Eckhart Tolle: suffering, drugs, meditation?

(Eckhart Tolle) How to find peace in life [through an intermediate technique toward samadhi]

Then ego stopped, time stopped, all was clear.

Meditation is NOT the "doing," not the technique that takes us to stillness. Doing assumes time. To realize "being," just being, is instantaneous. There is no need to travel there, no need for time, no need for an action or doing. If we could just "be," that would be NOW. The Power of Now is to realize what is true right now, as Eckhart Tolle tried to explain it. We need to suffer until we realize that it is no longer necessary.

But the mind keeps thinking!

Sacred drugs? How to stop getting lost in thoughts | Eckhart Tolle

How to know if we’re really awakened or just pretending?

Don't Feed the Monkey Mind: How to Stop the Cycle of Anxiety, Fear, and Worry

Psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon LMFT and illustrator Doug Shannon have 4.6 out of 5 stars (with 1,327 reviews) helping readers deal with monkey mind. The very things we do to try to control anxiety can make anxiety worse.

This unique guide offers a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based approach to help

• recognize the constant chatter of anxious “monkey mind,”
• stop feeding anxious thoughts,
• find the personal peace craved.

Ancient sages compared the human mind to a monkey: constantly chattering, hopping [discursively] from one branch to another—endlessly trying to move from fear to safety.

Psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon

For the millions of people's lives affected by anxiety, this process is familiar. Unfortunately, we can’t switch off this “monkey mind.” But we can stop feeding the monkey—stop rewarding it by avoiding the things we fear.

Written by psychotherapist Jennifer Shannon, this book shows how to stop anxious thoughts from taking over using proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness (sati) techniques, as well as fun illustrations.

By following the exercises in this book, learn to identify anxious thoughts, question those thoughts, and uncover the core fears at play.

Once we stop feeding the monkey, there are no limits to how expansive life can feel. This book shows how anxiety can only continue as long as we try to avoid it. Paradoxically, only by seeking out and confronting the things that make us anxious can we reverse the cycle that keeps our fears alive. More

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction
• How to stop fighting your problems
• Eckhart Tolle; Jennifer Shannon; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

What is Samadhi, concentration or stillness?

Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

"Concentration" is a very misleading translation of the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu term samādhi. It literally means "the [mental] state of being firmly fixed."

Sam+ā+√ hā is the fixing of the mind [attention, the heart] on a single object. "One-pointedness of mind (cittass' ekaggatā), Ven. Visakha, this is called samadhi" (MN 44).

The English language term "concentration" connotes effort, struggle, control, and force, as if it is something achieved by grimacing, pressing one's temples, and strongly desiring in the heart. These are all antithetical to samadhi.

One enters with ease, calming down, letting go, directing and guiding the mind persistently but without force or frustration. Fixation might be closer, except that that usually involves strong craving.

Imagine a light in a dark room. It would not be difficult to notice. It might be the only external attraction with only internal distractions.

Coming back to it until the mind becomes fixed or fixated on it would be good, at least to the extent that it otherwise clears the mind and brings it into the present moment: this attention on this single thing.

While often very weak it is one of the seven mental concomitants inseparably associated with all consciousness. Compare with the terms nāma (name or mind) and cetanā (intention, motivation).

"Right stillness" (sammā-samādhi), as the last link of the Ennobling Eightfold Path (magga), is defined as the first four meditative absorptions (jhānas).

In a wider sense, comprising also much weaker states of attention, it is associated with all karmically skillful/wholesome (kusala) consciousness.

"Wrong attention" (micchā-samādhi) is attending associated with all karmically unskillful/unwholesome (akusala) consciousness.

Wherever in the texts this term is not differentiated by "right" or "wrong," "right" attention or stillness is meant.

In stillnes or attention one distinguishes three grades of intensity:

(1) "Preparatory stillness" (parikamma-samādhi) existing at the beginning of the mental exercise.

(2) "Neighborhood stillness" (upacāra-samādhi), that is, stillness "approaching" but not yet attaining the first meditative absorption (jhāna), which in certain mental exercises is marked by the appearance of a "counter-image" (patibhāga-nimitta).

