"Moses (as) was on drugs" claims Professor

Published by Ya'qub on 5 March, 2008 - 20:54

Quote:
According to Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, psychedelic drugs formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times.

Writing in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy, he says concoctions based on the bark of the acacia tree, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, contain the same molecules as those found in plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca is prepared.

"The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an altered state of awareness," writes Shanon. "In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation, the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings."

References in the Bible where people "see" sounds, is another "classic phenomenon", he said, citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see" music.

Speaking about his article on Israeli public radio, he added: "As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either. Or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics."

Moses was probably also on mind-altering drugs when he saw the "burning bush", suggested Shanon, who admitted to dabbling with such substances.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/05/religion.israelandthepalesti...

Submitted by Mohsin Ali on 6 March, 2008 - 11:04

Ya Allah, save us from these ignorant times.

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There are two sides to every story, but only one side to the truth.

Submitted by Courage on 6 March, 2008 - 15:04

Well how do we know Moses (pbuh)was eating this bark in large amounts?

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Chin up, mate! Life's too short.

Submitted by Ya'qub on 6 March, 2008 - 22:20

This basically is him saying that there is no [b]other[/b] explanation for his experiences; as the guy who did the research refuses to believe he (as) had contact with God (swt).

I think simlar things were said about Ibrahim (as) in a documentary a few years ago called 'Who wrote the Bible'. It was broadcast on Christmas Day.

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Don't just do something! Stand there.

Submitted by Allahuakbar on 6 March, 2008 - 22:43

I claim the Professor is on drugs Smile

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The media, government, tried to blow us, but they can't out the flame, or doubt the name.

Submitted by Joie de Vivre on 6 March, 2008 - 23:00

Thank you, professor, for sharing that thought. I'm sure you're the first person ever who took some drugs and then had the idea that prophets/successful people/most people are familiar with whatever you experienced right there.

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  • It can never be satisfied, the mind, never. -- Wallace Stevens
Submitted by Allahuakbar on 7 March, 2008 - 09:10

Hey, I said that first!

Copy cat! LOL.

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The media, government, tried to blow us, but they can't out the flame, or doubt the name.

Submitted by You on 7 March, 2008 - 10:55

You lot are forgetting the oft used insanity angle:

"So and so was an absolute genius at something. That means he was insane. he had this psychological condition. The proof? look at his work! it was absolute genius! In conclusion, I am right"

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by Joie de Vivre on 8 March, 2008 - 19:18

Allahuakbar wrote:
Hey, I said that first!

Copy cat! LOL.


lol, but I wasn't kidding - the professor acknowledges taking the drug, and it is common to project the experience.
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  • It can never be satisfied, the mind, never. -- Wallace Stevens
Submitted by Ya'qub on 26 March, 2008 - 16:19

Chapter 2 of this [i]amazing[/i] story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/26/religion

Quote:
[b]I never said Moses was stoned when he saw God[/b]
Words such as 'trip' and 'high' misrepresent my work on psychoactive plants, says Benny Shanon

report suffers from some basic misunderstandings of my crucial arguments. For instance, the Amazonian brew ayahuasca is made out of two plants, each alone incapable of inducing any psychoactive effect. The remarkable finding is that in the Near East there grow two plants with the very same molecules contained by the two Amazonian plants. You mention only the tree (not bush) Acacia, but it is crucial for this to be conjoined with the bush Peganum harmala

I must stress that the use of psychoactive plants I have encountered in the Amazon is always embedded in religious and/or medicinal rituals. In traditional Amerindian societies the rituals were very strict and directed by a specialist (a shaman or healer), and demanded prior preparation. Remarkably, similar preparation is specified in the book of Exodus in conjunction with the Mount Sinai theophany. The plants were universally regarded as sacred, even divine, and held to be the source of true knowledge and the very foundation of the cultures in question. Their consumption is a lifelong engagement - not, as you state, mere "dabbling"). In fact, scholars nowadays call these plants and the preparations made out of them "entheogens" (that is, generating the Divine within).

Psychoactive agents are not good or bad in themselves; rather their value depends on their usage. Note that, in both the Jewish kiddush and the Catholic mass, wine (not water or milk) serves as a sacrament. Would we associate these rituals with alcoholism?

I would like to assure you that I have the deepest respect for Moses, the Jewish tradition and religious faith in general. As stated in my book The Antipodes of the Mind, the most important effect the experiences with ayahuasca have had on me as a person was making me understand the dimension of the holy.

If his finding are as unremarkable as he claims, why would he make them in the first place?

It seems to me he made the controversial claims to get publicity, and now wants his respect back so is withdrawing them.

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Don't just do something! Stand there.

Submitted by Joie de Vivre on 27 March, 2008 - 02:53

"Ya'qub" wrote:
If his finding are as unremarkable as he claims, why would he make them in the first place?

It seems to me he made the controversial claims to get publicity, and now wants his respect back so is withdrawing them.

I don't know about that - his clarification, right or wrong, seems quite valid: that the herbs described in the Torah could have in his opinion a psychoactive effect that he considers conducive to genuine spiritual revelation, rather than reports implying he blasphemously claimed Moses was under the influence and making things up for his own enjoyment. I don't doubt his sincerity.

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  • It can never be satisfied, the mind, never. -- Wallace Stevens
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