Psychadelics, etc. (part 2)

Someone once asked me, "Why would you be interested in 'auto-producing' entheogenic states?" After all, can't we just find and ingest the mushrooms, cacti, etc.? There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is that many entheogenic substances are, unfortunately, illegal. While I think the federal government has no business legislating away our spirituality, it is a fact of life we must deal with. But the reasons go beyond legality, and are much more important in the long run. Let me lay out the foremost reason, in my thinking, that we should endeavor to reach these alternate states of mind, even in the absence of entheogens.
The people with the most interest in entheogens are generally in two classes: the escapist and the spiritual seeker. While these designations are arbitrary and non-exact, with some definite over-lap, they hold up for most discussions. The escapist user of psychadelic substances is more a matter for psychologists than for this venue. I am more interested in dealing with the spiritual use of entheogens, particularly in shamanic work. A shamanic practitioner facilitates his/her work and practice by "walking between the worlds," passing at will between the mundane, physical world and the realms of the Spirit. Entheogens are a powerful tool, helping us reach the spirit realms with relative ease and to a fuller degree than we normally experience. However, the shamanic practitioner is not just a mystic who delves regularly into those realms; rather, he/she is one who can keep one foot planted squarely and solidly in the mundane as well. Our work requires the ability to make the knowledge and wisdom gained from the Spirit accessible and useful in the physical--for healing, for divination, etc. Therefore, I believe we should attempt to cultivate the ability to flow between these states of consciousness at will. It is not inconceivable (in fact, it is very likely) that we would be called upon to access the spirit realms directly, then 'bounce' back to the physical, and maybe repeat this cycle several times within a single day. If I am under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms, I am there for the duration of the mushrooms' effects, typically several hours. This condition does not allow me to suddenly be lucid and coherent in the physical realm, able to relate whatever wisdom, action or information I have just obtained so that I am useful in the physical realm immediately. I have heard credible accounts of increasing sensitivity so that one requires a smaller and smaller dose to reach the same state. This may be interpreted as an increased sensitivity to the entheogen (unlikely in most cases) or to an increased ability to access the plane which the entheogen leads us to. I have also heard just the opposite--that many experience less and less of an effect, no matter what the dose (the law of diminishing returns). I credit this to "ally exhaustion" which I will address in a future entry. In any case, there is a distinct benefit from learning to develop and maintain these states of consciousness with or without actual entheogen ingestion. There is also the issue of availability. We do not normally have access to a wide variety of entheogenic substances at any given time. If one happens on a situation where the "mushroom state of mind" would be beneficial, but one has no mushrooms, what do we do? Ideally, we meditate or whatever to bring our minds into the correct level of consciousness, and then go about our business. I understand that this subject is very controversial. I have received criticism of my position from entheogen enthusiasts as well as prohibitionists, but I follow the Spirit as I understand it.