(3) "Attainment stillness" (appanā-samādhi), that is, that stillness that is present during the absorptions (App.) For further details, see bhāvana, The Path of Purification (Vis.M. III), and Fund. IV.

Mental stillness connected with the four noble (enlightened) path-moments (magga), and fruition-moments (phala) is called supermundane (lokuttara), having nirvana as their object.

Any other attention, even that of the most sublime absorptions is merely mundane (lokiya).

According to DN 33, the development of stillness (samādhi-bhāvanā) may procure a fourfold blessing:

1. present happiness through the four absorptions;
2. knowing and seeing (knowledge and vision or ñāna-dassana, here probably identical with the "divine eye" (abhiññā) through perception of light (kasina);
3. mindfulness and clear comprehension (sati-sampajjana) through the clear knowledge of the arising, turning, and passing away of feelings, perceptions, and thoughts;
4. extinction of all cankers (āsavakkhaya) through understanding the arising and passing away of the Five Aggregates clung to as self (khandha).

Stillness is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (satta bojjhanga), one of the Five Spiritual Faculties and Five Powers (bala), and the last link of the Noble Eightfold Path.

In the threefold division of the Noble Eightfold Path (into the categories of virtue, stillness, and wisdom), stillness is a collective name for the three last links of the path (sikkhā).

"Food for the Heart (Collected Teachings)"

Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation, Audible; Dhr. Seven, Ellie Askew (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Foreword by Jack Kornfield. Introduction by Ajahn Amaro. Only from Audible.

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Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah

Why do we practice? We practice to let go.

Renowned for the simplicity and beauty of his teaching of Buddhism, Ajahn Chah was Thailand's best-known Theravada meditation teacher.

His charisma and wisdom influenced many American and European seekers of enlightenment, and they helped shape the American vipassana (insight meditation) community.

This collection brings together for the first time Ajahn Chah's most powerful teachings, including those on meditation, liberation from suffering, calming the mind, enlightenment, and the "living Dharma."

Most of these talks have previously been available only in limited, private editions. Therefore, the publication of Food for the Heart represents a momentous occasion: the hugely increased accessibility of this Buddhist master's words and wisdom.

Western Buddhist teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Ram Dass, Trudy Goodman, Goenka, and British monks Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Amaro, and Ajahn Sumedho have extolled Ven. Chah's teachings for years, and now listeners can experience them directly in this release. More + AUDIO SAMPLE

YOGA: poses are only 1/8th of the path

Patanjali (Wikipedia edit); Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Finally, Fatso Griffin starts a yoga regimen...but does it while driving for Uber (Family Guy).

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Yoga is an eightfold path that, like the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path, tries to formulate a path to liberation (moksha), but here it twists "liberation" to mean "rebirth with Brahma." This was later corrected or expanded to mean "merging with Brahman." Brahma is the God of the Brahmins, whereas Brahman is the ultimate reality, GOD, or Godhead (godhood). Sadly, the majority of Westerners think "Yoga" means postures, poses, and pretzel twists...and really cool pants. What are the Eight Limbs of Yoga trying to formulate a teaching as popular and effective as the Buddha's Path?

 

1. Yamas (rules)

Om is the universal sound

These are the ethical rules or moral imperatives. The five yamas listed by Patañjali in The Yoga Sūtras (2.30) are:

1. Ahiṃsā (अहिंसा): nonviolence, non-harming other living beings.
2. Satya (सत्य): truthfulness, non-falsehood.
3. Asteya (अस्तेय): non-stealing.
4. Brahmacārya (ब्रह्मचर्य): chastity, marital fidelity, or sexual restraint.
5. Aparigraha (अपरिग्रहः): non-avarice, non-possessiveness, non-grabbing, non-hoarding.

Patanjali, in Book 2, explains how and why each of the above self-restraints help in the personal growth of an individual. For example, in Verse II.35, Patanjali states that the virtue of nonviolence or non-injury to others (ahimsa) leads to the abandonment of enmity, a state that leads the yogi or yogini to the perfection of inner and outer amity with everyone, everything.

