Too many people oversimplify my position. They incorrectly say that I propose
the following:

o "Meditation is purely a placebo."
o "Visionary plants are the only possible way to become enlightened."
o "Enlightenment results from taking visionary plants."


A more accurate summary of my position is:

o Meditation is only 1% as effective as visionary plants.
o Visionary plants are the only reasonably efficient, ergonomic way to become
enlightened.
o Enlightenment results most effectively from a series of visionary plant
sessions in conjunction with studying the perennial principles of transcendent
knowledge.


Entheogens are definitely the main method by a mile, and
meditation/contemplation is the "alternative", upstart method.


My position on meditation is simple and clear: entheogens came first,
meditation was developed to assist entheogens, entheogens are a hundred times
as ergonomic and effective and potent as meditation. Full enlightenment is
most likely to come through entheogens, because they are reliably potent and
available on tap.

A person can repeatedly do entheogen sessions as often as necessary and with
as much intensity as desired, to accomplish the goal of transforming the
mental worldmodel from the free-will/separate-self model to the
no-free-will/no-separate-self model.

Recently, entheogen-diminishing meditation proponents have invented a new
definition of enlightenment, falsely portraying it as the main and oldest
definition, that involves a confusing and distorted position which amounts to
asserting that intense mystic altered state experiencing causes delusion,
while a kind of 'meditation' that does *not* involve intense mystic altered
state experiencing, causes enlightenment -- enlightenment is redefined as
being entirely concerned with elevating day-to-day life. The result of such a
position is a new definition of mysticism which lacks the actual classic type
of mystic altered state experiencing, a kind of mysticism that lacks the
classic kind of mysticism.


Meditation without entheogens *can* and *does* produce the mystic altered
state, but only rarely, and only in a few people. There is no need for more
evidence here; the reports are in, and there have been many attempts to use
meditation to cause the intense mystic altered state, because meditation is
legal and favored by official religion and professional religious leaders.

After many attempts to use meditation to cause the mystic state, it is certain
that the attempts rarely work, work only for a small percentage of people,
usually work only after a great deal of effort, and produce usually weak
results. In contrast, although in the modern era only a few trials have been
run based on entheogens, it is certain that entheogens consistently have a
very strong effect on practically everyone.

Therefore, it is certain that entheogens are far more effective at inducing
the intense mystic altered state than meditation. No one can seriously deny
that conclusion; they know they would convince no one, any more than saying
that the moon is brighter than the sun and gives it its light. Everyone
agrees and admits that entheogens are vastly more effective than meditation at
inducing the intense mystic altered state in the typical, normal person.

The only possible strategic move for the religious leaders who want to
diminish entheogens is to redefine the goal of meditation and the conception
of enlightenment, in such a way that favors meditation and makes entheogens
look bad: praise the very ineffectiveness of meditation, and ultimately,
disparage the intense mystic altered state itself, and advocate some vague
idea of spiritually elevating daily life, and become vague about what it means
to experience nondual awareness.


-- Michael Hoffman
http://www.egodeath.com -- simple theory of the ego-death and rebirth
experience