Secret Drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic Sacraments and the Origins of the Vajrayana by Mike Crowley

Author:Mike Crowley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780907791751
Publisher: Synergetic Press
Published: 2019-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

“ELEVATED” OR “UP-CHUCKED?”

Dr. Chandra, with some justification, translates Udgatoṣṇīṣa as “Elevated Uṣṇīṣa.” I have chosen instead to translate udgata as “emerging;” though I was tempted to translate it as “throw-up.” I admit the latter is a little unorthodox, but I believe it is justified. The Sanskrit ud-gata is literally “up-gone” and the name could be intended to carry an ambiguous allusion to vomit. Monier-Williams in his exhaustive Sanskrit-English Dictionary gives “vomited” as one of the meanings of udgata and glosses the related word udgati as “vomiting.”226 In similar vein, Abhyudgatoṣṇīṣa could be interpreted as “Anointed-with-vomit Uṣṇīṣa.”

While mild nausea is an occasional side effect of Psilocybe use (especially at the onset of effects), vomiting is a frequent consequence of A. muscaria ingestion. Incidentally, this side effect of A. muscaria intoxication may account for this statement from a Vedic commentary:

Three things are performed at the [soma] sacrifice: eating, swallowing and vomiting.

Aitareya Brāhmaṇa227

But vomit is merely one meaning of udgati; when speaking of a young stag’s antlers, it means “sprouting” – a word that is also perfectly apt for mushrooms. Sanskrit writers loved to pack many meanings into a word so alternative interpretations are by no means mutually exclusive.

Clearly, the names Udgatoṣṇīṣa and Abhyudgatoṣṇīṣa are closely related. My translations: “Emerging Uṣṇīṣa” and “Sprouting Uṣṇīṣa” were intended to reflect this connection.

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