2. Niyama (obligations)

The second component of Patanjali's path, which includes virtuous habits, behaviors, and observances (the "dos"). Sadhana Pada Verse 32 lists the niyamas as:

1. Śauca: purity, clearness of mind, speech, and body.
2. Santoṣa: contentment, acceptance of others, acceptance of one's circumstances as they are in order to get past or change them, optimism for self.
3. Tapas: persistence, perseverance, austerity.
4. Svādhyāya: study of the Vedas, study of self, self-reflection, introspection of self's thoughts, speeches, and actions.
5. Īśvarapraṇidhāna: contemplation of the Ishvara (GOD/Supreme Being, Brahman, True Self, Unchanging Reality).

As with the yamas, Patanjali explains how and why each of the above niyamas help in the personal growth of the individual. For example, in Verse II.42, Patanjali states that the virtue of contentment and acceptance of others as they are (santoṣa) leads to the state where inner sources of joy matter most, and the craving for external sources of pleasure ceases.

3. Āsana (postures)

Patanjali begins discussion of asana (आसन, posture) by defining it in Verse 46 of Book 2 as follows स्थिरसुखमासनम् ॥४६॥:

• Translation 1: an asana is what is steady and pleasant.
• Translation 2: motionless and agreeable form (of staying) is asana (yoga posture).
  —Yoga Sutras II.46

Asana is thus a posture that one can hold for a period of time, staying relaxed, steady, comfortable, and motionless. Patanjali does not list any specific asana, except the terse suggestion, a "posture one can hold with comfort and motionlessness."

Āraṇya translates Verse II.47 of The Yoga Sutras as, "asanas are perfected over time by relaxation of effort with meditation on the infinite"; this combination and practice stops the quivering of body. The posture that causes pain or restlessness is not a yogic posture. Other secondary texts studying Patanjali's sutra state that one requirement of correct posture is to keep breast, neck, and head erect (proper spinal posture).

Later yoga school scholars developed, described, and commented on numerous postures. Vyasa, for example, in his bhasya (commentary) on Patanjali's treatise suggests 12:

1. Padmasana (lotus pose)
2. Veerasana (heroic)
3. Bhadrasana (decent)
4. Swastikasana (the mystical sign)
5. Dandasana (staff)
6. Sopasrayasana (supported)
7. Paryankasana (bedstead),
8. Krauncha-nishadasana (seated heron)
9. Hastanishadasana (seated elephant)
10. Ushtranishadasana (seated camel)
11. Samasansthanasana (evenly balanced)
12. Sthirasukhasana (any motionless posture that is in accordance with one's pleasure).

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes the technique of 84 asanas, stating that four of these are most important:

1. Padmasana (lotus)
2. Bhadrasana (decent)
3. Sinhasana (lion), and
4. Siddhasana (accomplished).

The Gheranda Samhita discussed 32 asanas, while Svatmarama describes 15 asanas.
 

4. Prāṇāyāma (breath control)

Two Sanskrit words, prāṇa (प्राण breath) and āyāma (आयाम restraining, extending, stretching).

After a desired posture has been achieved, Verses II.49 through II.51 recommend the next limb of yoga, prāṇāyāma, which is the practice of consciously regulating breath (inhalation and exhalation).

This is done in several ways, inhaling and then suspending exhalation for a period, exhaling and then suspending inhalation for a period, slowing the inhalation and exhalation, consciously changing the time/length of breath (deep, short breathing).

5. Pratyāhāra (collectedness)

This is a combination of two Sanskrit words prati- (the prefix प्रति- "towards") and āhāra (आहार "bring near, fetch").

Pratyahara is fetching and bringing near one's awareness and one's thoughts to within. It is a process of withdrawing one's thoughts from external objects, things, person, situation. It is turning one's attention to one's true Self, one's inner world, experiencing and examining self.

It is a step of self extraction and abstraction. Pratyahara is not consciously closing one's eyes to the sensory world; it is consciously closing one's mind processes to the sensory world. Pratyahara empowers one to stop being controlled by the external world, fetch one's attention to seek self-knowledge, and experience the freedom innate in one's inner world.

Pratyahara marks the transition of yoga experience from first four limbs that perfect external forms to last three limbs that perfect inner state, from outside to inside, from outer sphere of body to inner sphere of spirit.

6. Dhāraṇā (concentration)

In Sanskrit (धारणा) this means concentration, introspective focus, and one-pointedness of mind. The root of word is dhṛ (धृ), which has a meaning of "to hold, maintain, keep."

