DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences Reviews

• A fascinating exploration of bios, nous, theos--and xenos.

  
  By A1WL1C69T3KJIC on 2001-08-22
  Although this book reads more like a journal paper than one might expect based on the trade paperback format and trippy Alex Grey cover art, Dr. Rick Strassman is, after all, a research scientist, not a novelist, and thus may be forgiven for not having a thorough grasp of pacing and the value of dramatic intrigue. Specifically, about a quarter of this book deals with Strassman's convoluted attempts to gain permission to study DMT (which is, for the unfamiliar, LSD's faster-acting, shorter-lasting, knockout-punching cousin), which is admittedly an interesting story, but I am sure I'm not alone in wishing he'd given us a few extra chapters of DMT case studies instead.

  And the case studies are intriguing indeed. Through various permutations of set, setting, and dosage, Strassman's volunteers experience DMT trips ranging from explorations of personal emotions and thoughts to full-blown sojourns into Cosmic Consciousness. And somewhere between these polarities of personal ego and impersonal Absolute there reside experiences of an altogether different order. It is these experiences that perhaps set the DMT molecule drastically apart from the other major psychedelic drugs. They're perhaps best explained with an example, and generally go something like this: A person is injected with DMT; within fifteen seconds the person feels a rush and suddenly finds him- or herself perceiving a completely different environment, with no major alteration in the quality of awareness, and usually there appear one or more "beings" in this environment who interact with the person and are felt, with certainty, to be entirely "real" entities, independent of, but not exactly separate from, the DMT tripper's mind. Here is how one of Strassman's subjects describes his experience:

  "I felt like I was in an alien laboratory, in a hospital bed like this. . . . A sort of landing bay, or recovery area. There were beings. . . .

  "They had a space ready for me. They weren't as surprised as I was. It was incredibly un-psychedelic. I was able to pay attention to detail. There was one main creature, and he seemed to be behind it all, overseeing everything. The others were orderlies, or dis-orderlies.

  "They activated a sexual circuit, and I was flushed with an amazing orgasmic energy. A goofy chart popped up like an X-ray in a cartoon, and a yellow illumination indicated that the corresponding system, or series of systems, were fine. They were checking my instruments, testing things. When I was coming out, I couldn't help but think `aliens.' "

  As Strassman explains, it was these consistently similar experiences with what could only be identified as "aliens" or "elves" that he found most baffling in the course of his DMT research, and these reports eventually persuaded him to alter his whole relational approach to his volunteers. Rather than interpret and explain away, as psychiatrists are wont to do with just about everything, he decided to proceed with an open mind, to listen and encourage, and then later try to fit the pieces into some coherent theoretical framework, perhaps even invent one if current preconceptions of the nature of reality couldn't accommodate the data (such a novel approach!, sadly enough). It is this open, inquisitive attitude that makes this book eminently satisfying, despite any narrative sluggishness, because rarely does one find this caliber of fastidious, empirical-phenomenological research coupled with investigations into alien encounters, near-death experiences, and ecstatic glimpses of God. Usually, a researcher with this degree of scientific experience has already been too thoroughly digested by the modern religion of scientism to be able to see the very real duality between mind and matter, let alone to entertain such ideas as these: (1) that DMT is produced naturally in the human body by the pineal gland, and the appearance of the pineal gland in the developing human fetus at 49 days post-conception corresponds to the arrival of the soul in the body (with the DMT chemical serving as a kind of doorway between material and astral worlds); (2) that certain meditative practices, such as chanting, cause a vibratory effect in the brain that stimulates the pineal gland to release DMT, thus inciting certain spiritual experiences; and (3) that the phenomenon of alien abduction is so similar to certain DMT trips that they're likely the same thing, which in no way diminishes the "reality" of alien encounters, because, as Strassman theorizes, "Returning to the TV analogy . . . DMT provides regular, repeated, and reliable access to `other' channels. The other planes of existence are always there. . . . But we cannot perceive them because we are not designed to do so; our hard-wiring keeps us tuned in to Channel Normal. It takes only a second or two--the few heartbeats the spirit molecule requires to make its way to the brain--to change the channel, to open our mind to these other planes of existence" (pp. 315-316). A typical alien abduction, then, might either be caused by an unusually high, but naturally occurring, release of DMT by the pineal gland in the brain, or by a similar release of DMT effected by an external, alien source: in both cases the same effect is achieved, and one is able to perceive that "other plane" whence the little gray men spring forth. (And while not as far out as those ideas, Strassman's proposal that an aberrant, consistently high-enough emission of DMT in the brain forms the basis of schizophrenia is also very persuasive, and anyone with some experience with psychedelics should appreciate how someone who had this problem could go completely crazy rather quickly.)

  In conclusion, if you're at all interested in psychedelics, brain/mind relations, or parapsychology in general, this is definitely required reading. And if I could recommend only five books from the voluminous library of ufology that are actually well worth reading by any sensitive, intelligent human being, they'd be (in this order): "Angels and Aliens" by Keith Thompson, "Dimensions" by Jacques Vallée, "Communion" by Whitley Strieber, "Abduction" by John Mack--and "DMT" by Rick Strassman.
  
  

• EXTRAORDINARY RESEARCH INTO CONSCIOUSNESS

  
  By A1RJD10TTI568L on 2003-06-01
  This is a report of the author's clinical research into the psychedelic substance DMT, a plant derived substance that is also produced by the brain. The volunteers reported a variety of positive mystical or frightening hallucinatory experiences including encounters with intelligent entities.

