“I'm fascinated by hallucinations. I mean, to me that is the sina qua non that you're getting somewhere.” Quote by Terence McKenna
“If you actually look at the etymology of the word 'hallucination', what it's come to mean in English is a delusion. But what it really means in the original language is to wander in the mind. That's the meaning of 'hallucination', to wander in the mind.” IfsMindLooksMeanLanguageOriginalsWanderDelusionReally MeanHallucinationsEtymology Author:Terence McKenna
“For unknown reasons, there is a tremendous concentration of psychoactive plants on the South American continent. The South American continent has more known hallucinogens than the rest of the planet combined.” ReasonKnownPlanetsPlantSouthConcentrationContinentsHallucinogens Author:Terence McKenna
“Patanjali specifically says that there are three paths to the goal of yoga. And they are, control of the breath, control of posture, and light-filled herbs. It says it right there. Stanza 6 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.” LightThreeGoalPathYogaBreathsFilledHerbsPostureYoga Sutra Author:Terence McKenna
“Think about this for a moment, we grow so inured to these religious forms, think about the notion of instituting at the center of your religion a rite where you eat your god is probably a memory of a relationship to some kind of a psychedelic experience of some sort.” ThinkingKindMomentsFormGrowsReligiousMemoriesNotionPsychedelicRitePsychedelic Experience Author:Terence McKenna
“I think institutions will inevitably substitute a rite or a ritual for the authentic, for the real McCoy, because then priests can control the pipeline to god, and the parishioner can approach with offerings. But if everybody can have a pipeline to deity, why then the whole priest scam is put out of business.” IfsThinkingRealWholeApproachInstitutionsPriestsSubstitutesRitualOfferingDeitiesRitePipelineScams Author:Terence McKenna
“Buddhism is a heresy on Hinduism. It was Hinduism that did the dirty work for Buddhism, by the time Buddha came along priest-craft was an ancient tradition in India.” BuddhismTraditionIndiaAncientCraftsDirtyPriestsHinduismHeresyDirty Work Author:Terence McKenna
“The whole of the Amazonian narcotic complex, as it's called in the old literature, is based on activation of DMT by one strategy or another.” WholeLiteratureStrategyComplexesNarcoticsDmtActivation Author:Terence McKenna
“I really think there is a very large distinction between synthetic and naturally occurring drugs. ... I think that these plants 'take people' as much as people take the plants. ... When you take one of these ancient, ancient hallucinogens you are locking in to the morphogenetic fields of all the people who ever took it.” PeopleThinkingFieldsDrugPlantAncientDistinctionSyntheticHallucinogens Author:Terence McKenna
“All psychedelic explorers should be aware of the concept of what is called a cognitive hallucination. The is a much more insidious phenomenon. This is, quite simply, an out-and-out delusion.” ShouldConceptsDelusionPhenomenonPsychedelicCognitiveExplorersHallucinationsInsidious Author:Terence McKenna