Drugging your way to Bliss
The Fifth Precept goes:
I undertake the training rule to abstain from intoxicating drinks and substances which cause heedlessness.
I try to take the precepts each day, first thing before getting out of bed. If you do this along with the Five Remembrances – and maybe promise yourself to be mindful during the day – you will have a better day than if you do not. Simply the intent to be wholesome will make you and your experiences more positive.
Mind-altering drugs were an option during the Buddha's time. People looking to pierce the veil and see into True Reality via drug-induced haze have always been around. It's an apparent shortcut, an understandable one if you are a person living a secular life with commitments, duties and the like which limit the time available for practice. Sometimes, you just want to check out for a little bit to see if there's something more to it all than what is ordinarily seen.
Extreme asceticism involving very little food or sleep is another way people in India and elsewhere have sought to induce higher mental states via physical means. The Buddha himself began his life of renunciation in just such a fashion before giving it up prior to his awakening. His one-meal-a-day rule he set for himself and his mendicants afterwards led to an improvement in his health and long life. Today, people are rediscovering that the rule is a ward against disease and a life extender.
The True Reality that causes psychonauts to gush on YouTube about exciting trips Abroad-Abroad (sic) is a chemically-induced fabrication in my opinion. There are those who view the brain organ as a valve that limits the flow of True Reality into everyday consciousness and see drugs as means of opening it to let a little more in. There maybe something to this, but whatever the truth, the results can be very unreliable. One podcaster mentioned having to do 30 DMT trips to get the one really good "break on through to the other side" experience. That's as trustworthy as praying to a deity or invoking Science!
Someone who has taken a large enough dose of mushrooms, DMT, LSD and the like to launch an expedition into the Outer Planes is heedless. They have intentionally broken the Fifth Precept. During their trips, they are no longer mindful and present. Though they may see flying purple bikini-clad goddesses against the most vivid colors and thereby become convinced they're more real than than anything they've experienced during normal waking consciousness, the travelers are actually more removed from Ultimate Reality than if they had stayed home. There's a reason why you shouldn't take a trip without a good friend around to keep an eye on you.
This is not a value judgment. I understand the draw and have considered doing it as well. Aware of such intoxicants, the Buddha knew they had nothing to do with Enlightenment or the easing of suffering. Mindfully eating an orange as a mid-afternoon snack is enjoyable and of more spiritual benefit than hallucinogens.
When a psychonaut comes back from a drug-induced journey, he talks about the scary or exciting creatures he conversed with while being in an entirely different universe. They believe these counselors shared insights with them about their afflictions, their doubts, their worries. Or maybe he mentions connecting with a higher self. Often these experience sound like manifestations of unconscious thoughts and feelings that upon further reflection, connect with what people already know about themselves. Sometimes people speak positively of the interactions. Other times, they will bring up stories related to "bad trips" where not so pleasant entities were met.
I dream more vividly now, maybe as a side effect of practice, but these are always symbols about what I already know. They reveal my attachments, my insecurities and require very little in the way of Jungian analysis. I wake up more aware of where work needs to be done. Sometimes – most of the time – dreams are just noise, "wind in the belly." The point is that we don't benefit from pondering dreams and their meanings because they are either noise or have obvious meanings. Something like this happens with people on hallucinogens. At least, this is how psychonauts sound when they relay their adventures.
Practicing virtue and mindfulness in day-to-day life never produces anything like a bad trip. There are stories of extended meditation leading to a kind of depression or disassociation, but it's unclear what is meant by "meditation" in these cases. People meditate for all sorts of reasons and the practice itself can vary in goals and execution. Is a person sitting on a cushion concentrating on breathing for attaining samadhi or daydreaming about the higher Self?
Every meditator at some point will open up negative recollections. I can only speak for myself in saying that meditation when done with the right intent and the right supports (virtue) will become a normal part of one's hygiene; and the benefits will integrate into one's life. I never go into practice worried if I will run into any entities, good or bad.
Practice in Buddhism is not about seeing machine elves or blue djinn through a natural, drug-free means, nor is it about leaving one's body to roam the astral planes. The Buddha acknowledged in the Digha Nikaya that there were refined means available for mortals looking to go off the beaten path. He didn't advise his bhikkhus to pursue these because they had nothing to do with his dhamma. People will go on eating mushrooms and experimenting with various chemicals until the end of time, believing that there is some spiritual treasure to be found there.
Meditation is about investigation without the use of drugs and intoxicants. It's about seeing things as clearly as possible by focusing the mind through concentration. What is an eternal, immortal Self in this heap of bones, blood, muscle, fat and sensation? What part of my thoughts and memories are anything but vapors? Are they me? Am I them?
Sitting down and exploring these can be for some people a little unnerving because they challenge the most fundamental conceit we have, namely, that we are Eternal. We cannot imagine the world without us in it. Christianity and the other world religions teach followers that Eternity is their destination. God loves you and you will exist forever!
Atheistic materialists will profess belief in annihilation at death but then live as we all do – immortal beings (psychologically). It's a human thing, part of the egoic mind that we cannot easily escape. It's easy to say, "I'm not real, or this is not real, or I'm going to die and that will be it." Meditators and atheists have this tendency to make their different truths into intellectual assertions when for the former, it's to be experienced here and now.
Positive mental states conducive to real spiritual progress are best supported by the practice of the precepts while being friendly and open to others. Generosity in giving time and money to those in need leads to a more fruitful practice. An altered state of consciousness is possible by practicing virtue and giving up things.
Hallucinogens are a cheap, easy way to get something that seems profound and illuminating. It has nothing to do with authentic dhamma. They are part of Western consumer society, in some cases the products of government labs. As the West spirals further down toward oblivion, laws against marijuana have been lifted in states and countries. Today, there are more potent forms of the drug, leading to bigger highs and with long term effects indicating addiction, psychosis. This is not by accident. It's also no accident that micro-dosing and DMT studies are popular subjects now. The consumer doesn't need to do any work, just maybe take a few trippy pills for their depression or anxiety.