Dharana as the sixth limb of yoga is holding one's mind onto a particular inner state, subject, or topic of one's mind. The mind (not sensory organ) is fixed on a mantra ["thought instrument"], or one's breath/navel/tip of tongue/any place, or an object one wants to observe, or a concept/idea in one's mind. Fixing the mind means one-pointed focus, without drifting of mind, and without discursively jumping from one topic to another.

7. Dhyāna (contemplation)

In Sanskrit (ध्यान) this literally means "contemplation, reflection" and "profound, abstract meditation."

Dhyana is contemplating, reflecting on whatever dharana has focused on. If in the sixth limb of yoga one focused on a personal deity, dhyana is its contemplation.

If the concentration was on one object, dhyana is non-judgmental, non-presumptuous observation of that object. If the focus were on a concept/idea, dhyana is contemplating that concept/idea in all its aspects, forms, and consequences. Dhyana is uninterrupted flow of awareness, train of thought, current of cognition.

 

Shiva dances with Shakti in the Himalayas (SS)

Dhyana is integrally related to dharana, one leads to other. Dharana is a state of mind, dhyana the process of mind. Dhyana is distinct from dharana in that the meditator becomes actively engaged with its focus.

Patanjali defines contemplation (dhyana) as the mind process, where the mind is fixed on something, and then there is "a course of uniform modification of knowledge."

 

Adi Shankara, in his commentary on The Yoga Sutras, distinguishes dhyana from dharana, by explaining dhyana as the yoga state when there is only the "stream of continuous thought about the object, uninterrupted by other thoughts of different kind for the same object."

Dharana, states Shankara, is focused on one object, but aware of its many aspects and ideas about the same object. Shankara gives the example of a yogin in a state of dharana on morning sun may be aware of its brilliance, color, and orbit; the yogin in a dhyana state contemplates the sun's orbit alone, for example, without being interrupted [distracted] by its color, brilliance, or other related ideas.

8. Samādhi (absorption)

In Sanskrit (समाधि) this literally means "putting together, joining, combining with, union, harmonious whole, [absorption]."

Samadhi is oneness with the subject of meditation. There is no distinction, during the eighth limb of yoga, between the actor of meditation, the act of meditation, and the subject of meditation.

Samadhi is that spiritual state when one's mind is so absorbed in whatever it is contemplating that the mind loses the sense of its own identity. The thinker, the thought process, and the thought fuse with the subject of thought. There is only oneness, samadhi. More

Does samadhi mean "concentration"? No

Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Wiki edit

Before successful insight meditation (vipassana) is possible, there must be right-samādhi. What is samādhi?

• Right-samadhi is the eighth limb of the Noble Eightfold Path

The common and misleading English translation of this Sanskrit/Pali term is "concentration," as in striving or straining to limit the mind's attention on one object.

But it actually means to the clearness and heightened alertness of mind that effortlessly appears through sustained practice of absorption (jhana or dhyana).

• In the Mahāyāna Buddhism of Japan, jhana is translated as zen, in India dhyana, in China chan (short for chánnà), in Tibet bsam gta, in Vietnam thien, and in Korea it is seon. Although it means "absorption," the original translation of the term was "meditation" (and bhavana meant development, cultivation, lit. "bringing into being").

Dude, I am all Zen'ed out. Look at my tat.

The term samadhi derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means "to collect" or "bring together." It is "unification of mind." In early Buddhist texts, it is also associated and often considered a synonym of the term samatha (serenity, tranquility, calm abiding).

In the sutras, it is defined as "one-pointedness of mind" (cittass'ekaggatā) [but because this is what it becomes when it collects not because it is what one does to make it such] (Ven. Henepola Gunaratana, The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation, Bhavana Society, West Virginia, 1995).

According to the commentaries, Ven. Buddhagosa defines samadhi as "the centering of consciousness and consciousness-concomitants [cetasikas] evenly and rightly on a single object...

Samadhi is the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered" (The Path of Purification, 84-85; pp.85). More

What is "right concentration"?

Kalyani, Seven, Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit jhana section, Dhyāna in Buddhism

The Buddha used the absorptions before, during, and after enlightenment (Hooper Project).

