What happens when Zen monks take mushrooms?

We've reported before, in this newsletter, the fascinating research that emerged from giving psilocybin or placebo double-blind to experienced meditation practitioners on a five day retreat. Now here is a film - Descending the Mountain - about this experiment. The synopsis and trailer are headed "What happens when you administer psilocybin to experienced Zen meditators? A neuroscientist and a Zen master carry out a double-blind experiment on a sphinxlike mountain in Switzerland. Their goal: to examine the nature of consciousness. 

“These substances are not for the sick only, they belong in the hands of meditation.” Albert Hofmann

Exactly fifty years after the ban on psychedelics a group of Zen meditators – who have never used any psychedelic substances before  –  are given psilocybin on the last day of a 5-day retreat. Half the group receives a placebo. Mystical experiences are induced through a combination of deep meditation and psilocybin, a psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms.  This scientific experiment, which was published in Nature magazine in 2020, may lift the controversy that has clouded the realm of psychedelics for far too long. Scientist Franz Vollenweider and Zen master Vanja Palmers descend from the mountain of bliss to teach us how we can integrate mysticism into our day-to-day life." Lucid News have an interesting discussion of the film and we look forward to details of its more general release.

For more psychedelic news and research, visit the psychedelic health professional network homepage.