Quote from: psychedelia on November 26, 2012, 08:50 pmNo one who has taken LSD would say that it 'just' confuses the brain. That is an absurd statement. W.T. Stace, one of the world's foremost authorities on mysticism, has this to say regarding the LSD induced experience: "It is not a matter of being similar to mystical experience; it is mystical experience." Again, he insists, "The fact that the experience was induced by drugs has no bearing on its validity." Based on a historical survey of the literature of mysticism, scholars have also developed nine criteria of mystical states of consciousness, and have shown that LSD produces a state of consciousness that is phenomenologically indistinguishable from mystical experiences:"Implications of LSD and Experimental Mysticism" by Walter N. Pahnke & William A. Richards (http://www.psychedelic-library.org/pahnke4.htm)If you wish to show that LSD has 'nothing to do with mysticism', you would have to demonstrate that it doesn't meet any of these criteria.In any case, I think I know the contents of my own experiences better than anyone else. I've experienced mystical states without drugs, by disciplined meditation and concenntration, and LSD does produce the same kind of state of consciousness. If the LSD experience is not at times mystical in nature, then the difference is so subtle as to be indistinguishable.I'm not at all sure why you'd have to demonstrate that mysticism and LSD are very different to disagree with you. Personally I think both mysticism and LSD are "confused brains." They may very well be the same or very similar states, though, and still not really be truly "mystical" beyond the sensations associated with those physiological processes. So why not call them confused. Call them inside out, call them fun, call them whatever you like -- the fact is it's pretty uncommon to be in that state, for better or worse. If you enjoy it, then by all means, indulge. But why does the experience of a sensation so powerfully move you to believe it's anything more than just a sensation?I took LSD when I was younger, by the way; I kept taking more and more trying to see looney tunes or some garbage -- you know how it's characterized popularly. I was 15 and didn't know better. Finally ended up having an absolutely terrifying 8 hours one night when I took what was way too much for me, and I have only this to say: I cannot stand hallucinogens of any kind and I hope never to do them again. Psilocybin and LSD both... they make me feel bad. I don't know how else to say it. Very, very bad and very, very upset. There is nothing mystical about it for me.Though it wouldn't surprise me much if what I got back then wasn't really LSD; still, whatever it was that I kept getting from different sources did all feel basically like the same drug -- so it was either consistent bunk, or I've experienced mysticism and have no clue why you people aren't running for your lives at the very suggestion of it.Thank you for describing so vividly what you believe LSD teaches people though. I never did understand what it was supposed to have taught me, but I do now better than I ever have. If it's like that for others, then I suppose it would be a useful experience to have. But again, I don't see how the powerfully mystical feeling extends beyond being anything but a feeling. That doesn't make it indicative of reality, or truth, or understanding.