 

The Buddha explains right concentration (samma samādhi), a Factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, as the first four meditative absorptions (jhānas).

  

According to the commentaries, there is a stage of meditation the meditator reaches before entering absorption. This stage is called access or neighborhood concentration (upacāra-samādhi).

   

Abandoning the Five Hindrances -- sensual craving, ill will, sloth and torpor (physical and mental sluggishness), restlessness and worry, and skeptical doubt -- marks entry into access concentration.

   

These hindrances are directly opposed by the Factors of Absorption, which grow in strength and stability until absorption occurs.

1. Initial application (of the mind's attention to an object)
2. Sustained (single pointed) application on the object
3. Joy (a kind of rapture or effervescence)
4. Happiness (sukha)
5. One-pointedness (when the mind holds and concentration feels effortless)

In practice, the Factors of Absorption:

1. Bring the mind to the object (applying, arousing)
2. Keep the mind with the object (sustaining, sticking to it)
3. Find great interest in the object (meticulous fascination)
4. Make the mind/heart contented with the object (bliss)
5. Unify the mind with the object (fix, hold, stick).

In the Neighborhood

Access or neighborhood concentration is an unstable state. It is in the vicinity of absorption. The mind is becoming well collected on an object, but it is not yet at a state of absorption. Rather than getting excited with greater success, it must maintain an even keel and ease into this calm, collected concentration.

  

The difference between access concentration and absorption is that the factors become strengthened to such a degree that they bring about a qualitative shift in consciousness. It moves up a level. The mind no longer functions on the ordinary sensory level. Access concentration is not mentioned separately in the sutras.

   

However, there are several discourses where a person gains insight into the Dharma hearing a teaching from the Buddha. Often their minds are described as suddenly being freed of hindrances when this occurs. Some have identified this as being a type of access concentration.^[Note] The equivalent of access concentration in Tibetan commentaries is nyer-bsdogs.^[Note]

   

As one enters neighborhood concentration, some meditators may experience vivid mental imagery that may be distracting or useful. The useful variety comes in the form of a "sign" (nimitta), which is a mental counterpart image to the external meditation object.

   

It can be as vivid and real as if seen by the eye. (It is, in fact, a fine-material object created by the mind). The meditator is fully aware and conscious of seeing this mental image. This is discussed in the early texts, and expanded upon in Theravāda commentaries.^[Note]

  

Different meditators experience different mental images. Some may not experience any mental images at all. The same meditator over multiple meditation sessions may experience different mental images for each session. Mental images may be pleasant, fascinating, neutral, frightening, or shocking.

• It is crucial NOT to switch attention from one's meditation object to the sign being formed by the mind. It should be ignored. As one ignores it and continues to dwell fixed on one's object, the nimitta will move to take the place of the object. The meditator has changed nothing. The process and mind have naturally chosen themselves. The meditator has one game or job and one alone -- to keep the meditation object in mind at all times.

As concentration builds and the mind/heart becomes collected, gross feelings of breathing and of having a physical body disappear, leaving only a sense of pure awareness. Of course, breathing is still present (except in the fourth absorption, where it is not needed and no harm is experienced from its absence however impossible that may be for those who have not experienced it).

  

At this stage inexperienced meditators may become afraid, thinking they are going to die if they continue the concentration because the feeling of breathing and the feeling of having a physical body seems to have completely disappeared. They should instead be encouraged by this experience and abandon fear, which is a mental poison (dosa, aversion). Continue, knowing that this is an excellent sign of progress toward full concentration and absorption (jhāna).^[Note]

 

Mastering jhāna

(Keith Maguire/flickr.com)

A meditator first masters the four lower or material (rupa) absorptions before mastering the higher or immaterial ones (arupa). There are five aspects to this "mastery":

1. Adverting: the ability to turn attention toward the Factors of Absorption one by one after emerging from jhāna, wherever and whenever one wants and for as long as one wants.
2. Attaining: the ability to quickly enter absorption.
3. Resolving: the ability to remain absorbed for exactly the predetermined length of time one sets.
4. Emerging: the ability to emerge from absorption quickly without difficulty.
5. Reviewing: the ability to look back on the absorption and its factors with retrospective-knowledge immediately after adverting to them.

