There is a door within the self. When this door is opened, a unity is revealed that
\nencompasses all beings and transcends all boundaries. Mystics in every religious
\nsystem in every culture and in every age have reported this to be the highest
\ntruth. Those who have had such an experience agree that the state is elusive and
\nusually recalled only in fragments. However, those who have achieved even a
\nmoment of this visionary understanding consider it of incalculable value.
\nCultures have developed dozens of ways to apprehend this unitive state. Paths
\ninclude physical austerities, cycles of prayer, meditation, devotions, breathing
\nrituals, and physical postures. A significant number have used plants in
\ncombination with other practices. For some, the use of a psychedelic makes the
\nexperience suspect. But there are those of us who believe that however one
\nascends the mountain, the view from the summit is the same. What one gains
\nfrom that vista and from the climb will depend, as it always has, on how one
\nincorporates such moments into one\u2019s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"