Not Your Typical Hippie

Not your typical hippie and not your typical trip, Huxley used mescalin to enlighten himself. During his experience, he found that mescalin opened his mind, making him more susceptible to the "Mind at Large." He found that the mescalin brought on an intense feeling of understanding which he compared to Zen-like experiences and other religous practices. The most interesting thing was the absence of serious hallucinations. He expected scenery, a new psychodelic world, but did not get it. "I saw no landscapes, no enormous spaces, no magical growth and matamorphosis of buildings, nothing remotely like a drama or a parable. The other world to which mescalin admitted me was not the world of visions; it existed out there, in what I could see with my eyes open. The great change was in the realm of objective fact. What had happened to my subjective universe was relatively unimportant." (Huxley, 16) He goes on to talk about his new understanding of "being." He sees things as beautifully existing. The simple fact that they are is more important than anything else. He sees everything begin to blend together as one, not literally. He does not see things melt together. He recognizes "the infinate value of naked existance." (Huxley, 26) Therefore, the chair is the table and the table is the flowers. They simply exist, and that is beutiful.

I have held reservations. I have kept some stories and insights to myself during this class in fear of judgement. I have my own personal experiences that I have not felt comfortable sharing. I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression of me. I still don't feel entirely comfortable; I'm not sure if what I really want to say is entirely appropriate, but I will say this: I felt a parallel through this entire reading, a parallel that is impossible to overlook. I have been speculative of some of the material we have discussed, but I am not, in any way, shape, or form, speculative of this.