Essay on "Buddhism in James Ure's Opinion, Precepts"

Quoted Instructions for "Buddhism in James Ure's Opinion, Precepts" Assignment:

Instruction: please read all the reading material for all 6 lecture below and then answer all 25 questions. Total of 5 pages, not inclue bibliography.

Thank you

1)

WEEK 4 (June 22-28). EXPERIENCE: ONLY AVAILABLE TEACHER

For purposes of this investigation, our own experiences and the experience of others are the richest source of wisdom.     

*****¨LECTURE IV:  Ehipassiko and Psychedelics *****¨Â Â 

READING: *****¨

*****¢ Psychedelics and Religious Experience, by Alan Watts *****¨

*****¨*****¢ Spiritual & Ritual Use of Psychoactives, from Erowid *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Are Psychedelics Useful in the Practice of Buddhism? *****¨by Myron J, Stolaroff- Journal of Humanistic Psychology *****¨ *****¨*****¢ Leaning Into Rawness,  by Trudy Walter *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 125-128)

Lecture 4 is available to view at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfIPvIr8Da8

2)

WEEK 5 (June 29-July 5). MORE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE

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Stories from the Road: Buddha Goes to the Amazon  *****¨Â Â 

LECTURE V: A Truly Individual Philosophical Quest   *****¨Â Â 

READING: *****¨

*****¢ The Ayahuasca Experience, by Jeremy Narby *****¨excerpted from The Psychotropic Mind: The World according to Ayahuasca, Iboga, and Shamanism *****¨

*****¨*****¢ Yagé and the Yanas, by Allan Badiner *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 135-142) *****¨

*****¢ Alex Grey on his Ayahuasca Journey *****¨

Lecture 5: Buddha Goes to the Amazon: A Truly Individual Quest is now available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-JwUgZBdWM

3)

WEEK 6 (July 6-12). CULTURAL CO-EVOLUTION

Birth of a Buddhist-influenced Psychedelic Culture. What do the cultural messages advise?    *****¨Â 

LECTURE VI: Making Choices: Drugs and Dharma   

*****¨READING:

*****¨*****¢ Psychedelic Theophanies and the Religious Life, *****¨by Huston Smith, Ph.D. *****¨

*****¨*****¢ The Agony and Ecstasy of God*****'s Path, Nicholas Saunders *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Confessions of a Counterculture, by Tony V. *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ In the Beginning: The Birth of a Psychedelic Culture, *****¨by John Perry Barlow *****¨

*****¨*****¢ A High History of Buddhism, by Rick Fields *****¨from Zig Zag Zen *****¨

*****¨*****¢ The Paisley Gate: The Tantra of Psychedelics, by Erik Davis *****¨from Zig Zag Zen *****¨

*****¨*****¢ A Buddhist-Psychedelic History of Esalen Institute ***** Interview with Michael Murphy and George Leonard, from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 77-83)

*****¨*****¢ Buddhism and the Psychedelic Society - An Interview with Terence McKenna *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 189-192)

Lecture 6 is available to view at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abuO6g11pSE

4)

WEEK 7. (July 13-19) FINDING THE MIDDLE GROUND

Buddhism fails where intolerance reigns. Respectfully critiquing the enthusiasts and the constructionists.     

LECTURE VII:  To Drop or Not to Drop    

*****¨READING:   *****¨

*****¢ A Mostly negative review of Zig Zag Zen by Geoffrey Redmond, *****¨

*****¨*****¢ The Case Against the ***** World Model of Psychedelic Action, *****¨by James Kent *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Is Ayahuasca Healing a Self-Delusion? by Robert Tindall *****¨

*****¨*****¢ Are We Misunderstanding the Fifth Precept? *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Meditation and Psychedelics, by Vanja Palmers *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Psychedelic Experience and Spiritual Practice: A Buddhist Perspective ***** Interview with Jack Kornfield, by Robert Forte *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 51-60)

*****¨*****¢ On the Front Lines - Interview with Michele McDonald-Smith *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 195-199) *****¨

*****¢ A Roundtable with Ram Dass, Robert Aitken Roshi, Richard Baker Roshi, and Joan Halifax *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 211-225) *****¨

5)