  The research connects DMT with the pineal gland and the esoteric belief that the pineal, connected as it is with the crown or sahasrara chakra, eases the spirit's movement into different states of consciousness or different dimensions of existence. It is clear from the book that further DMT research could lead to major progress in the study of consciousness.

  Part One deals with psychedelic substances in science and society, describes the chemical qualities and molecular structure of DMT and discusses the pineal gland and its role in the psychedelic experience. Part Two relates the history of the author's research, from the actual research proposal and the process of obtaining permission; this section may be skipped by the average reader.

  Part Three describes the process of selecting volunteers, obtaining DMT and the first experiments, whilst Part Four details the case reports: what the volunteers said and did, their behaviour, etc. This makes for strange and fascinating reading. Some experiences were positive and illuminating like genuine mystical experiences obtained during meditation, others were eerie or deeply unpleasant.

  Pat Five takes stock of the experiences and considers the question of whether it was worth it for each individual. There is an attempt to determine the ultimate benefit derived from the experience for the individual concerned. Definitions come into play but it seems to me that the experiments did benefit each individual in some or other way.

  Part Six is a very interesting discussion of the psyche and different states of consciousness. It would seem that spontaneously occurring psychedelic experiences are mediated by elevated levels of endogenous DMT. This spiritual molecule thus provides access to unknown parts of the psyche. If the analogy of brain as receiver may be used, the substance finetunes the brain so that the individual consciousness moves beyond familiar awareness into invisible realms, most of which are inhabited.

  There is a difference between this expanded awareness and normal dreaming and the current psychological methods do not satisfactorily explain the phenomenon or the peculiar experiences, especiall as regards the entities encountered. This leads to a speculative discussion on cosmology, the possibility of parallel universes, a multiverse and dark matter, with reference to David Deutsch's book The Fabric Of Reality.

  The author concludes this brilliant work with a discussion on the practical use of psychedelics as therapy, to stimulate creativity or as entheogens. In this regard I would like to recommend Huston Smith's Cleansing The Doors Of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogentic Plants and Chemicals, William James' Varieties Of Religious Experience, Stephan Hoeller's The Gnostic Jung And The Seven Sermons To The Dead and the book Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness by Abraham, McKenna and Sheldrake.
  
  

• Pries the lid off the coffin of human psychedelic research

  
  By AMIEHTLIENU10 on 2001-03-25
  Detailed, very accessible description of Strassman's studies of the effects of intravenously administered DMT in human volunteers in a clinical setting. He describes his research protocols, his struggle to obtain government approval, and the volunteers' reports of their DMT experiences, with clarity and compassion. The book raises questions about the nature and purpose of mystical experiences, the similarity between externally induced experiences of death and rebirth, alien contact, and spiritual enlightenment and naturally occurring experiences, and the role of DMT (which occurs naturally in the body) in these types of experiences. Strassman discusses the limitations of the biomedical model in understanding these experiences, as well as the risks and benefits of using DMT as a research tool. Open-minded scientists, those on a spiritual path, therapists, and dedicated "psychonauts" will find much to ponder in this book. It enlarges the scope of rational discussion about psychedelics, and goes a long way toward dispelling the fear, ignorance, and stigma that have hampered psychedelic research for the last 30 years. The addition of an index would have been helpful, but other than that this book exceeded my expectations and deepened my sense of wonder about the nature of consciousness and the spirit.
  
  

• A Bold Study of Chemicals and Consciousness

  
  By A1OKFEHNHH3X64 on 2001-03-25
  Dr. Strassman describes his research with dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a very powerful psychedelic drug that can produce very profound experiences that go beyond the explanations of our current scientific model. In this bold treatise he explains how this simple chemical induces mystical states that were previously reserved for religion and the occult. Not since Robert Monroe and his Institute's "Hemi-Sync" sound technology have I seen such potential to facilitate such events.

  I was relieved to read that this Doctor of Psychiatry didn't reduce these extraordinary experiences of the volunteers down to creative imaginations, and I was impressed with his mature methods of studying a psychedelic drug. This isn't Timothy Leary tuning us in so that we can drop out. This is a scientist who is sincerely searching for something that can enhance our lives in areas such as creativity, therapy, and spirituality.

  Dr. Strassman has a good grasp of our culture's perceptions about drugs and he not only discards the militaristic attitude against drug use, but also the naive acceptance that they are always beneficial. His clear insights allow this book to have a wide appeal to a mature audience. Hopefully, as he states, this research will at least be the start of more open discussions of practical applications of psychedelics.
  
  

• Definitely worth reading - Fascinating implications

  
  By A38XHXKPDKHP8N on 2001-06-01
  
  What I liked:

  1) He proposed a good model of how DMT, produced in our bodies, could be the active agent behind a broad variety of "mystical" experiences commonly reported by people, - as well as how it could play a role in various psychological disorders such as schizophrenia.

  2) Even though he is a doctor and medical researcher and his project was a medical study, I liked that he wrote this book from a metaphysical angle, - exploring the metaphysical possibilities of this drug rather than attempting to explain away the mystical experiences.

  What I would have liked to see:

  1) 1/3 of the book deals with logistical details of his study, such as how he negotiated the FDA approval process, - BORING.

  2) Although he provided many accounts of DMT "trips" they were fairly brief, - a few paragraphs at most. I would have liked more extensive descriptions from the volunteers themselves and what THIER interpretations were (not just his).

  3) He related the volunteers' experiences with reports of alien abductions and briefly explored some physics theories about parallel universes. I would have liked to see a more thorough investigation of these lines of thought.

