Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

[wil]

Namaste all,

Anyone heard of this guy?

Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher


High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.
"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.
"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."
He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said. He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

[Alex P]

See... I guess I can't be normal... Because that causes no reaction within me, you know like nerves and feelings and that.. I think drugs are kind of.. You know, apart of the whole..... Thing.

[dauer]

I've heard the theory before which certainly seems somewhat plausible to me. It's been making its rounds again recently. I saw something about it on a popular Jewish blog.

[seattlegal]

Here's another article from Haaretz.com that gives a bit more insight into just where this researcher is coming from.

[Dream]

Don't forget the theory that Moses was a magician (special effects technician). He probably knew all kinds of technical stuff, including how the pyramids collected solar power to drive the Pharaoh's personal spacecraft.

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by wil

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.
"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."
He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said. He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

Oh yeah, for sure, no doubt.

I find this theory/research heartening. I agree with Alex in that psychedelics and altered states of consciousness are important, even sacred, assets that humanity has available to experience. From the soma of the Vedas to the marijuana of Rastafari and, as has been mentioned, into the Amazon and the Ayahuasceros, all the way back to the labs of the twentieth century that synthesized LSD--and let us not forget the substances that were most probably imbibed as part of the Elysian mysteries, as well as the various mind-altering substances used by witches all over the world--psychedelics or entheogens, as some of the more spiritually-minded among us prefer to call them, have and continue to play a key role in humanity's psychic, creative, and spritual development. We outlaw them and dabble in them as recreational drugs to our detriment. They are sacred and powerful, and should be approached as such.

Terence McKenna, an avid user of psychedelics and experimenter with DMT, the core chemical derived and synthesized from the compounds that produce the brew ayahuasca, said that to die without having experienced a psychedelic state is like dying without having had sex.

Terence who?

This guy: YouTube - Terence Mckenna: Reclaim Your Mind

YouTube - Terence McKenna - Psychedelic Society

"We're playing with half a deck as long as we tolerate that the cardinals of government and science should dicate where human curiousity can legitimately send its attention and where it can not. It's an essentially preposterous situation. It is essentially a civil rights issue because what we're talking about here is the repression of a religious sensibility. In fact not a religious sensibility, the religious sensibility. Not built on some con game spun out by eunichs, but based on the symbiotic relationship that was in place for our species for fifty thousand years before the advent of history, writing, priestcraft and propaganda. So it's a clarion call to recover a birthright."

--Terence McKenna

[wil]

I think it also identifies a difference between a spiritual use, intended for enlightenment, vs. intended for fun and enjoyment.

Anyone else come off a high with 10 commandments that lasted a few thousand years? Or an inspiration that spawned major religions?

I know my extracurricular use sure ended up in some interesting spiritual studies and contemplations, but more often then not it was just, "wow man, wo dude, check it out"

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by wil

I think it also identifies a difference between a spiritual use, intended for enlightenment, vs. intended for fun and enjoyment.

Anyone else come off a high with 10 commandments that lasted a few thousand years? Or an inspiration that spawned major religions?

I know my extracurricular use sure ended up in some interesting spiritual studies and contemplations, but more often then not it was just, "wow man, wo dude, check it out"

On the other hand, I'm not so sure that the ten commandments--external rules for action that are imposed from outside of the individual--and the long-standing religious movements that grew out of them are all that enlightened.

[Dream]

Wow, I've never thought about drugs as a spiritual force, so the whole thing sounds scary to me.

Alice had a dream about Wonderland that changed her considerably. Is it the same Wonderland other people go to; and can she meet real people there? Once she's gone can she ever be sure that she has come back?

[dauer]

@ Dream

Entheogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by Dream

Alice had a dream about Wonderland that changed her considerably. Is it the same Wonderland other people go to; and can she meet real people there? Once she's gone can she ever be sure that she has come back?

Tee-hee. Matrix time.

"What is 'real'? How do you define 'real'?"

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill -- the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill -- you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? "



"Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself."

--Morpheus

And, most cryptically:

Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

This one is on a different plane, but what the hell:

Neo: But if you already know, how can I make a choice?
The Oracle: Because you didn't come here to make a choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it.

[Dream]

I took the blue pill!!!

To me, this movie was pure poetry. I saw it without knowing what it would be about, without having seen or heard a preview, and was the first of all my relations to see it. The special effects, music, and the mysticism made it my all-time favorite movie. The only thing I knew about the film before I went into the theatre was the movie poster. I took the blue pill.

Have you ever gone to the theater by yourself and taken the blue pill?

[dauer]

The philosopher's commentary with Cornel West and Ken Wilber is very good.

[Dream]

Cool, thanks Dauer! I'll keep an eye out for it. I hope its not one of those manuals on Arcane Knowledge that blow your mind and cause the US govt. to come looking for you or threaten to erase your memory?

[dauer]

Not at all. It's a commentary that comes with the boxed set.