One person’s documented trip on peyote! Quite a compelling read!
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Popular Highlights in this book
We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude.Highlighted by 770 Kindle readers- The mind was primarily concerned, not with measures and locations, but with being and meaning.Highlighted by 665 Kindle readers
- We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes.Highlighted by 652 Kindle readers
About the author
A genre of its own. In these pages, you'll try mescalin, study art, and wonder about the human mind.
I just read this book for the second time, and I’m glad I did because many things didn’t stick the first time around (an inevitable feature of my failing memory). Right away, I can say that you will find much value in The Doors of Perception (which is the sole focus of this review—I shall review Heaven and Hell separately), no matter your beliefs (unless you’re a solipsist, and maybe even so).At once, an exploration and personal retelling of the effects of mescalin (with a modest dose of humor), a study of the plastic arts and music as a result—and from the point of view—of this experience, and a grounding set of propositions (still applicable today) around the topics of alcoholism and other habits that try to satisfy the human need to find self-transcendence—especially when not found in religion—this book is a genre of its own. Still, amongst enlightening nuggets of wisdom, I found some of Huxley’s views to be too flirty with the mystical and religious, at least for my taste; but one can separate beliefs from what can readily be digested as a chemically-induced experience and the eye-mind-opening insights derived from it. As someone interested in the mystery of consciousness and topics of the mind, this book scratches many itches. The main premise? The human mind functions as a reducing valve that leaves a lot of otherwise-overwhelming stuff out—stuff that is irrelevant to our biological survival, but the glimpsing of which could irrevocably transform the way we live for the better.I liked that the book ended with pragmatic considerations and Huxley’s suggestions on education and human growth. For whoever could’ve been wondering what all this contemplation is worth, the author wraps it up with an invitation to foster, as part of the whole human experience, that which transcends words, concepts, and other human-made notions. As someone who wants to spend their entire time reading and writing, this was a good reminder that there is a life, a world, and an undiscovered frontier to be experienced and honored in the realm of direct perception (and not just so that I can come back and write about it).Read more reviews and other stuff I write (IG): @CRISTAWRITES
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Top reviews from other countries
ethereal_fox
No way to disappoint with this author!
Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2023
