Vydání
The 9th Biennial Conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism: "Western Esotericism and Practice", 26-28 June, 2023, Malmö, Department of Society Culture and Identity, Malmö University, Sweden, 2023
V originále
The idea of direct experience is phenomenologically strong when it comes to the spiritually oriented ritual use of psychedelics. Psychonauts, navigators of the soul or mind who use mind altering substances place fundamental importance on experimentation, reporting and confrontation of the psychedelic trips that are undertaken and also the knowledge that is gained. Direct experience appears to be the only way to go but also the best possible tool for learning, often from a teacher contained in the substance itself. In this paper I will discuss practice of psychedelic use for transcendental objectives on three levels: consumption, navigation, and knowledge acquisition. This presentation will further explore how mind alteration breaks the barrier between practice and knowledge, analysing the patterns of universalism found in trip reports which unite the concept of knowledge with the idea of action. Is having knowledge already a practice or is the application of that knowledge the practice itself?