  5) Given that most participants encountered non-material, intelligent life forms I would have liked to see a discussion of why they took on the forms they did (clowns/elves and insects/aliens). I'm assuming that even if the beings were "real" that these forms were just constructs (a "user interface" or "front-end", if you will) the volunteers created while tripping so that they could interact with these beings (i.e. I don't believe there is a parallel universe where metaphysical clowns really exist) What is there in our collective consciousness that would cause so many of the volunteers to come up with these same constructs? i.e - why clowns and insects instead of game-show hosts or cats?

  Fascinating book for anyone interested in the science of consciousness, and the intersection between the material and the spiritual.
  
  
  

• Good book a little vague in places
  By A2TY5K56U4NMQZ on 2001-06-01
  I really enjoyed the beginning of the book dealing with Dr. Strassman's attempts to get his research underway - A good glimpse of the stress and strains dealing with government reasearch grants (a feeling I know all to well from my days of doing research). When the research begins on human subjects - a neccessity in doing any research with psychedelics (since non-human primates though similar to us, cannot speak and convey experiences)- the nature of consciousness begins to be gleaned. Some of the experiences conveyed by Dr. Strassman are lacking in descriptive detail and the truly "bad" trips are barely covered in his analysis - esp. the reptile rape.

  I also had some reservations with Dr. Strassman's regressive psychotherapy with Psilocybin ( he mentions a woman remembering childhood abuse in one of these sessions) - I thought that this was truly irresponsible - and never mentions any of the numerous problems with psychotherapy without and especially with mind manifesting drugs - shame on you doctor! Don't get me wrong, I think some of the research with Psychedelics can be usefull - case in point is the work with Ibogaine. But, any altering of the consciousness comes with a price and by the end of the book Dr. Strassman seems to acknowledge this but doesn't fully accept the responsiblity (like the problems with his temple, school, marriage, and patients).

  There is a reason for humans having DMT present in our system and there is a reason it is inhibited during our lives - we are spiritual and material beings and the material is not to exist in full awareness of the spiritual in daily life - we would go mad or be unable to cope with society. That is why yogi's, shaman, and monks, are usually seperate from the mainstream and only reach their spiritual states after initiation, long periods of time, reflection, and prayer - not through a quick shot of a chemical into the bloodstream. DMT can be a dangerous chemical and even Strassman admits this - and its long term benefits seem to be lacking - as Strassman also points out - short-term, many of the patients felt changed but this appeared to fade with time. Orally active DMT in the form of ayahuasca under the guidence of a shaman seems to be more beneficial. By the title of the book I would have thought that Dr. Strassman would have weighed in more on the spiritual responsibilities that he should have been exhibiting in his research instead of waiting until his temple gave him the boot to think about the danger he was putting himself and others in (a no-no for a doctor - remember the hippocratic oath?). The Dr. was playing with realms and dimensions beyond the physical plane we are not accustomed to with very little regard. I feel that the work of Terrence McKenna covers many of these aspects in greater detail and with more tantalizing results. The brothers McKenna have set the standards and often stress that you are to have a "relationship" with whatever you are using, and only a few of the subjects in Strassman's book seem to acknowledge this.
  
  

• DMT: A real trip
  By A180Q8A4K4KVER on 2004-10-22
  Rich Stassman's account of his ground-breaking research program with the psychedelic drug DMT is more than a scientific chronicle. His tale of the rigors of such an extraordinary undertaking, from the years he spent gaining permission for the study, getting access to the drug, and carrying out the experiments with human subjects, is suspenseful to the end.
  
  DMT or di-methyl-trptamine is produced by many organisms and is found abundantly in plants and animal tissue. In humans it is believed that it is produced in the tiny pineal gland, which is situated deep within the brain. Its location in the brain corresponds with Eastern Ayurvedic traditions of the highest "chakra". In reptiles, the pineal is a light sensitive organ, and though this function has been lost in humans, it has been referred to as the "third eye". Descartes called it the "seat of the soul", and in modern times it has been a focal point of consciousness research.
  
  Though the academic purpose for the research at the University of New Mexico from 1990 to 1995 was to find the purpose and function of "endogenous" (produced in the body) DMT, as well as its relationship to psychosis, it was Strassman's emersion in the teaching of Buddhism that was his inspiration throughout. Ironically, the findings of his research undermined many of his beliefs and left him alienated from the Buddhist community.
  
  Many of his research subjects were experienced psychedelic users, but they were unprepared for the intensity of DMT. One volunteer described his acute ten minute voyage into another dimension as being hit by a "nuclear cannon." While LSD allows the user a self-guided trip, the DMT experience has its own agenda, stripping the subject of any goals, expectations, and ego. As Stassman said, "DMT as the true spirit molecule, gave the volunteers the trip they needed, rather than the trip they wanted."
  
  But it wasn't only the volunteers of the experiments that were shocked. Strassman was completely unprepared for his subjects' reports of contact with alien beings, reptiles, and other strange entities. In other cases, they described out-of-body experiences, going through tunnels of light, and meeting relatives, spirits, and angels. Strassman soon realized that these reports were very similar to the modern cultural phenomena of alien abductions and near death experiences (NDE)--neither of which were familiar to him prior to his research project.
  
