Spirituality Studies 10-1 Spring 2024 63 Samuel Bendeck Sotillos Notes [1] Here are a few citations that come from within the psychedelic movement challenging the notion that entheogens can produce religious-mystical experiences equal to those of the saints and sages of the spiritual traditions: “[H]ighly improbable that a true spiritual experience could follow from ingesting a particular chemical” (Watts 1972, 342); “I am not so foolish as to equate what happens under the influence of mescalin or of any other drug, prepared or in the future preparable, with the realization of the end and ultimate purpose of human life: Enlightenment, the Beatific Vision” (Huxley 1990, 73). After many decades of discussion and debate, even psychedelic pioneers openly admit their uncertainty, admitting that the “question whether… psychedelics can induce genuine spiritual experience is still open” (Grof 1980, 264). We recall the well-known words of Neem Karoli Baba (c. 1900–1973), who was given a psychedelic to see what he thought of it in terms of Spiritual Realization: “[I]t’s useful, [note: but] not the true samadhi” (quoted in Alpert 1974, 112). See Zaehner 1967; Weichberger and Smith 2003; Bendeck Sotillos 2013, 130–154. [2] See Bendeck Sotillos 2023a, 165–173. [3] See Whitall Perry 1996, 7–16; Mark Perry 2012, 245–271. [4] See, for example, “The theoretical basis of psychedelic therapy is rather underdeveloped” (Grinspoon and Bakalar 1981, 194). [5] Osmond coined the term “psychedelic” in his correspondence with Huxley. In responding to a letter that Osmond received from Huxley, he wrote in poetic reflection: “To fathom Hell or soar angelic, / Just take a pinch of psychedelic” (quoted in Smith 1969, 795). [6] “I was whirled through an experience which could be described in many extravagant metaphors but which was above all and without question the deepest religious experience of my life” (Leary 1964, 324). [7] See Crowley 1997. [8] “[P]erceiving in an unhabitual way” (James 1918, 110). [9] “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite” (Blake 1906, 26). Acknowledgment The research study was supported by a grant from the Radius Foundation.
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