Finding the best doors of perception suitable for your needs isnt easy. With hundreds of choices can distract you. Knowing whats bad and whats good can be something of a minefield. In this article, weve done the hard work for you.
Reviews
1. The Doors of Perception
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The critically acclaimed novelist and social critic Aldous Huxley, describes his personal experimentation with the drug mescaline and explores the nature of visionary experience. The title of this classic comes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."2. Opening The Doors of Perception: The Key to Cosmic Awareness
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Opening the Doors of Perception The Key to Cosmic AwarenessDescription
The first mass-market book to gather the scientific evidence of a relationship between physical reality and consciousness.In 1954 Aldous Huxley's hugely influential book 'The Doors of Perception' was published. Huxley's title is taken from William Blake's 1793 bookThe Marriage of Heaven and Hell.In this Blake makes the following observation: "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern." Opening the Doors of Perception will update Huxley's work and suggest process and procedures whereby man can, indeed, perceive reality in its true glory.
The concept of 'the scale of transcendence' is analysed in great detail, and suggests that there is a scale of perceptions whereby the doors of perception are slowly opened and, bit by bit, they reveal the true nature of 'reality' as suggested by most esoteric teachings and mystic traditions. Most human beings perceive the doors as being securely closed. However there are occasions when the doors become slightly ajar and allow fleeting glimpses of what the Gnostics called 'The Pleroma'. For 'normal' people these glimpses are experienced during fleeting 'noetic' experiences. However for others the doors are prized upon by certain neurological processes starting with migraine and progressing through various 'altered-states' such as temporal lobe epilepsy, bi-polar syndrome, autism and finally, when the doors are fully open, schizophrenia.
3. Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
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Food of the Gods The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants Drugs and Human EvolutionDescription
An exploration of humans' symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals presents information on prehistoric partnership societies, the roles of spices and spirits in the rise of dominator societies; and the politics of tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and alcohol.Why, as a species, are humans so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? Can altered states reveal something to us about our origins and our place in nature? In Food of the Gods, ethnobotanist Terence McKennas research on mans ancient relationship with chemicals opens a doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world. McKenna provides a revisionist look at the historical role of drugs in the East and the West, from ancient spice, sugar, and rum trades to marijuana, cocaine, synthetics, and even televisionillustrating the human desire for the food of the gods and the powerful potential to replace abuse of illegal drugs with a shamanic understanding, insistence on community, reverence for nature, and increased self-awareness.
Praise for Food of the Gods
Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens.The Washington Post
Terence McKenna is the most importantand most entertainingvisionary scholar in America.Tom Robbins
The cultures foremost spokesperson for the psychedelic experience . . . Those who know and enjoy Joseph Campbells work will almost certainly appreciate McKenna.L.A. Weekly
An eloquent proposal for recovering something vitala sense of the sacred, the transcendent, the Absolutebefore its too late.Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Meaning & Medicine, Recovering the Soul, and Space, Time & Machine
4. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead First Complete TranslationDescription
The first complete translation of a classic Buddhist texton the journey through living and dyingGraced with opening words by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the Penguin Deluxe Edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead is "immaculately rendered in an English both graceful and precise." Translated with the close support of leading contemporary masters and hailed as a tremendous accomplishment, this book faithfully presents the insights and intentions of the original work. It includes one of the most detailed and compelling descriptions of the after-death state in world literature, practices that can transform our experience of daily life, guidance on helping those who are dying, and an inspirational perspective on coping with bereavement.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
5. The Perennial Philosophy
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Harper PerennialDescription
An inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley
"The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions."
With great wit and stunning intellectdrawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and IslamHuxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
6. Doors of Perception: Icons and Their Spiritual Significance
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Used Book in Good ConditionDescription
This introduction to icons offers an entry to the understanding of the significance and spirituality of icons. Historical background, biblical language, the visual language of icons and their interpretation. For art lovers and anyone interested in understanding more about icons.7. Island
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Harper PerennialDescription
The final novel from Aldous Huxley, Island is a provocative counterpoint to his worldwide classic Brave New World, in which a flourishing, ideal society located on a remote Pacific island attracts the envy of the outside world.8. The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell
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The Doors of Perception Heaven and HellDescription
Half an hour after swallowing the drug I became aware of a slow dance of golden lights . . .
Among the most profound explorations of the effects of mind-expanding drugs ever written, here are two complete classic booksThe Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hellin which Aldous Huxley, author of the bestselling Brave New World, reveals the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. This new edition also features an additional essay, "Drugs That Shape Men's Minds," which is now included for the first time.
9. The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell
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"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite." ......William Blake from his work 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' Huxley's book is about a research program involving a drug test. A company was looking for volunteers to participate in a drug study, and Huxley volunteered to join the program. Basically, the story takes place within an 8 to 10 hour time period after Huxley consumes the drug "Mescaline." He then recorded the entire experience so that when he wrote this essay, he could give exact quotes of how he had felt while on the under the influence. In the book, Huxley said he was not really concerned about space, which Dean found really interesting. He also liked the various details about life that Huxley discussed. Aside from that, Huxley was very focused on natural occurrences. The whole book was really intriguing. Huxley's 'Doors of Perception' is an intelligently written work of art.10. Brave New World
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Brave New WorldDescription
Now more than ever: Aldous Huxley'senduring "masterpiece ... one of the most prophetic dystopian works of the 20th century" (Wall Street Journal)must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit in the face of our "brave new world"
Aldous Huxley'sprofoundlyimportantclassic of world literature,Brave New Worldis a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advancedfuture where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated,and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passivelyupholdan authoritarianruling order--all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of historys keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgentrelevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascismduring the 1930s, Brave New Worldlikewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine andpharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.
"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." Chicago Tribune
11. The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Citadel Underground)
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ISBN13: 9780806516523Condition: New
Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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It is a book for the living as well as for the dying.Lama GovindaWe are in the midst of a powerful psychedelic renaissance. After four decades of hibernation, the promise of the psychoactive 60sthat deeper self-awareness, achieved through reality-bending substances and practices, will lead to greater external harmonyis again gaining a major following. The signs are everywhere, from the influence of todays preeminent psychedelic thinker Daniel Pinchbeck, to the renewed interest in the legacy of Terence McKenna, and to the upsurge of collective, inclusive (and overtly tripped-out) cultural phenomena like the spectacle of Burning Man.
The Psychedelic Experience, created in the movements early years by the prophetic shaman-professors Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), is a foundational text that serves as a model and a guide for all subsequent mind-expanding inquiries. In this wholly unique book, the authors provide an interpretation of an ancient sacred manuscript, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, from a psychedelic perspective. The Psychedelic Experience describes their discoveries in broadening spiritual consciousness through a combination of Tibetan meditation techniques and psychotropic substances.
As sacred as the text it reflects, The Psychedelic Experience is a guidebook to the wilderness of mind and an indispensable resource from the founding fathers of psychedelia.
12. Cleansing the Doors of Perception: The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and Chemical
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Cleansing the Doors of Perception The Religious Significance of Entheogenic Plants and ChemicalsDescription
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 Learya meeting arranged by Aldous Huxleyand the profound effect it had on his understanding of reality. In wrestling with the questionDo 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 volunteersmostly seminary studentswere 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.
13. The Doors of Perception: And Heaven and Hell New edition by Huxley, Aldous (2004) Paperback