Zig Zag Zen, edited by A.H. Badiner & A. Grey

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Editors : Alan Hunt Badiner
Year : 2002
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Synopsis :
While Buddhism and psychedelic experimentation share a common concerm, the liberation of the mind, Zig Zag Zen is both a celebration, and a cautionary tale.

With a foreword by renowned Buddhist scholar Stephen Batchelor and a preface by historian of religion Huston Smith, along with numerous essays and interviews, Zig Zag Zen is a provocative and thoughtful exploration of altered states of consciousness and the potential for transformation.

Accompanying each essay is a work of visionary art selected by artist Alex Grey, such as a vividly graphic work by Robert Venosa, a contemporary thangka painting by Robert Beer, and an exercise in emptiness in the form of an enso by a 17th-century Zen abbot.

Packed with enlightening entries and art that lie outside the scope of mainstream anthologies, Zig Zag Zen offers eye-opening insights into alternate methods of inner exploration.

Psychedelic Perceptions by James Joseph

Review : I am currently reading this book...
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Author : James Joseph
Year : 2006
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Synopsis :

There exists within our world a unique category of medicines, unparalleled in their ability to heal the human mind.

Utilized by our ancestors for thousands of years, these consciousness-altering plant derivatives effectively suspend the psychological defense mechanisms and egoic mind, allowing a 4 to 12 hour internal revelation into the origins of our own addictions, neuroses, fears, personality disorders, and patterned behavior. Invaluable as this mind-revealing encounter may be, there is no doctor able to prescribe this therapeutic method, as it has been deemed by our legal system to be devoid of any medical value.

There exists within our world a revered class of sacraments, unequaled in its effectiveness to initiate a direct experience of transcendental knowledge.

Applied in ritualized ceremony for hundreds of generations, these special plants hold the potential to generate the biochemical requisite necessary to attain the highly sought Mystical Experience. Yet, there exists no priest, rabbi or minister permitted to facilitate this method of direct knowing to the congregation, as it has been judged by authorities to posses a high potential for abuse.

Psychedelic Perceptions is a multi-perspective examination of how — and more importantly why — the substances which produce vital access to non-ordinary states of consciousness have been unjustly portrayed, legally forbidden, and misunderstood in our society.