Chapter 6: Integration
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The entheogenic experience is called a trip for a reason. You go somewhere and you don’t come back the same person that you were before. Sometimes we have a peak experience and come back as changed people; we have integrated this higher, or more universally developed, level of consciousness and we have broken the pattern of our previous level of consciousness that would have us revert back to it. This is a beautiful picture; although this completely full, instant, and effortless integration rarely occurs.
Most often we need to work to integrate our experiences. We often have peak experiences where we experience a higher level of consciousness temporarily, and then revert back to the routine patterns of our previous level of consciousness. Sometimes, we get caught up in hidden psychological blocks and patterns that need to be dealt with before we can transcend to a higher level. And other times we refuse to believe the reality of what we experienced, denying it’s value, and view the entire experience as an unreal hallucination.
I have seen many people come back and blatantly ignore the lessons that they were taught. In fact, I used to be one of those people. It is so easy to return to the same routine life, the same pattern. It is almost simpler this way. I mean, who has the right to believe that they have experienced god, or what it is like to die, or the creation the universe, or telepathy? It sounds a little crazy; and we wouldn’t want to be perceived by society as crazy, like many of the other people in history that challenged the current paradigm? Would we?
Developmental Theory of Consciousness
Having a basic understanding of how consciousness develops will make integrating the entheogenic experience easier, so this is where we will begin. This subsection is meant as an overview, or introduction to the topic, to get you started. In no way is it an extensive discussion. Many transpersonal psychologists (like Charles Tart, Stanislav Grof, Ken Wilber, and many others) and the eastern religions have paved the road for us quite well. So if, after reading this section, you’re interested in finding out more information, I will refer you in their direction.
As each of us goes through life, our consciousness goes through different developmental stages. There are many theories and names for these different stages. I won’t mention any of them here, because I don’t want to favor one theory over another. I think there are positive aspects to all of them. Instead I will refer to the analogy of the building that we discussed earlier.
Consciousness is like a ten story building, where each floor represents a particular developmental level or psychological structure. Let’s say that most of us, in our everyday consciousness, float somewhere between the fourth and sixth floors. Many of us don’t even realize that there are higher floors; we often believe that we have attained all we can even though we’ve only gone halfway up.
The first step in moving up to a different floor is realizing that our current floor is only one floor in a very tall building of many. Then we must realize that we are stuck in the pattern of our current floor because of many stabilizing relationships, such as positive and negative feedback. In order to break free of the pattern we must destabilize our floor. This will change our perspective on reality and help us look outside what we always knew to be ourselves.
Once we transcend that floor, we need to integrate, or include, it into our new perspective on life. We need to realize that the seventh floor can not exist without the first thru sixth floors supporting it. Oftentimes, people will take entheogens and have a peak experience. During this peak experience they will jump several floors above where their consciousness normally floats. They will experience profound realizations about the Universe and All Existence. Then, at the end of their trip, they will float back to the floor that they were on when they started. They will interpret their peak experience with the tools that are available to them on their current floor. Ken Wilber (2000) described this very well, “…all of those peak experiences, no matter how profound, are merely temporary, passing, transient states. In order for higher development to occur, those temporary states must become permanent traits. Higher development involves, in part, the conversion of altered states into permanent realizations.”
Steps in Integrating the Entheogenic Experience
There is no surefire way to integrate the entheogenic experience. Each person is unique and each experience is unique. Therefore, I will explain what has worked for me in a very broad and general way, that will hopefully be applicable to many of your situations as well.
Have Faith in the Validity of Your Experiences. I learned early on, that in order to integrate entheogenic experiences into your life you must have faith in your experiences. You must believe that what you have seen with your own two eyes is real, above and beyond all the brain washing that has taken place throughout your life. I know this may seem daunting at first, especially since entheogenic journeys are often very similar to Zen koans. When you get stuck on something, try envisioning it while meditating. This type of transcendental contemplation may help you come up with some much needed answers/solutions.
Be a Part of an Entheogenic Community. It is important to understand that you're not the only one experiencing these aspects of consciousness. It has helped me greatly to be able to talk with others that understand me. Having positive interactions with a community of supporting and understanding people is crucial. It can help you feel supported instead of isolated, give you role models, and keep you up to date on new research findings.
Lead a Spiritual Life - Put Thoughts and Beliefs into Action. Entheogenic experiences do not necessarily cause a person to lead a spiritual life. The actual act of taking an entheogen is only the beginning of enlightenment. As I have said before, what we actually do with the knowledge that we gain in these headspaces is really important. Are we using what we have discovered about ourselves and reality to become better people? Or are we coming back to this reality and returning to the same stagnant people that we were before?
The next question to ask is, what constitutes becoming a better person? I ask myself this often, as I try to evaluate whether my actions are helping me to become a better person. I honestly don’t know if I’m qualified to really judge or say what it is to be a good person because I am not perfect. Like all of you, I have many flaws and many areas to work on. However, some things that have jumped right out at me are selflessly helping others, purifying my intentions, and having enough foresight to make sure that my actions will not do harm to others. Every action in my life is a sacred one. This is because each action could either take me a little closer to enlightenment or a little further away from it.
Take up an Everyday Spiritual Practice. Incorporating a spiritual practice or practices into your life will not only help you integrate, it will also help you prepare for future trips (See Spiritual Views). It also can be helpful to be able to achieve altered states of consciousness without the aid of a substance on a regular basis (See meditation, lucid dreaming, astral projection).
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