I promised that I would try an explanation of why folks use drugs, not
medicially, but to alter their minds. Well here goes.
First, the urge to alter the mind is common to all people for as far back
in history as we can go. Kids have this same urge. Just watch them spin around
until they're so dizzy they fall laughing to the ground, then lay there
smiling. Animals, from birds, to coyotes, to elephants and reindeer have all
been observed seeking out and consuming mind altering plants.
The mind uses the brain as a tool to interact with the world. The brain is
bombarded by a vast number of sensory impressions each second and if it allowed
the mind to be conscious of all of them, we would be overwhelmed, frozen as we
tried to deal with it all. So, the brain evolved a mechanism to decide what is
neede for survival and send all the rest, the vast majority, to the
subconscious. This is needed so we can survive.
But, our minds know they are being shortchanged. The limiting mechanism is
not perfect and little, odd things leak through here and there and the mind
wants to know more. Well, there are substances that temporarily over ride that
limiting mechanism. In the old fashioned pin ball machines, you could bang them
around, but, hit them too hard, and a sign came uo saying'Tilt, Game Over.'
Then you hit reset and started again. Well, apply the right push, chemical or
otherwise, and that little device in your brain says'tilt', stops the game and
then resets the mechanism.
During this process, the mind is free to see, for a bit, what it is
missing, and that is helpful as we move along our spiritual and intellectual
paths, That's why we seek mind alteration. There are many ways to do this. A
lot of us use chemicals because they are quick, dramatic and they always work.
However, trust me, the less chemicals you use, the better.
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