God or chemistry?

The original Hippies were embracing the essence of Christianity. “Make love, not war,” isn’t really different to “love thy enemy”. Instead of fighting the cops, it was good to give them a flower. This was Gandhi, Jesus, Mother Teresa, philosophy with a novel twist. The idea of today’s open source PC programs and freeware came from the same attitude.

When the ignorant pleasure seekers got in on the idea of unrestricted drug use and “make love” became “have sex” it was ruined. The ‘weekend hippies’ had a new participatory entertainment. The establishment, when they weren’t making money from it, (Hippy kits were being sold.) became frightened about the social revolution. The times were indeed a-changing. Something had to be done.

The real Hippies had moved out to the collective farms. So many of those who stayed, debased the original idea with sex, drugs, pounding heartbeat ‘music’ and gave Hedonism a new meaning.

But something else emerged; the psychedelic drugs that mimicked the effects of meditation. They gave many people a new and lasting awareness of their inner Self. It was spiritual without being religious in the common sense.

My question here is;

If chemicals like LSD, psilocybin and mescaline can awaken areas of the brain in such a way, what is the nature of the experience?

Are we and our thoughts merely products of chemistry?

Is what we call “Reality” only an outcome of what we ingest?

It’s not a new idea. But now it’s no longer only in the realm of philosophy or laboratory.

Alcohol changes our mood and even personality in many cases. Several natural drugs stimulate our pleasure centers. Genes carry traits and hereditary factors that not only control our bodies but also our minds.

Food substances have an effect for good or bad on our thinking and bodily functions.

Cannabis stimulates appetite and calm awareness with time slowdown.

We are dependent on water and food to live. We need these chemicals to survive.

Now look at techniques aimed at ‘enlightenment’ used in religions. The swirling of the Dervish, the constant beat of drums and dancing, chanting, are all designed to attain trance states that have surrendered the everyday ‘self’. This surrendering of the ‘self’ leaves you open to suggestion. You’ll now accept the ‘message’ whether it’s political or religious.

Modern day evangelists use group psychology and powerful emotional displays to persuade people to lose the ‘self’ in the group. The mass singing, grand buildings, repetitive mottos (Praise the Lord! – Allah is great, Hare Krishna, etc.), replace individual thought.

Ritual and robes give it authenticity and historic legitimacy too. All this is to make you open to suggestion.

Techniques of manipulating beliefs are many. The bad cop/good cop system still works and people have been subjected to so much pressure that they ‘confess’ to a crime they did not commit. But for more serious conversions, stripping the individual of ‘self’ is the first step. This can be in the form of torture, deprivation of sleep, food, hygiene, rights, status, etc. It’s a matter of creating a problem and then offering a solution.

Unfortunately the vast majority of people are too distracted by day to day living to see they are being manipulated. They are filled with sport, celebrity, mindless TV and earning a living. This is intentional.

If you thoroughly convince someone they are sinners and offer the solution to being redeemed, saved; it is the same technique as deprivation of self belief. If you put fear into the mind, increase suggestibility and offer a solution they will accept it. This fear could be of burning for eternity in hell (itself a construction), threats to security or lifestyle (personal, loved ones, home, homeland), or being rejected by peers for any reason (status, bad breath, fashion).

Repetition reinforces the instilled belief.

Religion and spirituality are different in so many ways. Were we taught when we were young and unable to question the information? This is why children born to adults of a particular faith become adults of that faith.

If American Christians grew up in Iran or India they’d be Moslem or Hindu.

Did we get the belief in a highly emotional state, after the death of a loved one, facing our own death or at a time of great stress, suggestibility?

If so, you can see that the belief was induced.

But then people have worshiped sun gods, tree gods, ancestors, snakes, spacemen, and devils with the firm belief that their religion was the only true religion. They have even died defending these beliefs.

So it is easy to instill a belief.

But there is another way that beliefs alter. The chemical way is faster and more permanent.

At this stage I must warn you that irresponsible use of drugs without preparation and experienced guidance could completely stuff up your life. You may end up in an asylum.

The purpose of this issue is to raise questions about the nature of our beliefs.

The fact that we are profoundly influenced by chemicals is incontestable.

The fact that some synthetic and natural substances can give rise to profound religious feelings and convictions must challenge the validity of such beliefs.

When a cherished, secure, ‘fight to the death’ belief can be altered by a chemical action I wonder at the worthiness of the original belief and the second, replacement belief.

The chemicals’ effects are also dependent on external stimuli. The same amount given to the same person under different settings and expectations will cause vastly different reactions.

The ‘bad trip’ can be set up or happen because of bad organization, environment or company. The spiritual or insightful voyage is the same, open to suggestion and influence. So what are we to trust?

There is no ‘outside reference’. How can there be?

Tryptamines (LSD, psilocybin, etc.) and phenethylamines (mescaline, etc.) seem to be a quick way to gain insight if directed properly. Mescaline has long been used by Mexican Indians for spiritual enlightenment. There is careful preparation and supervision during the experience.

Back in the sixties a properly planned trip included ‘ground control’ (an experienced guide who stayed ‘straight’) and a safe natural environment.

Meditation involves guidance and a lot of work on your self; always a difficult thing to do without instruction. But those who attain this profound state KNOW it is real.

Mario Beauregard of the University of Montreal put 15 nuns through functional magnetic resonance imaging ( continuous two minute brain scans) while they relived “intense union with God” experience.

He and others have found the prefrontal cortex, right anterior insula, parietal and temporal lobes and a few other minor spots are all involved in some way with profound spiritual states.

It’s not yet a simple case of stimulating these areas electrically or chemically. It is a complex arrangement but like the first aircraft; it will some day be possible. The psychedelic drugs have already shown us that. What does this say about spiritual and religious beliefs?

Curiously there are various views on this. One side says it shows there is no God, only brain functions; another says here is the door to a higher state of evolution and the nuns said that this is proof of how God speaks to us.

Have the Buddhists got something in saying this is all an illusion, a state we are trapped in?

An interesting article on these experiments can be found here http://www.sciam.com/search/index.cfm?q=searching+for+god+in+the+brain&submit.x=21&submit.y=7&submit=submit

I want to know what you think. iqadult@gmail.com or the comment button below.

---------------------------------------
If you’d like notification of each issue of IQAdult just send your edress with “send IQAdult” in the subject line.

There’s a free book if you introduce a friend to IQAdult. See last weeks issue on meditation.

©. Jay Ross.