Sacredness is in the Eye of the Beholder. There is a logical fallacy that psychonauts tend to make called the Appeal to Tradition. Just as it sounds, this is when someone describes a particular method or system as superior because it is traditional. The truth, of course, is that a solution’s stature as a tradition has no bearing on its effectiveness. A tradition may be passed on for many generations and still remain fundamentally flawed.
We gain nothing by judging other people’s entheogenic journeys by our own deeply personal values.Tweet Even psychonauts with the best of intentions commit this logical error. Now I’m a big fan of viewing psychedelics as sacraments, and I too have deep appreciation for both the chemicals and the long history of traditions surrounding their use. Sacredness is inherently subjective; nothing is universally revered. Consider Communion wafers. All human progress refutes the claim that older is better; it is our willingness to experiment, to change our minds, to evolve that makes us great.Tweet. Alan Watts ~ Stop Competing With Yourself. Transforming Fear Into Consciousness « The Sacred Science. Some of the most powerful lessons can find us when we least expect them. A few days ago, I was standing amidst hundreds of people in a long line that stretched around a Buddhist temple outside of San Francisco.
It was a Sunday, and we were all there to hear the teachings of a renowned spiritual master, but no one had anticipated this kind of a human logjam. As our collective impatience grew, I began to feel an unpleasant yet familiar tension creep into my stomach. I was surrounded by irritated strangers, who had come for a spiritual experience but now found themselves with at least an hour wait. You can guess what happened next: out came the cell phones and reading material, couples and friends turned toward one another to create a bit of privacy, eyes began to gaze off into safe open space… anything to avoid the unknowns of unsolicited human interaction. I was no different. To be clear, these voices I occasionally hear come in the form of gut feelings, not complete audible sentences. How Drugs Helped Invent the Internet & The Singularity: Jason Silva on "Turning Into Gods" Alan Watts - Every Incarnation Is This One [HQ]
Alan Watts - The Inevitable Ecstasy. The Scorpion and the Frog. One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river. The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn't see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back. Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river.
"Hellooo Mr. "Well now, Mr. "Because," the scorpion replied, "If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim! " Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. "This is true," agreed the scorpion, "But then I wouldn't be able to get to the other side of the river! " "Alright then...how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me? " So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river.