The Bearded Mystic Podcast
Rahul N Singh host of The Bearded Mystic Podcast explores the Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta or Nonduality in a very simple, direct and practical way.
Episodes include discussions into eastern scriptures like The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads etc and discussions about everyday spirituality.
Rahul has been on the spiritual path for over 20 years and has an open-minded approach to spirituality and finds that there is no one size fits all approach.
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The Bearded Mystic Podcast
The Illusion of Chemical Enlightenment
Psychedelics cannot lead to enlightenment according to the Advaita Vedanta framework, as true awakening is the recognition of one's nature as formless awareness rather than a temporary experience. Enlightenment is not a mind-altered state but the realization of what you already are, which requires clarity rather than chemical substances.
• Enlightenment in Advaita Vedanta means resting in formless awareness and recognizing oneself as Brahman
• Psychedelics create altered states that give the illusion of awakening but remain temporary mind experiences
• True realization is not an experience but the recognition of your ever-present nature that doesn't come and go
• The Vedantic path requires shravanah (listening), manana (reflection), and nididhyasana (abiding as awareness)
• Ego dissolution during psychedelic experiences is not the same as recognizing the non-existence of the ego
• Chasing spiritual highs through substances creates another form of desire that keeps one bound to suffering
• Alternatives like bhakti yoga, scriptural study, and self-inquiry provide more authentic paths to realization
• Your true nature as awareness is already present and accessible without any substance or altered state
Try bhakti yoga instead of psychedelics – it's a much better gateway to spiritual realization without the potential pitfalls.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. So today I wanted to look at a very what I seem to feel is a very ridiculous topic to discuss, but it's somewhat getting a lot of popularity because in the west there's this belief that, uh, that psychedelics can lead you to enlightenment, that psychedelics are a gateway for the no mind or for a thoughtless mind or for the cessation of pain or suffering. And again, if anyone has become enlightened as a result of psychedelics, I'm not arguing whether they're enlightened or not. That's not the point of this. I'm purely looking at this from an Advaita Vedanta lens and why I don't believe from that framework that that leads to enlightenment. Now, it may be that someone has done psychedelics and they've reached somewhere. I'm not arguing at that point either for me. I want to settle the score now nowadays. So recently I've been part of a few discord servers and you could say it's kind of been like a case study for me where I've been kind of putting on the persona and riding the wave with some of these discord servers and I've been slowly backing away from them because because one doesn't find to be of much value.
Speaker 1:But the amazing thing is about how many of these people claim enlightenment and they take substances in order to feel or get the assumption they're having an awakening or they are having a spiritual realization or they're enlightened, and I think this is pretty dangerous. I truly believe that and this is where I agree with some of the mainstream gurus that you shouldn't have to take these substances, and I would even include alcohol in this. I'm not saying that one shouldn't. I'm not telling you what to drink and what to consume. That's not the point. The whole point is whether these things actually do lead to enlightenment and what happens as a result when these people get a feeling, obviously and I've discussed this in the episode where people will feel that they've achieved something, but that's not necessarily the case and all it is. All it really is is a mind game and it stays in the mind, and so what we're really doing is being in the mind and thinking. We're in awareness, and it's really interesting. So let's have a look at this.
Speaker 1:So, first of all, you know it's pretty clear what we find to be jiva, mukti or moksha. We know that that means resting in formless awareness, abiding in Brahman. That's what enlightenment is, according to Advaita Vedanta. Now, this is the recognition that one is not the body, one is not the mind and this is a good one not the mind or the experiences, but one is the infinitechanging, formless brahman and that's fundamentally it. That's what you are and therefore that kind of gives you a hint about what Advaita Vedanta views, as if one consumes substances and if one gets a realization from that, what that really means.
Speaker 1:Now, it is true that psychedelics nowadays are. They're marketed and I see this all the time on discord. They're marketed as tools for awakening, for enlightenment, but from a Vedantic perspective, they actually fail to establish a true realization, and the reason why I also say that is because there's inconsistencies. Now, I know a lot of people use Ram Dass as the poster boy for psychedelics and I would even say there are certain things that Ram Dass has said which I kind of disagree with, and the one point being anger, that he thinks that spiritual people can get angry. I'm not talking about anger in terms of social justice issues. I'm talking about, like personal anger, like because they didn't get a glass of juice or someone didn't look at them the right way. I'm not talking about that, those are two different things. But anyway, this is not about Ram Dass, because he said so many other good, great things, so I'm not going to use that against him.
