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Did psychedelics reinforce or change your religious thoughts?

The Amtrack Kid said:
Psychedelics have had a huge impact on my thoughts around religion. Before tripping, I was a die hard athiest, a victim of dogmatic secularism. psychedelics have allowed me to think about the world in a much more relativistic fashion, and appreciate that their is such a thing as religious experience (Though it's not the superficial crap your fed at church). Psychedelics have transformed me from an athiest to an agnostic.
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What he/she said.
 
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Raised Christian by my mother- you know how that goes. Was forced to church through guilt and fear... whatnot- stopped going around age 18.. had already built my own views up around it all..

Went through a period where I just chose not to think about it all..

My father is this way. He's very logic-oriented... doesn't do the church thing..

After taking psychedelics, my views have been torn apart and reconstructed so many times over (in ways) that the only thing I can safely call myself- right now- would be Buddhist... although I definately don't follow tradition.. have never really studied it- but it 'seems' the most compatible.

I feel like by this age I wouldn't been the same way-without psychedelics.
 
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I took some 2-ci and lsd one weekend a couple of months ago. I had done lsd several times and never really had any significant "spiritual" experiences and this was the first time trying 2-ci.

My "experience" began by literally seeing energy and light moving through my body. There were multiple colors sort of blended into my skin but after a little bit I could actually see that different colors were traveling through my veins. At one point I closed my eyes, and I saw myself from a third party perspective lying on a bed of water. The colors of "energy" began to form 3 balls down the middle of my body. As soon as these three balls were formed, they just glowed SO bright and then began to levitate above my body. Then I realized that I wasn't on water but a plane of some sort that appeared like water but had no dimension. I kept watching myself and I saw all the atoms of my body begin to expand almost like the particles of a solid turning to a gas and dissipating everywhere. My body had disappeared and all I saw were these 3 balls of bright color and then stars. Just millions upon millions of stars. I had kept my eyes closed about 15 minutes (could have been longer ya know) but when I opened them. I felt so relieved of everything. I saw myself as part of everything. No, I saw everything as part of everything and it filled me with this sensation of infinity, of being a part of everything ALWAYS. My beliefs in heaven and hell vanished and I just knew that my life was just a dance that would be repeated over and over again forever. It wasn't like reincarnation...It was the belief that I am part of you and you are part of me and that everyone and everything is connected and b/c of that fact you and I would be a part of the universe forever.

I don't know if that makes sense b/c it's a hard thing to put into words. I have been raised Christian and read the bible and done the whole church thing but have always felt like something was missing. Like I understood how to be a "good Christian" but I felt like the tools that my religion were giving me were not for my own introspection rather a "way" to live my life by a set of rules in order to go to Heaven. It was almost as though the beliefs that I was taught were limiting the range to which my mind could expand. It dawned on me that there is no "set of rules". There can't be. You just have to let go and learn to stop identifying with your physical body and your psychological entity. Once you reach this point your anxiety starts to disintegrate. I feel no fear of loss of control anymore. Like I honestly feel as though there is no problem too big that I can't face, and face with courage and strength.

I have been reading a lot of Hindu stuff and some of the things that are written about Hinduism are very similer to my experience. I also read this book which I believe states my philosophy (or religion ::at this point I see them as one in the same::) It's called, "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass....Check it out if you get a chance. pretty cool shit
anyway I honestly could write forever cuz I think the words would just keep coming lol
 
i'm pantheist. its hard to say how i arrived here,a mish-mash of experiences with ecstasy and ketamine, long-term weed-smoking, a few books (one about the kabbalah, a couple about shamanism.) and most importantly just observing and experiencing the world.
trying to look at nature with a completly clean slate, no pre-concieved notions about what it is your actually seeing.

Im so happy with my current ideas I doubt they'll ever change, i really think i've found something true to live by.
 
I realized that being an atheist is *almost* as stupid as being a religous zealot. Definetly turned me into an agnostic, and gave me a much better sense of what God would be if indeed there is a God.
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I definitely agree with that. You can't really prove that God exists, but you also can't prove that God doesn't exist, so claiming that you are right in either opinion seems pretty stupid.

But yeah my experiences with psychedelics showed me that there are some things that science probably won't ever be able to explain and that there is most likely more to conciousness than just neurons firing in your brain. I'm now definitely more of an agnostic now as opposed to an atheist like I was before.

I once saw a poll on a DXM site where two-thirds of people who have had third-plateau or higher DXM trips said they had their religious beliefs changed because of it, if you can believe that.

Despite my changed views towards the existence of God I still think that organized religion is the worst thing to ever happen to the human race.
 
^^^I think it is possible for "religious" types of ideas to survive in the form of philosophy rather than through a church.

Not to try and hijack this thread or anything, but my main problem with organized religion is how people force their children to believe in a certain thing from the time they are born. That's the only reason why organized religions survive, IMO
 
^yea I definately see your point.. however, institutionalization is how we humans do things.

religion is nothing more than life-philosophy anyways... and I agree-that it does suck when children are brought up forced to conform to an organized sect.

I always try to tell my mom that she'd be radically islam if she was born in the 'Arab' world, when discussing matters of God and religion.

but yea- lets not highjack the thread.

:D
 
Originally posted by MyDoorsAreOpen





Pot and alcohol have had little effect on my metaphysical beliefs. Shrooms and e are a very different story. Both of these substances made me realize that I was completely missing the point of religion, and in fact, so are most people who fancy themselves pious.