  He theorized that these two phenomena might be caused by excess releases of endogenous DMT from the pineal gland under conditons of stess, such as child birth or severe trauma, causing an NDE. Similarly, a close cousin of DMT, namely melatonin and perhaps DMT itself, is released during the nighttime hours. This, Strassman thought, could give rise to the alien abduction experience, which most often happens in the early morning hours.
  Near death experiences have often been used to support religious teachings. Perhaps the reverse should be considered. Religion was invented to explain the strange phenomena experienced due to an excess release of DMT in the body.
  
  Because of the intense reality of the DMT experience, and the volunteers' rejection of psychological, or biological explanations for their journey, Strassman was forced to consider an even more intriguing explanation. Perhaps, DMT does not cause hallucinogenic experiences, but rather, allows our brain to sense different forms of existing reality. The information we receive from the world is limited by our five senses. It is possible that DMT allows us to sense other dimensions and other realities.
  
  In the end the rigors and stresses of the study took a huge toll on Strassman costing him his job and alienation from the Buddhist communtiy. Even though many of the monks, had entered the monistary as a result of the influence of LSD use, their rise to elected power left them unable to support Strassman's research. AS Strassman stated, "Holiness won out over truth."
  
  Rich Strassman's writing style makes this book extremely readable, and the DMT subjects' reports and anecdotal stories make the book difficult to put down. This book warrants a "5 star" rating. I highly recommend DMT the Spirit Molecule.
  
  This review by David Kreiter, Author of "Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective."
  
  
  
  
• An essential read for the entheonaut
  By A338HNN3MFDQ7P on 2005-01-03
  Dr. strassman's book was one of the first I read when I decided to embark upon an entheogenic spiritual path. I highly recommend it to those considering entheogens as spiritual agents and catalysts.
  
  Dr. strassman is to be commended on at least two counts. He dared to apply for permission to study psychedelics under controlled scientific conditions. Second, as a Buddhist he dared to propose to a close-minded Buddhist community that psychedelics could be a useful agent for spiritual growth.
  
  This is a wonderful book for those first considering embarking upon an entheo-based spiritual path. It is one thing to read the largely unfiltered experiences of people who experience DMT on the Erowid experience vaults ( www.erowid.org ) and quite another to read the experiences as recounted by subjects in a controlled scientific experiment. This book marvelously demonstrates the similarity of various persons' "contact" experiences. I call them "contact" experiences because the world of DMT is a world of sentience, of other beings, of contact with (sometimes terrifyingly) alien minds.
  
  A whole host of interesting spiritual, theological and philosophical questions are raised by these experiences. People sometimes describe the DMT experience as more "real" than waking daily life. What then is the "primary" reality, when dualistic mundane consciousness appears more a dream than the psychedelic experience? And the DMT experience comprises a world of myriad beings, of many "spirits", all alive and communicative. Does the well populated and diverse animate universe of the DMT experience suggest that the pantheistic and animistic world of the aboriginal shaman describes the noetic spiritual world better than the simple God/Devil Heaven/Hell model handed to us by Christianity? Further, the common experience of contact with apparently nonhuman minds seems to throw us into new territory not really mapped out by any conventional spiritual path (though Hinduism and shamanistic paths seem to be the best fits for these visions).
  
  Dr. strassman's book is also valuable as a diary of one researcher's attempts to fulfill the nearly impossible conditions that the government imposes on researchers attempting to do work on prohibited psychoactives. This book should serve to discourage all but the most determined scientists from doing further research on psychedelics, at least in the United States. In this age of neurochemistry, the pharmaceutical industry is devoting increasing money to research into brain chemistry. If the United States is to retain its economic lead, these unreasonable restrictions on research into potent brain agents must come to an end. If they do not, we will increasingly lose scientific talent to Europe and Asia (just as is happening already due to our bans on stem cell research).
  
  On the downside Dr. strassman's book is not a handbook to the entheogenic path for the practitioner. The intravenous mode of DMT delivery that he uses is not available to the layman. And, the clinical settings that Dr. strassman was forced to use were highly inappropriate and unconducive to a positive entheogenic experience.
  
  Those who are about to undertake a DMT experience should be in a comfortable, safe place; have a sitter; and use a precisely controlled dose. I do not trust the commonly used path of smoking DMT or working with it through the medium of ayahuasca, because of the difficulty of proper dosing. I believe that the most common cause of terrifying or negative experiences with most psychedelics is due to overdose, and bad set (mindset) and setting (environment). I would like to see intravenous DMT become available to laymen, so that DMT dosing can be more precisely controlled.
  
  Overall, this book is a valuable and lasting contribution to 20th and 21st century human understanding of the psychedelic experience, and essential reading for every walker of this spiritual path.
  
  
  
  
• Exceptionally well written & informative/Response to Blalack
  By A3UJ7O5B3NXEYT on 2001-06-15
  Being a reader with diverse interests, it is rare that I give my attention to less than 3 or 4 books at a time. Not so with DMT the Spirit Molecule. I cracked the binding with my morning coffee and in the wee hours of the following morning, closed the book when `Saul opened his eyes.' Bravo, Dr. Strassman. You captured my intellect and my spirit.

  I am compelled to respond to J.R. Blalack - I wonder, have we read the same book? Your pedantic review is both disturbing and misleading. I will be specific. I found no mention of Dr. Strassman employing regressive psychotherapy with Psilocybin. What Dr. S did describe was a woman who recalled childhood abuse during her own psilocybin sessions prior to her inclusion in the research. In fact, Dr. S went out of his way, as he states several times, to not engage in therapeutic work with his volunteers unless absolutely necessary

  Mr Blalack, you allude to the clinical efficacy of Ibogaine. What data do you have to support your assertion? You proclaim that there is a reason that DMT is inhibited during our lives. I wonder, what is your source? You refer to the `tantalizing' results of the brothers McKenna. What program of real clinical research have they undertaken and reported?

