Do you think hallucinogenic drugs hinders the experience of god or does it broaden it?

Question

I ask this question because my husband back in the day did acid, and traveled to Greatful Dead shows, and Widespread Panic.
Yes in alot of ways he is a hippie, and so am I for that matter. He says that on an acid trip he saw god. Now because this happend to him under the influence he suggests that god is a chemical thing in the brain. HE says yes because I was on drugs you would say I did not see god, but only a manifestation of my thoughts is what I saw. BUt he said how do you know it wasnt. HOw do you know that I was able to see god because the drugs took away my inhibitions, and allowed me to experience god in a tangible way.
I couldnt honestly answer that, cause I really dont know. But he said that if he believe it was god, then he would conclude that it was most spiritual experience he has ever had. But because he was on drugs he knew that it was the drugs, and his brain reacting to the chemicals. And he said it is the same for those who choose to believe. The same he said

The same endorphins he said when someone has a life altering experience and calls it god. what do you think?

Answer 1

I think some people would see Me. Others (like a very up-tight fundamentalist) would see Satan or have a Very bad experience.

But I think humans have always needed to see Me through mind-altering experiences. It's like Dennis Miller said, "Take away drugs, take away booze. People will still need to stand in their driveways and spin around until they fell down and saw God."

Answer 2

The facts are that LSD was developed and marketed (covertly)
by psychiatry because they discovered that it's effect simulates insanity.
The long term effects cause "flashbacks" that can re- occurr throughout a persons life and for some users cause long-lasting psychosis.
Nothing wrong with being a "hippy" but the "drug culture" of the 60's that went with it was actually deliberately created to sabotage the movement which threatened the "status quo" at the time and did in fact sabotage it.

All drug enduced experiences are merely drug induced mockeries of our natural potential for increased perception and awareness. But the use of drugs severly inhibits that natural potential. This has nothing to do with belief, it's a fact.

Answer 3

It seems to me that the best thing for you to do is look at this thing from a different point of view. At present, you seem to be looking at this entirely from a "black and white" viewpoint. You are not acknowledging "gray" let alone any other color in the spectrum.

Given your experience and the experience of your husband, it might be advantageous if you had a look at the works of Carlos Casteneda. From Wikipedia,

"Castaneda's works contain descriptions of paranormal or magical experiences, several psychological techniques, Toltec magic rituals, shamanism and experiences with psychoactive drugs (e.g. peyote). Carlos Castaneda's works have sold more than 8 million copies in 17 languages."

In my humble opinion, as with everything in life, psychotropic or hallucinogenic drugs can be both an advantage or a disadvantage. On the positive side, they can break down your internal barriers and open you to a greater understanding of the nature of god and human spirituality. On the negative side, they can be confusing at best and mentally/emotionally debilitating at worst. Under the circumstances, it is best to avoid the use of drugs as a means of spiritual awakening unless you have an experienced teacher.

Start with Casteneda. From there, if you wish greater personal understanding, find a good teacher.

Answer 4

I found 'god' (though in my case, it took the form of Fenrir Wolf [of Norse mythology]) in an endorphin overload (think pain, think leather, 'nough said).

And frankly, I find myself agreeing with your husband. It's nothing more than a chemical reaciton in the brain, in my case brought on by extreme pain and hyperthermia. There's a great deal of research into a chemical called DMT. Some of the researchers (and I mean, like GSK and the other pharmagiants, not new age, um, for lack of better terms 'hippies') have literally refered to DMT as 'the god molecule' because it tends to make people see the deity they expect to see.

Answer 5

I think it broadens experience of God. It stops you from being tied down to anything, it's just you in the moment. And I think that drug experiences can be wierd and unreal and all that, but God isnt something tangible anyway, right? I think, for unbelievers, drugs can also open your mind. People actually see God through drugs in ways no one else does (or not half as many.)
But then, my God is not the Christian God anyway, so I'm not sure if it helps belief in that.
x

Answer 6

I believe acid, in a large quantity, rewires the brain somehow and makes it possible to see what was there all along and we are unable to see. After the drug experience the brain is changed. The spiritual is easier to see even when we are sober. Drugs aren't needed after the initial drug experience.

But the drug should be taken with the goal being to open spirituality rather than just amusing ourselves.

Answer 7

used recreationally, it is a hinderance.

but to someone pursuing a legitimate shamanistic path, that only uses hallucinogenics when appropriate, it can be a broadening experience.

With altered consciousness being a goal, whether by prayer, meditation, drugs or other experiences, I ofen compare it to a 60-mile course alongside steep cliffs and ravines: (1) the safest way to get there is to walk. (2) with practice, one can take up running or even bicycling. (3) drugs are a car with no breaks. If you seriously want to try that route, you should know the route better than you know your feet, and 99 percent of those who think they can handle it can't.

Answer 8

I think that there is more to it than he is seeing right at the present moment.

If God is no more than a chemical reaction in my brain then this chemical reaction must be able to play time tricks on me too.

Read and consider the three day interval before I understood what had happened to me.

Several years ago I had an unusual experience concerning an uncle, a distant relative who lived over a thousand miles away.

While driving my car I suddenly felt the unmistakable presence of this relative that I hardly even knew. He was more like someone I had heard about than someone I knew. It was very strange; it felt as though I was momentarily lifted right out of my physical body. I seemed to be suspended somehow beyond space and time, bathed in a love so intense It felt like I could have just disappear into it at any moment if It would have let me. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed to last forever at the same time. I realize how crazy this must sound. The experience was so strong that at first I was afraid I was loosing my grip on reality. I finally managed to chalk it up to an over active imagination.

Three days later I got a call from my aunt telling me that this uncle we are talking about had gone into a coma and died the day I had the experience. It felt like ice water had been poured down my back when she told me this. I had lost any real ideas of God or faith and had become somewhat of an atheist. Needless to say this experience caused me to rethink some of the conclusions I had come to.

I feel blessed to now understand that even in our darkest confusion something loves us so much that it went out of its way to assist me and bring me back to a state of absolute certainty about Gods love for us.
During the experience it seemed like there was a vast amount of information that I was somehow allowed access to. One thing that I came away from this experience understanding beyond any shadow of a doubt was that any Idea that God is unhappy with us or would judge or allow us to be punished for any reason is simply impossible.

I can’t explain the love I felt with words. They simply don’t make words big enough or complete enough to do this. The only way I can begin to convey this love to you is to say that there was simply nothing else there. Nothing but love. No hint of judgment, no displeasure of any sort. It is as though God sees us as being as perfect as we were the day we were created. It is only in our confused idea of ourselves that we seem to have changed.

I hope this is of some help to you. Good luck. Love and blessings.

Your brother don

Answer 9

No, the purely thanks to attempt to journey something that you believe ought to exist notwithstanding you've already wide-spread it can't be considered is to close your eyes and pay interest, experience, smell and/or style it. Kelly, the widely used action of hallucinogens is they inhibit factors of the mind that usually suppress the organic mind's eye, so as that they make fantasy, dream, resourceful pictures seem actual. What you've suitable to is a picture image, wallpaper that replaced into likely shared through different psilocybin takers! and that is exciting...to what volume is a graophic, repeated progression actual or imaginary. besides, now i have experienced it too, and that i didn't wish to holiday.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, the nature of the universe and the nature of the mind makes BOTH possible. The problem is, there is no way of distinguishing between fantasy and reality under those conditions. Which is why it's best to get there 'honestly' through prayer and meditation. You can't be fooled that way.