#286 — The Paradox of Psychedelics
Making Sense with Sam Harris
Waking Up with Sam Harris
4.6 • 29.7K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2022
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
Sam Harris shares an audio essay exploring how psychedelics are, for many, the only way to glimpse "the vast firmament beyond the prison walls" of the "conceptual mind"—and often serve as the gateway to meditation. He also discusses how the very profundity of the psychedelic experience can distract us from the true purpose of mindfulness—the recognition that consciousness is always already free, in every moment. Also included are highlights from the Waking Up app created for a recent Tim Ferriss podcast.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Making Sense podcast. |
| 0:24.1 | This is Sam Harris. |
| 0:26.4 | Okay, well there's a lot going on in the world, but that will all have to wait for the |
| 0:32.8 | next podcast. |
| 0:35.2 | Today I wanted to give you a sampling of some of the content that we've released over |
| 0:39.2 | at Waking Up. |
| 0:40.8 | I recently recorded a 10 minute audio essay on the relationship between psychedelics and |
| 0:47.2 | meditation titled The Paradox of Psychedelics and thought that might be of interest to some |
| 0:52.7 | of you here. |
| 0:56.6 | And then my friend Tim Ferris had requested about 30 minutes of waking up audio for his |
| 0:59.4 | podcast. |
| 1:00.8 | And so I'm adding the package we delivered to him here as well. |
| 1:05.8 | Anyway, hope you enjoy it. |
| 1:07.9 | And if you do more information can be found over at WakingUp.com. |
| 1:17.6 | In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in psychedelics. |
| 1:22.1 | One thing that these drugs do for almost everyone is prove beyond any possibility of doubt |
| 1:28.2 | that the mind is far more vast and interesting and malleable than they had any reason to expect |
| 1:35.2 | before taking psychedelics. |
| 1:37.9 | Taking a sufficient dose of psilocybin or LSD provided you have a generally positive experience |
| 1:44.4 | makes it absolutely clear that you have been living in a kind of prison and once the drug |
| 1:49.6 | wears off and you're returned to that prison. |
| 1:53.3 | You can't quite convince yourself that it's good to live there. |
... |
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