Zen philosophy is very pragmatic about issues related to this one . Zen masters utilize a whole arsenal of 'tricks' to induce a momentary lapse of ego domination within the mind: logic problems, koans and even the mythical physical assault with a cane. Zen is like Guerilla-warfare, while Tibetan Buddhism is more like Continental Style. In both cases the battle field is the mind. Always, the battlefield is the mind.
Enlightenment is the realization of the absolute nature of the mind. Many pathways lead to the battle field. Buddhism, Monastic Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Animism, Shamanism...all labels for what is essentially the same thing. Religious experience. But the question isn't really the validity of any of these processes of thought or inquiry into the nature OF Mind, rather, the question seems to be 'Are drugs _as_ viable a method to attain enlightenment as any religion?' The question is tricky and dangerous because it is fairly self-serving. It too easily ends up being a justification for drug use, and probably too often drug abuse. But the answer as I see it seems to need more qualification.
Religions, like drugs, are pathways TO the battlefield of the mind. They don't, and this is vitally important, they do not guarantee VICTORY during the struggle that inevitably ensues. Once on the battlefield, the fight is yours alone. It is just you - ego and reality - coiling about one another like poetry. Religions arm one with weapons and skills which aid in the battle (but are also cumbersome to carry down the initial path) like faith, trust, righteousness, purity, mantras, hymns, and meditation techniques. Drugs do none of this - in ingesting a drug to not only loose much presence of mind, but you do not spontaneously become equipped with a quasi-religious arsenal. All you have is what's in your mind. All drugs do is drop you off naked into the thick of the battle and leave you to wade through all those mental skirmishes - fear, uncertainty, trauma, bliss, ignorance. s
Coming back to the original question: 'Are drugs, if utilized correctly, _as_ viable a method to attain enlightenment as any religion?'. Drugs aren't a method for attaining enlightenment unless you're already wholly set upon that goal in the first place. Drugs are more often just an ego amplifier (in terms a net results, an effect which is completely OPPOSITE to enlightenment), especially to the neophyte spiritualist with no training, skills or faith. The neophyte will be unprepared for the tenacity, resilience, and deft cleverness of the Ego. In that sense, Drugs won't induce a unilateral state of enlightenment into Joe-Blow off the street any more than visiting a church or monastery would (In fact the drugs would probably have less spiritual significance - it would just be a constant 'wow-man' experience). The best either would do for Joe would be to introduce him to the internal mental periphery of spirituality. In the middle of a trip, as in the middle of any spiritual experience, it become intention and WILL that allow one to allow the absolute nature of mind to unfold. Most importantly, a trained monk has PREPARED for the experience through constant probing and exploration of it from a safe distance (the aforementioned weapons and skills for the battle) and within a safe setting conducive towards the stated goal: enlightenment.
Religions, like drugs, are pathways TO the battlefield of the mind. They don't ensure that one will find the true nature of mind. Religions differ from drugs alone in that drugs have no capacity to instill dedication towards the goal OF enlightenment (The monastic environment ensures that the monk in training encounters constant reinforcement and limited distraction, thusly allowing for full constant focus on the goal). The neophyte spiritualist will often fall into any number of pitfalls which will lead to loss of dedication - lack of success, lack of quantifiable results, lack of will. But if you give a neophyte spiritualist drugs, you increase the number of pitfalls that could stand as impediments. The most common, at least in my experience, is that of 'Spiritual Addiction' to the drugs in question. Without any of the skills of the trained monk, the only way the neophyte feels he/she can 'reenter' that realm of enhanced spirituality is THROUGH the drug. He/she become dependent upon the drug to continue his/her divine journey rather than depending upon him or herself.
'Are drugs, if utilized correctly, _as_ viable a method to attain enlightenment as any religion?' Anything can be utilized to achieve enlightenment - paper, bananas, sock puppets. What it comes down to, and this is the essence of spirituality, is that what matters is your dedication towards your truth, your strength of will, and your ability for constant awareness. Are drugs a 'better' method of achieving enlightenment than a sock puppet drawing bananas on paper? I guess that is up to you to decide really. But I will venture to say that the sock puppet has FAR less of a propensity for pushing one into the depths of delusion and self destruction than drugs. At least as long as the sock puppet refrains from speaking in Swedish.
"You've poisoned me!"
- Zen Master's reaction to a voluntarily administered dosage of LSD.
Ish
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