Customer Reviews

Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

a beautifully designed and arranged collection of articles that expose the intelligent and creative uses of psychoactive chemicals.

While the "spiritual purists" may balk at the contention that chemicals seriously open up levels of consciousness and awareness, one comes away with deeper appreciation of various traditional methods of enlightenment (with and without chemicals).

This work effectively counteracts the anti-drug propaganda that has shamefully denigrated certainly respectable uses of treasured substances.

Zig Zag Zen does the universe proud.

It's the elephant in the room. Everyone knows it's there, but few feel comfortable talking about it. It's the relationship between Buddhism and Psychedelic drugs in the West. Zen centers, sanghas, and meditation retreats are littered with former (and current) psychonauts and trippers. You can take one of three tenable stances on the issue: 1.) Psychedelics are intoxicants and are, therefore, antithetical to true Buddhist practice OR; 2.) Psychedelics are not intoxicants at all, but are powerful sacraments that have had an undeniable historical influence on Tantra, Vedanta Hinduism, and Vajrayana Buddhism OR; 3.) you can take the middle path, acknowledging that psychedelics are powerful, but also admitting that they can be dangerous, for they are full of "raja", full of fire that can transform but that can also consume.

One of these three views holds the truth. Psychedelics are tools that help Buddhist practice, they are hindrances that obstruct Buddhist practice, OR psychedelics are value-neutral, possessing the power to help or harm depending on context. But anyway you cut it, psychedelics are hardly IRRELEVANT to Buddhist practice. The position that they are is untenable and, frankly, provincial.

Why are there so many psychedelic Buddhists and so many Buddhist psychonauts? What do psychedelics and Buddhism have to do with one another? Both psychedelic exploration and Buddhism center around the quest for non-ordinary states of consciousness--states of profound unity, where the subject-object dichotomy--the boundary demarcating self and cosmos dissolves. That's not to say that Buddhism and psychedelics are the same. As Terrence McKenna says in his part of the book, "Buddhism is a theory out of which a practice can be teased; Psychedelics are a practice out of which a theory can be teased.

There are those who believe that psychedelics can never produce the same experiences as Buddhist practice. There are those who think that psychedelics provide a much richer and more immediate experience than sitting on a mat and counting the breath could ever hope to. And there are, again, those who think that the advantages and disadvantages of mixing psychedelics and Buddhism need to be weighed on a case by case basis. You'll find all the arguments here in "Zig Zag Zen." Alex Grey is careful to provide as many perspectives as possible. You'll hear from Robert Thurman, the chair of Buddhist Studies at Columbia. You'll hear from Rick Strassman M.D. and from the mystical shaman McKenna, of course. Don't make up your mind until you've carefully considered them all. An open mind is an essential tool on the path to enlightenment.

In this particular work, Grey doesn't take a stance on whether drugs can or cannot help you achieve liberation (although if you've ever seen his paintings, it's pretty clear that he has a penchant for tryptamines). Grey's position is that you ought to figure out such matters for yourself. Those who say this book has nothing to do with Buddhism are short-sighted. It has EVERYTHING to do with Buddhism. Buddhism, a religion stripped of metaphysics, is a do-it-yourself theology. No God is posited. No savior has been sent to save you. The Buddha can perhaps show you the way, but as Herman Hesse's epicly brilliant Siddharthaillustrates, it is up to you to follow your own path. "None but ourselves can free our minds."

That's what the zig zag means in "Zig Zag Zen." You've got to "roll your own." If you meet the Buddha on the road...kick his ass and take his lunch money.


Alex Grey is an as of yet undiscovered national gem. People are going to be marveling at his artwork and contemplating his philosophical musings for millenia to come. I believe, in the end, that Grey's contributions to the Perrenial Philosophy and to the ontology of art will be as historically significant as his contributions painting. Showing people the subtle energies and subtle bodies that make up the self, illustrating the soul that arises just as assuredly from mind as mind does from life and life does from matter, Grey is one of the most convincing advocates for the existence of Spirit in these troubled and turbulent times. He may just be the brightest guy on the planet.

Buy the book!

This book is one of the most comprehensive and lucid treatments of the topic of Buddhism and psychedelics. I came away from it with a much better understanding of how the two might be reconciled in the context of a "serious" spiritual practice. What struck me most was the extreme lucidity and potency of each of the essays. There were a few I skipped over, but for the most part I was very impressed with the eloquence and insight offered by each contributor. If you are at all interested in Buddhism, psychedelics, or both, this book is great food for thought. Highly recommended.

This book is amazing, it has really opened my eyes to the world of entheogens and buddhism. There is a whole other world out there waiting to be explored, get on it.

Interesting anthology, probably worth putting together, very
little to do with 'Buddhism' per se, though it tries hard to make
some associations, they really arent convincing.
The book leaves an empty taste and slight feeling of nausea after
reading of all the dopeheads parading off to Hawaii, the Amazon,
or Green Gulch, in search of a 'real teacher' who would validate
their drug desires. Trungpa's paradoxical positions on intoxication are described from a few viewpoints which make for interesting reading, and comparison with that of Suzuki Roshi's. If you like the vapid slickness of Tricycle's heavy paper and empty pages, you might like this book.
Otherwise, your time might be better spent cleaning the toilet or doing the laundry, while enduring the ongoing decline and fall of human civilisation, the horror, the horror.

First off, if I could I would rate this book a ZERO. IT IS NOT WORTH YOUR TIME. This book has absolutely NOTHING to do with Buddhism or religion in general. Drugs and other intoxicants will NOT show you enlightenment. The only thing drugs will show you is what it's like to be on drugs. Real enlightenment comes from within. If you're serious about Zen, get a real book on it. Learn just what it was that Guatama Buddha taught. But if you're just looking for an excuse to do drugs, then by all means buy this book. Just don't make false claims that you're being spiritual. Own up to the fact that you have a drug problem.