An Amusing Memory
Why You Shouldn't Take a Bunch of Ayahuasca in the Jungles of Peru
Today, I recalled an amusing memory from a few years ago. I was not Christian then, but I was certainly “spiritual.” I had become fascinated with psychedelics and mind-altering substances and found myself in a dialogical relation with a self-professing “psychonaut.” He informed me that, on one of his most daring ayahuasca trips in the jungles of Peru, he had managed to attain the holy grail of all psychedelic spirituality–the coveted state of “ego death.” He had transcended the boundaries of his finite and contingent personality and escaped the ceaseless flux of desires, expectations, and intentions that once held him captive. He had attained “enlightenment,” and, despite his inevitable return to the world of Maya (if only to serve as a light for everyone still ignorant enough to believe they were hypostases), he managed to retain the core revelation of his trip. When I inquired about the content of this revelation, he unhesitatingly responded, “I learned that I am God.”
The dangers of mind-altering substances are manifold, total delusion being but one. Take enough ayahuasca in the jungles of Peru, and you can convince yourself that self-identifying as the Creator is the ultimate act of humility.
My coworker also "had an ego death". He has said stuff like we are all God, or other such nonsense. But what I will say is that experiences like these make people more open to the possibility of theism. My coworker has gradually moved more towards a kind of classical theism, through Chris Langan's CTMU. I think that's a good thing at least.
That's funny!