Episode 30: Psychedelics and Spiritual Traditions
Episode 30 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Richard Chambers come on to the show to talk about the history of psychedelics in religious and contemplative traditions, neuroplasticity and how they can be explored in safe and beneficial ways.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
How psychedelics have played a role in the formation of many spiritual traditions.
Why a psychedelic experience is like heating the brain up: increasing neuroplasticity.
Mindfulness and psychedelics as parallel pathways to higher states of consciousness.
Dr Richard Chambers is an Adjunct Associate Professor at our very own Monash University, and the co-founder of Eudelics, which provides psychedelic-assisted leadership programs in legal settings.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Psychedelics hold great potential for use in clinical settings.
”Well, as we know from this renaissance that's taking place, psychedelics has a profound effect on all kinds of things. Most of the research is around mental health, things like PTSD and treatment-resistant depression, but it's showing promise for all kinds of different psychological problems.”
Psychedelic therapy must be handled with great care to ensure positive results.
”That's the art of psychedelic therapy, is to be present and to help to steer that journey, but also to not influence it in a way that perhaps gets in the way of the natural unfolding of the psychedelic process which, left to its own devices in a safe container with the right set and setting is, generally, benevolent and beneficial.”
Psychedelics have been long-suppressed by religious and government institutions.
”I think it was Socrates who is quoted in the book as saying: these mysteries, this psychedelic sacrament and what happens there, is so profound that the fate of human civilisation more or less rests on its continuation... and it did continue for two thousand years and then it was suppressed by the Christian Church. The idea that people could go and directly make contact with God and really access the highest possible states of consciousness became sort of unpalatable to the powers-that-be and so it was suppressed. So there's been a long long history of suppression.”
The best place to find Richard is here. To find the work of Eudelics see here.
See you next week!
