From: agno429@acs.bu.edu
Message-Id: <199607161712.NAA29664@acs.bu.edu>
Subject: Re: Comments on TWC-L
To: twc-l@halmarax.demon.co.uk
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 13:12:01 -0400 (EDT)
In-Reply-To: <19960716.084629.11@halmarax.demon.co.uk> from "Kevin Jones" at Jul 16, 96 08:46:29 am
>
> agno429@acs.bu.edu said:
>
> Not all use of hallucinogenic drugs is needless. Recreational use certainly is.
> However, the use of hallucinogenic herbs by shaman serves a purpose - assistance
> for the tribe or for an individual in the tribe, either for healing or for
> guidance. Such plants are regarded with respect and are only used at need.
>
> Perhaps this particular use is needful.
i agree.
> Then try suggesting an alternative method of helping the terminally ill instead
> of being negative. In the absence of anything else hallucinogens may well be a
> valid approach. Got any ideas for 'anything else'?
>
> >for all of life, is a delusion of the mind. a grand and wonderful
> >display of flesh enraptured with life -- the meaning and choice
> >found in existing, both intellectually and physically ...
> >and possibly spiritually.
>
> Now try explaining that to someone who may be dead next week! Philosophy and
> religious approaches are fine - I have some myself. However, trying to explain
> to someone who is suffering from terminal cancer. who is being given massive
> doses of morphine for the pain and is still in agony that 'life is a delusion of
> the mind' is downright insulting. You might wind up with said terminal patient
> trying to beat you to death with a bed-pan!
i wouldn't be so bold as to speak up.
the person who is to die in a week, has much more on their minds,
than anything i would say. at one week of life, they can lean
on hope or love. i'm not one to just whisper sweet hope into their
ears. the words i write, were not for the one who is to die at
one week. the words described a thought of mine. no more.
at one week, i have no qualm with the thought of a person
finding peace through hallucinagen.
> Regardless of what you think of the above proposition (and you'll have to look
> at my earlier posts for my view), trying to put forward that view to someone who
> is not on the same wavelength is unsympathetic, inconsiderate and cruel. The
> idea is to provide support and practical help to the person concerned, not come
> up with platitudes. As a healer you'd make a good plumber!
I"m not one to heal. i think it's better if a person heals him/herself.
people make their own internal choices.
practical help is the morphine, and bluntly saying that death is
natural. -- this group wonders if the terminally ill can produce
upon themselves, an epiphany. the step beyond the gateway of fear.
epiphanies aren't always practical. epiphanies are the stuff of magic.
"The real magic lies not in seeking new landscapes but in
having new eyes." -- Marcel Proust
i say that a person doesn't need hallucinations in order to find
the new eyes of epiphany. -- that is my 'anything else.'
somethings take time. somethings are like the flip of the switch.
i think a person who is terminally ill at 2 years,
is fully capable in seeing death with new eyes. not eyes of fear,
but with a calm understanding -- either philosophical or spiritual.
i think a person who is terminally ill at one week,
could either enjoy the hallucinagen or fear death for the worse.
anthony.
do those in fear, find hope in drugs?
or do they find hope within themselves?
i am sorry if i take the philosophical approach towards epiphany.
that is my way. that is practical to me.
for those of two years, it may be practical to them.
for those of one week, morphine does sound good.
and yes. i am still afraid.