientious expert will be as willing to experiment on himself as he
will be to subject others to the influence of the drugs.
From personal experience with both pseudo-experts and experts so
defined, I can testify that the latter are much more impressed by the
positive possibilities of drug use, anxious for further research, and open-
minded on their possible use in effecting creative changes in artistic,
religious, psychotherapeutic, and even educational spheres. No responsible
person wants to see these powerful substances used without control, not
even those drug users whom society has remanded to the irresponsible
category. The question for everyone is not whether, but how to regulate
them. Because psychedelic substances are so prevalent and circumvention
of the law so easy, laws alone cannot effect this control.
Lawmakers must, of course, be guided not only by scientific findings
but also by knowledge of all facets of psychedelics. Their most subtle
and puzzling aspect is their religious agency. As a psychologist of religion,
I have been impressed by the fact that psychedelic drugs, handled
correctly, appear to offer incomparable opportunities for studying reli-
gious experience. Religious experience is the most profound and powerful
aspect of the human personality and is the aspect most capable of bring-
ing out the compassionate and creative qualities of the human spirit.
Furthermore it is the most effective agent of wholesome, profound
personality change. The law can maximize or minimize the value of the
drugs for religion. It can also make the mistake of persecuting men who
are merely attempting to experience that part of their nature that they
feel most entitles them to regard themselves as human, namely their
encounter with Ultimate Reality, or what they call God.
In pursuit of such encounter, religious people have felt compelled to
defy the law when lawmakers have misunderstood the offenders' basic
urge. Education, common intelligence, and judgment alone are therefore
not enough in dealing with the problems of psychedelics. Men will require
wisdom to cast off the chains that fetter them in the dark Cave of Illusion
to encounter the sunlight which, for Plato, must enlighten those few fit
to judge and govern the State.
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Teh PYrAmId 0f zerg:
/ \
/ Pk's \
/Anti-Pks\
/ Cr@f73r5 \
/__NOOBIES__\
notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... "
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backfromthedead
Activated
Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 3,590
Last seen: 3 months, 24 days
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: mickdawg666]
#8081708 - 02/28/08 02:27 PM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Good read. Thanks.
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xFrockx
Fucking Hippie
Registered: 09/17/06
Posts: 1,274
Loc: Northeast
Last seen: 15 hours, 10 minutes
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: backfromthedead]
#8082003 - 02/28/08 03:49 PM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Religion is a friend of mine
I use it well to pass the time
But when I'm drunk
They call me skunk
So I write limericks all the time
--------------------
I want to tell you a story,
About a little man,
If I can,
A gnome named Grimble Grumble,
And little gnomes stay in their homes,
Eating, sleeping, Drinking their wine
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 6,273
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 14 hours, 55 minutes
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 Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: mickdawg666]
#8083847 - 02/28/08 10:02 PM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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I met Walter Houston Clark at an American Psychological Association (APA) convention in Washington, D.C. in 1979 or 1980. He seemed surprised when I asked him for his autograph, and mumbled something about how he doesn't get why people ask for autographs, but for me he was a psychedelic pioneer. I have his autograph around here somewhere...
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Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit
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 OrgoneConclusion
Oh, bee hive!
Registered: 04/01/07
Posts: 7,967
Loc: In the woods
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: mickdawg666]
#8083977 - 02/28/08 10:28 PM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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It is important to note that Clark does not believe in telepathy on psychedelics.
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What is the sound of one jaw snapping?
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mickdawg666
wake up! youvegot sickle cell
Registered: 07/06/04
Posts: 2,356
Loc: hb, cali
Last seen: 1 day, 5 hours
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#8084812 - 02/29/08 02:24 AM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Quote:
MarkostheGnostic said:
I met Walter Houston Clark at an American Psychological Association (APA) convention in Washington, D.C. in 1979 or 1980. He seemed surprised when I asked him for his autograph, and mumbled something about how he doesn't get why people ask for autographs, but for me he was a psychedelic pioneer. I have his autograph around here somewhere...
haha that is awesome dude. was he a speaker at the time?
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Teh PYrAmId 0f zerg:
/\
/ Pk's \
/Anti-Pks\
/ Cr@f73r5 \
/__NOOBIES__\
notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... "
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mickdawg666
wake up! youvegot sickle cell
Registered: 07/06/04
Posts: 2,356
Loc: hb, cali
Last seen: 1 day, 5 hours
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: OrgoneConclusion]
#8084814 - 02/29/08 02:27 AM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Quote:
OrgoneConclusion said:
It is important to note that Clark does not believe in telepathy on psychedelics.
as opposed to which psychologist? Leary didn't either from what I know. Do you believe that this ability can be attained through drug use?
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Teh PYrAmId 0f zerg:
/\
/ Pk's \
/Anti-Pks\
/ Cr@f73r5 \
/__NOOBIES__\
notapillow said: "you are going about this endeavor all wrong. clear your mind of useless fear and concern. buy the ticket, take the ride, and all that.... "
|
MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 6,273
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 14 hours, 55 minutes
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: OrgoneConclusion]
#8085780 - 02/29/08 11:21 AM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Quote:
OrgoneConclusion said:
It is important to note that Clark does not believe in telepathy on psychedelics.
He and I would differ, since most of my telepathic experiences occurred while under the influence of LSD.
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Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 6,273
Loc: South Florida
Last seen: 14 hours, 55 minutes
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: mickdawg666]
#8085784 - 02/29/08 11:22 AM (8 months, 19 days ago) |
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Yes, Clark was a presenter at that conference.
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Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus Deus Aderit
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Chronic777
Registered: 05/08/04
Posts: 3,485
Loc: Unmoving Core
Last seen: 3 hours, 14 minutes
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Re: Religious aspects of psychedelic drugs. W. H. Clark [Re: MarkostheGnostic]
#8086986 - 02/29/08 04:48 PM (8 months, 18 days ago) |
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Before reaching conclusions on these problems, it will be necessary
to determine whether psychedelics in fact release profound mystical or
other religious experiences. If so, religious groups and even individuals
may be constitutionally protected in using psychedelic drugs in the pursuit
of religious aims.
That would be awesome...
alot of emphasis on LSD, and all good, id love to try it, but its not from the earth so i dont think it should really be considered a sacrament, god didnt make it, we did.
and yes we're god, but its not RAW like shrooms or mesc...
although from what i understand lsd is alot similar to psylocybin in chemical structure
i def wanna try it but i couldn't see it being used as religeous sacrament, lets start the church of ritalin aswell while were at it!
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What is here?
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