  Setting science aside, perhaps most disturbing to me were your personal attacks on Dr. S. What is your ax? Why are you grinding it on a man of integrity - a man who has both the spirit and the intellect to design and receive DEA and FDA approval to scientifically explore the furthest reaches of human consciousness? In my view, it took a great deal of courage for Dr. S to speak out and take responsibility for his research, spiritual practice, career choices, and research volunteers.

  I will resist the temptation to redirect your pompous castigation of Dr. S to you, Mr. Blalack. Perhaps you would find a moment of reflection and a rereading of DMT the Spirit Molecule to be enlightening.
  
  

• a chemical looking glass to the other side
  By AOCIEJCEQZHRF on 2001-02-09
  this book expounds on varoius theories and experiences with the exciting compond DMT. Unlike Mckenna et al, the hard science is here , giving witness to the prophets like Mckenna. A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN SPIRUALITY, NEAR DEATH /DEATH EXSPERIENCES, DREAMS, VISIONS, AND THE CREATOR-FORCE.A Keystone work in the exsploration of all phases of consciousness. One of my top ten all-time favorite works on the field of conscious existance.
  
  
• Interesting, but needs work...
  By A1ABSQWWSY830B on 2004-05-16
  This is an interesting, sometimes confusing, work about DMT, probably the most powerful of psychedelics (entheogens). It is interesting when it focuses on the personal experiences of the individuals in the research study that is the focus of the book. It is confusing in that Dr. Strassman at the onset stresses the importance of "setting," the physical environment in which entheogens are taken. He then goes on to give DMT to his research subjects in a hospital room with all manner of distracting noise frequently going on just outside the door or window. This can be highly counterproductive. Strassman knows that, but he carries on the research in that environment anyway. (True, he had no legal alternative.) I was surprised more people did not go bonkers. A few did.
  
  Strassman seemed to undergo a change of heart during the studies. He started with a scientific outlook, which is not surprising. He is a psychiatrist. Toward the end, he began to see that he was in a realm he could not really understand. That is because entheogens have the capacity to alter our reality in momentous ways. They are beyond our science, and they can do things we cannot fathom. Strassman was in over his head.
  
  As my old daddy used to say: It is like trying to explain the workings of the internal combustion engine to a dog.
  
  The book has one huge problem: It is in sore need of an editor's red pencil. Almost the first half is devoted in excruciating detail to the intricacies of obtaining official permission to do this type of research. This book, literally, should be about half its length.
  
  Start reading about halfway through. It gets interesting.
  
  
• Mind Candy, but with an Aftertaste
  By A276PEH8KBR89I on 2006-08-02
  This book is a bit ponderous, to say the least - that's because I was interested in his clients' experiences and not the pedantic research crap (like the fact that they had to flush the IVs with saline). Lots of stuff in here begs the question, "Who Cares???" A better editor would have done this book wonders. Regarding the research, I find it highly disconcerting that EVERY ONE of his guinea pigs were huge into drugs. There was not a single person who was not a regular user of some kind of drug, and what's more, had done acid or 'shrooms hundreds of times. What would have been far more compelling is if he had done the test on people with a high level of spirituality but didn't require chemically altered states to achieve it. The book was poorly written and the research was questionable.
  
  
  
• Irrelevant mumbo-jumbo
  By A172RZL7MW5WZJ on 2004-02-05
  I was sorely disappointed by this tome. It consists of a very padded series of annecdotal trip reports, followed by some nebulous and unsubstantiated speculation on the role of DMT in the brain as a facilitator of birth and death. As a doctor, he appears to pay scant regard for the physical and mental health of his subjects. Ethical and regulatory approval for in-vivo research with psychedelic compounds is hard enough to get without crap like this. Stick to science, not this New-Age waffle. Waste of money. Do not buy it.
  
  
• High marks on a controversial subject
  By on 2002-12-01
  Covering a groundbreaking psychedelic substance that is actually found in human cerebrospinal fluid, Rick Strassman tells a first-person story of his research on the profoundly mysterious substance dimethltryptamine (DMT). We learn the political, medical, and ethical obstacles that surround the creation of Strassman's research program in 1990's America. Also explored are a far-ranging array of puzzling questions: foremost, WHY does this tryptamine compound exist naturally within the brain? Is DMT flooded into serotonin receptors to help mediate trauma, meditation, and near-death experiences? If so, why? And could DMT yield a framework for defining consciousness? The topics are explored through the vivid experiences of research volunteers at the University of New Mexico and the sincere, contemplative hypotheses of the author. This is a nicely crafted book which nimbly treads a thin line between restraint and enthusiasm, between cold objectivity and speculation. At the end, the reader is left with many intriguing puzzle pieces. "The Spirit Molecule" is perhaps the first title to break ground on what might be a Pandora's Box of the upcoming century.
  
  
• Extraordinary
  By on 2003-02-10
  This is a fascinating tale of a scientist trying to squeeze what can't be described scientifically (save mundane things like what DMT does to your blood pressure, etc.) into an acceptable scientific research program. Strassman is definitely more bolted down than Leary, though Strassman, without being judgmental, learns what he can from the Leary psychedelic research disaster at Harvard in the early 60s.

  The book is well-written and, above all, sincere. Strassman really wanted to see if short DMT experiences could a) be legally studied and b) be useful. It is a tale of persistence: getting university and government permission, getting research funding, getting "human grade" DMT, trying to get an adequate setting, trying to dot every "i" and cross every "t" possible so that his research was above board.

