Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics

347 Pages·2015·10.33 MB·English

by  Badiner

Compilation © copyright 2015 by Allan Badiner and Alex Grey
Text and art © copyright by individual authors
Preface © 2015 by Huston Smith
Foreword © 2015 by Stephen Batchelor
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
Published by Synergetic Press
1 Bluebird Court, Santa Fe, NM 87508
24 Old Gloucester St. London, WC1N 3AL England
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and psychedelics. -- New Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.

Drugs--Religious aspects--Buddhism. 2. Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience. I. Badiner,
Allan. II. Grey, Alex.
BQ4570.D78Z55 2015 2014049993
294.3’442--dc23
Cover and book design by Ann Lowe
In-house editor: Linda Sperling
Printed by Friesens in Canada
This book was printed on FSC certified 70# Sterling Ultra Matte
Typeface: Garage Gothic and Adobe Garamond Pro
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOREWORD
Stephen Batchelor
PREFACE
Huston Smith
INTRODUCTION
Allan Badiner
Section One: INTERSECTION
THE PLANT MEDICINE SUTRA
Robert Schrei
A NEW LOOK AT THE PSYCHEDELIC TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD
Ralph Metzner
MYSTICISM: Contemplative and Chemical Roger Walsh
DISSOLVING THE ROOTS OF SUFFERING
Dokushô Villalba
A HIGH HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN AMERICA
Rick Fields
PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE AND SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: Discussion with Jack Kornfield Robert Forte
BUDDHISM, SHAMANISM, AND THANGKA PAINTINGS
Claudia Müller-Eberling and Christian
Rätsch
A BUDDHIST-PSYCHEDELIC HISTORY OF ESALEN INSTITUTE–Interview with Michael Murphy and George Leonard
Allan Badiner
SHADOW PATHS
Peter Matthiessen
A SURVEY OF THE ENTHEOGENS
Robert Jesse
Section Two: CONCRESCENCE?
VAJRAVISION
Alex Grey
DMT DHARMA
Rick J. Strassman, MD
PSYCHOACTIVISM
David Chadwick
LEANING INTO RAWNESS
Trudy Walter
RELATIVE TRUTH
Brigid Meier
YAGÉ AND THE YANAS
Allan Badiner
JUNGLE DHARMA: The Interweaving of Buddhism and Ayahuasca David Coyote
BUDDHIST HARM REDUCTION AND CANNABIS
Jana Drakka
A TRIP NOT TAKEN
China Galland
THE PAISLEY GATE
Erik Davis
Section Three: LESSONS
PSYCHEDELICS ON THE PATH: Help or Hindrance? Charles T. Tart
BUDDHISM AND THE PSYCHEDELIC SOCIETY–Interview with Terence McKenna Allan Badiner
LIBERTY AND LSD
John Perry Barlow
RICK DOBLIN
Interviewed by Allan Badiner
WAKING YOURSELF
Brad Warner
THE ZEN COMMANDMENTS
Lama Surya Das
ON THE FRONT LINES
Interview with Michele McDonald
DO WE STILL NEED PSYCHEDELICS?
Myron Stolaroff
BUDDHISM AND PSYCHEDELICS: A Public Dialogue with James Fadiman and Kokyo Henkel
A ROUNDTABLE with Ram Dass, Robert Aitken Roshi, Richard Baker Roshi, and Joan Halifax Roshi Allan Badiner
CONTRIBUTORS
ARTWORK CREDITS
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Allan Badiner
IN GRATITUDE, I offer this book to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout
space and time. May it shed some measure of light on the relationship between
the mystical wisdom of the Buddha and the wisdom of mystical plants.
Kindest thanks to Synergetic Press, and specifically Deborah Parrish Snyder
and Johnny Dolphin, as well as Linda Sperling, Ann Lowe, Debbie McFarland,
Mitch Mignano, Stephanie Joelle Smolarski, and Gregg Weiss. I remain
indebted to Nion McEvoy for publishing the original Zig Zag Zen at Chronicle
Press, and the great team there, notably Alan Rapp and Sara Schneider.
Many of the essays found in this book were previously published in the fall
of 1996 issue of Tricycle: the Buddhist Review and much appreciation and
thanks go to the founding editor Helen Tworkov. The possibility of this book
began with her daring to be dedicated to a truthful inquiry into this controversial
confluence of subjects.
The contributors of essays, the artists and the interviewees, are my real
heroes and heroines—it is they who gave kindly and generously of themselves
without reward, for which I will be endlessly in their debt. So many people
contributed in a multitude of ways to the creation of this book, and while space
does not allow for the full thanks they are entitled to, certain individuals must be
acknowledged for their help and support, and they include Stephen Batchelor,
Rick Doblin, Omar Fayed, Mark Epstein, Mitchell Albert, Dan Goleman, Sharon
Salzberg, Gary Snyder, Brother David Steindl-Rast, Jack Kornfield, and Robert
Thurman.
Deep thanks must go to my agent Suresh Ariaratnam.
Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Khong always deserve my greatest
gratitude for many years of inspiration, mindfulness training, and for our
pilgrimages together to India, China, Japan, and Vietnam.
Alex Grey has my undying gratefulness for bringing such beauty,
refinement, and visual intelligence to this endeavor.
India, my loving daughter, inspired me throughout the process and I’m lucky
to be her father. It is for her, and future generations, that I have undertaken this
project.
Finally, I wish to dedicate this book to the memory of four great beings
without whose friendship and guidance Zig Zag Zen may not have been a reality:
