>>41330950
Psychedelics are valuable because they almost guarantee that completely non-religious or non-spiritual people will connect with the divine - and with little or no effort. That is a massive difference compared to most meditation practices.

However, while getting high on psychedelics might let you experience the other side, or glimpse your own godlike nature, it is a short-lived experience. A glimpse. A taste of the divine. Most will not be able to put it into words, not even for themselves, let alone for others. But they will *know*.

The real issue is not the drug itself. It is that most people come to believe the only way back to that state is through the drug. Days or weeks after the effects wear off, they find themselves miserable again. Then they use again - though the accompanying physical discomfort usually prevents frequent use. Years can pass exploring the "psyspace", hoping for something to finally "click", but it never does. Psychedelics - pardon this overused example - are the finger pointing at the moon, yet people, lacking awareness, keep staring at the finger. >picrel

I have no idea what actual monks do when they meditate. Maybe they are "stuck". Maybe they are just "clean junkies". Maybe they influence their own "stream" somehow. I do not know. I have never met a monk or a novice from a monastery. What I know is that we definitely romanticize and mystify their "profession". As for the kind of "meditation" the general public practices, most approach it like daydreaming or a tool to escape what they cannot stand in their "waking" state. Truly, they cannot stand their habitual thoughts and resulting feelings due to the erroneous perspective of the "self".

cont...