  Interestingly, he explains how psychedelics are really difficult to study in the scientific/clinical setting (which we already knew - but the scientific community is, after all, the legitimizing agency of chemical tools for psychological and other uses)and can also threaten the organized religious community (in this case, a particular sect or branch of Zen Buddhism that Strassman adheres to - I would suspect, however, that you could generalize from Strassman's experience to other religious organizations).

  Strassman comes across as genuinely curious, compassionate, and determined in his efforts to find out if psychedelics can evolve from their sordid recent past to an acceptable tool for insight, inspiration, creativity, or as an aid for helping to solve personal problems. This text will probably be one of the classics of psychedelic literature (though that's not for me to say!).

  If you are seriously interested in psychedelic research you will want to have this book on your bookshelf.
  
  

• Interesting Scientific Story
  By on 2003-12-24
  pretty interesting account of reviving scientific research into
  consciousness after having been repressed for 20 years - especially as the author is a long-time zen
  practitioner!

  For me, the most interesting parts of the book were the background discussions of the pineal gland's function and biology. I also enjoyed the book's scientific biography
  aspects, those who like that genre will enjoy this book.

  I found it interesting that, given all the DMT drug experience anecdotes, there were
  no zen experience anecdotes in the book. He is quite reticent about
  his own meditation 'experiences', or even of the value of zen practice
  for himself, personally. Which is perhaps understandable, but if he was going to discuss his own personal religion at all, I wished he had addressed that aspect, even briefly, at least.

  There is an interesting story of how zen as an institution reacted against
  his medical researches with DMT and formally 'denounced' him in a way,
  especially after he published an article in Tricycle in 1996. It is a
  textbook case, perhaps, of Jung's dictum that 'Religion is a defense against
  the religious experience'. Even though, as he points out, many of the senior
  officials in the zen hierarchy were psychedelic veterans, having been
  inspired to enter zen practice via psychedelics.

  But, on the whole, there is not much enlightening in this book when
  it comes to religion, it seems to me. The 'experiences' I have read so
  far seem to be in the 'wow, man, far out' variety, and dont illuminate
  any Dharma teaching. e.g. an account of being raped anally by crocodiles,
  phew.

  Also, it was kind of surprising there is no mention of kundalini
  as far as I can see, even though he discusses chakras and makes
  the connection of the pineal to the crown chakra. Apparently, DMT
  does not stimulate kundalini, which is kind of interesting in itself.

  The most interesting part of the book for me is that he actually
  takes the Many-Worlds physical viewpoint seriously as an
  explanation of the repeated emphasis on the volunteers denying
  they had an illusory 'experience', and insist on its actual reality.

  Strassman even contacted physicist David Deutsch and recounts some
  exchanges with him discussing these ideas.

  All in all, a stimulating book, and a worthy companion to TIHKAL, PIHKAL and
  'Acid Dreams', and 'Storming Heaven', and 'Nothing on My Mind',
  and 'Science Synchronicity and Soul-Making', and 'Dancing
  Naked in the Mind-Field'
  
  

• Interesting.... very, very interesting...
  By A1Z82XNTD381ZR on 2002-10-13
  This book teems with ideas, to say just about the very least. The subject, DMT, is certainly interesting: a psychedelic drug that is hanging out in your brain as you read this! Its natural release internally may contribute to the occurrence of dreams and hallucinations as well as mystical experiences and enlightenment according to this book. It's dwelling in your pineal gland, also of interest. The chemical core between your brain's hemisphere yet not constructed of brain matter. Not only that but it develops out of the fetal mouth at seven weeks and also when gender appears. (Also when, according to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a disincarnated soul becomes reincarnated-though I'm personally certainly not arguing for metempsychosis or the existence of an individual soul-essence myself) It was of no little significance before the advances of neuroscience however. Rene Descartes believed it was the intersection point of the soul and brain, and Hindus considered it to be the site of the seventh chakra. (I also found it curious though quite likely coincidental that in evolutionary younger animals the pineal gland functions literally like a third eye, and in Zen sudden enlightenment has been referred to as seeing with a satori eye. [In this case, seeing with DMT])
  It is established as a basic point of the book, (something I've proven to myself), that mystical/meditative experience is of a more or less parallel nature to that induced by psychedelic chemicals. The book goes into very elaborate detailed descriptions of the DMT induced experiences of the volunteers. While some had the most meaningful and uplifting moments of their entire existence, a few had dreadful encounters with macabre entities. Others had strange trips through inner space to bizarre circuses and futuristic beehives. And to think that South American tribes have been doing this stuff for centuries.
  It is a fact that the somatist attitude of empirical science will be averse to some of his ideas, at the very least his heuristic "life force" vitalism. (And I don't know about the whole "seeing dark matter" ordeal!) But nonetheless if you are interested in the drug the vast amounts of direct information and experience within this book make it worthwhile. And even if you don't deal well with the mystical it is still interesting to read of mystical experience (as nothing more than a chemically altered state of perception of course) and its relations to psychedelic drugs. If any of the aforementioned topics interest you at all then I confidently proceed to highly recommend this work.
  
  
• Great Read
  By AEFMH5PLKGYXN on 2006-10-28
  You can read the other reviews to see what the book is about. Fascinating stuff if you have any interest in psychedelics whatsoever.
  