Rick Fields, Terence McKenna, Venerable Dr. Havanpola Ratanasara, and Sasha
Shulgin. May this effort be worthy of their memory.
–Big Sur, 2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alex Grey THANKS TO MY DEAR FRIEND Allan Badiner for
bringing me on board the Zig Zag Zen project. A deep bow of gratitude to all the
brave artists and authors willing to bring Dharma and psychedelics together in
their work and much appreciation for their participating in Zig Zag Zen.
–Brooklyn 2014
FOREWORD
Stephen Batchelor
IT IS UNDENIABLE that a significant proportion of those drawn to Buddhism and
other Eastern traditions in the 1960s (including the present writer) were
influenced in their choice of religious orientation by experiences induced by
psychoactive substances such as cannabis and LSD. Despite the fact that
experimentation with such drugs was illegal, potentially dangerous and
unmonitored, the startling shift in consciousness it occasionally provoked was
considered to be worth the risks involved. Now, thirty years later, many of these
Buddhists are priests, meditation teachers, therapists, college professors, and
writers: respected members of the very society against which they rebelled in
their youth. Yet although they often eschew the use of psychedelics themselves
and warn others of the dangers of abuse, few would deny the role of these
substances in opening their eyes to a life of spiritual and religious meaning.
The connection between drug use and spirituality is not, however, limited to
the experience of a few aging hippies. The ritualized use of drugs is still
practiced among sadhus and shamans of traditional cultures from India to Peru.
The current use of drugs such as MDMA (Molly)—originally popular at clubs
and raves, but now in numerous shared settings—is likewise associated with
heightened states of individual consciousness as well as with the forging of a
deep ecstatic bond between participants. Language and symbols borrowed from
Asian and indigenous American sacred traditions permeate the literature, lyrics,
and imagery of underground dance culture, as much as—or even more than—
they did in the festivals and happenings of the 1960s.
It is all too easy either to dismiss claims of spiritual significance for drugs as
thinly veiled justifications for hedonistic indulgence, or to invoke the tragic
consequences of heedless excess as grounds for denying the validity of any drug-
induced experience at all. In so doing, one fails to recognize the spiritual
aspirations of people who are seeking expression and fulfillment in this way.
One likewise ignores the harsh fact that Western societies have lost the ability to
address the religious feelings of a considerable segment of their youth.
In swinging between liberal tolerance one moment and outraged repression
the next, modern societies seem chronically incapable of reaching consistent
attitudes about drugs. Consider, for example, the double standard applied to the
achievement of physical, as opposed to cultural, excellence. While a sportsman
will have his Olympic medals revoked for using drugs that enhance his
performance, a musician would not be stripped of her Grammy awards if it
turned out that her songs were composed and played under the influence of an
illegal substance. Why are regulations imposed on the behavior of one but not
the other? Why should the athlete be punished, but the artist not?
When the broad culture sends out such contradictory messages about drugs,
to who can people turn for informed and sympathetic guidance? If drug use can
be linked to spiritual issues, then surely such guidance would be forthcoming
from religious leaders. Yet the spokesmen and women of the mainstream
denominations seem to have little to say on the subject beyond pious
encouragement to abstinence. Traditional schools of Buddhism are no exception.
The five lay precepts, which are considered the foundation of ethical behavior,
list the taking of intoxicating drugs along with killing, sexual misconduct, theft,
and lying as something every good Buddhist is expected to relinquish. Although
certain ecstatic Zen masters and Tantric yogins may be deemed sufficiently
awakened to be exempt from strict adherence to this precept, there is no
discussion about the role that drug use might play in propelling someone onto
the path in the first place.
As Buddhism comes of age in the West, it needs both to honor its traditions
and respond to the actual conditions of the world in which people live today.
Simply reiterating answers to moral issues that have worked well in the past may
serve only to alienate those who otherwise would find great value in the Dharma.
Before Buddhists can even begin to have a serious discussion about the use and
abuse of drugs in contemporary society, there needs to be an acceptance of at
least the possibility that certain currently illegal drugs can produce life-and
performance-enhancing effects. Such a shift in attitude may require considerably
greater openness, understanding, and tolerance from those in the Buddhist
community entrusted with offering moral and spiritual guidance.
Although we live in a world in which the widespread consumption of legal,