Wanted: Hindu priest to test magic mushroom

Aik TC

19 Jan 17, 10:08

Kevin Loria | Business Insider | Jan 15, 2017

A priest, a rabbi, and a Zen Buddhist roshi walk into a bar and order a beer prestigious university lab to trip on psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Wait, what?

In recent weeks we've heard more and more about the resurgence in psychedelic research, with scientists from Johns Hopkins and New York University talking about how hallucinogenic psilocybin could work "like a surgical intervention for mental illness."

But the big question of why psychedelic substances seems to have a profound and lasting impact -the ability to lift fear about the end of life, depression, and anxiety - is hard to answer. Among their most consistent effects is the hard-to-understand ability to reliably provide what researchers term "mystical," "spiritual," or "deeply profound" experiences (along with certain changes in brain activity that resemble those seen in people who meditate). But understanding what these experiences are and why they have such a significant effect isn't easy.

So the same institutions that are working on showing that these drugs work in the first place are trying to figure out why they work by turning to what might be considered some of the other experts in "mystical" or "spiritual" experiences, religious leaders from a variety of faith traditions. Shelby Hartman recently reported in Quartz that so far "they have enrolled thirteen religious leaders including an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, a Zen Buddhist roshi, an Episcopalian, a Greek Orthodox priest, and a Reform Christian for their FDA-approved clinical trial. (They're also seeking Catholic priests, Imams, and Hindu priests to join the study.)" They hope that these volunteers can use their own spiritual experiences and vocabulary to try to better describe these psychedelic-induced experiences and to help figure out why they're so beneficial.

Roland Griffiths a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at JHU School of Medicine explained that after taking psilocybin, people say they feel more "interconnected" with the world. "I think people after having had this experience are more accepting and more willing about engaging [with] life as it is," he explained. And perhaps drawing on the expertise of people who focus on spirituality might help.

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~

19 Jan 17, 10:40

And while on the other hand telling ppl "Not to do drugs", here they are, getting religious personel to test them out

That said, they probably have better chance with people into shamanism and idolism. American indians have been using them to achieve spiritual powress. So does some africian tribes.