Psychedelics & Meditation
Aristotle suggested contemplation is the highest form of human activity. Similarly, Buddha maintained meditation as the core practice of the path to Buddhahood.
Meditation is both practical and mystical. To meditate is to develop positive qualities of mind that improve our ability to live and to form a relationship with the present moment that connects us to the Great Mystery, God, whatever you want to call it.
Through the years, meditation has become a crucial practice outside of my relationship to psychedelics. However, meditation also remains primary to my integration of psychedelic experiences. When I began taking psychedelics, I did not meditate. I had heard of it and even tried it many times, but I did not feel particularly compelled to sit and do nothing but observe the present moment. Despite the vast history surrounding the benefits of meditation, it seemed boring and unnecessary — until psychedelics. Once I began taking psychedelics, I had to meditate.
Everything I discovered and learned with psychedelics pointed directly to the immense value and importance of meditation, of observing the present moment and develop positive qualities of mind that would serve me, and in turn, all of life.
Psychedelics helped me realize how precious a human life is. I wanted to be fully present for all of it, so I began to meditate. Psychedelics showed me how delicate sanity is and horrific insanity could be, so I began to meditate. As I dove deeper into my psyche, I recognized my interconnection with all of life and how benefitting myself benefited everyone, so I strived to be more focused, mindful, and equanimous during ordinary and non-ordinary states, so I began to meditate. Finally, as I ventured further into psychedelic integration, spiritual practices, personal healing and growth, I saw how the abundance of insights conjured by psychedelic experiences could be more thoroughly understood and integrated if I cultivated positive qualities of mind.
So I began to meditate.
Meditation cultivates positive qualities of mind that support responsible psychedelic use and encourages the integrative process on a conscious and unconscious level.
To meditate is to be responsible with psychedelics, and to meditate is to integrate.
Biographical and transpersonal material naturally emerges as we journey into the mind’s shadows. This material is often unpleasant to encounter and even more challenging to integrate. However, meditation enhances our ability to make sense of and transform from our experiences with this material, no matter how painful.
As the mind develops concentration, mindfulness, equanimity, selflessness, and eventually compassion through meditation, it improves its ability to process all of its contents, regardless of whether that content comes from a psychedelic experience. If the mind is a glass of dirty water, psychedelics agitate the water and the dirt, allowing us to see a lot of the mind’s content, yet also creating potential confusion. Meditation gently settles the dirt so we can subside the mind’s contents and see things clearly.
A concentrated mind is less likely to be distracted or seek distraction. Concentration allows us to stay present to all of the psychedelic experience, pleasant or unpleasant, without getting distracted by the delusions that often accompany high dose journeys.
A mindful mind has a more powerful awareness that is more capable of noticing and deciphering. Mindfulness helps us see more, and further, helping us avoid blind-spots that may stand in the way of our healing or growth. As we become more mindful, we see what we may not have seen and understand what we may not have understood. However, mindfulness can also be a double-edged sword, because it can increase our awareness of difficult, traumatic and painful material. Yet, by cultivating positive qualities of mind via meditation, we equip ourselves to deal with whatever comes up.
An equanimous mind helps us stay calm and present amidst the certainty of life’s uncertainty and constant change. Equanimity helps us weather the most difficult storms, in ordinary and non-ordinary states of consciousness. As psychedelics or life lead us into the dark recesses of our minds, our meditation practice helps us stay equanimous with whatever arises, beautiful or ugly. With equanimity, we can find peace amidst the chaos. We remain composed and present.
A selfless mind can place others and the world above the ego. Our self-serving ego can be tamed via meditation. As we acquaint ourselves with the impermanent nature of phenomena, including our constantly changing sense of self, meditation helps us become less attached to ideas about who we are are or how we should be (which often show up during psychedelic experiences). We become less attached to the preconceived ideas that may not serve us, or anyone. We become less self-interested, more joyful and peaceful. With less self comes less problems.
A compassionate mind is accepting and loving. Psychedelics can unveil ugly and dark aspects of ourselves or others. We become aware of the ways in which people, including ourselves, have injured us. With compassion, we can encounter and integrate without developing further mental defilements such as anger, resentment or regret. We no longer judge from a place of fear or insecurity. Instead, we can better navigate and live in acceptance of our shadows and the ups and downs of life.
Ultimately, a meditator’s mind is ideal for the safe and effective use of psychedelics because meditation influences the mind’s natural ability to effectively process novel information revealed by psychedelics. In turn, our ability to heal and transform is enhanced through the application of psychedelics with a meditation practice.
For the spiritually inclined, meditation can also be a form of prayer, reverence or devotion to life. Meditation is a spiritual practice with many practical benefits.
My psychedelic experiences quickly taught me that I am intimately entwined with a Great Mystery worthy of devotion, while meditation further cemented that I am not only intimately entwined with the Great Mystery, I am the mystery (and so are you).
Presence reveals my true self as a state of selfless joy, or Samadhi.
To be completely present thus allows me to revere the Great Mystery by being in harmony with it. The numinous qualities of certain psychedelic experiences highlight the profound beauty and ugliness inherent to existence, while meditation allows me to deepen my relationship with all of existence regardless about how I feel about it.
As I continue to cultivate beneficial qualities of mind and shed attachments through meditation, I feel increasingly at home in the present, whatever that might look or feel like from moment to moment. I am more comfortable with discomfort, uncertainty and change. I am more present, joyful, loving, accepting, mindful, kind, aware and peaceful. My experience of life is more spacious, relaxed and pleasant.
Like psychedelics, meditation is a gift that keeps on giving. A meditation practice is a benefit anyone, and especially those taking psychedelics to heal, grow and transform. To develop a meditation practice adjacent to our intentional use of psychedelics allows us to honour the depths of human experience which psychedelics reveal.