Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00278)

For those of you who would be tempted to psychologise me or my spirituality, or that of those who have disclosed much about themselves, I caution you to reconsider your criticism. It is true that Carl Sagan wrote in "The Dragons of Eden" that OCDs do not have very many, or any, enlightenment breakthroughs, but he is now known to have been also a user and admirer of marijuana. This is a fact. H. P. Blavatsky may or may have not been a user of hashish, i.e. concentrated marijuana or THC, but her spiritual illumination is indisputable. So is the mental acuity and scientific insight of Carl Sagan. Psychologism, or the decontruction of another's mental states, always leads to error in mysticism. Whether I have to use Prozac or any other psychiatric drug is completely indifferent to whether or not I am a true mystic or not. As in Omar Khayyam, wine has been the inspirer of poets and mystics for generations, even if you wish to see "wine" as a metaphor for "spirit" or something else as, for instance, Swami Yogananda did. Aldous Huxley's "The Perennial Philosophy" and Richard Maurice Bucke's "Cosmic Consciousness" both tell us that there are real states of mystical being whether or not induced by ascetic works or by drugs. As in "The Matrix," should we take the Red Pilll or the Blue Pill? I take the "green and white pill" (Prozac), and use spiritous liquor to commune with the universe. You might look up the URL on "hedweb" to see more about this affect, or you may completely discount my spirituality. One of Aleister Crowley's books is "Confessions of a Drug Fiend," and more is known today about psychic states because of Timothy Leary, et all. My brother died of an Ecstacy (MDMA) overdose, but that does not prevent me from still seeking "A jug of wine and a book of verse beneath the Bough, " and finding "The Friend" in the cool breezes of the day. Sufis and true mystics know better than to psychologize those who seek "The Friend" in whatever mode "He" comes. I implore you to read, "The Book of Strangers," by Ian Dallas (SUNY, NY) or to refresh yourselves with a new re-reading of "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse as I am now doing. May we all come out of our religious cages and seek the purity of the desert fathers of whatever tradition. 

Yours Fraternally,
Andy

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