Psychedelics Vs. Spirituality: Two Worlds Eternally In Conflict With One Another
The spiritual world and the psychedelic world, despite their shared interest in exploring consciousness, seem to be in fundamental conflict. This conflict revolves around one key issue: permanence. Religions and spiritual teachings often speak of a state of eternal happiness, a permanent bliss that transcends the ordinary world. Whether it’s the Christian notion of Heaven, the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, or the Hindu idea of Moksha, there’s a promise of permanence in spiritual teachings. Psychedelics, on the other hand, paint a very different picture—one where impermanence is at the heart of existence, and any search for eternal bliss is rendered futile.
The Spiritual Promise of Permanence
Religions and spiritual traditions have long promised an escape from the suffering and chaos of everyday life. Christianity offers the hope of Heaven—a place of eternal peace and happiness. Jesus spoke of an everlasting life in Heaven, saying, “My Father’s house has many rooms… I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2-3). This imagery promises permanence, a state of unchanging, eternal bliss. Similarly, Buddha’s teachings on Nirvana describe it as a state beyond suffering, an unconditioned realm where desire, suffering, and the chaos of existence cease. Nirvana, in Buddhist terms, is a permanent state of liberation.
In Hinduism, the concept of Moksha represents the final release from the cycle of birth and rebirth, and an entry into an eternal state of unity with the divine. Across these traditions, the underlying theme is clear: there is a permanent state of happiness, joy, or bliss that awaits those who follow the spiritual path.
The Psychedelic Experience: Impermanence at its Core
The psychedelic experience, however, presents a radically different worldview. Psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, and DMT often dissolve the boundaries of ordinary perception, revealing a universe that is in constant flux. These substances don’t promise a static, permanent state of bliss; rather, they show that everything is in a process of transformation. In the psychedelic realm, nothing lasts. Visions come and go, emotions rise and fall, and even one’s sense of self can dissolve, only to re-emerge moments later. This profound impermanence is central to the psychedelic experience, which stands in stark contrast to spiritual teachings that promise a permanent state of peace or enlightenment.
Terence McKenna, a legendary figure in psychedelic culture, articulated this conflict well. He said, “Psychedelics are not illegal because a loving government is concerned you may jump out of a third-story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behavior and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.” This perspective challenges the very foundation of spiritual promises, which are built on the idea that there are ultimate, unchanging truths or states of being.
McKenna’s words suggest that psychedelics do more than alter perception—they reveal the inherent fluidity of reality itself. In a psychedelic state, permanence becomes an illusion. What we see as fixed or eternal turns out to be transient, whether it’s an idea, a belief, or even the self. This understanding directly opposes the spiritual quest for permanence, where the ultimate goal is to achieve an everlasting state of bliss or unity.
Alan Watts and the Illusion of Permanence
Alan Watts, a philosopher who played a key role in bringing Eastern philosophy and psychedelic experiences into Western consciousness, often reflected on the idea of impermanence. He saw life as an ever-changing dance of forms, where any attempt to hold onto permanence was bound to lead to suffering. “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth,” Watts once said, pointing out the futility of seeking a fixed identity or permanent state in a world of constant change.
Watts, who had his own experiences with psychedelics, often pointed to the conflict between spiritual traditions that promise eternal truths and the insights that arise from altered states of consciousness. In his view, psychedelics reveal a world where the only constant is change. This aligns more with the Buddhist concept of anicca (impermanence), though even Buddhist teachings often hold up Nirvana as a state beyond change. For Watts, however, the psychedelic experience suggests that there is no final resting place, no eternal bliss to be found—only the ongoing flow of life and consciousness.
The Illusion of Eternal Bliss
Another prominent figure in the psychedelic space, Timothy Leary, emphasized the transformational nature of psychedelic experiences. He suggested that psychedelics were tools for personal and collective evolution, helping people see beyond the rigid structures of their beliefs. In his book The Psychedelic Experience, co-authored with Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert, Leary wrote, “To the person in the psychedelic state, consciousness appears to be a constant flow of changing patterns. The only thing that stays the same is the fact that everything is always changing.”
This idea of a “constant flow” is deeply at odds with the spiritual promise of eternal bliss. The psychedelic worldview doesn’t suggest a final, unchanging state of happiness; instead, it shows that all states—whether blissful, painful, or mundane—are temporary. In the psychedelic realm, even the moments of profound insight or joy are fleeting. You can’t hold onto them, and that, perhaps, is the most profound lesson psychedelics teach.
Why This Conflict Matters
The conflict between the psychedelic experience and spiritual teachings isn’t just philosophical—it has real implications for how people approach life and meaning. Spiritual teachings often encourage people to seek a state of permanence, whether that’s through meditation, prayer, or following a religious doctrine. The goal is to escape the chaos of life and find a final, unchanging state of happiness or enlightenment.
Psychedelics, however, show that chasing permanence may be a futile endeavor. Instead of offering a path to eternal bliss, they suggest that true liberation comes from embracing the impermanence of all things. This can be a liberating realization for some, but for others, it may feel like a direct challenge to their spiritual beliefs.
Ultimately, the psychedelic experience undermines the very notion that there is a “final” state of being to be achieved. It reveals a universe that is constantly shifting, where even the self is a temporary construct. For those seeking a permanent state of bliss, this can be unsettling. But for others, the psychedelic experience offers a profound acceptance of impermanence as the fundamental nature of reality.
The psychedelic experience and the spiritual world, though often intertwined in discussions of consciousness, are inherently at odds. While spiritual teachings promise a state of eternal happiness or enlightenment, psychedelics show that nothing is permanent—not even bliss. As Terence McKenna, Alan Watts, and Timothy Leary have all pointed out, the psychedelic experience teaches us to embrace impermanence, not to seek permanence.
In this conflict lies a deeper question: should we be seeking eternal bliss, or is the true nature of existence something far more fluid, far more transient? Psychedelics may not have the final answer, but they do open the door to new ways of seeing, where the only certainty is that nothing lasts forever. As McKenna once said, “Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles.” Perhaps, the real challenge is accepting that the only thing permanent in life is change.
