In this TedMED talk from 2016, leading psychopharmacologist, Roland Griffiths presents unprecedented and groundbreaking data which suggests that high dosages of psilocybin given in tests to volunteers with a range of issues (from depression to nicotine addiction, cancer patients and even practiced meditators) have all experienced significantly positive results.
Furthermore, Dr. Griffiths believes that meditation and psilocybin are "complimentary processes for investigation for the nature of mind," and that both,"produce similar changes in brain regions related to a sense of self." And while none of the longterm meditators that this study interviewed would say that psilocybin would be a replacement for meditation, they all reported that psilocybin use greatly increased their sitting and non-sitting awareness practices.
The study revealed that those volunteers who had never tried psilocybin before the double-blind test reported that their experience was among the most spiritually and mystically profound experiences of their lives, comparable to the birth of a child or the death of a parent. Furthermore, those volunteers who had previously failed any attempts to quit smoking reported successful abstinence from nicotine at a rate of 80% after 6 months.
Dr. Griffiths leaves us with three significant implications, not the least of which infers that psilocybin experiences are biologically normal, and therefore may provide the very key to universal consciousness, non-dualistic compassionate unity, and a deeper understanding of reality and the interconnectedness of our species which may prove to be crucial to the very survival of humanity.