Daniel and all:
Chaz make a good hypothetical case. He even reminds me a Lila. Does Chaz
have quality? There's a good question, eh?
Considering the fact that he didn't get his "magic bus" running until
late in 1999, does Chaz really count as a "hippie"? Just kidding.
I've known guys like Chaz. I think its sad and scary. It shows the vast
distance between sacrifice and self-destruction. And If I may treat your
friend as a hypothetical case, I'd dare say that living in a trailer
with his mothers indicates a certain level of poverty and dysfunction.
Not a good place to start on a journey toward enlightenment, to say the
least. Chaz didn't take LSD so much as LSD took Chaz. The most burnt
fry-brain I ever knew was a horrible excuse for a man named Puzo. He'd
pretty much lost his humanity as much as any sociopath. Who knows maybe
he was a soul-less bastard before the drugs came into his life? And my
oldest friend burned himself by abusing it in college. He never had any
mystical pretensions. It was strictly a party toy for him. He's still a
very witty guy and makes a good living, beautiful wife and all... But I
known him since the first day of high school and I think he could have
been "Great". I think he squandered a kind of genius. He's still above
average, but I think he lost a couple dozen IQ points, if you know what
I mean. But abuse is ab-use and try to think of something that is immune
to it. And you can't condemn a church just because there are hypocrites.
Well, you could, but it wouldn't be fair or rational...
Chaz, Puzo and my old friend represent real dangers and I don't think
anyone is suggesting otherwise. The problem is that mental illness,
dysfuctionality and hedonism all exist with or without LSD. Using LSD
for religious purposes is a different thing altogether. Letting go of
static patterns doesn't mean frying your brain. So many ugly things have
been attached to mysticism that its really tough to sort it out and
defend every insult. For example there's been a tendency to assume that
mystics are mystics to the exclusion of everything else. I suppose
that's true in some cases, but there are bankers and golfers who are
equally single-minded in their goals. There's also an unfounded
assumption that the drug is used INSTEAD of a spirtiual life. I don't
think anyone has suggested that.
And who ever said Zen Buddhism advocates drug use? Do they have peyote
in Japan? Just kidding.
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST was interesting in terms of "letting go".
And Christ is the central hero of our culture, eh? He takes the hero's
journey all the way. The book followed the book much better than it
fundamentalist protesters would have you believe. The only big
difference is the last temptation, which was only in the movie as far as
I know. Anyway, Jesus goes into the desert to pray and after a while his
hallucinations come the old fashioned way. Satan comes to him and he is
tempted three times, by lust, then political power and finally Satan
pulls out all the stops and offers Jesus temendous spiritual power, a
sort of dual monarchy with himself and the devil running the whole
universe. Christ says "no thanks" in the bible and in the movie.
The last temptation occurs as he hangs crucified and dying. He was
tempted to wonder "what if I just came down off the cross and had a
normal life. Who am I kidding with all this save humanity crap. I just
want a wife and kids, a steady job and a place to hang my hat,.. er,
tunic." In the last 25 minutes of the movie we see him live a normal
life, as if to show a list of everything he was giving up. And if I my
be so bold, I'd say the point is that the last temptation is the
greatest temptation of all. All it takes to give in to that temptation
is to do what you'd like and what is expected of you. Its the greatest
temptation becasue its the most difficult one to resist. Ironically, we
can resist lust, wealth and power because we want a normal life. Satan
saves the best for last.
The Buddha story is essentially the same, although he never got nailed
like Christ. Still, he gave up wealth, power and went without a normal
life. He sacrificed himself with less gore and blood, but the underlying
theme is always the same with hero stories. Give it up, let go, and
you'll save the world. And of course these are ancient metaphors that
resonate deep in our hearts and souls. They aren't supposed to be taken
literally, they are metaphors of a spiritual and psychological journey.
The hero myths are a kind of instruction manual for letting go of static
patterns. They are descriptions of breaking out into a wider reality or
a deeper truth and then returning to share the good news. There are hero
who never make it back, who refuse the call to adventure and of those
who are too eager and fry their brains on acid or fly too close to the
sun. But the successful hero does return and the world is improved by
his having gone on the journey. We can see Phaedrus as a kind of tragic
hero. And again with the boldness - get a load of this guy - I think
Pirsig has taken that road at least two different ways, insanity and
peyote. The latter was much more pleasant.
The idea is so different in the vision quest, where peyote or something
like it might be used. And the purpose is to obtain clarity about your
own true nature. Its not about frying your brain or getting the giggles,
its used as a de-hallucinogen, as Diana mentions. If the doors of
perception were cleansed... that's the idea behind mysticism. (Thanks
for getting in on this, Diana.) There are references to this kind of
"breaking out" everywhere. Plato's cave can be seen that way. He was a
pretty mystical guy. How about The Truman Show or Matrix? Star Wars is
deliberately based on Joseph Campbell's heroic model.
Peyote isn't for everybody and it sure isn't kid stuff. But one could
say the same thing about metaphysics.
Thanks again TR Ellis. I thought your "balance" post was right on.
DMB
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