book1964

The Psychedelic Experience

Disciplines:

Summary

Leary, Metzner, and Alpert's guide to psychedelic experiences — modeled on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, intended to help navigators manage the dissolution of ego during LSD sessions.

Core Contribution

The 'set and setting' doctrine: the psychological preparation and physical environment are as important as the drug itself in determining the psychedelic experience. Using the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a map: the stages of ego death and rebirth parallel the bardo transitions described by Tibetan Buddhism. The instructions for 'turning on, tuning in, dropping out' in a systematic rather than haphazard way. One of the most influential counterculture documents.

Key Spikes & Highlights

The Beatles quoted from it directly in 'Tomorrow Never Knows' (1966) — making it a touchstone of psychedelic rock.
Was partly responsible for Nixon naming Leary 'the most dangerous man in America' — the book's influence on 1960s counterculture was enormous enough to generate a federal response.

Historical Influences

Tibetan Book of the Dead Aldous Huxley

Intellectual Lineage

Psychedelic Research Tibetan Buddhism

Allied Works

The Politics of Ecstasy Flashbacks High Priest

Contemporaries & Peers

The Politics of Ecstasy The Doors of Perception

Minds Influenced

Psychedelic Culture Modern Psychedelic Therapy

Intellectual Posterity

Psychedelic Culture Set and Setting Concept

Discussing