  The long and short of it is that this book is a great read for being written by a doctor and medical researcher. I found it highly enjoyable. The story is as interesting as the research, and Dr. Strassman's sincere account of the project's difficulties and the personal toll it took on him made the book even more of a page-turner for me.
  
  Note that a small fraction of reviewers here did not like it. What's not to like? The book has:
  A brief history of psychedelics
  A look into governmental drug-control bureaucracy
  Fascinating stories of weird trips including contact with alien beings
  The occasional rogue test subject
  Pissed off Buhddists
  An unstable intern
  Hilarious slogans like: "You don't come back from .04 an atheist"
  And other fun stuff
  
  Highly recommended reading.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Absolutely fantastic. Best you'll find about DMT
  By AA2QTMZN5CLQL on 2005-03-13
  This is the best you'll find regarding DMT.
  
  This was a great book that covered very well the legal, medical, and technical parts of getting the research approved and the actual study in the first half of the book. The second half had the actual experiments with some fascinating personal accounts.
  
  I would personally reccomend this to both people who are interested in psychedelics as more than just an intoxicating good time, as well as people wishing to learn more about the "near death" phenomena.
  
  
• Bad Medicine
  By A1BZRECABLFF8G on 2007-03-11
  I'll keep this brief. The author is a psychiatrist and he approves of animal experimentation. That's my first gripe. He states he would like to see animals killed and then their pineal glands removed to check levels of DMT after death. Also, he mentions how he got backing from a reputable figure in the world of psychiatry who spent time pumping LSD into lab animals. I wonder how he reconciles his apparent spiritual Buddhist beliefs with unnecessary, cruel animal experimentation. Next gripe: his volunteers. He picked people who had used (abused?) psychedelics for dozens, sometimes hundreds of times. Now if someone needs to "get high" that often then I don't see how they can be mentally stable enough for such experimentation. However, at least the somewhat disappointing results means that the world will be probably be spared any ethically unsound DMT based psychiatric medication. Finally, there are some factual errors: Timothy Leary was not fired from Harvard, he resigned following Richard Alpert's dismissal; the more natural and healthy iboga is used in Gabon, not the chemical ibogaine; Carlos Castaneda did not spend years with Indian shaman Don Juan Matus (according to a recent BBCtv documentary). Some of the trip reports were quite interesting, but there are loads of trip reports on the internet these days. The book maybe would have been more interesting if Strassman had experimented on himself too. I find books like True Hallucinations, Breaking Open the Head, and Salinorin by D.M. Turner more interesting, and ethical.
  
  
• Please, don't waste your time...
  By AR6W2J87L1QF5 on 2006-02-01
  This book is a complete crock of sh*t. I feel like Strassman was a researcher with good intentions that ended up loosing it much like Leary or McKenna. There is no science here. If you don't mind that his proposals have no basis in scientific literature, and you like reading personal accounts of high dose DMT experiences, go ahead and read this. But don't expect to find out anything you didn't already know!
  
  
• the 1 star reviewer is full of crap
  By A229912O4EYG76 on 2006-02-02
  One of the main rules of any scientific thinking person is to think critically and to not accept anything from someone who talks for authority, and doesn't give evidence, yet the previous reviewer offers NOTHING to back up his claims. Either they are holding back, or just trying to get a rise out of people(well, guess they won because I'm writing a review haha)....anyways, this book is great in my opinion -- sure, alot of the stuff could have been gathered elsewhere, but he talks about how the pineal gland works and speculates about the pineal gland being the source of DMT that is already in the human body. He also explains the history of other psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy, and how these drugs held promise in the research into mental problems, how the drugs interact with the seratonin neurotransmitters, etc. He never says though that alot of the stuff is fact, but makes basic speculation(only about certain things) -- sure, there have been papers against such things, but there's also papers that have been written by scientist which are for the use of pyschedelics in therapy and etc, in which he talks of, and the funny thing is that alot of psychedelic drugs were made illegal before the full research into them had been complete. The purpose of the book is of course to show his ideas on this matter, and to explain his research with subjects who he gave DMT. The person who said this is just a crock of sh*t is full of it. Maybe if you are a scientist or a know-it-all, then this is nothing new, but if you are looking for an interesting read into the subject of DMT and one guys research with it, then this is great.
  
  
• interesting
  By on 2001-06-19
  I recieved my copy two days ago and finished the book an hour ago. Dr. Strassman's book is well written and thoughtful I could hardly put the book down and when I did I had to go to work and sleep. Dr. Strassman proposes that DMT gives us an insight into a reality that may or may not exist. I have trouble excepting the fact that there may be a parellel universe. It is easier for me to believe that DMT helps us cope with the stresses of dying or any other stressful situation that would cause the release of DMT.
  
  
• Wow!
  By on 2001-12-06
  I first heard about this book in an interview with James Arthur on Talk Radio in Salt Lake City (where I live). To quote him and I concur "This information is something that the world has been waiting for throughout the ages, it just didn't know it yet." I bought the book and was more than satisfied. The connections that a naturally produced psychedelic drug in the brain has with Buddhism, the Pineal Gland, and human gestation is mind-blowing to the extreme. I have also read a great article by Rick Strassman in Lyttle's Psychedelic Monographs and Essays #5 that compliments (and expands upon) this book very well.
  
  ***** Five Stars and the highest possible rating. Keep up the great work Rick!
  
  
• NDE in a bottle?
  By ADNMFFB4VCKAQ on 2003-07-09
  I have yet to fully read this book but I have to give it 5 stars based on the sheer importance of the subject matter.

