Sacred Knowledge: Psychedelics and Religious Experiences by William A. Richards

Author:William A. Richards [Richards, William A.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: REL062000, MED105020, Religion/Spirituality, Medical/Psychiatry/Psychopharmacology
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2015-12-08T05:00:00+00:00

Those who have grown up in branches of Christianity with a strong evangelical heritage, or who have visited churches often considered “fundamentalistic,” are familiar with the tradition of the altar-call. Typically at the close of a sermon or during the singing of a final hymn, people in attendance are invited, if so moved, to leave their seats, walk to the front of the worship space, and kneel, thereby “becoming saved” or “accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior.” The clergy and elders present warmly welcome those who come forward, often praying with them or laying hands upon their heads. Some people decisively choose to accept this invitation for the first time; others may participate periodically as a means of renewing their religious commitment. Sometimes this occurs in the context of several consecutive days of services with sermons and music called a revival or a crusade.

If somehow one could enter into the heads of each of the people who chose to come forward or, if in a religious sanctuary, who knelt at the communion rail, and then feel their experiential worlds and look out through their eyes, I suspect that one would discover a rather wide range of states of consciousness. Some probably would have responded out of social pressure alone, would be feeling quite self-conscious and awkward, wouldn’t really be sure what to expect, and couldn’t wait to escape to the parking lot when the service was over. Some others would have honestly faced up to powerful emotions that they had been avoiding, perhaps “sins” of selfishness, greed, jealousy, or guilt, perhaps coupled with behavior they regretted associated with infidelity or substance abuse problems, and earnestly prayed for forgiveness. They may well have found themselves crying, soaking up the warmth and acceptance of the congregation, and pledging themselves to new forms of behavior more in accordance with the ethical standards of the community. They would have made a courageous and conscious choice to call attention to themselves and, in the privacy of their own minds if not publicly, to confess their distress or perceived moral failings. In kneeling, they would have expressed an openness and a willingness to receive that in many ways parallel the decision to trust and the subsequent passive receptivity critical to the occurrence of constructive experiences during the action of psychedelic substances.

Some of those tearful people standing or kneeling in front of the assembled congregation might have been experiencing confession and social acceptance alone, perhaps within a belief system of “accepting Jesus.” Occasionally, however, some may also have been experiencing visionary or archetypal states of mind, perhaps accompanied by a convincing sense of a loving presence, sometimes identified as the eternal Christ, with or without actual visionary imagery. On rare occasions, mystical consciousness as defined in this book may have been encountered, complete with noetic insights and a convincing awareness of the reality of an eternal dimension. For most who experienced intense catharsis, the support of the people assembled would have been sufficient to

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