a)
do any of you take psychedelic drugs for reasons I haven't listed, and if so, WHY? ie besides "personal growth" or "learning lessons"
Yeah, those, and basically for inspiration. Earlier, I used to take them to push the limits of my mind. And that I did, and learned a lot about the mind that has later proven completely legitimate. Not in a spiritual or very metaphysical sense (or otherwise inexact sense, but rather in what you might call a rational way).
b)
of those who have stopped taking psychedelics, why? due to questioning their purpose like me right now, or something else?
I haven't quite stopped - in fact, about five months ago, I had LSD and Ayahuasca. But before that, I had spent a year without psychedelics (or weed or alcohol). You could say I've 'stopped' when you compare me with the wild kids who think it's reasonable to trip many times a month, but I do suppose I'll be using psychedelics this year.
So, why stop? It's rather simple, if you take these drugs for a purpose, you may sometimes actually reach that purpose, making further dosing unnecessary.
Why start and stop periodically? Well, again, to pursue some kind of purpose (and generally, to have caution), you will want to have digestive periods, and not 'binge' your brains out.
c) and d): I'm in the middle of my 20's, and have used psychedelics for over 5 years like the thread topic suggests.
e)
Looking back I have to wonder if I ever did truly get anything out of them.
You say weren't trying to "get" anything, but of course, you still have the experiences. Thus it's not anyway late to think about them in a new light, but intention could have brought you on different paths back then! But now, I've though about what you discuss as "getting something out of tripping". I now came up with a rather unsophisticated metaphor, but I think I'll use it:
It's pretty well established that getting drunk helps you, well, to 'get laid'. But, drinking beer alone in your home won't do it: You'll have to head out and seek the companion yourself as well. (Sorry, I couldn't be bothered to come up with an archaic and more beautiful example
But so, this use of a catalyst must involve active participation, if a goal is to be reached! It is very much the same, if you intend to pursue an inner voice in you - like to listen to your heart - or something like that on psychedelics. It may happen spontaneously, but the realizations may not quite come through and will decay in time, unless you grasp them. Or, like it's very probable, nothing will ever come out of it. That's possible as well. Other than an occasional good time and a visual display. That's quite OK in my opinion as well - perhaps just a waste of neurological and rare chemical potential, if some people suck a country dry of the materials and sort of do nothing with them. But, who am I to say something like that. That's just an impression I sometimes have.
So, what is there to be attained, in optimal conditions?
Facilitation of spiritual practice I won't discuss now, and it's a lenghty topic of its own, but consider it mentioned anyway. Cognitive inspiration. I remember that from when I was 17 year-old kid, and we got Marijuana. I began to find that it made unaswered questions seem more intriguing, thus inspiring me to look into natural sciences and such. So, all the 'work' for a benefit from material use doesn't have to take place under the influence (It'd be very hard if it did). Sometimes psychedelics have had a very strong reductionist effect, in that people's egocentric and arbitrary categories and selective preferences have ceased to ne relevant. This mode of though, in general, is less subjective and more honest, if you continue to pursue and evaluate it systematically - instead of pushing it away as a quirk. So, more perspective, ie. different thoughts, more material. More possible configurations of pre-existing thoughts - all of which are logical consequences of having a potent neurological agent as an additive in your diet
.
Last time I took acid, it was as simple as having realizations about interior design of my apartment and noticing some neglected areas in my bodily care and fitness. (sore muscles, bad ergonomy and so on). All those suddenly became painfully apparent. Small dose, medium-sized ideas. Psychedelic, revealing the mind. It really is what they do, and provided that you accept it, you can use it on many areas of life.