I now see that religion is only a training exercise for the mind. The rites and rituals have no intrinsic value. There is no angel with a clipboard and a checklist, watching our every move in church and awarding points to those who run through the rigamarole most accurately. No, the truly wise church- or templegoer realizes that the real goal is the temperance, patience, quiet heart, feelings of awe, and tightly bonded communities that such disciplines foster. The chanting, recitation, sitting, standing, and processing are nothing but smoke screens. Once this realization is made, these virtues can be aimed for by ANY means, and the religious rites are not needed anymore. I remember thinking on shrooms one time that it's a shame so many religious people get lost in the hall of mirrors which is religious dogma. It's like buying a ticket, but then framing it on your wall instead of using it to gain admission to an awesome show.

I've also come to realize, while rolling, that God is a process and an event, rather than an entity. Like fire, in a way. I came to realize that God is an emergent property of human intelligence. God is nothing more than the vibes and actions generated whenever two or more sentient beings gather to be compassionate towards one another. Whoever said "God is Love" was pretty much spot on. In light of this, thought I, it's absolutely ludicrous to fight over/for God. God can't be fought for any more than a fire can be made with water.

So yes, in short, I've made some profound realizations about religion and spirituality while on drugs.
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That's one of the best post I've seen on the Internet in my life.


The same way your message is only a rite to us, your compassion to us of dispensing your love, sense of love and knowledge of a knowledge that is not an object but a conjecture of offering us a look to the stars and gather in harmony.


They call me Broken Flow.


And yet, when it comes to it
Don't Think, Be your own man.



-- Jubai --
 
I'm Wiccan myself and the one time I've gotten ahold of actual LSD with my boyfriend was a VERY spiritual experience for me, and reinforced my belief in my religion and in the Goddess. I've never felt closer to Nature, or to the spiritual connection with my boyfriend than I did that night. I felt like I was a goddess myself, and I felt blessed to be given the gift of my boyfriend's love.
 
MyDoorsAreOpen: I believe we have a lot in common too

I believe that at the heart of any religion should lie experience . Firsthand individual experience of God, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Nature who/whatever. Many religions may have once originated from this sort of communion with their 'superior entity' or their object of worship. From this they build rituals and practices to return to that pure communion... but eventually this turns into dogma and then organised religion.

With psychedelics though, it is possible to experience your very own personal contact with the God(s) and Devil(s) inside of yourself. You can "fathom Hell or soar angelic", by allowing your ego to become completely dissolved (Doesn't the word 'entheogenic' mean "spirit within"?). There are so many other ways to reach this state, but for me, a teenager who had lost faith in christianity, a psychedelic drug experience was the only thing that arrested my attention. After a few trips I was forced to enquire about my spirituality, or lack of.

I paid more attention to myself as a spiritual being and allowed that to guide certain aspects of my life. I became a lot more interested in meditation and other religions in general.

However it is hard to tell whether this happened all because of my experimentation with psychedelics. Perhaps drug experimentation around this age coincides with an individual's search for spiritual things?
 
What the previous poster said is indeed hard to distinguish, unless a change in one's religious belief can be connected to a single, meaningful spiritual experience. I've had some definite moments, but long-term changes are always centralized to and pushed forward by my psychedelic rituals as well. Since I began using psychedelics, I've shifted towards a kind of pantheism, with divinity in myself and everywhere. Another reason than my psychedelic hobby could be my increasing involvement with (natural) science - if you look at the scientific method & paradigm objectively, it carries contents that I find to be concordant with spontaneous experiences under psychedelics.
 
Christian Soldier said:
I've taken lots of acid, salvia, mushies and all that. They have reinforced my beliefs that drugs are the work of Satan. Even before I was Christian, I could feel the evil, though it sure was fun!
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Eh, why are you on this board then among all of us satanic supporters? 8)

As for me, I used to be a complete materialist atheist prior to using psychedelics. While they only partially affected my philosophy, I got ideas from other sources as well (quantum/particle and theoretical physics for instance.)I realized that a materialst worldview is just as bad as that of a fundamental religious person because it does not allow any flexibility of thought. Currently I believe there is an inherent consciousness permeating reality I suppose you can call it 'God.' The following is a quote that somewhat relates to my beliefs, but only vaguely.

"There is no matter as such! All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter." - Max Planck
 
Christian Soldier said:
Are you trying to say that I should only be amongst 'my own kind'? lol.
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No, but normally I would not want to be surrounded by people I do not like. For instance I do not go on a Republican message board and post there because I don't want to associate with them. And I don't hang out with people I have an aversion to. Unless of course you are here on a crusade to save us and you think that you are on a mission from god.
 
Nothing, I just wanted to understand something. Please proceed with topic. :)
 
Yep, because only Satan worshipping/democrat/athiest/junkies post on these boards... 8)

To answer your question... No, I dont have any problem being around people with different beliefs to me, I am sorry that you have this problem.

And this has what to do with the thread?
 
ebola! said:
yes.
atheist>>>>agnostic with buddhist sympathies.

this is the main thing I came away from ego-death with.
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"Ego death" LOL. Maybe you're a little more humble, humiliated but NO ego?! I always get a laugh out of this.

My dad (aged 76) claims to not have an ego. Recently he claims to have "awakened" but mom says there's no difference. I think my dad's ignorance is his bliss. Whatever, let him enjoy his life. I'm not out to shatter anyone's ego. (Iconoclast.)

You didn't find God on LSD?!
 
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