The Buddha Molecule: DMT and the Soul of Visionary LoveWisdom

How can Buddhist philosophy empower us to work more skillfully with the medicines of our world—including psychedelic medicines like DMT, LSD, MDMA, and others?This contemplation was inspired in part by the surge of interest in psychedelic medicines in the past decade or so, and also in part by the dialogue I had with Rick Strassman, author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule, and DMT and the Soul of Prophecy. Rick found himself turning away from Buddhist philosophy as a framework for modeling and working with psychedelic experiences. While I applaud his work to show how the Hebrew Bible can help support working with psychedelic medicines, I disagree with his suggestions that Buddhist philosophy doesn’t provide every bit as skillful a support for us.In this contemplation we begin to consider the relevance of Buddhist philosophy for maximizing the benefits psychedelic—or any other medicines—offer us. Whether we work with horse medicine, forest medicine, the medicine of music, the medicine of dance, or any one of the psychedelic medicines, we will find profound guidance in Buddhist philosophy for realizing the fullest potentials of our path of healing and transformative insight.After we lay out some juicy philosophical reflections in this and a following contemplation, we will consider a kind of philosopher’s guide to working with the medicines of our world. What are the practices we should have in place as we approach the work we need to do to heal self and world at the same time?