There is only one culture historically, ours (modern Western materialist society), that does not subscribe to the view that there is more than meets the eye on the material plane of the universe. Every culture historically, even those that founded our traditions such as the Greeks, believed in a realm which could not be seen, but that governed the material realm. All such traditions also had ways to access such realms, before death, in order to obtain help or information useful in the material plane. It is quite interesting that until just recently many people in the modern Western world simply refuse to consider the vast wealth of information in regard to these non-physical states passed down to us from antiquity.
There appears to be a historical narrative, in all cultures except ours (unless you take into account various religious groups), of physical reality not really being true reality, only a lesser reality in which one goes through trials in order to evolve within higher states of consciousness. Rationalization upon rationalization, within contemporary society continues to dismiss such views as superstitious non-sense. Yet, when we examine almost all of the historical figures responsible for major contributions to modern Western enlightened society we see that almost all of them had beliefs or faith in traditional or esoteric forms of spirituality. To this day, all forms of government and powerful organizations (secret and public, such as the masons) use symbolic imagery of a spiritual nature. Such an observation is rationalized away as being useful imagery to sway the masses. But the powerful can do as they please, yet they openly choose to continue to use overtly spiritual (esoteric and exoteric) imagery as the core imagery of their governmental and private organizations.
There was a time when spiritual disease was taken as seriously as physical disease is taken in our culture. Exorcisms of various types were common (and still are in some cultures) around the world and throughout history. The modern enlightened Westerner of today quaintly smiles when hearing of such things. Yet, when we examine the physical manifestation of both mental and physical health in the modern world we see an epidemic proportion of the population suffering from chronic physical and mental disease that contemporary Western medicine just can’t cure or explain.
There are almost no traditional indigenous systems of medicine that do not include a spiritual component. Most people today in the West wonder what spirituality has to do with health and healing. When asked what they think is wrong in the modern Western world, indigenous shaman of the South American rainforest say, we have severed our connection with spirit. If this really is our problem and a return to spirit is necessary for both personal and social/ecological healing how is it possible to motivate people to pursue the path of spirit in a culture that not only does not acknowledge a spiritual realm but does almost everything possible to inhibit people from ever becoming aware of such states? That is, in order to become aware of either the energetic realm (not just the physical body) or the spiritual realm it requires quiet, calm reflection free of distractions and stress. Our culture is filled with stress during work and stress during play, and to a certain extent, taking into consideration physical stresses such as radiation, chemicals and air pollution the body and mind can also be stressed during sleep. Considering what the average person must do in order to “make a living” and the infinite distractions of modern life it is nearly impossible to pursue techniques (such as meditation) that put us in contact with the spirit realm; even if we want to pursue such things.
This is probably the reason that psychedelic drugs (DMT, LSD) coupled with group and shamanic practices (such as Ayahuasca, Wachuma, Ibogaine) have gained such popularity. A person can simply take the drug/medicine or participate in a ceremony and be thrust into the spiritual realm. There are obviously dangers for those who are not prepared, but those in spiritual crisis (i.e. mid-life crisis, traumatic stress, addictions etcetera) can certainly find transformative experiences that they cannot get anywhere else in the modern Western world.
Plant medicines may provide answers to immediate short term questions but in order to remain physically and mentally healthy one must have a long term spiritual practice. Not just a belief system and prayer but an actual practice which utilizes the energies of the healthy body in order to elevate ordinary consciousness to higher spiritual states. It is by utilizing the physical essences of the body (hormones, neural transmitters etc) and the life energy (Prana, Chi, Orgone) in which one raises the frequency of spirit high enough in order to access the spirit realm, using the body like an antenna in order to tune it to the proper channel. Such an idea is not new, the practices of the ancient Egyptians, Hermeticists, Essen’s, Gnostics, Sufis, Judaic Kabbalah, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Daoists, and many other traditions have extremely detailed descriptions of each stage of such a spiritual process.
The question is really a personal one, can we as individuals continue to live with our connection to spirit severed? Of course we can get through life with work and various hedonistic pleasures to pursue. But ultimately, if it all feels empty and we feel that we are missing something is it just our own personal defect that we can’t be satisfied? Or, like every wisdom tradition in the entirety of human history has said, there is a higher spiritual realm and many of them have shown us explicitly how to go about accessing that realm directly without the mediation of a temple or priest. Are we going to continue to ignore such possibilities or attempt to find out the truth for ourselves? The answer seems to depend on just how much sickness and dis-ease (physically and mentally) we are willing to tolerate.
Transition of Heart 