Why am I passionate about this?
I have always been fascinated by strange and âforbiddenâ states of consciousness. My first taste of psychedelia came in the form of cannabisâmore potent and otherworldly than it gets credit forâand quickly graduated to MDMA, which blew me away. I dove head first into this new world, experimenting with psychedelics new and ancient while reading about all things psychedelic: their history, emerging science, and therapeutic and spiritual possibilities. My other great passion is books, so it was only natural that I would try to encapsulate all that I had learned in book form.
Cody's book list on exploring psychedelics without taking any
Why did Cody love this book?
When I first dipped my toes in the psychedelic pool, I was motivated by curiosityâI just wanted to experience new âflavorsâ of consciousness. I had no need of healing (or so I thought), and as a science-minded skeptic I certainly was not hunting spiritual experiences.
Two things changed my mind. The first was psychedelics themselves, which upon the first dose proved to be powerful agents of transformation. The second was this insightful gem of a book, which made me realize that âspiritualityâ need not conflict with science or rationality. Indeed, one of the great values of psychedelics is to provide irrational experiences that transcend our limited notions of what is true, possible, or real.
Alan Watts was a brilliant speaker and philosophical entertainer whose talks about spiritual topics have inspired millions. In The Joyous Cosmology, published at the beginning of the psychedelic Sixties, he distilled the psychedelic experience down toâŚ
1 author picked The Joyous Cosmology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A classic account of the psychedelic experience
The Joyous Cosmology is Alan Wattsâs exploration of the insight that the consciousness-changing drugs LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin can facilitate âwhen accompanied with sustained philosophical reflection by a person who is in search, not of kicks, but of understanding.â More than an artifact, it is both a riveting memoir of Wattsâs personal experiments and a profound meditation on our perennial questions about the nature of existence and the existence of the sacred.
Includes Wattsâs article âPsychedelics and Religious Experienceâ
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