What's you opinion on the experience of ingesting of a plant concoction in the Amazon?

Use this forum to discuss the March 2019 Book of the month, "The Unbound Soul: A Visionary Guide to Spiritual Transformation and Enlightenment" by Richard L. Haight
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eastandalchemy
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Re: What's you opinion on the experience of ingesting of a plant concoction in the Amazon?

Post by eastandalchemy »

I never got the impression that the author was experiencing a placebo effect. Psychedelics found in nature have been used for centuries by indigenous communities and by people in modern society looking for spiritual guidance. Although plants that produce psychedelic effects have been vilified in much of western society, taken correctly (including the correct dosage), they can be helpful for those seeking a deeper understanding of the human experience.
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Post by Wriley »

I suspect the phychotropics had an effect of making his feelings more intense. Native cultures have used nature based medicines for centuries to mentality connect to their spirit realms. Those type hallucinogens intensify the world where they think they are closer to their deities. The thoughts are theirs but their perception is altered.
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Post by Uinto »

According to the book, drinking the concoction was a turning point for the author in terms of his religious journey. This thus makes it significant.
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Post by lwahls2 »

There are so many things that can alter your chemical balance and affect your body and mind. I'm sure whatever he ingested had some effect, maybe not what he intended. That part was a bit weird to me. Very risky and calls into question the validity of his visions.
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Post by Mouricia Allen »

It seems normal in most cultures to play around with substances to help them get to a 'higher' level of consciousness. He did get something out of it, so I guess it's a win for him.
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Post by katiesquilts »

Emily Guerra wrote: 10 Apr 2019, 00:31
briellejee wrote: 07 Mar 2019, 22:20 I think it's a placebo effect - which is powerful. Even in medical research, placebo effects could go a long way of a patient's health. The author having knowledge that such concoction can help him led him to believe that it has an effect on him. Having a preconceived idea can really affect how you see things. Such faith can truly move mountains.
I totally agree. Positive or negative, placebo effect is real. I think if he’d received the drink and someone said it was some local fruit juice or tea with no hallucinating effects whatsoever, the story would be totally different.
Agreed! If it hadn't been part of a ceremony and he hadn't known that he was expected to see visions, he might have chalked up the dizziness and vomiting to the drink just being bad.
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Post by Robyn_original »

I don't think it was a placebo effect, as that would mean that in actuality the psychotropics had no real effect on him and that the trip was just all in his mind. I do know though that when a person ingests psychotropics, their mindset plays a large part in how they are affected and what they see. So if he expected to see a certain thing when starting the trip and taking the concoction, then yes, there would be a high probability that he would experience what he expected to experience.
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Post by LinaMueller »

Crazyreader01 wrote: 17 Mar 2019, 13:26 I don't really know what to think about it to be completely honest. I just know that if you believe that something has the ability to do something, then it will. For example, if you're sick and you tell yourself that a certain medicine will make you feel better, then it will, and vice versa.
Best post by far. I fully agree with you. :tiphat:
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I will forget the light.

When you have done, pray tell me
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you're lagging.
I may remember him!

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Post by Areej Tahir »

Ah I am not sure about this, I mean if it was actually so effective, the medicine must've made use of it one way or another.
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Post by Prisallen »

briellejee wrote: 08 Mar 2019, 21:37
abbiejoice wrote: 07 Mar 2019, 23:51 I feel uncomfortable whenever I remember the author's experience of a vision after ingesting a plant concoction. This opens the possibility of a hallucination and thus, questions the validity of his vision.
I never thought of it that way, but now that you mentioned it, some plants could give hallucinations and these tribes mistake it as visions. It really does make me think about whether it's true or not. :eusa-think:
You definitely have to wonder if he was just having a hallucination or a true "vision from God". I don't, personally, want to take those kind of drugs to find out. :D
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Post by Shraddha Chauhan »

Societies have been ingesting concoctions like that for spiritual guidance and had no harmful effect on them. So I think it was good for the author too since it didn't affect him adversely. I haven't tried anything like that before, and I don't think I will try in the future. It was his experience that he shared, and it may vary from people to people. -R
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Post by Namaste23 »

I think the plant concoction was the cause of his visions. The brain has a lot of unknowns but if you allow your mind to be open, I think it's more capable than we know.
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Post by Samuel Okoye 2 »

I think the concoction he took might really have had the said influence on him. However, it still could have been the placebo effect.
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