Hey, just wondering if there's anybody here who reads the Bible, was brought up Christian, or believes in Jesus? Any thoughts? Has DMT or other psychoactive changed your relationship to him?

I was raised a christian, but stopped believing in the christian god altogether in my teens. I don't really like most of christian culture and i sure dislike many of the teachings you can find in the bible, especially in the old testament.

With the help of DMT, i had a communication with a being that felt like the christian god of the new testament. That didn't make me a believer once again, but it sure was a very interesting and supporting experience.

I do believe dmt can help you with your relationship to jesus if he is how you like to view god

Yeah. What he said, with the exception that I have had communications with what seemed like demonic entities, while on entheogens. I don't believe in the existence of Satan, or demons or the Christian God. I believe my mind sometimes interprets things this way due to early Christian upbringing/programming and I hope to get past it someday.

I was raised in kind of a weird Christian tradition (they spent more time talking to me about Hell than is probably healthy for a 2nd grader), and for a while, it really messed me up, mentally, and eventually I rejected it all pretty much in it's entirety.

Since I've started exploring psychedelics, I've found myself softening towards Christianity. I haven't started believing in Jesus or anything like that, but I feel like I 'get it,' now - I can see the positive things that people love so much, and I think that the experiences I have on shrooms are probably pretty similar to the experiences others have reading the Bible. It's no longer just a bottomless pit of fear, it's more nuanced then that.

I definitely also think my early Christian upbringing has had an impact on how I think about my psychedelic experiences, even if I'm not interpreting them in an expressly Christian fashion. We always learned about the 'Power' and the 'Glory' of God, the fear you were supposed to feel for his majesty, etc etc, with very little of the 'Jesus and God love you' stuff. I definitely feel that reflected in my personal psychedelic voyages.

Blessings
~ND

I grew up in a moderate Methodist family, where I attended sunday school/church until probably about early middle school. Around this time it became near impossible to get me and my brothers to go on Sundays, so we probably only attended Christmas eve/ Easter. Anyhow, I don't think I at all had a mature understanding of the Bible or God/the universe then. Just sort of immature notions about these things. I declared myself an atheist in middle school, an agnostic, and then sort of metaphysical wanderer or psychonaut. I have now come closer to integrating most of my beliefs into a panentheistic understanding of the universe.
I've had the very interesting experience, however, of attending a private, Christian, undergraduate institution (for reasons tangential to this subject). Here I've taken a couple courses in theology and actually attended many chapel services required by the school. I've actually found many aspects of Christianity uplifting, wise and powerful. I think I also understand the spirit of Jesus and God better now, seeing Jesus as an actualized spiritual being (the church might claim "THE" only actualized spiritual being).

I think I do actually attempt to live as Jesus did, and this is what I believe we are asked of as people of God. I think the emphasis on forgiveness, love, redemption and faith is what I embrace most of Christianity, but I find myself spitting out the fat and bones of so many sermons that often come from preachers/speakers who simply seem to have missed the point on some of these aspects I consider so fundamental to a mature, spiritually engaged Christian life.

So in many ways DMT has connected me to exactly what Christianity is talking about (infinite love, grace, redemption), but I don't really need some of the extra adornment and prescriptions of Christianity that insist on this sole Monotheistic entity and rigid ways to adhere to his will. I think following Christ is an excellent medium for spiritual growth if one can sift through some Church dogma, literal interpretation and attain a historical and exegetical understanding.

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Wow. This post really resonated with me. thanks Nathanial.
I felt the weight of hell and the huge pangs of sin guilt when I was really young, too. My mother accidentally made me fear hell WAY more than I should, and thus my brain misinterpreted faith in as a "ticket" away from unimaginable horrors and into paradise.
That's really NOT how my faith works now. Currently I try to shift the focus away from me-focused beliefs!! It helps me stop doubting if I'm good enough, or am saved, and frees me up to worry about my friends and neighbors instead of just myself all the time.

I too am not explicitly seeking religious revelations from psychedelics. The powerful religious experiences I have had with other psychedelics have faded, but I remember how cool they were (ex. being present 2,000 years ago at a few of Christ's miracles).

I think that although this universe contains powerful experiences like DMT trips... in the end I believe God's love is more powerful than any DMT trip.

I enjoy speaking briefly with the priests at a few of the gardens I maintain at work. One of them has the most beautiful garden complete with a tile portrait of the goddess Fatima and I always feel very welcome and safe in that space.

They are not so bad. I especially enjoy conversing with this guy while microdosing mescaline.

I feel he is a genuine person in his spiritual life, as much as he can be, which is all we can individually be.

Cave paintings: Interesting post!

I agree with your response to churches and sermons that miss the point and/or mis-apply scripture verses to fit some other, selfish purpose.

I also love the fact that you've experienced the love of Jesus and recognize the amazing , deep message of love and forgiveness.

However, I have not yet been able to dismiss the rigid claims of the Bible like you have. So in other words, I am still kind of "locked in" to a stubborn belief that the Bible is Truth and God's Word. What keeps me from losing faith in this hard-to-believe assumption...is that I know how easy it is to misinterpret the Bible and lose your faith over something that could be addressed.

Yes, there are intellectual "holes" in my beliefs. In other words, I can't explain the mysteries of the Bible in terms that satisfy human reason. I kinda was taught that God's ways are higher than our ways/thoughts, which is true!! I just don't want to get God's ways confused with human ways

I'll let you know if I experience God on my first DMT trip (i'm sure I will). Thanks again for sharing with me.

This is 100% exactly accurate to me, except instead of Christian I was Muslim. I couldn't have put it better myself.