“I took a microdose of LSD, barely perceptual, and it supercharged my retreat experience. It was beautifully intensified. But there was nothing distcontinous from straight out meditation. I think there’s a lot to be done there.”
– Roland Griffiths, Center for Consciousness, Johns Hopkins
Our principal aim is “self investigation” – its scientific basis – its pervasiveness across eras and cultures – what it feels like – what the consequences are – and the various resources that facilitate it. A full library of resources is here.
This looks at two resources combined: meditation and psychedelics.
To characterize this, we will borrow a conversation between two seasoned neuroscientists, each with decades experience in contemplative life, meditation, and psychedelics.
(clip below)
[The above animation was shared with Roland himself, who was kind enough to exchange some emails including the response below]
Roland Griffiths
Roland Griffiths passed away on October 16th, 2023. He leaves an enormous legacy, pioneering research in psychedelics after decades of draconian government prohibition. In 2008 he famously took the stage at TED and showed how psychedelics relieve suffering in patients with debilitating depression or terminal illness.
“There’s a lot to be done there…”
Low Dose Psychedelics and Meditation
Clinical depression and terminal illness aside – how might psychedelics help the average joe?
Only months before his death, in the above clip, Roland remarked how “low dose” psychedelics seemingly “supercharged” his meditation experience. He felt “intermittent, low dose” psychedelics and meditation was something worthy of more research.
Sam and Roland both acknowledge that meditation, while extraordinarily powerful for some, can famously feel pointless and boring for others. They see this as unfortunate, as prolonged meditation does seem to deepen awareness, decrease suffering, increase compassion, and occasionally cascade towards deeper epiphanies about self and reality.
Might it be that meditation in conjunction with low dose psychedelics would help people past initial hinderances of meditation, and actually appreciate its value? Similarly, might low dose psychedelics offer insight without the anxiety and potentially difficult experience of a high doses? Is there a future where this is a normal practice?
These are ripe scientific and cultural questions.
Today many researchers seem indifferent or dismissive of low dose psychedelics. And psychedelics in general, regardless of strength, are years away from widespread access and/or decriminalization.
Given this ambivalence, it would be a shame to miss one of Roland’s final insights. His psychedelic-meditation hypothesis is a torch ready to be taken up by the next generation of science and medicine.
While much has been said about meditation, and much has been said about psychedelics, (even low dose psychedelics in particular) – it is less common to establish how they complement one another. Not merely for the sake of wellbeing, but for uncovering deeper fundamental insight about self and consciousness.
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