Speaker 1:Anyway, this episode is about why psychedelics cannot lead you to enlightenment and why resting in formless awareness is the only true advaitic realization. So this is obviously gearing up for my course and I'm laying a prerequisite, kind of right now, is that if you feel that you've got enlightened or you become spiritually awakened due to psychedelics, if you want to attend my course, you do have to abolish that idea and you do have to remove that idea and that I will not be entertaining any discussion around that subject and which is why I'm doing this episode today. So that should be clear and let's continue so anyway. So enlightenment simply is not an experience. Now, this is certainly from what I have felt and from other accounts.
Speaker 1:Enlightenment is not an experience. It's exactly what you are, it's the realization of what you are, and it's not something that is fleeting. It's not something that just disappears or appears and then disappears, appears. It's, it's constant, it's the one constant thing and it's a natural state, and it's interesting that nothing has brought this about it. It has always been here. The only thing is that we've clouded it with that ignorance, and that ignorance is then removed.
Speaker 1:So psychedelics what they do obviously is or any type of substance is that they create altered states and this gives an illusion to like you know, oh, yeah, I've, I'm awakened, or I, you know, I experienced oneness. And yes, you may have experienced oneness, but it's been at the result of something where a part of your brain has been changed or altered due to a substance. If your brain cannot do this without the substance, then is it a true realization? And that's the question I always have. I'm not saying it's not a good gateway, not saying that at all. I think it is a good gateway, but is it the key, is it the answer? And do you even need it? I mean, meditation leads you to these things anyway, like to awakening and to oneness. A bit of karma yog can lead you there. Bhakti yog can certainly lead you to this. In fact, bhakti yog would be a better, uh, kind of is a better as a kind of practice to use than psychedelics, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:You know, having that devotion towards your ish devta, towards god, towards any devi or devta or to guru, that invokes more awakening and more oneness than anything else, and it's kind of um, you know, when you surrender to that, that's where beauty appears. So Advaita Vedanta clearly states and this is true abiding in Brahman, or I remember, knowing your true nature as Brahman, resting in formless awareness, understanding that that is what you are. It's not an experience, it's an ever-present reality that you cannot deny, and it's beyond all states. It's not part of the brain. Yeah, in Advaita Vedanta, consciousness is prior to the brain. So, and the mind, it's not the brain that produces consciousness.
Speaker 1:You know, that's the whole premise of Advaita Vedanta. It says consciousness is the primary, the mind is secondary, the body is secondary, the body is secondary. So if you have altered states of mind, it's just a mind game, it's got nothing to do with consciousness. Yeah, so the key point here is that experiences, they arise and they fall, both within awareness. But awareness itself, the true self, true self, remains unchanged. And, to be honest, all the psychedelics will be doing will be showing you the changes in the mind, not necessarily the awareness in the mind. You may do it with that intention, to know the awareness. But again, when you come out, when you have the come down, when you go out of the psychedelic experience, do you still experience that awareness? So I would say, book the yoke is a better kind of drug. If you must use to take to consume, it's much better. Devotion is a much better practice. Devotion is a much better practice.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously, as I mentioned, psychedelics affect the mind and not the self, the self that we refer to as Brahman or the Atman. So psychedelics, you know it works by altering brain chemistry. One may claim that it doesn't, but frankly it does and it affects our perception. It affects our emotions and ego boundaries. So if it doesn't, all we have is a higher tolerance, it's not necessarily that we are somehow superior now that we have a mind that is beyond psychedelics.
Speaker 1:Psychedelics cannot measure enlightenment because enlightenment is prior to any mind altered state. So this is a key thing to understand. So resting in formless awareness is not dependent on the brain or the mind or any sense of perception. Not at all. No perception is covered there. So remember that the self, or the Atman or brahman, is already free and that no substance can reveal what's already your true nature, because for something to um, for us to say that being away enlightened is an addition to your true nature. No, it's your true nature, so that's an important one to understand. Then we have the issue of impermanence.
Speaker 1:Now Advaita is very clear that the true realization is one, is eternal. So it doesn't belong to time. It's going to be with you forever. There's not a single moment when this is not, and then it's effortless. Once it's going to be with you forever. There's not a single moment when this is not, and then it's effortless. Once it's recognized, it becomes. You know. You don't have to do anything to get into the state. You know.