The early sutras state that "the most exquisite of recluses" are able to attain any of the absorptions and abide in them without difficulty.

   

There is a kind of saint (arhat) who is "liberated in both ways" -- fluent in attaining absorption as well as having mastered insight (vipassana). The first is a temporary liberation of the heart from the hindrances and defilements, the latter a cutting off which is permanent. Someone liberated only through dry insight does not live on in perpetual bliss. But one liberated in both ways has the blissful absorptions as a refuge, a recourse, and lives on in joy able to attain them at will.

 

The absorptions are not exclusive to Buddhist meditation. But liberating insights developed based on them (the Fourfold Setting Up of Mindfulness founded on a base of "right concentration," defined by the Buddha as the first four absorptions). The absorptions, as exalted as they may be, are ultimately unsatisfactory. They are only a temporary liberation. They fall away. Nirvana -- which is beyond all worlds, planes, and states -- is the only permanent liberation.

  

Group meditation (whatthebleep.com)

Absorptions are very purifying and can lead to rebirth in extraordinary "heavens" (deva lokas), which are fine-material and immaterial planes of existence beyond the sensual sphere planes. All of these worlds with extraordinary lifespans are impermanent. Even in this life, one loses the object and cannot get it back, or the Five Hindrances reassert themselves with more power than before. Nirvana is safety. The usefulness of right concentration is using it along with right mindfulness -- bare awareness and contemplation of particular things outlined in the discourse on the Four Foundation of Mindfulness.

   

If one is not liberated temporarily and permanently, one would fall into the same problem as the early meditation teachers Siddhartha sought out as guides. Yogi Alara Kalama and Yogi Uddaka Ramaputta guided Siddhartha to two immaterial planes -- the sphere of nothingness and the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception -- calling these final liberation from samsara (rebirth and suffering).

  

Siddhartha could see that there was something more, something beyond rebirth. He could see that these planes, however exalted, did not represent nirvana (the "complete end of suffering").

• Access and Fixed Concentration (Ven. Sujivo)

Drugs to Enlightenment?

OPINION

The fifth Precept in Buddhism runs, "I undertake to abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness."

• Reaction: Supreme Court rules Church can serve Hallucinogen (ABC News)

Generally this is taken to mean alcoholic beverages, which cause one to engage in behavior that violates the first four Precepts: to refrain from taking life, taking what is not given, taking liberties with regard to sexual conduct, and taking liberties with the truth.

It is not clear if entheogens would be barred. Do they occasion heedlessness with regard to the Five Precepts? That is, when one is utilizing a "mind expanding" substance, is one engaging in unskilful behavior one would regret and not otherwise engage in?

If the answer is yes, then in no way can entheogen use be justified. However, with the right intention (with a motivation to expand consciousness, tap intuition, open up and become more receptive and skillful in meditation) some may undertake this dangerous path without compromising virtue. Ultimately, like the choice of upholding the Five Precepts, one has to weigh the benefits and choose.

WQ has reported that in the past there may have been Buddhist "cults" or splinter groups who engaged in sacramental use of Soma and Amrita/Ambrosia. What were they? These were legendary substances, presumably derived from mushrooms or herbs, known as the "nectar of the gods" (when "god" is understood in the ancient Greek and Indian sense of deva).

There is no doubt that such groups existed in Hindu, Christian, and indigenous or Native European circles. The most popular entheogen in this regard, as has been reported in WQ, seems to have been Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric mushroom).

Today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the sacramental use of Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi, yage, natema) tea. This was done in accord with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Is it safe? Will it be useful in one's spiritual quest and personal growth? Will it lead to a deterioration or an enhancement of virtue, concentration, and wisdom (sila, samadhi, and prajna) -- the three cornerstones of Buddhism?

Can "drugs" (herbs, vines, mushrooms, entheogens, sacraments) lead to enlightenment? Not directly. Can they lead to better concentration? Possibly. Can they be any worse than liver-damaging synthetic chemicals and pharmaceuticals? Probably not. They may help but must be respected, just as shamans have respected them for countless centuries. Take the case of Iboga as a powerful example.

