Dalai Lama Q&A - On Using Psychedelic Drugs

He is not advocating on not using psychedelics, he is saying "one must not rely on external substances" to reach enlightenment.  It must be done through yourself.  And I agree with that.  But I do believe that psychedelics can be used to "open the door" so to speak

Psychedelics are a useful tool, but developing a daily practice will be more practical and beneficial in the long run. I’ve had ego death on lsd twice, and though it was certainly profound and liberating, alone it is not enough. I still carry many of the same problems I had before I did lsd only now I am aware of them. Psychedelics are a wonderful tool that can open the door, but if you really want to get somewhere you have to do the work. In short, psychedelics are great, but they are not the end all be all. If that were the case, then every college kid with an acid tab would be a sage, but that’s just not how it works. True and lasting enlightenment takes personal effort.

Interestingly enough, the strongest acid i've ever had was a blotter called Dalai Lama. One of these resulted in ego-death (which was the first time I experienced it) and after this, my fear of death was no longer present. Still is not. I think psychedelics create some illusions while simultaneously removing others.

One crucial thing that the Dalai Lama is missing, that has been confirmed by a bunch of research since this talk, is that psychedelics don't just provide peak experiences. They also vastly increase neuroplasticity for a period of weeks or months at a time. Neuroplasticity makes it much easier to learn any skill, including meditation, whereas otherwise, once you are out of your teens or mid-20s, you are fighting biology and increasingly ossified brains, which is one reason why so many people fail to progress in meditation. (Other reasons include trauma and PTSD, which often prove too powerful for meditation alone to treat.) Psychedelics also make other means much more effective, like yoga, neurofeedback and direct brain stimulation. The Dalai Lama says that he is not enlightened, and I don't think he is just being modest. I think he means it, as he is comparing himself to the truly great masters who have spent decades on retreat, and whom he has met many of in his life. And even they are not by default 'omniscient', as enlightenment does not mean you are omniscient. He has never claimed to have all the answers, or even that Buddhism has all the answers.

He is not wrong. He is saying that it is a better alternative to explore and expand consciousness through meditation.  The strongest hallucinogens are already produced inside of our brains. We don't need external stimuli. We can achieve higher states on our own. Although I personally see the purpose of hallucinogens.. they are here for a reason and do help us. He didn't condemn drug use. He didn't state you shouldn't do it. He said it was better to reach enlightenment on your own. 

I think psychedelics are powerful tools for exploring our consciousness, but I don't think they bring you enlightenment. I think they have their place and can be used for many spiritual and therapeutic reasons, but they're not the ultimate answers to life. They're tools like every other tool. They are medicines like any other medicine.

People keep saying that psychedelics are an easy route - this is simply not the case. They act quickly but they are far from easy. A powerful mushroom or DMT trip is a challenge for your whole being - it questions your ego, your assumptions, the whole fabric of reality and reminds you of the life force that is you and connects with everything in the cosmos. These substances are not cheap party tricks and should be taken very seriously by both academia, religious leaders and politicians and society at large. I suggest the Dalai Lama try one of these substances so he can at least compare what he has experienced through meditation with the power of psychedelics.

I love the dalai lama, and all that he represents, and I also have a great deal of respect for him saying that people can attain 'enlightenment' (or whatever you want to call it) without the use of psychedelics. But I really do fear that the timescale that we have left on this planet for the human species to not become extinct is too short for him to dismiss the use of psychedelics as agents for changing peoples minds about our current predicament. I do not say this lightly, but anyone with experience in this area has probably been witness to people going into psychedelic experiences complete egotistical jerks and then re-emerging relatively decent and levelled people. A medicine this strong, and this efficacious, should be utilized, not dismissed. For some solid science about this please research the recent studies, only just allowed due to changes in the law, done by Roland Griffiths, into the effects on peoples perspective due to psilocybin. Published in the highly respected journal of psychopharmacology.

I think that psychedelics are a medium for people who just don't have the patience or correct understanding of meditation. I believe that things like mushrooms and ayahuasca and other plants should be treated with respect and not to have a good time with. I have never taken any psychedelic before, but I am open to the possibility. Nature gives these things to us and there are many old tribes that used psychedelics for thousands of years as part of their spiritual growth. the meditative state can be acheived with the use of psychs, but the problem is that it is not appreciated as much as someone who worked really hard to get to that stage. personally I do want to try something in the future, and I am thinking mushrooms, very small doses in a controlled environment should give me some insight. I will post again if I found some info that could help you guys. Have an awesome week xx

the interviewer looks like a martial arts villain who turned good at the end of the movie lol

If you don’t have 50 years to go exile and meditate then finding a higher sense of being might be assisted through the use of psychedelics

Also, they guy is the human Yoda. Even the way he talks.. very Yoda, from return of the Jedi hahah

They're not additional illusory experiences, they're simply different ones. And you need them to understand how your day-to-day experience is in fact also in many ways an illusion. Not necessarily a bad illusion, not a false illusion, but still merely one of many ways for your brain to interpret its surroundings.

an unfortunate thing such a simplistic answer was given. hopefully one day the true power and awe of the psychedelics, as a tool to be used in conjunction with meditative techniques, will be explored and brought to more people's awareness.

Psychedelics are fun, it's ok to have fun folks.

Ignorance and disdain get riotous applause.

L.S.D. Assistance opened my mind to the universal flow, I see the overwhelming beauty in everything. Especially these humble folks and their message to the world. peace

Psychedelics are a rite of passage, but a daily meditation practice should both preceed and follow.

Using psychedelics to experience a higher state of consciousness is like enjoying a weeks vacation to to a nice relaxed tropical place but in the end you still go back to an unenjoyable job in a humdrum town. It allows you to see a potential other or alternative but ultimately will not give it to you. If you want to enhance your life and elevate your mind you must put in the work to attain it. Psychadelics are phenominal in many ways, but as with all tools and/or endulgences they have their uses and they have their limits of what is healthy.

Actually the Dalia Lama has maybe forgotten that "the science of mind" in sanskrit is "Adhyatma Vidya" Meditation is a laboratory in which we discover our true and fullly perfect qualities.