  The book talks about DMT, a very powerful drug. The interesting thing about this is that this compound is also found in the human body.

  People who were under the influence of this drug afterwards gave similar, if not exact, stories as those people who have had an NDE. DMT has been found in elevated levels in people who had an NDE and also people who are schizophrenic. Now this begs the question, are NDE's just a chemical reaction in the brain and nothing more(no afterlife)? Or can DMT, a chemical that can be produced in labs, be used to communicate and interact with other realms besides our own?

  Either way, I think this book is extremely important and I think more research(and books) should be done on DMT instead of it being treated like any other illegal drug.
  
  

• An absorbing journey to other worlds
  By A3IALUCTRZ5DZ5 on 2005-02-07
  I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Dr Strassman. Once begun I could not stop. I was fascinated to learn how much time and effort went into the project and the results of it.
  
  I found Dr Strassman's views to be professional and balanced. As he writes in the book, no one will be entirely pleased by his conclusions but I liked the way in which he remained an impartial observer.
  
  I feel that I have gained valuable insights into myself and many of my life experiences as a result of just reading this book.
  
  
  
• This book was amazing!
  By A3QBKKF169TM1V on 2002-06-20
  I am not a drug user. But I am keenly interested in the mind and spirituality, and this book answered soooo many questions for me. When people have seen God or anything else...did they? Or was it just a release of DMT in the brain? And why in the world IS it in our brains? The Spirit Molecule doesn't answer all of one's questions, but neither does anything else :-). I found this book extremely interesting as well as informative, and even though there is one chapter where he talks about paperwork(to me it kind of dragged on a bit) it wont stop me from giving this book 5 stars. Thank you Dr. Strassman.
  
  
• WHAT'S THE POINT?
  By AMFIHLW5HTUCZ on 2007-03-08
  Dr. Strassman went out on a limb to do research into a controversial area, and he tells us more than we really wanted to know about just how difficult it was to get a US government grant to study DMT, a hallucinogenic drug that is illegal for ordinary people to have or use. Nor could he study it in terms of how it affected people -- taking them into unknown realms of consciousness -- which seemed to be his main interest (Why else would he call it "the spirit molecule?") Instead, he was stuck with a medical model, studying the drug to learn how its effects work inside our bodies.
  
  Native shamans who use hallucinogens like ayahuasca (which contains DMT) do so as part of their mission to heal and help those they serve. These specialists can learn to use the drug to best effect, and if, in their altered state of consciousness, they meet beings (as shamans say they do), they are able to repeatedly meet with the same beings, who serve as a source of knowledge of the other realms. But none of this can happen in a test situation taking place in a hospital controlled by a doctor. Dr. Strassman actually wanted to take his studies outside the hospital setting where participants would have pleasant surroundings, but he could not get permission to do this.
  
  I got to the end of the book and could not see any real benefit to Strassman's research. He recorded a lot of fascinating sessions, but these were not participants who could control when and how they would receive the DMT. Unlike native shamans, they could not take return trips to the places they saw. It seems to me that only repeated experiences, controlled by the experiencer, would tell us anything from which we could draw any useful conclusions.
  
  Dr. Strassman provides some interesting speculation about the role of DMT, which our bodies produce in the pineal gland. Maybe its role is, as he suggests, to shepherd our consciousness as it moves in and out of our physical bodies. Perhaps its release lets our consciousness visit other realms. I doubt many of his fellow shrinks share his thoughts on the possible reality of these other realms. Psychiatry has made itself into a kind of secular religion, even more than most of the medical profession, which officially considers a person only a physical body. How can a doctor work with realms of the spirit? Doctors are not shamans.
  
  I found his problems with the Buddhists interesting. It appears that even a in religion with as little dogma and heirarchy as Buddhism, adherents can fall into the same snare as with all organized religion. In the end, the low level monks jockeyed for position with the higher-ups and all insisted that only the viewpoint of the leader was valid. Poor Dr. Strassman might as well have been dealing with the pope, who couldn't have been more dogmatic than these "enlightened" monks.
  
  I noticed that Dr. Strassman never reveals his own background as a user or nonuser of psychedelics. I suppose, considering his academic position and the fact that these drugs are illegal, it would not have been wise for him to say anything about his own use or nonuse. Obviously, the legal situation makes it difficult for people to publicly discuss the effects of psychedelic drugs. If you admit you use them, you are admitting to being a criminal. But wouldn't the book have been more effective if we'd heard Dr. Strassman's own experiences with DMT? And if he'd been able to explore the possible reality of those other realms?
  
  I recommend Graham Hancock's book, Supernatural, for a more personal and entertaining journey through psychedelic use, as well as some fascinating speculation.
  
  
  
• A true page-turner of the highest order
  By A31VWR3W446UDL on 2003-01-21
  A fascinating book that proposes that dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a chemical that occurs naturally in many plants and animals, and in the human body, may in fact be the catalyst in a physiological cause for the near-death experience, tales of so-called alien abductions, encounters with elves/little people and other mystical experiences. Superbly organized, marvelously informative, engagingly written, and altogether exactly right. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in psychedelic drugs and/or the nature of consciousness.
  
  Curt Rowlett,
  Author of Labyrinth13
  
  
• Very interesting.
  By A3LYJJBRJG647G on 2004-12-16
  I found this book well written, documented, and enjoyable. If you like this book check out "Into the Void" by zoe7. The book is only available through his web site and takes self experimentation to a higher level. www.zoe7.com
  
  

• Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
• Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind
• The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell (Perennial Classics)
• Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies
• Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism