Reddit reviews LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious

My perspective on drugs: I like them. I think they can be valuable tools and provide wonderful experiences.

I currently have a good reading list I'm working through for a planned project that will require a lot of LSD. I'm interested in LSD and MDMA psychotherapy to help solve some deep-seated problems (you have no idea how far from normal I am) and for general self-improvement. Fascinating subject, particularly the works by Stanislav Grof.

The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys: http://www.amazon.com/The-Psychedelic-Explorers-Guide-Therapeutic/dp/1594774021

LSD Psychotherapy: Exploring the Frontiers of the Hidden Mind
http://www.amazon.com/Psychotherapy-Healing-Potential-Psychedelic-Medicine/dp/0979862205

LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious
http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Numinous-Groundbreaking-Psychedelic-Unconscious/dp/1594772827

Tripping: An Anthology of True-Life Psychedelic Adventures
http://www.amazon.com/Tripping-Anthology-True-Life-Psychedelic-Adventures/dp/0140195742

The Doors of Perception: Heaven and Hell
http://www.amazon.com/The-Doors-Perception-Thinking-Classics/dp/1907590099

Through the Gateway of the Heart (about MDMA)
http://www.maps.org/gateway/

Thanatos To Eros, 35 Years of Psychedelic Exploration
http://www.maps.org/t2e/

Had to do a lot of searching and reading just to find what was worth reading, avoiding pseudoscience and quasi-religion. Oi, this is going to be a lot of work, but that's probably what it will take to sort out the trainwreck of my mind.

Not specifically about LSD, but good:

Anything by Aldous Huxley (Doors of Perception in particular)

About LSD and great:

LSD: Doorway to the Numinous

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD

Check out Stanislav Grof. Him and his wife wrote a book about Holotrophic Breathwork. Additionally Grof has been labelled the Godfather of LSD by Hoffman as he did countless LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions in Czechoslovakia in the 60's, before it was banned as a substance. LSD: Doorway to the Numinous contains some tough material but is thoroughly engaging. This isn't directly related to Holotropic Breathwork but reading it gives you an appreciation for the depth to which Grof understands the human psyche. He has many other books as well.

Another guy you want to check out is Wim Hof.

LSD Psychotherapy is for people who are well-versed in the jargon of psychotherapy and psychology. If you don't belong to that group, I recommend Realms of the Human Unconscious (recently re-released under the title Doorway to the numinuous)

Edit: You can decide if LSD Psychotherapy is ok for you by reading these excerpts from the book. If you can understand those excerpts, then I recommend LSD Psychotherapy as it goes much deeper than the other book.

I feel ya, man :) It sounds like you're really serious about self-exploration, and I gotta commend that. I think when we read about the successes in psychedelic therapy we hope that one trip will be the panacea we need. It's only natural. However, as we're all wound differently, we all need to unwind uniquely, and that involves a lot of confusion and discomfort as we disentangle from everything we've been told, and thought, we are.

I don't know just where you're at, so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious for you. Do you know that the ego is terrified of change? It seems to want predictability even if its predictable schtick is painful. So it doesn't surprise me that your trips feel very unstable. The ego is your habitual world orientation, and ego-lessness is a total reorientation and disidentification. This process is probably already happening in you, but you can only see it in retrospect, as the ego seems to really act up when you start sniffing around to see what it really is.

So as much as I'd like to tell you the one thing to do to make it all come together, you're probably going to have to do some digging to discover the nature of ego, fear, mind etc. You'll probably want to explore something like spirituality (in the broad sense of the word) in whatever ways you're drawn to. Some kind of meditative or contemplative practice is really helpful so that you're more able to be with your experience as it directly presents instead of through the filters of conditioned mind.

Anyway, I'm rambling here. As for the psychedelics, maybe start reading up on the therapeutic literature out there. Stan Grof's LSD: Doorway to the Numinous and Neil Goldsmith's Psychedelic Healing might be good places to start.

As for the spiritual side, you'll have to figure out what you like. I think some of the more helpful ones out there are Mooji, Rupert Spira, Adyashanti, Douglas Harding.... Galen Sharp's What am I? is one of my favourite books for self-exploration, but who knows what will resonate with you?

Anyway, good luck with your explorations. This is challenging work, but the greatest thing a person can explore.

Oh, and I almost forgot...

> With that sort of level, am I to expect strong visuals or... I mean... what's gonna happen?

I don't know. That's the point. Prepare your set and setting, and then let the medicine show you what it needs to show you. It very well could have visual elements, but not necessarily. It might reframe memories and make "important things" seem trivial. Sometimes there's a humbling chapter of the journey where there's an atoning for ways that you've wronged people, and sometimes it can even be a more collective sense of grief and healing. Rest assured, though, the clearer you see the more you realize it's all motivated by love. I'm sure it sounds corny, but it really starts to come across like everything you've ever had to go through (and your current curiosity) are based in a profound love that you're beginning to discover. It can be a very powerful practice to just start to sit and cultivate the feeling of love - not love for anything in particular, just unspecific, undirected love.

https://www.amazon.com/LSD-Numinous-Groundbreaking-Psychedelic-Unconscious/dp/1594772827

Please read this book then stfu.