There is no doubt psychedelics and hallucinogens can yield "wonderful" experiences. An entire generation of Americans discovered that in the 1960s. However, does it lead to Buddhist "enlightenment"? No. Can it? Maybe.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Most people have very little idea what "enlightenment" (the Buddhist term bodhi) literally means. So they frequently fail to tie it to final liberation. What is final liberation? It is freedom from:

• ignorance (avijja, avidya)
• wrong-views (miccha-ditthi)
• delusion (moha)
• selfishness (lobha, the most common and harmful wrong-view)
• anger (dosa)
• suffering (dukkha), and
• continued rebirth (Samsara).

Does a drug/entheogen/plant lead to liberation from these?

Enlightenment comes in definite stages. And one may have many insights without being the least bit closer to enlightenment.

The most important insight to "enter the stream" (and directly see the Noble Eightfold Path that opens to the ocean of nirvana) is anicca, dukkha, anatta (the Three Marks of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, egolessness). This presumes a great degree of sila (or at least past good karma that gives its result as calm-concentration when it's needed). To become a Sotapanna ("Stream-enterer"), the first stage of enlightenment, it is essential to understand these Three Marks. Will drugs (even entheogens) lead to that understanding? For example, one is likely to feel "at one with everything." But that sense of oneness is not no-self; oftentimes it is an expanded sense of self. Previously one felt limited and apart, whereas now one feels (as long as the high lasts) unlimited and deeply connected.

The Three Marks (instability, distress, and impersonality) are tricky concepts even for the most sober individual. Failing to understand these fundamental principles, drugs of any kind are likely to worsen one's understanding. They are then likely to lead one on a downward spiral, particularly as one becomes attached to feelings and experiences in spite of one's deteriorating condition. Look at all the addicts around us (coffee, heroin, nicotine, worry, alcohol, synthetic medications). Insight into impermanence, misery and no-self is accomplished systematically:

First of all, one builds a skillful, moral base (sila, i.e., the Five, Eight, or 227 Precepts). This base leads to collectedness, non-distraction, tranquility, focus (a meditative calm-and-concentration known as samadhi). Both lead to "insight" (Pali, panna or Sanskrit, prajna). Insight in turn reinforces virtue and serenity. Once one is able to enter concentrated meditative states at will, one emerges purified and turns attention to insight-meditation objects. This is the gradual path of training.

Webs of spiders exposed to four common drugs

One person's entheogen (or sacrament) is another person's substance of abuse.

Will entheogens lead to more love (empathy) and the fundamental ethical principle of ahimsa (doing no harm to oneself or others)? Or do drugs weaken body, intellect, and sympathy?

Will entheogens lead to better focus, undistractedness, attention (free of thoughts and judgments), and concentration?

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The Buddha defined samadhi ("concentration") as the Four Jhanas (or meditative absorptions). The first English translators (Pali Text Society, etc.) rendered the jhanas as "trances." This is because they look from the outside like unconscious states. They, however, are the opposite. They are one-pointed (ekagata) states of concentration, wherein the mind (full awareness and attention) is absorbed into a single object. (This is often spoken of without clarification as "non-duality," a state where there is no distinction between the observer and that which is being observed).

Finally, will entheogens lead to "wisdom"? Wisdom arises intuitively from direct observation of phenomena (as outlined in the Maha Satipatthana Sutra, the "Longer Discourse on the Fourfold Setting Up of Mindfulness"). No amount of direct observation in the absence of sila and samadhi (undistracted concentration built on a firm base) yields liberating insight. (That's why Vipassana practice, as helpful as it is in relieving stress and directing one, doesn't pack an enlightening punch; the fuel, the catalysts, the intensifiers are missing). It is wisdom because it leads to more virtue and more concentration.

There is a famous saying. "Knowledge always leads to pride, whereas wisdom always leads to humility." That's the difference to look for in terms of whether one is progressing on a fruitful path of practice (drugged or otherwise).

A guide, at the very least a companion, is crucial. "The supreme life leading to enlightenment is not partly based on noble friendship (kalyana-mitta); it is completely rooted in good companionship and wise association." Also crucial is some purification (dietary, emotional, moral), a ritual (a set of behaviors to be engaged in when one is no longer in one's proper state of mind), and conducive surroundings.

You don't fly to the moon on a whim. If you do, you certainly don't expect to come back safely. Or as it is more commonly said, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

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