Friday, July 27, 2012

DMT, Good, and Evil

QUESTION

    “At the age of 17, I went to a local festival near a range of mountains (Prescott Mountains) which are named after different angels.  One of my friends came up to me and offered me a pipe of Di-Meth-Yl-Tryptamine (DMT) in its purest form.  I had no idea what it would do to me at the time.  But I slowly inhaled it in, and held my breath.  Before I knew it the world around me began to spiral around and my whole vision seemed to merge together and then it felt as if I was going around the tent, which I was staying in, at a million miles an hour; and then I had loads of frames like a load of photos of different things going through my mind.  Next it merged into a spiral of different shapes and colours with a very bright light shaped like a star with 3 points.  The light was in the centre of this ever-lasting multi-coloured spiral of bliss.  As I got to a certain point I saw a set of clouds come out of no-where and a guy with curly hair, round sort of face, popped out from the clouds, and we/I shook hands, and we were laughing and laughing together.  As suddenly, I was taken back into the spiral again and went further up.  This time I arrived at what seemed to be a planet of mountains, loads of mountains, but with no life, just brown mountains, and I was alone looking amongst them.  At this point I was asking myself, ‘Am I dead,’ and at that point I thought I was dead but accepted the fact I was dead.  I was taken further up this spiral to eventually be in a void of light and energy.  Dark violet.  Blue.  Black in colour and there was a Buddha.  His appearance was dark blue/violet, so hard to describe as he was made of light or energy himself.  It looked so much more real than this world we live in, like it was another dimension - but he had black marks on his face.  Then he sent me back to my body here on earth.  It all happened in about half an hour.  But it was an extraordinary experience.  I have read another report where someone has seen the same Buddha, so it seems to be no coincidence.  It’s all real.  I think that’s all I can say.  Just to let you know I wasn’t a Buddhist when I experienced this, but have always had a really open mind.”....Lewis

ANSWER

    Lewis, DMT is a very strong drug and should only be taken within the context of group therapy or group work, with elders or trained staff present.  It should never be taken alone, or by someone who has no idea of what might transpire.  You had an incredible experience and a valid one in the sense of what you saw.  But that experience you had is not the challenge.  The challenge comes afterwards, with the aftereffects, and there are aftereffects.  And they can become permanent.  Please read my book Near-Death Experiences:  The Rest of The Story.  In the second half of the book I talk about DMT, both pro and con.  Throughout the book, however, I go in-depth about the physiological and psychological aftereffects of any type of “threshold” experience - which is what a near-death state is, and what a DMT episode can be (but seldom is).  Please educate yourself about the aftereffects.  Great experiences are great experiences.  But they do not end, when they end.  Our entire body/mind complex can become forever altered by them.  Be careful, friend.  That old adage is still true:  “All that glitters is not gold.”  Blessings, PMH

QUESTION

    “Hello, I’ve been wanting to do some research regarding the effects of people who, in their negative NDE, have seen Satan and how or if that has changed them.  Does Satan continue to manipulate them on earth?  Does seeing Satan have the same effects (negative) on them as seeing Jesus or God (positive)?  I know a woman who has seen Satan in her near-death experience.  Any guidance you can offer is greatly appreciated.”....Sharon

ANSWER

    First of all, let’s dispense with using words and concepts like “negative” or “positive.”  Both are judgmental terms that do not define the territory.  I learned long ago that it is the individual’s assessment of what was experienced that counts, not what I might want to call it.  Most researchers today use terms like “pleasant,” “comfortable,” “radiant” to depict the more uplifting near-death episodes; and terms like “unpleasant,” “frightening,” “distressing” to depict the opposite type.

    I haven’t encountered that many who actually met or spoke with Satan, although in The Big Book of Near-Death Experiences, pages 29-31, you will find both story and drawings of a six-year-old who met the Devil.  It took years for him to quit having nightmares about this.  Words like devil and demon were much more commonly used by experiencers in my research base.  Seldom did I run across people who used the term “Satan.”  Remember, in my research one out of seven had what I call the unpleasant or hellish experience.  Many times I heard of people having nightmares afterward - in a few cases the demon or devil figure physically manifested days or even months afterward.  Eventually the majority were able to move past their emotional fright.  I did find an interesting side-effect to these cases, though.  Half of those who reported having an unpleasant or hellish experience were unable to find a way to either integrate their experience in a positive way or learn from it.  These same people displayed excessive nervousness afterward and more health problems than one might assume for their lifestyle and age.  Of those who did learn from their episode and found beneficial ways to process it, they had fewer health problems in the years that followed and seemed more philosophical and peaceful.  Blessings, PMH