WEEK 8 (July 20-26). EXPLORING CURRENT VIEWS

What are the most current Buddhist perspectives on psychedelic use? Students survey the teachers.   *****¨Â 

LECTURE VIII: Doing What Your Teachers Did, Not What They Say 

*****¨READING:       *****¨

*****¢ The Cracking Tower, by Jim DeKorne *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Buddhism, Shamanism and the Use of Entheogens, *****¨by ***** Robsville *****¨

*****¨*****¢ The Dharma Drug: Buddhism as a Psychoactive Agent, *****¨by Renee Reeser Zelnick *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Tripping on the Peace Wheel: Buddhist Principles in Defence of a Psychedelic Culture of Peace, by Damabupuk *****¨

*****¨*****¢ Psychedelics and Zen Buddhism, The Search for a Path, *****¨Podcast by Dale Pendell *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Middle Way Musings on Zig Zag Zen *****¨

*****¨*****¢ An Integrally Informed Approach To Psychedelics, by Ken Wilber *****¨Audio clip *****¨

Please post your discussion about the readings for this week here. 

In the meantime, I*****'d like to ask all of you to consider having a conversation with your Buddhist teacher, or someone you consider a Buddhist teacher to you, about when or if the use of psychedelics can be compatible with your practice.  Please report the results of the conversation in this space as well. 

Thanks!  ***

6)

WEEK 9 (July 27-August 2). HELP OR HINDRANCE?

Einstein said Buddhism is the religion of the future because it will best cope with scientific needs. Will it deal equally well with advanced psychopharmacology?    *****¨Â 

LECTURE IX: Dharma meets Advanced Neuroscience.    

*****¨READING:   *****¨

*****¢ Mixing Buddhism and Neuroscience to Understand Human Consciousness, by HHDL *****¨Â Â Â  *****¨Â 

*****¢ The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again, by John Tierney *****¨New York Times *****¨

*****¨*****¢ DMT Dharma, by Rick Strassman *****¨from Zig Zag Zen *****¨ *****¨

*****¢ Psychedelics on the Path: Help or Hindrance? by Charles T. Tart *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 167-173) *****¨*****¢ Do We Still Need Psychedelics? by Myron Stolaroff *****¨from Zig Zag Zen (pp. 201-209)

25 questions

1. According to James Ure, what is the reason the precepts are recommendations and not rules?

2. While it is rare to find Buddhist teachers who take an open stand regarding the use of drugs or alcohol, what are some examples of those who do?

3. What should be considered the primary purpose of the 5th precept?

4. What was the one example of an intoxicant given in the 5th precept?

5. Which Buddhist teacher advocates including certain T.V. programs, magazines, books, films and conversations among the intoxicants to be avoided?

6. Huston Smith pointed out that while psychedelic use is all about altered states, Buddhism is all about what?

7. Why did Albert Einstein say that Buddhism is the religion of the future?

8. Why does the Dalai Lama feel that science and Buddhism are similar?

9. When asked by a neuroscientist what would happen if science came up with information that conflicted with Buddhist philosophy, how did the Dalai Lama answer?

10. What is neuroplasticity?

11. Why is there confidence that the beneficial changes in the brain among meditators are a result of training the mind?

12. What are the three stages of practice that illustrate the story of Buddha*****s life?

13. Why would there be a likelihood that Siddhartha used psychoactive plants?

14. What was the Good Friday Experiment?

15. What was the follow up study that was recently reported in the New York Times as a follow up to the Good Friday Experiment?

16. Huston Smith describes the psychedelic movement as antinomian. What does this mean?

17. Who were the three most celebrated members of the Harvard Psilocybin Project?

18. Who said that the most important event in the cultural history of America since the 1860s was the introduction of LSD?

19. Who coined the phrase, *****Turn on. Tune in. Drop out***** ?

20. What happened after Lama Govinda met Timothy Leary?

21. What was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche*****'s primary objection to marijuana?

22. Why is there reason to believe that Nagarjuna may have taken the amanita mushroom?

23. According to the late Terence McKenna, what is the real difference between Buddhism and psychedelic shamanism?

24. According to ***** Robsville, while psychedelics played a useful role in the past, on what six grounds does he suggest they should be avoided now?

25. Why does Ram Dass still use marijuana?