Speaker 1:If someone had to ask me, can you get into formless awareness? That's like me saying that I'm already out of formless awareness, so that person perceives I'm out of formless awareness. I can't be out of formless awareness. It's impossible. Once you've recognized it, once you've immersed yourself in it, that's the only thing you want and need and that's the only state you can be in. It's not even about want and need and that's the only state you can be in. It's not even about want and need. It's the only way to be, and everything else is just would be a silly game. You know, if, if I wanted to go back into the state of mind of the ego. That would be a silly thing to do. It's not exciting either.
Speaker 1:Not saying the ego is not used. The ego is obviously used, but it's a tool, it's an instrument, nothing more. Psychedelics again, I'm not going to discount that. You will get an insight, for sure you will get some really nice insights into the nature of reality. But it's temporary because the chemical influence will wear off, it will reduce and therefore the insight you gain is a product of something else than your natural egoic self. So it's better to deal with your natural egoic self than an altered egoic self. Because for the altered egoic self to be dealt with you kind of have to then take the psychedelic in order to deal with it. So the substance has to be consumed. But if you have, if you're able to do this without the substance and you deal with the egoic kind of influence, the egoic nature, you can actually do a much better job and actually get to your true nature a lot quicker.
Speaker 1:So similar to this, you know, if you want to understand say, you've never taken a psychedelic and you want to understand how it works. But it's like a dream. You know you have a dream and in the dream you may be taught amazing messages. Maybe you went to the Himalayas and you were with the sages and they taught you so many amazing things and they showed you so many deep things and great kind of visions. But when you wake up you're in your bed and the dream disappears. It's no longer there. So, again, that's how these psychedelic experiences are.
Speaker 1:So Vedanta says this that whatever is real must always remain real and it cannot depend on any substance or any fleeting experiences. So remember, your experience of enlightenment is not, it's not even an experience. It's your natural state and therefore it's something that is natural to you. It's like breathing is very natural to us, unless we're unhealthy, but while we're healthy it's very natural. We don't think about breathing. Imagine if you were conscious of every little breath you took. Imagine, but we don't have to. The body just does what the body has to do. The mind just does what the body has to do. The mind just does what the mind has to do and your true nature remains as it is meant to be, as itself. So that's another thing. So true realization requires clarity, not an altered perception, and this is important.
Speaker 1:This is why I find Vedanta so interesting, because there's an actual process in order to realize the truth. One is that you do shravanah, you listen to the truth, you listen to the messages, you listen and read the scriptures, you take in what the scriptures say and then you do manana, you deeply reflect upon those things. To remove your doubts, to remove any delusions, you have to remove any questions you have and you do all of that, and then nididhyasana, where the questions and the questioner both cease to be, so you can abide in formless awareness. So you can abide in formless awareness, so you can rest in formless awareness when you just are the embodiment of that message that you heard in the beginning, so during the chauvinist stage, because now you don't need to do any monanar, you don't need to remove any doubts. That's been so.
Speaker 1:Now what happens is we have a teaching and the teaching is rather muddy for us. So we have to sift out the debris, the rubbish, the trash. So that's what we have to do, by removing the doubt. So when we remove the doubts, that teaching becomes crystal clear like a diamond, and therefore nididhyasana is just being with the diamond, understanding the diamond was always there. The dirt was just something we accumulated over many lives.
Speaker 1:So the issue is that psychedelics now bypass this process because they give people that glimpse, which is unprocessed, it's undoubted, it's never been understood, the mind does not know what's going on, the intellect has not been strong enough to discern between the real and the unreal, and this causes more doubts, this causes more um, existential crisis when we come out of that state so we can get the glimpse. And the other issue that can happen is we suddenly start saying oh well, I'm enlightened because this is what happened to me, but all those things you've not processed are going to come back to bite you and they will and and you may still pretend to be a guru, you may still pretend to be a realized being, but the vasanas that you never dealt with, the conditioning you never dealt with, the limitations you never dealt with, will come back and they will surely harm not just yourself but even others, because you're now pretending to teach others while not doing the work yourself, the inner work that was required. Again, remember, there was a four prerequisites, and in my course we go over that four prerequisites in. In my course we go over that four prerequisites very in a lot of detail. And you need those things because in order to be ready for the highest reality. It's not that you have to be ready for it, but you need the ground prepared in order to understand it, to understand that actually it was always with you.
