polytrip said:I can see how people think of meditation as something superior to acid. I think this has to do with the principle of discipline. The combination of spiritual experience and discipline will of course get you further than any drug alone can ever take you.
Very true words, my friend but I would suspend judgement until we see the interrelatedness of the two seemingly diverse paths. "Superior"? IMO, neither is superior, as they are best joined in harmony and each has it place in the journey of the Wounded Healer. they appear, on the surface, as different pathways to the mountain top but neither could be labeled as superior or inferior. Like Alan Watts used to say and I loosely paraphrase him, "Psychedelics are powerful medicines which give us tremendous insights but should not be a daily diet". Meditation, in all of it's various guises, is a healthy daily diet. Food for the soul, yet, hardly as ego-shattering as LSD-25, Sacred Cacti, Magic Mushrooms or Ayahuasca/ DMT. I respect them each, in their own way, as well as all of the kind folks on this forum. 8)
In all honesty, without gradually becoming well-practiced in the art of meditation, I suspect I would have spent much less time absorbed into the Clear Light of the Void (under the influence of psychedelics), and more time in confession, chaos and utter terror. Death is inevitable and I believe we must come to terms with any degree of this natural reality. I/you/we live in the here & now and cannot sanely care for the morrow (as it does not really exist, despite the publicity). From gradual degrees of concentration, an individual becomes able to center on one thought or point of concentration and attuned to one single frequency of awareness.
All good stuff, for sure. Otherwise, I guess I could have spent lifetimes bouncing across the universe of endless possibilities and seemingly, infinite mental distractions. Meditation does give one a proven path to heighten ones focus on the third eye and the crown of one's consciousness, within the auric body (i.e. higher centers of consciousness). That being said, nothing can be as powerful or ego eliminating as the Medicine nature has gifted us with. Funny, thousands upon thousands of years ago... our forefathers/mothers sensed a Divine link from the earth's sacred plants and through generations of ritual and meditation... they merged with the Absolute, even as we still do today. By today, I mean right... NOW. :lol:
Peace, love and light