I heard the scientist who did the study on NPR He had chosen people who were already religious because he felt that they would be able to handle the awareness shift better. I think that skews the results a bit but I am happy to see experiments with hallucinogens again. I think this is an important area to understand mystical experiences. Tim Leary F'ed it up for the rest of us by turning his research into a party.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > *Very* interesting blog post describing a recently > published (in a highly reputable journal) carefully > controlled study of the effects of psilocybin on 36 > volunteers, in which two-thirds of the subjects > reported that the experience was among either the > "five most" or "single most meaningful experiences" > of their lifetimes. > > After some discussion, the blogger (Mark Kleiman, an > academic with expertise in drug policy) ends the post > this way: > > "Now it seems that the Beatific Vision, or at least a 60% chance of > something the feels a lot like the Beatific Vision, might be in reach > of almost anyone with access to a competent guide, a comfortable > room, headphones, eyeshades, and the right kind of mushrooms. > > "Would that be a good thing? How much mystical insight can this > society handle? Do we have, or could we build, institutions capable > of converting peak experiences into beneficially altered lives? I > don't claim that the average mega-church isn't up to the task, but > that certainly isn't the task the mega-church was designed to handle. > Historically, the mystical traditions (for example, Sufism within > Islam, Kabbalah within Judaism) are somewhat esoteric; when they turn > into mass movements they tend to degenerate into superstition and > magic-working, which is what happened to Taoism in China. > > "Is the world ready for mass-market mysticism? Damned if I know. In > Num. 11:24-29, Moses seems to think that it would be a good > thing: "Were that all my people were prophets, and that HaShem would > put His spirit upon them!" Joshua, on the other hand, isn't so sure. > > "In any case, it looks as if we'd better get ready to find out." > > Read the whole post here: > http://tinyurl.com/2zfhxs > > Links to the text of the study, and other material, > are in the post. >