Speaker 1:So so the whole point is that Vedanta the good thing is is that, especially in today's day and age, it requires intellectual clarity, deep contemplation. Those things are absolutely, absolutely necessary and they're not just mystical states. So when you get a glimpse, it's not a mystical state, you could say so, but it's a mystical state done in awareness. You glimpse it's not a mystical state, you could say so, but it's a mystical state done in awareness. You're alert, it's different. Yeah, you, you know that this is just one of the one of the steps closer to realization. And even if it becomes realization, you do not get an ego from it, because you know there's not an individual that got enlightened. But with the psychedelic, you think the individual got enlightened. Yeah, this is the very subtle point, the very different.
Speaker 1:You see, this nuanced point is what's missed in today's conversations about this whole thing. You know you'll have podcasters talking about take psychedelics, it's good, it's this and that. Oh, you know, being in, know you'll have podcasters talking about take psychedelics, it's good, it's this and that, oh, you know, being in like it'll get you to enlightenment. Don't fall for that trap. You fall for that trap, you won't do the work that's necessary. It will bring more harm to you in the long run. Short term you get praised. Long you'll cause harm and that's something we have to avoid. Now this is a big one, because I hear this so much and I could. You know it's only when you go through your own journey do you realize how disastrous some ideas can be. So you have here now.
Speaker 1:The next point that I put was ego dissolution is not the same as Atman board or the realization of a true self, or Brahman, brahman realization. So the realization of the formless Ego dissolution is not that. They're two different things. So, yes, psychedelics, definitely. You know they can temporarily dissolve the ego, but remember, when it wears off, you're going. They can temporarily dissolve the ego, but remember, when it wears off, you're going to get the ego back again.
Speaker 1:You may have this feeling of, oh, yeah, I dealt with the ego and you may remember, you may recall, you may memorize an experience of oh, I took a psychedelic, this is what I experienced, oh, this is what I'm feeling right now, as this psychedelic has read off no, no, now you're living in delusion, you've not checked whether you're living in the memory of the experience, not checking if that experience has actually changed the current state. And remember, the mind is very cunning, the ego is very cunning. The ego will say, yeah, I've been removed. I've been removed and this is what creates that cosmic feeling of unity, of oneness. Yeah, I'm one with the universe. The universe was speaking within me. I meditated and I felt one. I felt one. You see, I felt this oneness.
Speaker 1:So people try to superimpose their present reality with a previous experience. And this is what I found on this discord servers, these little language things. They may say, oh, this is all semantics, but sorry, but semantics says a lot. And yes, I guess, when two realized people speak even though there may be semantics, but there's a general ground of understanding which permeates in the conversation, as long as both are very humble and they see each other both at the same level playing field and we've seen those conversations online, they do exist. But whenever there's a subtle like oh, I know better than this person, or I know better than these people, even though I may claim humility, it still doesn't click, but anyway, I'm digressing. So Advaita says and this is really interesting it says the ego. Well, that's still within Maya. Even if you say you dissolve the ego, that's within Maya, that's, that's nothing different.
Speaker 1:Resting in formless awareness is not an experience of unity. Again, not an experience of unity, it's the realization that you are the formless substratum of all experiences. All experiences arise due to consciousness. Without consciousness, these experiences do not arise. Therefore, go to consciousness that Without consciousness, these experiences do not arise. Therefore, go to consciousness. That is your true nature, that is who you are. That's where the feeling, the sense of I, I as Ramana Maharishi called it, that's where the feeling arises. Or you could say the I prior to I, the I-ness that's prior to the ego. So what the Brahma realization is, the Brahma jnana, what that realization is is not that, oh, the ego is dissolved. No, oh, the ego is.
Speaker 1:The dissolution of the ego has happened and now there's only oneness. No, the ego still is there, but the ego is now a tool, for example, to communicate. A certain sense of subtle ego is required for you to say well, I am guiding you here or you are on this level of the path. That's where ego is used just to kind of point, not to define one's identity. So Brahman is not something you merge with. Yeah, it's what you've always been. So again, to dissolve the ego and say, well, the ego has dissolved away is an actual misnomer. It's an actual mistake. The ego never existed in the first place. There's only been Brahman, there's only consciousness, and that's the fundamental realization. Then the last point I wanted to make, which is an important one the trap of spiritual highs. And trust me, that trap is harmful. That trap is is harmful. That trap is incredibly harmful.
Speaker 1:Psychedelics they definitely create this false belief of higher states and that that equals realization. You're just getting higher states for the mind. And the mind is fascinating. The mind is just like maya, it's indescribable. The more you go into maya, the more beautiful it seems. Same thing with the mind the more you go into the mind, the more beautiful and more powerful it seems, more wondrous it seems.
