Tagged with Religion

Psychedelics expose us to a particular set of metaphysical assumptions. But even the most vivid visions are just passing symbols. However "true" the psychedelic experience is, it's a reality as full of risk as any other. The largest risk is that of religious delusion (more)

As I was re-reading Lin Yutang's masterwork, I found so many passages that seem custom-made for the Dude that I thought it might be fun to explore the points of departure and arrival of both works, in tandem. To do that, I need to start from the not-so-distant premises that prompted Lin Yutang himself, back in 1937, to write his book. (more)

The introduction of the written word into social discourse initiated a fundamental change in the way human beings understood their reality. Alphabetic writing rewired our brains into left-dominant meme machines, instituting a period of intensive philosophical and cultural progress. But it would also, ultimately, initiate our long decent into self-destruction. (more)

Spirituality will converge with science when we know how and why we think, and how we came to be so rich in creativity. Being alive is inconceivable without being conscious. "I think, there­fore I am" is fundamentally true, but Descartes' maxim should be expanded to include feeling, intuition, a sense of self, and our drive to understand who we are. (more)

As the world moves into unprecedented upheaval, people turn to spiritual matters to ease their fears. A case can be made that our solely patriarchal ideas about the transcendent have been responsible for many of the ills currently facing our society. Perhaps we need a reaffirmation of allegiance to our nation's forgotten Goddess. (more)

The original shamans and their external technologies induce a sense of freedom from embodiment. The early yogis carry that freedom into the disentanglement of consciousness from phenomena and the world. The Vedantic tradition recognizes that the self and the divine are actually one, and the non-dual traditions recognize that all is divine. (more)

I was visiting a classroom of undergraduate Philosophy and Religion students talking about ayahuasca shamanism this past November. The question was posed to me, “Is ayahuasca a new religion?” (more)

Throughout Christianity's history, visionaries have pursued direct communion with Spirit rather than blind obedience to dogma. Even visionary heretical sects evolve to embody the same qualities of dogmatic control that they originally rebelled against. The impulse to seek direct communion with God spurred me to be a heretic against my family and Church. (more)

Coping with the family of someone who has killed themselves, or whose life has ended in an equally intense moment of peak tragedy is itself a peak experience, and requires  awareness and perspective so as not to succumb to emotional vertigo. (more)

In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools. (more)

U.S. law sees "freedom of religion" as referring primarily to the freedom to believe and secondarily to the freedom to practice. However, something sorely missing from our legal protections is any recognition of the significance of direct spiritual experience itself, including with sacred plants. (more)