I think that the whole thing, the crux of the whole psychedelic issue, is that it accentuates personal responsibility by making people take their own experiences seriously.
In the absence of good scientific data about the effects of artificial hallucinogens it’s good to stick to the natural ones.
Safety is really a concern of mine, and what I’ve been telling people recently is that until there’s animal and human data on a drug it should probably be looked at very carefully.
The obligation on us is to communicate the truth so that it is understood. The belief will take care of itself.
The main thing going on in the 20th century is a dissolving of boundaries, all the boundaries that historical civilization put in place.
The message coming back at all of us is: live without closure.
Because this is the world that science built, with the henchmen of capitalism and Christianity.
All information is everywhere. Information that is not here is nowhere.
It is slowly becoming understood that the modality of being is the modality of mind.
What I like to talk about, and what I have very little competition in terms of talking about, is the content of the psychedelic experience.
I have a skeptical and cranky side, and I’m forever puzzled why people believe the, seeming to me, dumb things that they choose to believe.
Psychedelics are actually a kind of miraculous reality that can stand the test of objective examination.
The good news about psychedelics is that they are incredibly democratic. Even the clueless can be swept along if the dose is sufficient.
One has attained a very fortunate incarnation, I think, to be in a culture, in a place, in a time when psychedelic knowledge is available.
The world is not an unsolved problem for scientists or sociologists. The world is a living mystery.
The lack of a sense of history makes us really prey to manipulation.
Culture is another dimension.
Basically, for me the psychedelic experience was the path to revelation. It actually worked on somebody who thought nothing would work.
Our theories are the weakest part of what we say. What we’re working from is the fact of an experience which we need to make sense of.
By manipulating queuing, by manipulating expectation, you can lead people to a fundamental confrontation, not only with themselves, but with the Other.