Altered States
Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America
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- $32.99
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- $32.99
Publisher Description
In the 1960s, Americans combined psychedelics with Buddhist meditation to achieve direct experience through altered states of consciousness. As some practitioners became more committed to Buddhism, they abandoned the use of psychedelics in favor of stricter mental discipline, but others carried on with the experiment, advancing a fascinating alchemy called psychedelic Buddhism.
Many think exploration with psychedelics in Buddhism faded with the revolutionary spirit of the sixties, but the underground practice has evolved into a brand of religiosity as eclectic and challenging as the era that created it. Altered States combines interviews with well-known figures in American Buddhism and psychedelic spirituality—including Lama Surya Das, Erik Davis, Geoffrey Shugen Arnold Sensei, Rick Strassman, and Charles Tart—and personal stories of everyday practitioners to define a distinctly American religious phenomenon. The nuanced perspective that emerges, grounded in a detailed history of psychedelic religious experience, adds critical depth to debates over the controlled use of psychedelics and drug-induced mysticism. The book also opens new paths of inquiry into such issues as re-enchantment, the limits of rationality, the biochemical and psychosocial basis of altered states of consciousness, and the nature of subjectivity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Osto (Power, Wealth, and Wisdom in Indian Mahayana Buddhism) mixes statistics and surveys, historical overview, personal experience, and ethnographic texture to uncover the intertwining history of two fast-growing movements in American spirituality: Buddhism in the U.S. and the use of psychedelics to provoke spiritual encounters. Deftly examining a range of differing perspectives among American Buddhists concerning the use of psychedelics, Osto digs into the debates and issues surrounding mysticism and mind-altering meditation influenced by entheogens, which he calls "the god within." Pointing the reader toward the social and cultural import of "psychedelic Buddhism," Osto aims for his academic work to be popularly accessible. Though the book is at times rigid and formulaic in its retelling of personal narratives, readers will still benefit from its approachable language and well-structured accounts. Part of a wider resurgence in interest concerning psychedelic spirituality, this overview will appeal to anyone interested in Buddhism, psychedelic possibilities, and understanding how both are forging a controversial new American religious experience.
