BY HIS GRACE AND BLESSINGS I WRITE….
Swami Rama in his celebrated work “Living with the Himalaya Masters” has discussed about Soma , a Vedic herb usually prepared from creepers . These creepers belonging to the succulent family grow above 11,000 feet at a very few places in the Himalayas. As per this book Vaidya (a master of herbs) Bhairavdutt was the last living authority in Soma in those times. This Soma as referred to in Vedic literature is a psychedelic substance traditionally used by the Spiritual Seekers in India. The use of this herb causes similar experiences as caused by the psychedelic substances found in the Amazonian forests. In ancient Vedic texts varieties of mushrooms are also mentioned which result in psychic experiences. A few herbs like Agaricus, Hyoscymus and Stramonium which are poisonous but have hallucinogenic properties when consumed in small doses are also found in Himalayas and are mentioned in the Vedic literature.
Patanjali who codified the science of Yoga and founded of Yoga school of Hindu philosophy in the 1st AD also makes mention of these substances . He is, however, of the view that though these substance have a psychic experience through senses, they are of no use to a spiritual seeker. Soma can be used for seekers who could not concentrate and have difficulty in sitting for longer durations in the course of meditation. The body becomes still and free of pain. Psychedelics in the Indian experience have been found to be harmful if not practiced under experts , with discipline, austerities and proper mantras. They might damage the nervous system, cause psychological addiction, subtle depression and especially disturb the finer channels of energies. A healthy diet, proper recitation of mantra , austerities, guidance of an expert, extreme discipline , suitable climate, purity of thought etc are necessary prerequisites before these substances get consumed and can show positive effects.
Swami Rama concluded that harm that psychedelic substances can cause far outweigh their positive effects. Those who are not psychologically prepared will have negative experiences and those who are prepared don’t need such drugs.
The experience of experts with psychedelic substances of the Amazonian forest have been on the similar lines to the Indian experience .The experience of Richard Alpert with psilocybin mushrooms is a case in point. Richard was a professor of Psychology and had many great achievements to his credit (I will discuss about him in my future blogs). Richard was a leading figure in the field of Psychedelics movements in America in 1960s. Alpert was the youngest Psychology professor at Harvard. He later on became the first person in the history of this great institution to be dismissed from service for his insistence on conducting and continuing with his research projects on psychedelics. After failing to find a proper explanation for his psychedelic experiences in the West , he embarked on a spiritual/psychedelic journey to India to seek some the of the answers to his this out of the world experiences with psychedelics. His experience to him sounded very similar to the experiences of Buddha and other great spiritual teachers of the East. It was his journey to India that brought him to the Himalayas at the feats of the most astounding ,extraordinary, mysterious and miraculous person of his life and that world had ever seen. It was his great Guru Neeb Karoli Baba also called Maharaj Ji whom he met at Kainchi (Nainital)in the Himalayas. His entire perspective on psychedelic substances was turned upside down after this meeting with his future Guru. Till the time Richard met Maharaj ji, he was in the habit of consuming lot of psychedelic substances (LSD) mistaking them for some sort of experiences in divinity. It was one fine day that Maharaj Ji took all his doses of LSD (9 micrograms) and consumed all of them in a moment all before his eyes. To the utter surprise and shock of the rational mind of this Harvard Professor there were absolutely no effects of this much high dosages(extremely high and dangerous even for the regular users) of LSD on Maharaj ji. It was a sort of miracle and revelation to Richard that these substances serve a very limited purpose and are not very useful if someone is seeking deeper spiritual experiences. They may have beneficial impact on mental health and might be able to treat mental diseases and some physiological diseases but are not appropriate for deeper spiritual quests.(I will in my later blogs discuss all these experiences of Richard with LSD while he was experimenting with them in Harvard laboratories . I will also try to discuss as to what prompted a top Harvard professor to seek his answers in India and how did he happen to meet his Guru and how on earth his rational mind of a behavioural scientist and an extraordinary believer of scientific reasoning and logic was laid to rest with unconditional love that flowed from his Guru.)
