I am currently reading two books, one being DMT - the spirit molecule and the other being Teaching of Don Juan by Castaneda.

DMT seems to be a legitimate book with honest claims but as for Castaneda... I started reading and at first i was mesmerized by his writing and i wanted to believe what he wrote but later on my skepticism took over and as the book got more and more ridiculousness i came to conclusion that he was just another New Age author that was either deluded or deliberately lied to make money.

Anyone else has an opinion about Castaneda or DMT and/or other book recommendations on the topic? Anything from philosophy to science of it to stuff like psychedelic therapy.

I promised myself to be a full blown skeptic ever since my former few experiences with other religions/gurus or books dealing with such topic. I am looking for non-bs books to put bluntly and i will not accept anything until i either expirience it through my own skin or through scrutinizing logical possibilities.

Thanks.

- Best Wishes.

You should have a look at MAPS for current and past research into psychedelics and associated compounds.

I've never fully read Castaneda, so I don't know much about the types of delusions and hallucinations he was probably having. I think you need to identify what the master was trying to achieve and see whether his methods are appropriate for that, which from what I gathered he was trying to develop a particular type of power, mastery and altered state of reality (which was either clearer or more deluded; again, I've not read all that much).

PIHKAL is pretty cool IMO

http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online...al/pihkal.shtml

I read DMT - The spirit molecule as an ebook, then later ordered the book to sit on my shelf. It's a very important book for studying psychology and spontaneous visions that have arisen in some people. My favourite part is when the 'cool shaman' dude drives in on his motorbike with all his LSD/shroom experiences and just doesnt take it seriously - Then he experiences being raped by two crocodiles...

I'm currently reading 'LSD, Spirituality and the Creative Process: Based on the Groundbreaking Research of Oscar Janiger, M.D.' This book is an excellent follow up to a study done when LSD was legal. It was one of the only trials to be done in an informal setting instead of a cold hospital with the smell of chemicals and death all around. It tries to establish the constants of LSD through a sorting method of subjects experiences and from this simply presents all the data. This is also relative to a lot of hallucinogens - timelessness, egoloss, body/mind expansion, perceptual distortions etc.

I'd recommend it as its entirely scientific and not detracting from the information with the authors own ideas.