Observations placeholder
Cohen, Dr Sidney - The Beyond within - First experience
Identifier
012219
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
The Beyond within, the LSD story – Dr Sidney Cohen
One hour after drinking the water I knew that I had taken a potent drug. The first change was one of pleasant relaxation. As the morning wore on, this sense of tranquillity increased to an indescribable mood of great calm and peace.
The problems and strivings, the worries and frustrations of everyday life vanished; in their place was a majestic, sunlit, heavenly inner quietude. This was a pure mood change . True, there were fantasies of floating or standing on a high place looking at range after range of mountains recede in the distance, or of walking under high vaulted arches in a secluded garden, but these were transient. As I recall now, the peace was within and my reveries only embellished this monolithic theme. Neither alcohol nor any other drug had done this to me....
The physiological changes were also of interest to me professionally. First I was aware of a numbness; this was followed by shivering and later by a transient feeling of intense cold which required three blankets to partially overcome. Slight tingling of the fingers was noted briefly. The shaking and shivering was so great at its height that it produced abdominal tenseness. I recalled having this tightness of the abdominal musculature in the past and it was usually associated with anxiety.