Tag Archives: Govinda

Timothy Leary’s Dead

For Timothy Leary (1920-1996) psychedelic drugs were sacraments. He first began his own experimentation with these substances using Mexican Magic Mushrooms in his forties. In fact, his book, Timothy Leary, High Priest, devotes more time and effort describing these particular “mushroomed” states with his colleagues and friends than his early LSD experiences. I like the format of the book. It’s divided into sections labeled “Trips”, or particular episodes in his psychedelic journey. Each chapter also includes pertinent segments from the I Ching, as well as references to works like Dante’s Divine Comedy and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: read more

Posted in LSD and Psychedelic Buddhism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Foundations: The Tathāgatagarbhatārā Tantra

The Vajrayana essentially follows the old principle of hermetic magic, ‘as above so below’. By manipulating the mundane consciousness, it effectively induces change on the spiritual level. By reconstructing the mundane environment as a reflection of the Enlightened Mind, it imbues ordinary mind with a sacred quality. Although this reconstruction of the normal channels of consciousness is by no means an easy affair. One can easily get burned in the practice of Tantra. Unless one’s karma is somehow immaculately pristine and devoid of adventitious defilements—an unlikely scenario—then long time preparation in the foundation of Sutrayana, as well as many years spent experiencing Dhyāna and Deep Samādhis, is a good prerequisite before embarking on the spiritual trek of the Vajrayana. read more

Posted in The Tathāgatagarbhatārā Tantra | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment