[Paleopsych] spirituality and dogma

[Michael Christopher]

Paul says:
>>ALL of them felt both grateful and scared. They all
became more loyal to WHATEVER religion they happened
to belong to, as if to say:"PLease, God, I'll be a 
good boy, whatever you want, just don't do THAT again,
I'm really not ready."<<

--I had that kind of experience in my early 20's on
LSD, without any religious training. There was no
dogma attached, only the sense that I was connected to
everything and everyone in the world and that it was
my denial of that connection that had put me in hell.
I felt intimately connected with the starving in
Africa, with the restlessness in the Middle East (this
was pre-911) and with the alienation and chaos in my
own culture. It was all tied up with my life, and all
my attempts at achieving personal happiness were a
denial, a temporary refuge at best. It felt as if I
had thrown away the story of my generation, ignored
something terribly important, and that my refusal to
engage the world with genuine empathy had damaged the
world as well as myself.

I can only imagine what someone who HAD had religious
training would make of the experience afterward. It
would be rather easy for a preacher to hook into that
guilt and fear and attach whatever dogma he wanted.

Michael

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