Hi Armed Response,
I'm probably going to be one of the few that won't give you the verbal tyrade about not doing drugs. I've tripped a few times myself and have basically come to my own conclusion that I'd rather be straight, and I've grown a lot more spiritually as a result.
You have to remember that Robert Bruce is an author who has to maintain his credibility while releasing books on a fringe subject. Of course he's going to take a hard line against drugs as he'll be committing journalistic suicide if he doesn't.
Apart from that, the stance against using drugs is a logical one. To be able to consistently and successfully achieve OBEs you need to be in full control of your consciousness. Any kind of psychoactive drugs, although being able to give you a quick fix solution, will ultimately prevent you from learning how to gain controlled access to the astral. I don't know if you've noticed, but a much as LSD can allow you to quickly reach a projection state, it is the drug that controls the experience, not you. If you've ever had a bad trip you should now exactly what I mean.
I personally don't disagree with the validity of achieving access to the astral while tripping. It is as valid an experience as a straight OBE. Trouble is you either have very limited control, or no control at all, which defeats the purpose of learning AP and will prevent you from gaining any true spiritual growth which, apart from being fun, is what the purpose of astral projection is really all about.
It has been pointed out in another similar topic that Shamanistic practitioners use certain substances to assist their work. Remember though that these are people with a great deal of training in altered conscious states, and have to gain the ability to project reliably without drugs long before they start using them.
James.
I'm probably going to be one of the few that won't give you the verbal tyrade about not doing drugs. I've tripped a few times myself and have basically come to my own conclusion that I'd rather be straight, and I've grown a lot more spiritually as a result.
You have to remember that Robert Bruce is an author who has to maintain his credibility while releasing books on a fringe subject. Of course he's going to take a hard line against drugs as he'll be committing journalistic suicide if he doesn't.
Apart from that, the stance against using drugs is a logical one. To be able to consistently and successfully achieve OBEs you need to be in full control of your consciousness. Any kind of psychoactive drugs, although being able to give you a quick fix solution, will ultimately prevent you from learning how to gain controlled access to the astral. I don't know if you've noticed, but a much as LSD can allow you to quickly reach a projection state, it is the drug that controls the experience, not you. If you've ever had a bad trip you should now exactly what I mean.
I personally don't disagree with the validity of achieving access to the astral while tripping. It is as valid an experience as a straight OBE. Trouble is you either have very limited control, or no control at all, which defeats the purpose of learning AP and will prevent you from gaining any true spiritual growth which, apart from being fun, is what the purpose of astral projection is really all about.
It has been pointed out in another similar topic that Shamanistic practitioners use certain substances to assist their work. Remember though that these are people with a great deal of training in altered conscious states, and have to gain the ability to project reliably without drugs long before they start using them.
James.