Ironically, it is my addiction to narcotics and my journey of recovery that have led to my greatest spiritual insights and most satisfying life changes for me. Any insights I had when using psychedelics, no matter how profound, inevitably faded as the drugs wore off. What was crystal clear inevitably became re-obscured.
When I first started using drugs it was mainly psychedelics, and while I was indeed curious to understand the secrets of the universe at the time, I realize now that, at bottom, I used them for the same reasons as I used harder substances: to escape the same underlying dissatisfaction with and fear of reality.
Am I saying don’t do psychedelics? Nope. I’m sure they can have benefits, especially in a controlled setting with a therapist. But I think people can and do get caught up in the “finger pointing at the moon,” as they say. I think Alan Watts said… “when you get the message, hang up the phone.” But then again, he was a raging alcoholic haha.
Thanks for writing!
