My experience with hard psychedelics is limited, which is kind of funny, as I came of age in L.A.in the 70s, so people tend to assume everyone there was doing lots of drugs. I was not one of them.

I found your description excellent, not only of the aided psychedelic experience using drugs, but also of the unaided psychedelic experience provided by the chemicals produced by our own brains, for example by long-time meditators, such as myself. And yes, for me there is a strong spiritual element. Always.

Which is one of the reasons why I never got into drugs, because as I've jokingly said for decades, I'm already most of the way there without them. ;-)

Nicely written and thought-out post. Thank you.