09/10/2018 - Psychedelics’ Buddhist Revival (Gabriel Lefferts)

For some Buddhists, experiences of selflessness induced by hallucinogens are tools for practice. But others see distraction and even danger.

By Gabriel Lefferts  JUL 27, 2018

Nearly ten years ago, in the middle of a monthlong meditation retreat, Spring Washam had a sobering experience.Far from entering one of the blissful states of concentration that often mark the jhanas, the progressive stages of meditative absorption outlined in Theravada Buddhism, she entered a state of trauma.

An experienced Buddhist practitioner and teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Washam insists that the Buddhist teachings were not at fault. It was the form of the practice—being silent, being still, being alone—that unraveled unconscious levels of pain to an unbearable degree.
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“What I realized there,” she recalled, “was that the form of sitting in silence wasn’t alleviating the symptoms; it was making it worse.”  more...