Speaker 1:But that's not the ultimate truth. What is aware of all this? So, resting in formless awareness is beyond all these states, whether that's, you know, happiness or bliss, as people will call it, visions and even the oneness experience. If there are experiences or states of mind that come and go, then that is not realization. So when we keep chasing the spiritual high so you know, we keep taking psychedelics to go into those states of mind and then to assume that we've transcended the mind also, that's just another desire that keeps one bound to samsara. We have not truly got enlightened. We've truly not gone beyond suffering. You've truly not gone beyond suffering.
Speaker 1:Again, I want to say the caveat is I'm not saying that anyone that's taken psychedelics has never become enlightened. I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying is, for the majority of the cases definitely has not led to enlightenment. In fact I think it leads more to mental health issues and it leads to spiritual grandiosity and and assumptions that one is enlightened as long as you feel there is a person that is being enlightened. Consider, enlightenment has not occurred if one.
Speaker 1:And this is why the game of enlightenment is so silly, it's so stupid and in a way, the great thing is, psychedelics actually point to that game very well, and so you know, get out of that game and just rest in formless awareness. Just rest in formless consciousness, rest in the true awareness. Just rest in formless consciousness, rest in the true nature of who you are, of what you are. You don't need to make another identity of, oh, I'm a spiritual person, or I'm a spiritual teacher, or I'm a spiritual seeker, or I'm a spiritual student. You don't need to do any of that. Or I'm a spiritual student, don't need to do any of that. Just go beyond these labels and just rest in that realization that there is only Brahman, only Brahman, and that can keep one safe and sound.
Speaker 1:So what's the final verdict? Um, yes, psychedelics do offer temporary insights. Not doubting that at all. Think it's good, it's a good gateway. Is it needed as a gateway? No, try bhakti instead. Much better, and with a competent vidanta teacher, you can do bhakti without getting trapped, even in. We can talk about this tomorrow, how you can get trapped in bhakti as well. So, yeah, we can do that, but remember, psychedelics cannot, at least for 99.99%. I know people are going to say how can you come up with that percentage? It's just pretty obvious.
Speaker 1:You cannot establish resting in formless awareness as a permanent realization. If you're taking psychedelics in order to become enlightened, true Advaita, first of all it requires a Guru, it requires a teacher, someone that can mentor us, someone that can help us. Then scriptural study we read the Upanishads, the brahma sutras, the bhagavad gita. Then we do self-inquiry what is the self? What is the self, not who is the self? What is the self? And then deep contemplation on brahman, on consciousness, on formless. And here there's no chemical shortcuts. You have to do this the long way, but trust me, it's worth it. It is definitely worth it.
Speaker 1:So remember, you don't need a substance to experience that. You are awareness. If you want to experience your true nature right now, you don't need a substance. You're already that. All you need to do is recognize it and rest with it. So how do you recognize it? Well, right now, aren't you aware of the sound of my voice, the vision of me on the screen? You can probably be aware of your breath right now.
Speaker 1:Now, become aware of that awareness. Is there any word, any letter that you need to say after that? Because don't before. A thought can even be created once you become aware of awareness. Just rest there and you'll notice that that is your true nature. Become aware of awareness. Just rest there and you'll notice that that is your true nature. That is formless, that is imageless, that is boundless, that is bliss. That is the most beautiful aspect of our true nature, of nature itself, our true nature of nature itself, and this is something we can all experience. All we need is the right way forward.
Speaker 1:So let me know if you have any questions. This is important. Let me know your views, let me know if you disagree with me. You know, maybe there's a point that I haven't addressed and maybe we can address it in another podcast episode, but fundamentally, I don't think I can budge from this, and I would advise that, instead of taking psychedelics, try bhakti yoga instead. It's much better and it's much more cool in my opinion. But let's look at tomorrow, and it's much more cool in my opinion, but let's look at tomorrow. Let's look at how bhakti yoga can actually, how we can get trapped in that, too. That would be a good topic of discussion. And then maybe another day, we'll look at the Vedanta Sada. I may not produce an episode tomorrow. If I don't, it'll be on Saturday. So one way or another another, I'll get an episode out anyway. Thank you very much for listening. Take care, do like this video, do comment, do subscribe, do share this, do subscribe to my or join my discord server. Yeah, looking forward to spending more time with you. Take care, namaste bye.
