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ORIGINAL AIR DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

This episode focuses on entheogens\u2014psychedelic drugs that are known to cause \u201cmystical states\u201d of consciousness. Our hosts discuss Rick Strassman\u2019s work on DMT, but that is merely a subset of entheogen study. Current research in the fields of brain science, psychology, and religion are struggling to explain how entheogens and the experiences they cause should be understood. The dilemma of consciousness, more popularly known as the mind-body problem, is at the heart of the struggle. Do entheogens simply affect part of the brain and its chemistry triggering new states of consciousness from inside your head? Or do these drugs separate consciousness from the organ of the body we call the brain, verifying that consciousness is distinct from the brain? Are God and other supernatural beings experienced by people under the effect of entheogens just a product of the brain, or are they entities to be experienced by unhindered consciousness?

Articles:

Peter Bebergal, \u201cMystics Under the Microscope,\u201d Search Magazine (January-February 2009): 35-39

Ron Cole-Turner, \u201cEntheogens, Mysticism, and Neuroscience,\u201d Zygon, vol. 49:3 (September 2014): 642-651

Leonard Hummel, \u201cBy its Fruits? Mystical and Visionary States of Consciousness Occasioned by Entheogens,\u201d Zygon, vol. 49, no. 3 (September 2014) : 685-695

Michael Lerner and Michael Lyvers, \u201cValues and Beliefs of Psychedelic Drug Users: A Cross-Cultural Study,\u201d Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 38:2 (June 2006): 143-147

David P. Luke and Marios Kittenis, \u201cA Preliminary Survey of Paranormal Experiences with Psychoactive Drugs,\u201d The Journal of Parapsychology 69:2 (2005): 305-327

W.A. Richards, \u201cHere and Now: Discovering the Sacred with Entheogens,\u201d Zygon 49:3 (Sept, 2014):652-665