Altered States : Buddhism and Psychedelic Spirituality in America / Douglas Osto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Osto, Douglas, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience--United States.

Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience.

Buddhism--United States.

Buddhism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (329 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Buddhism and the Psychedelic Connection

2. The Psychedelic Revolution

3. The Buddhist Revolution

4. Opening the Door: Psychedelics as a Gateway to Buddhist Practice

5. Closing the Door: The Fifth Precept and Graduating from Psychedelics

6. Keeping the Door Open: Psychedelics as an Adjunct to Buddhist Practice

7. Are Psychedelics “the True Dharma”?: Debates, Presuppositions, and Philosophical Issues

Conclusions

Postscript

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jul 2020)

ISBN:

9780231541411

0231541414

OCLC:

935676784