Recent research suggests that use of psychedelic substances shall to be done under the expert guidance of a person of integrity, skill, knowledge and one who has a genuine desire to be supportive and helpful. The person undertaking a psychedelic journey should first undergo a very deep cleansing process. He should purge himself of all impurities of body and mind by regularly consuming healthy food and following proper spiritual practices like meditation over sufficient period of time before undertaking any such journey with these God Substances. It has been further established that psychedelics are not a substitute for daily spiritual hard work and for everyday discipline in all walks of life. Moreover, they are also not meant for the purposes of entertainment or experimentation . Thus, we may safely conclude that these substances may assist one on a spiritual journey and have a tremendous trasformative effect on one’s personality only under certain conditions, otherwise they can prove harmful and lead to newer problems.
In the Indian context the knowledge about these substances as found in ancient Vedic texts is more or less lost. What remains is use of substances like marijuana, hashish etc which are detrimental to health and have no relation to spiritual growth. Many mendicants and Sadhus can be seen consuming these drugs in every nook and corner of any holy city. These Sadhus are completely dumb and fake, fraud and conman and have no inclination whatsoever, for spiritual progress. They fool the unsuspecting and gullible public (with which we have in millions of us have been gifted in this holy land ). This Baba (Godman) culture is projecting Indian spiritualism and ancient Indian philosophy in a very bad light and one needs to be very very cautious of it. However, same is also true for all such practices anywhere in the world. Once a sacred practice gets commercialized , the sacred turns to profane and loses all its vitality. Once the intent is to make money out of the sacred exercises such as psychedelics,yoga, pranayam, tantra or meditation etc these practices fall prey in the hands of these traders/agents/marketeers of religion and its essence is lost forever. Similar is the experience of the Shamanism where lot of crimes have been committed in its name and public has grown averse or is afraid to undertake any experiment with such substances in the Peruvian forests. The original Shamans tribes who are repository of this healing science of psychedelics are the most endangered species of the Amazon today .
On an interesting note the word Soma has been employed by Aldous Huxley In his famous work Brave New World. Huxley was one of the greatest writer, philosopher and thinker of the 20th century .He used term Soma in the context of an intoxicant which is given to public at large to control their behavior and make them mere consumers in the hands of the giant corporations who operate in the garb of nation states. Soma for Huxley are all those things which prevent us from questioning and thinking. It is sort of reward system for becoming slaves to the unfettered desires of our mind .This reward system is instituted by modern states in order to take control of our brains and convert us to a herd of sheep .This Soma has made us sick, depressed, hyper, anxiety ridden, lonely and violent .If one looks closely one can decipher all of the attributes of an Orwellian State and Brave New World of Huxley playing out so brazenly throughout the world from India to America and in many more modern Nation states. State has entered into all facets of life and is employing every means to control all sorts of freedom of the general public either through use of Orwellian means(fear) or through use of Soma (inducements albeit in a different manner). The time seems to be most appropriate to reignite this debate over psychedelics and how they can go a long way in reducing the effects of Soma of Huxley kind and free us from fear of the Big Brother of the Orwellian kind. Hopefully proper use of psychedelics will bring some sanity to an otherwise insane world. Let’s understand it more before we together further embark on this journey with psychedelics…bear with me till I write my next blog…
By His Grace and Blessing I will continue to write….
Dr. Seema Chaudhary
37 Responses
Amazing Information. Please continue writing.
Thank you Maam for showing interest ..i will share more with you on this subject in my future blogs
Please Add photograph also of particular herbal , because we are not understand what type of looking of herbal
Yes Amit ..i will add the photographs but they will also not of of great help..you will the services of an expert …in South America there are certain centres where psychedelic experiences are given ..say at some resorts in Costa Rica..but do your own homework before undertaking any such venture…thanks
Wonderful writing dear.. Keep it up.
Thanks Maam ..will do so and share with you for all your valuable comments and guidance,,
बहुत ही शानदार जानकारी, आप इसी तरह लगातार लिखती रहें,
बहुत बहुत मुबारकबाद।
Sabreen Sahab i am grateful that you enjoyed reading my blog. i will keep sharing more in the days to come..thanks a lot for kind appreciation
Informative and very well written.
thanks a lot Arvind ji..
Hi.. Very nice n appreciate your information.. Keep it up 👍
Dear Babita, Thank you so much for appriciating, will keep you updated.
