I’ll bet you I was meditating before you were born, so I’ve been down that road. At one time in my life, I was a jazz musician. I even belonged to the musicians union. I know all about that “Heroin really frees my soul, man” thinking. There’s lots of dead jazz musicians. There’s even more of them walking around dead. Jazz musicians were the models for all these zombie movies. People have different ways of learning. If you want to learn the hard way, be my guest.
“It’s easy to be a holy man on a mountain. It’s much harder to be a holy man in the city.”
Well I took a look to see what varyouga was plugging: it’s DMT.
With all the hype I was frankly expecting to see a plug of not that but ibogaine, whose highs are marked with a very intense sense of responsibility and that has been credited by addicts of other drugs as having empowered them to kick those habits. And it supposedly only needs to be done once, not habitually.
At one time LSD was licensed to be a psychiatrically administered drug for similar purposes; obviously that is no more.
I take a quasi libertarian view on such intensely controversial medications, or indeed any medication not presently blessed by the FDA: Let any M.D. or D.O. administer them IF he or she has sufficient liability insurance.
I was a Jazz musician myself and understand what you speak of regarding dangerous addictive substances. However, I don’t believe any government force will ever stop people from getting as intoxicated as they choose. All government can do is create a hole in the market for criminals to fill. As long as even miniscule privacy or corruption exists, there will always be people selling dope for its weight in gold. Even if the penalty is death, the profit is still high enough. They can’t even keep drugs out of prisons where every single cavity is searched.
And again, most of the dangerous addictive dope in this country comes in Rx pill bottles. There is no way to stop that abuse without forcing very sick people to jump through hoops and I know plenty who can’t manage their pain with all the restrictions. Yet, dopers can still buy all the Rx drugs they want because the restrictions create an incredibly profitable market for dealers.
Draconian drug laws are not only pointless for preventing abuse but they actually put everyone’s freedom at risk, even non users. In some states, all it takes is a tiny dime-sized package to turn anyone into a felon. This cop didn’t even do time because he started talking about how common it is in the NYPD: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095772/Cowboy-cop-Jason-Arbeeny-planted-crack-couples-car-seat-escapes-jail.html
Consciousness in this reality is nearly entirely dependent on the chemicals flowing through your brain. Just like our bodies, each person’s brain is unique. Why is it such a crazy concept that slightly altering your brain chemistry will allow you to think or perceive things that you otherwise wouldn’t? Like alcohol, Heroin is usually used to numb oneself and I never heard it used as an entheogen. But again, every brain is different.
I know numerous people that had breakthroughs while under the influence of entheogens. Some attribute their success to that one moment that changed it all. One is actually a world-famous mathematician. He became famous after solving something that was thought impossible for centuries after one psychedelic trip. That solution is now used in some of the most advanced research on the planet.
With natural entheogens, it is impossible to consume enough to cause physical harm and it is impossible to become addicted to them. In fact, many have been shown to effectively treat drug and alcohol addiction. Some of these chemicals are found in EVERY SINGLE living thing. And some psychoactive plants, like the “blue” mushroom and swamp reeds grow EVERYWHERE that plant life can exist. IMO, they were put here by God for some valuable purpose and must be extensively studied. By keeping them as schedule I in the USA, we are effectively covering our eyes and hiding from a major part of nature.