This commentary (2008) investigates the religious implications/importance of experiences that people have had on high doses of psilocybin.
Abstract
“Accompanying the resumption of human research with the entheogen (psychedelic drug), psilocybin, the range of states of consciousness reported during its action, including both nonmystical and mystical forms of experience, is surveyed and defined. The science and art of facilitating mystical experiences is discussed on the basis of research experience. The potential religious import of these states of consciousness is noted in terms of recognizing the reality of the spiritual, in better understanding the biochemistry of revelation, and in exploring the potentially positive contributions that mystical consciousness may effect in psychological treatment.”
Author: William A. Richards
Summary
In 1966, Walter Pahnke and I stated that the greatest danger we may face as we come to terms with psychedelic drugs is becoming blinded by fears of misuse and abuse. Now, 41 years later, we hope that research may move forward.
A Conceptual Trap to Avoid: Study Discrete States of Consciousness, not “a Drug Effect ”
When people first ingest psilocybin, they often assume they have experienced a “drug effect” and now know “what psilocybin does”. However, each person experiences psilocybin in a different way, and each experience is unique.
Psilocybin can change consciousness, but it cannot be taken as a medication to cure alienation, neurosis, addiction, or fear of death. It unlocks a door to nonordinary states, but how far one ventures through the doorway is dependent on non-drug variables.
Although the range of experiences reported by subjects is broad, the experiences appear to be ingeniously designed by an intrinsic wisdom within the psyche to facilitate healing or unfolding self-actualization.
There is no “drug effect” other than the biochemical substrate that appears to trigger the opportunity to explore alternative states. Similar biochemical processes may well underlie all forays into inner worlds.
A Brief Survey of Nonmystical States of Consciousness
Psilocybin can facilitate sensory-aesthetic experiences, which are usually associated with low dosage and psychological defensiveness. Psychotic experiences, which are characterized by intense anxiety, confusion and often paranoia, occur when adequate attention has not been paid to preparation and skillful guidance.
Psychodynamic experiences, usually associated with low dosage and a supportive set and setting, often involve the confrontation and potential resolution of personal conflicts and/or traumas.
Archetypal experiences occur on the threshold between personal and mystical states. They often involve encounters with symbols of great myths and world religions, as well as imagery of precious gemstones and metals, awe-inspiring architecture, vast landscapes, prior civilizations and cosmic panoramas.
A Definition of Mystical Consciousness (Complete & Incomplete)
Those who know do not speak, and those who speak do not know. In attempting to describe mystical experiences, it is common for volunteers to express a sense of futility, because the very categories of human thinking render the experiences paradoxical.
There are six categories in the content analysis of reports of mystical experiences, which were outlined by Pahnke in his classic “Good Friday Experiment” (1963).
When approached with closed eyes, unity is experienced as the drop of water merging with the ocean. When approached with open eyes, the perceiver and the perceived somehow resonate and recognize one another as the same ultimate form of energy. Academics like to make fine cognitive distinctions, but it is probable that pure phenomenological experiencing preceded linguistic attempts to categorize. Now that we can catalyze these profound experiences with psilocybin, we can study them in more detail.
The mystical consciousness of William James includes intuitive knowledge that all is well, that we are part of an infinitely greater reality, and that consciousness is indestructible. This knowledge has been found to correlate positively with decreased fear of death in terminally-ill persons.
Within the ultimate unity, all persons are felt to be interconnected. This consciousness might provide a path for recovering an ethics and rejoining the human family.
People who have experienced mystical consciousness often remember incredible and perhaps absolute beauty, such as high gothic vaulting, Islamic domes with intricate, symmetrical patterns, or crystalline gemstones imbued with light. These experiences are believed to be real, but may also be powerful delusions.
Volunteers claim to have experienced phases of evolution or scenes of other civilizations, but time and space may only be concepts of our cognitive faculties.
The category of “Sacredness” captures the feelings of awe, joy, peacefulness and love encountered in mystical consciousness.
In summary, mystical consciousness is defined as a state of human experience that entails expressions of ineffability, unity, intuitive knowledge, transcendence of time and space, sacredness and profoundly positive mood.
Th e Science and Art of Facilitating Mystical Consciousness
If mystical consciousness is the most profoundly meaningful state of consciousness that can occur during the action of psilocybin, then unconditional trust is the most important factor of set that can be enhanced with expressions of devotion or Bhakti.
To be successful in the psilocybin process, one must have an attitude of openness, honesty and curiosity, a spirit of adventure, and a willingness to accept suffering as part of the process of growth.
A trusting and respectful relationship with another person, knowledge and skills of the researchers, adequate, though not excessive dosage, and nonverbal structure are important factors.
Recognizing the Reality of the Spiritual
Mystical and archetypal experiences awaken persons to the reality of the spiritual dimension of life, and the Dalai Lama reminds us that current neuroscience does not have “any real explanation of consciousness itself”.
Recognizing the Biochemistry of Revelation
There is an academic frontier that focuses on the biochemistry of revelation and the origins of world religions. It has been posited that ancient seers used mushrooms to induce revelatory experiences that are similar to those that occur through spontaneous alterations of brain chemistry.
Recognizing the Role of Mystical Consciousness in Psychological Treatment
After experiencing mystical consciousness, one does not discover that one has been transformed into a saint. However, many volunteers who experience such states report an impetus towards positive behavior change.
Research into the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of alcoholism, narcotic addiction, severe neuroses, and distress in the terminally ill is beginning again in various settings in the United States and Western Europe.