Not A Big Fan of "Hippy-Dippy" Stuff...
There's always been something about those who are "spiritual" and who are hyper-focused on being "enlightened" that always put me off. I don't mind that they're trying to better themselves, hell, I'm happy for them if what they're doing truly makes them happy in life. My issue comes with this air of pretentious, self-absorbed, judgmental narcissism that comes with the pursuit of being THAT kind of spiritual.
The pursuit of physical, mental, and spiritual purity ends up becoming a poison for people who constantly go on "spiritual journeys" through hallucinogens and looking to eliminate anything or anyone in their lives that generate "bad vibes". It turns what should be an innocent attempt to better one's life into a form of harmful avoidance of reality and self-medication via mantras, purchasing of crystals/stones, and binging on crappy books that claim to teach people how to break away from the physical realm (whatever the fuck that means).
The problem that I've always found with people who want to travel down this road is that they do it to avoid dealing with their personal flaws or the reality of their environment. While I commend them for trying to be better without using pharmaceuticals and binge drinking to do so, trying to trip balls to "reach the other side" really doesn't help you all that much more. The answers that people seek for their personal troubles are usually in front of their face and simple enough, but they'd rather turn a blind eye to it because reality is too much for them to confront.
Your depression, your sense of purposelessness, anxiety, or that one personality quirk isn't going to go away because of something that appears in a hallucination. While people have attested to being "better" or even cured after going through trips on ayahuasca or mushrooms, I hold serious doubts that they've magically become better as a result of it. Especially if you're going back to the same environment, around the same people, and still have to face the same problems, nothing is going to change until you work through your issues and confront reality.
It always ends up being a play at becoming self-important and being seen as something special or out of the ordinary. They seek their so-called "enlightenment" to separate themselves with the rest of us and to become one with the universe. Well, what if the universe doesn't give a shit about you and doesn't want you to become part of it? What if the universe and all of the other things in it are completely to oblivious to us all and those who try to "be part of it" are just a bunch of self-absorbed jackasses that are trying to escape the absurdity of reality?
If I'm being frank, I'm MUCH more inclined to believe that we're all just dust in the wind, in the grand scheme of things. The most any rational human being can do is accept that reality, try to be good people, and better themselves for their own benefit. We're not going to magically ascend to some other dimension of being simply because we meditate and go on "spiritual journeys", people will still be the same delusional assholes they were before but with the additional experience of seeing creatures and potentially shitting themselves in the process. We're all just statistical freaks of nature, existing against all odds, and trying to make the best out of an existence that will make as much of a mark on the universe as a drawing on an Etch-A-Sketch.
The world and the reality of us all existing is fucking scary, but it's not so bad when you take into account how it's just as awesome by the same token. I'm literally typing on a device made of plastics, metal, glass, and wires that allows me to receive and transmit media through signals sent through the fucking air! I can talk to my girlfriend using another plastic device by a satellite sending signals to both of our phones, allowing us to talk without any kind of wired connection. People shit on living for themselves and focusing on being happy with our corporeal world, but those who focus on "other-worldly" goals usually end up being the most high-strung, closed-minded people on the planet.
If there is anything to take away from this article, it would be to do whatever you want, so long as it truly benefits you. Not to open some astral connection through your "third eye" or to gain a connection with the spirits of our ancestors or whatever, but to take the time to marvel at your lover, the trees, your pets, and anything else in sight to say, "Holy shit, this all exists and I'm lucky enough to be able to enjoy it all!"