Hi.. Very nice n informative.. Keep it up👍
Dear Babita, Thank you so much for motivating ,
Hi.. Very nice n informative. Keep it up 👍
Dear Bunty, Thank you so much , will keep updating .
How these God Substances are replaced by marijuana etc?
Why nowadays yoga gurus dont talk about these God Substances?
Are these God Substances still found , grown or recognised by any institution?
Hoping for elabotate answers in your future blogs..
Very informative and well composed mam
Regards
Dear Vikrant Ji ..I will discuss all these issues raised by you . The actual synthesis of LSD was done by Albert Hofman in 1938 in Switzerland. It was the first psychedelic substance whose use later on lead to psychedelic revolution in America. However,the whole project cam to an abrupt end in 1960s on account of strong opposition of American President Nixon who got these substances banned across 34 countries. A lot of false propaganda was unleashed by the governments worldwide and actual research outcomes were either deleted or hidden from the public view.These substances were later banned by 184 signatories to UN Charter and thus complete interest was lost in them due to highly obnoxious propaganda, govt pressures, lack of funds etc. why it so happened ,what were these research results and how psychedelics has once again come to occupy central space in public discussions will be the matter of my future blogs.i will also discuss how is it different from cannabis and other addictive drugs and how it can transform human consciousness in future…thanks for your comments and queries…
Valuable info..
Thanx
Waiting for blogs to come
Wow! Amazing information. Interesting to know about things, I had never heard of before in my life.
Useful, informative and thoughtful article. Whether somras mentioned in ancient texts prepared from Soma?
Sir thanks for your motivational comments..as far as Soma is concerned, as far as i know this ancient science has been lost . Moreover,in current times its very very difficult to find a person having knowledge of these substances and how to use them..there are some monasteries in deep Himalayas where this ancient wisdom might have been preserved but i don’t know for sure…thanks again ..keep reading and commenting ..
A very informative and eye opening blog.
Initially, I was unaware of the subject but after going through it, I really find the subject engrossing & would like, indeed, to be uplifted by the matter given.
Thank u for inspiring me, for making me think, believe, trust, help, learn, create, contribute, give back and love .
Super Amazing work. thank you for shaping the mindset of tomorrow’s leaders and showing how to live to the max.
Renu it feels so good to read your comments and they motivate me to write more ..you have been very kind with your words of appreciation and i loved your feedback…thanks a lot …
Such an amazing and interesting work. Very well written and explained. It truely brings out your knowledge.
Thanks Livisha ..i am happy that you liked my work and appreciated it in so many kind words…i will keep sharing and looking for your nice feedback …
Thanks for writing on such an interesting topic…just a small clarification- Whether these so called God Substance are still used for spiritual growth ?
Thanks Rajinder Ji…the God substances have once again revolutionized the western thought and there is a lot of research on their therapeutic effects in the west particularly after 9/11. However, on the spiritual growth front they have always assisted the mankind irrespective of the time or age..it all depends on your own mental state and receptivity towards them …they are largely spiritually neutral and enhance ones experience depending on the intent of the person undertaking such a journey ..kindly read 6 more of my blogs..i have tried to discuss all these issues in my blogs…thanks and kindly keep commenting …
Quiet a good piece of topic you have focused upon…….I totally agree as our Vedic texts are almost all lost & as a result the facts could not be passed to our future generations which we are deprived off now.
Really a good blog n expect such in future also…..
Thanks Rajesh Ji…please read more whenever you get time…looking forward to more comments from you …thanks for motivating me and appreciating with your kind words..
There seems to be a significant relationship between Spirituality, Psychology and the Physiological action of the Psychedelic substances, which requires further Psychopharmacology study and intervention to understand the Psychotherapeutic action of the Psychedelics.
yes Maam..all this is so interlinked..the problem is that western science which developed out of European renaissance is centered only on machine model of life and ignored the holistic approach towards life..things are coming together once again but it is likely to take time and face a lot of resistance before it changes the mindset and the impact lives of people around..thanks a lot for sharing your insightful comments..
Ma’am
Very well written and it is also amusing to realize that extensive research has been going on since a long period on such an issue.
Kudos to ur interest and efforts in providing us with the information.
Like!! Great article post.Really thank you! Really Cool.
thanks a lot ..please keep reading and sharing your thoughts and constructive criticism around these issues…