Rod and Erin:
Just a quick note. Thanks, Erin for the review of Pinker's book and for the
essay on the dharmakaya light. Both were great. To answer your question
about the necessity of intensity with respect to mystical experience I'd say
that yes, traditionally it is a very intense, even shocking experience. In
the mystery cults of ancient Greece, once in a lifetime was considered to be
quite enough.
Thanks, Rod for the exerpt from Ott's book and for your posts in general.
Keep it coming. I'm afraid I can't presently answer either one of your
questions. I suspect nobody really knows how or why entheogenic substances
work. I think brain chemistry explanations don't really explain anything
except brain chemistry. I don't know how to compare peyote with LSD. I've
never even seen peyote except in photographs, but I was recently invited to
attend a ceremony just like the one Pirsig attended - so maybe I can say
something about that in the future.
That's all.
DMB
Rod wrote...
I've tried to follow up on what you were saying, and there does seem to be
some agreement in the world, below is an excerpt from a book by Jonathan Ott
who goes even further, wholeheartedly agreeing with both yourself and
Pirsig.
What is it you think these entheogens are actually doing, I would like to
know, do they really strip away the cultural and social filters, or do they
just appear to do so. How does Peyote compare to LSD and others?
Interesting stuff
Rod
Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaen Entheogens.
Ott, Jonathan. (1994).
Kennewick, WA: Natural Products.
In the psychopharmacology of the entheogens, we have the means to reconcile
the unseen, mystical worlds of the physicists and poets. For the entheogens
consitute, as Albert Hofmann asserted, something like "cracks in the
infinite realm of matter," and operate "at the borderline where mind and
matter merge." They are to philosophy and pharmacology what the radioactive
isotopes are to physics<cracks in the materialistic edifice of reality,
where matter spontaneously transforms, or profoundly alters consciousness.
(page 88). Far from taking the mystery out of religion, the restoration of
genuine entheogenic sacraments puts the Mystery back into religion,
obviating the necessity of faith in sophistical doctrines. the Entheogenic
Reformation is our best hope for healing Our Lady Gaea, while fostering
genuine religious revival for a new millennium. That revival is underway in
the vast tent of this watery blue planet... Gi'me that Old Time Religion!
(page 90)
on 3/4/02 2:11 AM, David Buchanan at DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org wrote:
> Rod: Your dislike of the word "mysticism" is understandable, but I think
its
> just because of what the culture says about it. As with the Dharmakaya
> light, the cultural immune system tends to filter it out. (Not to mention
> the fact that the USA has more prisoners than any nation and 65% of them
are
> locked up on drug charges.) The big secret, however, is that the use of
> entheogenic plants and animals goes way back into pre-historic times. Our
> modern culture is actually the exception and their use is the rule. I've
> even read speculation that mushroom use goes back some 75,00 years, just
> about the time of that population bottle neck. Apparently there was a
> massive die-off of trees at the time of the disaster and that organic
matter
> provided lots of food for the fungus. Elsewhere I've read that entheogenic
> substances are at the root of all religion. Here are a few topical
> Pirsigisms to ponder....
>
> "current research and discussion are clouded by political and social
> issues." P35
>
> "...Indians who used it regarded it as a quicker and surer way of arriving
> at the condition reached in the traditional "vision quest" where an Indian
> goes out into isolation and fasts and prays and meditates for days in the
> darkness of a sealed lodge until the Great Spirit reveals itself to him
and
> takes over his life." P35
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:01:57 BST