Council on Spiritual Practices Home Page Here is a further preliminary result from our survey. Respondents were asked: "have such [entheogenic] experiences made you want to explore spirituality in other ways and, if so, in what ways?
The majority said that their entheogenic experiences had led them to explore spirituality in other ways. For instance, one respondent wrote: "they have made me strive towards living in a way that every act, to every extent possible, is performed as a spiritual act". Others felt their experience had acted as a trigger: "I've always been relatively spiritual but these experiences have made me more active in my spirituality. For example, actually buying incense and using it, actually attempting meditation, not just leaving all these things in the "One Day" box and never get round to doing these things". Some respondents were more tentative in their explorations, for instance: "I've gone online and joined a few spiritual chat groups".
There was a clear bias towards solitary spiritual paths. Three in particular stood out: yoga, meditation and martial arts (tai chi and aikido). Yoga was described as a "slow process compared to acid [but] once the dhyana state is achieved, you can have as many free trips as you want because dhyana state is very similar to deep acid experience". Other forms of spirituality which were mentioned by more than one respondent were Buddhism (predominately Zen), Native American teachings and a variety of 'new age' practices. These included reiki, dream analysis, aura's, journeying and qi massage.
'Traditional' religions were mentioned by three respondents. One said that "I have become more interested in (liberal) Judaism". Another replied: "I will always wonder if my first 'e' trip (the closest I have ever felt to God) was due to the fact that I was to be baptised the very next day as a Catholic". Yet another described a conversion:
"I was born into a Church of England family, but I couldn't get on with anything I was told. I kept hearing all these extracts from the bible, and thought they all sounded fairly pathetic. Even from an early age, I thought that religion was just a conspiracy to keep the people of the world happy. I've become a Quaker now, and it seems perfect for me. Unlike other religions we don't have any kind of book which we hold sacred, and we are not told what to believe".
Two others took up Buddhism.
"Following initial 'ego death/clear light' experience, I explored the writings from various mystical/contemplative traditions, eventually settling on Buddhism, with particular interest in the Zen schools, and finally taking up formal practice with the London Buddhist Society."
"Both the drugs and the rave scene have incited an interest in meditation, and prior I considered myself an atheist. I've developed an interest in Buddhism. From the time I've been in the scene until now my interests have been narrowing into making my experiences more spiritual and emotionally/mentally/spiritually meaningful. It's made me want to explore spirituality to improve creativity, to improve my concentration, my consideration, kindness and love".
Most, however, were still exploring possibilities. One respondent said: "I was previously very anti-religious, anti-spiritual, anti-mystical. I have looked into wide and various areas, including Magick (Aleister Crowley), nature worship, and even the Bible...my future areas of inquiry are Buddhism and Sufism. I guess I'm a little eclectic" while another said "we (my wife and I) have included a number of native American and pagan practices in our spiritual life, but are not part of any organised group or church. I guess you could call us spiritual pragmatists".
There were very few straight 'no's' to the question as it was asked. One replied that he "wished to access the cognitive state that supports intense mystic experiencing and insight, without relying on any method other than mental activity [but] concluded that meditation can produce only weak effects, and requires excessive time and effort, and is not compatible with other activities. With LSD, you can ingest it and then go about various activities, rather than having to just sit". Another respondent felt that his entheogenic experience had been so intense there was no need to explore spirituality in other ways: "I have experienced what I consider the truth, personally of course. I feel that I can achieve a direct communion with God". A further 'no' respondent disagreed with the notion that spirituality can be sought in the way implied in the question: "I don't go look for the experience...it comes to me when I need it or not. It's not something I anticipate or look for. It just happens, and when it does it's a bonus".
Other respondents did not feel it was a matter of cause and effect so much as entheogens and an interest in spirituality working in tandem. For example: "I was always spiritually inclined, and in the environment of my youth, drugs were the only way I knew to get more information about what exists beyond my 'skin encapsulated ego'. As soon as I was able to connect with a meditation teacher, I stopped using drugs altogether for a time, and applied myself to drug-free means of inner exploration. Now, I am learning to balance the discipline of spiritual practice with the discipline of using sacramental catalysts" and "my experiences with drugs have been combined with me studying philosophical/religious teachings, both before and after. I guess my studies have given me much more than drugs, but it would not have given me as much without drugs".