Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemical

In this book, renowned philosopher and scholar of religion Huston Smith, takes a serious look at the use of psychedelic drugs as a means to achieve mystical union with the divine. In a unique blend of direct experience and academic depth, Smith examines this controversial subject and describes the historic and turbulent academic experiments of the sixties in which he was both a subject and an observer. Smith begins by telling the story of his own initiation into the world of psychedelic drugs in the company of Timothy Leary—a meeting arranged by Aldous Huxley—and the profound effect it had on his understanding of reality. In wrestling with the question—Do drugs have religious import?—he draws on history, theology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology.

In this book, renowned philosopher and scholar of religion Huston Smith, takes a serious look at the use of psychedelic drugs as a means to achieve mystical union with the divine. In a unique blend of direct experience and academic depth, Smith examines this controversial subject and describes the historic and turbulent academic experiments of the sixties in which he was both a subject and an observer. Smith begins by telling the story of his own initiation into the world of psychedelic drugs in the company of Timothy Leary—a meeting arranged by Aldous Huxley—and the profound effect it had on his understanding of reality. In wrestling with the question—Do drugs have religious import?—he draws on history, theology, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology.

He tells of fascinating experiments that attempted to shed light on this question, such as the one in which he participated as a guide, where twenty volunteers—mostly seminary students—were given psilocybin before they attended a traditional Good Friday church service. He discusses as well the use of peyote in Native American sacred rituals and the hallucinogenic plant soma in ancient India. Throughout, he does not approach the question of drugs and religion from any fixed standpoint. Instead, he mines his own experiences and his relationships to pioneers in this field to come up with insights on this intriguing subject that are not available in any other book written for the general public.

Huston Smith, one of the most respected and beloved authorities on world religions, has taught at Washington University, MIT, Syracuse University, and the University of California at Berkeley. Born of missionary parents in Soochow, Smith lived in China until he was seventeen. His youth there provided an appropriate background for his subsequent interest in comparative philosophies and religions. He received his doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1945, and holds twelve honorary degrees. Smith is the father of three daughters. His wife, E. Kendra Smith, Ph.D., is a psychologist.

He is best known for his book The World's Religions, which was published in 1958 as The Religions of Man and has been translated into twelve languages. It is still one of the most widely used college textbooks on comparative religion, and has sold over two and a half million copies worldwide. Smith believes that the role of what he calls the world's "wisdom traditions" is a simple one: to help us behave decently toward one another. His documentary films on Hinduism, Sufism, and Tibetan Buddhism have all won awards. In 1996, Bill Moyers devoted a five-part PBS special, The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith, to Smith’s life and work.