LSD and The Psychedelic Experience: A manual based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead

[Iron Lungs]

Psychedelics are their own path.

Path to where though?, you hate religion so much and are not spiritual, you don't like Leary call Alan Watts a drunk etc etc

Where does the path lead its a genuine question

 

[TheBlackPirate]

If your interested in Tibetan Buddhisms listen through the Dali Lama's speeches on YouTube. In reality the core values of Buddhism involve tolerance and peace.

Ismene insults most of the psychedelic leaders, religions, ect. Ismene's opinions aren't usually factually accurate on these things. I have gone though this again and again.

Ismene's opinions remain welcome here.

 

[burn out]

For a start the idea of the book is that it's based on something written thousands of years ago by someone who had never taken LSD in his life. I'm pretty sure I'd write a lot better book about tripping than someone who has never tripped.

The book was written by people who tripped tons. They modeled the view of the workings of the human psyche on a book written by someone who had never tripped, because the underlying psychological processes of the psyche are universal.

But my challenge wasn't for you to claim you could do it. It was for to actually do it. Again, let's see you contribute something better than Leary, Alpert and Metzner to the psychedelic community.

Because it's a very, very limited view of the psychedelic experience. If sitting in a room listening to a voice droning on about religious ideas from thousands of years ago is your idea of a good time then great. I wouldn't introduce someone to psychedelics like that. I'd take them out walking in a beautiful spot in nature, listen to music, watch a film. Anything but sit listening to some twat droning on about silly ideas of ego-death.

The psychedelic experience gives suggestions for setting, including music and beautiful spots in nature. The book is meant to be read before the trip.

If religion means something to you then great. Just don't try and move in on psychedelics and claim that man-made religion have psychedelics covered. I've heard a lot of people claim psychedelics are only good until you find religion - that's utterly repulsive to me. Psychedelics are their own path.

Who said anything about having psychedelics covered? As I explained earlier in this thread, Leary said this book was just a starting point and encouraged people to write their own manuals. I agree with you that it is a limited view of the psychedelic experience and Leary would most likely agree also.

But to my knowledge there are relatively few good books about the psychedelic experience. If you can a write a better manual then I will not hesitate to recommend Ismene's tripping manual. But until then, I will continue recommending the Psychedelic Experience.

 

[smurfschoice]

The book helped me and my friends more than we can probably imagine.

This was when we were maturing teenagers and took LSD with fairly gay abandon (1999-2001). Our group was generally fairly smart, well read, and found the idea of the psychedelic experience fascinating, so that mindset helped as we moved into a period when we would have some extremely powerful acid trips.

I remember looking for The Psychedelic Experience from the local library after reading about it, shortly after my first trip - which hadn't been spiritual, but had hinted at the possibility. The book showed up on the local library intranet as part of the local collection, but it was not kept in the main library, it sat in the archive in the cellar, so I had to specifically request it in person.

Turned out the relatively young librarian I interacted with, knew all about Leary et al's book, and reacted enthusiastically when I asked about it. He said he and his friends had been really interested in it when he was my age, and wasted no time in ensuring I had it in my hands. I remember when he gave it to me - it was in A4 format with a polythene cover - and how the whole experience made me feel as if I'd uncovered something mysterious, taboo, rarely spoken of, and only in hushed tones at that.

It structured the trips we had after that in a way that I'm almost definite made them more manageable and navigable, otherwise we would have been just a trio of tripping fools with the odd revelation. It probably kept us safe, too.

Looking back, I know now the first bardo clear light, second bardo, and third bardo 'confrontation with reality after rebirth' are entirely human constructs, but this doesn't take away from their utility in the context. In my mind, Leary, Metzner, and Alpert did the psychedelic community a massive service by publishing this book, despite its obvious historical contingency. I'm sure it prevented many confusing and earth-shattering tight rope walk trips from going completely south.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

It's extremely dated, and you don't need psychedelic drugs to have a spiritual experience. I couldn't imagine reading it or listening to people read it while on mushrooms or LSD as that would be wasting time during a psychedelic experience.

 

[Toltec]

Yes it is very outdated, BUT it is a stepping stone to understanding and become more enlighten then you all eady are..
But to read anything while you are tripping is a waste of time... Tripping is for deep thought after you have read it