To say that drugs will break the barrier of self is overrated. First of all, scientifically hallucinogens just alter your perception of reality. Just realize that it is just a chemical reatcion that a drug has caused. Take shrooms for example. Shrooms poison you, thats why you trip. It affects the part of your brain (the third eye) that is sensitive to light. Thats why lights look really cool when you're tripping.
But then again, if you think about it from the other side, all thoughts are chemically caused too. To do anything with the mind requires chemical reactions i.e. producing thoughts, storing memory and so on and so forth. Thus, breaking the barrier of self to a higher level is a chemical reaction of the mind just as a trip on shrooms, acid, dmt... etc. The question here is not whether or not drugs will make you feel like you crossed the line, it's how you break outside the line. It takes much more dilligence, discipline, and concetration to meditate and make yourself free from yourself than to take drugs and trip balls. So next time you really want to take a "psychodelic" journey, try some good hard meditation and you'll find it does wonders.
Although I do fully support the use of drugs, I also recommend
your idea, to use meditation. I believe drugs are an easy
escape for those who live in an environment where meditation
is nearly impossible. Those who live under a lot of stress
due to physical and/or mental abuse may need the support drugs
provide just to cope with their situation. You shouldn't rule
out the use of drugs altogether. I do recommend meditation
over drugs, but why not seek the best of both worlds?
Meditation and drugs both allow an individual to rid themselves
of a pesky mind trait called will. Most of the time, will power
comes in handy; however, it tends to quell creative energy. It
would be nice if this was an option that could be turned off at,
shall I say, will? So unfortunately, it is difficult for most to
meditate. Most people would have to force themselves to meditate
because of their lack of self discipline. If you force yourself
to do something, you are using will power. If you are using will
power to stifle will power, what do you achieve? Usually a headache.
Like I said though, I do recommend meditation. Everyone should
try it. It's not easy, but it's healthy for the mind.
Don't rule out dreams as a way of accessing creative energy.
Dreams (as I have read from Carl Jung) are an important source
for taking a deeper look into your own life. It's your mind when
fully relaxed (removal of will power). Dreams are not given as
much credit as I believe they deserve. Carl Jung recommends you
keep a dream log. Report the details of your dreams without any
compromise to what you'd like to say you dreamt. In other words,
don't lie to yourself. I started keeping a dream log about two
weeks ago. It's surprising how much creativity poured out during
this time. I was skeptical at first, then thought maybe it was a
good idea. I never actually got around to starting a dream log
until a certain dream sparked that interest.
Try it. Try just logging one good dream, then analyse it. Try
to figure out where these thoughts came from. You'd be surprised
how well it can work and what ideas can spout from it.
Once again... the physical has blinded the spiritual.
Who cares why you see what you see? If you know what you are seeing, hearing, or feeling is from the drug, then who cares about the chemical crap. It means nothing. The idea is for one to put themself in a different emotional place and see how they react and how the world appears. To feel what changes are taking place and determine how you will interpret them. This talk of meditation is great and is healthy. But to say that drug use is "over-rated" is assuming too much.
