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Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments:
An Entheogen Chrestomathy
Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D. and Paula Jo Hruby, Ed.D.
Author Index | Title Index
Keys to Inner Space.
Hisey, Lehmann. (1975).
New York: Avon.
ISBN: 0-380-00411-9
Description: paperback, viii + 277 pages.
Contents: introduction, 11 chapters, 2 parts, Part 1: untitled, Part 2:
Mark Probert.
Note: Only Chapter 10, "LSD-25 Experience" considers entheogens.
Excerpt(s): Perhaps it was an intuitional yearning for some supreme
awareness that could not be interpreted. The thought came to me here
that without deity or a universal intelligence, the cosmos would be a
soulless vacuum. The struggle then, was to fill this emptiness with
something meaningful, and that was all that was going on. (page 123)
At this particular point in my journey there appeared to be no
negative or conflicting emotions. It was the fusion of all things in my own
awareness. I somehow seemed to be saying, "This is deathlessness
timelessness matterlessness all in one experience. How could it
possibly be any different from this?" Some reasoning returned at this
juncture and I was recalling the old question, "What happens to the coin
if one side is removed?" "Yes," I said to myself, "I see it all now it is all
the same. Life and death are two aspects of the same thing. There are
no borders to infinity. There is just the joy of this surging
all-encompassing vitality. The Ancient Wisdom did not originate in
Buddha, Lao-tse, or Jesus; each one possesses that illumination. This is
just intuitively knowing oneself." (page 125)
It would seem as though the vast depths that one beholds within provide
a range greater than can possibly be imagined. The acceptance of this
new dimension within is not difficult until one tries to compare it with
one's ordinary daily life. (pages 125-126)
The journey was endless and I was completely overcome by its
awe-inspiring magnificence. With rationality thrown to the winds, there
was nothing but inexpressible beauty accompanied by very strange
music. The interval between music, color, and poetry is a mystical
experience as one becomes aware of the tremendous sweep of rhythm
that has a therapeutic value far beyond comprehension. (page 127)
There was certainly no telling what would happen next, as
suddenly everything changed completely. I was some Ancient Wisdom
trying to get through to tired humanity. This was a real switch but I did
not go for it. I am not a Buddhist, but I recall giving many thoughts on the
Buddha nature. These expressions did not seem quite genuine,
somehow. I thought, "I am just saying that this is the guy in the chair
talking." I did not disparage what was being said but the way in which it
was being said. (page 128)
My mind began to function quite normally now for five or ten
minutes at a time. The doctor's wife sat down and chatted with me while
I ate some light supper. I did not take off once during our conversation
and recall giving her a dissertation on safflower oil some breakthrough
that seemed to go back to Ancient Wisdom.
After supper I went back into my study where I had, that very
day, done such extensive inner-space traveling. It had the atmosphere of
a holy place. Right here I had encountered life and death in its many
aspects. (page 136)
Compilation copyright © 1995 – 2001 CSP
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