After taking a psychedelic, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say your brain might feel like it’s connecting to something greater or the “Ultimate Reality.” Psychedelic compounds can create feelings of euphoria, a loss of your sense of self, and as various treatment studies demonstrate, cause a transcendent experience so deeply moving that it helps people kick heavy burdens like depression and alcoholism—at least temporarily.
For thousands of years, people have been using natural drugs like ayahuasca and psilocybin to change their feelings and how they see the world. These substances have been part of many religious and cultural practices, from Native American rituals to those of South Asian Vedic traditions and European customs.
For example, ayahuasca, known as the “vine of the spirits” or “vine of the dead” in the Quechua language of Peru, is made by boiling certain plants in the Amazon. This bitter drink is used in shamanic ceremonies to help people feel connected to nature and the spiritual world. Similarly, people around the world might have been eating psilocybin “magic mushrooms” for thousands of years to expand their minds. (Source)
Compounds like psilocybin connect to serotonin receptors in your brain. However, scientists don’t yet understand how these connections create hallucinations and changes in reality that some users describe as a spiritual experience, like “seeing God.” Researchers believe that combining therapy, brain scans, and controlled doses of psychedelics could help them understand this better.
A 2019 study from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research surveyed 4,285 healthy people about their experiences of God or a higher “Ultimate Reality.” The participants included both users and non-users of classic psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, and DMT.
The results, published in the journal PLOS One, showed that users were more likely to describe their experiences as “Ultimate Reality” when given options like “God,” “Higher Power,” or “Aspect of God (like an angel).” They reported feeling a presence that influenced their reality and a reduced fear of death. Other studies have found similar experiences among those who used these psychedelic drugs.
As far back as 2006, researchers at Johns Hopkins found that a dose of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound from certain species of fungi, caused about 60 percent of healthy volunteers to have a “complete” spiritual trip. Participants having a spiritual experience said they felt a kind of unity of everything, without a physical form. They called it “pure consciousness.”
“Experiences that people describe as encounters with God or a representative of God have been reported for thousands of years, and they likely form the basis of many of the world’s religions,” said Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., former professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Griffiths, who died in 2023, co-created the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research. “And although modern Western medicine doesn’t typically consider ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ experiences as one of the tools in the arsenal against sickness, our findings suggest that these encounters often lead to improvements in mental health,” Griffiths said.
In 2020, the first successful brain scans using fMRI showed how the brain reacts during a psychedelic trip with psilocybin. These scans found that the “ego center” of the brain is less active when people take this drug, with activity in a part of the brain called the claustrum dropping by 15 to 30 percent.
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Researchers published their findings in the September 2020 issue of the journal NeuroImage. They noted that this decrease in activity is linked to how people report feeling more connected to the world and less focused on themselves while under the influence. The researchers also discovered that psilocybin changed how the claustrum interacted with areas of the brain responsible for hearing, attention, decision-making, and memory.
One study says 94% of DMT Users Experience Similar Otherworldly ‘Beings.’
Researchers are studying N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful psychedelic drug that changes consciousness. As more people use DMT and clinical trials begin, it’s essential to understand the intense… pic.twitter.com/pULc1G6n9Y
— Vicky Verma (@Unexplained2020) September 19, 2024
William Richards, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, has been studying psychedelics since 1963. He thinks humans share a “unitive consciousness” that psychedelics can help us access. It makes you feel a sense of unity that transcends space and time, Richards wrote in his 2015 book, Sacred Knowledge.
Classicist Brian Muraresku talked about the possibility that psychedelics may have been used in early Christian practices. In his 2020 book, The Immortality Key, he suggested that early followers of Christianity might have consumed hallucinogenic drugs during their rituals. He believes that the long history of using psychedelics in religious ceremonies in Greece likely influenced the new Christian practices that spread in the area.
Renowned neuroscientist and prolific author Sam Harris’s book Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, presents a thought-provoking and sometimes frustrating exploration of consciousness and the self. Harris argues that meditation and other techniques can help reduce human suffering by revealing that our conventional understanding of the self is an illusion. He suggests that the feeling of “I” is created by our thoughts, which are transient and do not point to a true self behind our perceptions. Understanding this concept can help people detach from the sources of their suffering.
Moreover, Danny Goler, a filmmaker, is working on the documentary The Discovery, in which he reveals a groundbreaking experiment that he believes could change everything we think we know about the universe. This experiment involves DMT, which led to an extraordinary discovery about reality. (Click here to read the full article)
Danny said how they projected a laser on a surface while under the influence of DMT, which revealed what seemed to be patterns of code reminiscent of “The Matrix.” Multiple people were shown this phenomenon, and all reported seeing similar visuals, implying the experience was not purely subjective.
Although modern Christian practices don’t use psychedelics, people—both religious and non-religious—still use them for their mind-expanding effects. This ongoing interest is leading scientists to explore why psychedelics can significantly change our perception of reality.
In the last decade, the use of some psychedelics has been increasing among Americans. According to the nonpartisan RAND Corporation, about 8 million Americans used psilocybin in 2023, which is more than ever before.
