"If you have a real guru, a Satguru, then you’re protected. If you don’t — if you try to go the direct route without a guide — then you don’t ingest the drug, the drug ingests you. Drugs are shakti. By definition, the guru is a person who, like Shiva can hold the shakti. You can get addicted or overdose if you’re not using drugs worshipfully. I had some very good experiences with drugs, but I don’t recommend them to others because most people in the West want the poison — they don’t want Shiva. And they don’t have elders to show them how to use poison in a sacred matter…there are many safer ways to raise your consciousness than experimenting with drugs, and most gurus in India prefer more conservative routes. Doing your meditation, japa, and hatha-yoga is a slower path, but the effects are more lasting, and you run less risk of frying your nervous system. Without a doubt, self-discipline pays for itself in the end."