Today is a news report about "mystical experiences" while using psilocybin (Magic mushrooms)...?

Question

The article is here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_sc/psychedelic_research;_ylt=AjawQt.K639WZh0Y4rqEClGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-

Rigorous testing has shown that almost 80% of the people who were in the study found that the use of psilocybin was within one of the top five most spirtitual happenings in their lives. The people in the study were known to pray, attend church, etc. They all reported spriitual/mystical expereinces.

That being known, is it not entirely possible, seeing as our brains obviously have receptors for these narcotics/hallucinogens, is it not possibly that all of these spiritual/religious expereinces that people have are simply a figment of their imaginations?? Some unknown chemical bonding with that particular receptor that cause one to hallucinate seeing God?? Doesnt that seem more "real" of an explanation over some religious explanation??

Answer 1

The results of this study (which are promising but hardly surprising) suggest a possible biochemical basis for “mystical” or “religious” experiences. (This is not, incidentally, the first such study to do so. See, e.g., Andrew Newberg and Eugene d’Aquili, Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief.) That the brain has specific receptor sites for the tryptamine compounds found in psilocybin mushrooms—this shows that the experiences that the ‘shrooms engender are not so much “imaginary” (and thereby “false” and empirically invalid) as they are natural, organic, and endogenous to the human brain. (This raises, of course, the question of what a "true" experience might be--and this is an epistemological problem that has been raised and addressed by scientists, philosophers, and other great thinkers for thousands of years. We're not about to make much headway here.) It is important to keep in mind a.) that humans have been using psilocybin mushrooms (as well as other naturally occurring tryptamine compounds such as DMT, which is, by the way, naturally occurring as well as produced by the human brain—in the pineal gland) for thousands of years, and have done so in a benign and socially effective manner—i.e., as ritual; b.) that psilocybin occurs as a natural organic compound, grown naturally without any human interference; c.) that the molecular structure is very akin to serotonin (psilocybin, as well as LSD, actually binds to and “mimics” serotonin and replaces it at the receptor sites), one of the most important neurotransmitters that has been associated with mood regulation and, indeed, consciousness as we know it; and d.) that the human brain functions as a repository of all the genetic information from the evolutionary beginnings not only of the human species, but indeed of the planet and universe as a whole. All this suggests many curious and exciting possibilities—among other things, it says that psilocybin may in fact be linked to our evolutionary origins (see, e.g., Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution) and that the “mystical” or “religious” experience is not only a natural part of the human experience (as evidenced by human societies around the globe since the dawn of time), but that the psilocybin mushrooms are able to put humans in touch with that living intelligence of the planet (what some, such as James Lovelock, have called “Gaia”)—and, indeed, the intelligence of the universe. This is quite profound and filled with spectacular psychological, social, and religious implications. This, however, is hardly the most appropriate venue for me to expound on these ideas at length. But there are other sources which are most worthwhile to read. Among the better starting points (for the curious reader), I would suggest the following:

(+) Andrew Weil, The Natural Mind: An Investigation of Drugs and the Higher Consciousness.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395911567/sr=8-1/qid=1152667382/ref=sr_1_1/103-1882356-3103039?ie=UTF8

(+) Lester Grinspoon and James B. Bakalar, Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964156857/qid=1152667427/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-1882356-3103039?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

(+) Rick Strassman, DMT: The Spirit Molecule.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892819278/qid=1152667487/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-1882356-3103039?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

(+) Terence McKenna, The Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553371304/qid=1152667549/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-1882356-3103039?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

(+) R. Gordon Wasson, “Seeking the Magic Mushroom,” published in Life magazine, 1957; rep. online at:
http://www.imaginaria.org/wasson/life.htm

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Yes, God is just a hallucination. No big surprise there. Yes, hallucinogens can lead to mystical experiences. Again, no big surprise there. That is why some are called entheogens. Yes, it would be very interesting to see how the use of such chemicals leads to religious experiences since it can tell us more about how religious experiences in general occur. Too bad it's taken so long for scientists to get back to studying these things.

Answer 3

of course there are receptors in the brain for drugs - that's how they work. hallucinating is not religious - it can be really strange and people like to give religion/mystical stuff as the answer to things they dont understand. LSD and Psilocybin along with mescaline all produce very interesting, but unpredictable effects. Try it sometime and you'll see.

Answer 4

Deep science research on mental abilities & meditation showed avaliable intuition or other abilities when the brain frequencies were high in the delta and alpha, and very low in other areas.
Drugs can trigger that state of mind - with side affects, but because there was either
no initial reason for the 'trip',
nor properly developed discernment to test the context of the experience in order to tell if it was auto-fantasy, or realistically signifigant.
I've always been satisfied with the non-drug method.
I only got quality insight/results from sincere, quality meditation.

Answer 5

Ah, now I know why you are named what you are - it's perfect!

No spiritual experiences are not shroom episodes...

"Some unknown chemical bonding...that cause(s) one to hallucinate, seeing God?" Well, at least you capitalized God.

So everyone that's had a religious experience is just a stoner, or a magic receptor magnetic hallucination seer?

Answer 6

Perhaps people in the study interpreted what they saw/experienced as "spiritual" BECAUSE they "pray, attend church, etc." If the people had been a group of atheists, I'd wager they would have described their (similar) experience in differant terms. We all view the world through the filter of our own beliefs.

Answer 7

I read this story today on biospace.com at work. They were taking a hallucinogen, so of course it was all in their heads.

Answer 8

I think your closer to your answer. by the way the most spiritual experience I've ever had was while I was on shrooms.